i dont know but maybe your graphic card drivers are effecting this? when u open q3 you say its on 0. if u do r_vertexlight without a value, it will tell you what it currently is set to in the cfg. and it may have 1 latched. does this problem fix itself after doing vid_restart or changing map? i have a picmip problem like this its set to 4 in my cfgs, but i have to wait untill my second game untill it takes effect each time.. i dont know which setting in my drivers is effecting this maybe similar to your problem. also you can try making a file called autoexec.cfg and put the setting in there. (in your e+ folder)

well, unfortunatly i dont know the fix for this, and i dont know if it is your graphic card driver causing this with forced settings. dont spose you know what card you have? :roll: i dont want to go chasing down the wrong routes, so i think i back out here, seeing as i couldn't fix it for myself but saves ppl asking this question again..