Quote: "[1] does it make a difference whether its textured in or out of DBP.
"
Well i don`t know what you exacly mean but if you mean whats easiest. Then its easist to texture the world in the map editor you will use. And i Don`t think it makes any diffrents to the texture quality.
Quote: "[2] how would i go about setting up the collision."
I think you should use Nuclear glory collision dll
I use it too. Its awsome and easy to use. You can also download a fee demo version of it. Here is the link to the website :
http://www.nuclearglory.com
Quote: "[3] whats the best way to get the best possiable graphics - really sharp clear and realistic"
A really easy map editor is Cshop. Here is the link to Cshop:
http://cartographyshop.thegamecreators.com/
Also heres is a link to a thread with loads of pic`s of maps made in cshop:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=45155&b=13
you can also use DELED (Free) :
http://www.delgine.com/
Hope it helped
The Nerd