From: Odd Reidar Boye

When I play on teamplay servers, I use the lasersight, and don't need to use any additional crosshairs. But when I play DM, I would like to use one of the crosshairs in Your Crosshair1.zip. The problem is that I can't load the .pak file containing the crosshairs when running Q2. ( I have renamed the file as told in the crosshair.txt (I call it pak7.pak).)

If I type "exec pak7.pak" in the console, the reply goes: "execing pak7.pak.... - unknown command PACK"

Of course, I can just restart the game, with the pak7.pak file in the action directory, but since I also have two different config-files for teamplay and DM, I would like to be able to switch between the two just using the console. Is this possible, and if so, how?

Could you also tell me what program that is used for making crosshairs.

Pak files are not executed... they are extenstions of the Q2 directory structure in packed (compressed) form. As such, any file named PAK0.PAK through PAK9.PAK will be automatically loaded at boot time. Having the pak file in the \baseq2 directory will affect Q2 and all mods, while having it just in the \action directory will only affect the AQ2 mod.

I have re-released the crosshairs I did, but I have cut them down to the most usable ones. You will find this in the files section for download. However, creating your own crosshairs is quite easy, and can make your screenshots pretty interesting. (Mr Clark left some "Mr Clark Cam" crosshairs that I created to do screenshots for the Pro Shop.)

You can find scads of crosshairs for Q2 at Bullseye, as well as some additional info on editing crosshairs. Basically, all you need is Pak Explorer and a decent image editor. Pak files work just like Zip files, and have embedded directory structure. Make sure you examine how the three crosshairs are stored and then begin editing the PCX files to your heart's content. Be sure you do not change the palette, as Q2 has very specific colors it uses. Also, color index 255 (the last color in the palette) is used as the transparency color.

Note that only CH1.PCX, CH2.PCX and CH3.PCX are used as crosshairs, any other numbers will be ignored. Also, Pak files are included ascending numerically, so if you have two crosshair paks loading, the one with the higher number will be the one you get in the game.

I use Pak Explorer and Corel Photo-Paint 8.0, but almost any other image editor will work.

From: Anonymous

How do I set up my computer on the network as a dedicated AQ2 server?

Here is the command you have been looking for... it is the command line option to run the server in dedcated console-only mode.

quake2 +set dedicated 1 +set game action +set deathmatch 1

The important part is the "+set dedicated 1" which forces Q2 to load in text-based console mode. Running a server any other way is simply not a terribly good idea. You can also add a +exec parameter to force it to load a certain config file on startup.

You will find a complete list of the console commands on the Q2 pages I have linked in the newbie section. There are already an awful lot of AQ2 servers out there, so don't expect a sudden rush of players to a newly staked out server from the get go.

From: Nisse H.
Subject: action quake, CAPP

How do you become listed in the CAPP section?

This is pretty easy... you just send me a message ([email protected]) and give me the six pieces of data from the CAPP page that reflect your AQ2 persona. Or, there is a link on the CAPP page to a "JOIN CAPP" form. Fill it out, and click submit. I will post your information as soon as I recieve it.

There is no test, no qualifications. Your name will be listed as part of the directory of AQ2 players in the CAPP section.