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This FAQ is updated frequently.
Q: Why?
A: This is always the first and most important question asked. I will liken this to someone who drops a few crates of motorcycle parts at your doorstep without labels and without a manual. You have a few choices; find someone who wants them and make a deal, ignore them, or learn how to put them together and have fun with what you are doing then step back and look at what was accomplished and learned.
I personally thought this would be fun, and it is. With all the work already done in the WFA media, with all the changes/fixes that I had to do for the last 3 releases of a successful mod... it's already there and just asking to be put together into something new.
(My first bike was also like that btw).
There are also many other reasons.
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ID publicly insults mod authors and their works
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Every code fix asked is rebuffed
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The Q3 Engine is created, and admitted by ID, as a stepping stone to selling licenses
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The Tech Docs are misleading
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The engine is fundamentally flawed (due to lack of interest by the coders?)
So to be blunt, there is no reason to mod for Quake III Arena any longer as the power and support is simply not there. The open source community has created and produced an engine that is based, although roughly, on the Quake II engine, and is not and I repeat is not using Golk, Dusk, or Trigger (doom3 leaked code?) technology... yet has the ability to duplicate Q3 in every form, even use an AI that is functional and not broken such as the extremely limited gladiator code.
Q: What is Weapons Factory?
A: First there was darkness. Then came Team Fortress, a class-based kick ass mod for Quake I. After Valve released a press notice stating they weren't making TF for Q2, Greg and Tom Reno created TF for Q2 and renamed it Weapons Factory. It went through many evolutions, but it was the most popular modification to grace the online gaming scene to date, without equal, holding onto the largest online gaming population percentage for a free or commercial modification (in it's day, before counter strike). Hell, it even got a write-up by Trent Reznor of NIN.
Then came Q3. The WF team, who had been coding since Quake I came out, decided to port over to Q3 and were met by considerable flaws and hacks that were exposed within the Q3 modsource and the exe itself, but through hard work and ingenuity they kept the TF modification alive. Other mods have attempted to catch up with WF, but for class-based teamplay online, WF/A still held the reins.
Q: Is this WF or WFA?
A: This is Quake2 WF using WFA media and Q3 approximated physics, new custom netcode, and new custom engine features and fixes. At the core, this is 5.0 but with physics changed to mirror form, function, and gameplay in Q3 WFA. If you want to know what WF is, go here and read the manuals and commands. If you want to see the media that this is currently using, go here and note the levels and action shots. If you're an WFA player already and never were graced with WF, be prepared for real Team Fortress WF play style in this game. I must warn you, forward Gunners, Sentries, defensive Recons and spies... (with so many weapons for every class that it's going to take some time before most can figure it out) as well as all the stuff the coders threw in at the last minute; pack bombs, explosive cameras... its all in the game and part of it. Just read the WF manual if you've never played it before.
There are about 100 different weapon types. Probably less, but the Method Of Death statistics reporting was a bitch and I do know its huge and my eyes got blurry after a bit. For all those that wanted to see what WF was like if people bothered to code all the weapons and special abilities into WFA, here's your chance.
If you can understand balance and operation in WFA and never played WF or you've been playing WFA for so long that you sorta forget how to play Q2WF, be prepared; its a little like Quake 2 for menus, aliases, and configs. The game is not altogether too different from WFA as it is now. Classes have unique distinctions and weapons, graphics that make a difference (polyblend and particles are locked on for instance, there is no "vertex" lighting, there is real dynamic lights, etc.). Command structures are also different. Instead of "/class marine", its simply "marine". All commands can take the preceding slash, however, but its best to read up.
While some WFA/q3 commands are in this game, its more because I was getting tired switching between the two during testing and WFA, so I stuck in both or added them; but that was my own unique development process and preferences. You can always do a cmdlist to get them all; most are already documented in WF and WFA.
Try to stick to the WF manual and you'll be safe.
Q: Why can't I get to any files/screenshots?
