Did you somehow turn off particles display? set cl_particles 1
Nicotine has never been addictive to me, whatsoever, no matter how many years I've smoked or how many I smoke a day.
Here is another thread about missing particles, although it doesn't look like they got the issue resolved.http://tastyspleen.net/quake/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=597d4c6ea524bea5181f3ec8e55260bf&topic=18517.0