However, reading your posts suggested me a few other tests to do with those cvars...
I've just done some more testing with g_enablebreath, and
it looks like it isn't working as expected.
I started a dedicated server and loaded a map, then I manually set g_enablebreath 1
[1] (as it was set to 0 as the map itself didn't have the compation worldspawn key).
Then I launched the client and connected to that server. And it turned out that the client did have g_enablebreath 0, it did
not set the variable following its value on the server.
I did also try with cg_thirdperson 1 to be sure the effect wasn't shown.Then I opened NetRadiant and edited a small box map I use for tests, adding "enablebreath" "1" key in worldspawn, and compiled the map, then started the dedicated server and loaded that map (with sv_pure 0): in this case, the game automatically set g_enablebreath 1, as that's supposed to work. Then started a client and connected to that server, but on the client g_enablebreath remained at 0.
If I load the map in "listening server" mode (acting as both client and server at the same time, e.g. launch the game normally), it works for me, but it doesn't work for further clients connecting to me.
To sum up:- The server actually sets the cvar according to the worldspawn key at map load time, as expected.
- The client does
not set the cvar,
ignoring both the worldspawn key in the map and the server setting. And this is not as expected.
I don't know if the problem is openarena-specific or the feature already had the problem back in TA.
[1] The variable didn't look like existing before I loaded a map the first time, but that's an usual behavior of the game for various cvars (I can guess some parts of gamecode aren't executed before you load a map for the first time).