The Ultimate Quake Live Guide

This is a broad guide that should have something to help all levels of player, from absolute beginner to pro level players.
It covers everything from basic setup, input ideals, coloured names/players, to movement concepts and config scripting.

NB. For some reason embeded video's won't show up if you view this in a web browser, please use the Steam client instead.


I kept finding myself repeating things so I wrote this guide on the most asked about cfg settings and QL/Q3 playing tips so you can learn to play like this, or duel just like the professionals and aim to take on Cypher.

This has been taken from my post on the Quake Live official forum - The Ultimate Quake Live Guide[www.quakelive.com], and very slightly modified for Steam.

Please bear with me for a while if there are any errors they will be fixed as soon as possible once reported.

Even before the Quake Live forum post this was originally "Yakumo's q3 guide for all levels of player (mk II)"[www.trickery.net] posted on 27-Oct-2003. Most of it is still entirely applicable to Quake Live, but QL has added a lot since, and removed some unnecessary things also. Always a work in progress.

This guide is many many hours of my work, and I retain the rights to it, please do not repost simply link back to this original, especially as any repost would become out of date.

Yakumo.

©Yakumo unr 2003

Playing Tips

Play lots, play better people than yourself, and spectate better players a lot too and you'll learn, don't be afraid to ask questions, but try not to get too put off or upset or anything if they don't answer, some players just wont, some have had bad days maybe and they don't feel like it, some are just busy, and some will just sadly be unpleasent there are always some online.

No-one can change weapons faster than anyone else, but do bear in mind that you can put the command in to change weapons at any time after you've fired one, and it will change to the new one as soon as that weapons reload cycle is complete.

If you have a lot of experience you tend to have a good idea of what weapons you want to start off a fight with, and what you want to change to as soon as you've hit the first time, or first few times, so you already have a head start, this was especially important in the slower, more tactical quake2.

Many mod's aren't just about good aim, it's about knowing where to go, where to look for people, when to get into or back out of fights, how to prioritize your targets, run the map for powerups, there is a LOT going on, experience counts for an awful lot.

If you ever see someone doing something you don't understand, it seems to fast, or they jump too far etc, don't jump out and call them a cheat as I've had when seen doing the rl to rg Campgrounds jump, try asking politely how it's done, or if they wont explain it come ask some of the players in #quakelive on quakenet irc, though my hope is after reading this guide you should be able to figure out how everything is done even if you can't quite manage it yourself yet =)

Just remember it will all come together after enough practice:

(Thanks RAZ3R)


Yakumo
unr.Yakumo

©Yakumo unr 2003

Hardware

Networking :

WiFi is NOT particularly suitable for realtime online games.
All kinds of weird latency issues such as connection spikes are common. It is worth getting an Ethernet cable connection to your router instead that way you wont suffer from other WiFi interference, microwaves etc. A 30 meter cable can be bought for less than £10 online.

System :

It barely matters these days the Q3 engine QL is based on runs so welln any accelerated card, and most can achieve the 125fps prefference for pro level competing.

NB. Disable pre-rendering of frames in graphics drivers to cut 3 frame+ input lag (globally or for the quakelive.exe)

Controllers :

The best way to play FPS games is with a mouse/keyboard combo, keyboard for forward/back strafe left/right usually on the cursor keys or W,A,S,D, and the mouse to aim/fire/jump.

Keyboards :

Near anything will get you started, but cheap keyboards have a small signal buffer which ends up causing combinations to fail, for example not being able to run forwards while changing to a particular weapon, or move right while ducking.

Look for 'anti ghosting' 6KRO or even NKRO to avoid this.
You should also consider the health implications (RSI, cramps) of a bad keyboard.

In Depth - please read the Keyboards section

Mice :

Though the IE 3, WMO 1.1 and IMO 1.1 are still used by several world top professional players sensor technology has moved on significantly.

Optical mice are far superior to ball based mice, more reliable, accurate, easier to clean and longer lasting. Avoid unknown mice as the sensor will likely be sub par and often lose it's tracking (stop reading / go crazy)

Recommendations :

• Razer Deathadder 2013
  
• Zowie FK2
  
• Zowie FK1
  
• Logitec g9x
  
• Steelseries Xai
  
• Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1a (WMO)
  
• Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical 1.1a (IMO)
  
• Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer v3 (IE 3)

*MS 'a' version mice are simply OEM, no box, otherwise identical to 1.1.

In Depth - please read the section on Mice

NB. See Sensitivity in Mouse Ssensitivity Calculation

Quake Protection :

If you're a heavy player and are getting sore red marks or calluses on your mouse hand palm, buy SmudgeGuard[www.smudgeguard.com] it almost eliminates the problem entirely even for 5 hour a day players, and means you can play longer without discomfort. Less geeky than explaining away 'Quake Palm'.

Mousemat :

A good pad won't confuse your sensor, wear down limiting life and creating dirt, wear teflon feet down much, be hard to clean, or be hard on you physically. A desk is not a good mouse surface option it will make your mouse feet filthy and destroy them.

Hard mats:

• Steelseries SX - The best hard mat you can buy imo. Aluminium. It's maybe slightly more wear on teflon feet than cloth but they are cheep to replace, after a year my pad is completely unchanged.
  
• Icemat black (steelseries i-2) - My favourite for 10 years playing Quake (the clear ones are not good for laser mice).Toughened glass. bl0key used to use an icemat but now high DPI mice make it feel like it's losing tracking.
  
• Razer Destructor - After 3 months of seriously excessive play (100,000+ frags) this now has the friction of a cloth pad, it's still good but I replaced it with the SX.

Soft/ Cloth mats:Often still the choice of real Pros, I just don't like having to replace them often.

• Razer Goliathus Speed Alpha
  
• Steelseries QcK heavy
  
• Alsop

Sound :

I occasionally play without sound, it's relatively easy in FFA as dying doesn't really matter, and I'm so used to the maps, where to expect people to show up etc, it helps raise your visual awareness and accuracy when doing 180 turns.

If you really want to be on top of your game then headphones are a MUST, absolutely essential for clan games or duel. 5.1 speakers are all very well but q3 only really produces 2d stereo sound, the absolute best way to be able to hear accurately where people are, from as great a distance as possible is play using headphones. When used to the maps and sounds of players moving around you can accurately predict when they will appear around a corner and plant a rocket at their feet before they get there, or even rail them almost before they even realise they've turned corner themselves. You can also get a rough idea of how damaged someone is so you know whether to keep hunting them down or make a brake for more items yourself:
previewyoutube=n7n1xxZCyEg;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]


Budget choice - plantronics headphones[www.plantronics.com]
Well built, have good mics for voice comms. A good headset mic is the only way to use voicecomms, playing with speakers gives massive feedback and will really annoy all of your team.
Alternatively sennheiser[www.sennheiser.co.uk], their kevlar reinforced cable has lasted 8 years so far on my headphones.

No I'm not sponsored by any of these products (boo, I know they've all sold a lot over the years from this guide) but they ARE fantastic

Cat has also written A Guide to Gear and Settings.[www.quakelive.com] which is very good.

Posture / Health

It's best to not be looking down at your monitor, but straight or slightly up, otherwise you'll end up with neck and general posture problems, it's worth thinking about this as you could end up in that position for thousands of hours over the years, and habits form fast. Also don't forget to blink, playing games people concentrate so much it inhibits the blink reflex, and your eyes will dry up.

Please check out the anti RSI health recommendations in the Keyboards pt2 section

Abbreviations and Common Terms

MG - MachineGun
SG - ShotGun (SSG - SuperShotGun relic from q1/q2 days)
PG - Plasma Gun (PR - Plasma Rifle)
LG - Lightning Gun
GL - Grenade Launcher
RL - Rocket Launcher

RG - Rail Gun (yay)
BFG - Big F****** Gun
NG - NailGun
CG - Chaingun
Prox - Proximity Mines

RA - Red Armour
YA - Yellow Armour
MH/Mega - Mega Health/100 Health poweup
RJ - Rocket Jump
PJ - Plasma Jump or Phone Jack

TN - Timenudge
FFA - Free For All
DM - DeathMatch (same as FFA)
TDM - Team DeathMatch
CTF - Capture the Flag

CA - Clan Arena
SJ - Strafe Jump
CJ - Circle jump
CSJ - Circle Strafe Jump
OB - OverBounce (not in QL, see bellow)


Vert - Short for 'Vertical' in Quake you can only look so far up before it locks. A shot that hits from this position fully locked up is a 'vert'. The most impressive shots to pull off. Especially If the
opponent is far away, and you RG, RL them or PG/LG pin/carry them maintaining the vert using strafe to keep hitting.

LAG - Slang for latency, when your ping is high, or just when it goes higher than normal.
Spikes - With cg_lagometer 1 you see a green bar representing your connection, if your ping fluctuations show as spikes on the bar.
llama - a lame player for x reason =)

Hitscan - Weapons that just plot where it was fired from and where it's going to hit, it gets there as soon as the server registers that you fired it, as opposed to range weapons like the rocket launcher where the projectile travels from point a to point b and it takes time.

Ping - Networking term for timing how long it takes a packet to it's destination and back again, like a submarines radar ping. This is shown by your name on the scoreboard. Lower is better, it makes the game smoother and aiming easier without having to lead shots.

The next three are terms you might hear from oldschool Q3A players -

VQ3 - Vanilla Quake 3 :normal Q3 with no mod, so it just uses only the pk3's from the "baseq3" directory.

OSP - Orange Smoothie Productions - Also the name of the most reliable, secure anti cheat mod for Q3, that is also designed for league server administration, much more advanced voting and other options than normal Q3, it also has slightly improved (in most peoples eyes) net code to VQ3.

CPMA - Challange Pro Mode Arena - A mod which introduced CPM physics a strange mix of q1/q2/q3 movement, makes for very intense games, with q2 style trick jumps, there's a lot more to learn with CPM about moving around etc than normal Q3 physics so it tends to keep newbies away as they get slaughtered by CPM regulars, it is a hell of a lot of fun playing with people of your own level though. It's adictive as there's so much more scope for learning new things.
Quake Live's impliementation of CPM was called PQL (Pro Quake Live) and is now known as Turbo.

Weapon Selection

If you are still using keys or the mousewheel to scroll through weapons you are going to find it hard going online and find many players go from one gun to another faster. The best thing to do is to have one button per weapon. I have RL and RG on mwheelup/down and the rest on keys for example.

Most of this configuration can be easily done via the in game menu, or using the console with the
\bind command.

eg:

\bind WHEELUP "weapon 7"

But there will be more on the use of the command console and scripting configuration later.

Advanced Movement

High wall jumping : In Q3A on LostWorld (q3dm13) you can run straight towards the 100h and jump up to it from the floor when you bash your knees against the wall, there are quite a few steps in q3 that are that exact height and you need your fps locked to 75 or 125 to be able to do it.

