Q3Radiant Editor Manual

Preface

The authors would like to thank the many supporters of Quake Engine editing who made this work possible. Several sections in the manual are based on material written by dedicated fans. Others were "corrected" by fans who found undiscovered bugs in both the editor and game code. Where possible, we have noted the contributors in the sections they helped produce.

Paul Jaquays
Robert A. Duffy

GtkRadiant note: This version of the manual is meant to be distributed with GtkRadiant. Being for Q3Radiant 192, some parts are very outdated, specially all the ones dealing with configuration. But the core features (curves and brush manipulation, texturing) are still very relevant. If you are willing to help maintaining this version more up to date get in touch with us (http://www.qeradiant.com)

Note: Chapter 1 has been updated to follow the GTKRadiant 1.2.1. Mainly the preferences menu and some information on this page and appendix E (links and resources).

Introduction

Part of the fun of games like Quake III Arena is the ability to add to your own ideas to a favorite game and then have others play and enjoy them. While the technical skills needed to create a 3D graphic engine is beyond many game fans, the skills and equipment necessary to make modifications to the game are not. It has become the custom of many game developers to share their development tools with the public. This allows fans make their own game content. The Q3Radiant editor is the software used by the designers at id to create the arenas in Quake III Arena. In fact, it's an improvement on that editor, since it contains features that have been added since the game was completed. If you are familiar with Q3Radiant's immediate ancestor, the QeRadiant editor for Quake 2, then a good share of what's in this manual will be old hat to you. Whether you are a veteran mapmaker or new to the art of making game arenas, we think you will find some indispensible information in this manual.

Now comes the caveat.

This manual will tell you how to use the tools, but not necessarily, how to make what you have in mind. Many fine on-line tutorial and resource sites will be listed at the end of the document.

Minimum System Requirements

The designers at id used Q3Radiant on some heavy-duty computing equipment to make their game maps. Despite the fact that Quake III Arena runs under several different operating systems, not every computer that can run Quake III Arena will be able to run the Q3Radiant editor. Q3Radiant only runs under MS Windows 95, MS Windows 98, MS Windows NT, or MS Windows 2000 operating systems. There are currently no plans for Mac or Linux versions. The editor requires an Open GL compliant 3D graphics acceleration card (it is expected that all cards capable of running Quake III Arena will be able to handle editor functions … although some may handle it better). A 3-button mouse gives the best performance.

Minimum System

The minimum system requirements generally require that preferences such as texture quality and screen resolution be set to absolute minimums. The editor will run on the systems described, but speed of operation and visual quality will probably be less than satisfactory. It should also be noted that you would be limited to working on relatively small maps with limited texture and model usage.

Processor: P233mmx
RAM: 64 meg
Video Card: 4 Meg, software Open GL-compliant
Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768
Pointing Device: Two-button mouse*

Recommended System

The more powerful the machine, the better and usually faster the development experience. This will become especially true when you get to the point of compiling your maps (turning them from editor code into game code). It should come as no surprise that, more powerful machines will crunch the numbers faster when compiling a map.

Processor: P2450 (or better)
RAM: 128 meg**
Video Card: Open GL accelerated video card
Screen Resolution: 1280 x 1024
Pointing Device: Two-button mouse*

* This will work, but not well. A three-button mouse, even on a minimal system is highly preferred.
** id designers often found it convenient to work with several maps open at once. The recommended 128 Meg of RAM may not be enough to accommodate this.

What Doesn't Work (well) - and How to fix it

The key to a satisfactory editing experience is whether your video card supports the demands of the editor. The original id editor was designed for a workstation card called the Realizm, which ran on Intergraph workstations in a WinNT environment. Robert Duffy expanded this to include the Win9x operating systems and a number of other video cards. But not all video cards support the editor equally well.

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