Quake HD for new spawns

[_Smith_]

You're facing scary wall of text - run away !

1. copy PAK0.PAK and PAK1.PAK files from quake\id1\ to VISpatch\id1\ execute VISpatch\id1\vispatch.exe
2. Move into id1\ folder vispatched PAK0.PAK and PAK1.PAK, execute darkplaces-sdl.exe and enjoy.

Performing first point is such a chore indeed, skipping it makes it truly worth it to lost properly working transparent water visuals...
It is btw all you need to do, to start playing game and finish it. Contrary to your opinion all the feedback I've received was about how easy it is to jump in and just play.

As i see it the biggest stumbling block you face in this endeavor is your need to grab some credit for yourself at the expense of the community who created it.

And this is my friend the most annoying bullshit talk I have to face on this “endeavour” over and over again.
Enlighten me please, how this cred for my anonymous internet persona can be useful for me ? Maybe I'll start to care about it then.

You had no involvement in making any of the mods.

I didn't do much, but I haven't marked with my nick name anything I hadn't spend a lot of time on. You know better than me what I've done and how much of my time it ate I see...

so you can not just willy nilly change the way basic functions operate

If you refer to these damned keybinds it is just something that slipped by me, since what these keys do was hardly the main thing I was contributing to this humble hud mod.
I am happy that I've made these binds adjustable on your request.

If you refer to fiddling with other people work in general, by this logic I shouldn't be allowed to make this compilation in the first place.
You are not a person to judge what I can or can't do with other people works, but you are free to have and express opinion on it.
I stated multiple times that I am going to respect any authors wishes and I am not going to hide behind any license documents that would allow me to dismiss them.

I just wish you would have left any negative comments out of the descriptions of the additional content.

Comments are not meant to be negative but fair, neutral and informative. I will give you examples. Entar and DrLabman Ogre aim code.
It gives ogres unfair advantage allowing them to shoot much further away than player on open space, but makes them overshoot corridor entrances, or bounce grenades back off the ceiling or obstacles which could otherwise reach a player and it look even more out of place than their original behaviour. It also screw most of the traps setups where level designers relied on how ogres launch their grenades.

I've spend a lot of time fiddling through trail end error method with a line of code responsible for new aiming just like you can spend a lot of time fiddling with a few variables and a texture that determine water shader look for example. I've reduced all these issues significantly. It is imo more fun to play against them 90% of the time, but you are still going to spoil few cool surprises, or encounter unintentional difficulty spikes with new ogre aiming.

Same goes for gibbable corpses and gyro. It removes some of the kickass feel from quaddamage making exploding bodies too common and especially on higher difficulties: huge piles of bodies looks artificial due to gyro and block your line of fire, or blood everywhere may be not everyone liking. Phrase like “ridiculous amount of blood” is only going to attract people who may enjoy it anyway

If anything, comment on jakub1 amazingly crafted effects can make people to not dismiss the rest of much more fitting effects after seeing the armour one.

But fixed retarded ogres, or gibbable corpses and physics sounds just way too cool to pass... I wanted to just hint that these alterations are “not all rainbows and butterflies” like it looks on the first glance and and there are potential reasons to not dismiss original behaviour. Single page limit I've set myself for that readme doesn't allowed me to elaborate on it more. Ultimately I like these features this is why they are mentioned in the first place.

If you have a problem with my assessment of the project well that is to be expected.

I don't have a problem, I disagree with it. If this compilation doesn't fit someone's vision of how it should be made, well that is to be expected
I'll try to rephrase hints to make them more neutral and informative, since it's your only concern I find to be fair, but I can't guarantee you'll be satisfied.

I'll reupload it within a week with hud update. My “competitor” just did it and I don't want it to look like I fight with him for the top place on the modDB mod list.
Maybe something more to change arise in the meantime.

are you going to bail out ?

Well, I consider it finished, it is what I wanted it to be.

So, what you say ? Is it enough bitch slapping for you ? For me certainly is.
I bothered at all because I respect and like you, but enough is enough, if you're going to continue it, you'll most probably hit air.

To summarise. I am happy to try fix any issues this compilation may have, any feedback is welcome.

Everyone is free to criticize here lets call it “design decisions”, or moral integrity of Smith forum profile.
I'll most probably don't relate to it in any way, because I don't care what people think about me here any more. I'll answer in case I'll find criticizm fair however.
It doesn't mean I don't like it here any more, opposite is the case. I've just decided that such stance will help me save my sanity

Anonymous Passerby

[bluntz]

Good enough for me.
As for what I use the v key for,it is to move left.Keys that you should stay away from are the ones near the spacebar as it is the most used by the most players.
The file size of the download is debate-ably large and normally would be of concern however I find myself looking for the largest when searching for a good mod as an indicator of its quality,so maybe it is actually better to be big.
I will try the new Hud system and let you know if I find any other problems.
P.S. You have already attracted a competitor?
I only see one man in the hot seat and you can be sure that if you hold still for all the beatings the modders have to offer, only one man will garner their approval.
You have already achieved what nobody I know of has ,you have brought all their talent together under one roof without anyone saying remove my mod from your pack.
That is unheard of and gets my respect,but more importantly maybe theirs too.
Jack Bluntz

[bluntz]

Well Smith I appreciate your efforts to modernize the game.
I gave you every possible chance to clear the air around yourself.
I tried to make it clear the content was already done by others who could use some billing for all their hard work and plainly spelled it out for you.
I am very disappointed that I actually thought you had the community’s interest at heart.Despite what you may say in response to this commentary your actions speak much louder than anything that comes out of your mouth.
Dont go away mad.....just Kick Rocks Crab!