In Q3 this was an FPS only thing, all the other tricks require skill and practice not a specific config setting. In QL it should work for all FPS, and most of these jumps have actually been lowered anyway (dm13 MH)

You can also manage it from a distance as long as you jump at the point where you will hit the wall at the peak of your jump.

Rocket Jumping (RJ) : make sure you have more than 50 health, or as low as maybe 35 and a lot of armour, look down, or at an angle behind you or to one side depending on where you want to go, and press jump followed by fire a picosecond after (or at the same time with less sensitive button mice, but you risk a dud jump) This is another reason why it's best to have fire on mouse1, and jump on mouse2. Practice offline or just play clan arena somewhere. If you are on a very poor connection and forgot to set cl_packetdup 0 you may have a bad time trying to rocket jump as it tries to jump you twice or all sorts of weird things.

AutoHop : This was a new addition for the most recent Quake Live releases including the Steam release. Walk speed in QL is 161 units per second (UPS). Running forwards is 320ups.
Simply hold jump and forward at the same time and you can gain up to double normal running speed (640ups) though getting close to this maxumum speed takes manny jumps.

Strafe Jumping : jumping while holding forward+left of right travels further, you can build up a large amount of speed by doing this repeatedly using the mouse to guide your direction, and pressing jump again just before you hit the ground. It can be mixed with circle jumping to get insane speeds and distance per jump, it's possible to get 640ups in just three hops. See
Quake Live Strafe Jump Troubleshooting (tutorial video)[www.quakelive.com] ,

from RAZ3R's QL training map.

Plasma Jumping : Same as rocket jumping but only has a small effect, and only works if you are looking absolutely straight down best used when running forwards or you wont get anywhere really, useful is on dm5 getting to the RA from the YA floor quickly without having to line up run-up strafe jumps.

Plasma Climbing : It's best to have some armour, and a lot of plasma ammo, go up to a wall, and look diagonally down, the angle you want is basically looking straight at the join between the floor and the wall as you are as far forward as you can go, jump up holding forwards, press and hold fire, and most importantly LET GO OF JUMP, if you don't let go of jump you go nowhere! (in QL you can get max height holding jump, but if you need to hit strafe you stop)

Circle Jumping : This one I'm afraid is almost unexplainable in text, it's a fairly fast flick of the mouse from as you jump, it gains you even more speed and distance with you jumps and requires a LOT of practice, it's the HARDEST and most advanced trick there is in Quake so don't expect to get it even after days of practising, There's Q3A practice maps[http//ftp] or the q3a DEFRAG mod, but for QL see RAZ3R's training map[www.quakelive.com]

(howto vid on youtube)[/url].

Bunnying / CPM / Turbo Movement
Some people could write an entire guide on this on it's own.
Turbo (previously PQL) has heavy air control enabled, so when you're moving in the air, you move rapidly towards where you are looking if you also press a movement key.
When strafing you can maintain the speed you are at while holding forward only, or if you hold only left or only right as you turn you can take tight corners and also accelerate rapidly as you turn.
This can make for very fast movement arround a map when well practiced.

If you really want to see how it all works in Q3 (slightly different angles need in QL) tutorials for Q3A Defrag trickjump mod :
Genesis pt1,

Genesis pt2

Other than that you really need to be on a server with someone good at them to guide you =)

Teleport Jumps : Press jump while you are actually inside teleporter, it can get you across the gap to the CG platform, it can get you a VERY fast exit from the teleporter. on ProvingGrounds, if you let go of holding forward just before you click jump inside the teleporter, and hold a direction immediately after exiting the teleporter you can make it onto the side of the platform with the chaingun on instead of falling to near the jump pad below. These work best if you jump into the teleport to start, when you come out again if you do it right the sound effect is 2 jumps rapidly together, like Q2's double jumping.
The Steam release of Quake Live makes it trivial however, you simply have to hold your jump key (as long as cg_autohop is 1)

OverBounce - a bug in the Q3a physics code & maps that would let you jump very far/high/fast after hitting the ground at certain points, more reliably on certain server settings. eg. you could land on the YA near the MH on dm7 and bounce back to the bridge without pressing jump.
OverBounce bugs have been removed from Quake Live.

The Command Console

Some settings that do not have UI menu's are accessible through a command console. Settings that could be used to cheat are locked and can not be changed in multilayer games. Quake Live advanced menus cover more settings that previous games, but there are still some things that can only be done if you use the console or edit your cfg.

To open the console in Quake Live hold CTR+ALT and then hit the tilde key (above tab).

The tab key auto-completes commands, map names and (if disconnected) demo names like a unix terminal.

Text copied into the windows clipboard can be pasted into the console with ctrl+v

type
\com_allowconsole 1
and then hit enter, and you will not need to hold ctrl+alt any more to toggle the console with tilde.

All console commands should be prefixed with \ if you forget just hit tab and it will auto-complete it for you.

\cvarlist
will list all variables you can change
the *wildcard works so ..

\cvarlist *mou*
will list all variables containing mou

\cmdlist lists commands

\bind x "say_team ^3quad soon!" now pressing x tells your team

\callvote (options) call a vote, there is a short alias of the command 'cv' you can also use, most of this can be done in Quake Live's options menu, but quicker to type.
eg. \cv map retribution ffa.
will load retribution with the ffa factory.

\quit instantly quits q3a/QL.
\ragequit same but prints 'ragequit'

\in_mouse 2 mouse input mode. 0 off, -1 win32, 1 directInput, 2 raw (best)
\in_mouseMode shows you the active setting
\in_restart restarts the input system to activate changes

network settings for cable/adsl :

\com_idlesleep 0
A setting of 0 stops the CPU entering a sleep state when idle between frames,
the default of 1 causes frame rate issues on many systems, but uses less power (wattage).

\cl_packetdup 0

(stops it sending repeated date that's supposed to help keep gameplay
smooth over packet loss, not many people actually get any packet loss
these days though, if it's not 0 then weapons are unresponsive on isdn
or modems)

\cg_predictitems 0

Stops you hearing an item pickup noise only to hear it repeated again
when someone on a lower ping actually got their first but the server
hadn't caught up yet

\cg_predictLocalRailshots 1 - changes weather the rail fire
effect is predicted or not, 1 is snappier, 0 makes me feel it looks like
I hit when I didn't and vice versa.

\cl_autotimenudge : Extrapolates player movement client side, recomended if your latency is very high, but it can highlight other players connection problems by making them look very jittery.

Refresh rate : if you use win2k/xp/vista a lot of people have
problems with games stuck at 60hz, that makes them seem flickery, in Q3/QL
you can force a refresh rate by using r_displayrefresh, if you have a
USB mouse, and your monitor supports it, it's best to use a resolution
that enables you to use a refresh rate of 120hz ( r_displayrefresh 120 ) or even 144hz or more.
The refresh rate denotes the number of frames a second you will actually SEE as the screen updates that often, no matter how many the game is reporting it is rendering.


With some drivers even if your monitor supports your chosen rez at 120hz windows may not recognise it, but you can usually add custom resolutions in the control panel. Do NOT mess with this unless you know for sure your monitor supports the refresh rate you want or you could damage your monitor testing it.


\com_maxfps : Quake Live does not have physics or networking dependencies on frame rate. All jumps should be perfectly achievable for all players. 125 is still the preference to play on as GPU's do not motion blur between frames, and it syncs well with mouse input.
Lower than 125 will not disadvantage your movement, so it can help to cap it a bit lower to maintain a consistent rate for a more playable experience if your computer is having problems maintaining 125.
Up to 250 is available now but >125 and <250 reduces your packets drastically. 250 also has a sound bug with footsep noises missing, so many players that can even hold 250 solid and still keeping 125 set.

Quake2 sent and received a set number of packets per frame, Q3/QL uses cl_maxpackets to govern this instead, all the graphics display is totally separate from networking.

BLOCK PLAYER CHAT
If you feel the need to ignore a player, but it's not so bad you wish to record it and submit it to suppot to have them disciplined you can use \clientmute eg:

\block Annoying Trolls
you need the player id, to do this
/players
will list the players on the server, you want the playerID on the far left, not the long steamID.
/clientmute 3
will mute player 3

This will mute ALL chat from them both text and voice.

to unmute someone
/clientmute 3

This can also be done through (esc. menu) -> admin menu -> click a player then the mute toggle button.

For other settings see Configs Part 2, below and my CFG attachment with comments. You can also read Lorfa's cvar guide[www.regurge.at] or the Advanced Client Options[esreality.com] thread on ESR.

Highly recommended settings

In the command console I highly reccomend you set at least :

com_idleSleep 0
r_primitives 2

com_idleSleep 0 prevents your CPU going into sleep states between frames, this was designed to lower power consumption, but causes glitches and bad frame rate loss on many PCs.

r_primitives 2 is a render setting, the default 0 should autodetect which OpenGL system to use (strips or glDrawelements, glDrawelements are faster) but fails to detect some modern cards correctly, it's best to just set it to 2 as any card made after ~2005 supports glDrawelements.

Configs pt1

All of your setup information is stored in a .cfg file, if you start quake3 and there are no cfg files in it's baseq3 folder then it generates a default qzconfig.cfg file for you. Everything in it can be altered with a normal text editor, though if you open the generated ones it may look wrong as it is in linux format so it will seem to be all on one line with notepad, a good editor like notepad++ will have no problem with it. The settings in the cfg file relate directly to the console commands, so if you know the console, you can write a cfg, and vice versa.

Quake Live puts its cfg files into -

STEAM:

\Steam\SteamApps\common\Quake Live\<SteamID64>\baseq3

If there are multiple folders as multiple accounts have been used on your machine, you can find which is your SteamID64 on http://steamidfinder.com/ by pasting in the steam profile URL for the account you wish to use. Or start QL, and /writeconfig testdump.cfg and see which directory has that file placed in it.

Stand Alone (non Steam installs) :
(copy and paste exactly into address bar of explorer, or start -> run dialog )
Vista/win7/8 -

%AppData%\..\LocalLow\id Software\quakelive\home\baseq3

XP -

%appdata%\id Software\quakelive\home\baseq3

Linux (pre standalone) -

~/.quakelive/quakelive/home/baseq3/

OSX (pre standalone) -

~/Library/Application\ Support/Quakelive/

They are plain txt files you can open and edit with notepad / notepad++ etc.

Each line takes one command usually, and you can comment out any line with // at the beginning.

It is not a good idea to change the qzconfig.cfg, as every time you quit quake it re-writes this file, a crash may corrupt it.

When QL loads up, it looks for, and then loads the files qzconfig.cfg, and then, if it exists, autoexec.cfg from the directory of the currently running mod.

