Quake3World

Is there a quicker way to compile large maps. Took 4ish hours to compile what ended up a 5mb file.

4 hours doesn't sound too long for a final compile in general.

depends on the map and machine of course. could you post the q3map2 command line you used so we know what you did and are able to help you?

you might want to investigate this thread

http://www.quake3world.com/ubb/Archives ... 20488.html?

The short answer is that if you're just testing, cut out the VIS and LIGHT portions of the compile process.

What the heck is taking hours to compile? If its vis sounds like some structural/detail optimising need doing. You can set blocksize on large maps to shorten vis time.
Light can take ages if you set bounce 8 or such like. But it doesnt need to. The size of the lightgrid can also be increased for large maps to speed things along.

Am using GTK gradeint and selected (final) under build.

Do you want to test your map or do you really want a final build?

Depending on stuff that takes a long time (fog, sky etc) and the machine you're compiling the map on the settings radiant uses for final may take that long. Nothing special about that.

If you just want to test some quick changes (without light), select the top-most entry under build. The map should compile very fast (< 2mins) then.

You may also want to check out this book on q3map2 and its options.