I just finished writing my new set of tutorials on how to use Gmax along with Micahel's GLB tools in order to get a map file exported, compiled and ready for Irrlicht. The good thing is that you don't even need quake for it. Just a frontend I'm icluding and version 2.5.10 of q3map2, so instead of doing it from a dos console I used this frontend and everything came into place. For testing the level we use the Irrlicht engine. I thought it would come in handy in order to promote Michael's tools in the Irrlicht community as well as give them a basic startup on the potential Gmax and Glb have got for the Gaming community, and also because there's been a huge discussion on lightmaps, an dthe lack of alternatives to get them.
It's pretty basic, but you may find some interesting info in them as they involve several different aspects of working with the Irrlicht engine. And best of it is you get a Quake 3 map loaded without even using Radiant or quake.
so get ready to download almost 300 mb of info!!!!
sample app and tools:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/IrrQ3.zip
Vt01-intro
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT01.zip
vt02-setting up glb tools
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT02.zip
vt03-2d lines for our level
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT03.zip
vt04-Extruding walls
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT04.zip
vt05-mapping-texturing-material creation in Gmax
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT05.zip
vt06-lighting and exporting the level
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT06.zip
vt07-tweaking and compiling the map
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT07.zip
vt08-creating the app in Irrlicht
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT08.zip
vt09-final map tweaks, colored lightmaps
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/video/GmaxVT09.zip
I just started uploading them, so please give the server some time to upload everything.
enjoy, and as usual; comments are welcome!!!
cheers!!
Gmax VT's out!
One recommendation:
remember to scale up the level since it ended up being a bit too small,. or download this source fileand replace the one that comes in the package:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/main.cpp
and grab this version of the map file to recompile in the frontend:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/irrq3.map
(light energy increased to 50, and added a color to each light RGB)
cheers, and don't be so shy to post a comment!!!
remember to scale up the level since it ended up being a bit too small,. or download this source fileand replace the one that comes in the package:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/main.cpp
and grab this version of the map file to recompile in the frontend:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/irrq3.map
(light energy increased to 50, and added a color to each light RGB)
cheers, and don't be so shy to post a comment!!!
GREAT !!!
complete, clear, handy...
thanks!
just a note : your tool directory miss a intl.dll for your version of Q3map2; i downloaded a complete version 2.5 on http://shaderlab.com/q3map2/ to be able to make it run.
complete, clear, handy...
thanks!
just a note : your tool directory miss a intl.dll for your version of Q3map2; i downloaded a complete version 2.5 on http://shaderlab.com/q3map2/ to be able to make it run.
Last edited by tip on Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hehehe, life is ironic sometimes. But it's all a matter of trial and error to suit each one's needs.
ps. try renaming your .zip as .pk3 and change the zip reader line in the source from zip to pk3 and seeif it works
ps2. Thnx also for the error report. Dunno why but the latest version of Q3map2 doesn't work on my system. There are a couple of things not working properly on my system lately and I guess it's because I'm still using Win2k and not WinXP. But in case anyone else has this problem please follow Tips link to download the missing files.
cheers!
ps. try renaming your .zip as .pk3 and change the zip reader line in the source from zip to pk3 and seeif it works
ps2. Thnx also for the error report. Dunno why but the latest version of Q3map2 doesn't work on my system. There are a couple of things not working properly on my system lately and I guess it's because I'm still using Win2k and not WinXP. But in case anyone else has this problem please follow Tips link to download the missing files.
cheers!
better yet, grab the missing dll from here and place it into the Q3map2build folder:
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/intl.dll
cheers! and thnx to Tip for reporting the missing file
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/intl.dll
cheers! and thnx to Tip for reporting the missing file
Ok, following Tip's tip 
I got a newer version of Q3map2 (2.5.15) to work with the tuts. Grab the new set of tools here (updated from 2.5.10):
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/fi ... 2.5.15.zip
the latest version in shader lab is 2.5.16, but it gave me a lot of problems. 2.5.15 is the newest working version on my system (it's the one that comes with the latest Release of GTk).
cheers!!
