In this short tutorial I will be showing you how to quickly setup Quark to compile and
run maps for the Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory or RTCW-ET game engine.
We have strived to preset its configuration as much as possible based on the games
standard installation settings.
Part 1 – Setting up QuArK to work with RTCW-ET
In this section we will quickly go over how to setup Quark to work with RTCW-ET.
To start with load up Quark, you should be greeted with the 'Quark Explorer' panel.
The Quark Explorer allows you to define which game environment you wish to work in,
as well as doing many other things.
First we need to select the game we want to map for. We do this by simply going
to the 'Games' button located on the top right of the Explorer panel, once pressed it
will present you with a drop list of all the currently available games, select
RTCW-ET as shown in the screen shot to the right.
Next we need to setup Quark to work with the RTCW-ET game engine, which is actually a variation
of the Quake 3 engine. To do so go back to the 'Games' button and press the 'Configuration'
button at the bottom of the list.
Once selected a new window will be opened called 'Configuration', making sure you have
RTCW-ET selected on the left navigation panel, (under the Games Tab) as we now need
to fill out some of the necessary game settings on the right of the Configuration panel which
is shown two images below.
But before we do that, go to your Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory game folder and create a new
sub-folder named QuArK files. This is where the compiling program folder and its files will be placed.
You will need to download the q3map_2.5.16_win32_x86.zip
file from the Official QuArK site.
Also, see the Misc. Info.
section below for more detailed instructions on its installation.
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Part 2 – QuArK game pack download
This is the QuArK RTCW-ET game support package. Download the QuArK_RTCW-ET.zip
file and extract it, using the folders path option, to the game folder location where you have RTCW-ET installed on your computer.
All the paths to the "etmain" sub-folder have already been set in the zip file.
The zip file is about 45.6 MB and will take around 1 minute with cable or DSL.
This package has been created to work with QuArK 6.5.0 alpha 8 or later and will give the most complete
support available.
Every effort has been made working through the RTCW-ET game files and other sources to allow the viewing
of all available textures in QuArK's Texture Browser,
all game models viewable in the 3D editor Texture views and detail entity settings with the use of
pre-defined dropdown list, model selection and variations list, file selection capabilities for models
and sounds, as well as 'color pickers' for all lighting functions. Even a few 'script\shader' corrections.
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Part 3 – QuArK RTCW-ET Configuration settings
As you can see in the image below, most of the settings have already been set with a default
entry. While others have been pre-coded in
QuArK's Defaults.qrk file that you can not see. This will prove to make life a lot easyer
when you go to build and run your maps in RTCW-ET.
RTCW-ET command-line : Even though this is pre-set for you, I wanted to explain
exactly what the added items are that follow the ET.EXE entry, the entire line is:
ET.EXE +set sv_cheats 1 +set sv_pure 0 +set g_gametype 2 +set fs_homepath etmain +set fs_game tmpQuArK +devmap "%filename%" +exec
- +set sv_cheats 1 lets you use the game console (by pressing the ~ Tilde key)
developer commands like /noclip, /god and /give all.
- +set sv_pure 0 this causes your map to be loaded directly into the game engine, bypassing all the normal startup movies.
- +set g_gametype 2 this tells the engine to accept your map as a developers game type 2 map and starts a local server for it to run.
- +set fs_homepath etmain gives the path to the etmain game sub-folder in the RTCW-ET folder,
where the .pak files are.
- +set fs_game tmpQuArK a second tmpQuArK sub-folder will be created in the above
etmain folder, this sets it as a mod folder.
- +devmap "%filename%" this sets your map %filename%
(a variable that holds your map's name) as the map to load into the game.
- +exec this executes these commands and starts the game engine.
Directory of RTCW-ET : If this does not match your RTCW-ET folder location, use the ... button to select your RTCW-ET folder.
RTCW-ET CD_ROM drive : This is the location of the game cd if you need to operate it from there, just click on the ... button to select the cd drive.
Run these build-programs... : This allows the display of the building, compiling, process in QuArK's console.
Default directory of build-programs : Does not need any settings here.
Run tools from base directory : Do not check this box unless you plan to put both build programs in the same folder and set its folder path above.
Output Map Format : The default setting for "Brush Primitives" should be correct here. If not there are other options you can choose from or just type in your own.
1st through 4th program : These are pretty self explanatory, just make sure the "q3map2.exe" is set to the correct path for you. If not just use the ... button to select the file.
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After you have finished setting Quark to work with the RTCW-ET engine, simply hit the 'Apply'
button, and then press the 'OK' button to close the Configuration panel. This will put you
back in the Quark Explorer. Now is also a good time to close QuArK completely, this will
save your settings in the Setup.qrk file. You're done!
Part 4 – Compiling
When you are ready to compile your map, simply select the "Go ![textures+build+Rctw-ET]"
main menu item, which is a "Full" build, meaning for, textures, their script files
and lighting. This will cause QuArK to export the map file to your RTCW-ET\tmpQuArK\maps
folder, texture files to the textures folder and script files to the scripts folder. If any of the
folders do not exist then QuArK will create them. Once that is done, QuArK will then start up the
build program to complete the process of compiling the map file and build the rest
of the files needed to run in RTCW-ET. Some of these additional game files will be placed in a second folder
with the same name "tmpQuArK" but that folder will be in the RTCW-ET "etmain" game directory folder.
Then the game will be started to load your map and display it !
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The rest of the RTCW-ET menu items are variations of the "Full" build process to expedite the compiling
and in game viewing time when a "Full" build is not needed.
Because you have already completed the configuration steps above you will be able to see
your map in QuArK's Textured 3D view. Even that part is automatically done for you. Just
place your mouse cursor over that view, click your RMB and select "Textured" from
the pop-up menu. Just a few more minor but important pointers in the
Misc. Info.
section below and you're good to go.
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