1/What is the method to export shape key frames as .mdl frames? And what is the method to be able to see/chose frames in mdl files in Blender?
Can you clarify this question a bit for me - what are you expecting to happen when you export the model, and what is actually happening when you try?
2/How can I deal with frame interpolation with Darkplaces? For example, the Super Nailgun rotates fine while shooting, but Zerstorer's Chaingun just distorts like crazy while shooting.
First an explanation of what's happening with zerst�rer's chaingun. Open up the chaingun model in QME, and paint one side of the rotating barrel blue, and the other side red. Now if you look at frame
fire5, you'll see the barrel is actually the same way up as
fire1, even though it should be rotated 180 degrees to continue the animation smoothly. Of course, when zer was released there was no interpolation, so this was completely fine - both ways up looked the same!
The fix is to rotate the barrels 180 degrees in frames
fire5 -
fire8. Then interpolation in darkplaces is a lot better - it still goes wonky when you go from firing to not-firing, because the not-firing pose is always
fire1. The way to fix that would be to rewrite the code so the game never jumps to a frame which isn't the next in the loop - e.g. if the player stops firing after
fire2, then use
fire3 as the non-firing pose, then start the next attack with
fire4.
In general, to make a model interpolation friendly, you have to be thinking about the transitions between frames. So the code needs to only ever set a new frame that smoothly blends from the last frame, and your model needs to have poses where every part of the model makes a continuous motion from any previous frame to any subsequent frame. Both halves need to work together for the best effect.
3/Kind of off-topic (but still relevent on the whole export models in quake subject) but how do I prevent Photoshop to turn textures that have the quake palette applied on into noisy pictures?
You have to create your textures in the Quake palette, so the important thing is to only use colours already in that palette, or colours close to them, when painting the texture. The more closely you follow the colours in the game, the less noisy your image will be when you convert it. I tried to look for a good guide to creating images in a specific palette, then best I could find is this zealous article which nevertheless has lots of useful technique points:
http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299