quark 1.0.0

quark 1.0. Every map, mode, menu and system has been audited, optimised and polished for release.

What's in 1.0

• 12 modes: free for all, VS, duel (1v1 / 2v2, 30 rulesets), 1v1 (9 rulesets), tourney, bomb, payload, neutral payload, king of the hill, race, hide and seek, and tag.
• 15 maps: four ranked maps, one for each objective mode, all-mode maps, Hamlet for hide and seek / tag, and Viaduct. Viaduct is now a two-loop race that climbs higher each leg.
• Ranked 1v1 on three ladders (Vanilla, Laser Vampire, Instagib). Ranked always uses the default model, HUD, controls and a fixed 10 ms interpolation, so nobody gets an edge.
• Customisation:
  • five player models and five sound packs, which everyone sees and hears, with equal loudness;
  • HUD widgets with a drag-and-drop editor;
  • a verbose info HUD;
  • control scripts (SOCD / snap tap, alt-fire toggle);
  • per-mode HUD and control rules;
  • import / export of layouts and profiles.
• Built-in map editor with network co-editing, and self-updating dedicated servers.

The road to 1.0 (0.33 → 1.0.0)

• Audit: menus, modes, maps, balance, website and code, written up in docs/AUDIT.md. Thirteen rule bugs were fixed: tourney walkovers and joins, the tag and hide edge cases, bomb drops, empty FFA, payload tiebreaks and vote ballots.

Client frame rate, measured with the in-game benchmark on software GL, so only the relative change counts:

This comes from culling world chunks, a cheaper world shader, culling dynamic objects, an allocation-free F3 overlay and an exact frame cap. Anti-aliasing is optional and off by default: smooth edges (cheap) or MSAA 2x / 4x.

Server CPU at 1000 Hz:

• Harbor (12 bots + 4 clients): 102 → 68 µs per tick, 6.8% of the budget.
• Hamlet (24 bots + 8 clients): 166 µs per tick.
• An empty server sleeps instead of spinning.

Bandwidth: about 62% less per client. Snapshots go out at 500/s, the self state is leaner, projectile velocity is sent only when it changes, and events are resent once per round trip. Interpolation delay is about 9 ms.

Fixes:

• Self-hosted servers no longer drop to 500 / 250 Hz: a miscounted 50% "packet loss" caused it.
• The knife throw no longer fires a rocket lob straight after.
• Depot's stairs face the right way.
• Every ladder on Hamlet is climbable, and a test checks it.

Polish:

• UI text always fits its button.
• Every screen has been checked by screenshot.
• The website has been redone.

Known issues

• A ranked match a player quits before the end isn't rated. That needs server-signed results, planned after 1.0.
• Balance proposals for the rocket and sniper are written up in docs/AUDIT.md but not applied. The numbers are the owner's call.