Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Where can I find good documentation for mapping techniques?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Where can I find good documentation for mapping techniques?

    Title says it all.

  • #2
    I've never been able to find much documentation. But I believe there are some old threads by a once active member called golden_boy somewhere in this site.

    Here, I found some links they may be useful

    http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...g-radiant.html

    http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-tal...ake-1-map.html

    There may be a few more. I am also willing to help, I learned it all the hard way: trial and error. Ask me anything bro.

    You'll want to start small: make a stupid blocky map with zero detail, a player start, and some light. Here's a workflow to learn:

    1) learn your map editor. Shortcuts, functionality, what it can and cannot do.
    2) build a basic map. Make sure it's sealed off from the void. Don't worry about textures and detail. Just get the thing to compile correctly (bsp, light, vis).
    3) add light, start learning what values compliment the map geometry.
    4) play around with different entities (monsters and items).
    5) texturing is next. Textures should fit a theme and flow nicely. Don't use the original quake maps as good examples (especially episode 4)
    6) detail. Complex archways. Non square rooms, multiple levels, gussets near the ceiling, angles, and what not.
    7) gameplay flow. if its a DM map, does it play well with other people? if its single player, is it possible to beat?
    8 ) atmosphere: is it scary?

    Just things to think about. Like I said, I'm down to answer any questions, even the most basic. We all started somewhere.
    Last edited by Dutch; 07-20-2016, 05:03 AM.
    'Replacement Player Models' Project

    Comment


    • #3
      Some good advice there from Dutch, and he was right about goldenboy trying to be helpful

      You could also start looking at other peoples work for inspiration. Maps from talented guys like Tronyn, Sock, czg, =Peg=, stalker, xeno, dranz and others really lead the way in how a map should look and feel. Maybe jump on to the ffany.servequake.com:26000 type say !maps in the console and have a look around at the techniques they have used.

      In terms of the "how do I perform task x" type questions I started out following tutorials on youtube for an old mapping program called Qoole. With limitless patience it can be used to map...

      ...but I would NOT recommend that you use the application as although the interface is easy to use, sadly it is way too buggy for most peoples liking and a little limited in today's marketplace. However, the tutorials will help familiarise you with how to do things like add buttons/switches, doors, lifts/elevators, triggers, etc.

      You could also try hunting down some of the threads from MadGypsy concerning the GTKRadiant mapping tool. I believe he did a lot of work in trying to improve the interface and usability but perhaps he can tell you more.

      Lastly, perhaps have a look around the func messageboard site which is where I'm told the mappers hang out.

      Hope this helps

      Monty
      Last edited by Mr.Burns; 07-20-2016, 04:27 AM.
      Mr.Burns
      "Helping to keep this community friendly, helpful, and clean of spammers since 2006"
      WWW: Quake Terminus , QuakeVoid You Tube: QuakeVoid
      Servers: Quake.shmack.net, damage.servequake.com

      News: JCR's excellent ctsj_jcr map is being ported to OOT

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Mr.Burns
        In terms of the "how do I perform task x" type questions I started out following tutorials on youtube for an old mapping program called Qoole. With limitless patience it can be used to map...
        That was the editor I learned on, and it's still my favorite for interface! But yes...it's buggy as hell. Lol. I don't recommend it for making maps like Tronyn and Sock make...that would be a nightmare.

        You could also try hunting down some of the threads from MadGypsy concerning the GTKRadiant mapping tool. I believe he did a lot of work in trying to improve the interface and usability but perhaps he can tell you more.
        I was just going to recommend this as well. Gypsy poured his soul into some tutorials for Radiant, which is a superb editor. He also has a gamepack for it called Virtuoso with that really streamlines the process for compiling and texturing.

        Here's some links to gypsy's radiant stuff:

        http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...k-q1-maps.html

        http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...ervations.html

        http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod..._0-15-4-a.html

        http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...diant-ent.html

        http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...s-radiant.html

        Given the wealth of info on radiant on this site alone, I'd recommend learning how to use it as your go-to editor...i'm trying to re-train myself to use it.

        However, good, solid map creation techniques do not change from one editor to the other. The fundamentals stay the same.
        'Replacement Player Models' Project

        Comment


        • #5
          I have nothing to add to what Mr Burns or Dutch said but, I am unsure if any of the links back to my work lead to the absolute latest version of Virtuoso. That being said, here is a direct link to the most recent version on my google drive.

          https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_...VlrMF82UFdybmM

          @what Mr Burns said ending in the fact that I could tell you more about it.
          What he said sums it up correctly. In it's most significant sense Virtuoso:

          1) Allows you to build/run q1 maps straight from the build menu
          2) Includes the entire Tyrutils compiler defined in the entity inspector
          3) Includes the Tyrutils compilers and is already wired up to use it without any configuring of paths or anything else

          There are more features and included content but, those 3 things listed above are the most significant change from the stock q1 gamepack for NetRadiant. What Dutch says about "also has a gamepack" is mildly incorrect. My gamepack is the entire source for every change and addition I provided. In other words, the gamepack is my entire modification for NetRadiant. The only part that strays from this fact is, I included a mock Quake folder with fteqw and then wrapped both NetRadiant and Quake in another parent folder. This allows me to predict relative paths from radiant (as long as you don't split up the main folder) which allows for a drag and drop map development environment, as well as an "out-of-the-box" way to develop outside of your actual Quake directory.
          Last edited by MadGypsy; 07-20-2016, 10:39 AM.
          http://www.nextgenquake.com

          Comment


          • #6
            There used to be a good rundown of mapping basics at quakewiki.org:

            https://web.archive.org/web/20150912...wiki/Main_Page
            https://web.archive.org/web/20150921...tarted_Mapping

            Most people newly getting into mapping these days use TrenchBroom or Jackhammer (I guess that's called J.A.C.K. now) as their editor, although some old guard like NetRadiant.

            For compiler tools most everyone seems to have switched to ericw's version of TyrUtils: tyrutils-ericw

            That's all technical foundation rather than mapping style guidelines tho.

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm not sure if it would be usable tool for making Q1 maps, but I've used QuArK (Quake Army Knife) for a few modeling adventures in Quake2. I, uh... wouldn't recommend it. Especially if you're a newbie to mapping. It's not newbie friendly at all. It comes with plenty of documentation on all of it's functions, but it can be very confusing at times, especially if, like I said, you're brand new to mapping or modeling. Even if you're gonna do lighter work with it and just make models, I still wouldn't recommend using it. There's WAY better programs out there to use.

              Comment

              Working...
              X