quakeforge-old/NEWS

NEWS for the QuakeForge project
-------------------------------

QuakeForge 0.2

08 Mar 2000 - Massive news updates
	The engine is actually working and working well for perhaps the
	first time since we branched off stable.  A long overdue news
	update is in order.  These things have been added to GL targets:

	Skyboxes
		Put a a Quake2 skybox in mydir/gfx/env and -game mydir,
		set r_skyname to the base name of the sky (for the one
		released on the MegaTF website, use r_skyname night for
		example), load a map with a sky in it, and set r_sky 1.

		You must reload a map for a new r_skyname to take effect.
		The software renderer WILL support this hopefully soon.

	Volumetric fog
		For testing only.  As implemented now it uses the stencil
		buffer (very slow for most of us) and borrows the water
		brush since we don't have a fog brush yet.  raptor suggests
		r_volfog 0.0009 and r_wateralpha 0.3 to test.  You'll need
		watervis'd maps.

	Water Ripples
		We reported earlier that setting r_waterripple to 1 made a
		wave effect.  Actually, if you want a wave effect you can
		see, you'd better set it at least to 5.  Looks good with
		the volfog settings mentioned above.  raptor plans to put
		r_waterripple into the software renderer.

	Rodents with wheels
		If you've got one, you'll be pleased to hear that -x11 and
		-glx now support them the same way -svga does.  You need to
		have ZAxisMapping set in your XF86Config properly.

26 Jan 2000 - Waterwarp bug fixed
	The waterwarp bug has been fixed, set r_waterwarp 1 to use it.


QuakeForge 0.1.0

22 Jan 2000 - cl_sbar and cl_hudswap in uquake
	The cvars cl_sbar and cl_hudswap noe work in uquake just like they
	do in qw-client.  In uquake, cl_sbar defaults to 1 to satisfy the
	least-surprise principle.  Set it to 0 if you want a qw-client like
	HUD.

22 Jan 2000 - changes to command line option -game  [REMOVED!]
	You may now specify multiple game directories with -game.  If for
	example you wanted to use the original registered game with MegaTF
	on a new style binary you would use -game id1,megatf.  It does work
	with traditional style binaries and you may specify as many dirs as
	you like seperated by commas.
	
	One caveat:  Most mods were designed to be the only one in use, it
	may be a Bad Thing to mix certain mods with other mods.

	NOTE: This feature has been removed because it can seriously cause
	      confusion to a game mod.  The proper way to override part of
	      a game is to use different fs_basepath and fs_sharepath.

19 Jan 2000 - changes to cvar r_fog
	Fog color is once again white.  The r_fog cvar is now a control for
	the fog density rather than a simple toggle control.  Eric Windisch
	recommends setting r_fog to .0005 if you're going to use it.

19 Jan 2000 - removed cvar r_mirroralpha
	This was a cheap hack which affected one texture on one map of the
	entire game.  It also wasn't working right, so it's been removed.

19 Jan 2000 - time cheats revisited
	The final word in detecting time/speed cheating is here at long
	last!  Still catches an occasional person who is "not cheating", but
	as it turns out when it does catch such a person they technically
	are cheating.

	This seems to be caused by dodgy cmos clocks used in many machines
	on the market.  If the server occasionally claims you seem to be
	cheating, try installing some sort of ntp program to synchronize
	your clock periodically against a time server.  If this does not
	seem to fix the problem, we'd like to know about it.

18 Jan 2000 - cvar show_fps
	show_fps 1 now works in uquake as well as qw-client.  No more need
	to use timedemo to check performance!  Much more accurate in showing
	where performance is good and where it isn't.

16 Jan 2000 - new ./configure option:  --enable-newstyle
	Use this option when you run ./configure if you wish to use a few
	QuakeForge defaults which are a bit different than Id Software used,
	but do not change the gameplay.

	Currenly all this does is use "base" instead of "id1" for the
	default place to look for your game data.

11 Jan 2000 - New cvar: r_waterripple
	When set to 1 this will create a small wave effect under the GL
	renderer.

09 Jan 2000 - Preliminary IPv6 support
	Support exists in QuakeForge for the use of IPv6.  It's not ready
	for prime time yet.  Still, it deserves mention.