[_Smith_]

The readme was never controversial to begin with, but I did reuploaded last week with rewritten one. Additionally in the second post in moddb comments section you'll find a link to a small update. It contains it as well, so anyone can check it, or download a full compilation for a complete picture. Thankfully everyone is free to have his own judgement, no reason to rely on yours.

I was thinking that putting this stuff on a public display, can help attract new players and bring back old ones, that can get hooked on graphics and stay for community and gameplay. It may also potentially help to increase Quake sales what id can notice. I suspect that Q1 is selling much better than Q2 and recent talks about making Q5 like Q1 is a direct result of it. It also allows people to jump in and just play, before messing with it will kill huge part of the pleasure they could get from it. Finally it just promotes quality gaming in general. Implying that my intentions were anything other than that is just silly.

If it comes to giving credits where credits are due, this pack is better than any other of this kind done so far. You've made it clear that content was done by others? Because I didn't make it clear enough ? Nitpicking and unjustified accusations I had to fend off were supposed to help clear atmosphere around me ? Thank you for your help and your “chances” Seriously, if anyone is hurting this community here it is you, by turning this thread into sad boring shit that will scare people away instead of being a nice introduction.

It's a great news that Ruohis is back at work ! It'll be a long journey even for him: to remodel all monsters, animate, texture them and polish to the point where they look better than original models with reforged skins. So this compilation most probably won't require any updates for quiet some time and I am leaving it in a good shape. I am going to, at the very least, take some break from it, but given what a “pleasure” it became, I am not too eager to get involved in it again. If community makes some kind of “official” compilation, I can take this one down.

P.S. @bluntz
English is not my language, urban dictionary told me your last line is an insult and all that preceded it I've understood literally.
If you're puzzled by the tone of this response, this is the reason.

[gdiddy62]

I want all contributors to keep making their content and quit this damn fighting please!

Let's enjoy the game and the works of so many talented individuals. Why is it so hard for people who create to get along?!!

I've watched countless arguments on this forum and I have to say most are really childish. It is a downer to an otherwise great site. It is unbelievable that people get their panties in a bunch over some of the things that happen. I know some may say to me "SHUT THE #### UP", but let me ask you a question. If you create and post, don't you want people to enjoy your efforts? Well, I'm one of those that enjoys these works and that gives me the right to speak up.

Give credits to those works of other if you post anything. And if you post accept that shit can happen and quit bitching in the forums. Take it behind the scenes so that all can enjoy this place. Anyone new coming in and seeing this would probably go WTF.

To me anyone who can create is unique and that should be celebrated by all IMO. Come on guys and know that all will have their opinions so take the opinions of others in stride. Having said that, give opinions in a respectful manner as well.

Please quit this bickering as it is counterproductive to what you all want...TO PLAY QUAKE and enjoy yourselves. I say this as respectfully as I can because I've grown tired of opening a thread with new posts only to see bitching instead of great works by a group of talented people!!!

[_Smith_]

Edit: Please ignore this. I shouldn't have post it...

epsilon/qhd 412/3 downloads... People have no taste.
So Rygel's pack remains the only way most people play Quake. Textures went through compression two times. Terrible lighting with pitch black shadows.
It takes few minutes to load a level and perform choppy. Sounds replacements... Sad psychedelic parody of Quake.

I was fully aware that making a compilation that is not a disgrace to this beautiful game means it'll get less hits. To actually see these numbers ...
What a sad day. *Walks away kicking rocks

[gdiddy62]

Beh,
Your compilation is great Smith and I and many others use it so why worry? I know there are bitter tastes in many mouths about this but there should be room for all if they play nice. Personal tastes aside, think about the advertising he is doing. Do the same if you're truly worried about the numbers. There should be no reason to feel bad about your contributions as they are a staple (actually the backbone) of my Quake. I love the blood mist you created and I loved the fact of the compilation you put together when I was learning how to do the basics. Now I can plug in the must-have Seven SMC and the skins and contributions of people like sean, ruohis, OoPpEe, bluntz and all of the others (no rudeness intended if I didn't mention you I'm just typing the first ones that come to mind)
Keep creating and enjoy Quake. Let this bitterness go and do what you love....CREATE!!

[_Smith_]

Edit: I recommend to skip this post. While I don't like 'epsilon' pack I should have kept it to myself instead of writing these boring, whinny rants. Sorry for that

I haven't made a single piece of creative work from scratch, so what you've said is too much. You also didn't get my point. I don't care about download count or deserve any prise. This 'epsilon' thing went totally viral already, grows exponentially and will burn out soon. You can find it even on not gaming related social networks. Moddb is probably not the main channel it is being distributed. There are other links on this 'epsilon' project site that serves as a buffer between this community and people playing 'epsilon' pack...

