The title says it all...how can I make a spotlight with a visible beam?

Light beam tutorial
http://planetquake.com/bubba/beam1.html)

In JA you can find the necessary beam textures in the common texture set. They look like gradients. No_draw is found in the system set.

Yeah, it's a cool effect but don't overdo it. You must remember that in the real life you only see the beam of light if the air is filled with particles, like dust or water vapor. So, the spot light with a beam may not actually always look like a "real" spotlight...

You should try the use the fog instead of beam shader. It looks much better besides the fact that sometimes doesn't work ;)

Can you clarify that mslaf? Do you mean use a fog brush in the shape of the light beam instead of a beam shader?

(If I load up Fearis, will I get a kick-ass awesome example?)

Exactly. I was trying this with JO and it was much better that beam shader a la' quake3. It's much better because the effect changes with distance. I'll try to make a sample when I have a minute.

(...) Thanks wedge. My fist idea was to make it on Yinchorr, I'm glad I've dropped it;)
BTW: There's a source version available if anyone is interested.

I'm not thinking really of implementing this, but extra knowledge is always good lol.

If I created a fog brush in the shape of a beam (so I assume a thin cylinder), do i just then set it a light value or something so it's a beam?

i tryed the fog and all i got was a mirror effect like there was a light leak.