Some bad things I noticed about nexuiz and some suggestions.

[003]

Ok I have not played Nexuiz in a while and I just downloaded the latest version (2.2.2). I like what I see. I like it a lot. The last version I played, was 1.x, I think. I have noticed that the performance is much better even with all the detail and effects on max. And the graphics are nicer to boot.

However some things that I think deserve a new thread. Nexuiz supports offset mapping, and it has an option for deluxe maps. But it doesn't look like the maps have been made with deluxe maps, and it would make a huge visual improvement if they were. Another thing I noticed is relatively unchanged. There are still very few static meshes, the maps are all mainly complex bsp. Not only do static meshes look better but they are easier on the GPU. I think they should be used a lot more. If they aren't being used because of an engine limitation, it would defiantly be worth it to work on the engine. I love the realtime lighting, and I think it would be sweet if there could be an option and support to enable soft shadows if you wanted. They look a lot better especially if you have the hardware needed to run them well.

Also I am not sure if there is already support for it, but if not there should DEFIANTLY be support for http redirect, so servers running on a pipe big enough to host a server but not big enough to push custom content could still use custom content.

Now so far I have mainly been suggesting things for graphical improvement. This is all good but there are still two major gameplay issues.

1. The movement of your character feels "jumpy", at first I thought it was because my FPS was to low, but when I enabled displaying of the FPS I saw that it was 80-90. Then I thought it was because the server I was on didn't have a high enough client speed, so I played in instant action and it was the same. This really needs to be worked on for Nexuiz to gain more widespread popularity.

The other issue is that I find it pretty easy to get "stuck" on more detailed bsp sections, such as stairs with decorations on them, etc... That is pretty annoying and should be looked at.

And finally. I don't know if Nexuiz uses DirectInput, but if not, it really should. It is a LOT better than the old input methods and it pretty much eliminates things like negative acceleration, input delay and lag, ect...

Also is there some kind of option in the ini file to change the mouse sampling time, so for example if you have your mouse at 500Hz or 1000Hz polling you could set nexuiz to actually take advantage of it?

Anyway GREAT WORK on nexuiz, it really has progressed since I last played and I hope to see it continue to do so.

[Ed]

Maps are compiled with deluxe mapping. Don't know if every 3rd party map is compiled with them as not everyone will have their radiant and q3map2 set up for it by I'm pretty sure most will do.

As for the input problems, are you using the SDL or GLX binary? The SDL version may help.

[003]

I am just using nexuiz.exe. What as the difference between glx and sdl? Oh, two more suggestions. The ingame menus really need to be able to be clicked and dragged, and also work with the scroll wheel as well. Also, it would be sweet if nexiuz had some kind of super weapon, as most games do. I think a nuke would be really sweet, with the mushroom cloud and all. It would look really spiffy with the particle engine combined with bloom and hdr. As for most stock maps having deluxe maps, it sure dosnt look like it. I really only see the offset mapping when the weapon effects light up the textures.

[KadaverJack]

However some things that I think deserve a new thread. Nexuiz supports offset mapping, and it has an option for deluxe maps. But it doesn't look like the maps have been made with deluxe maps, and it would make a huge visual improvement if they were.

All official maps are compiled with deluxe mapping, otherwise there wouldn't be any bumpmaps without realtime lights. But if you have realtime lights enabled, the difference is only visible in areas without realtime lights...

Also I am not sure if there is already support for it, but if not there should DEFIANTLY be support for http redirect, so servers running on a pipe big enough to host a server but not big enough to push custom content could still use custom content.

Nexuiz only supports http downloads. There is no serverside support for sending pk3s.

And finally. I don't know if Nexuiz uses DirectInput, but if not, it really should. It is a LOT better than the old input methods and it pretty much eliminates things like negative acceleration, input delay and lag, ect...

That depends on which binary you are using. I guess SDL uses direct input by default, the WGL binary doesn't as it seems... If you feel like your mouse is lagging, try "gl_finish 1" (that should compensate for crappy drivers at the cost of a few fps)

Apart from that a few other parameters that might be usefull for you:

Windows GDI Input: -noforcemaccel disables setting of mouse acceleration (not used with -dinput, windows only)
Windows GDI Input: -noforcemparms disables setting of mouse parameters (not used with -dinput, windows only)
Windows GDI Input: -noforcemspd disables setting of mouse speed (not used with -dinput, windows only)
Windows Input: -dinput enables DirectInput for mouse/joystick input

Also is there some kind of option in the ini file to change the mouse sampling time, so for example if you have your mouse at 500Hz or 1000Hz polling you could set nexuiz to actually take advantage of it?

