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1997-07-20
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*** Quake Army Knife ***
This is a level/patch/etc editor for Quake, the game by ID Software. This
file is an introduction to Quake Army Knife. Please have a look at it if
you don't know it. Note that Quake Army Knife is based on QuakeMap.
A good introduction to Quake Army Knife's features, with screen shots and
all that kind of things, as well as infos on the latest Quake Army Knife
updates and other Quake Army Knife odd-ons is available at Derrick's Home
Page, as well as on-line documentation :
http://www.planetquake.com/quark
Quake Army Knife ("QuArK" for short) is centralized on a proprietary file
format, with extension ".qme". Although you may use it as a standard ".map"
editor, I recommend using the ".qme" file format, because it can store a
lot of things more than just a map.
You can store several maps, code patches (written in QuakeC), files like new
sounds or new models for Quake, and more, in a single .qme file. When you run
QuArK, the window you see is the "QuArK Explorer", which allows you to
edit such .qme files. See the introduction below and instructions in file
EXPLORER.TXT. When you open a map, either a standard .map file or a map
included in a .qme file, a new window pops up : the "QuArK Editor", a 3D
level editor. See EDITOR.TXT for a detailed description of the editor.
QuArK also has a Model editor. No documentation is available about it at the
time I wrote this.
*** Requirements ***
Target Quake version : from 0.91 to 1.06 REGISTERED ; QuakeWorld. It may
work with other versions, at least partially, but it has not been tested
with these.
The QBSP, VIS and LIGHT utilities from id Software are required to
"nodebuild" maps, i.e. to prepare them in order to play to Quake in them.
Using a more recent version of QBSP than id's first one is recommended.
Try out the one recommended in file FAQ.TXT, for example.
Estimated Hardware/Software Requirements:
- 486DX2/66 or better processor.
- 16mb RAM
- 1mb Hard Drive Space for QuArK
- Windows 95
- Registered version of Quake
These are estimates based on limited testing.
*** Installation ***
Just unzip all the files in whatever directory you want. I recommend creating a
new directory, named for example "QuArK", and unzipping the archive there.
You will be asked when required where Quake is. You don't have to put QBsp, Vis
and Light in the same directory as QuArK; if they are elsewhere, QuArK will
ask you where.
When QuArK needs to run Quake, it sometimes create a lot of files
(.map and .bsp files, progs.dat, quake.rc, .cfg files, etc). That is why it
creates a temporary temporary directory structure under your Quake directory,
named "QMapExec\". Files are extracted at their correct location under this
directory : for example, maps are extracted in "QMapExec\maps\", sounds in
"QMapExec\sounds\", etc. When it launches Quake, QuArK uses a "-game QMapExec"
command-line parameter to tell Quake to use these files.
WARNING: consider this QMapExec directory and all its sub-dirs as TEMPORARY !
Never save your work under it. Do not put QuArK itself in it. QuArK may
erase the whole directory and its sub-dirs at any time ! It does so, for example,
when you click on the "GO!" button that tells it to extract all entries and run
Quake. A misadventure happened to someone how had all his work erased this way.
Since then, I have coded securities in QuArK to prevent it from erasing
something else than its temporary directory, and to prevent you from saving files
in this directory.
*** QuArK Explorer ***
QuakeMap 2.0 - QuArK is based on QuakeMap 3.beta4 -
had numerous changes. One of the most significant
is the new file format, .qme, which is the format used by QuArK
Explorer. The advantage of this format is that it allows
you to save many different types of data in one file. In
addition to holding the .map file, a .qme file can contain the
text description file, Quake C patches and even .bsp's with
textures removed. In this way, QuArK can also be used as
a front-end to Quake, managing multiple patches for you.
Keep in mind, if you wish to distribute your files this way, the
user HAS to use QuArK to run it. However, A DOS run-time
version of QuArK is available (30kb)(*), which make it easier to
distribute files in this format. All you have to distribute with
your .qme files is a URL at which users may download this small
add-one. And these 30kb are well worth the possibilities of
QuArK ! Even if your .qme contains a single compiled .bsp, the
30kb to download will be smaller than the kb won by the absence
of textures in the .qme.
(*) The DOS run-time is not available for the current version
of QuArK yet.
Let's take a closer look at the possibilities of the .qme format.
It allows us to associate QuakeC patches with particular levels.
With this, we are able to build level-specific programs, like we
did in Hexen. For example, we could do something like Hexen's
first level, where there are walls that make a half turn, fire a
few fireballs on you, and then rotate back in place. This could
be done in a standard QuakeC patch, but associating this patch
with the level make it far easier to use, and prevent oneself from
playing the level without the patch or vice-versa.
It also provides a consistent way of assigning actions with new
keys - you know, "impulse" commands. You'll be shown a list of
new actions the installed patches provides, and you'll have to
choose a key for each of them. QuArK will then automatically
remap impulse numbers as needed (useful for several patches from
serveral sources) and write the "autoexec.cfg" to bind them with
the keys you have choosen.
*** SHAREWARE ***
QuArK is Shareware.
Please see file REGISTER.TXT.
***
Any comment, suggestion or bug report is welcome.
Thanks: to Derrick McKay for his QuArK Home Page and for all his comments and helps
(http://www.planetquake.com/quark)
to Mike Melzer for writing and updating a large part of the documentation;
to Steve ("sturm") for having provided the previous home page for QuakeMap;
to Christophe Weibel for having organized textures into groups;
to everybody who wrote me comments and bug reports;
and of course to id Software for Quake !
As usually, I won't assume any responsability for whatever might occur by
using my program, either directly or indirectly. No warraties !
*** Legal stuff ***
You may distribute this program on any support, as far as you don't make anybody
pay for it. You may charge shipping and handling costs on users, but not more.
You may by *no* mean make profit from solding, leasing, or anything else with
this program. You may, however, do whatever you like with whatever you made with
this program.
id Softare does NOT support This program at all. The author of QuArK is by
no way related to id Software. DO NOT ask id Software anything about QuArK.
"QuArK" is a unofficial short name for "Quake Army Knife" and is by no way
related to "Quark, Inc.".
Quake is (TM) (C) by id Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Quake logo is (C) by id Software.
Armin Rigo. (arigo@alphanet.ch)
(no file attachments nor mailing lists at this address !!!)