I tried something else. I compiled the map with light ents with -light 1. The map was pretty much totally dark, as would be expected with -light 1, but the light ents didn't work.
hmm... 

Metlslime has it right, the infomation is only sent to a client when they first connect to the server by default. If you were running a coop server with your mod as it stands, I believe a player who connected after you changed the monster count would see the correct value.

Luckily, there's a way to update these stats after the fact, by composing your own message to the client, in a similar way to the way that temporary entities are done(ie teleflashes, explosions, lightning). The following code would adjust the monster count for self, assuming self is a player.

msg_entity = self;
WriteByte (MSG_ONE, SVC_UPDATESTAT);
WriteByte (MSG_ONE, 12);
WriteLong (MSG_ONE, total_monsters);

The 12 tells the client you wish to update the client's total_monsters variable, and the total_monsters in the write long is the server's value for total_monsters. There are a few other variables that can be altered in this way, 11 is total secrets for example. 6 is ammo_shells, although this is kept in sync with the server automatically. In fact, most of the possible variables are updated automatically or have functions that will do so, total_monsters is the exception. See http://wiki.quakesrc.org/index.php/SVC_UPDATESTAT if you want a complete list.

One more thing to note is that this isn't identical to the way temporary messages are sent. The message is sent using MSG_ONE instead of MSG_BROADCAST. Broadcast is an unreliable message, and so may be dropped over the network due to lag, but with particles that's not too much of a problem. You wouldn't want an altered monster count to be dropped, so you send it by the reliable MSG_ONE. If you strictly wanted this mod to work fine in coop, you'd want to send the message as MSG_ALL, which is supposedly reliable to all clients, or make the code loop through all the clients with MSG_ONE. 

There are additional info regarding this in my latest ToolTips. E.g. you must also communicate the killed_monsters value to the engine. 

You must have done something weird if basic lighting doesn't work. Take a look at tutorials e.g. here: http://www.planetquake.com/worldcraft/index2.shtm .

Make sure there aren't any light ents with excessive values or keys that saturate the entire area.

Try putting only this light near a wall:

"classname" "light"
"light" "300"

Then run:

qbsp mapname
light mapname 

If a face has a size of 64 x 64 is there any point to a 24 bit texture being larger than 64 x 64.

Is a 128 x 128 texture better than a 64 x 64 texture on a when intended for a 64 x 64 face at higher resolutions face or does it NEVER have an advantage? 

Yes, there is a point in them being larger. It's the same for all games really, it's not uncommon to see a 512x512 texture on a 256x256 face. If you are making a texture that's ment for a 64x64 face, make the 24bit texture 128x128, 256x256 would be overkill. 

i haven't experimented with this idea at all, since i want to know if it's possible before i start.

basically, i want to have two different islands in a void that are fairly far apart from each other. you can see the one island from the other at all times.

obviously, you wouldn't want the island in the distance to be at full detail because most wouldn't be visible and it would probably slow down like molasses in winter.

is there a way to make most of the details in the island that is far to disappear and not be drawn by the game? sort of like how models look shittier at a distance to reduce the number of polys and thus make it faster to draw.

and it is possible to have details gradually appear as you get closer to them?

it wouldn't even matter if the transition from low detail to high detail was abrupt or smooth (ie: if the details could fade in or now) 

if doom3 has LOD you can make the islands in maya or max, rather than out of brushes. 

http://www.saunalahti.fi/dnaumov/e1m2rmx01.jpg

vs.

http://www.saunalahti.fi/dnaumov/e1m2rmx01-new.jpg

I am still thinking that the former looks way better. 

that was supposed to go to the screenshot thread 

I think the reason the second shot looks bland is because it's almost all the same texture, without respite. Add some wood and wizmet and I'd definitely prefer it to the first shot. 

Using the same texture theme doesn't mean you're barred from breaking up surfaces with trim and other details.

The flat lighting also doesn't help (cast by the sky, i'm assuming.) 

so you're saying that the meshes should get the LOD treatment automatically?

does anyone know if that would work? i know a lot of the hell maps were made out of meshes and not brushwork. is there a way to tell from those maps if LOD will work or not? 

I discovered a strange behavior of fitzquake recently. It crashes when my wc is open. When I close the editor fq starts to work properly again.

??? 

- What's the error message?
- Do other engines crash too? 

I don't know anything about it, but I'm just saying that if there's LOD, it's probably mesh-only, and therefore to take advantage of it you'd have to use meshes. 

if there's LOD, it's probably mesh-only, and therefore to take advantage of it you'd have to use meshes.

Or lots and lots of curves.

Hello bless.bsp. 

is that automatic? or do i have to model each level of detail myself and somehow assign each different model version to a certain distance? 

something like program will be closed - usuall windows error only

other engines (vanilla, agurRe's one ���) work 

I occasionally have BSODs in WinXP when having the OpenGL view open in QuArK and then start a GL-engine. In my case it's driver related (NVidia), maybe yours is too?

Does it seem related to whether the WC 3D-window is open or not? 

Doom 3 has no LOD.
Q3 had it by having several sets of models for each model, but as far as I can tell by poking around in the D3 code it has nothing of the thing. Shouldn't be too hard to set up in a mod tho I guess... 

I am not clear on the use of .wav files for sound effects in Quake.

I have seen from earlier posts that they should be 8bit/11khz/pcm. That's OK but do they have to be of a certain length or perhaps, not longer than x?

I have been experimenting and I have one file (an explosion) that plays as intended and another that keeps playing and wont stop?

Any suggestions or pointers to sites? 

could be that the second sound is looped. Looping for quake seems to involve putting a "marker" in the file. It's sort of confusing as the sound editors that can do it don't seem to consider it to be related to looping at all. I'm a little rusty though as the last quake sound i made was like 4 years ago. 

OK, you're on to something here. I used a different program to convert the sample to 8/11/pcm and it now does not play continuously.

But now I can hear what a crap sample it is!!

Without giving too much away, I want a sound that plays for a non-predetermined time, fades and stops. The player will inadvertantly decide the duration. Think of leaning on a bell-push - it rings at a constant volume until you realise it's you making the noise, then when you move, it stops ringing and goes silent via a short fade.

Therefore, I want to play the start, then the middle bit for as long as the player is determining (at random) then the end.

My problem is that in playing my sample, it plays start, middle, end; over and over, which gives completely the wrong effect.

I'm not sure if I am explaining myself very well but, if this makes sense, can it be done with one sound or do I have to use three sounds (start, middle, end)? 

it can be a driver problem, but (I think) it worked fine before. I noticed that strange crash only 2-3 day ago.

There was no driver update/fitzquake setup changes for that period.