Actually, as soon as my map went over the limit (by a few hundred markedsurface), fitzquake became unable to load it (crashes)... That normal? Runs fine now that I'm under again (had to move a part of the map for later use =\ ). 

Actually you could try to go on mapping on the map as it is.
While working on my last map Tris, I several times went over the max marksurface count.
I found that even if the map chrashed the engine, putting more brushes into the map made the number of marksurfaced drop well below the max again.
Sometimes I had to map in two seperate areas of the map to achieve this but it worked!
I mapped for 5 weeks where the number raised and dropped all the time.
But of course there must be a point where it wont drop anymore, and it may not work in all maps. 

they're like ants-- you don't know where they come from, but there's a shit load of them. 

How come they go up and down? I'd imagine more areas = more markedsurfaces... no?
I guess I'll be the one to ask the obvious question, what exactly are markedsurfaces? 

There are posts earlier in this thread starting here: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=4&start=1727

including an explanation from metl and several empirical observations that might help. 

Thanks. ;)
Well, guess I'll just finish the map for now, and put the area I removed back in once it's done, see if the markedsurface still jump over 32k. 

they're like ants-- you don't know where they come from, but there's a shit load of them. - these words are golden.

I got an idea: I'll save my map as it is atm, and if it starts to crash in progress, i'll make the final battle in a sepapated map. 

I have seen this technique achieved in some maps but haven't been able to do so myself.

Is there any way to teleport items (keys...perhaps) in Quake?

Thanks in advance :) 

when I try to run my map in worldcraft I get an error message saying that the bsp wasn't built, and asking if I want to continue anyways.
Why does this kind of thing happen?
Any idea how I should go about fixing it?
Thanks. 

Check out the last few entities/triggers you created/changed and make sure there isn't anything funky with their settings. Remove them and recompile the map as necessary. The QBSP_LOG file may be of further assistance.

Good luck! 

Ok, I have taken a short detour from my small SP dealy. I have been playing about with a simple DM map and I have an area that is very campable. I would like to have a shoot-able switch that resets every 30 seconds or so and makes that campable area a deadly place to hang out. I'd like the damage to be inflicted for only a second or so and the resest until the switch is reset. In Q2 maps I have used func_explosion with a multiple fire switch. Also complicating things, I have a tele-destination in / at the area I want to target...

Suggestions on the best way to accomplish this? 

you can just make a big door that's hidden in the ceiling and has a very high speed (2000+) and whatever damage you want.

have it targetted by a button with a high wait (30 seconds like you said)

or, you can make the door visible and build a crusher thing and make it a prominent part of the map, whatever works. 

i don't think teleporting items are possible in vanilla quake.
the workaround would be to have a small closet with a door (and an optional func_illusionary) on the ceiling which opens at a certain event, lets the items drop out and then closes to make the surface seem solid again; or let items rise from a hidden hole in the floor. 

>i don't think teleporting items are possible in
>vanilla quake

I don't know if this counts as an item 

Does anyone here care about quake speedrunning? Anyway, maybe someone has some thoughts.

What are the main aspects to make a map speedrunning friendy? The most obvious is to stay clear of clip brushes which block players movement. But I'm shure there are more aspects. What do you think? 

The moving door will not work out well due to this being an outdoor area... Ain't no lid on da' crib.

I was thinking of an area_damage, can this be toggled multiple times via a button / switch? 

I'm no runner but a GL, potential vertical shortcuts and slopes should help. If you haven't already, check out RDE: http://www.planetquake.com/rde . 

'By default, mapobjects to do not block movement. To implement this simply, add a clip brush of the dimensions noted above placed on the floor'

Why did you choose not to make the braziers block movement without using clip_brushes? Did you foresee occasions when not blocking movement was an advantage for this/these models? 

I don't think trigger_hurt entities are triggerable. I think your only triggerable option is to have a func_door that squashes the player. You could, theoretically, have a set of spikeshooters that are triggered by the button, but I suspect that in order to give significant damage, there would need to be so many spikeshooters that they would lag all the players.

Alternatively, you could set a trigger_hurt in the campable area that does 1-2 damage per second. Plenty of time to grab the quad or whatever, but you still don't want to sit around there. 

I have teleporting health in my WIP map but I did it by modifying items.qc. 

I think your only triggerable option is to have a func_door that squashes the player.

This is pretty much what I ended up doing, although in a reversal of what necros (thank you btw) suggested. I have the brush coming up from the floor smashing the player up into a clip brush. I guess it works out ok, I'll find out via beta testing...

The map is ready for a beta run, anyone interested? 

one last suggestion, hope it isn't too late:

You could make the floor of the area a func_door that drops a short distance, maybe 8 units, into a trigger_hurt with massive damage. Just as long as the trigger_hurt was lower than the func_door's raised position, but higher than it is in its lowered position...if you follow o_O

The advantage to this over the vertically moving crusher is that you won't need a clip brush or other solid 'squish' surface overhead.

I used this mechanism for the sacrficial pit in my early DM map Animositania, as an anti-camping measure where the pent was located. 

You could make the floor of the area a func_door that drops a short distance, maybe 8 units, into a trigger_hurt with massive damage. Just as long as the trigger_hurt was lower than the func_door's raised position, but higher than it is in its lowered position...

I like that one and its not too late either, I am in no hurry.

Making that change does not change my need to have it tested in the current state that it is in. It is "finished" and fully compiled, I need suggestions on items / weapons loadout and layout, some lighting tweaks and comments on exactly what is the most common approach to clipping architecture.

/me throws out some bait...

http://www.maricscabinet.com/1q2a.jpg 

well, we decided to leave it up to the mapper because we didn't know where the mapmodels might be used. for example, a map i'm working on has the bordering on corners. if they were clipped to the dimensions, they would hinder movement quite a bit. but since it's not preset, i put a clip brush that clips 45 degrees, so a triangle, basically, instead of a square, and that lets the player move smoothly around the corner but doesn't let them move into the object.

also, for the shorter braziers, you might want to place them out in the middle of a floor where you wouldn't want to clip them at all (so the player doesn't trip on them).

it's all about freedom and customizability. 

that map looks really good! :o

if i was even remotely interested in DM, i'd offer. :P