DirectQ A thanks and one bug

[raithe]

Just tried out DirectQ 1.7.3 and 1.7.666. I have to say this is a great engine. Not too flashy, not too crusty... it's just right. Best feature is the old school waterwarp, but without the tearing. I think this is the only quake engine I've played that does that.

I've had a couple of issues with the controls. Sometimes I just can't stop moving after releasing a key. Cranking up the direct input boost helps some. I'm using a usb keyboard and a logitech usb mouse if that's relevant. Running XP sp2. Input issues have always confounded me so I'm not sure what other information might be helpful. The controls also feel a little "off" compared to Fitz and Enhanced GL. Can't really put my finger on it, they just don't seem as responsive. Maybe the two are related.

All in all though this could become my default quake port. About the only things it's missing are the ability to have the status bar stretch to the edges of the screen in hi-res (like Fitz) and a smiley face crosshair. Yep, now I just gotta make sure it meets with The Helping Head's approval. (He's kinda touchy you know.)

Thanks for all the hard work,
Jack

EDIT:
I finally figured out what was bugging me about the controls. The mouse movement is very choppy. No matter how slow and smooth I move the mouse the view jumps suddenly a little less than a centimeter at a time. So I guess it probably is tied to the other problem. I've tried every combination on the sliders in the mouse settings and while they have their intended effect, they don't affect the jumpiness at all.

[MH]

Nice, always happy to hear a satisfied customer.

The mouse problems might be because DirectInput is on by default in DirectQ (it's off by default in other engines). Have you tried setting m_directinput to 0 (although the mouse behaviour is quite different without DirectInput in Quake)?

[raithe]

Yeah that was the first thing I tried, Direct Input and I have had... issues in the past. However that actually made the problem worse. I'd let off the key and be running around for quite a while before I could stop. The game was still taking other input so it didn't block it all.

Found a couple of other minor bugs,

when you change maps or mods from the menu the crosshair color reverts to white. The menu still shows whatever color you had selected as current though.

hud_sbaralpha will save 0 instead of 0.x in the cfg, if saved from the menu or if the autosave is on.

I got one crash. I entered S into the console, then tab to bring up the list of autocompletes, when I tried to tab through the values past SAVE the game crashed. It's repeatable. Mac style crash; straight to desktop, no error messages.

Oh, and The Helping Head says he doesn't approve at all. You've gone and completely eliminated my need for QuakeOn with all your fancy no command line, in-game mod loading business. (though press and hold working in the menus would significantly reduce the R.S.I. potential of the map list) Which pretty much puts him out of a job. I told him I'd keep him around for editing config files and browsing paks though, so he has grudgingly allowed me to keep DirectQ installed without summoning Satan all over my hard drive thus far.

[MH]

Save has autocomplete on it, so you've likely got some invalid characters or something similar in one of your save names (maybe a really really long save name?). This crash should be also repeatable in the Save menu, and also with Load in the console. I can add some validation here.

Got another report of the sbar alpha; I think I'm likely saving it as an integer in one of the configs instead of as a float.

The crosshair should be easy to fix; white is the default colour, so I should just need to do a custom OnEnter for that menu and read back the correct colour.

[raithe]

Ah, if it has autocomplete then it's probably because I don't have any save games at all. Didn't think of that, I'm not used to clients trying to autocomplete beyond the first whitespace, cool feature though.

[MH]

Ah-ha! Now that IS a serious bug on my part, one I never actually caught (or even tested for before).

Cheers, that one's gonna be stomped.

[MH]

I've had a couple of issues with the controls. Sometimes I just can't stop moving after releasing a key.

Can you confirm if this also happens with the keyboard or is it only with the mouse? I'm doing some work on the input code at the moment and have fixed a number of cases where this happens with the mouse.

Also, did you happen to bring up the console or menu while having that key or button held down?

If it does happen, the fix is to press and release the same key/button again, which should clear down the internal state.

[raithe]

Hey, sorry for the slow reply; been in the hospital. (nothing major, no worries.)

Yeah it happens with only the keyboard, even tried it with the mouse unplugged. Can't try it with a normal keyboard as this is one of those crappy modern system with no legacy ports. <grr>

The console will drop and accept input, even from the the w key (or whichever other one is stuck though it's usually that one as move forward I hold down most) when I bring the console back up I stop moving. Pressing the key again just in the game sometimes works, sometimes not.

IF I can get into an area where fps is really low (sub 25) it's much more likely. That's hard though as it only happens on maps that really push the engine. (My compliments on that, my rig is not the best by a long shot) It's also much more prevalent the more keys I'm holding. (I had to turn always run on because holding the shift key while trying to circle strafe pretty much guarantees it. Though I must say after more extensive testing with Direct Input boost at full it is much less likely.

BTW I'm new to having lots of custom maps for Quake. Is there a way to have all my maps and mods in a subdirectory ( x:\games\quake\mods\foo for example) instead of cluttering up my main quake directory?

EDIT:
Caught another bug. (1.7.666) Crash to console on Quoth Map1 while fighting the first flying drone outside the window. Error Message:
Host Error: CL_ParseServerMessage: Illegible Server Message 63
Last was SVC_ClientData

(let me know if you want these bug reports somewhere else, just trying to offer as much helpful feedback as I can)

[MH]

Here is fine for now I think.

I've just released 1.7.666b which has a somewhat reworked input system, so give that a try and see how you go.

I'll need to hunt down that Quoth crash as a separate matter.

[raithe]

Yep that squashed the input problem flat, both the key sticking and the mouse jumping. Outstanding. Keyboard control seems much smoother also. My fingers definitely thank you for the menu key change.
I'd say have a cookie but since I hear they're changing Cookie-Monster to the Vegie-Monster cookies must be evil now.

[Mr.Burns]

I seem to recall mentioning this in a pm but to put a little more detail on a related topic is anyone getting this when using DirectQuake?



Note the mat black panels in the wall?

also the matt black ammo boxes


and also if I look up and moved the mouse in a certain position I get the following picture. It's a sort of now you see it now you don't scenario...



I'm sure there's a simple logical explaination but I thought it may help MH if he could actually see what I'm seeing.

Keep up the good work MH

Kind regards

Monty

[metchsteekle]

tthe logical explanation is ZOMG IS JEEZUSTALKIN TOJAH!!

naw, but i looks like a gfx/dirver/??? issue as i dont get have these problems

[Mr.Burns]

Hi Metch

I don't get it either with any other quake engine. It's certainly a strange one and I only mention it in the hope that it may help and encourage MH.

It's quite a promising engine and with a few lit files thrown in it can really make a difference to your quake experience.

[R00k]

does this only happen at your FOV or also at fov 90?

[MH]

The sky thing looks like an FOV > 90 bug to me. What map is that? I can test, try to reproduce, and fix if possible.

I remember we went the rounds with the textures thing before, and if memory serves you do have more than 2 TMUs on your card and I couldn't reproduce it at the time. In theory it shouldn't even happen as these surfaces use the same blend modes as alias models, and - as you can see - everything works fine on alias models (torches and the gun models in your screenshot).

Still can't reproduce this one; everything works fine in all my testing.

Questions:

• What version of DirectQ are you using? If it's not 1.8.1 I advise you to upgrade, as it might be fixed in that.
• I also recall that we discussed your 3D card, but could you remind me of what it is?
• Likewise drivers and DirectX version.
• You shouldn't need to install the Visual C++ 2008 runtimes, but I've heard that doing so has fixed other issues for other people, so it might be worth a try. Clicky.