Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Dec 13, 2014 8:59:54 GMT -5
If it is possible, it would have to be using a mod since the max draw distance in Q2 is 4096 units and many of Quake III's void maps are larger than this. Q2 also doesn't support meshes so all of the curved geometry would have to be rebuilt. Waaay back in the day, I worked on a project where we decompiled Q3A maps and after looking at them, rebuilt them using QERadiant. It was a lot of fun running around in Q3A maps using the Q2 engine...much larger scale and easily supported large numbers of players on just about every map.
**EDIT** The decompiling process for the Q3A maps would not lock the brushes to the grid which is why the levels had to be completely rebuilt from scratch. I've given the project some consideration lately...would be neat to go back to it.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Dec 7, 2014 15:32:15 GMT -5
Other tips...purely my preferences interjected here, so take with a grain of salt if not to your particular style:
Pillars (as suggested above) are a good thing. My suggestion...make them a bit decorative to give the map more personality. A box style map rarely pushes the r_speeds very high so you have a lot of room to play with in creating some interesting set pieces.
Spawn points can be buried under the floor (1 unit deep) to prevent seeing the ugly models for the spawn points AND to somewhat minimize spawn camping. Of course those who play a map often will know exactly where the spawn points are, but it still cleans up the floor from randomly placed spawn points, especially if your map is otherwise very symmetrical.
Play around with the lighting a bit...again, this is only to give the map more personality.
A quick final note. When I saw this map, the Doom Level "Dead Simple" came to mind. In that level, there is a perimeter hallway that surrounds the entire central atrium and corridors on the outside of that connected all the way around the level. You don't have to go to that length to add more real estate to the map, but adding some port windows along the hallways separating the atrium and the corridors will allow for some badass "lucky" rail shots.
You're fairly new to the community, but you seem like you have a really good understanding of the level editor...time to flex that creative muscle and make those maps unforgettable!
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Dec 7, 2014 8:53:50 GMT -5
Is there a leak in your map? I see a "hall of mirrors" effect on the textures in the upper part of that pic.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Nov 19, 2014 7:21:46 GMT -5
My own personal experience: check the read-me file of any map you are looking to modify. If the map file was included in the zip file and nothing in the read-me implies that you can't use the map file, then mod away at your heart's content. Most mappers are aware enough to put something in the read-me, for example, in all of my maps I only asked that if anyone uses my maps to generate a new map, I just want to be listed in the read-me for the new map. It's not likely you would face any legal obstacles if you didn't abide by a read-me, but common courtesy goes a long way within a community.
**EDIT** I forgot to mention...if you are re-creating a map from scratch and not using anyone else's geometry, then there is no need to reference the previous mapper.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Nov 18, 2014 11:27:56 GMT -5
Your lighting looks excellent! Just enough light in the areas you want to draw attention to but keeping it dimly lit throughout. So much better than mapping for Doom huh?
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Nov 7, 2014 12:45:31 GMT -5
The t-intersection can be done by simply running one pipe far enough into the other other pipe so the seams are hidden by the geometry. It would be different if you intend for someone to be able to move inside, but since those pipes are smaller than the bounding box for the player, it only needs to "look" like 2 intersecting pipes.
Margaal's idea is also great...manipulate the vertexes for the pipe to bend it. QERadiant works a bit differently (different shortcut) but the effect is the same.
That tutorial on Speedy's site is a great example of how to make a curved pipe. Keep your divisions along the grid and your r_speeds won't suffer too greatly. Most machines now are capable of so much more than the system requirements at the time this game was released so let your imagination run wild, but test it all thoroughly before release.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Nov 6, 2014 10:39:37 GMT -5
Just a little over 3 years to go until the 20th anniversary for the release of Quake II. This makes me both happy and feeling old!
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Jun 26, 2014 9:34:10 GMT -5
Impressive milestone. Now...about that hit counter and when it's likely to hit 1 million!
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Apr 9, 2014 8:27:21 GMT -5
A few more tips that I found useful:
Keep your map editor view showing a grid based on 64 units and make your geometry fit in increments of 8, 16, 32, 64, etc... Use uniform structure throughout such as similar size doors, uniform size floor trim, etc... If creating angular geometry, keep it to 45 degrees, 60 degrees, etc...
Most, if not all, of my maps are symmetrical. It's easier to build and certainly easier to compile. Making things easier for the CPU during the compiling process will speed up that process. Replacing steps with ramps helps reduce poly and brush count. Think about it...for every step you create, there are probably at least 6 brush sides. All of those exposed faces need to be calculated for the lightmap which increases the RAD compiling. A ramp has only 5 sides and can span the entire range for elevation, plus ramps fit better with science fiction themed space maps.
Good luck with your projects. Each one is a lesson in something, so have fun with it.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Feb 23, 2014 7:38:37 GMT -5
I once seen it on an episode of Sesame Street! THE ULT!M@T3 3V1L!!! PS: Howdy j3st3r!
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Feb 23, 2014 7:33:03 GMT -5
If you mean mapping for Quake 3 Arena, I already asked if that was even possible and from what I was told by the people at Dreamcast-Talk (many years ago) they said that the game does not support custom maps for various reasons. The system only has 2mb of RAM, which as you can imagine, is very limiting for a custom map. There isn't a harddrive on the Dreamcast which means any files that might have worked would still need to be packaged into a full game file and burned as an ISO file on a disc that can be read by the Dreamcast. To complicate matters further, everyone you play with would have to have an exact copy of that disc or they would not be able to play on the same maps. If the Dreamcast had the means to access a harddrive, this might not have been an issue, but as it is, it's just not conducive to this type of modding for the games.
Alternatively, you CAN download the Dreamcast map pack for Q3A for play on a PC, but it involves a different point release. The PC version has a final point release of v1.32 while the Dreamcast uses v1.16n. I've played the DC Map Pack on PC and it was a lot of fun running those maps on a higher spec machine, but you will also realize just how small those maps were.
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Feb 22, 2014 14:01:55 GMT -5
What team for what Dreamcast game? I cut my teeth for online gaming with Q3A on the Dreamcast (started out in Clan427 as UncleTom). I also mapped for Q3A before switching to Q2. Fill me in on the Dreamcast thing...
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Feb 9, 2014 22:11:21 GMT -5
Yeah...Knightmare is right. Some textures can have different surface properties, sometimes referred to as "flags". The gravity, however, CAN be adjusted in the worldspawn. This is how some maps, especially space themed maps, have floatier physics.
The best way to learn is 3-fold: work daily with the editor, read all you can about the game engine and the editor you are using and ASK plenty of questions!
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Jan 11, 2014 7:11:04 GMT -5
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Panzer
Quake 2 Mapping Club
Posts: 175
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Post by Panzer on Jan 6, 2014 9:24:04 GMT -5
Hmm.... if I could attack one of those new organic LED flexible screens to my wife... then I could stare at the screen AND get hugs + breakfast! ..and still Doom it up at the same time, sweeeet!!! haha His response to Notch might have been a clue that he is involved in the next Doom game. Notch mentioned something about a nightmare and Carmack said Notch had reminded him of something he was letting slip away. Make of it what you want, but I think we all know a new Doom game is in the works and I doubt Carmack would have little or nothing to do with that project. He's the "Doom Daddy" after all!
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