The mouse polling rate is a driver option. No game what-so-ever should be allowed to mess with those settings.
And from a programmers point of view: overclocking your mouse is pretty useless, since Nexuiz only updates input once per frame, so with an averge of 60-100fps the default 125Hz (USB) are more than enough.

[003]

Hmm if there really are deluxe maps on the stock maps then I think offset mapping is not the the best way to implement 3d textures. Maybe try normal mapping? Because I really only see the 3d effect when the weapon explosions. And I have all the effects enabled, and I know my video card supports them all (nvidia 7800GT)

[Shoe]

I think static meshes are hard to come by because it's not easy to find modellers willing to release their work under the GPL (the team has wanted to get new player models for a while, but there's just very few people to make them). I think there's also engine limitation with collision or something. I don't remembet the exact limitation, but the only workaround is to put a boxy player clip around the model, which could make it awkward sometimes.

As for another weapon, while being another valid idea, it's an engine limitation. It's been discussed elsewhere that the engine only properly supports 9 weapons unless an ugly workaround is used.

[003]

Hmm well the engine itself is open source, right? Why cant you modify the engine to overcome these limitations? It's kind of strange looking when you have a game with hdr, bloom, offset and deluxe mapping, but no static meshes. Also, has the idea of implementing a physics engine ever been brought up? I don't see why finding static meshes is so hard, for example in UT2004 people make their own static meshes all the time and put them in their levels. Usually they aren't GPL but if you e-mail and ask the authors they will generally let you use them. Maybe you could implement static meshes and have them not GPL but the rest of the game would be.

[esteel]

However some things that I think deserve a new thread. Nexuiz supports offset mapping, and it has an option for deluxe maps. But it doesn't look like the maps have been made with deluxe maps, and it would make a huge visual improvement if they were.

Another thing I noticed is relatively unchanged. There are still very few static meshes

I love the realtime lighting, and I think it would be sweet if there could be an option and support to enable soft shadows if you wanted.

Also I am not sure if there is already support for it, but if not there should DEFIANTLY be support for http redirect, so servers running on a pipe big enough to host a server but not big enough to push custom content could still use custom content.

1. The movement of your character feels "jumpy", at first I thought it was because my FPS was to low, but when I enabled displaying of the FPS I saw that it was 80-90.
The other issue is that I find it pretty easy to get "stuck" on more detailed bsp sections, such as stairs with decorations on them, etc... That is pretty annoying and should be looked at.

And finally. I don't know if Nexuiz uses DirectInput, but if not, it really should. It is a LOT better than the old input methods and it pretty much eliminates things like negative acceleration, input delay and lag, ect...

Well as said Nexuiz does use deluxemapping to show bumpmapping on all areas not just those with real time lights. Maybe you just want to make the effect more obvious. Unless i'm mistaken (its late ) the variable r_shadow_bumpscale_basetexture will make it more obvious. also for REAL powerful computers there is also relief mapping r_glsl_offsetmapping_reliefmapping 1 but i doubt its very playable unless you have a GF8800gtx or something like that.

I'm not sure about meshes, i'm no mapper

The next version of Nexuiz will have:
added r_shadows cvar which renders Quake3 cg_shadows 2 style stencil shadows from models.
I"m not sure in what context you mean soft shadows.

There is already http redirect support for the downloading stuff. The server can be setup to give you a download address which is then downloaded with libcurl which understands redirects. Its planned to use this to create map filebase but work on this has not yet started. but the downloads already work. But its not a inbound download, it uses external http/ftp servers or what ever libcurl can use.

Well its still not totaly sure what causes those laggy behavior but part of it seems to be mispredictions by cl_movement which the engine developer knows about and we wait for him to fix it. along with other stuff

And yeah kadaverjack already told you about that directx stuff and r_finish.

Usually they aren't GPL but if you e-mail and ask the authors they will generally let you use them. Maybe you could implement static meshes and have them not GPL but the rest of the game would be.

Thats a route we do not want to take, Nexuiz will ever be 100% GPL. I think some other maps (like that facing worlds remix) do that but as i'm still no mapper i can't tell for sure what kind of meshes are used there.

[003]

When I say soft shadows, I mean like FEAR has (they are disabled by default though) and like UT2007 is going to have. I can promise you that anything quake 3 has is NOT soft shadows.

[tChr]

Also I am not sure if there is already support for it, but if not there should DEFIANTLY be support for http redirect, so servers running on a pipe big enough to host a server but not big enough to push custom content could still use custom content.

Nexuiz only supports http downloads. There is no serverside support for sending pk3s.

Nexuiz ises libcurl iirc, so http redirects shuold be fully supported.

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btd