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Future vs. Fantasy
Mark V page

I believe Mark V is the *best* engine for running FvF, so I'm making it my officially recommended Quake client for FvF. I have been heavily involved in the testing and features of this engine. It's small, fast, and doesn't mess up Quake's default settings or feel. Plus it has all the right enhancements that make things better, like interpolation for the monsters on the server to make them move smoothly, much better (colored) lighting than the standard, flat-looking Quake lighting, and support for high-quality textures, skins, and skyboxes.

Though there are some settings you'll need to make to get it looking great, so let's get started.




Mark V Downloads

First, download Mark V. There are OpenGL, DirectX, and WinQuake versions. The OpenGL version is the standard, but the DX9 version is probably the most advanced. You can see which works better for you. If all else fails, the WinQuake version should work!
Just download and extract to your Quake folder.

Here are some additional downloads to make things prettier (these are optional enhancements):

Go to the Quake Wiki and download the external lit and vis files for Quake. It should be the first link (9.09 meg). These files go in Quake\id1\maps\ and will make your water properly transparent when you are connected to the server, and also add colored lighting to the maps.

The entire FvF Map pack which contains the Iikka, Terra, and DOPA maps we sometimes run on the server, plus colored light files for each of them. These should go in Quake\fvf\maps\ or Quake\id1\maps\
FvFmaps.7z (10.8 Meg)

A Skybox pack I put together with some cool skyboxes that look good for Quake. These go in Quake\id1\gfx\env\
FvFskyboxes.zip (7.5 Meg)

High-quality Monster skins in Mark V format, plus the old "Shrine of Gunter" texture. These go in your fvf folder (Quake\fvf\progs\ for the skins and Quake\fvf\textures\ for the texture).
FvFmonsters_Fitz.7z (5.5 meg)

A (Medium) High-Quality Texture pack for Quake. This includes all the wall textures and most of the item textures. Extract to your id1 folder.
Texture packs for Quake can be HUGE. Some of them are well over a gigabyte to download. Most of the files in this pack are from The Quake Retexturing Project, with a few extra model skins I grabbed form other sites. I then resized everything by half, resulting in a texture pack that is less than 1/4th the file size (the originals would be over 400 meg to download). Honestly, I don't see the point in making the textures in Quake with such a HUGE pixel count, when even a "medium" quality texture pack is going to be a vast improvement over Quake's default tiny, 256-color DOSy textures.... Try it yourself! The download is actually a reasonable size, and the loading times for these smaller textures in the game should also be less.
Medium-HQtextures.7z (61.1 meg)

If you would like your text to stand out better in Quake, grab this file and stick it in \fvf\gfx\ or \id1\gfx\ conchars.tga

If you've downloaded everything else, you might as well get The Quake CD Soundtrack in MP3 format (I encoded these at 56 kbps to make the file size smaller, and it's not like it was ever going to sound super great playing through Quake anyway :P ). The MP3 files go in Quake\id1\music\
QuakeMusic.7z (22.4 meg)





Mark V Config

You should make a standard batch file in your Quake folder containing: "mark_v -game fvf" to run the mod. Alternately, you can simply run Mark_V and type "game fvf" in the console, but then you will also need to type "exec quake.rc" to load the config files from your fvf folder.


Now let's set up some config files. In your FvF folder, create an autoexec.cfg file and in it put whatever commands you might normally want to be specific to FvF, plus these useful basic commands (you can alter which keys are assigned):

autoexec.cfg
bind f5 screenshot
bind F3 connect fvf.servequake.com
bind shift +hook

exec MarkV.cfg
alias re-exec "fogset;skyset"


If you're not interested in fog or skyboxes, you can remove fogset, skyset, or the whole line. But give them a try first... they are cool effects. You can also add any other commands you want into the re-exec alias; FvF will automatically execute that for you after each map change (normally, fog settings do not carry over after a map change, and this is how I worked around that; it will also automatically cycle through the 3 skyboxes I put in the pack each time you change levels, if you set up the sky.cfg file below).

Now we need some cfg files in your ID1 folder (these aren't FvF-specific, and you may want to run Mark V without FvF at some point, though they can go in the fvf folder if you like.

MarkV.cfg
// Gunter's Mark V config file, version .11


// == Performance Tweaks ==

// these settings can make motion in the game look a bit smoother.
// for full-screen modes, use vsync. (This might cause FPS to struggle if running in a window).
//vid_vsync 1

// For Windowed modes try this instead. Replace 60 with your monitor's refresh rate
// It may look smoother, but you will probably get a tearing effect in windowd modes.
//host_maxfps 60

// Mirrors are a neat effect, but can cause a significant FPS decrease. Disable them:
//r_mirroralpha 1


// == Restore Quake Defaults ==

// if you don't wanna constantly be downloading loc files....
pq_download_http_locs 0

// disable the "Always Run" menu settings which is being enabled. It's bad.
// if you want to always run, set +speed instead
cl_forwardspeed 200
cl_backspeed 200
+speed

// unless you have an international keyboard and it gives you problems, 
// use this setting so that you won't lose control of binding the `/~ key
in_keymap 0

// Default deathmatch-style HUD provides more info on other players
scr_sbarcentered 0

// use Quake's default centerprint position to keep view from being obstructed by long prints
scr_originalquake2d 1

// standard noclip-fly behavior - no unintentional Z movement (easier for observers)
sv_altnoclip 0

// These values precisely mimic normal Quake, 
cl_minpitch -69.93
cl_maxpitch 80.17

// Default Quake weapon model position (see more of your gun)
r_viewmodel_quake 1

// so you don't see your gun weirdly when you zoom in
r_viewmodel_fov 0

// don't hate the turtle!
showturtle 1



// == Feature Optimizations ==

// Make this whatever key you like for zooming
// it's a built-in function, which could be improved, but it works
bind r +zoom_key

