Quake on Mac, looking for best level editor, and other matters

[linuxglobe]

Hello, as a long time fan of Quake 1, I love it so much. The fact that it can run on my MacBook is very cool. I want to know the best level editor on the Mac, and which server should I find folks to frag? I want to hook up with fellow Quake fans! Cheers!

[Dutch]

Trenchbroom is a popular (and quite good) editor that has a Mac executable as well. You might give that a go.

[ArrrCee]

I second Trenchbroom! It's great for someone just getting into mapping and like Dutch said, there is a mac version.

Sorry, I don't really play online so I don't really know what servers are active now.

[dumptruck_ds]

And... Trenchbroom v2 RC4. I've used on Mac and on Windows. However, I will say there might be a bug that prevents you from compiling your map on the Mac version. So in in that case create your map in Trenchbroom and then open and compile your map using ToeTag which is another Quake mapping application for Mac. ToeTag is good but Trenchbroom's manual and user interface are great.

http://kristianduske.com/trenchbroom/

http://oliveratgithub.github.io/ToeTag/

[linuxglobe]

I'm a first time Quake Mapper / HUGE Star Trek Fan; how do I go about making a "replica" of the TOS bridge, corridors, sickbay, turbolifts, jeffries tubes, and engine room?

[Dutch]

I'm a first time Quake Mapper / HUGE Star Trek Fan; how do I go about making a "replica" of the TOS bridge, corridors, sickbay, turbolifts, jeffries tubes, and engine room?

That's a very vague question. How much detail do you want it to have? Do you want to use custom textures in your maps? Do you want the custom textures to have a higher resolution? Do you want to add custom sounds? Do you want to add actual models of computers, pipes, chairs, and the like, or just make blocky 'simulations' of them like a lot of older quake maps do?

If the answer is "yes, I want it all: new textures, sounds, and models" then you have a very very very very very very long road ahead of you. Not trying to disourage you, but that's the simple reality. You'll have to learn how to model, create texture artwork, mix sounds, and learn trenchbroom itself, which involves learning a bit about the inner-workings of the quake engine itself. For custom effects and new models, you'll have to learn some basics in QuakeC programming an write a mod. Programs you will need (that I recommend) are:

* blender - superlative and free software for modeling, expect a high learning curve though
* Wally - quake-style texture creator
* Adqedit - packages your new textures into a WAD file that level editors can read
* QME - Quake model editor, for adding finishing Quake-like touche to models.
* fimg - quake sprite creator/editor
* Audacity - great sound mixing software
* GIMP - good image editor/creator for higher-res images
* FTEQCC - QuakeC code compiler, you'll also need to track down the original QuakeC codebase from id software
* QuakeC Manual - A very basic beginner's step in learning QC
* Trenchbroom itself for level creation
* Compiler tools and possible a compiling GUI

I would provide links, but I have found through experience that doing the actual search yourself yields better results in learning. You'll come across page after page of useful info digging around the web for these things. However...

I STRONGLY recommend you start off making a stupid cube-map and just screw around with it for a while. Learn how entities (monsters/lights/doors, etc.) work. Learn the editor, how to open textures into the editor, and what not. I wouldn't even consider making a totally custom map from absolute scratch until you have a very strong grasp of the basics. Work you way up to making a level that would fit into the original Quake. Once you can do that, then shoot for the stars.

Quake has been around for awhile, and mappers have been around almost as long. There's a LOT of info out there with easy access. Example: I did a google search for 'how to make a quake map' and the results are endless, each with good information. The very first hit is extremely useful, I used it to set up trenchbroom with tyrutils utilities and necros' compilingGUI:

https://quakewiki.org/wiki/Getting_Started_Mapping

EDIT: I remembered after typing a lot of this that you are using a Mac, in which case some of the programs I listed may not work for you. I'm afraid I can't be of much help in this regard. You'll have to track down mac-friendly programs to subsitute them, if they exist (like QME, Adqedit, fimg, and Wally).