More advanced users may like to create YourName.cfg in the same directory with all your permanent settings & scripts , and just have 'exec YourName.cfg' in autoexec.cfg

\Exec name.cfg is the console command to run a config.

For simplicity in quakelive, and as their aren't different mod directories I have just been using the command 'writeconfig autoexec' to dump out whatever my current cfg is, to a file that wont be overwritten by the game, that gets loaded up automatically.

WHY MANUAL CFG'S?

q: doesn't QL save my config already?
a: yes, it does, same as q3a it will save them to the default cfg file.

in q3a it is 'q3config.cfg' in QL it is 'qzconfig.cfg'.

BUT that file is saved every time you quit the game, and so if something goes wrong the file can end up with settings you don't want, or worse reset to default entirely.

Also sometimes the odd var consistently does not get saved to q3 or qzconfig.cfg such as r_displayrefresh (and I think in ql cg_predictLocalRailshots), you would have to keep typing them in every time it loads if you don't create an autoexec.cfg

\ALIAS COMMAND (+vstr)

-thing exists for all +things built into QL, so +moveup has a coresponding -moveup that is called when the key is released.

You can now create these, or script shortcuts that don't need vstr in front with the /alias command

/alias +vWalk "r_fastsky 0;cg_draw2d 0"
/alias -vWalk "r_fastsky 1;cg_draw2d 1"

/bind space +vWalk

so in this made up example the sky would be drawn but all hud graphics would disaapear as space was held, and they would return when it was released.

It is also possible to do

/alias campgrounds "callvote map campgrounds"

and then call that vote with

/campgrounds

instead of /vstr campgrounds if you had made a seta style script.

/unalias +vWalk
/unalias -vWalk

will wipe the example alias
or /unaliasall to wipe all

CG_TRUELIGHTNING

SyncError lähetti viestin:

injx lähetti viestin:

if you want your shaft to appear in the place where it hits, including antilag effects, you need:

y=1 (ping 80ms or less)
y=80 / x (ping greater than 80ms)

x is ping in ms, y is value of cg_truelightning.

This is all entirely correct.

Configs Part 2

Some common tweaks you may come accross in CFG's, not available in the in game advanced menu are :

r_enablePostProcessing 0 - disables bloom and colour correction, can give an fps boost.

s_mixahead "0.140" very advanced tweak, needs a lot of testing
s_mixPreStep "0.05" - Can give a large FPS boost if you really need it, but can corrupt audio and give net spikes (code blocking I guess)

• Can cause netgraph blips even if audio seems fine, careful
  
• s_mixahead should be a larger value than s_mixPreStep (and can cause voiceChat to break)
  
• Benchmark a demo with 16 players to check FPS.
  
• Shoot an 'I can win' bot to check the MG hit sound isn't lagged.
  
• Test a 16 player nightmare practice match on Longest Yard (dm17) will soon find if audio will crackle.
  
• Always reset this to default before debugging any audio problems after any updates.

For my PC 0.11 mix and 0.06 preSetp give ~ 10fps boost without issues. Keep mixprestep between 0 and 0.10, higher gives more fps but more chance of crackle.

r_ext_compressed_textures 1 - gains FPS on many systems, with tiny IQ loss you probably wont notice ever.
cg_shadows 0 - they can be handy, but if 1 fps is harmed badly on most hardware with many players on.
r_ignorehwgamma 1 - This has a negative side effect of disabling windows Aero when you launch quake. set to 0 will not do this, but other settings have to be tweaked to try and match visual gamma/intensity compared to having it on 1.
r_contrast - this is only usable if post processing is enabled.
cg_smoothclients, snaps - removed in QL
cl_maxpackets 125 - maximum number of packets you can send the server

r_depthbits 24 - If you have a gfx card with a 32bit Z (depth) buffer, then this should be 24 (not 32). This is nothing to do with the colour depth.
r_stencilbits 8 - this is where the other 8 bits are used (needed if you want advanced shadows)

cg_simpleItemsBob
0 off
1 all
2 major items only.

cg_damagePlumColorStyle
1 damage colours that fade from bright white to dark red gradually from damage 1 to 100
2 damage colours (colour matches crosshairhitstyle 1 colours),
3 it matches the weapon icon colours.

cg_damagePlum
The three settings from the advanced game menu give :
all set:
cg_damagePlum "g mg sg gl rl lg rg pg bfg gh cg ng pl hmg"

or for just AoE (area of effect) it's set to
cg_damagePlum "sg gl rl pg bfg"

or off:
clearcvar cg_damagePlum

obviously you can tailor it to be for any weapons you like by editing out what you don't want from the list above

"cg_simpleItemsBob", "cg_damagePlum" may not autocomplete in the console at first until they're set but these are correct, it's 'plum' not 'plums'.

cg_autohop
0 disables hold +moveup to keep hopping
1 default.
It's pretty much unoticable if you're used to QL movement, but you may want to use this to force autohop off on your client.

cg_powerupPOIs
0 off
1 hidden when not looking through a wall
2 default, see through walls.

/bind x "weapon toggle"
Swap between primary and secondary loadout weapon.
It always goes to primary first from any other weapon, unless you're already on primary then it swaps to secondary as you'd expect.
You can't direct bind secondary, you can only double tap the toggle key but doing this won't give two weapon changes, it will go straight to secondary.

/kill
It's not new, but it is now allowed on all default severs, with a 1 second spawn penalty.

seta wp "rl"
seta ws "sg"
The loadout menu sets these, or you can currently script it your self to control your weapon primary, and weapon secondary, then you need to /kill to receive them.

all of these are in the in game menus, except for the autohop option

Configs part 3 & Complex Scripting

EXTENDED KEYS

On UK keyboards you can bind the \ key that lays in between SHIFT and Z as 0x00

eg.

bind 0x00 +zoom

This one single bind actually covers all unknown keys.
For some reason +attack will not work bound to this key at all, but most if not all other + functions work.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPLEX SCRIPTING (Advanced users)

Example 1: Scripted toggling

If a cvar is a boolean (two states only, 0 or 1) then all you need is the 'toggle' command to switch it's states, eg:

bind f4 "toggle r_fastsky"

If you want to switch values between 0 and X (value that is not 1), or switch between three or more states, or switch through strings of text for chat binds then you have to script.

Each line just sets the values you want to choose, then sets the toggling cvar you create to the next in order, until the end which calls the first instead so it all loops around :

Crosshair cycle example :

seta _xh0 "cg_drawcrosshair 0;set _xhair vstr _xh1" //sets value, then sets toggle cvar to call NEXT in line
seta _xh1 "cg_drawcrosshair 1;set _xhair vstr _xh2" //ditto
seta _xh2 "cg_drawcrosshair 2;set _xhair vstr _xh3" //ditto
seta _xh3 "cg_drawcrosshair 3;set _xhair vstr _xh4" //ditto
seta _xh4 "cg_drawcrosshair 4;set _xhair vstr _xh5" //ditto
seta _xh5 "cg_drawcrosshair 5;set _xhair vstr _xh0" //sets value, then sets toggle cvar to call FIRST option

vstr _xh1 //call one of the states to set it as default that will be how game starts, and create your toggle  cvar ('_xhair'  in this case) in memory.

bind END "vstr _xhair" //bind a key to the toggle cvar

The result of this example is pressing END loops through the _xh? lines endlessly, line by line top to bottom.

If you only wanted to toggle between two states, in the above example you would simply remove lines 2-5, leaving only the definition for _xh1 at the top, _xh5 at the bottom (that sets the toggle cvar to recall the top line), the default call, and the bind.

There are a few examples in my CFG attached in post 4[www.quakelive.com], hopefully that coupled with this explanation will help you understand.

Example 2: setting per-weapon sensitivities. When you set a value that's it, it's set, nothing will automatically unset it for you.

so if you have

seta sensitivity "7"
bind 1  "weapon 1"
bind 2  "weapon 2"
bind 4 "weapon 4"
bind 5 "weapon 5"
bind 6 "weapon 6;sensitivity 2"

the moment you hit '6' your sensitivity is stuck at 2 for all other weapons still. hitting 1,2,4 does not change it again. Only re-running your entire .cfg would help as that would call the first line 'sensitivity 7' again


So you have to force it back to 7 if weap 1 is hit, but also you want the same for weap 2, weap 4 etc.

NB. script commands are run in order, one by one, left to right

seta sensitivity "4"
bind 1  "weapon 1;sensitivity 7"
bind 2  "weapon 2;sensitivity 7"
bind 3 "weapon 3;sensitivity 7"
bind 4 "weapon 4;sensitivity 7"
bind 5 "weapon 5;sensitivity 7"
bind 6 "weapon 6;sensitivity 2"

And now you could also easily chose a different sensitivity for every weapon.

The only way to do it reducing the values you have to type in if you want to change your default sens if you regularly tweak your config is to rig a default cvar:

nb. I use '_' a lot in my scipts so my added cvars don't auto-complete when I'm searching for in built quake commands in the console. Some
people dislike that.

seta _dsens "sensitivity 4;cg_drawgun 0" //creates a default script item, you can put anything here as shown
vstr _dsens  //run default settings once so thats how it is when you  start the game
bind 1  "weapon 1;vstr _dsens" //every weapon you want to use default  setup calls _dsens
bind 2  "weapon 2;vstr _dsens"
bind 3 "weapon 3;vstr _dsens" 
bind 4 "weapon 4;vstr _dsens"
bind 5 "weapon 5;vstr _dsens"
bind 6 "weapon 6;vstr _dsens;sensitivity 4"//calls _dsens first to  keep the drawgun default, then overrides sensitivity
bind 7 "weapon 7;vstr _dsens;cg_drawgun 2" //calls _dsens first to keep  the sensitivity default, then overrides cg_drawgun

If you have more than one key/button bound to a weapon, then it can help to make a manageable cfg to have weapon scripts that you bind, instead of a copy of a long complex line for every bind that you have to chase down and alter each one of if you ever want to change your settings for a weapon :

seta _dsens "sensitivity 4;cg_drawgun 0" 
seta _G "weapon 1;vstr _dsens
seta _MG "weapon 2;vstr _dsens
seta _SG "weapon 3;vstr _dsens
seta _LG "weapon 6;vstr _dsens;sensitivity 4"
seta _RG "weapon 7;vstr _dsens;cg_drawgun 2"

bind 1 "vstr _G"
bind 2 "vstr _MG"
bind 3 "vstr _SG"
bind 6 "vstr _LG"
bind 7 "vstr _RG"

bind tab "vstr _SG"
bind Mouse4 "vstr _LG"

This way if you want to change your LG settings you only have to modify the seta _LG line, and not every single place you have a bind for the LG.