// a neat effect -- scrolling EXIT signs
r_texprefix_scrollx z_exit

// Still see your gun transparently when you're invisible
r_viewmodel_ring 1

// This will keep your crosshair accurate even if you use chase_active 1
chase_mode 1

// you need a crosshair to begin with!
crosshair 1

// This may help reduce any flickering textures
gl_zfix 1

// a little motion for the ocean
r_waterripple 1

// partially transparent console so you can still see a bit when it's down
scr_conalpha 0.5

// FPS display 
scr_showfps 1

// bleh, this effect can be ugly. Turn it off. Player gets way too bright.
gl_overbright_models 0

// Turn shadows on
// If transparent shadows look weird, you can set r_shadows 2 for solid shadows
// if your FPS can handle it, try r_shadows 3 for funky shadows
r_shadows 1

// This will make the water and sky look better, with no weird junction lines
gl_subdivide_size 32

// looks cooler with teleporter mist partially transparent
r_texprefix_tele ""

// uniform transparency for liquids
r_wateralpha 0.6
r_slimealpha 0.6
r_lavaalpha 0.6

// colored view blends are a bit too intense due to gamma, so turn then down a bit
gl_polyblend .8

// Quake GPS
scr_showpos 1 

// Particle Tweaking for the QMB effects
// we still need to see the explosion sprite
qmb_explosiontype 0  

// this messes up ninja darts and laser android colored lasers
qmb_laserfire 0



// == User Control Tweaks ==

// F10 to toggle the QMB particle effects, or use the menu. They are off by default.
// They produce neat effects, but are a pretty big change from Quake's standard effects.
bind f10 "toggle qmb_active; qmb_active;"

//  F11/F12 keys to resize HUD, console text, and menu. And enable manual scaling,
// A value of 1.5 for standard resolutions lets you still see player names beside the HUD.
// You can go up to 2 for widescreen resolutions and still see the names.
scr_scaleauto 0
bind F11 "inc scr_sbarscale -0.25; inc scr_conscale -0.25; inc scr_menuscale -0.25; wait; scr_menuscale"
bind F12 "inc scr_sbarscale 0.25; inc scr_conscale 0.25; inc scr_menuscale 0.25; wait; scr_menuscale"

// make sure to initialize the sky.cfg file you will need to cycle skyboxes automatically:
exec sky.cfg

// F9 toggle button for HQ textures + activate a skybox from sky.cfg
alias texon "echo Loading HQ Textures...; wait; bind F9 texoff; external_textures 1; sky3"
alias texoff "echo Loading Standard Textures...; wait; bind F9 texon; external_textures 0; exec sky.cfg"

// HQ textures and skybox can take a while to load
// so if you want to disable them by default, just change this to "texoff":
texon

// F8 Fog Toggle button. Plus fogset alias to rerun at level start, since fog doesn't save.
// Just a a bit of haze to give a sense of depth. Also cloud transparency in the default sky.
// These effects can decrease FPS though, so disable if you need better performance
alias fogon "fog 0.02; r_skyalpha 0.5; bind F8 fogoff; alias fogset fogon; echo Fog On"
alias fogoff "fog 0; r_skyalpha 1; bind F8 fogon; alias fogset fogoff; echo Fog Off"
fogon

r_skyfog 0.05 // a little haze in the sky too



And for the fancy skybox cycling (assuming you downloaded the FvFskybox pack I put together), make:

sky.cfg
sky ""
echo "Skybox Off"
alias skyset "exec sky.cfg"

// F6 for skybox cycling. skyset alias loads next skybox
bind F6 sky1
alias sky1 "bind F6 sky2; sky purple_chaos_; sky; alias skyset sky2"
alias sky2 "bind F6 sky3; sky city_; sky; alias skyset sky3"
alias sky3 "bind F6 sky1; sky hot_; sky; alias skyset sky1"

// F7 to disable skybox
bind F7 "exec sky.cfg; alias skyset exec sky.cfg"




Notes


Here's a quick reference of how your controls will be set up if you use my config files:
 F3      = connect fvf.servequake.com
 F5      = Screenshot

 F6      = Cycle through skyboxes
 F7      = Disable Skybox

 F8      = Toggle Fog and standard sky transparency

 F9      = Toggle High-Quality Textures on/off

 F10     = Toggle QMB effects on/off
 F11/F12 = Resize HUD smaller/larger

Skyboxes and High Quality textures can take a moment to load when a level starts, so you may notice a pause. You can disable these effects if you prefer.

Fog takes no time at all to toggle on or off, so I enabled that by default, along with transparency for the first cloudy layer in standard Quake skies. However, both these effects can cause a decrease in FPS. If you don't like that setting, you can disable it by default by changing the line in the MarkV.cfg from "fogon" to "fogoff"

Note that fog settings do not save across maps, so as a workaround I have the FvF server run a "re-exec" command for each client when the map changes. That's why the autoexec,cfg file above sets up 'alias re-exec "fogset;skyset" ' with those two aliases remembering your fog and skybox settings and restoring them when each map loads (or in the case of the skyset alias, it automatically cycles to the next skybox you have set up). Since there is a delay when loading skyboxes, this will cause a noticeable stutter when you first start each map, if you have skyboxes enabled).... This is a bit different than just having a longer loading time for each map when you have High-Quality Textures enabled, since they will all load before the map starts.

The MP3 music files will also load before the map starts, and this can cause a noticeable delay. You can enable/disable them in the game menu.

I do suggest trying the Quake background music. It's very moody and weird, and adds to the play experience.


Finally, just use that handy F3 button I set up to easily connect to the server!


  5873     hits since December 31, 2020