A: You can, go over to previews; I've been too giddy making sparkly stinger missiles knock me across the map and watching sentries track with utmost precision, while chasing minor and major bugs.
Besides anything that you'd play over the internet would come with plenty of spam that prints out useless information to the normal player; and I haven't even put in the "if debug" parts yet.
Go to planetice.net/forums under WFAMAPS forum for my daily ranting and screenshots, mindless chatter and feedback, as well as progress and other useless information. Since it's almost all q3ctf(x) during base testing (because its easier and shorter to type devmap q3ctf1), don't expect many pretty shots (but a few are there anyhow). It runs like wfa but right now its 'stepping' over various issues and I'm busy as hell. (There's even an avi someplace with how it looks and runs).
Q: I have some input on class changes/balance issues.
A: That wasn't a question, and anyway it won't get an answer. I am not being a dick or big-headed. WF was fine for years. The only thing I changed was exploding stingers to put them back the way they were before (I really liked how the debris looked); the limits imposed on the ammo still exist as they did in 5.0. Besides, this is WF and I allowed the config system to work again. Read the configs before you ask about changing armor/ammo/damage/deodorant types; all that stuff is in there.
Don't expect a manual.
Q: Does mock work?
A: Yes but it will crash servers. No plans for support for it; it was a task just to get it to read the stock .class files for stability and the freedom for admins to pick between class distinctions.
Q: What's the class definitions?
A: Team3, Team6, Team10.
Q: So this is Q2WF, and you have a port of it and are making an exe out of it?
A: No. And yes. Allot of fixes are in here and features that never worked right but were coded in nonetheless (mercenary switching teams, class speed limitations), as well as using the WFA media, new network code, wfa entity set; and after the port it looks nothing like it once did. The game .dll is 2x as big size wise after compile.
Q: Is this really not WFA? I see WFA maps in some of those shots you post around, and all the classes look like the WFA ones, it even acts and sounds like WFA, sorta.
A: No. It's using most of the Q3 WFA Mod media. One of the things we did with WFA was use a new compiler based off of the QeRadiant CVS but custom tailored to our tastes and need for additional optimizations and features.. This was the most fortunate (and very lucky) insight that we could've had. So all WFA maps will work with this engine.
Q: Do you have permission to do this with WFA?
A: I run wfa now. Any problems that happened in Q3 had to be skirted with fixes, patches from hell, and hacks galore. I now have the engine so I can put in allot of work from the game level instead of the mod level. If a level designer doesn't want their map played with a new engine that none's seen the likes of, they can tell me and I'll make sure it won't run on the new engine.
Q: Is this legal?
A: I am not a lawyer, I can't answer that. ID released the source for Q2, the BSP process was developed in the 1500's by a Frenchman; the compiler for levels is opened source and some new custom vis techniques are available if the mod/engine supports it (and some is already used and proven in wfa and truecombat), the shader language is open SDK by the hardware vendors and DX by Microsoft. For anyone that knows, this is NOT some internal hardware vendor leaked code; its Quake II reworked (see sources below).
I have no idea if it breaks any EULA's in the strictest sense because it's using baseq3 media. I'd assume that if someone were irate about it they'd probably would let me know right away. (This project might disappear if it gets on someone's nerves.) It's NOT using any Q3 Engine code that I'm aware of, it's using the combined sources of everyone that's contributed to the open source projects on the internet, that's why its so fast and single player is worth a damn. It doesn't do anything more then GTKRadiant does, and you must own Q3 in order to play this or it won't really look right.
Q: Are those doom3/quake4 shots you are posting?
A: No. NO NO NO NO and... NO. I want nothing to do with that until more is released on it to see if it's anything more then a slow moving 3d rendering application with some movement and collision detection thrown in.
