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Gameplay Settings and Runtime Toggles

This guide covers a small set of gameplay and audio cvars that are useful for testing, accessibility, and personal preference.

The corpse cleanup and corpse sink controls are also available in the in-game menu at Settings -> Game Options.

Quick Reference

Setting Default Scope What it does
g_autoSkipCinematics 0 SP and MP game code Automatically skips cinematics as soon as they begin. Disabled by default.
g_corpseRemoveDelaySP 0 Single-player Controls how long SP corpses remain before disappearing. 0 uses stock timing, -1 disables corpse removal.
g_corpseRemoveDelayMP 0 Multiplayer Controls how long MP corpses remain before disappearing. 0 uses stock timing, -1 disables corpse removal.
g_corpseSink 0 SP and MP game code Selects corpse sink mode instead of the normal dissolve or burn-away behavior.
s_musicVolume 0.5 Client audio Controls music volume independently of the main sound mix.

Cinematics

g_autoSkipCinematics is intended for repeat testing runs, speed-focused replays, and development workflows where you do not want to manually skip every scripted sequence.

Behavior:

  • 0: normal behavior, cinematics play as authored.
  • 1: cinematics are skipped automatically when they start.

Notes:

  • The cvar is archived, but it is disabled by default.
  • The change affects future cinematics. It does not retroactively alter one that has already finished.

Example:

seta g_autoSkipCinematics 1

Corpse Cleanup

OpenQ4 now exposes separate corpse-removal timing controls for single-player and multiplayer.

Single-player

g_corpseRemoveDelaySP accepts three useful ranges:

  • 0: use stock timing.
  • -1: never remove corpses automatically.
  • > 0: override the delay in seconds before corpse removal begins.

Example:

seta g_corpseRemoveDelaySP 20

Multiplayer

g_corpseRemoveDelayMP behaves the same way, but applies to the multiplayer game module.

Example:

seta g_corpseRemoveDelayMP 10

Notes:

  • These cvars affect corpse cleanup timing. They do not change health, gibbing, or damage behavior.
  • New values are most useful for newly created corpses. Existing corpses may already be partway through their current cleanup path.

Corpse Sinking

g_corpseSink switches corpse disappearance to a Quake 3 style sink animation.

Behavior:

  • 0: use the normal stock-style dissolve or burn-away path.
  • 1: sink corpses into the floor before removal while keeping ragdoll active.
  • 2: sink corpses into the floor before removal after stopping ragdoll first.

Notes:

  • This cvar is shared by SP and MP.
  • The configured SP or MP corpse delay still controls when the sink starts.
  • If the relevant corpse-delay cvar is -1, corpse removal is disabled and sinking will not start.
  • Mode 2 uses the actor's normal corpse physics while the sink runs, so the body no longer keeps simulating as a ragdoll during the sink.

Example:

seta g_corpseSink 1
seta g_corpseRemoveDelaySP 15

No-ragdoll sink example:

seta g_corpseSink 2
seta g_corpseRemoveDelaySP 15

Music Volume

s_musicVolume controls the volume of music-tagged sound shaders without changing the rest of the game mix.

Behavior:

  • 0: mute music.
  • 0.5: default music level.
  • 1: full music level.

Notes:

  • This is separate from the master sound volume.
  • It applies to music shaders authored under the stock Quake 4 music paths, including both sound/musical/ and sound/ambience/musical/.
  • The setting is live and can be adjusted while the game is running.

Examples:

seta s_musicVolume 0.2
seta s_musicVolume 0

Example Presets

Fast Testing Setup

seta g_autoSkipCinematics 1
seta g_corpseRemoveDelaySP 2
seta g_corpseSink 1
seta s_musicVolume 0.2

Keep Corpses Around

seta g_corpseRemoveDelaySP -1
seta g_corpseRemoveDelayMP -1

Troubleshooting

  • If g_autoSkipCinematics 1 appears to do nothing, verify you are testing a real in-game cinematic and not a normal scripted gameplay event.
  • If corpses still disappear quickly, check whether you are in SP or MP and set the matching delay cvar for that game module.
  • If g_corpseSink 1 or g_corpseSink 2 is enabled but corpses never sink, make sure the relevant corpse delay is not set to -1.
  • If music does not respond to s_musicVolume, test on a map or menu that is actively playing music rather than general ambience or voice-over audio.