STVEF

STVEF

Updated 05 Apr 2018

Upper levels:
- QuArK Information Base
- 1. Introduction to QuArK
- 1.3. Configuration and Options
- 1.3.2. Games
- 1.3.2.1. Specific games

1.3.2.1.7. STVEF

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Index

- Configuration (05 Apr 2018)
- Sound Editing (05 Apr 2018)
- Misc. Info. (05 Apr 2018)

Configuration

cdunde - 05 Apr 2018

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In this short tutorial I will be showing you how to quickly setup QuArK to compile and run maps for the StarTrek Voyager Elite Force or STVEF game engine. This particular games configuration is a bit more involved than most because it actually deals with two different compiler programs. Because of this, we have strived to preset as much of this as possible and even have included one of the compiling programs and its related files in its own folder located in the RTCW addons folder. But I will cover that in more detail a little bit later.

Part 1 – Setting up QuArK to work with STVEF
In this section we will quickly go over how to setup QuArK to work with STVEF. 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 STVEF as shown in the screen shot to the right.
Next we need to setup QuArK to work with the STVEF 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 STVEF 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 in the configuration image further down.
But before we do that, go to your QuArK > addons > RTCW folder, copy the QuArK files folder that is there and paste it into your StarTrek Voyager Elite Force game folder as shown to the right here. In the QuArK files folder is a sub-folder called bspc. In that folder is one of the compiling programs I spoke about briefly above and its related files.
The other folder shown below that is the second compiling program folder and its files. 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.

Part 2 – QuArK game pack download
This is the QuArK STVEF game support package. Download the QuArK_STVEF.zip file and extract it, using the folders path option, to the game folder location where you have STVEF installed on your computer.
All the paths to the "BaseEF" sub-folder have already been set in the zip file. The zip file is about 27.6 MB and will take around 1 minute with cable or DSL.
This package has been created to work with QuArK 6.5.0 Beta 1 or later and will give the most complete support available.
Every effort has been made working through the STVEF 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.

Part 3 – QuArK STVEF 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 STVEF.
STVEF command-line : Even though this is pre-set for you, I wanted to explain exactly what the added item is that follows the STVoy.EXE entry, the entire line is:

(two spaces)+set sv_pure 0 lets you use the game console (by pressing the ~ Tilde key) developer commands like /noclip, /god and /give all.

Directory of STVEF : If this does not match your STVEF folder location, use the ... button to select your STVEF folder.
STVEF 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 : Because there are actually two programs involved for compiling, we use this path for the first one, the bspc tool location.
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 3rd program : This 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.

4th program : Again, self explanatory, just make sure the "BSPC.EXE" path is set correctly, which was done above for the Default directory of build-programs .

After you have finished setting QuArK to work with the STVEF 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+scripts+build+STVEF]" main menu item, which is a "Full" build, meaning for, textures, their script files, AAS files (for bots) and lighting. This will cause QuArK to export the map file to your STVEF\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 two building programs to complete the process of compiling the map file and build the rest of the files needed to run in STVEF using the files in these folders. Then the game will be started to load your map and display it !

The rest of the STVEF 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.

Sound Editing

cdunde - 05 Apr 2018

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There are various ways in QuArK to deal with sound editing by using .wav and .mp3 files (which STVEF also uses). But because all of these files are stored in the games .pak files, they can not be used directly in QuArK. So in that case their path and full file name would need to be typed in where needed by hand. This is not only cumbersome but leaves a lot of room for errors. Because of this, we have setup "sound file selectors" where they are needed in the DataSTVEF.qrk file for various entities when they use sound input settings. The only requirement to use this feature is that the "sound" folder needs to be extracted from the games .pak files.
Extracting .pak files & their placement
The games .pak files are nothing more than a type of .zip compression file and can easily be accessed to extract individual files or entire folders by either using a program that can extract ZIP files, PakScape v0.11 (my personal favorite) or any other archive program.
Once you have opened the .pak file, select the "sound" folder and drag it into your STVEF "BaseEF" folder. You can now go to that "sound" folder by simply clicking on the "sound file selectors" button that looks like this ... and just select that sound.wav or .mp3 file that you want to use for any entity that has a selector.
Custom Sounds and Functions
By having the "sound" folder extracted and placed, as described above, you can now place any .wav or .mp3 file in that folder and select it for sound editing use. There is one important criteria though. The name of the .wav or .mp3 file must NOT have any blank spaces in its name or it will not be located and played in the game. You can, however, use lower dashes _ instead of spaces to separate words in its name.
If you wish to distribute any custom sound files with your map, just create a .pak file (using any ZIP-capible program and then renaming the ZIP-file to .pk3 or PakScape v0.11) and place a folder called "sound" in it with your custom.wav and .mp3 files located in that folder.
When using a "sound file selector", there are couple of nice functions that are available to you by clicking your RMB while you have your mouse cursor over a particular .wav or .mp3 file. This will bring up a standard system pop-up menu where you can select to either Play it before you actually select it (very handy), Rename it, change it's Properties or even Delete it, among other things.
Once a .wav or .mp3 file has been selected, QuArK will automatically trim its path and make other necessary changes so that the sound will now play properly in the game.
If a Sound Does Not Play
There is ONE exception to the rule here that I have found only with the "worldspawn" entity sound setting which will NOT play when your map is first loaded into the game after a build. If that should be the case for ANY sound file, the first thing you want to try is reloading your map while still in the game.
To do this just press the ~ Tilde key to bring down the game console then type in map YourMapName press Enter and that should solve the problem when your map reloads. If that does not work, then something else is causing this issue such as improper format Properties of the .wav or .mp3 file itself, which you can check by comparing those to another .wav file that does play and changing it to that type of format, using the RMB method I described above. That pretty well covers it for sound editing.

Misc. Info.

cdunde - 05 Apr 2018

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Installing the q3map_2.5.16_win32_x86 build tool
When you install this program you will need to direct it to the QuArK files folder as shown earlier in the Configuration section. That is really all you need to verify.
Changing and re-running a map
Normally, I run STVEF in a separate window (800 x 600), instead of its "Full Screen" mode when working on a map, for a couple of reasons.
First it's a lot easer to see around to view something in the editor that you might be concentrating on with your work.
The other is being able to jump back and forth between the editor and the game running by simply pressing the ~ Tilde key. This will release you from the game and back into QuArK or any other program you want to use. Then just click on the game window to go back into it and the Tilde key again to cancel the console. It seems less confusing that way.
Unfortunately it does not have the ability to make changes in your map while the game is still running and then rebuild and reload the map.
To do this you will need to close the game and go through the normal process once again.
But basically all you need to do is just click the QuArK menu item and off you go.
To close the game, press the Esc key and select "Exit Program" > "Yes" from its menu and press Esc again to stop the games "Log Off" recording from playing.
Other Comments
Some entities and\or models do not work properly or at all. These are erroneous items that were not done correctly by other parties and is not a bug with QuArK. However, other entities may not have been fully understood as to their proper needs and settings which could be an item to bring to our attention for correction.

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