Mapping resources & tutorials

See also: Mapping

Note: everything meant to be included in any official OpenArena release must be available under GPLv2 license (or Public Domain, but GPLv3 only is not acceptable), and with source files available. This does not include only maps, but also everything inside them: models, textures, shaders. See also DeveloperFAQ#License.

OpenArena maps are usually designed using GTKRadiant or NetRadiant editors. However, also the old Q3Radiant can be used, and someone even uses Blender (the program usually used to create models) to create maps (about the last one, you can take a look here). Someone uses QuArK (Quake Army Knife) editor.

OpenArena Mapping Manual (WIP)

This is a work in progress where all the info scattered around the web is collected, resumed and stored in a convenient place. Only the completed pages wil be shown. For the rest of the pages, check the Mapping manual page.

• Pre-mapping stage: What makes a good map, the limits of the IdTech3 engine, map planning, the editor's grid, beta testing.
• Lighting: Theory about lighting, how it works into OA (the LIGHT stage), how it's added to the maps, the "light" entity.
  • Advanced lighting: Practical examples of lighting and where to better place it.
• Weapon and item placement: How and where to place weapons, ammopacks and items.
• Triggers and movers: Explanation of what the func_*, misc_*, path_*, shooter_*, target_* and trigger_* entities do.
  • Creating dynamic features: Examples of what can be done with these entities, from teleporters to platforms to hazards.
• Mapmodels: What are mapmodels, the misc_model entity, the .ase format, how to create .ase mapmodels, other supported formats.
• Optimization and troubleshooting: How to optimize a map for better performance.
  • Hint brushes: The VIS stage, the hint brushes, and how and where to use them.
  • Bot play: How BSPC works, the info_camp and item_botroam entities, clusterportals, how to optimize a map for good botplay.
• Appendix A: Glossary of terms: What some mapping terms mean.
• Appendix C: Modelling a map: How to create a map from models.
• Appendix E2: Model sets: OpenArena's default model sets in both 0.8.8 and SVN versions.

Tutorials

GTKRadiant configuration for OA

• Configure GTKRadiant for OA
• Configure GTK Radiant under Windows, Configure GTK under Windows
• Configure GTK Radiant under Linux
• Mapping on a Mac

How to map

• LevelDK
• Onykage's very basic tutorial
• Onykage's Radiant 101
• WeMakeMaps.com
• Wikibooks - GTKRadiant
• GTKRadiant Editor Manual by Paul Jaquays
• Cardigan's tips before starting to map (including how to create working rising water/slime/lava, for a room being flooded -section 1C-)
• GTKRadiant en español por J&B (spanish)
• http://ws.q3df.org/level_design (More tutorials - Alt link)
  • http://ws.q3df.org/level_design/errors/ (Common error and warning messages)
• http://modulatum.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/creating-a-map-in-gtkradiant-for-openarena/
• http://www.haradirki.de/tutor/index.htm (german)
• http://home.arcor.de/q3michel/tutor/tutindex.html (german)
• Q3Radiant Editor Manual by Paul Jaquays
• Design for all Team Arena Gametypes - Useful informations about the entities needed for Capture the Flag, One Flag Capture, Overload and Harvester gametypes. Part of Team Arena Mapping Help by Paul Jaquays.

Advanced guides

• Multithreaded map compiling (tweaking the number of threads, if you have a multi-core CPU, allows to compile maps much faster or to have your system "free" enough to do other things without slowdowns, while you are compiling)
• SimonOC series of tutorials including terrain blending, phong shading rockwall/detail making and 2-brush-clipping (Internet Archive)
• Q3Map2 - Wikibooks
• Entities-only editing
• Infos about detail brushes and hint brushes in a mapping tutorial for Return to Castle Wolfensten (another game which uses the id Tech 3 engine).
• How to use Banners and Decals in GTK Radiant
• czq's article about curves at the Wayback Machine
• Lighting in game environments by Sjoerd "Hourences" De Jong.
• Bot Optimization Guide by Cardigan

0kelvin's articles

• High resolution lightmaps
• Fake indirect lighting
• Basic shader examples
• Fixing overburned pixels

Level Design Tips and Know-Hows

Most of the time it is highly recommended to follow the word of those who make levels for games for a living. They often offer better know-how about level design. Also included in this list are some top-10 with the best FPS maps and what gives them such status.

