diff --git a/source/src/console.cpp b/source/src/console.cpp
index fb6ade08..517f3b1d 100644
--- a/source/src/console.cpp
+++ b/source/src/console.cpp
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ void conline(const char *sf, bool highlight)        // add a line to the console
     }
 }
 
-const int CONSPAD = FONTH/3;
+#define CONSPAD (FONTH/3)
 
 void conoutf(const char *s, ...)
 {
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ void conoutf(const char *s, ...)
     puts(sp);
     s = sf;
     vector<char *> lines;
-    text_block(s, VIRTW*2-2*CONSPAD-2*FONTH/3, lines);
+    text_block(s, curfont ? VIRTW*2-2*CONSPAD-2*FONTH/3 : 0, lines);
     loopv(lines) conline(lines[i], i!=0);
     lines.deletecontentsa();
 }
diff --git a/source/src/cube.h b/source/src/cube.h
index c3add4b8..a72a7f50 100644
--- a/source/src/cube.h
+++ b/source/src/cube.h
@@ -88,11 +88,6 @@ extern int maxclients;
 extern hashtable<char *, enet_uint32> mapinfo;
 extern bool hasTE, hasMT, hasMDA;
 
-extern int VIRTW;                       // virtual screen size for text & HUD
-#define VIRTH 1800
-#define FONTH 64
-#define PIXELTAB (VIRTW/12)
-
 #include "protos.h"				// external function decls
 
 #define AC_VERSION 930
diff --git a/source/src/main.cpp b/source/src/main.cpp
index 312ee1ab..ec293068 100644
--- a/source/src/main.cpp
+++ b/source/src/main.cpp
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ void fatal(char *s, char *o)    // failure exit
 }
 
 SDL_Surface *screen = NULL;
-int VIRTW;
 
 static bool initing = false, restoredinits = false;
 bool initwarning()
@@ -327,16 +326,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     keyrepeat(false);
     SDL_ShowCursor(0);
 
+    initlog("gl");
+    gl_init(scr_w, scr_h, colorbits, depthbits, fsaa);
+    
+    crosshair = textureload("packages/misc/crosshairs/default.png");
+    if(!crosshair) fatal("could not find core textures (hint: run AssaultCube from the parent of the bin directory)");
+
     initlog("console");
     if(!execfile("config/font.cfg")) fatal("cannot find font definitions");
     if(!setfont("default")) fatal("no default font specified");
 
-    initlog("gl");
-    gl_init(scr_w, scr_h, colorbits, depthbits, fsaa);
-
-    crosshair = textureload("packages/misc/crosshairs/default.png");
-    if(!crosshair) fatal("could not find core textures (hint: run AssaultCube from the parent of the bin directory)");
-
 	loadingscreen();
 
     particleinit();
diff --git a/source/src/protos.h b/source/src/protos.h
index c4ec500a..d361f474 100644
--- a/source/src/protos.h
+++ b/source/src/protos.h
@@ -193,6 +193,27 @@ extern void keyrepeat(bool on);
 extern bool initwarning();
 
 // rendertext
+struct font
+{
+    struct charinfo
+    {
+        short x, y, w, h;
+    };
+
+    char *name;
+    Texture *tex;
+    vector<charinfo> chars;
+    short defaultw, defaulth;
+    short offsetx, offsety, offsetw, offseth;
+};
+
+#define VIRTH 1800
+#define FONTH (curfont->defaulth)
+#define PIXELTAB (VIRTW/12)
+
+extern int VIRTW; // virtual screen size for text & HUD
+extern font *curfont;
+
 extern bool setfont(char *name);
 extern void draw_text(const char *str, int left, int top);
 extern void draw_textf(const char *fstr, int left, int top, ...);
diff --git a/source/src/rendergl.cpp b/source/src/rendergl.cpp
index 0e296c89..b88e4fe8 100644
--- a/source/src/rendergl.cpp
+++ b/source/src/rendergl.cpp
@@ -331,8 +331,9 @@ void drawreflection(float hf, int w, int h, float changelod, bool refract)
     reflecting = true;
     refracting = refract;
 
-    int size = 1<<reflectres;
-    while(size > w || size > h) size /= 2;
+    extern int hwtexsize;
+    int size = 1<<reflectres, sizelimit = min(hwtexsize, min(w, h));
+    while(size > sizelimit) size /= 2;
     if(size!=reflectlastsize)
     {
         if(reflecttex) glDeleteTextures(1, &reflecttex);
diff --git a/source/src/rendertext.cpp b/source/src/rendertext.cpp
index 5f943619..fd806576 100644
--- a/source/src/rendertext.cpp
+++ b/source/src/rendertext.cpp
@@ -2,22 +2,12 @@
 
