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Additional note Aug 11, 2006:
This information is still valuable, but you should definitely check out http://www.quakeone.com/qadapter and read that first before proceeding. It is a nice "install and go" install of most of the things discussed in this thread with Worldcraft 3.3.
I setup the QuakeAdapter to get rid of all of the messy problems of finding everything and getting setup.
Making a Quake Map 101
All the tools necessary to make a Quake map are free and available on the internet. It really isn't that hard to make a basic map, like a boxy room with doors.
If you spend a moderate amount of time you can make better things. If you spend a lot of time, depending on your skill level and how hard you work at it, you might be able to make something fairly nice.
Getting Started
First, you will need a map editor. One that is freely available and has tutorials for Quake 1 is Worldcraft 1.6a.
Worldcraft 1.6a: Shareware download
There is a registered version of Worldcraft 1.6a also. I don't really know what the difference is. Since Worldcraft 1.6 is abandonware, you can probably find the registered version out there.
There are other freely available map editors, although it is not so easy to find Quake 1 mapping newbie starter information.
These include:
Quark
GTK Radiant
Valve Hammer
GTK Radiant, as far as I can tell, is more geared towards Quake 3 maps. It also seems a lot more complicated than Worldcraft to me, but it has some advanced features.
Valve Hammer is a Half-Life map editor. So why am I mentioning this? Half-Life 1 and Quake 1 map formats are nearly identical and with some experience, you can make Quake 1 maps with it.
GTK Radiant is free. I don't believe Value Hammer is free, but it is my understanding that QuaRK is free.
Worldcraft Tutorial
http://hosted.planetquake.gamespy.co...ft/index2.shtm
If you are interesting in mapping, do the whole Worldcraft tutorial. Do not skip any section. Do not just read it. You must actually -- to the letter -- do each and every exercise.
Don't get intimidated. After doing 3 or 4 exercises, and this does not take that long ... maybe an hour or two ... you will be a lot more comfortable with it and -- if you are like me -- find that it is rather easy to get around in.
Textures
To make a map, you need textures. Quake has a palette of 256 colors -- 240 in practice, I think. Quake stores textures in a raw graphics format called LMP and places them in a WAD file, which is basically a big bundle of them in a single file.
To manage textures that are used in a map, one essential tool is:
TexMex
This tool is quite easy to use.
Originally posted by Addition 7/5/2006
Entities are objects or non-fixed structures in a map. These include buttons, monsters, lights, spawn points, etc.
There is an improved entity definition file for Worldcraft by CZG, the Insomia author:
http://czg.leveldesign.org/q/index.html (look for the .fgd file)
Newer Tools
One of the more complicated parts of a map is the lighting. There are vastly improved lighting utilities by Tyrann and Aguirre that are much more efficient than the now ancient originals. These lighting compile tools completely replaced the originals for serious mappers long ago.
http://disenchant.net/utils.html
http://user.tninet.se/~xir870k/
(Consequentially, we are lucky enough to actually have both of these individuals as members of this board. Please do not private message them here.)
Additional Information
There are some very useful links on the Developer tab in the QuakeOne navigator which should help you locate 80-90% of the tools and things needed to make a map.
http://www.quakeone.com/navigator
If you get serious about it, some sources for additional information are reading threads at Func_Msgboard, Google or reading map developer home pages and links such as the following, just to name a few:
http://www.planetquake.com/fatty/
http://www.leveldesign.org
http://necros.planetquake.gamespy.com/
There are also map source files available with many maps, and maps can actually be decompiled. This is it is very good for learning, but it is considered very rude and inappropriate to actually release a map that uses any of the textures/structures of another map without the author's consent.
Map Sources:
These authors were kind enough to release their sources. There are others available, these are just two higher profile examples:
1. dkt1000: 1000 Brush Quake SP pack
2. Antediluvian
Speed Mapping
If you get any good at making maps, one good place to start getting your first maps reviewed and participating in the map making community are the regular speed mapping sessions at Func_Msgboard.
Closing
It is not very hard to start making a map. It is harder to finish a map, and making a quality map is very difficult. But whether or not you wish to make a serious map or just play around and have fun, trying your hand at making a map can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, especially having your Quake guy walk around in a small little world you just created.
And no, I've never finished a map but I laid the foundations of a pretty cool stadium map that I will probably never finish and started on a cool map with wind tunnels and got 1/4 of the way thru building a Coagula/Space Station style map with horrendous r_speeds.
These unfinished maps probably suck by most standards but they were fun to make :d And, this is just about everything I know but should be more than enough to get started.
And, with this, I have completed a promise I made on Func_Msgboard when I was asking the mapping gods a dozen questions, and that was to aggregate everything they told me into a single source.
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