Well the main issues were textures not in powers of 2...
all textures used should be the power of 2 (2x2, 4x4, 8x8, 16x16,
32x32,64x64,128x128,256x256, 512x512) and indeed to ensure
compatibility with older cards the max size should be 512x512.
I found many textures breaking these rules, even some of
BoltyBoys original ones, so I'm not blaming anyone
Other problems were model shaders (like the bucket in the
stable in the Town map) where if the shader does not have
a "cull none" in the header, the engine will only show
the texture on one face of the model, and so models which
rely on both sides of the mesh to be drawn in game must
have this instruction in its shader.
This is a problem when trying to get maps to look good in
vertex lit mode, since (because of an engine bug) all
lightmapped shaders will look full bright in vertex mode,
unless you create the shader "properly" and then don't
distribute it with the actual map... ok your confused lol....
Shaders can be created with a path name different to that of
the actual texture used, and the engine can cope, however
if you create your shaders with the same path name as the
texture used, and your shader uses "normal" blends, you
can remove the shader after compile, and the .bsp still
retains any surfaceparam info (like woodsteps ect) and since
the path name of the shader is the same as the actual texture,
it finds the texture, and it knows there is a lightmap for it too.
On top of that, it will be correctly vertex lit when in vertex mode.
This is something I discovered and shared with other members of
the wolf mapping community some months ago
There are cases where you must include your shader with
you map however, these cases being:
using alpha channel transparent shaders
scrolling / animated shaders
shaders that require "cull none"
shaders that require anything other than "blendFunc filter"
shaders that require anything other than "rgbGen identity"
oh and most annoyingly all metashaders (Terrain)
.gif "Sad at the sad color")
Here is a simple shader that could be removed after compile,
it would look correct in lightmapped mode and vertex light mode:
PHP Code:
textures/my_map/a_shader
{
qer_editorimage textures/my_map/a_shader.tga
surfaceparm somesteps
{
map $lightmap
rgbGen identity
}
{
map textures/my_map/a_shader.tga
blendFunc filter
rgbGen identity
}
}
and here is an example of an alpha_channel shader (partial transparency)
that would need to be included with the map:
PHP Code:
textures/my_map/an_alpha_shader
{
qer_editorimage textures/my_map/an_alpha_shader.tga
surfaceparm alphashadow
surfaceparm nomarks
cull none
{
map textures/my_map/an_alpha_shader.tga
rgbgen identity
alphaFunc GE128
}
{
map $lightmap
blendFunc filter
rgbgen identity
alphaFunc GE128
}
}
BTW, I had to use PHP tags, cos the CODE tags don't shoe cartridge returns,
and quotes look like normal text !! :/
I believe this is why they removed vertex mode from ET,
something I could enforce in WW, although to-do it
properly I would need to change the wolfmp.exe, which I can't
BACK to Beta3.. lol
I have now finished my other tweaks, which are:
Soldiers now have a health & speed advantage over all
other classes.. not a big advantage, but it may be enough
to encourage more players to play as soldier, as I believe
that currently there is not enough incentive to play as soldier,
but with the changes in accuracy for both the duel colts, and the
gat, along with these speed & health advantages I think I might play
soldier a bit more often
hehe
BTW, rather than increase speed of the soldier I have reduced all others.
Ok, I've also fixed the pickup delay bug, where doctors could not
pickup anything for 5 secs after picking up health..(I've introduced some
nice code to make sure there are no exploits here
) So the penalty
carries over, even if they pickup ammo straight after health.
Also, all classes pickup delay is not active when picking up treasure
(ie the bible in BC & the swag in Town).
I wanted to have a visual indication of the pickup penalty, but since I
made all these time penalties server side, it was more work than I imagined,
and so this feature will have to wait
I've also corrected some prediction problems I was having with these
pickup delays
Man I wish I could just code and do 3D modelling all the time.. I love it
I find mapping a bit of a PITA TBH, although that's probably because I
want to be doing the coding lol... ie if I didn't have to code I'd enjoy the mapping
more swings and roundabouts I guess
Now where was I.. mmm I sure there was something else... errrrrr.. ummmmm..lol
can't remember lol.. so thats it for now..
Hewster
General WildWest Discussion 
Re: Beta3 update info 
don't like it but I got it...
Linear Mode