You can also just override the set of cg_weaponConfig_XX variables, these get called automatically when you change to a weapon, see my CFG for details.

Demos & Benchmarking

To record a demo simply type
\record
into the console and a demo will be recorded with an automatically generated name.

\record mydemoname
would record a demo called 'mydemoname'

\demo mydemoname
plays the demo 'mydemoname'

Demo's are stored in the \demos folder under the same folder holding your .cfg files.

You can benchmark your system with the current settings by using -

\timedemo 1
\demo yaku_bench1

or any other demo, yaku_bench1[www.fileswap.com] (linked) is a fast, hectic demo of a full game taken online, it is over in 3 minutes so is a good way to quickly get a fairly realistic benchmark figure but in very little time.
\cg_autoaction 0
0 - do nothing
1 - auto record all games
2 - auto record a screenshot at end of all games
3 - auto record demo and screenshot

cl_demoRecordMessage 0 hides the recording demo message

Wolf Whisperer[www.wolfwhisperer.net] Utterly amazing demo viewer/editor built around WolfCamQL, comes with wolfcam 9.11 but easilly updated just by downloading the 11.x zip or newer and putting it in the 'upgrade' dir (no unzipping) then restart WolfWhisperer.
Quake Live Demo Tools (QLDT) [sourceforge.net] windows tool for parsing demo's (does not currently work with dm90 demos sadly)

Finally ExtraQL[sourceforge.net] is an excellent script for several things.

I've also attached a demo.cfg for demo playback to this post, if you bind your cursor keys to things for use in game, you would need to \exec demo.cfg before demo playback, or when your CFG is loaded again it will take over the cursor binds :

UPARROW=normal speed
DOWNARROW=Pause
LEFTARROW=timescale decrease (0.9, .08, 0.7 etc) slowmo
LEFTARROW=timescale increase (0.9, .08, 0.7 etc) ffwd

Added controls :

numpad insert : toggle r_shownormals

numpad 5=toggle 3rd person
numpad up/down=zoom in/out 3rd
numpad left/right=pan around 3rd

Grayscale to Color Video Effect by GreasedScotsman, bound to kp_plus

Yakumo Example CFG

BACK UP YOUR OWN CONFIG BEFORE USING THIS BY DOING \WRITECONFIG (yourname)

Due to lack of room, I'm laving the rest to my CFG it has comments for most obscure settings now.

(lol, last time i pasted my cfg n this guide was 27/10/2003, today is 27/02/2009 nearly 5 and a half years to the day.)

The swelt hud I was using throughout the QL beta is attached, it is a very minor mod that i mostly use for the moved clock.It was original posted in the giant hud thread on the official forums here. I started to use it as I used to dislike the default Quake Live one so much compared to the default Q3A hud that I have always used.

For custom huds the 2 files go in baseq3\ui where 'baseq3' is the one described above that holds your config files.

I would NOT just copy this into your own install as your monitor may not like the rez/refresh combo, remove/change r_mode and r_displayrefresh to make it safe.

PLEASE NOTE cg_autoaction "1" records *ALL* games, you probably want to set that to 0.

Finally, PLEASE MAKE SURE you search for 'name' and 'clan' (appears 3 times in scripts) throughout and change to your own!

In autoexec.cfg I just have :

exec Yakumo.cfg
//end

My basic Yakumo.cfg can be downloaded here[s000.tinyupload.com], and the custom hud is included.NOTE: This is an old config that has not been updated for the Steam version it should be used for learning purposes only.

Current cfg with all Steam fixes (including the hud) is more complex, designed to enable easy modification of weapons/sensitivities if you wish (I keep them the same atm though), the weapon system is a reworked one based on noctis's cfg, it's on my ESReality profile[www.esreality.com] ( steam breaks the & and there seems to be no way to fix it, it should read "?a=users&user_id=24863" after the / ) where it says 'Config: Available' or the mirror here[s000.tinyupload.com]

Use an editor that understands unix line breaks or it will al seem garbled on one line. Even better use one like Notepad++[notepad-plus.sourceforge.net] (Free) that you can tell to view .cfg files as c/c++ syntax for highlighting (n++ language menu) it makes comments etc a lot easier to read.

Yakumo cfg custom keys of note :

F4 toggle r_fastsky
F5 enable/disable clan tag (change in cfg to your own first)
F7 move to spectate
F8 toggles dead player sparks
F9 reload autoexec.cfg
F10 toggle 3 forcemodel settings
F11 screenshot JPEG
F12 stop/start demo record

UPARROW toggle demo Record Message
DOWNARROW toggle Level Timer Direction

home toggle simpleitems
del toggles speedometer 2 for spectating
end hide/show acc permanently (bug: can't chat with it up)
ins toggle for the old q3 rail style I used to use
' swaps TEAM colours BRIGHT red/blue
{ toggles two huds
} callvote shuffle
z toggle extended zoom for space maps

All keypad keys are used for team binds, please read the CFG for more info it is fairly well commented where not obvious.
EmSixteen's hud from EmSixTeen's custom HUD and config[www.quakelive.com] slightly modded

\vstr hudc //load default QL COMP hud
\vstr hud0 //load default QL hud
\vstr hud1 // emSixteen modded hud with normal crosshair
\vstr hud2 //emSixteen modded hud with emSixteen crosshair


NB. seta r_ignorehwgamma "1" was an alternative way of changing brightness, it used to be the only way to get brightness to work in win2k. In q3a it had a side effect of making the invisible shell a bit easier to see, in Qlive I think they've fixed this anomaly so it's the same.

eg. from my old q3a cfg the 2 alternatives for same brightness -

 //win2k adjustments
seta r_ignorehwgamma "1"
seta r_overBrightBits "1" 
seta r_gamma "1.7"
seta r_intensity "1.4"
seta r_mapOverBrightBits "2"

//alternate win2k adjustments
//seta r_ignorehwgamma "0"
//seta r_gamma "1.3"
//seta r_intensity "1"
//seta r_overBrightBits "0"[/code]

Crash Tutorial (optional)

CRASH TUTORIAL

If you can't get past any of the tier selection challenges, take a look at strafe jumping and rocket jumping above. The hallway after the rocket jump is a long strafe run you have to complete in time to get through the doors, or you can cheat with a reverse rocket jump.

Also, there is a secret room you can check out

TIERS

There is no skill levelling online on purely default servers, but many servers run a mod called minqlx which adds a glicko rating for players via www.qlstats.net. On those servers you can use QL's chat function to say '!elos' to check player ratings, the higher the number the higher the ability of the player.

Damage & Item Spawn charts

QUAKE LIVE DAMAGE CHART

Weapon	No.	Abr.	Dmg	DPS (av)	DPS (max)	Reload(ms)
Gauntlet	1	G	50	125	150	400
MachineGun	2	MG	5	50	50	100
Shotgun	3	SG	100	100	100	1000
GrenadeLauncher	4	GL	100	125	200	800
RocketLauncher	5	RL	100*	125	200	800
LightningGun	6	LG	6	120	120	50
Railgun	7	RG	80	53	80	1500
PlasmaGun	8	PG	20	200	200	100
BFG	9	BFG	100	500	500	200
Grapple	10	GH			 
NailGun	11	NG	100	100	100	1000
ProximityMines	12	PG	100	125	200	800
ChainGun	13	CG	8	80-160***	80-160***
HeavyMachineGun	14	HMG	8	104	112	75

Dmg=max damage per round (SSG has 5 damage per pellet in each round, 20 pellets)

DPS (av) is (1000/reload ms) * Dmg
Best used when attempting to calculate average damage over multiple seconds of fire at a specific accuracy.
Figure shown is for 100% accuracy.

DPS (max) is ceiling(1000/reload ms) * Dmg
Represents damage at 100% accuracy within a single 1 second snapshot starting exactly at the first shot, demonstrating that you can in fact fire 2 rockets within 1 second, the first at 0ms, second at 800ms.

*RL max 42 on self splash (non direct/full on hit), max 84 on other players
**LG used to be 3 numbers as the shaft was in 3 sections, close-mid-long range, now it's just one.
***(80 during 1sec of spinup, 160 at full speed, assuming all bullets hit)

QUAKE LIVE ITEM RESPAWNS

Item	spawn (s)	Desc.	Further info
Weapons	5
Ammo packs	40
Quad	120		Damage times three (four previously)
Regen	120		Increase health to 200 at 5hp per sec.
Haste	120		Increases movement speed and rate of fire.
Battle suit	120		25% Damage reduction and Protects the wearer from lava, slime, drowning and other hostile conditions including all splash damage from weapons but not fully from direct hits. Self damage still applies.
Shard	25	5 a	Takes 2/3 (66%) of all damage ¦max 200
Yellow Armour	25	50 a	Takes 2/3 (66%) of all damage ¦max 200
Red Armour	25	100 a	Takes 2/3 (66%) of all damage ¦max 200
Health small	35	5 h	Clear shell, green cross¦max 200
Health medium	35	25 h	Clear shell, yellow cross ¦max 100
Health large	35	50 h	Yellow shell, yellow health ¦max 100
Mega Health	35*	100 h	Blue shell *120s some maps¦max 200
Medkit	60		Puts health to 125
Teleport	60		Teleports you to a spawn point
Doubler	10		1.5x damage (ie +50%) NOT 2x as expected.
Scout	10		Faster movement & rate of fire, 50 armour limit, no self damage, no footstep sfx
Guard	10		50% less damage
Armour Regen	10		Slowly regens armour to 100.

Unlike weapons, items and runes which are there from the beginning, powerups (2nd row from headers) first spawn on the map between 30 and 60s on the clock.

Coloured Names, Skins and Text

To colour your text you use ^ like ctrl+k in IRC. just do ^x before the text you want coloured where x is a number from 1 to 7. eg typing ^1hello will say hello in red.

ie in console

\say "^1one ^2two ^3three ^4four ^5five ^6six ^7seven ^8eight"

displays

one two three four five six seven eight

Quake Live now takes name from your Steam Profile (Hit the down arrow next to your name at the top of your steam friends list) and can be set to anything even during play, however if you change it too frequently within some minutes Steam will block your ability to change it for some duration (tens of minutes or more)

(black does not work in names for QL however)
CUSTOM COLOUR BRIGHT SKINS


thanks to Poros1ty for modelling :)

The letter based (non hex) colours :



(nb. I'm English, the commands aren't, hence the colour/color spelling swapping ;op )

This can all now be done in the in game Advance menu (hit escape, click Advanced).

