[QW] Could a mapper have some infos please?

(BrokenHeart) #1

Hi there!

I want to start mapping again, this time for QW. Since the game isn’t out yet, I’ve got some questions, that some of you (SD maybe?) might could answer please…

  1. Is it possible, like with any other Q3/D3 Engine game, to start basic mapping (in D3 radiant) and importing those (caulked!) prefabs into the QW Radiant?

  2. I guess it’s also possible to create textures with alpha channels, testing them in D3 and then using them in QW?

  3. [most important question] What is the players model height in worldunits? 96 like RtCW/CoD? 128 like MoH? Something… else?

  4. What about meshes and curves? Can they be importet?

  5. Is QW very “model based” or do you rely on brushes? I mean, Doom3 got very much models to create structures with (doors and such)… ah, very hard to explain, hope you get my point…

  6. What about the scripting language? Is it harder to use than the one from W:ET? More complex? Easier?

  7. How do you make those landscapes? Are you “drawing” them from meshes? Generate them? And what about this Megatexture-thing? I’ve read somewhere, it is generated, once you’ve finished mapping the level (maybe in the compile process?)… A bit of info on that would be nice…

  8. When will he :tapir: conquer the world? No seriously!

(Nail) #2

Tapirs have already conquered the gaming world, they may move to Im’s next

(SCDS_reyalP) #3

RTCW and ET player height is 72 (giving a scale of 1 unit ~ 1 inch). I seem to remember one of the SDers saying they kept the same scale for ET:QW, but I could be wrong.

(ouroboro) #4

Why is it that g_speed 320 = 320 UPS in Q3 but only 256 UPS in ET?

(Hakuryu) #5
  1. What about meshes and curves? Can they be importet?

Yes. Another post mentioned they supported .lwo, .ase, and a number of other formats including a proprietary one.

  1. Is QW very “model based” or do you rely on brushes? I mean, Doom3 got very much models to create structures with (doors and such)… ah, very hard to explain, hope you get my point…

Quakewars uses models extensively (as do most games these days). This does not stop you from using brush based geometry in your map, it is just helpful for many reasons. You could make corridor struts brushes, or add more detail and texture them as a model, to drop in wherever needed.

  1. How do you make those landscapes? Are you “drawing” them from meshes? Generate them? And what about this Megatexture-thing? I’ve read somewhere, it is generated, once you’ve finished mapping the level (maybe in the compile process?)… A bit of info on that would be nice…

They said the terrains were made in Maya, starting with a 32768x32768 plane with 128 subdivisions. They get the general shape with this plane, and then go in and subdivide further to add detail, and then remove unnecesary geometry. This mesh is imported into the QW editor, and the MegaTexture tool within the editor is used to setup the terrain. The Mega Texture as far as I can tell is a multi-layer image containing all pertinent ground information-texture, traction, etc.

(Lanz) #6

Because the run speed is scaled to g_speed * 0.8 and sprint speed is scaled to g_speed * 1.1 while Q3 only has a fixed speed.

EDIT: before anyone point it out, ok you could walk in Q3 too.

(kamikazee) #7

@BrokenHeart: There are a lot of things to fill in, but we do know that ET:QW will certainly keep things from Doom 3.

Over at Modwiki, you’ll be able to find quite a lot of info on modding for the Doom 3 engine, it’s certainly worth a look. The scripting manual is still a little premature, but there is a nice list of links to tutorials as well.

(Wils) #8

Hello!

I want to start mapping again, this time for QW. Since the game isn’t out yet, I’ve got some questions, that some of you (SD maybe?) might could answer please…

  1. Is it possible, like with any other Q3/D3 Engine game, to start basic mapping (in D3 radiant) and importing those (caulked!) prefabs into the QW Radiant?

ETQW’s map format is different, but you can import old format .maps. So… yeah, you can do that (unless something breaks between now and release).

  1. I guess it’s also possible to create textures with alpha channels, testing them in D3 and then using them in QW?

Yeah. The material format has changed slightly, but that’s trivial to adjust.

  1. [most important question] What is the players model height in worldunits? 96 like RtCW/CoD? 128 like MoH? Something… else?

Player height is about the same as Doom 3 - the GDF Marine is about 80 units tall.

  1. What about meshes and curves? Can they be importet?

You can import them in a .map as above, or convert to model.

  1. Is QW very “model based” or do you rely on brushes? I mean, Doom3 got very much models to create structures with (doors and such)… ah, very hard to explain, hope you get my point…

We don’t tend to use models for fittings (door frames, trim) as much as Doom 3, but otherwise it’s about the same.