Some unmentioned people thought it was and got quite upset about it; but that made me feel even better considering I could play it in a window with GTKRadiant open, and Doom3 alpha has been reported to have melted some people's computers. Most of that rendering code is only available on newer maps and an internal build that will wont be available until I get better hardware; if you really want to see this stuff just find tenebrae 2.x on sourceforge, compile it, (it uses the latest q3 BSP/VIS/Deluxe-Lightmap "pre-rendering" as well) and visualize what I've done with it. And since I don't have much formal experience in what I'm doing, I crash it all the time, even lock up directX components (and once lost my cd-player till I rebooted...) its not in this release. Hey I design levels, now I'm designing an engine to render them. It's like a Lightwave user creating a newer Lightwave.
Q: What changes to the classes are you making?
A: None really. I am going by the original developers of Q2WF's internal design decisions. When I say 'really', any changes that happen are because of optimizations within the engine itself (most code is now directly in the main engine) or things I added to utilize more of WFA media for the look, feel, and sound. Then again, I did put back in exploding stinger rockets with sparkly particle trails. (Them kids sure like them colors!)
Q: Can I view the source? It was built on an open source foundation, after all.
A: Sure. Go to here and here. The only thing I changed in the engine was what was available throughout the net.
Q: I wish to contribute. Can I work with the source?
A: I have no qualms about sharing with anyone who I believe is capable to contribute to the project. A small rigorous interview and time waiting while I go through your past work is the worst you will have to go through. You may email me here. An :sspi: CVS server is already up, as well as an SSL webcvs. It's a trunk/branch structure, main merges done by whomever feels their branch is the most stable and updated. You get your own sandbox, but be prepared for post-merge pre-cleanup green everywhere in VS.
Q: Can I use WFA media/wffusion/q2wf for another project?
A: This is complicated and tricky to answer due to the nature of the game using WF and WFA (a modification's media, covered under a different license) and not stock Q3 media.
Best worded answer: Fusion: Yes, WF: No, WFA: No. Allot was already copyrighted and/or licensed by Weapons Factory Software (where it can be) and some of the WF code is not and is never going to be released to the public, and the media is under the same umbrella. (You have to believe me when I say the code is not much different, just the effects of porting and allot of bug fixes, vector math changes, and physics changes from 4.25 to 5.0 and really minor miscellaneous features, but most of those "bug fixes" had to be "re-fixed" and rewritten to get it to work in fusion so the point is moot).
However one of the old versions of the WF source is already viewable (see above) so you can grab it from there (the WF source is not GPL but doesn't mean you can't look at it). You can use the additions we make to the engine source from the Fusion engine freely (it's GPL'd and I will post the exe source changes once development slows down. Its only like 1k lines added/changed total) but most of it might not make any sense or seem useless since it's been adapted, twisted, torqued, bent, and hacked to accommodate features put into the 'modsource' to make WFA maps and their entities run in fusion. Since the modsource is now a juncted dll with the exe, it will most definitely just crash.
You will have to get the release by the any/all original contributors (see credits) in order to build upon this base if it differs or veers from any GPL licenses used in this engine. Just contact the owners of the media and ask. Can't hurt, they probably won't mind at all. Besides if you look close enough, you'll see that there is code from just about everywhere in this thing, the coder list from WF alone is about 20 people, and everyone has put up tutes on one thing or another.
Q: Will it have single player?
A: Maybe. That is the biggest decision yet, big because during code changes the question of the AI always comes up... comment it, or bring up something that sorta works up to date but can't be tested.
The eraser code was given to the original programmers of WF and totally rewritten (think of the original eraser then think of what WF actually is), however the main engine source segment that drives it was never available (it was compiled with a pre-compiled .obj/.o file). I was able to reconstitute it by guess and by golly, and it does work to an extent and works a bit better then before... but it is not stable and requires allot of time and effort to become so. (for those that wish to know, p_trail.c has been rewritten the ass backwards way; creating functions based on names, and WF had rewritten eraser to get it to work).
I wish to get the engine stable first, and I think I broke just about everything with dropping sentry/supply/health nodes. At least viewing them won't work, that I know.
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