First you must set your enemy and or team model forced skins to a compatible model, with bright as the skin:

cg_forceEnemySkin bright
cg_forceEnemyModel keel
cg_forceTeamModel visor

to stop using bright skins \clearcvar cg_forceEnemySkin

Also tankjr and crash are available for standard users with bright skins Premium/Pro users can use ANY model

then use for example

\setenemycolor iii
\setteamcolor blh

(there is also cg_forceRedTeamModel and cg_forceBlueTeamModel, that use the setenemy/teamcolor vars, you may need to use clearcvar (eg "\clearcvar cg_forceRedTeamModel") to wipe those cvars if they've been set as they can cause conflicts)

the letters are for Body, Legs, Head

setenemycolour and setteamcolor are commands, not cvars, that set 3 cvars (per command) for you, so don't put 'set' or 'seta' in front of them in a config.
You can set the three cvars that those commands set manually yourself if you wish for a greater range of colours with a hex value , 0xRRGGBBAA (Red, Green, Blue, Alpha). You can get the hex for the first part from the web colours of any javascript color picker eg http://johndyer.name/lab/colorpicker/ use the hex value by the # at the bottom, add 0x to the start, and also add FF to the end for alpha.

You can use just one letter - setenemycolor i to set the whole model green all at once to that colour.
You can use two letters to just set body and (head+legs), eg setenemycolor vn gives pink body, blue head+legs.

NB. The setenemycolor and setteamcolor commands also set the cg_enemycolor / cg_teamcolor cvars, these cvars do not do anything else, they just store the last used set*color value, changing them will not adjust colour for you.
WEAPON & CROSSHAIR COLOURS color1 (0-26)Your own rail core colour
color2 (0-26) Your own rail particle colour
(rail colours will be seen by others not forcing enemy/team colours)


cg_crossHairColor (0-26) your crosshair
cg_crossHairHitColor (0-26) colour on hit for cg_crosshairHitStyle values 2, 5 and 8

cg_forceEnemyWeaponColor 1 will force your enemies to shoot rails/grenades that match their cg_EnemyUpperColor setting
cg_forceTeamWeaponColor 1 will force your team mates to shoot rails/grenades that match their cg_TeamUpperColor setting
cg_weaponColor_grenade 0xRRGGBBAA sets the colour of the grenades everyone fires, unless cg_forceEnemyWeaponcolor is 1, or cg_forceTeamWeaponColor is 1, then they show as their respective uppercolor's

SUPER BRIGHT SKINS setenemycolor i is green, but only sets 0x008000FF for the hex, 0x00FF00FF is the maximum green but the difference is only really noticeable using one of two sets of modes:

1. If r_enablePostProcessing is 1, also with that if r_overbrightbits is 1 then it is so bright it starts to obscure other skin detail.
   
2. Vertex lighting mode (r_vertextlight 1) with r_overbrightbits 1 no matter the postprocessing status.
   Simply - without processing or alternatively vertex lighting mode, you only have half the colour range with bright skins.

Without r_overbrightbits 1 you only have about half the brightness.

Unless you want a shade of white/grey/black (0xFFFFFFFF, 0x00000088, 0x000000FF) it is best to leave the last two digits for Alpha at FF for any settings, as it is currently otherwise unused, but may be adopted later, and you wouldn't want that to suddenly mess up your config.

eg my settings :
cg_enemyHeadColor "0x804000ff" //orange, same as c
cg_enemyLowerColor "0x008000ff" //green, same as i
cg_enemyUpperColor "0x5e8000ff" //greeny yellow, same as f

these could be brighter (in modes with higher colour range described above) by increasing the high 80 values in any colour range to FF. eg:

seta cg_enemyHeadColor "0xFF4000ff"
seta cg_enemyLowerColor "0x00FF00ff" //brightest green possible
seta cg_enemyUpperColor "0x5eFF00ff"

'u' is the brightest pink available via setenemycolor, if you want super bright pink then manually set 0xFF00FFFF

NEW as of QLPP13 (Premium Only)
first - cg_forceEnemyModel ""

then cg_forceEnemySkin "bright"

other valid options for this new cvar are "sport", "sport_blue" and "sport_red" if you just leave it as "sport" the correct red/blue will automatically be set in team games.

This will keep the original players choice of model, but force them into bright or sport skins. So you don't have to have everyone running around as the same character!

There is of course a Team version of the new skin command also - cg_forceTeamSkin.


©Yakumo unr 2003

Zoom targetting

Zoom targetting
The +zoom bind initiates zoom,
Bind a key to it using in the game menu, or use the console
\bind x +zoom

There are some new accompanying cvars since Quake 3 Arena for Quake Live :

cg_zoomOutOnDeath "1" (0/1) self explanatory
cg_zoomScaling "0" (0/1) toggles the zoom in/out animation
cg_zoomToggle "1" (0/1) when set to 1 makes +zoom toggle on/off instead of you needing to hold the key down.
cg_zoomSensitivity "0.9" (float) multiplier that alters
sensitivity when zoomed, 0 uses old Q3 code, values greater than 0 use
corrected code as the Q3 code was flawed.

Resolution modes and Texture Filtering Quality Modes

R_MODE & r_WINDOWEDMODE LIST r_mode "-1" is for custom resolutions. Having set this Set your desired resolution with :

set r_customwidth "1280"
set r_customheight "720"

r_mode "-2" detect desktop resolution and use that when going fullscreen

If r_noFastRestart is set to 0 QL will attempt to change from
fullscreen to windowed mode without re-loading all game data. If this
fails to work for you, then try this with r_mode and r_windowedMode set to the same resolution.
You will need QL to be using the same colour depth as your desktop (eg r_colorbits 32 in QL , and 32bit colour windows desktop)
If your in game refresh rate is the same as your desktop refresh rate (eg 120hz or 144hz on good screens) then this switch is instantaneous due to not having to change.

The web sites game settings for browser mode set the browser mode actual visible area.
This means if your r_windowedMode is 800x600 (or higher), but in
[QL Website] -> game settings -> it has browser mode as 640x480
much of the actual image will be outside of the smaller window that
your browser actually puts it in.

DCR lähetti viestin:

Mode 0: 320x240
Mode 1: 400x300
Mode 2: 512x384
Mode 3: 640x360
Mode 4: 640x400
Mode 5: 640x480
Mode 6: 800x450
Mode 7: 852x480
Mode 8: 800x500
Mode 9: 800x600
Mode 10: 1024x640
Mode 11: 1024x576
Mode 12: 1024x768
Mode 13: 1152x864
Mode 14: 1280x720
Mode 15: 1280x768
Mode 16: 1280x800
Mode 17: 1280x1024
Mode 18: 1440x900
Mode 19: 1600x900
Mode 20: 1600x1000
Mode 21: 1680x1050
Mode 22: 1600x1200
Mode 23: 1920x1080
Mode 24: 1920x1200
Mode 25: 1920x1440
Mode 26: 2048x1536
Mode 27: 2560x1600

R_TEXTUREMODE Effects visual quality, available filter names :

GL_NEAREST
GL_LINEAR
GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST
GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR
GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST (bilinear in the menu)
GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR (default, highest quality, trilinear in menu)

Networking help

DEBUG NETWORKING

First of all now that Quake Live is on Steam, it's worth double checking Steam's status on https://steamstat.us/ espcially if your problem is on a Tuesday as they regularly perform servicing on that day, once the page is loaded wait for it to auto refresh itself once to get accurate information. If that's not the issue then -

Any interrupted connection or blips on netgraph can be caused by something on your system, or outside of your system (ISP) causing a delay, or actually completely blocking your connection to the server for a time.

This can be faulty hardware (dying network card, any wifi connection), any internet using software (especially bittorent), malicious software (botnet infection), anyone who shares your internet in your home, oversubscribed lines on your street, ISP problems.

Checking the cvar cl_currentserveraddress will get you the server IP in game (you must do cl_currentserveraddress on a currently active server, if it's one you just left, make sure you get the FIRST ip that spits out and not the one labelled "default:" also do not put in the PORT (eg ":27017" ) just the first 4 sets of 3 digits).

Alternatively you can use NirSoft LiveTcpUdpWatch[www.nirsoft.net] to see all connections the game has open, and select the ip seeing the most UDP traffic while you are connected in game.

Run tracert in a cmd prompt on that IP (or even better download a tool like winmtr (redux)[github.com] (FREE) or Ping Plotter Freeware[www.pingplotter.com], set trace delay to 1 second to best simulate quake traffic) to identify where along the route your problem is coming from.

For mac you could try http://mtr.darwinports.com (free) or visualroute[www.visualroute.com] (limited free or commercial mac/pc)

There are 2 common scenarios in homes

COMPUTER ----> MODEM -----> INTERNET

In this scenario the first ping listed is to your modem, the second ping is the first hop outside your LAN and on the internet.

COMPUTER ----> ROUTER ----> MODEM ----> INTERNET

In this scenario the first ping is from your computer to your router, the second ping value is router to modem, so the 3rd value and any subsequent ones are outside your LAN and on the internet.

Any problems (high pings) from the internet side of your modem are ISP routing issues so it's not a problem with your own equipment, but something you have to try and convince your ISP to look into and solve, directly contact the router owner, or change ISP.

The first HOP after the modem is your local router (UBR if cable) and if this is struggling to respond quickly it tends to mean your street is oversubscribed by your ISP.

It's very worthwhile reading this despite it being an old post, even if you're not dealing with .DE : Martijn Schmidt from the i3D.net NOC on .DE routing[www.quakelive.com]

Also Level3 (backbone provider) on Routing Issues[blog.level3.com]

And if you want to understand more: Networking 101: Understanding Internet Routing and Peering[www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com]

MULTIPLE MACHINES ONE WAN IP

More than one machine behind your router that wants to play at once?

In the Quake Live console of each machine type

net_port 27977

(or 27963 etc, in the range 27000 to 27999) to change the port used for Quake Live (every machine needs to be on a different port)
then

net_restart

VISTA / WIN7 ROUTER PROBLEM FIX

Some poor quality routers (not always meaning cheap) lock up or have problems with TCP auto tuning, they don't like large TCP receive windows that vista/7 can allow, so you can try various options (in bold) to limit the size.

If you are having problems with Quake you can try one of these in an administrator level cmd prompt (start-&gt; type cmd, hold left ctrl+left shift then hit enter for admin prompt).

If it has no effect or makes things worse, then I recommend you reset it to the default.

(in order of restrictiveness) :

netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled disable auto-tuning
netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=highlyrestricted
netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=restricted
netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=normal this is the default
netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=experimental allow super large windows, if your router has problems as it is, this would make it worse.

netsh interface tcp show global shows current state

Mouse Sensitivity Calculation

Measure how far your mouse has to travel to perform a 360 degree turn in game.

1. Place Mouse at edge of mouse mat when aimed at an exact point
   
2. move slowly round till looking at same point again
   
3. measure mouse mat edge to mouse edge .

This simply measures where the edge of your mouse started, to where it ended up completing a full 360 degree turn. cm/360 or inches/360 depending where you're from.

