Lost in a sea of technical words

[No Such Man As Alexander]

Hi all, after using these forums as a reference for a while now, I thought i'd finally get involved.

I've recently got back into playing quake/mapping after a long break, and after lots of trial and error, i finally got quake going (Darkplaces) but i'm having trouble with all the technical jargon that's all over these forums/website and others like it. (Basically, I have no idea what people are talking about most of the time)

So, due to a massive reformat of my computer, I'm back to square one and I want to get Quake up and running as best as I can (and hopefully learn something along the way!)

So, first up, Darkplaces.... over in the 'Downloads' section on LordHavoc's Darkplaces (LordHavoc's DarkPlaces Quake Modification) there are 4 downloads on the 'Latest stable/official release', and i'm guessing as i'll be running it on XP, i'll be needing the 'Darkplaces engine Windows OpenGL build 20110628'? Correct?

I think i'll leave it at this for now, so if anyone has the time or the patience (or can point me in the right direction) it will be much appreciated

[FC Zvyozdochka]

Anyway, moving on, in the same download section on the Darkplaces site, there is a download called "Darkplaces Mod Build 20080808" which states it requires engine and quake data, do I need this as well as the initial download?

This is game modification which adds some minor features in game, mostly new graphics, such as sprite flames instead of polygonal, nail sticking into the walls etc. Instead of DPMod, you can also try Seven's "Small mod compilation" to achieve even better results.

DPMod does not require specific game build, you can use any.
Anyway, you need original Quake's data (id1 folder) to play the game.

"remember to create a file called autoexec.cfg (put into c:\quake\id1\), containing for example this information:

r_glsl 1
r_glsl_offsetmapping "1"
r_glsl_offsetmapping_reliefmapping "0"
r_glsl_offsetmapping_scale "0.05"
gl_picmip "0"

Change settings depending on how you want to get the result;"

What the hell is this about? Change settings depending on how to get what result!?

These are graphics options, they make game look better, but may cause significant slowdown if you comp is not so powerful.
r_glsl_offsetmapping "1" - bumpmapping
r_glsl_offsetmapping_reliefmapping - relief mapping, better quality and worser performance.
gl_picmip - texture size reduction ("0" is original texture, best quality).

[No Such Man As Alexander]

Maybe that was a bit of a poor start from me, as it may have made me sound a little........ simple?

Cheers for the link to Darkplaces Wiki, with have a look through

Anyway, moving on, in the same download section on the Darkplaces site, there is a download called "Darkplaces Mod Build 20080808" which states it requires engine and quake data, do I need this as well as the initial download?

Right, moving over to the Quake Reforged tech-guide, under "Settings Optimizations" (recommended by rygel), it adds the following....

"remember to create a file called autoexec.cfg (put into c:\quake\id1\), containing for example this information:

r_glsl 1
r_glsl_offsetmapping "1"
r_glsl_offsetmapping_reliefmapping "0"
r_glsl_offsetmapping_scale "0.05"
gl_picmip "0"

Change settings depending on how you want to get the result;"

What the hell is this about? Change settings depending on how to get what result!?

[R00k]

Looks about right.

Try this page for some reference on DarkPlaces: DarkPlaces Wiki