When I try connect to a Quake II server that's running a mod, quake2
crashes with the message "Error: VID: Could not open display". **
According to Zoid, this problem occurs when the video system restarts due to a gamedir change. Several
libraries get unloaded and reloaded during the restart, and this apparently causes quake2 to blow chunks on
many systems.
The workaround solution is to set the game CVAR on the command line before you start up quake2. So if
you're going to connect to a CTF server, you'd start quake2 like:
./quake2 +set game ctf ...
This may seem inconvenient if you're used to connecting to new servers without leaving the quake2 program,
but unfortunately it's the only way around this problem right now. A frontend program like XQF will
automatically do this command line stuff for you, so you ought to consider using one if you're not currently
doing so.
6. Tips & Tricks
Linux Quake HOWTO
Why can't I change to some of the SVGA modes that are in the Quake II Video menu? 40