• Gameplay basics and multiplayer floorplan by Sjoerd "Hourences" De Jong.
• Gamasutra's Secrets of the Sages: Level Design - Interviews with many developers about how to create the best looking/playing/running maps out there.
• G4TV's How To Build The Best Multiplayer Maps Part 1 - Part 2 - Another interview about level design with other big names of the industry.
• Gamespy's Best 10 CTF maps - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
• G4TV's 10 most influential FPS maps
• Deathmatch Encyclopaedia by Matthew "Lunaran" Breit.
• Map Planning, Gameplay, Map Design and Map Flow at UnrealEd Wiki. Many of these concepts apply to OA as well.
• Suggested practices for CTF mapping. Even though it pertains to the Threewave CTF mod, most of these are fully applicable to OA as well.
• CPMA guide for competitive map design
• Level Design Patterns, a paper by Simon Larsen about principles of unified level design.

Q3MAP2 & Map Compilation

• SPoG's Q3Map Explanation
• Q3Map2 - About & downloads
• Q3Map2 Manual
• Wikibooks - Q3Map2

Q3Map2 Front-Ends

These utilities make you to not to worry about messing with command lines, as they do the batch processes for you.

• Q3Map2GUI
• Q3Map2Build
  • Q3Map2Build 1.0 Build 25 Download: Internet Archive - from ModDB (requires some extra files)
  • Q3Map2Build 1.0 Build 25 Download, including BSPC and required DLL files (ready to use)
  • Q3Map2Build tutorial
• IoQ3MapTools, by Onykage

Other stuff

• NetRadiant 1.5 for OpenArena Cheat Sheet by Neon Knight.
• Map Ideas
• OpenStreetmapImport
• aa2map (old link), aa2map (ASCII art 2 map) is a procedural map generator that parses ASCII Art and heightmaps into a Quake III: Arena (id Tech 3) map file.
• Graphics resources & tutorials
• About the current texture packs
• Q3A Shader Manual by Paul Jaquays and Brian Hook - HTML Edition by Heppler
• Q3MAP2 Shader Manual by Obsidian and ydnar (shaders are a crucial part of mapping) - Different version of the manual
  • Light emitting shaders (alternate version): difference between Q3MAP (Q3Radiant)-style sky shaders and Q3MAP2 (GTK/NET Radiant)-style sky shaders.
  • Q3MAP2-Specific Shader Keywords
• GLSL - How to create shaders using GLSL features for cool effects
• Radiant: Shortcuts and menu options
• Compiling Manual, q3map & bspc help: help about BSPC and Q3MAP (not Q3MAP2) tools.

Resources

• GTKRadiant
  • GTKRadiant old site (internet archive)
• NetRadiant on GitLab
  • NetRadiant old wiki (internet archive)
  • Old NetRadiant downloads on icculus.org
  • Garux "NetRadiant Custom" Fork on Github. Adds nice features like customizing keyboard shortcuts.
    • Its "Releases" ready to download without having to recompile the program yourself.
• GTKRadiant 1.5 OA gamepack on SVN
• NetRadiant OA gamepack
  • NetRadiant 1.5 for Windows with OA gamepack - 20110223
  • NetRadiant 1.5 for Windows with OA gamepack - 20120705
  • NeonKnightOA/oagamepack on github (updated gamepack)
    • Direct download zip (extract "games" and "oa.game" into your NetRadiant folder. The pack should also include a default "shaderlist.txt" that you can use to start from -usually goes into baseoa folder of your OA installation-.)
• QuArK
• TrenchBroom
• TrenchBroom on Github
• Nem's Mega 3D Terrain Generator
• Readme Model - If you want to create your own Readme file, this is a model you can use.

See also

• DeveloperFAQ
• Category:Mapping
• Graphics resources & tutorials
• Mapping
• Mapping information for special gametypes