oh, and finally, grab a modified version of the gmax level, and the exported map here for testing purposes (uncompress into maps folder):
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/maps.zip
screenie:
I got a newer version of Q3map2 (2.5.15) to work with the tuts. Grab the new set of tools here (updated from 2.5.10):http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/fi ... 2.5.15.zip
the latest version in shader lab is 2.5.16, but it gave me a lot of problems. 2.5.15 is the newest working version on my system (it's the one that comes with the latest Release of GTk).
cheers!!
oh, and finally, grab a modified version of the gmax level, and the exported map here for testing purposes (uncompress into maps folder):
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/maps.zip
screenie:
final touch!!!! skybox!!
Here's how I did it: get this file first and uncompress in "baseq3", overwrite files if needed.
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/baseq3.zip
when you uncompress you'll have the following new stuff:
1. 6 textures copied in your env/Irrq3 folder for the skybox
2. a "caulk" texture copied in textures/common
3. A new gmax file for our map.
Since Quake3 doesn't use the "sky" texture anymore (only until Q2 was used) because of the use of shaders, I had to figure out a way to have a box container to be non-textured in Irrlicht and that wouldn't leak the compilation. That's why when you open the gmax file you'll see a normal flipped box textured as caulk. The Irrlicht engine interprets this as invisible and shows the skybox instead.
Uncomment the skybox lines in my source and set the paths properly.
Remember to change the map's texture path to the "caulk" texture in the "common" folder (check the map in text mode).
have fun!!!!!
ps. I added an extra light above the level with a tone of blue and an intensity of 600 to simulate skylight.
Here's how I did it: get this file first and uncompress in "baseq3", overwrite files if needed.
http://www.danielpatton.com/afecelis/files/baseq3.zip
when you uncompress you'll have the following new stuff:
1. 6 textures copied in your env/Irrq3 folder for the skybox
2. a "caulk" texture copied in textures/common
3. A new gmax file for our map.
Since Quake3 doesn't use the "sky" texture anymore (only until Q2 was used) because of the use of shaders, I had to figure out a way to have a box container to be non-textured in Irrlicht and that wouldn't leak the compilation. That's why when you open the gmax file you'll see a normal flipped box textured as caulk. The Irrlicht engine interprets this as invisible and shows the skybox instead.
Uncomment the skybox lines in my source and set the paths properly.
Remember to change the map's texture path to the "caulk" texture in the "common" folder (check the map in text mode).
have fun!!!!!
ps. I added an extra light above the level with a tone of blue and an intensity of 600 to simulate skylight.
Last edited by afecelis on Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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DarkWhoppy
- Posts: 386
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I don't know anything about GMAX but the screenshots look nice.
thnx Darkwhoppy. Well, Gmax is a very powerful modeler that follows the same modeling procedures and techniques as 3dsmax. It's been more used for modeling characters and stuff, but it's also got a lot of potential as a level editor. The videos cover very basic shape creation, but you can add your stuff and try more complex geometry thu vertex/face manipulation.
But it's also important to try one thing at a time. For instance, all geometry must be convex (one of the map format limitations) so don't be surprised if when exporting your map you get that warning message. So there r still a lot of limitations. The idea is to create something that looks like a million with only some cents
If you haven't gotten involved any 3d package, Gmax is a great start point.
cheers!
But it's also important to try one thing at a time. For instance, all geometry must be convex (one of the map format limitations) so don't be surprised if when exporting your map you get that warning message. So there r still a lot of limitations. The idea is to create something that looks like a million with only some cents
If you haven't gotten involved any 3d package, Gmax is a great start point.
cheers!
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nitroman
great tutorial pal!
I will re-start to use q3 maps now that I know how to compile them and use them with irrlicht.
With your method, is it possible to use shaders? I wanted to use shaders to make for example sunlight... but I never succeed to use them.
Is it possible to use shaders with gmax? could you make a small tutorial?
I will re-start to use q3 maps now that I know how to compile them and use them with irrlicht.
With your method, is it possible to use shaders? I wanted to use shaders to make for example sunlight... but I never succeed to use them.
Is it possible to use shaders with gmax? could you make a small tutorial?