Do you noticed increased traffic here ? Does anyone advertise to them this still alive multiplayer community ? Does anyone is encouraging them to try original first ?
Does anyone told them about amazing quaddicted repository of singleplayer map packs ? Will they even give a try amazing and faithful QRP texture pack ?
No, because its use is limited to the lowest ( out of four ) quality “builds” without normal or gloss maps, without realtime lighting and described as: “Recommended for older laptops, graphics cards without shader support, and older machines in general [...] uses the QRP texture pack, which is less gritty and grimy but more like the original quake, and uses less memory. ” As far as I am concerned they're not even experiencing Quake, because it is too random to still feel like Quake, which is is a reason to be bitter.

I was holding off with advertising qhd outside of Quakeone borders, because it wasn't perfect, didn't felt complete to me and there were still interesting things in the works and I hadn't figured out a good formula to channel interest it could create here yet. This community had a chance to use its creative work to promote itself and Quake among new generation... Don't get me wrong. I am not calling for a crusade here. I am just venting off. Everyone interested in giving Quake a shot will be burned on 'epsilon' very soon. Better to just shrug shoulders and move on.

[gdiddy62]

@Smith
I'm certainly NOT trying to tell you how to feel.

I disagree that the praise is unwarranted though. And all who create here owe something along the line somewhere. No one here is above that I believe. We all owe something to the creators at id don't we?

I also will disagree that we are losing a generation of potential Quakers due to being burned. I prefer QRP myself but have to admit the mixture of rygel and QRP some use here is absolutely right on(Seven), but that is just MY opinion. There will be many who disagree and prefer something else...that is fine by me. I am a self-admitted "COLLECTOR" of Quake materials. I have my favorites and I have some things that I like when my whim points in that direction. Some like SP and some like MP. We all can co-exist and have fun with this great game. I think this site should perhaps be marketed more, but this always runs the risk of drawing in mal-contents. I just prefer to go about my way and collect all of the different materials here and offer praise to those who create and/or take the time to "redo". All should be admired and none put down unless they ask for it outright. You are talented Smith, and I hope you will go on creating or redoing or whatever you prefer to call it!!

[TR2N]

Hi _Smith_,

i personally don´t care about Epsilon-shit or whatever it is called - reading just the intro on the Epsilon website and couldn´t find a note for vispatching - so i have closed the browser immediatly. I am downloading your pack and i am really looking forward to it.

As i stated already in my pm, i started a project like yours one or two years ago and because of time reasons i never got it complete. I hope you will continue your project!

Cheers and best regards,
Nico

[TR2N]

Had a look and i really like your "Pack". Is it very faithful und the effects are not dominating the game. Very cool, a keeper for me!

[_Smith_]

PM:
You're not playing Quake for the first time, give new oges/zombies aiming and gibbable corpses a try.
I've wanted activating these features to be a conscious choice and used them as an example to make people familiar with autoxec.cfg.

epsilon:
I am nostalgic about this game and some things in epsilon make it not feel like Quake any more for me.
I didn't wanted it to be the way people (re)discover Quake. This is why I lost it, when I saw these 500+ downloads in a single day.

In the end, that rant was a mistake. Who I am, to decide how Quake should look like and what is a good taste ?
Lets just enjoy works of Quake community whatever way we like it.

[Seven]

Who I am, to decide how Quake should look like and what is a good taste ?

Hello Smith,
It was your own decision
Once you decided to use a modified game mechanic (progs.dat) with auto_cvars, you have to set defaults.

And the issue with defaults is, that they are defaults.
And defaults (doesnt matter if cvars or auto_cvars) can/must be changed manualy by the user. This is sometimes already too much for a regular beginner. So defaults will stay forever and sets the way the user experiences the modified Quake.
For advanced users, the cvars / auto_cvars are a hell lot of fun to play around with.
And defaults are quickly changed to the users-personal-liking.

So once you entered this lair, you have to live with it...
And deciding which defaults to choose is an incredible difficult thing to do.
It is highly unlikely that another person in this world will have the exact same personal-liking as oneself.
And that is the doom.

Best wishes,
Seven

[bluntz]

Your compilation is what I recommend whenever the noobs flock around here.
Sorry about all the giving you a hard time over it,I can be way to serious about my Quake.

[TR2N]

In the end _Smith_, i have to tell you, after playing first episode with your compilation, that this pack is highly recommended for all "newbies", that want to play Quake again on todays hardware. I very like your interpretation of "your" Quake and it is really close to mine. I am also a nostalgic player, and like i already said, i like your faithful taste.

I hope, you will continue this work! I will recommended that to all users, that are searching for stuff like this.

Like Seven said, it also is a good base to tweak the defaults to personal likings. So, please go on!

Nico

BTW: Do you have thought about an own website for Quake HD? It would be much easier to show the world, that there are more and better things like "Epsifail". I can help you, if you want.