  1. What about the scripting language? Is it harder to use than the one from W:ET? More complex? Easier?

Easier (read: more intuitive) than Wolf ET. Comparable to Doom 3.

  1. How do you make those landscapes? Are you “drawing” them from meshes? Generate them? And what about this Megatexture-thing? I’ve read somewhere, it is generated, once you’ve finished mapping the level (maybe in the compile process?)… A bit of info on that would be nice…

Terrain is modelled in a modelling package. The megatexture is created inside the level editor in a new window called the Terrain Editor, and generated using command-line tools (similar to compiling a map).

  1. When will he :tapir: conquer the world? No seriously!

Sorry, no release dates announced yet :stuck_out_tongue:

(kamikazee) #9

Are you pointing to the differences between Doom 3 and Quake 3 (Doom 3 has a new map format) or new changes between Doom 3 and Quake Wars?

Reason for asking is that I’m trying to complete an article on the Doom 3 map format. It might be interesting to add placeholders in that article.

(Wils) #10

New changes between Doom 3 and Quake Wars.

(kamikazee) #11

Then that’s something for my “TO-DO on the game’s release” list.

(Hakuryu) #12

I’d like to know all the different types of objectives used in the coming maps, to flesh out some ideas, but I doubt they are willing to give out that info yet.

I wonder if you could setup a GDF tank to only be driven by Strogg players (they are stealing it), and make it damage-able like the MCB.

Also, how are terrain boundaries handled? Is there an unpassable invisible wall keeping you from going ‘off’ the map, or does the terrain tile?

(ouroboro) #13

Because the run speed is scaled to g_speed * 0.8 and sprint speed is scaled to g_speed * 1.1 while Q3 only has a fixed speed.

EDIT: before anyone point it out, ok you could walk in Q3 too.[/quote]

Thanks. :slight_smile:

(jRAD) #14

The ETQW map format (.world) is a new format that supports easily adding new primitive types, metadata such as grouping information, and arbitrary properties on everything. The base primitive data stored will be familiar:
faces have planes, a 2D texture matrix + offset, material, and texture bounds (a new little toy we’ve cooked up.) Patches have control points and UV data, as well as their own additional texturing info. The format also supports references to other .worlds (these can be nested inside of each other.) :banana:

(Wils) #15

You could do, yes.

It’s an MCP btw :slight_smile:

(kamikazee) #16

Sounds freaky and exciting at the same time!
If there are no format docs planned about that, I guess I’ll have a fun time writing an article about it…

(BrokenHeart) #17

Thanks to all of you who answered my questions, especially to you Wils, it helped me a lot. It’s great to see developers that spare some time with their community. Thumbs up! :drink:

However, one question remains, or better said, I didn’t get one thing right.

Terrain is modelled in a modelling package. The megatexture is created inside the level editor in a new window called the Terrain Editor, and generated using command-line tools (similar to compiling a map).

Ok, creating and generating sounds easy enough… sort of. :uhoh: What exactly is this “modelling package”? Is it a tool, that will be shipped with the Radiant? Or do you mean, as earlier said, a stand alone program like Maya/Milkshape 3D/god-knows-what that will be supported with a plugin? I’m just a bit afraid, that I will fail at doing a terrain (always had my problems with that, although the CoD Radiant was kinda easy to use). So, do I have to learn mastering a modelling program or do I worry to much?

(Hakuryu) #18

They said they used Maya, but also that they support many file formats.

This means Maya, Lightwave, and 3D Studio Max can be used, and I’m pretty sure Milkshape will work with.obj. Maya alone supports 3 of those types that I know of, and I’m sure other packages can import/export in different formats. I wouldnt worry about learning something that will not eventually work, because the game doesn’t accept a certain file format.

The above says it all. Whether or not we can create brush based terrain with the MegaTexturetool I do not know, but I bet it would greatly decrease performance.

(kat) #19

It’s not just about performance; unless the guys at SD tweaked the internals a bit, brushwork doesn’t have smoothing on it which means a terrain looks like cack and appears ‘faceted’ in game, it’s one of the primary reasons to use models for that kind of thing (aside from greater flexibility etc… etc)

If anything using a 3D modelling package will mean terrain creation will be easier than doing the same thing from brushwork. Granted to get ‘good’ terrain you’ll need to spend time with the tools as with anything.

(jRAD) #20

I can’t promise anything, but I’ll add it to my list of things to “fill-in-the-blanks” post-release.