trying to summon old memories and use bsp2map ...

[sliver]

I've switched computers a couple times since last I mapped, so I lost all the source files for the maps I made.

Playing QuakeLive has made me want to rejigger one or two of them, so I remembered bsp2map and how advanced it had gotten by the end of the q3 era; but now I can't seem to make it work.

I've got all my paths set, I've tried the standalone bsp2map and the Q3Map2-Toolz versions, but neither of them seems to be outputting anything anywhere when I plug in a BSP and tell them to decompile.

Anybody out there want to give me a hand? I'm not even sure what details I should provide to help you help me, so tell me what information you need and I'll furnish you with it.

tia, hopefully someone still remembers this crap from a decade ago!

[sliver]

Okay, well I managed to get a MAP file out of it, but it's error-ridden so I can't even open it up in GTK.

If I look into it with textpad, I see that all the texture information is missing. I guess I'm using a crappy old version of the process; I remember someone had refined it until it reverse engineered an almost perfect MAP file with textures and everything.

Does anyone know where I can get the "good" bsp2map / q3map2 files now?

[obsidian]

BSP2MAP was a q3data.exe command line. It's old.

Q3Map2 2.5.16

Also available with GtkRadiant 1.5.0 from http://www.qeradiant.com

Usage:

C:\[dir\to\q3map2]\q3map2.exe -convert -format map C:\[dir\to\bsp]\mapname.bsp

Q3Map2 will preserve textures, but not texture coordinates, so you'll have to fix those manually. One of the Q3Map2 variants out there is patched to do even this, but I don't recall which one. It may be part of NetRadiant or something.

[GONNAFISTYA]

Speaking of command line bullshit...

I keep getting an error in a DOS window whenever I try to launch Q3Map2 2.5.16.

I've placed the contents of the zip file in C:/Program Files/Quake3/Radiant folder (the suggested location from the "readme_previous" file) and nothing happens when I try to launch Q3Map2.exe.

Then when I drag/drop a .bsp file on top of the executable I get yet another command line mess and a bunch of lines (all of which flys by too quickly to decipher what's going on) and then...nothing.

WTF am I doing wrong? I gave up on Q3Map2 converting a .bsp into a .map (I lost the original in a HDD crash) since I got the same crap then as I'm getting now but it appears the newer version is just as useless to me.

Is there a robust tutorial on installing and using this previously awesome software? Seriously...what I am doing wrong?

[obsidian]

Q3Map2 is not a Windows program, it's a command line program. Just double-clicking on it does nothing. You need to run it in command prompt or write a batch file (what I do) or use a front-end like Q3Map2Toolz (Radiant's "Build" menu is a really dumbed down front-end with a few preset switches).

Here's an old batch file for compiling a map, copy to notepad, edit the "set" values as necessary, save as "compileme.bat", double-click to run.

Code: Select all

@echo off
@echo Q3Map2 Batch Compiler 3.1 - 10.05.04
@echo Obsidian
@echo.

REM // BSP SWITCHES:		-meta -patchmeta 4-20 (default=8 q3default=4) -subdivisions (q3default=4) -skyfix
REM // VIS SWITCHES:		-vis -fast -saveprt
REM // RAD QUICK:		-light -fast -patchshadows -gamma 2 -compensate 4
REM // RAD TEMP:		-fastbounce -bounce 3-8 -samplesize 8-16? -dirty
REM // RAD SWITCHES4 (ydnar):	-light -fast -patchshadows -samples 3 -bounce 8 -gamma 2 -compensate 4 -dirty

set MAPNAME=sm_surfacelight
set BSPPARM=-meta -skyfix
set VISPARM=-vis -saveprt
set RADPARM=-light -fast -patchshadows -gamma 2 -compensate 4
set AASPARM=-forcesidesvisible -optimize
set GENPARM=-v

@echo -----------------------------------------------------------
@echo MAP: %MAPNAME%
@echo BSP: %BSPPARM%
@echo VIS: %VISPARM%
@echo RAD: %RADPARM%
@echo AAS: %AASPARM%
@echo -----------------------------------------------------------
@echo.
@echo Ready to run Q3Map2 . . .
PAUSE

set GAMEDIR=C:\Games\Quake III Arena
set FS_GAME=obsidian
set Q3MAP2=C:\Program Files\GtkRadiant\Compilers\Q3Map2\q3map2.exe
set BSPC=C:\Program Files\GtkRadiant\Compilers\BSPC\bspc.exe
set LOGDUMP=C:\Program Files\GtkRadiant\Compilers\Zlog

@echo.

@echo Compiling BSP . . .
del "%LOGDUMP%\1bsp.log"
"%Q3MAP2%" %BSPPARM% %GENPARM% -fs_game %FS_GAME% "%GAMEDIR%\%FS_GAME%\maps\%MAPNAME%.map" >>"%LOGDUMP%\1bsp.log"

@echo Compiling VIS . . .
del "%LOGDUMP%\2vis.log"
"%Q3MAP2%" %VISPARM% %GENPARM% -fs_game %FS_GAME% "%GAMEDIR%\%FS_GAME%\maps\%MAPNAME%.map" >>"%LOGDUMP%\2vis.log"

@echo Compiling LIGHT . . .
del "%LOGDUMP%\3rad.log"
"%Q3MAP2%" %RADPARM% %GENPARM% -fs_game %FS_GAME% "%GAMEDIR%\%FS_GAME%\maps\%MAPNAME%.map" >>"%LOGDUMP%\3rad.log"

@echo Q3Map2 compile complete
@echo.

