Xonotic 0.5 FAQ

• Troubleshooting
• How do I install Xonotic?
• When I start Xonotic all I see is a black screen or a black screen with some checkered squares
• Using Linux I only see the map but no players and items
• When I start Xonotic my screen is flickering
• How can I speed up my frame rate?
• The sound is broken, it crackles and stutters
• Mouse is too slow and sensitivity is at top (on Mac / Linux)
• I can't switch to 32 bit color depth (on Windows)
• When I join a server or after a map change I see nothing but a black screen, but I can still move and shoot
• How to report crashes
• Where can I get more help?
• General questions
• How do I install new maps?
• How can I place a shortcut to Xonotic on my Linux desktop?
• How do I open the console?
• What console commands/variables are there?
• How can I use colors in my nickname and messages?
• How do I watch/record demos?
• Server setup
• How do I start a server?
• Which ports do I have to open in firewall/forward from my router to run a server?
• Is there some kind of rcon?
• How can I kick people who are using special characters in their names?
• Development
• How can I create or edit Xonotic maps?
• Where can I get latest development versions of the source code?

Troubleshooting

How do I install Xonotic?

Just unzip the xonotic-<version>.zip file. You can do this with any archive program (like 7zip). It's very important to keep the directory structure while unpacking (in WinZip this option is called "Use folder names"). The directory structure should look like this afterwards:

Xonotic/
|-- Docs/
|-- data/
|   |-- common-spog.pk3
|   `-- data*.pk3
|-- Xonotic.app/
|-- Xonotic-SDL.app/
|-- server/
|   `-- *
|-- sources/
|-- *.exe
|-- *.dll
`-- xonotic-linux-*

When I start Xonotic all I see is a black screen or a black screen with some checkered squares

This happens when the engine can't load the data*.pk3 file or has trouble to initialize OpenGL. The reasons could be:

1. you unpacked the zip file without folder names (see How do I install Xonotic?)
2. on Linux: the current directory is not your Xonotic/ folder. See How can I place a shortcut to Xonotic on my Linux desktop? on how to fix this
3. on Mac: you tried to extract and move the files from a Xonotic update and it deleted the old files. When using the mac GUI please be sure to move only the files not the folders as that will delete the old files or use the mv console command which will not delete the old files
4. the engine could not initialize OpenGL. Please install the latest drivers for your graphic card. You will probably find one for your card there: intel ati nvidia
5. your download might be corrupted, please download Xonotic again

Using Linux I only see the map but no players and items

This happens when the engine has trouble to initialize OpenGL. The reasons could be:

1. the engine could not initialize OpenGL. Please install the latest drivers for your graphic card. You will probably find one for your card there: intel ati nvidia
2. You do not have permissions needed for 3d acceleration. Usually you need to add yourself to the group video, you can do that via console as root like this: usermod -a -G video YOURUSERNAME. You need to logoff/in afterwards.

When I start Xonotic my screen is flickering

This is known to happen on Windows with Intel graphic chips and is a bug in the graphics drivers. A workaround is to set Flip-Policiy to blit. Open the control panel, there should be an icon called Intel(R) GMA driver (or something like that), double click it. Click on 3D Settings to find the screen with those settings.

How can I speed up my frame rate?

You can choose predefined performance settings in the Settings / Video menu. Normal is the default, Medium and Low run faster while High, Ultra and Ultimate enable more features you might want to test if you have a high end graphic card. Or you can enable/disable single features. The greatest performance boost can be achieved by turning off dynamic lights and shadows in the Settings / Effects menu. Bloom is also quite resource intensive. Other fps boots include disabling Deluxemapping and Coronas. On older graphics cards or on-board/notebook chips with little video ram you can try to lower the texture quality in the Settings / Video menu. Some graphic cards (mostly ATI or quite old cards) run A LOT faster if you disable the Vertex Buffer Objects in the Settings / Video menu. An other thing that can greatly help on such cards is to disable the OpenGL 2.0 Shaders. Having that option enabled is faster on most cards however that is why both are active by default.

The sound is broken, it crackles and stutters

Try run xonotic-sdl.exe instead of xonotic.exe (on Windows). Adding the command line options -sndspeed 48000 and/or -sndstereo can also help on some systems (on Linux, Mac, Windows).

Mouse is too slow and sensitivity is at top (on Mac / Linux)

Mac: The default mouse acceleration on Mac is very high and strange. The Xonotic defaults work fine with it but some mouse drivers seem to 'correct' the mouse acceleration and conflict with the Xonotic defaults. Try to disable the option Turn off OS mouse acceleration in the Settings / Input menu. Or the same via console: apple_mouse_noaccel 0; vid_restart (How do I open the console?) Linux: A similar problem can arise on Linux. Its also Turn off OS mouse acceleration in the Settings / Input menu but the console command is different: vid_dga 0; vid_restart (How do I open the console?)

I can't switch to 32 bit color depth (on Windows)

Check if your desktop color depth is set to 32 bits per pixel. If it's just set to 16, Xonotic can't switch to 32 bit mode.

When I join a server or after a map change I see nothing but a black screen, but I can still move and shoot

This is probably because you don't have the map that's running on the server. As Xonotic supports map/content download the server might not be be setup (correctly) to support this and you will have to get the map the old fashioned way. Those servers should have a download URL in their name or welcome message. There is also a wiki page dedicated to new maps. For Linux users: you need to have libcurl installed, otherwise you won't be able to download any maps. libcurl should be available in any Linux distribution, just search for "libcurl" and install it in your distribution's package manager.

