Gunter, here are my thoughts on the big picture.
I'll tell you some of this, and anyone is free to add-in thoughts or ideas.
The "Big Picture" is not all about the hub, but the hub concept will be integral I think in the long term.
Here I go ... this framework will help explain how the future is going to shape out.
1. There will be a "super" Quake Launcher. It will support the following engines ProQuake, JoeQuake, QRack and DarkPlaces.
These are the only engines with an NAT fix, which basically means they can connect if someone is using a router. If FitzQuake gets an NAT fix, it will be added.
2. The super Quake Launcher will have wild functionality. These launchers will be rolled out in waves. The first wave launchers will be client specific with either the QRack or DarkPlaces one likely coming first and have "lite" functionality.
After those are out, it is likely that the JoeQuake Launcher will come next, which will have a great deal of functionality and then followed by an all Quakes Launcher.
The above could all vary depending on what/when I decide to work on.
The ultimate final product launchers will have a server browser, a "Quake updater" which keeps you current on maps and heavy technical support capabilties (no more asking people "what client are you using" and a million other things, they can paste a "diagnostics" into a forum).
These aren't pie in the sky ideas, most of this code was written by me in August/September 2005 and, in fact, I was about ready to release the JoeQuake Launcher when Joszef released JoeQuake 0.15 which changed many cvar names and 0.15 had some "issues" that were later fixed (all zeros in the ping display) ... but that kind of put me in limbo at the time.
CONTINUED ....
The Big Picture
Anyway, Quake is very unfriendly overall to noobies and the ultimate wave of Quake Launchers will do most tasks that intimidate someone very easily. To play a demo, just double click a demo, etc.
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Getting to the "Hub"
I did some additional thinking and I have an idea. Within a few weeks, depending on priorities, I want to build a client-side hub map and then a server-side hub map.
Here are my thoughts on the client-side hub map.
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You start Quake and go to a hub map. This hub map has 4-5 main exits:
1. An exit to the traditional START map
1a. An exit to a ID map Gateway, like the RQuake intro map, that allows picking a specific ID map with maybe a little cheat shack to get weapons before entering, say, E4M3.
2. An exit to a custom map Gateway for single player, also like the RQuake intro map, with a skill level selector. This could only be for maps that are pure quake\id1\maps material, not for custom maps that come with a progs.dat
3. An exit to a custom episode Gateway for single player that is specifically for custom maps that HAVE a progs.dat!!! I have some ideas on how this can be achieved for JoeQuake/QRack by sending an alias like "disconnect; gamedir lunsp1; map lunsp1" and having this alias executed when going to, say, the teleporter for lunsp1.
4. A direct connect hub that takes you to a client-side hub map to connect to a Quake server.
5. The public hub, which seamlessly transfers you to the public hub.
I noticed you were creative with the models to make arcade machines, but what if REAL arcade machines were already entities in the map (as func_wall or something?).
You did a lot with the start map, despite not having a lot to work with. In an ideal world, the hub map would contain a lot of entities to work with that are ideal for what you want to make.
Blue sky and imagine what you'd really like to see in a public hub map.
What if there were entities for the letters A thru Z? Like letter blocks or something.
Think away!
(Also, it is not necessary that I build the public hub map. I don't know ORL's level of interest, but I know you and ORL seem close and he seems to have talent in mapping. I just mention this because my time availability is not always the greatest and sometimes the availability of someone is a major factor in the speed, flexibility and end result of something).
----
Getting to the "Hub"
I did some additional thinking and I have an idea. Within a few weeks, depending on priorities, I want to build a client-side hub map and then a server-side hub map.
Here are my thoughts on the client-side hub map.
-----
You start Quake and go to a hub map. This hub map has 4-5 main exits:
1. An exit to the traditional START map
1a. An exit to a ID map Gateway, like the RQuake intro map, that allows picking a specific ID map with maybe a little cheat shack to get weapons before entering, say, E4M3.
2. An exit to a custom map Gateway for single player, also like the RQuake intro map, with a skill level selector. This could only be for maps that are pure quake\id1\maps material, not for custom maps that come with a progs.dat
3. An exit to a custom episode Gateway for single player that is specifically for custom maps that HAVE a progs.dat!!! I have some ideas on how this can be achieved for JoeQuake/QRack by sending an alias like "disconnect; gamedir lunsp1; map lunsp1" and having this alias executed when going to, say, the teleporter for lunsp1.
4. A direct connect hub that takes you to a client-side hub map to connect to a Quake server.
5. The public hub, which seamlessly transfers you to the public hub.
I noticed you were creative with the models to make arcade machines, but what if REAL arcade machines were already entities in the map (as func_wall or something?).
You did a lot with the start map, despite not having a lot to work with. In an ideal world, the hub map would contain a lot of entities to work with that are ideal for what you want to make.
Blue sky and imagine what you'd really like to see in a public hub map.
What if there were entities for the letters A thru Z? Like letter blocks or something.
Think away!
(Also, it is not necessary that I build the public hub map. I don't know ORL's level of interest, but I know you and ORL seem close and he seems to have talent in mapping. I just mention this because my time availability is not always the greatest and sometimes the availability of someone is a major factor in the speed, flexibility and end result of something).