the topic says it all - how can i get rid of the simple black shaft and replace it with something like, say, the shaft from mortuality?

gl_lightning 1
gl_particle_trail_type 1
gl_particle_trail_width 3
gl_particle_trail_detail 20

tweak them at ease

it says two of them are limited to 1.00 (width and detail) and gl_lightning is "write protected" ??? please help a newb out

If you play QW online then you just can use the normal shaft. The only thing you can change is the color of your shaft.
Just get into your Quakeworld Dir to QW/Textures/Models and there should be a bolt2_0.png. This is the Texture for the shaft.

rift some of these settings are enforced when you use "-ruleset smackdown" as a startup command.

remove that from your batch file / shortcut and then you can change these settings to your wishes.

I think he uses a different bolt_000.png (or whatever its name is) in Qw\textures\models. Remove/rename it and you should get a brighter shaft.

umm that was a reply to me asking that question, he was right, remove the png file and you can tweak lightning settings.