How to report crashes

Register at http://dev.xonotic.org and submit a bug report.

On Mac: IS THERE AN EASY WAY?

On Linux: In a xterm, cd into your Xonotic installation directory, start catchsegv ./xonotic-linux-686-sdl -condebug -developer > crash.txt 2>&1 and give the file crash.txt to the developers. Note that you can also use ./xonotic-linux-686-glx or if you have a 64bit system ./xonotic-linux-x86_64-sdl and ./xonotic-linux-x86_64-glx

On Windows: Click Start->Run, and enter drwtsn32, click Ok in the next window, run Xonotic and wait for the crash. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson there should be a file called "drwtsn32.log", give that file along with the engine's build date to the developers. You'll see that date when you open the ingame console (How do I open the console?). Note that some folders of that path may be hidden or have a translated name if you're using a non-english windows.

Where can I get more help?

Visit the official Xonotic forum there is a support and bug report area. Or get on IRC to chat with other or ask for help. There is the normal users channel (irc://irc.quakenet.org/xonotic) and the developers channel (irc://irc.freenode.net/xonotic)

General questions

How do I install new maps?

Maps usually ship as *.pk3 file. All you have to do is to copy this file to the Xonotic/data/ (on Linux, Mac, Windows) OR ~/.xonotic/data/ (on Linux, Mac) directory. Map packages that were downloaded from a server during playing end up in Xonotic/data/dlcache/ or ~/.xonotic/data/dlcache/ and are only used till you exit Xonotic. If you want to play them locally or use them to setup a server of your own you can "accept" the packages by moving it one level up - right next to your config.cfg.

How can I place a shortcut to Xonotic on my Linux desktop?

Use the script xonotic-linux-sdl.sh or xonotic-linux-glx.sh instead of the binaries. The scripts will use the correct working directory,choose the right version (32 or 64 bit) and also allow you to start a extra X server.

How do I open the console?

Press [shift]+[escape]. To close it press [escape]. While playing ` or ^ will also open the console.

What console commands/variables are there?

You can get a list of variables by entering cvarlist on the console (How do I open the console?). cmdlist will give you a list of available commands.

#An annotated version of that output can be found at the Xonotic wiki.

How can I use colors in my nickname and messages?

Colors can be used in nicknames and chat messages via two ways: Either the simple way by typing ^ followed by a number between 0 and 9 or by typing ^x followed by three hexadecimal numbers (0-F) representing red, green and blue components of the color before the text. The second way allows for much more colors. For example if you type ^xF00message the text "message" will be displayed in red color. Simple examples:

How do I watch/record demos?

Demos are recordings of matches that you have played. To automatically record a demo each time you play enable the option Record demos while playing in the Multiplayer / Demos menu. Or if you just want to record some matches open the console and type rec <demos/name> before playing. That is before starting a game or connecting to a server. The demo file will then be stored in Xonotic/data/demos/<name>.dem (on Windows) or ~/.xonotic/data/demos/<name>.dem (on Linux, Mac). If you downloaded a demo, copy it to Xonotic/data/demos/<name>.dem (on Linux, Mac, Windows) or ~/.xonotic/data/demos/<name>.dem (on Linux, Mac). You might have to create this directory if you have never recorded a demo before. To watch demos you can choose a demo file in the Multiplayer / Demos and click the play button. Also you can watch demos typing ply <demos/name> in the console (How do I open the console?). You can list all your demo files by typing dem on the console.

Server setup

How do I start a server?

Use the Multiplayer / Create menu to start a listen server. You will always have to play yourself in a listen server. If you want to create a server without being forced to play yourself please take a look at the file readme.txt in the Xonotic/server/ directory where the dedicated server is explained.

Which ports do I have to open in firewall/forward from my router to run a server?

The default port is 26000 UDP. You can change that in the Multiplayer / Create menu or by starting Xonotic with the parameter -port <port> or having a line port <port> in the server config file. If you follow the tutorial mentioned above you do not need this command line argument as it will be done in the config file created for the server. To add the command line argument on Windows, create a new shortcut to xonotic.exe or xonotic-dedicated.exe and right click on it. Select properties and -port <port> in the "Target:" line. Be sure that the "Start in:" line contains the full path to your Xonotic folder and click "OK". The parameter will be used if you start Xonotic via that new shortcut.

Is there some kind of rcon?

Yes there is a QuakeWorld compatible rcon. To use it you must enter rcon_password <password> in the server console or server config file. The Xonotic client has to set the same password in the same fashion. You can then issue commands with rcon <command> if you are connected to the server or will have to set rcon_address <ip/hostname> or rcon_address <ip/hostname>:<port> to point to the server. There are also external rcon tools but make sure you use a QW compatible rcon tool.

How can I kick people who are using special characters in their names?

Enter status at the server console. You will see a list of all players. In front of their names you will see a number (the player id). You can kick the player you don't like with kick # <player id> <reason> (notice the space after #).

Development

How can I create or edit Xonotic maps?

You need NetRadiant, a stabilized Q3 map editor. For convenience, a snapshot configured for Xonotic is included in extra/ for Windows and MAC-Intel, but the program is not officially supported by Xonotic.

Where can I get latest development versions of the source code?

Please refer to http://dev.xonotic.org/projects/xonotic/wiki/Repository_Access

Game data: to check out Xonotic git, you'll need a git client.

For more information on how to compile the game please see http://dev.xonotic.org/projects/xonotic/wiki/RepositoryAccess#Cloning-the-repository-and-compiling and http://dev.xonotic.org/projects/xonotic/wiki/CompilingIn_Windows

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