using trenchbroom for q2map

Discuss the construction of maps and the tools to create maps for 3D games.
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ceriux
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:30 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by ceriux »

hey i was curious if anyone could assist me in what i need to know in order to use trenchbroom to make maps in the quake 2 format?

what is the texture format? are the textures placed into a wad like q1bsp and hlbsp?

what about a fgd? how do i define my entities for use in the editor?

what kind of compilers should i use once my map is finished?

anything different about q2 mapping i should know (compared to q1?)
Dr. Shadowborg
InsideQC Staff
Posts: 1120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 3:34 pm

Re: using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by Dr. Shadowborg »

ceriux wrote:hey i was curious if anyone could assist me in what i need to know in order to use trenchbroom to make maps in the quake 2 format?
I don't know the specifics of trenchbroom, as I don't use it. (None of my computers can run it) Shouldn't be too hard though as long as it supports exporting the texture / surfaceflags / value extras. (basic q2 map format is basically q1 map format, with the extra values added after the x and y value alignment vars, IIRC)
ceriux wrote: what is the texture format? are the textures placed into a wad like q1bsp and hlbsp?
Q2BSP uses external .wal format. (most modern engines should support .tga files, but spike told me you still need the .wal file to tell the engine texture size, flags, etc.)

This is both a positive and a negative, but as long as you are strict about treating your textures folder like it was a texture library, most of the negatives can be dismissed.

You'll need wally to manipulate .wal files, which you can get over at the Quake Terminus tools page:

http://www.quaketerminus.com/tools.htm

Also you'll need to make sure and configure your tools / engine to use proper palette. (I'm assuming you're using this for q1, otherwise you'll need to use a different colormap.pcx)
ceriux wrote: what about a fgd? how do i define my entities for use in the editor?
Again, I'm not sure how trenchbroom handles things, does it use a worldcraft style .fgd file? I've been using an experimental modified quake.fgd for my Q2BSP work, it's been working out fine so far.

(I really need to stop working on textures / models / maps sometime and write the .qc entity support for Q2BSP specific extras...)
ceriux wrote: what kind of compilers should i use once my map is finished?

anything different about q2 mapping i should know (compared to q1?)
You'll need an appropriate qbsp3 (jitspoes DeWan, or if you need valve220 .mapfile support let me know and I'll try to find someplace I can upload my modified version of jitspoe's. It's not quite ready for primetime as I haven't gotten around to putting in the broken valve220 case handling yet...) a vis program (standard dewan seems to work fine), and ArghRad for lighting / rad. (/me wishes wally and arghrad source code was available, then somebody could update / bugfix them...)

Mapping for q2 isn't really all that much different from q1 mapping, you just have more features and options available in the form of surfaceflags / contentflags (light emitting surfaces, flowing / scrolling textures, etc.) I haven't fully tested rotating brushes, but IIRC liquid brushes can be used in func_trains and they work as is. (infiltrate and sink the ship scenarios, w00t!) You do have to explicitly set textures to be liquid via contentflags though.

Feel free to ask more questions, and I'll try to help as best I can, q2bsp is a totally underappreciated format.
ceriux
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:30 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

Re: using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by ceriux »

hey , thanks for the reply. would you mind taking a screen grab or so of your folder hierarchy to show off how these files should be in your mod/id folder?
Dr. Shadowborg
InsideQC Staff
Posts: 1120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 3:34 pm

Re: using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by Dr. Shadowborg »

ceriux wrote:hey , thanks for the reply. would you mind taking a screen grab or so of your folder hierarchy to show off how these files should be in your mod/id folder?
Even better, I made an infographic for you :biggrin: :

q2bsp directory structure

Also, another tool you might be interested in:
http://pulkomandy.tk/projects/GrafX2

It's a freeware pixel art / paint program similar to Deluxe Paint 2. I use it for doing splines / circles, among other things.
ceriux
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:30 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

Re: using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by ceriux »

sweet thanks!
Dr. Shadowborg
InsideQC Staff
Posts: 1120
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 3:34 pm

Re: using trenchbroom for q2map

Post by Dr. Shadowborg »

Tip of the day: -gamedir is your friend when using qbsp3 and arghrad. (compiling in the maps folder) I didn't have it set in my buildmap.bat for qbsp3. (it WAS set for arghrad) Ended up spending the last three hours trying to figure out why my animated textures weren't animating, including trying to find bugs in my qbsp3 until I found out that the gamedir wasn't set correctly. D'oh! :shock: :lol: :oops:
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