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Mapping for Quake III Arena may seem hard at first, but it becomes easier with time as experience advances. Soon maps will evolve from simple cube maps to fairly complex nightmares... that is, for the fighters!
Steps
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1Get GtkRadiant from the download site. This open-source software platform allows you to make maps in the Quake III Arena game.
- Learn to use it. You may also want to experience yourself with brushworking, texturing, compiling etc. after learning the basics in GtkRadiant's manual.
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2Decorate your maps. You must not leave bland, large surfaces with nothing in them. Put lamps, structure, other deco, even singing space monkeys if you ever need (actually, singing space monkeys are too loud).
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3Finish your map. Add minor details like small curves, wall details and add player and bot clip brushes to simplify navigation.
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4Compile your map. In the menu "Bsp" there are some compiling options.
- Consider "Full Final" if you want a beautiful map, "Fast Test" if you want to compile quickly or "Full Test" for the moderate of the two.
- Then go to "Edit --> Preferences", go to menu "Other --> BSP Monitoring" and disable BSP Monitoring. And go to menu "Bsp --> Compile AAS". In case you're wondering, a BSP is a compiled vectorial map and a AAS is a file with the navigation data used by bots in the game.
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5Run your map. Start Quake III Arena and hit ~ to enter the console then type:
- "sv_pure 0" to be able to run non-packaged maps and
- "devmap yourmapnamehere" to run your map (cheats enabled for development purposes). Replace yourmapnamehere with the name of the map you saved.
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6Locate and share your map. Before the final release, there are forums like Quake 3 World where you can share your map in a beta version to get critic attention, so you can improve your map with base on what people say.
- The map is located in "Quake III Arena\Quake3\baseq3\maps" where you installed Quake III Arena. Share only the .bsp and .aas, put them inside a zip file and put that zip in a file sharing service like MEGA or Dropbox. Then share the zip's link with others.
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7Enjoy your map and have fun!
Warnings
- Don't make messy geometry; if you do then you can get some BSP and compile time errors. Always dedicate to your brushwork, maintaining it on the grid, and fix minor misalignments with brushes.Thanks!
