Z-Fixed Quake Beta

[KillPixel]

I've finished fixing over 60 instances of z-fighting throughout Quake. As well as removing z-fighting, I took the opportunity to align textures and fix bugs.

some examples:

texture alignment 1
texture alignment 2
minor geometry change/fix (had to, there was no other way)

I also fixed the floating zombie bug in e4m7 (woot).

some known issues:

The original demo2 and demo3 will not play with these maps, the client will either crash or go to console. To prevent this from happening I provided two demos as placeholders. For some reason the selected music won't play over the demo, I'll make better ones once I figure that out.

I've called this release "beta" for two reasons: 1, it sounds cool. 2, it is. It would be awesome if some people would run through the game and maybe spot some things I've missed. I want a solid release before I upload it to various places across the interwebs.

I'd also like to know how to fix solid skies, is this done map-side?

Suggestions are welcome!

anyway, >>DOWNLOAD<<



EDIT: Does anyone know if the SoA and DoE map sources have been released?

[Baker]

I'd also like to know how to fix solid skies, is this done map-side?

It's a bsp compiler option, I don't recall what it is though so someone more mapper-like will need to comment.

EDIT: Does anyone know if the SoA and DoE map sources have been released?

They haven't been.

[FC Zvyozdochka]

I've downloaded and tried your fixed maps, Killpixel.
Though I use DP and z-fighting is not a problem I thought about, still it is better to have maps with texture and geometry bugs fixed. This is certainly good.
The issue is that fixed maps don't carry vispatch and relight (via *.lit and *.dlit files) for original maps.

[golden_boy]

Yeah, I sort of wanted to fix this by incorporating coloured lights (hand placed by mapper, even) and transparent water *into* the fixed maps, but several people told me that was a terrible idea so I became demotivated.

I will still do it, but since no one seems to want this / most people seem to consider it blasphemy, I might not do it *now*. Too much negativity.

As for the solid sky bug, use recent map compilers then that won't happen.

[KillPixel]

I figured out last night that simply using newer compilers removes solid skies. I'm going to put out the final release shortly, which will contain 32 maps, this one only has 27 I think, and a missing source for e1m6.

Obviously the sources will be included. golden_boy, would you need anything else aside from the .map files? I'm just assuming you'd use these sources as they are already fixed (it was a pain in the ass).

[KillPixel]

The issue is that fixed maps don't carry vispatch and relight (via *.lit and *.dlit files) for original maps.

I'm brand new to this so I don't know what .lit and .dlit files are or how I would make them. Looks like golden_boy might have your back though.

[golden_boy]

.lit files are for coloured light - there are tools that create coloured light information for standard Quake maps and write them into a lit file.

I'm using my own sources - this is because I snap everything to the grid, which requires a certain amount of fixing. The mappers at id software used the clipping tool liberally to create new brushes (usually for putting trim textures on), and they even used it on slopes and across multiple brushes, which can (and often did) produce vertices that are not on the grid. An example is the pyramid in e1m8...

Snapping to the grid is the better option because it creates problem-free sources for people to later work with.

This means I have to reconstruct a couple things such as archways, slopes or the pyramid in a way that keeps them on the grid. However I also try to keep the maps demo-compatible and all. I will include a fixed progs.dat as well (vanilla Quake is full of bugs, the fish bug is just one example). This progs.dat will allow me to fix the transparent water related issues as well, by simply adjusting the QC *and* the map files.

[KillPixel]

I see. What happens when vertices are not on the grid? My first thought was leaks, but I didn't encounter any leaks when compiling.

Is the fish bug the "dead fish shrunken head" bug? I'd like to know more about editing progs.dat. I want to make this initial release the only release, so I'd like to fix as many things as possible.

[golden_boy]

Off-grid vertices can lead to leaks, depending on the compiler and map editor you use. They can also cause other problems like HOMs, lighting bugs, falling through terrain etc. Floating point creep can occur by repeated saving/loading of the map in certain editors. There may be more - I'm not a tools guru. I only know that having stuff off the grid is bad practice and might lead to problems.

It may work with your editor/compiler, for now, but when I release something, I like to clean up after myself and not leave possible problems to someone down the line. It is a little more work to do the grid snapping, but it might pay off for someone else in the future.

I don't like to pass on problems to the next person using these sources. And I don't like possible floating point creep or rounding problems. I decided to fix this because I can.

The fish bug is where the killcount gets messed up by fish counting twice.

[KillPixel]

Hrm, that's good to know. I'd like to venture further into mapping, it's really fun.

I may just skip progs.dat and just release this as what I had originally intended, a fix for z-fighting with a few other bug fixes.

[FC Zvyozdochka]

Guys, what map editors are you using? I tried Worldcraft to make lighting in the startmap colored (almost like in http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...tml#post107206) but I haven't even understood how to select a single lightsource.
Are there better map editors? Or maybe some tutorials?

I'd like to make combi-relight with both lightmaps for ambient light and RTLights for torches etc. WinMHcolor is not too good for this task, even though it produces nice colored lightmaps automatically, but lightmaps generated by this program are better to use without rtlights.

KillPixel, if I'll find better editor or learn to use Worldcraft in a proper way - then I'll be able to make colored combo-light for your fixed maps, which I actually liked.

[Cobalt]

Are the maps in this release recompiled with a new compiler so that the skies are non solid?

EDIT: Tried them in a game, I guess you did...thanks. Not sure I understand what else was fixed tho. What else is weird is the grappling hook in CTF will still grab onto the sky....not immediately and you cant see the hook anymore, but its hooked on something up there. I wonder if pointcontents_sky would detect correctly now?

Update: YEa....aaaaaaaa! content_sky now detects ! Awesomeeee! I can fix the hook now that it will detect the sky like that, thanks , man !

[Cobalt]

Wow, really neat having actual non solid skies and the QC able to detect an entity being inside it. Still neeed the start map and the DM maps to be done. Killpixel says he is short on time....any volunteers? I dont think the end map has a sky?

[R00k]

Not to be a stick in the mud, but its only allowable to provide the .map files (gpl) not the compiled bsp with id's textures. The Textures were not GPL'd only the .map files. But this doesnt stop anyone from taking those maps and building them their selves, for their on use.

[KillPixel]

I'm going to release all 32 maps this evening after I get off work. (yeah, all needed work).

I've gone through so may compilers for various reasons, I'll go into detail when I post them.

The maps, however will not be perfect, I'm discovering a very small anomaly that occurs only on a few maps (it in no way effects game play, it has to do with certain small parts of a wall not being lit correctly). I've figured out that it's compiler issue, more on this later.

On the bright side, many maps bugs (misplaced teleport destinations, stuck monster closet doors, etc) have been fixed as well as over 80 (!!) instances of z-fighting. I also took the time to properly align some textures for icing on the cake.

The map sources will be included so people can re-compile/edit or whatever. I really wanted to address that small anomaly before release but another project is taking up my time.

I'm using GTKRadiant 1.5 BTW.