This is assuming acceleration is off, otherwise speed will alter things considerably.

If it's less than 3 inches (7.5cm) then I would argue that your sensitivity set-up is far to high for accurate play, you will unlikely to track well with LG and MG ('well'=near 40% accuracy) and your movement will suffer, circle jumps especially.

The formula to compute sensitivity in inch/cm for a 360°

Assuming no acceleration is used:

Sinch=360 / (M*R*B)
Scm=360 / (M*(R/2.54)*B)

with

Sinch=sensitivity in inch
Scm=sensitivity in cm
M=m_yaw
R=mouse resolution (dots/counts per inch)
B=ingame sensitivity

fov sens change calc

Ironbyte lähetti viestin:

Because it is a 3D world seen on a 2D plane (your monitor) this is not true. I took a few screenshots to illustrate this: http://img31.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=shot0008xln.jpg

Only the fov is changed between the screenshots. If you compare the size (width or height) of the Quake Live logo between the screenshots you'll get the following:

fov 100 - size 1x
fov 75 - size 1.55x
fov 50 - size 2.56x
fov 25 - size 5.38x

You can easily verify this yourself by counting pixels in any photo editing software. So going from fov 100 to fov 50 doesn't make things 2 times bigger, but rather 2.56 times bigger! This means that you need to divide your sensitivity by 2.56 in order to cover the visual distance with the same physical motion of your mouse (compared to fov
100).

The formula to calculate this is:

Zoom_sensitivity=sensitivity * tan((zoomfov/2) * (PI/180)) / tan((fov/2) *(PI/180))

Example:

sensitivity 4
cg_fov 100
Desired: fov 50

4 * tan(50/2 * pi/180) / tan(100/2 * pi/180)=1.5651.

Notes:
This is not the only way to calculate a new sensitivity. Other ways are:

A) zoomfov/fov (linear)
B) Take aspect ratio in account: atan(1/aspect_ratio*tan(zoomfov/2*pi/180)) / atan(1/aspect_ratio*tan(fov/2*pi/180))
C) Setting random values
D) Use +zoom and just play the damn game. [img]ultimate_quake_live_guide_v2_files/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Use whatever you feel most comfortable with!

Lorfa lähetti viestin:

cg_zoomsensitivity 1 lowers your sensitivity using a scaled algorithm

Values higher than 1 are multiplied by the result of the scaled algorithm, so if your sensitivity was 1, and during zoom the result of the scaling (which takes your original fov, and zoomfov into account) was 0.36, setting cg_zoomsensitivity to 2 would be 2*0.36=0.72 .

cg_zoomsensitivity 0 uses an older algorithm, which was a simple ratio.
For example if your zoomfov was half of your fov, your zoom sensitivity would be half. This wasn't technically correct and was later changed, see the forum link above.

Mouse Acceleration pt 1

Benefits of Acceleration

Smooth and very accurate tracking of someone is very difficult with high sensitivity, humans will overshoot and undershoot when trying to catch up to the moving target as it dodges back and forth, this is most easily seen at longer ranges.
Lower sensitivities make it much easier to stay on target but require more effort from your arm, and, critically, it's then very difficult to keep track of someone running rings around you at point blank range. There are also lots of situations where smooth tracking aim is not important, but instantly snapping to position is vital, such as when you are surprised by an enemy, or to flick onto a target with the railgun, or in close to mid range rocket fights, you need to get to where you need to fire near instantly.

Not using mouse acceleration means no matter how fast you move your mouse in your hand, if it's over the same distance, say 25cm, your player will turn the same number of degrees within the game, they will just get there faster if you move faster.
If you use acceleration then moving your mouse very slowly might turn 360 degrees in 25cm, but moving your mouse faster might turn 360 degrees in just 10cm, or even less distance depending on the speed you move and the acceleration you have set, people tune it to what feels comfortable and accurate for them.
No acceleration tends to have a sweet spot where you are most comfortable moving your hand at the speed required to hit the player you are aiming at, this then makes you look to gain that position in your fights and it may or may not be a good distance for your opponent.

People use mouse acceleration to try and achieve the best results at any range, it makes it easier to maintain slow steady aim when necessary, but with acceleration enabled they can turn faster by moving the mouse faster over much shorter distances when necessary, not needing multiple swipes or a much larger pad. It's not uncommon for people to set their entire mouse mat width as the distance used for 360 degrees turning in game, or less such as 180 degrees requiring the mouse is picked up and re-positioned to start swiping in the same direction again to keep going. This obviously requires a large mat and a lot of work when using no acceleration.

Acceleration can give exceptional aim at a much broader range of distances, but it's far far harder to find settings that work well for you, it's far more subjective as to what those settings are, and can be far harder to find consistency with. It's a lot easier to set up well and have consistency with at very low fov (eg 100 down to 90) where the cut down view makes high speed turning more necessary, but lower sensitivity is even more important for tracking.

I believe its a lot easier for muscle memory to learn to move X distance to achieve a result, and then you can reflexively move that distance at any speed to snap onto a target, this makes flick rails and rockets very useful and accurate. With acceleration thrown in you can still build up muscle memory but the slightest inconsistency has a magnified effect on where your aim will end up, hence it's a lot harder to work out a decent acceleration set up with very high consistency in your aim.
Thus there are pros and cons of both methods, you have to find which works best for you.

Mouse Settings For Acceleration

sensitivity: The base sensitivity, how the setting relates to cm/360 depends on your mouse DPI.

m_pitch: Vertical view movement sensitivity.

m_yaw: Horizontal view movement sensitivity

m_pitch and m_yaw are not unique to mouse acceleration setups, but it's more common to use them with very low base sensitivities with or without acceleration.

cl_mouseAcceleration - In the simplest terms normally if you move your mouse over a set distance on the mouse pad very slowly, or move your mouse over the exact same distance as quickly as your arm can move, the distance your view turns around would be identical you would just complete the turn in less time as your mouse was moved more quickly.
With acceleration greater than zero, the speed at which you move your mouse over a distance increases the turning speed of your view. So even if you cover the same distance or less physically over your mouse mat, moving your hand faster than normal the amount your view turns around in game would be greater, maybe even multiple 360 degree turns if you moved fast enough or acceleration was high enough (too high!).
There's a very nice tool designed to graph this and help with conversion from different Quake Live settings on https://github.com/freesta/ql-mav/releases (The settings in Quake Champions are the same so long as m_cpi in the tool is at zero)

cl_mouseSensCap: Sets mouse sensitivity limit when using mouse acceleration, if if your normal sensitivity is 2 and you set Senscap 4 then when you have acceleration enabled no matter how fast you move your mouse, your cursor will never move faster than as if your sensitivity was 4 without acceleration.

cl_mouseAccelOffset: is almost like an opposite to senscap, if your mouse movement speed is lower than the value set no acceleration is applied, this lets you set a zone where you have absolutely constant cursor speed until you move your mouse fast enough to then start to trigger any mouse acceleration that you have set.

cl_mouseAccelPower lets you alter the default power of 2 acceleration curve.

m_cpi sets to your mouse DPI to make 'sensitivity' a value in units of 360/cm, you can use the qlmav tool to swap between m_cpi and non m_cpi settings to convert sens/acceleration settings for mouse DPI changes which is useful though it's best to use the updated build at the bottom of this post for increased precision
x-scale and y-scale just alter the scale of the graph shown, they are not mouse settings.
FPS alters how quickly qlmav samples your mouse movement, as it moves the red dot along the line to show your current mouse speed.



In the above image I have set qlmav up to demonstrate the settings visually as best as possible, I wouldn't recommend playing with them set so high.

The flat section of the line on the far left shows the effect of zero acceleration until the speed set by Offset has been met, if you moved your mouse slowly you would see the red dot stay on that line.
Once you moved fast enough you would break through that limit, and depending on how fast you then moved above that speed you would see the dot somewhere along the acceleration slope.
The flat line on the far right demonstrates the sensitivity cap, which is capping the acceleration, no matter how fast you move the mouse at this point there is no more acceleration applied.


NOTE - qlmav's rounding problems get worse as you use higher DPI, eg, converting 0.02 acceleration at m_cpi 3200 to non m_cpi it will report a reasonable sensitivity, but acceleration 0.00, which sadly is not useful.

I found the source for ql-mav was updated for greater precision, but no binary released, so I have compiled it and released it here [ufile.io] (virustotal report - clean[virustotal.com])

Mouse Acceleration pt 2

This is a collection of developer and knowledgable user quotes on the mouse settings:

TTimo lähetti viestin:

This patch comes with an alternate set of cvars to configure and tweak mouse acceleration. Nothing fundamentally new but it's a bit easier to setup mouse acceleration, and it's an option offered in QUAKE LIVE which I'm contributing to the GPL'ed quake3 source already.

Below is a bit of documentation I posted about the system.

TTimo

--

I've been using an experimental mouse acceleration code for a while, and decided to make it available to everyone.

Don't be too worried if you don't understand the explanations below, this is mostly intended for advanced players:

To enable it, set cl_mouseAccelStyle 1 (0 is the default/legacy behavior)

New style is controlled with 3 cvars:
sensitivity
cl_mouseAccelOffset
cl_mouseAccel

The old code (cl_mouseAccelStyle 0) can be difficult to calibrate because if you have a base sensitivity setup, as soon as you set a non zero acceleration your base sensitivity at low speeds will change as well. The other problem with style 0 is that you are stuck on a square (power of two) acceleration curve.

The new code tries to solve both problems:

Once you setup your sensitivity to feel comfortable and accurate enough for low mouse deltas with no acceleration (cl_mouseAccel 0), you can start increasing cl_mouseAccel and tweaking cl_mouseAccelOffset to get the amplification you want for high deltas with little effect on low mouse deltas.

cl_mouseAccel is a power value. Should be >= 1, 2 will be the same power curve as style 0. The higher the value, the faster the amplification grows with the mouse delta.

cl_mouseAccelOffset sets how much base mouse delta will be doubled by acceleration. The closer to zero you bring it, the more acceleration will happen at low speeds. This is also very useful if you are changing to a new mouse with higher dpi, if you go from 500 to 1000 dpi, you can divide your cl_mouseAccelOffset by two to keep the same overall 'feel' (you will likely gain in precision when you do that, but that is not related to mouse acceleration).


Mouse acceleration is tricky to configure, and when you do you'll have to re-learn your aiming. But you will find that it's very much worth it in the long run.

cl_mouseaccelStyle was later removed, see http://www.quakelive.com/forum/showthread.php?15458-New-Mouse-Sensitivty-and-Mouse-Accel-Features for the current system, the descriptions for the other cvars above stand, just there is no cl_mouseAccelStyle to change and the conversion calculations are slightly different.

