How do I edit the ligths/lightning in Quake maps?

[hardcore_gamer]

I am kind of new to Quake level editing but have still made a few maps for Doom 3 with Radiant so I am not new to level editing completely.

I have already made good progress on my first couple of Quake levels with NetRadiant! However, there is one thing I just can't figure out: Lights and lighting.

How do I change the lighting or the lights in a Quake level? Lights I add into the level don't appear to change the actual lighting in-game, and even after I select a worldspawn and create a "light" key with some values I always get the same flat lighting across the whole map.

Can anyone guide me into the right direction when it comes to editing the lights and the lighting in Quake maps?

[MadGypsy]

are you sure you are properly compiling your map with (light.exe)

[hardcore_gamer]

are you sure you are properly compiling your map with (light.exe)

Care to explain what that means?

After having saved the map with the editor I use Qbsp to convert the map file to a bsp file. I thought that was the only thing I needed to do in order to get the map to run properly. I have to do something else to get proper lighting/lights?

[golden_boy]

Light in worldspawn is minlight, as you have noticed.

I assume you're placing "light" entities in Radiant? Each light entity needs to have a "light" value greater than 0. 200 is a good basic value.

You then run your map through the compilers; BSP, VIS and Light in order. They're three separate programs in Quake. The latter one creates the lightmaps and stores them in the BSP file. Unlike Doom 3, Quake does not use realtime lights by default, but lightmaps.

Here's a guide to map compiling for Quake 1. It is aimed at newbies, which is not you, but you can probably glean some info from it as well.

Compiling a Quake 1 map | spawnhost

If you are using the compilers correctly, and still get no light, try a different engine?

Edit; for Quake 1 mapping, you need the "Quake" gamepack for Radiant, not the "Darkplaces" one. The latter is actually for making Quake 3 format maps, which some Quake clients can run.

[hardcore_gamer]

Thanks guys, I got this figured out now.

I had no idea that I had to also run the BSP file through those other two programs. I though simply using QBSP was enough!

That said, I have another completely unrelated problem that perhaps you guys can explain to me...

This only occurs in DirectQ Quake it appears (though my only other port that I use is Darkplaces).

There is this one place on my map where there is a very long hallway. After walking down it for a while everything suddenly turns into some kind of a "hall of mirrors" effect for no appearant. This doesn't happen when I run the map in Darkplaces.

Is this the result of some kind of limitation in the original Quake that restricted map sizes to certain sizes that Darkplaces removed while DirectQ Quake did not?

I want to know if that is the reason or if it is just me who is doing something wrong.

[golden_boy]

Either there is a leak in that area (your compiler would probably tell you so), or your map crosses the 4096 units line.

A vanilla Quake map can not be larger than 4096 units in all directions, starting at 0,0,0.

Darkplaces might work around that limit somehow.

Also, compared to Doom 3, Quake 1 does not support patch meshes, it does not use caulk, it does not support collision on static meshes, and it only supports a very hackish way to do rotating entites. And there are a ton of similar limitations on top of it. Basically if the original Quake doesn't do something, it can't be done in vanilla Quake.

A newly released compiler at least supports detail brushes now (func_detail). You might want to try it:

http://disenchant.net/utils/

The "make detail" stuff in Radiant probably does NOT work to make detail brushes in Quake 1.

Oh, and no area portals either. None of that stuff. Quake 1 uses the Vis program to calculate visibility instead.

Also, in Quake, one texture pixel corresponds to 1 unit unlike in Doom 3; so a 64x64 texture is 64 units long...

[Hectate]

DarkPlaces does support larger map limits - Engine Limits - Quake Wiki and LordHavoc's DarkPlaces Quake Modification but presumably you'd have to use BSP programs that support those increased limits as well.

[golden_boy]

The hmap2 tool has a -darkplaces switch that allows really large maps, IIRC; the downside is that it doesn't support some other niceties that Tyrann's and Bengt Jardrup's compilers do support.

There is also something called BSP2, which is an extended BSP format; it requires special compilers and engine support as well.

To be honest, 8192 x 8192 is a lot of space though, and a lot of classic Quake maps coped with the vanilla limitations quite well.

[hardcore_gamer]

Either there is a leak in that area (your compiler would probably tell you so), or your map crosses the 4096 units line.

A vanilla Quake map can not be larger than 4096 units in all directions, starting at 0,0,0.

Here is a screenshot from the editor:



Do you think it crosses that limit?

Also, when you say "4096 units in all directions", are you talking about just a single directly connected area or all rooms and brushes in general within a certain radius? I am not entirely sure I understand.

[golden_boy]

Yes, it does. The long area at the lower left crosses the 4096 line. That creates your hall of mirrors.

Move the areas around until everything is inside the limits

By 4096 in all directions, I mean when you look at the numbers in Radiant, nothing (no space you want to be accessible, to be precise) may cross those lines that say "4096" or "-4096", in all three dimensions. Starting to count at 0. So, keep stuff between the lines saying 4096 and -4096 to avoid this.

[hardcore_gamer]

Yes, it does. The long area at the lower left crosses the 4096 line. That creates your hall of mirrors.

Move the areas around until everything is inside the limits

By 4096 in all directions, I mean when you look at the numbers in Radiant, nothing (no space you want to be accessible, to be precise) may cross those lines that say "4096" or "-4096", in all three dimensions.

Ah! So I don't actually have to re-design the actual areas. I just need to move that part a bit near the center area so that it is within the radius of allowed mapping space

[golden_boy]

Precisely.

It can be pretty confusing when this happens for the first time. Just box select your entire map including the entities and nudge it over.

The limit is caused by the vanilla Quake protocol assuming no one ever moves outside of those boundaries. If you do, well, it craps out.

There are ways around it, if you ever need them, but they generally mean your map won't run in vanilla Quake engines. Everything has its cost.

[hardcore_gamer]

Just box select your entire map including the entities and nudge it over.

I have already edited the area without using that "box select" you speak off.

That said, how do you use box select? I don't see any such option in netRadiant.

I imagine its a very useful tool. How do I use it?

[golden_boy]

Press shift and drag with the mouse in the 2D viewport.