Nice tutorial 

It may be worth posting that (or at least linking to it) at Inside3D, where Q1 engine discussion has recently migrated to. 

I left out an important piece from my last post - the alpha field isn't written to file when a game is saved. So a couple of changes need to be made (still in pr_edict.c).

Add to ED_Write:
// after the loop, but before the final fprintf:
if (pr_alpha_def.ofs)
{
v = (int *) &ed->v + pr_alpha_def.ofs;
if (*v)
fprintf (f, "\"alpha\" \"%f\"\n", *(float *) v);
}

You should probably make a similar addition to ED_Print.

And in PR_LoadProgs:
// Change this:
if (!has_alpha)
pr_alpha_def.ofs = progs->entityfields++;

// To this:
if (!has_alpha)
pr_alpha_def.ofs = progs->entityfields++;
else
pr_alpha_def.ofs = 0;

Sorry about that! 

I was hoping with all the mappers here, it might be easier to convince metl & aguirRe that it's a feature worth adding. Then maybe I'll take on the rest of the world ;)

Seriously though, I don't spend any time on Inside3D. But if anyone wants to post a link to this, feel free. 

thanks for the work, I've actually implemented this feature already, but rolling these snippets into a tutorial for inside3D could still be a useful project.

Also, doesn't aguirre already support alpha? 

what i whould love to see is aguirre engine with a easy menu like joequake for demos and all the easy commands :\ not the old stuff but i guess this will never happend :( so i will stick to joequake and in big maps i will continue to use glquake 

Don't say never. 

Thread ended at post #1, where Shambler claimed the instant win. 

AguirRe's engines have .alpha support. 

Is it like fitzquake & darkplaces and then the stragglers or is it horribly fragmented?

People might be more willing to target certain non-vanilla features if they knew what percentage of the 'audience' played engines with support for what sparkly bits. 

I would use Fitzquake if it had some futures of joequake:
maps menu
demos menu with the ability to go into folders
map name and demo name completion
possibility to start recording demos during playing
an big time and moster/secret display for speedrunning (yeah you think it is silly I know)
no need to enter the ".cfg" when execing a config file

And I can't remember how to turn the of the flash which appears while shooting and picking up items in fitzquake. 

to always use AguirRe's Nehahra since I map more than I play. 

but i use AGLQuake for leaks because either marksurfaces or whatever is broken when the map leaks, or there can be no lit file or the wrong lit file and fitzquake gives me a black map. i SHOULD use it for gameplay testing too, but most of the time I dont.

I wander what version of Darkplaces I'm using because I have a water bug. Water shows up as a system texture. Also darkplaces doesn't support realtime lights with "255 255 255" colour lights, it only works with "10 10 10" I guess but Ive never tried it... But I do like the bump mapping and hirez texture thing. Especially for base maps. 

From what I can tell, alpha entities are supported only in aguirRe's Nehahra engine, and only if the progs.dat supports it.

The advantage of the above code is that mappers could then use the "alpha" field without using a custom progs.

(Of course, requiring engine support for alpha is no better than requiring a custom progs, unless it becomes something that the majority of engines support. Which is why I thought I would at least make a case for it) 

It is very fragmented. 

i agree, it's better (even though it's hacky) to not require progs.dat support, just as skyboxes and fog are supported in most engines via similar hacks. 

Thread ended at post #1, where Shambler claimed the instant win.

I ended up looking up your old PlanetQuake home page just to see if you had made any single player maps out of curiousity and I saw the gaming industry note.

Is there something about the gaming industry that tends to sap the positivity, imagination and free-spiritness from the bone marrow?

Please don't this personally, I am really big admirer of 2 of your DM maps in particular my favorite being EFDM12 which is an amazing masterpiece if only it were not so hard to fill it with enough players ;) I'm rather just trying to figure out a pattern of why some func_participants are uppers vs. downers. 

Is this a serious question?

Is there something about the gaming industry that tends to sap the positivity, imagination and free-spiritness from the bone marrow?

Absolutely, positively, emphatically yes.

Even I hate me for how bitter and cynical I've become... sigh. 

Yeah, it's because I'm working on a custom progs that I didn't mention it.


Is there something about the gaming industry that tends to sap the positivity, imagination and free-spiritness from the bone marrow?

Absolutely, positively, emphatically yes.


Yes. 

In fairness, I think it's partly the membership of func too. That whole free thinking thing we encourage doesn't mix well with an industry increasingly driven by corporate interests and focus groups.

But to sum up; Yes, yes there is. 

I like Quake. I really like Quake.

My comment is not at all incompatible with that. 

Shooters. With creamy graphics and good gameplay. 

Is this a serious question?

I can't remember ;-) 

leave the industry or leave func? 

You forgot the speedrunners that tend to use JoeQuake and GLQuake. And the people who play netquake (as opposed to QW) multiplayer who use ProQuake.