Lorfa lähetti viestin:

they just added offset and power (to style 0)
B + (A(v-c))^(P-1)
sensitivity + (cl_mouseaccel(velocity-cl_mouseacceloffset))^(cl_mouseaccelPower - 1)
velocity in counts/msec, unless m_cpi = mouse cpi, then it's in cm/second

SyncError lähetti viestin:

• Added cl_mouseSensCap
  (default 0/disabled) to cap the mouse speed if you are using acceleration. Pass it an equivalent sensitivity with no acceleration value, and the acceleration code will not go beyond that.

injx lähetti viestin:

when using m_cpi, your cl_mouseaccel setting is your real accel, and the offset is the mouse speed in cm/s at which accel begins to be applied.

...

without m_cpi, the offset is in units of counts per millisecond, so the conversion would be

new_offset = old_offset * (1000 / (m_cpi / 2.54) )

...

if you were using in_mouse -1, a windows setting of 6/11 is a factor of 1.0, not a factor of 0.6.

driver sensitivity settings do matter though, so that might be the factor of 0.6.

...
http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1370847#pid1370847

1. pitch and yaw scale both the sens and accel terms.
2. the amount of accel you get is proportional to the square of the mouse resolution. this fact alone is enough to calculate what new value of accel to use if you are changing your dpi, based on your old values.

...

I use 71cm/360 with accel 0.7 on 450dpi, which is the same as accel 0.04375 on 1800dpi. (default m_yaw).

use cl_mouseacceldebug to fine tune, this creates mouse.log in your cfg containing directory.

Windows Acceleration issues

In_mouse 2 should give you completely acceleration free mouse movement in windows, if you can't use this for some reason, or just want no accel in other games then you can try these registry patches :

MarkC Windows 7 Mouse Acceleration Fix[donewmouseaccel.blogspot.com] - Win7/8.x ONLY

CPL Mouse Fix[www.techpowerup.com] or Cheese Mouse Fix[www.vdclan.net] - NON win7 machines. The Cheese fix is the more accurate of the two but requires specific screen refresh

Relocate the Quake Live Data Files

RELOCATE QUAKE LIVE DATA

*** this is not relevant for Steam ***

This is UNSUPPORTED but possible,

If using a network or multi-user PC this example will move and link only the baseq3 directory with the PK3 bin/map files in, that way individual users keep their quakelive/home directories for their own .cfg files, demos, screenshots etc but share the pk3 files so if the Quake Live system updates they will only re-download once for the first user to try them.

If you are an individual user I would suggest leaving the files where they are and creating a shortcut to them, If you need to relocate the install for lack of disk space, just remove "\baseq3" from the example text, and move the entire "QuakeLive" directory from within "id software".


1) locate your QL installation, leave the "id software" directory and move (not copy) the complete "baseq3" dir with all the .pk3 files.

For this example I create "e:\quakelive\" and move baseq3 into that, so I now have "e:\quakelive\baseq3" holding lots of .pk3 files.
e:\quakelive itself would not hold any other user accessible files, only the baseq3 directory is going to be linked to.

XP/Vista/Win7/8 it would in fact be sensible to move the baseq3 folder to

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\id Software\QuakeLive

We will create a link where the old directory was, through to this new location where we moved the actual data to.

2) (win) got to "Start -> Run" and enter "cmd".

3)
Vista/Win7This uses /J for a Junction (should cross different disks) so it is server processed if necessary, please read File-Based Symbolic Links[technet.microsoft.com] If you need the link to traverse SMB boundaries you must use /D for a symlink instead.

mklink /J "%APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\id Software\quakelive\baseq3"  "e:\Quakelive\baseq3"

XP 1) download the tool "Junction" from the microsoft site[technet.microsoft.com]
2) extract it to your windows/system32 folder

junction  "%APPDATA%\id Software\quakelive\baseq3" "e:\Quakelive\baseq3"

*NIX (untested example)

ln -s /opt/Quakelive/baseq3  ~/.quakelive/baseq3

©Yakumo unr 2003

Keyboards pt1

It is important that a keyboard is very responsive and it should not take a lot of fingertip pressure to use.
Mechanical keyboards are technically superior, both for typing and playing games especially where you are holding keys for a long time, or using rapid combinations for movement / selections.

Membrane (sometimes called 'mesh') keyboards have two insulator sheets that sit underneath all the keys, with contacts directly under each key. When the key is pressed it pushes that section of the sheets together to make the electrical connection.
The key is raised again either by a rubber dome that is pressed out of the top sheet, or by one that is part of the key stem.
With fewer parts and less metal they are cheap and easy to manufacture, but can wear out very quickly, and tend to have a very spongy and unreliable/inconsistent feel to them do to the rubber wearing out

Mechanical keyboards have a switch under each key, with a spring, some make a clicking noise as the spring pings out and the middle of it hits the sides of the switch housing.
Different switches give a different feel, and Cherry MX switches are rated >50 million key presses. They tend to be built like tanks and unless you regularly spill sticky/suggary based liquids into them they will easily last 15-20 years if not in fact your lifetime They are well worth the extra cost once you find the right one for you.

Key Roll OverThis is often refereed to as 'Anti Ghosting' which can refer to Key Roll Over, or membrane wiring/usb optimization. All are aimed at preventing the signal from keys being lost because you have pressed more than one key at the same time.

• NKRO
  n Keys can be pressed at once, mathematical n, as in any number.

• 6KRO
  6 Key Roll Over
  Any six keys can be pressed at once and still all register + modifiers (ctrl, shift, altl)

PS/2 vs USB

• USB uses CPU time to constantly poll the keyboard for information, so a 1000hz usb keyboard interface will respond technically faster than a standard usb keyboard, but high CPU load could interfere.

• PS/2 acts on interrupts, pressing a key fires an interrupt which calls the CPU to pay attention now and respond as and when it happens, there is no CPU load when keys are not being pressed.

• The USB keyboard spec/driver limits USB only keyboards to 6KRO, the one known exception currently is the Microsoft SideWinder X4 (mesh) which claims 26 keys at once via USB.

• NKRO keyoboards are all PS/2, and will be reduced to 6KRO at best if plugged in with a USB adapter.

I tried a Lycosa for a year for it's quietness and back-lighting. Finally I've decided it wasn't a matter of getting used to the pressure change and low profile keys, I just had to admit it was more effort and cause more cramping issues because of the positional and pressure strain. I had an old Cherry G80-3000 but wanted NKRO and a wrist wrest so bought a Steelseries 7G and I'm very happy with it so far. With a lot more money I would have bought a Deck Legend (amazing wear-free all plastic no paint keys) maybe even with cherry clear switches except sadly they are USB, and the 7G's wrist rest is still superior.

Keyboards pt2

Now I *highly* recommend mechanical and NOT low profile simply for the player health benefits.

The high profile keys are easier to distinguish/find, and press for your fingers.
With the higher keys your fingers can naturally gently rest on them without having to be in a claw like position to avoid hitting the surrounding keys, when applying pressure in a claw position you are more prone to cramping.
Less pressure + more choice on finger position = less camp / rsi / better finger / hand health.

The mechanical action, responsiveness and recoil of switches is considerably less strain on your fingers than you will find on mesh keyboards, most mechanical keyboard switches are manufactured by Cherry with their MX range :

• Cherry Blue
  Loud! very clicky, but lovely for touch typing.
  Tactile - slight upward pressure at actuation enhances feedback feel
  Eg.
  
  • Razer black widow - 6KRO, usb only

• Cherry Black
  Linear (equates to a softer feel than the 'tactile' switches)
  Quietest
  Eg.
  
  • Steelseries 7G, PS2 (or usb adapter) NKRO, amazing wrist rest excellent for health.
    
  • Optional on Deck Legend - 6KRO, USB only

• Cherry Brown
  Tactile
  Slightly louder than black, much quieter than blue. probably better for a lot of typing than blacks but excellent for gaming too
  Eg.
  
  • Filco Majestouch
• Cherry Red
  Linear
  Very similar to Blacks, a weaker spring gives needs even less exertion force to press

• Cherry Clear
  Tactile
  different actuation point
  Eg.
  
  • Optional on Deck Legend - 6KRO, USB only

For more information on the feel of switch types to aid your selection please see :

Cherry switches and boards- GeekHack[geekhack.org]

http://www.overclock.net/keyboards/491752-mechanical-keyboard-guide.html

This all adds up to considerably less finger strain and cramps over long typing/gaming sessions.

These keyboards are more expensive than even a lot of souped up/light up/ reconfigurable mesh keyboards, but they truly really are worth it for your physical health alone, even above their gaming superiority and they can literally last a life time if cared for.

HEALTH/RSI

If you play for hours, or play regularly at all you must warm up your hands beforehand, many people completely overlook this as they never have to think about it generally in life, but before any repetitive finger/wrist action like martial arts, juggling, card tricks, pen spinning it's really important to get blood pumping through your cartilage to minimize build up of injury through repetitive action.

(thanks unicorn)

My other hobby is Goju Ryu Karate, and many of the exercises on this page are used during warm-ups:
Warmup exercises from handhealthresources[www.handhealthresources.com]

• At the very least shake your hands from the wrist a bit, circle your arms from the elbows a few times, pump your hands (fully open - fist, repeat) a few times, and finally place your fingers/palms together and push your fingers back and forth a few times.
  Warming up is in part literally that, getting warmer from your actions rather than external sources, it pumps your blood round your system, through your cartilage protecting your joints and making your muscle more pliable.

• Don't avoid a few warmup exercises because 'I've been playing ages and feel fine', they're intended to make sure that you never suddenly find you really don't feel fine and have to go through months of work to MAYBE recover.

• If possible avoid 'claw grip' of your mouse / consider slightly larger mice.

• Consider even lower sensitivity thus you play by mostly arm instead of wrist, this is how by far the majority of pro duellers play, as it is more accurate. This also promotes the more relaxed 'palm grip' more.

• If you take up low sens/arm play, or already play that way - warm up your arms, especially when start you WILL get arm strains if playing for long periods, and they'll be worse if cold.

• Watch how long you play for, and play for less next time if any problems happen.

• If you don't do this you can end up with tennis elbow / carpal tunnel/ RSI etc. Such tiny movements even without pulling weight are still very risky over time

• Do read the KEYBOARDS section above to avoid RSI with your keyboard hand.

Mice

MICE

Around the time Quake2 was still active Microsoft literally changed the game with the release of the Microsoft Intelimouse Explorer v3 this was followed with the MS Intelimouse Optical 1.1 and the MS Wheel Mouse Optical (WMO) 1.1 mice. These were the first optical mice that didn't suffer from any sever tracking defects, skipping, sticking, or simply going completely crazy when you moved too fast and looping around the screen at random, even going backwards. They were the first mice that could truly replace any ball mouse, and are still viewed by many as simply unparalleled. Optical mice are very smooth to use, can be very very accurate. They are better than any ball mouse as there is no ball to stick or clean and less mechanical parts to break.

