Why they doesnt use GL_QUADS instead of GL_TRIANGLES? Isnt quads faster? Or is that just rendered to look like triangles?
Though, i think they dont even use quads or triangles, something else more powerful maybe...
the command is /wiremap [1|0] see ../trunk/Documentation/cmds.txt
GL_QUADS vs. GL_TRIANGLES
It depends on the case, which one is faster. But the reason why all programs render the terrain as triangles is the terrain lod algorithm. With quads it is impossible to render different LODs depending on the camera distance in the same scene, you would always get small/huge gaps in the polygon carpet.