[QUOTE=Stroggafier;206329]@Stealth6, have you tried to import a custom map into the official ETQW release? Can’t be done, so yes, a patch is needed. Its my understanding there already exists a modified executible (e.g. ProMod), that could likely be used as a starting point. Apparently, it has drawbacks, such as no automatic texture map loading - that seems to be needed to make this a polished version.
Making custom maps “official” would also add an effective single player capability that many custom maps lack. Custom maps work only with the existing altered executibles, which are aimed at the multiplayer forum - no bots.[/QUOTE]
No offense, but this is totally wrong - if this is what all the “normal” players believe, I’m not surprised so few join us on the custom matches 
The rest you wrote is true however 
Let me try to remove some misunderstandings, and explain some of the problems we’ve had with custom maps in QW.
Q: Can vanilla game play custom maps?
A: Indeed it can, you don’t need any special executable or custom mod to play them with standard ETQW. However, there are some drawbacks when playing custom maps in vanilla, which the mods (and special pak files) can workaround.
Q: Can custom maps be played with bots?
A: Yes, they can. But the map has to be prepared for bot play - if not, the bots will just stay still, doing nothing. But adding bot support to a custom map requires a bit of work, and you also have to compile a special file (AAS) for them to be able to walk around. For some maps (especially the big terrain maps), it’s almost impossible to compile the AAS, without a lot of tweaking. So for this reason, most of the maps don’t support it. At the moment, I think about 10 custom maps support bots.
Q: Can vanilla game use megatextures for custom terrain maps?
A: Yes, but with a hitch: The vanilla game can load and play a custom megatexture without problems, but it can not install them. So you either have to install the megatexture manually, or you can use a mod to do it. This is the main reason most custom maps are played on mod servers only - both eqtwpro and qwta mod can both autodownload and install megatextures automatically, so the user doesn’t have to struggle with any manual installation.
Q: Can the vanilla game load a custom map just as easilly as a official map?
A: Well almost, but there is a drawback - whenever you load a custom map, the client will restart once. This is due to the pure system in idtech4/etqw - to reduce the risk of conflicting declarations when changing maps, the engine reloads everything to make sure you only have the required content loaded.
Q: Why doesn’t the vanilla game restart when you change official maps?
A: Because it loads all the 12 official maps on startup, so as long you stay with them, it’s pure. The moment you load a custom map, it will purge out all the official stuff and replace with the custom map. (simplifed answer).
Q: Can you play custom maps on ranked servers?
A: No. With current ETQW, only the 12 official maps can be played on ranked servers.
ok this got a bit long, so I’ll stop there for now.
But to conclude: It is in theory possible to get a custom expansion pack into the vanilla game, by packing down the map files into the official files, and make sure they get loaded by the vanilla game, just like the offical maps. This would remove the restarts, and megatextures would be installed properly without user interaction.
But is it worth the extra work? Well, I don’t think so. Even if I would love to see it myself, I think it is too late, and the quality of the custom maps is still not on the same level of the official maps. Very few custom maps is in a final stage, with exception of the Chris maps, which are pretty close and probably the most finished maps at this time.
Also, if any official/commercial provider (AV or SD) should do this, they would have to fix at least some of the other bugs in current vanilla (eg. the known exploits), and do a full QA process, which is quite costly. The expansion itself would also be a huge donwload, especially if full-res megatextures should be included (they can be up to 200-300 MB - pr. map!).
So I don’t think this will ever happen. What we could do, is to make a 3rd party unofficial pack with the most “stable” ones, by packing down and prep it so it doesn’t restart (it’s possible but quite some work). But they could still not be played on ranked servers - that will never be possible without some official blessing (and official server update, which again, costs a lot).
Well I don’t really think that is worth the effort either, unless we see a massive amount of new custom players on the battlefield. As written earlier, most mappers are working for the fame and glory, and to see players having fun in the worlds they are creating - cash means nothing and I don’t any mapper (in qw at least) ever had that as motivation.
Frankly I think it’s too late for a massive custom qw community - I’m still working on my own map, but that’s mainly to keep the etqw engine and SDK skills “warm” - while we’re waiting for Brink
It didn’t really help that our original forums was ripped away so suddenly either - but life is hard, and then you die.
Now wait a moment, with SD’s help we managed to respawn here - so there is maybe life after death!
Final words: if anyone still wanna support custom maps, the best thing you can do, is to play them! Join custom Nirvana, or feel the wrath of the Makron! :oppressor:
Edit: Dang it, I should have guessed - after writing all that crap, shirosa and timestar beat me, as usual. Prepare to die on next nirvana! 
Add their praises into the release and everyone is all smiles. (edit: I have done over 20 maps and several campaigns for Disciples II - its only 2-D and not nearly as difficult as ETQW)
