Darkplaces+NewDM,all custom maps are solid black.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

I've tried connecting twice so far,and map is all black like shown above,minus players and pickups.

This is the exact same problem I had while trying to play CRCTF on custom maps, using DarkPlaces.

[bta.monster]

Ah, this problem... Quick fix for you:

When the map is done downloading, lower your console and type r_restart. Or restarting Quake will do the same thing.

Not sure why LordHavoc didn't just force the engine to r_restart upon completion of map downloads. This is a common problem... I'll get alot of guys connecting to my server from the DP list and they'll wonder why the map is totally black.

I'm assuming that is what your problem is... if not let me know. Should work fine if you already installed the map pack to quake/id1/maps

[Mindf!3ldzX]

automap download works like a charm! Is there anyway I can auto-mate that process? r_restart bound to key will be the fix for now...

[bta.monster]

Unfortunately, nope. Chatting with LordHavoc, he says darkplaces used to force r_restart but broke at some point. So I'm guessing a new DP version will be uploaded sometime with the fix. Glad that worked for you though