@echo Ready to run BSPC . . .
PAUSE

@echo.

@echo Compiling AAS . . .
del "%LOGDUMP%\4aas.log"
"%BSPC%" -bsp2aas "%GAMEDIR%\%FS_GAME%\maps\%MAPNAME%.bsp" %AASPARM% >>"%LOGDUMP%"\4aas.log"
del bspc.log

@echo BSPC compile complete
@echo.

@echo Finished
PAUSE

P.S. GFY, are you eating kangaroo tails yet or thought about how you're going to get rid of that family of nesting koalas in your attic?

[sliver]

Usage:

C:\[dir\to\q3map2]\q3map2.exe -convert -format map C:\[dir\to\bsp]\mapname.bsp

This worked fine for me; now I'm just killing time fixing textures etc.

GKY, did you try the above to decompile to MAP? It threw errors for me till I realized I was omitting the word "map" (a rather crucial element)

[GONNAFISTYA]

My mistake...I was confusing Q2Map2 to Q3Map2Toolz...or even good old Q3Build...expecting a GUI. I've also used Q3Map2GUI which is cool because you can create your own quick command list...all in the GUI.

Sorry but I'm not a command line kinda guy so forget me editing the "set" values as necessary...I have no idea what the stuff obsidian just posted even does. After reading it many times it's still greek to me. What are you talking about?

Is this a batch file for converting my .bsp to a .map file and saving texture data? It mentions patch shadows, etc....wtf?

[EDIT] Check all that....the latest version of Q3Map2Toolz combined with the newest Q3Map2 compiler works with all my textures intact.

It turns out my fucking GTK installation had the Q3 game folder setting wrong (I'd been using it for D3 editing...not Q3).

Yay.

[Captain a13n]

Still keeping myself banned.

[sliver]

Haha ... even just posting in here is bringing back a lot of memories. I wonder what ever happened to QKennyQ and ... shit I can't think of the other LE Mod from way back.

[obsidian]

Actually, I don't recall QKennyQ as being aa Level Editing mod. As a matter of fact, I don't recall you posting in LEM either. Did you have a different alias pre-2005?

Originally, it used to be Paul Jaquays formerly of id Software and Astrocreep. Then djbob, Plan B, snickelfritz and wviperw (and at one point someone called powza or something). Followed that was Aeon, Plan B, roughrider and me. Plan B demodded himself and we added pjw instead. I think corsair belongs in the list for a brief period as well.

With the exception of snickelfritz, Aeon and that guy I can't remember, most of these guys are still floating around on the interwebs and/or working professionally.

@GFY, yeah... using D3 to make a Q3 map doesn't work out so well. Consequently, I'm still having problems putting this square peg in this here round hole. I assume I need to use more force?

[dichtfux]

One of the Q3Map2 variants out there is patched to do even this

Could be the one that comes with netradiant.

NetRadiant is a fork of the well-known map editor for Q3 based games, GtkRadiant 1.5. The focus is put on stabilizing and bugfixing the included map compiler, q3map2, so it can become a reliable tool for map authors.
Fixes include:

• Better decompiling by q3map2 (texcoords no longer get lost)
• ...

[Silicone_Milk]

What happened to Aeon anyways?

[obsidian]

Dunno... he started posting less and less and then disappeared entirely. Perhaps he's lurking?

[sliver]

I missed the Paul Jaquays era, although he did return once in a while after I started posting. I am certain QKQ was a mod at the same time as snickelfritz, before plan B was given the job (though that may not be the exact/direct succession). That was around the time I joined, which was back when CB and Milla were still involved in the site. I remember WVW as a mod too I think.

By the time Aeon was made mod, I was spending my time in GD instead of LE. (And yes, I had a different nick.)

Strangely, I don't remember djbob as being a mod for very long, although I used to talk to him a lot on icq / msn. Maybe he got modded once I started to drift away from LE.

. . . . Wow, lots of memories that had totally escaped me until now. -- Which reminds me, did Lloyd ever finish Tempest Utopia?

Actually, I don't recall QKennyQ as being aa Level Editing mod. As a matter of fact, I don't recall you posting in LEM either. Did you have a different alias pre-2005?

Originally, it used to be Paul Jaquays formerly of id Software and Astrocreep. Then djbob, Plan B, snickelfritz and wviperw (and at one point someone called powza or something). Followed that was Aeon, Plan B, roughrider and me. Plan B demodded himself and we added pjw instead. I think corsair belongs in the list for a brief period as well.

With the exception of snickelfritz, Aeon and that guy I can't remember, most of these guys are still floating around on the interwebs and/or working professionally.

@GFY, yeah... using D3 to make a Q3 map doesn't work out so well. Consequently, I'm still having problems putting this square peg in this here round hole. I assume I need to use more force?

[obsidian]

LloydM never finished Tempest Utopia, not publicly anyway. Word is, they had some epic CTF runs on it during lunch hours at Splash Damage.