09 Jan 2000 - gl_ztrick default changed
	Since this seems not to work more places than it does at this point,
	the default for the cvar gl_ztrick has been changed from 1 to 0 in
	the glx target.  This value is saved to your config so if it works
	for you just set it to 1.

08 Jan 2000 - Mouse wheel support
	Preliminary support for the wheels found on some mice has been added
	to the Linux SVGALib target.  To use it bind MHWHEELDOWN and
	MHWHEELUP to whatever you want to use the wheel for.

07 Jan 2000 - Options menu changes
	A few things were added to the options menu in some targets such as
	an option for fullscreen and whether or not to use the mouse.

06 Jan 2000 - Output cleanups
	The use of CR and LF in names is a "feature" Id Software clearly
	didn't intend.  General mailing list consensus is that unlike other
	unintended features (rocket jumps for example), this "feature" has
	no real legitimate use.  qw-server now replaces CR's and LF's with
	underscores.

	You will no longer see [e1] or similar crap sent to stdout.  These
	characters are now translated to the nearest ASCII characters,
	resulting in much nicer-looking output.

06 Jan 2000 - PackFile/Findfile messages to stdout removed
	The PackFile and FindFile messages previously sent to stdout no
	longer are.  If you wish to see them again for some reason, set the
	developer cvar to 1.

05 Jan 2000 - Preliminary time cheat detection code
	Preliminary code to detect clients attempting various time related
	cheats has been added.  Some issues persist.

05 Jan 2000 - GL fullbright texture support [REMOVED]
	The GL renderer now supports fullbright textures, though this causes
	a noticable impact on performance.  Use the new cmdline option
	-noglow to disable it if this bugs you.

	NOTE: This was removed for now because it didn't work quite right
	      and -noglow did not in fact actually disable it properly.

02 Jan 2000 - registered game check removed
	The check for a copy of the registered pak files has largely been
	removed since it no longer makes a whole lot of sense with all the
	talk of free complete TC's (total conversions).

	A very simple check for pop.txt (found only in the registered pak
	files) remains to set the cvar registered to 1 if necessary,
	allowing the start map to know whether or not to allow you through
	the gates leading to episodes 2-4.

02 Jan 2000 - crosshairs
	qw-client's crosshair 2 is now supported in uquake.

	A new (for now) GL-renderer-only experimental crosshair 3 has been
	added.  It's obeys the crosshaircolor cvar.  No timeframe on porting
	it to the software renderers yet, but it will happen eventually.

02 Jan 2000 - Removed cvar
	gl_reporttjunctions did nothing at all, removed.

01 Jan 2000 - Changed cvar
	In uquake, the chasecam cvar is now cl_chasecam just like it is in
	qw-client.

01 Jan 2000 - Preliminary volumetric fog
	QuakeForge now has preliminary support for volumetric fog.  The cvar
	r_fog can be set to 1 to try it out.

30 Dec 1999 - CVS tree changes
	We now use autoheader and autoconf.  If you checkout/update your
	tree from CVS you're going to need to run ./bootstrap now to
	perform all the necessary black voodoo needed to allow you to run
	./configure as normal.  This should not be necessary for releases,
	only for the CVS tree and CVS snapshots.

29 Dec 1999 - Known bug in sound init fixed
	A bug which caused QF to segfault if sound could not be initialized
	has been fixed.  If sound can not be initialized, you will now
	simply not hear any.

29 Dec 1999 - Autoconf support
	QuakeForge now uses autoconf!  Run ./configure --help and have a
	look at the options available in case something isn't detected or
	you wish to enable or disable certain compile-time options.

25 Dec 1999 - Keyboard bindings now support keypad keys
	The numeric keypad keys found on many keyboards may now be bound to
	functions.  The names for these keys are (in PC style layout):
	
	KP_NUMLCK       KP_DIVIDE       KP_MULTIPLY     KP_MINUS
	KP_HOME         KP_UPARROW      KP_PGUP
	KP_LEFTARROW    KP_5            KP_RIGHTARROW   KP_PLUS
	KP_END          KP_DOWNARROW    KP_PGDN
	KP_INS                          KP_DEL          KP_ENTER