I'm using PreachSpawn_v1.0, ("style" "1") so you got the right idea.

'self.enemy = activator;', doh!

As always, thanks for your help. 

Still having problems with fluctuating marksurfaces.

Please see attached file showing editor view, in-game normal and in-game showtris2.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/6706/marksurfacesgt2.jpg

Can anyone explain, or better still tell me how to avoid, the mashing of my brushes? 

a screenshot showing r_drawflat would be better, since showtris outlines the triangles drawn by the video card, but drawflat shows the polygons created by QBSP more clearly.

As for what's making those cuts, I don't know. Sometimes there's an obvious bit of brushwork nearby that can explain it. QBSP is still a mystery to me. 

Just for completeness:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8837/marksurfaces2lz3.jpg

the ceiling is one brush with nothing else attached above i.e. it touches the void. The 'curve' that we see does not reflect any brushwork on the other side of the visible brushwork. The right-hand wall also touches the void.

With marksurfaces bobbling around 32K and a desire to ensure the map works with FQ, I find myself having to remove trim. I have already cut the map in half and it would defeat the object to split it any more. 

can you force qbsp to split the brush the way you want by first shaping the brushes in the proper pattern, then doing a texture shift of 1 unit difference on each brush so that qbsp doesn't combine them? 

I removed the 3 brushes that gave me a curved corner, and this was the result:

---- WriteBSPFile ----
Before After
10568 10559 planes
32563 32164 vertexes
13300 13015 nodes
3107 3106 texinfo
25959 25429 faces
24486 25105 clipnodes
7356 7261 leafs
32165 31634 marksurfaces
119337 117378 surfedges
60330 59343 edges
145 145 textures

Increased clipnodes and decreased marksurfaces.

http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/8720/marksurfaces3ys1.jpg

If anyone has not yet fallen asleep, what have we learned here?

No, I don't know either. Oh well; plug on, plug on. 

The thing is that these are pretty much single brushes: the wall behind the ammo is one, the ceiling is one the two faces are one etc.

Is there an optimum size that qbsp likes to find? (although I would hate to map to specific sized brushes, so perhaps I don't want to know that)

I'm just going drop some more monsters in and then call it a day. 

Thanks to ORL, I've found a bug in Tree when having >32k clipnodes that corrupts the clipnode information.

Hopefully I've fixed the bug now, but I recommend switching to TxQBSP permanently as it doesn't have this bug. 

but there is no way to have opaque water and solid sky with txqbsp... 

TxQBSP even for QuArK users? I remember TreeQBSP was recommended for us (if I am not wrong). 

TxQBSP run fine even with QuArK... It is just an external program to call from QuArK, and has nothing to do with the editor. Maybe only the saved map format could have an effect (i.e V220, etc..) and I'm not sure about that point.

FYI, I'm currently using QuArK 6.5.0-alpha2 with aguirRe's TxQBSP, aguirRe's VIS, and a aguirRe's modified TyrLight ... and all the stuff works fine ... 

i got same as JPL but QuArK 6.5.0-alpha8 new version of quark :\ suck :((( dont compile my base map :( give lots of errors :( leaks everywehere and say stuff like maxsufarces limit bla bla bla :) errrr i will keep this version a lottttttttttt 

There was something wrong with the new version, they released a bugfixed build.

JPL: It was something with the map format QuArK writes, maybe with the .12345 floating point stuff or something. Dunno. 

thks Spirit_ i think i will stick to this version a litle wile :) is perfect for me!!!

;) i dont have problems at all, despist other poeple say Quark owns!

;o)

ban worldcraft :p 

can have opaque liquids, just add -nowatervis. I don't know what you mean by solid sky, both compilers use CONTENTS_SKY for sky.

Tx was originally the *only* compiler for QuArK so it'd better work with it ... ;) 

I haven't full vis'd my map yet and get plenty of packet overflows, which I'm not too concerned about.

But would this also account for occasional door opening sounds playing continuously: not every door and not every time? 

packet overflows often result in dropped sounds 

Thanks, I'll carry on not being too concerned then. 

just a short question: does anyone know a good tutorial on making good looking rocks? (i don't mean terrain via triangle method, which i already use) i mean rocks like in kona's maps for example. thanx 

How might I emulate ai_forward(x); without using the walkmove function?

I want to move a monster in its forward direction x units where the direction has to be found AND he may be stuck in a wall (which is where the walkmove function (correctly) exits with FALSE).

I guess I can change self.origin but am stumped on how to calculate the new origin taking an unknown direction into account.

Any offers? 

if you set the movetype to MOVETYPE_NOCLIP, does it still abort? with that movetype, the monster wouldn't collide with anything, so walkmove would possibly not abort? 

You've said that the monster may be stuck in a wall at the start of the move, but how should it end the move? Is it ok for the monster to, for instance, be stuck inside another wall? Or inside other entities, possibly including the player? If you're doing some kind of ghostlike creature, that doesn't care about intersecting anything, then the crude way to emulate walkmove would be

makevectors(self.angles);
setorigin(self, self.origin + v_forward * x);

but that's going to do no collision checking, and also move your monster in discrete steps. Of course, in basic quake walkmove moves a monster in discrete steps, but in engines with motion interpolation this usually gets smoothed out. So a better way might be:

makevectors(self.angles);
self.velocity = 0.1 * x * v_forward;

assuming that the monster is going to think in 0.1 seconds time. You must make sure that the following think function either resets the velocity or gives it a new one.

Both of these functions are going to plow the monster straight forwards, so make sure they face the right way first(possibly with ai_face();)
For the velocity one you'll also need to give the monster a movetype that accepts velocity(eg MOVETYPE_NOCLIP). Finally, these functions don't think about the vertical, and the monster won't follow a floor(how could it if it's in a wall...). So there's still a lot to think about. 

Yes, I did try changing the movetype but the walkmove function ignores that. I can't fault that as once the game is underway you wouldn't expect to find a monster in a wall. 

what exactly is needed? when you say it needs to find a direction, you mean it needs to be using AI to track towards the player? 

if you just want it to move forward in whatever direction it's facing, preach's method will work absolutely fine, btw.