[jkas789]

The Quake mods Dwell and Epochs of Eternity look fucking gorgeous. They look even better than some modern "boomer shooters".

[Aristotle Gumball]

Dwell is amazing aesthetically. Gets my vote for best looking Quake maps too.

[MusicallyInspired]

So apparently Nightdive said there is a bug that makes backpedal speed slower than it should be. You can edit the CFG file (found in C:\Users\[PROFILE NAME]\Saved Games\Nightdive Studios\Quake\kexengine.cfg) and set manually the line from 'cl_backspeed "200.0"' to 'cl_backspeed "400.0"'. So that at least was wrong and a mistake.

[NightFright]

I found a bug on my own and Nightdive guys didn't want to believe me at first. It's about gibs flying with low gravity. Someone revealed they have their own gravity var (sv_gibgravity) for a reason, and sure enough, it's set to a lower value than normal.

Also, ExM5 maps are apparently using wrong music tracks. Due to this, track 11 is not used at all in the original episodes. This might be due to mistakes introduced in the 2006 .map source releases.

[MusicallyInspired]

Why didn't they want to believe you?

[NightFright]

Maybe because there was nobody else reporting it. I am playing the game since 96, I know what things need to look and feel like. And why they didn't even mention there is a gravity variable for gibs? Don't they know their own port, ffs?

[jkas789]

Has there been any news on the sourceport front in regards to compatibility with the new episodes?

[NightFright]

I don't think that's going to be a top priority for everyone all of a sudden. For QSS, things are going slow on Github and Issues activity is not the best, either.

[Lunick]

jkas789, on 22 August 2021 - 09:13 PM, said:

Has there been any news on the sourceport front in regards to compatibility with the new episodes?

[jkas789]

Well, the best things always takes time. And I suppose we have so much quality content already I can't really complain.

[NightFright]

So, I know of two settings you have to apply manually to the config file (kexengine.cfg in C:\Users\<Username>\Saved Games\Nightdive Studios\Quake\) in order to fix stuff:
- sv_gibgravity "800": to fix gibs flying physics (current default: 350)
- cl_backspeed "400": to fix backwards moving speed (current default: 200)

[Lunick]

They can be typed into the console too right? Because I'm pretty sure I've done that for both and the config has both of those values afterwards.

[NightFright]

I haven't tried using the console yet, but yeah, usually anything that is saved to config can also be manipulated via console. You wouldn't use quotation marks there, though, so it would be e.g. cl_backspeed 400.
BTW, if you change sv_gibgravity, it will fix all regular levels, but in Ziggurat Vertigo, gibs will also fly with normal gravity, which is wrong. Guess they would have to make it so that these config gravity settings are outranked by map settings. Even though I think the variables were actually meant to do the opposite...

*EDIT*
Looks like vkQuake might be the first port to offer support for the Quake re-release (including the two "exclusive" addons) in the not-too-distant future.

[MrFlibble]

I must say that the footage of the remaster looks very nice! I've never thought of Quake as of a particularly visually appealing game (I mean the original levels), but this version is just seems pleasant to watch being played.

[NightFright]

After having finished all four classic episodes, I have posted the summary of my gameplay experience and bug findings over at Doomworld.

[jkas789]

NightFright, on 22 August 2021 - 10:37 PM, said:

I haven't tried using the console yet, but yeah, usually anything that is saved to config can also be manipulated via console. You wouldn't use quotation marks there, though, so it would be e.g. cl_backspeed 400.
BTW, if you change sv_gibgravity, it will fix all regular levels, but in Ziggurat Vertigo, gibs will also fly with normal gravity, which is wrong. Guess they would have to make it so that these config gravity settings are outranked by map settings. Even though I think the variables were actually meant to do the opposite...

*EDIT*
Looks like vkQuake might be the first port to offer support for the Quake re-release (including the two "exclusive" addons) in the not-too-distant future.

Interesting. To be honest I have been thinking about trying vkQuake, however when it comes to games and getting them to run satisfactorily enough on my laptop I try and follow the old adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

It has saved me a hell of a lot of time I would have wasted troubleshooting shit.

[NightFright]

Something fishy is going on with transparencies in that port, too. Ingame, transparencies are active for many liquids including teleporters, which look like shit because of it. A look into the config reveals alpha values for water, teleporter, lava and slime are all set to 1.0, so what gives? You change it to "1" (no .0 at the end), bam, full opacity all of a sudden. However, it's not a fix - after next launch, values are reset to 1.0 and transparencies are the way they were before. Seems the engine is reading map data and uses it to override the alpha cvars, but it should be the opposite way.

Also, sound quality or at least sound filesize is kinda wasted since all remastered sounds use a sampling rate of 44 kHz, but are sent through a 22 kHz lowpass filter.

That bugfix to-do list keeps getting longer every day.

