"Kalma: And same screen resolution. Come on..."

Yep, i know a player who still plays sw, and considers gl as an advantage, he thinks (because of the higher resolutions) it's possible to make shots which can't be made in sw (or at least harder). Well, if you think about it, let's say you want to shot a rocket from cellar-entry to cellar-ya (a typical situation in competitive dm2 duels ), the gap you will want to shot the rocket through, is many pixel wider in 1024x768 than in 320x200. Or just in general, you see the in-game world way more detailed in higher resolutions.

Johnny: In summary:

1. To me it's a fact that changes to the default QW setup provide little advantage for even moderately skilled player besides obvious changes such as those that help a player feel comfortable.

2. Having a defacto QW standard (client/server/mod) in development for competition play (1on1/2on2/4on4/FFA?) by the same circle of developers is a good thing because moving forward quickly becomes much easier and those developers shouldn't have to consider compatibility or decide against implementing improvements because of the "past" ie previously accepted clients/servers/mods.

3. It's about time the QW scene stopped being so pedantic regarding positive changes to the game. For example forcing players to accept annoyances like shadows simply because backpacks should remain difficult to see in dark areas is insane.

Many highly skilled players are using almost default settings yet they are comfortable in their play meaning setup/sound hacks/tweaks/etc play little part in their playing ability (Paradocks and reppie are prime examples) but that doesn't mean there aren't annoyances that they would like removed or enhancements they would like to see implemented.

Iron: I agree to a point. Using GL at 1600x1200 with a consize of 320x240 is very nice but the advantage of it is not much at all because the brain gets used to whatever is being used over time and players with ambition to become highly skilled learn to instinctively make the best use of their current setup be it mediocre or highly optimised.

Hacking game files does not compare well with changing resolution.

The changes players are legally allowed to make use of is obviously a concern to those in the scene with integrity. However, look back at the decisions made by the developers of the current security checks or consider the new features players have made use of to help them become more comfortable in their play. It's all there for everyone to see and has been for a long time.

Hacking games files that aren't checked by f_modifed such as various sound files or making use of questionable features is exactly like changing resolution because of the decisions made in the past. Any legally allowed change is a modification to the base game and players have the choice to stick with the defaults or use something else.

If you want to be all high and mighty you can label it as a cheat or a hack except you would be rather late seeing as such modifications to the base game have been considered legal for years (because noone decided they were illegal?) and of course many have publicised the list of legally changable files many times over the years so how come it's taken so long to show concern?

There's a lot more that can be changed which could be classed as extreme. The weapon view models are a good example, some players may have changed them so they work kinda like a straight shaft and possible have done so for all weapons. Why is this choice still available to the players? How about in the past where players used the group boxes in MQWCL (and now ezQuake?) to create a black line down the middle of the screen to help with aiming?

If it was up to me I'd enforce playing with the same set of files meaning everything would be checked, and I'd also remove or restrict obviously questionable features that really do provide an advantage (loud mega replacement hack for example), but obviously I'd also include better quality sound packs in those checks (especially because QW's low quality sounds are dire) as well as everything else that is deemed legal to use, with the obvious exception of custom textures and whatever else falls into that category.

Oh yeah and I should also add that I wouldn't enforce such rules to stop supposed cheats or hacks because to me the cheats or hacks I know of besides aimbots, wall hacks, and spiked models, aren't that much of an advantage. I'd be doing it for the integrity of the game and of course so that everyone is playing pretty much the same game which is only fair.

I mean come on, the brain is what matters the most, besides the obvious cheats like aimbots, wall hacks, and spiked models, and anyone who thinks differently really needs to stop being so pedantic.

STR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get your ass on irc punk!

Christ, I can just imagine the ammount of talking you and Sam would do if you lived together.

I don't agree with this point... there has to be a level of randomness

What is the randomness worth if some don't have it?

I would like it if the spawn/tele sounds always have the same volume.

Any change on getting this megaman sound?