An entity in Quake is like a monster, a torch on the wall or a box of nails or an actual nail fired from a nail gun.

One method to generate "rain" that mods have used, is to make tons of rain drop entities in QuakeC (think Quake mod: Quoth, Arcane Dimensions, etc). But each rain drop is an entity (think monster).

Having a great many trivial entities each with their own location, frame, model, slot, etc. causes many problems (demo size, save game size, large amount of data sent from client to server, other issues).

A static entity (like a torch or invisible wall like a func_illusionary) cannot move, be created, be destroyed but is almost free. Metlslime brings this up as an option for a rain effect.

The other alternative being discussed is a pure engine effect, like the fog you see in maps. 

Thank you, that made everything much more clear. So could it be animated "thing", which is easy to control through duration/speed keys etc.

I guess that engine effect is still a bit vague to even talk about, yet alone what it is going to be in a practice. 

Yeah, like how torches are animated, even though they are completely inert. 

the problem with using entities is that they may or may not be interpolated.
if they're not interpolated (qs) then they'll be jerky.
if they are interpolated then they'll move upwards for a frame!

/me wonders how easy it would be to port fte's particle system over to quakespasm.

/me wonders how many people would complain about the result... 

Torches in Quakespasm are not lerped ONLY because they are excluded in the r_nolerp_list cvar. (Spike groans).

Do r_lerpmodels 2 in console and they are.

r_lerpmodels 2 lerps everything no matter what. 

you could solve the rain lerping upwards for one frame by having the drop go to zero scale the frame before and after the upwards lerp. 

A heads up for people interested in gamedev. You can get GameMaker: Studio Pro and some add-ons cheap in a Humble bundle for approx eleven days as of today.

https://www.humblebundle.com/gamemaker-bundle

It's not the perfect tool for making games or getting into gamedev by any means, but there are examples of successful indie games made with it. Here are some.

https://www.yoyogames.com/showcase

Some will argue that if you are serious about gamedev, you should learn a real language like C++ and use this or that engine for your serious projects. I don't disagree that these are important considerations for dedicated indie devs, but the thing is you can still learn all these things after playing around with GameMaker to your heart's content. I think of it as an option for someone looking to get started casually in gamedev with a limited budget of time and money.

There is also the free GameMaker: Studio you can get from Steam or Yoyo Games, if you want to take a look before buying anything. It's a good idea to see what it can help you with and what you still got to learn for yourself, because there are no silver bullets or free lunch. 

Although none are actually weather effects, the following models demonstrate the idea of creating particle style effects which disappear and then reappear to allow looping in engines with interpolation:

forcefield and smoke. The forcefield is the closest to the idea as the particles loop - even though there are particles going in both directions, if you track any one you'll notice that it only ever travels in one direction. The smoke is actually performing a similar trick, but because it's a big long thing it's harder to spot.

runic barrier. This is also similar to the smoke, but because it's got a greater number of distinct "particles" it might be more representative.

embers. These aren't intended to loop as such, but they demonstrate the idea of particles disappearing into nothing. They also exhibit a nice "floatiness" which might be good inspiration for snow. 

Guys, qME finally stopped working on Windows 10 (it complains it won't run on 64-bit) -- what's the best alternative if all I want to do is just stick an extra skin into a Q1 .mdl file? 

Hmmmm. Doesn't sound right.

Windows has what is called a "Windows on Windows" system to run 32-bit applications built-in to the operating system.

Visual Studio is a 32-bit application, as a hilarious example.

Is it just the installer that doesn't work (more likely)? 

Here is a link to the shareware version of QME 3.1 (QMELite)

https://www.quaddicted.com/files/tools/qme31.zip 

That file is just a zip, no need to use an QME's goofy installer which very well could be a 16-bit application from the Windows 98 days. 

http://www.adriancourreges.com/blog/2016/09/09/doom-2016-graphics-study/ 

wow, thx kp for linking that! 

I was happy to find such a quality write-up! 

These slides linked at the end of the article are good too: http://advances.realtimerendering.com/s2016/Siggraph2016_idTech6.pdf 

I need a better computer so I can play that game. 

Simple as that huh :0 

I need a better game so I can play that computer. 

You're right, it was just the installer. I'll have to grab the full exe off my other machine at some point, then. 

Anyone using the Quake Injector - if you got a minute, could you please test this: install Quoth from scratch through the Injector and check if it's version 2.2, possibly even install some Quoth map (without a prior Quoth installation) and see if it works and runs on 2.2. 

I was on vacation during August and decided to do the exact same thing. I've made the first 4 maps, but using Quake 2 PC's original textures and items.
You can find it here: https://www.quaddicted.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=422

I'm not an expert mapper or anything, this is probably the most complex Quake mapping I've ever done and I've only ever used QuArK, but maybe I could be of some assistance?