Well, replacing geometry (the actual cubes) with models could work for certain areas, where additional details are needed, or one needs to get around the vertical limitations, like you can't have more than one opening in a wall. However, that's not going to work as well on a larger scale. The Cube engine is built around cubes and solid walls are the only occlusion mechanic (performance!) there is. Maybe even worse, it is also the only reliable visual barrier every client will always have in common. I don't want to get into too much detail here, but there's no validation whether all models on the client side are the right ones, or even if those are loaded at all. Therefore one might have a blank space where others have a model sitting in the view... Hope you get what I'm trying to tell you.
In order to place a model by command you need to supply (at least) the number of the mapmodel's slot according to the map's config file, e.g. '/newent mapmodel 3'. If the map has no separate config, the default_map_settings.cfg will be used, which can be found in the config folder.
Manipulating models isn't as easy as you may know from other engines, like Unreal.
You can resize only on the model's config file using the command 'mdlscale'. However, this is then always applied to the model when using it, you can not change that in the editor per map or per instance in a map.
The vertical orientation (yaw) of a model is set accordingly to your orientation when placing the model in the editor and can be changed afterwards. Move close to the model until its entity-sparklies shine blue (model is selected), keep pressing 1 and scroll up/down. There's also another method, where you can type the values, but I keep forgetting the command... Note, you can only change the yaw, not the roll or pitch of a model, that's why there usually are a lot of variants of one particular model, which only have different rotations applied.
If you want to move models you either delete and place it somewhere else, or you again 'select it' keep pressing M and scroll up/down. However, this does move the entity-sparklies, so you'll have to follow the model... Hard to explain, try it and you'll understand what I mean.
By the way, models need to be clipped since there is no mesh-collision in this game. For simple models this can be done on the maps config file, however the orientation of that clip is not going to change when the model is rotated and complex models are most likely required to be clipped manually every single time its used in a map.
The -mods method has little to do with all this. It is used to bundle content, especially if its going to replace default content which ships with the game. If you want other clients to get your custom content, without them manually downloading and extracting it into their game folder, the content needs to be made available through packages.cubers.net, which (currently) has no user interface, so the people in charge will have to upload it for you there. At least that's how it works now, this might change in the future. We actually used to have a dedicated upload platform for AC content, but this isn't running anymore.
If you want to try stuff on a server only by your own, you can simply launch a local server using the server wizard and connect to it via 'join a LAN server' on the multiplayer menu. In this scenario the server doesn't need to connect to the masterserver and therefore it doesn't matter whether port forwarding works or not.
I guess you figured by now, how it is not an easy task to enhance the visuals of Assault Cube. There absolutely is potential utilizing higher res and/or more realistic skins on mapmodels, like taken from actual scans. Though, not 4k, but more like 1.5 or 2 times the standard size. In the end, everybody got to decide on their own, if this is worth the efforts. ;)
In order to place a model by command you need to supply (at least) the number of the mapmodel's slot according to the map's config file, e.g. '/newent mapmodel 3'. If the map has no separate config, the default_map_settings.cfg will be used, which can be found in the config folder.
Manipulating models isn't as easy as you may know from other engines, like Unreal.
You can resize only on the model's config file using the command 'mdlscale'. However, this is then always applied to the model when using it, you can not change that in the editor per map or per instance in a map.
The vertical orientation (yaw) of a model is set accordingly to your orientation when placing the model in the editor and can be changed afterwards. Move close to the model until its entity-sparklies shine blue (model is selected), keep pressing 1 and scroll up/down. There's also another method, where you can type the values, but I keep forgetting the command... Note, you can only change the yaw, not the roll or pitch of a model, that's why there usually are a lot of variants of one particular model, which only have different rotations applied.
If you want to move models you either delete and place it somewhere else, or you again 'select it' keep pressing M and scroll up/down. However, this does move the entity-sparklies, so you'll have to follow the model... Hard to explain, try it and you'll understand what I mean.
By the way, models need to be clipped since there is no mesh-collision in this game. For simple models this can be done on the maps config file, however the orientation of that clip is not going to change when the model is rotated and complex models are most likely required to be clipped manually every single time its used in a map.
The -mods method has little to do with all this. It is used to bundle content, especially if its going to replace default content which ships with the game. If you want other clients to get your custom content, without them manually downloading and extracting it into their game folder, the content needs to be made available through packages.cubers.net, which (currently) has no user interface, so the people in charge will have to upload it for you there. At least that's how it works now, this might change in the future. We actually used to have a dedicated upload platform for AC content, but this isn't running anymore.
If you want to try stuff on a server only by your own, you can simply launch a local server using the server wizard and connect to it via 'join a LAN server' on the multiplayer menu. In this scenario the server doesn't need to connect to the masterserver and therefore it doesn't matter whether port forwarding works or not.
I guess you figured by now, how it is not an easy task to enhance the visuals of Assault Cube. There absolutely is potential utilizing higher res and/or more realistic skins on mapmodels, like taken from actual scans. Though, not 4k, but more like 1.5 or 2 times the standard size. In the end, everybody got to decide on their own, if this is worth the efforts. ;)