These MS mice use the MLT04 optical sensor and run at 6000 samples per second, and 400dpi. These mice are still used by a lot of the world top players as they often prefer what is now considered low dpi. They can be found very cheaply now (around 6 GBP boxless).

With mice as with any other item, if you have been told a version number, if you can't check the version number - don't buy you are getting an untested release. The MS explorer v4 for example has the same sensor, but it has been completely shunned by the gaming community for other reasons.

I swapped to a 1800dpi Razer Deathadder (DA) in 2009, they are about same size and weight as the inteli 1.1, they are superb now all the bugs have been fixed using the latest NDC firmware update (~30 GBP). Now upgraded to the 'Deathadder Black Edition' at 3500dpi, with a more comfortable grip and casing, a tiny bit more weight, the Deathadder is still one of the most popular and reliable mice


When looking at mice pro's are interested in :

• Sensor Type (Laser / Optical)
  Laser Mice are usually much more expensive
  Laser mice tend to be heavier, and more sensitive to dust tracking errors
  
• Sensor Model
  This lets you research any known errors/problems online
  
• Positive Acceleration
  This may be something you can get used to, but most like zero, and then to adjust accel themselves if they wish
  
• Negative Acceleration
  This tends to be a game breaker, if a mouse has Neg Accel it is slowing down the faster you move so flick shots or any panic reactions are severely hampered.
  
• Tracking errors
  If the mouse starts to lose tracking in certain conditions, or certain surfaces, at certain speeds it can become unusable, and is certainly unreliable. For some game types or players that only physically move within the tolerance it may be acceptable. Few like to buy new mouse mats to avoid tracking problems.
  
• LOD - Lift Off Distance
  How far the mouse can be lifted before the sensor stops reporting data
  Lower LOD is preferred so when repositioning the mouse on the mat the cursor doesn't move at all, otherwise your repositioning is negated, raising higher is more effort and more time wasting.
  
• DC/NDC / Line Prediction
  Drift Contol / No Drift Control
  Firmware software 'enhancements' to predict/straighten lines, some low sensitivity players like this, but as a mainly high sensitivity player I found this to feel quite horrible, and removing it made the Deathadder feel like a significant input lag had been removed, suddenly it was as responsive as the IMO I used previously.

Recommendations:

• Razer Deathadder
  Optical
  Right handed except for specified model
  5 buttons (L,R, Wheel, 2 thumb buttons)
  
  • Razer Deathadder 2013 (my personal pick currently)
    6400dpi max
    Optical
    
  • Deathadder Black Edition
    Avago ADNS-S3888 (? assumed. unsure at this time)
    Rubberised side grips added
    More comfortable shell
    Braided Cord Added
    Lift off issues fixed
    No Drift Control, one firmware
    ~£50 - 60
    
  • Deathadder 3.5G / Refresh / Left Handed
    Avago ADNS-S3888
    3500dpi max, left handed version available, sometimes called the 'refresh'.
    Some report lift off issues, may be fixed in later firmware
    No drift control, one firmware.
    
  • Deathadder (original)
    Avago ADNS-3668
    1800dpi max
    NDC or DC firmware available (NDC recommended - removes input lag feel)
    LOD issues with some surfaces reported, some raise mouse with extra teflon feet.
    ~£30
    Go for newer models unless you're really strapped for cash

• Zowie FK1
  Avago 3310 Sensor
  Ambidextrous
  Driverless
  400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 DPI adjustment
  125 / 500 / 1000 Hz USB

• Logitec g9x
  Laser
  Avago ADNS-9500
  One of the most popular Laser Mice
  Configurable grips, weight
  Some claimed acceleration, often disputed, probably surface dependent.
  Quite small compared to most other pro mice
  ~£60 - 70 gbp

• Steelseries Xai
  Laser
  Avago ADNS-9500
  Very similar in size/shape compared to WMO/IMO
  Laser sensor, may complaints of sudden unexpected lookign at floor/ceiling in FPS (dust/hair causing tracking t issues)
  Complaints of buttons breaking
  Available as low as ~£30 for white edition when bundled with RUSE, ~£60 otherwise

• Microsoft Wheel/InteliMice (specific versions listed)
  400dpi
  Can be found as cheaply as £5, or less bought in bulk
  
  • Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1a (WMO)
    Optical
    MLT04
    Ambidextrous
    Small and light
    3 buttons (L,R, Wheel)
    
  • Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical 1.1a (IMO)
    Optical
    MLT04
    Ambidextrous
    5 Buttons (5 functions, 7 physical - L, R, Wheel, 2 thumb buttons mirrored either side)
    Very similar to the WMO but slightly larger and with side buttons
    
  • Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer v3 (IE 3)
    Optical
    MLT04
    Right handed
    5 buttons (L,R, Wheel, 2 thumb)
    The first, and largest of the 6000s/s MS mice

Also Check out ESRealitys mouse comparison page [www.esreality.com]though sadly out of date it is still a useful source.

Skylit Sensor List[spreadsheets.google.com]

Useful Links

Issues/errors support F.A.Q
Lorfa's Console Guide[www.regurge.at]
Cat's Gear & Settings Guide
The Bare-Bones Essentials of Clan Arena by Cat

Video tutorials -
ZootLive Quake Live movement guide videos
Railgun and Lightning Gun Video Tutorials by Cat
Learn To Play Quake Live Epi. 1 by 2gd
Learn To Play Quake Live Epi. 2 by 2gd
4SG Quake Live Basic Strafe Jumping tutorial 4sg
Quake Live strafing with keypresses by theat
Quake Live Bridge to Rail Explained by theat

(The below are dead links sorry, trying to find alternative sources)
Problem? PLEASE READ THIS FIRST BEFORE POSTING[mirror.os6.org] (Technical support)
Quake Live Recording Guide v2[mirror.os6.org] - By BoxxyBabee
demo player/recorder guide by KittenIgnition[mirror.os6.org]

Play PQL/Turbo in practice mode

PQL/Turbo is not a default game type in Quake Live any more, as it's controlled with a lot of cvar's, the easiest way to run it is to download a gametype factory.

Flashsoul has created factories to match many of the old game types -

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=538941289

ExtraQL THE addon for Quake Live

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539252269

Enhances Quake Live with additional console commands and UI automation.
Importantly it adds the /steamnick command to the game to let you change name.

Steam does not allow you to change your name a lot, so if you change it more than 8 times a minute or so it will stop you changing it for several minutes.

It also offers options for changing name when you join and quit the game, so you don't have to have colour codes in your steam name all of the time !!

If you install ExtraQL via the steam workshop (image link above) you will find it in :

\Steam\SteamApps\workshop\content\282440\539252269

From there you can create a shortcut to it there on your desktop. Then you can set that up to start Quake Live for you, and change your name. For the changelog / more information on what it can do, see https://github.com/PredatH0r/extraQL

Teammate markers (new)

The Steam Exclusive version of Quake Live brings new options for marking your teammates, and the default settings are very different to how Quake Live has been for a long time.
Here are the available options and what they look like.

Mandatory settings for the view have bullet points marking them, any other cvars are optional for tweaking (size/colours). The key for the old style view is cg_teammateNames must be 0

Settings	Preview
cg_teammateNames 1 (default) A small POI (Point Of Interest) marker is shown, and small boxes to represent health and a bar for armour. Each box represents 50 health. The actual player name and the black box background fades out when not targeted
cg_teammateNames 2 A small POI (Point Of Interest) marker is shown, and small boxes to represent health and a bar for armour. The actual player name is always shown on screen
cg_teammateNames 0 cg_teammateCrosshairNames 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealth 2 (default) cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealthSize 0.12 (default) cg_teammateCrosshairNamesOpacity 0.5 (default 0.75) Targeted Player health/armor is shown with colours for level (red = low) Text vanises if player not targeted
cg_teammateNames 0 cg_teammateCrosshairNames 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealth 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealthSize 0.12 (default) cg_teammateCrosshairNamesOpacity 0.5 (default 0.75) Targeted Player health/armor is shown in white Text vanises if player not targeted
cg_teammateNames 0 cg_teammateCrosshairNames 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealth 0 Health / Armor values are not shown Text vanises if player not targeted
cg_teammateNames 0 cg_teammatePOIs 1 cg_teammatePOIsMinWidth 4.0 (default) cg_teammatePOIsMaxWidth 24.0 (default) cg_teammateCrosshairNames 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealth 0 Huge configurable POI marker, name text has faded out as the player is not targeted.
cg_teammateNames 0 cg_teammatePOIs 0 cg_teammateCrosshairNames 1 cg_drawCrosshairTeamHealth 0 No POI marker at all, name text has faded out as the player is not targeted.

[flago]

thank you, by running this command freed my FPS to 250.


Also sometimes the odd var consistently does not get saved to q3 or qzconfig.cfg such as r_displayrefresh (and I think in ql cg_predictLocalRailshots), you would have to keep typing them in every time it loads if you don't create an autoexec.cfg

[Hank Moody]

Some YT-Vids are down.

Can u re-upload them plz?

Thx in advance =)

[i_llegal]

my rail passes through opponent body .. but still no hit detected . .this happens in offline mode too .. tried cl_timenugde from 0 to -20

[ext]

excellent. Oh Boy how we loved and lived this thru Decades ;-) <3

[Manfrid Paupiette]

Or maybe because i've change to "synchro vertical" for less graphics trouble...

[Manfrid Paupiette]

so... Are the important recommended options such as "r_primitives 2" and "cl_packetdup 0" still relevant? Because I feel like I'm aiming badly since I activated these options... :p but maybe it's just an impression. thanks. bye.

[Manfrid Paupiette]

you!! :D What's the difference between a good or bad french hunter?? :D (i don't know if the movie is translate into your language... but try in youtube: "les inconnus" + "mauvais chasseur" Cya dude! bye ^^

[MUSIC LASAGNA GAMER]

Green armor is not in the guide.How much protection give?
Health "sml"
Health "med"
Health "lrg".
I also found these abbreviations in the guide, what do they mean?

[MUSIC LASAGNA GAMER]

what's the difference between red,yellow and green armor?

[󠀡󠀡]

└📁Local Disk (C:)
⠀└📁Program Files (x86)
⠀⠀└📁steam
⠀⠀⠀└📁steamapps
⠀⠀⠀⠀└📁common
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀└📁Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams (E-Sports Experience)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀└📁skills
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀└📁aim/reactions/teamwork
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀└📁gameknowledge/decisionmaking/macrogaming