Quake Level Design Handbook?

[PikaCommando]

How good is it, in both usefulness and collector's value?

[PikaCommando]

Oh yeah, how good is Trenchboom, how easy it is to code/AI/custom enemies and custom models/animations for Q1?

Why do maps need to be separated into .map and .bsp? Serious Sam can both edit and play .map files with no compiling, why is that?

[Cigan]

Both Radiant and Worldcraft come with short manuals that describe the feature of the software as-well-as basic entity usage. Worldcraft docs focus on q1 maps and radiant focuses on q3. Even though these editors have a completely different GUI the underlying concepts are the same, and the information their docs provide can be transposed to other editors with little effort.

For instance, the worldcraft explanation on how to create a lift is only different from the radiant method in which editor specific menu you will use to make the connections. This means that all you need to know is the radiant equvalent of a worldcraft option (or viseversa... or even some other editor).

In the long run, all these editors are bound by what is possible in a Quake map. That means they are all essentially the same regardless of how they look. Before someone decides to challenge that statement understand that I am saying (as an example) that q1 mapping in radiant is no different than doing the same in worldcraft when you get past the gui layout.

[Zop]

I forgot to mention that most of the book explains how to use the qED map editor to do certain things, so following it exactly won't work for today's editors. One of the last chapters do talk about general design ideas and paradigms, so it's not wholly useless. Although I use qED still, I wouldn't recommend it, since there's no support, and any problem you have can't be google'd.

[Cigan]

Another example being updated compilers with custom switches that are not universal to other compilers. Not to disregard compilation extras such-as newskip, as well.

[golden_boy]

Right, the point where you're learning the tools is where books, youtube tutorials, and forums might indeed help. Or the documentation, if it has any...

I tend to overlook that because I've been doing it for a long time.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the tools of Quake level design change over time. The best example is the arrival of the Trenchbroom level editor.

[Cigan]

Although what golden_boy said is my exact method for roughly everything, I disagree with him. I disagree because there are plenty of details that aren't observable. If your goal is to learn the software you might not want to waste a bunch of time trying to hunt down answers through observation when a quick trip to the books index will point you straight to the answer.

I will say that reading the book cover to cover is probably unnecessary. I would read the basic tools and navigation portion, and rely on the index for quick answers as I need them.

However, I never actually used a book personally... I did end up asking various people for answers from time to time. Those answers are probably in the book.

[golden_boy]

don't need books to do level design, just practice, brains and observing how others do it.

[Baker]

Probably not the answer you hoped, but Ebay has them for $3.42

[Zop]

There was a thread here, a year earlier about it. It's a good beginner manual, but I don't think it's collectible.