 #include "cube.h"
 
-struct font
-{
-    struct charinfo
-    {
-        short x, y, w, h;
-    };
-
-    char *name;
-    Texture *tex;
-    vector<charinfo> chars;
-    short defaultw, defaulth;
-    short offsetx, offsety, offsetw, offseth;
-};
+int VIRTW;
 
 static hashtable<char *, font> fonts;
-static font *fontdef = NULL, *curfont = NULL;
+static font *fontdef = NULL;
+
+font *curfont = NULL;
 
 void newfont(char *name, char *tex, char *defaultw, char *defaulth, char *offsetx, char *offsety, char *offsetw, char *offseth)
 {
@@ -144,7 +134,7 @@ void text_block(const char *str, int max, vector<char *> &lines)
 {
     if(!str) return;
     int visible;
-    while((visible = text_visible(str, max)))
+    while((visible = max ? text_visible(str, max) : strlen(str)))
     {
         const char *newline = (const char *)memchr(str, '\n', visible);
         if(newline) visible = newline+1-str;
diff --git a/source/src/texture.cpp b/source/src/texture.cpp
index a61cdc7c..c2194d04 100644
--- a/source/src/texture.cpp
+++ b/source/src/texture.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 Texture *crosshair = NULL;
 hashtable<char *, Texture> textures;
 
-VAR(maxtexsize, 0, -1, 4096);
+VAR(hwtexsize, 1, 0, 0);
+VARP(maxtexsize, 0, 0, 4096);
 
 void createtexture(int tnum, int w, int h, void *pixels, int clamp, bool mipmap, GLenum format)
 {
@@ -17,14 +18,17 @@ void createtexture(int tnum, int w, int h, void *pixels, int clamp, bool mipmap,
     glTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, mipmap ? GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_LINEAR : GL_LINEAR);
 
     int tw = w, th = h;
-    if(maxtexsize<0) glGetIntegerv(GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE, (GLint *)&maxtexsize);
-    if(maxtexsize) while(tw>maxtexsize || th>maxtexsize) { tw /= 2; th /= 2; }
-    if(tw!=w || th!=h)
+    if(pixels)
     {
-        if(gluScaleImage(format, w, h, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, pixels, tw, th, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, pixels))
+        int sizelimit = maxtexsize ? min(maxtexsize, hwtexsize) : hwtexsize;
+        while(tw>sizelimit || th>sizelimit) { tw /= 2; th /= 2; }
+        if(tw!=w || th!=h)
         {
-            tw = w;
-            th = h;
+            if(gluScaleImage(format, w, h, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, pixels, tw, th, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, pixels))
+            {
+                tw = w;
+                th = h;
+            }
         }
     }
     if(mipmap)
@@ -34,11 +38,22 @@ void createtexture(int tnum, int w, int h, void *pixels, int clamp, bool mipmap,
     else glTexImage2D(GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, format, tw, th, 0, format, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, pixels);
 }
 
+GLenum texformat(int bpp)
+{
+    switch(bpp)
+    {
+        case 24: return GL_RGB;
+        case 32: return GL_RGBA;
+        default: return 0;
+    }
+}
+
 GLuint loadsurface(const char *texname, int &xs, int &ys, int clamp)
 {
     SDL_Surface *s = IMG_Load(findfile(texname, "rb"));
     if(!s) { conoutf("couldn't load texture %s", texname); return 0; }
-    if(s->format->BitsPerPixel!=24 && s->format->BitsPerPixel!=32)
+    GLenum format = texformat(s->format->BitsPerPixel);
+    if(!format)
     {
         SDL_FreeSurface(s);
         conoutf("texture must be 24bpp or 32bpp: %s", texname);
@@ -46,7 +61,7 @@ GLuint loadsurface(const char *texname, int &xs, int &ys, int clamp)
     }
     GLuint tnum;
     glGenTextures(1, &tnum);
-    createtexture(tnum, s->w, s->h, s->pixels, clamp, true, s->format->BitsPerPixel==24 ? GL_RGB : GL_RGBA);
+    createtexture(tnum, s->w, s->h, s->pixels, clamp, true, format);
     xs = s->w;
     ys = s->h;
     SDL_FreeSurface(s);
@@ -314,6 +329,8 @@ void setuptmu(int n, const char *rgbfunc, const char *alphafunc)
 
 void inittmus()
 {
+    glGetIntegerv(GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE, (GLint *)&hwtexsize);
+
     if(hasTE && !hasMT) maxtmus = 1;
     else if(hasTE && hasMT)
     {