[NightFright]

I made a quick patch to get the new DOPA release playable in other ports. Get this file (54 KB) and follow the instructions in the readme. I already tested it in Quakespasm-Spiked. All maps work, the only thing you won't get is the "Congratulations" screen at the end of the episode - but in return, you won't get any crashes (if you follow the readme instructions properly).

Side info: Main difference between this and the original DOPA is that there is one additional secret level, accessible from E5M3 (+ that congrats screen you won't see outside of the remaster port). On top of that, all maps are vised for transparent water and feature colored lighting.

[jkas789]

Thanks NightFright!

[NightFright]

DOPA is nothing compared to DOTM (new episode), though. I finished it in one session today and it's really impressive. Think Arcane Dimensions with advanced shadows and occasional stained glass mirror effects. These levels are huge, with 20-30+ mins of gameplay time each. I would describe their setting as mostly industrial, something like "Quake does it with Quake 2 and Half-Life". Style differs from the previous official expansions a lot, in a really good way, and it's a mind-blowing success IMO.

[Aristotle Gumball]

NightFright, on 26 August 2021 - 11:58 AM, said:

DOPA is nothing compared to DOTM (new episode), though. I finished it in one session today and it's really impressive. Think Arcane Dimensions with advanced shadows and occasional stained glass mirror effects. These levels are huge, with 20-30+ mins of gameplay time each. I would describe their setting as mostly industrial, something like "Quake does it with Quake 2 and Half-Life". Style differs from the previous official expansions a lot, in a really good way, and it's a mind-blowing success IMO.

Yeah I think I got spoiled by Arcane Dimensions a bit. It's still definitely above average for a map pack, but on par with some of the better recent releases. At least to me. I enjoyed the new textures and that it felt Half Life-y.

Definitely beats DOPA.

[NightFright]

If AD hadn't been out first, DOTM could have been almost sensational. Since AD is a huge collection of very impressive, highly polished maps gathered since many years, it's still the bigger and more compelling package in total.

As an official release, DOTM is still quite good, even if its main purpose is to show off Kex port features (without which at least some maps are falling below AD quality level). That's why I think it's not a good idea trying to get the episode running in other ports as fast as possible at all costs. If these Kex-specific effects cannot be replicated, those maps are going to look rather dull in places where you would otherwise stop to admire the scenery. Losing that wouldn't be worth it.

[Aristotle Gumball]

It does have an unique feeling because of Kex. Almost modern, but not quite. I'd take a whole game of this!

[Dan]

I'm bit disappointed DOTM didn't use anything from the expansions. The default enemy set can get a bit repetitive after a while.

[NightFright]

Well, the fact that they used "mg1" as folder name at least gives some hope there might be another expansion. They could use MP1/2 enemies there, then. Probably they also didn't since there are currently no model remakes available for those.

[NightFright]

People over at QuakeOne made a patch file to make DOTM work in other ports:
https://quakeone.com...-now#post283403

That didn't take long. You will be missing some of the special effects which have been added specifically for the Kex engine, but it should be fully playable.

[jkas789]

NightFright, on 28 August 2021 - 01:05 PM, said:

People over at QuakeOne made a patch file to make DOTM work in other ports:
https://quakeone.com...-now#post283403

That didn't take long. You will be missing some of the special effects which have been added specifically for the Kex engine, but it should be fully playable.

The kex specific effects are transparencies and lighting right?

By the way reading the posts on the thread, I could not help but notice the comments on FTE. I have never used it myself, so I'm curious if it better than quakespasm-spiked? Is it compatible with AD and other popular user episodes?

I have mainly stayed with quakespasm-spiked as my go to Quake sourcerport but I would not be adverse to changing to FTE if it was all right.

EDIT POST PLAYING WITH THE DOM FIX: It's definitely playable, however there is some weird stuff going on. For whatever reason, you can lift and clip through enemies corpses just by walking into them?







This seems to be msotly cosmetic though, and from what I have seen only the zombie soldier mobs. So it is very easy to ignore.

[NightFright]

I'll put it like that: If FTE was that good, everybody would be using it. When it comes to AD, there's hardly any way to avoid QSS if you want to play the maps in the smoothest and visually intended way. I won't suddely switch port just for a mod, that's as much as I can tell you. QSS and other ports might eventually add native support for those Kex episodes or not, it wouldn't matter to me.

[jkas789]

Honestly, Quakespasm & later on Quakespasm-spiked are what i have always used (outside of glquake) so ports like MarkV and FTE exist on my periphery. I always reckoned that if Quakespasm worked then I could just continue using it until it don't.

[NightFright]

Updated my "DOPA Kex" patch in order to also add that missing "Congratulations" screen at the end. Get it here (142 KB).
With this release, you won't even have to edit the pak0.pak file any more.