New Quake3 maps

[Bonnebez]

Map submission can be tricky at times. Some sites have different rules and policies regarding maps approval and if i havent been submitting maps for the last decade, i wil surely remember this one.

I submited a week ago a quake 3 map on Planet Quake (title: Phobos Lab, name: phobos_dm) that was rejected because it used some doom3 textures).
Finaly, an admin courtesy told me that i had to re-submit the map but without the doom 3 textures. Like many of you i got a full-time job (in the video game industry as a programmer), but still i took the time (this weekend) to come with some textures of my own. Then i learn that the version of the map that was using doom3 textures have been made available on another site who finally accepted it after a one week approval...

So here I am, with 2 versions of the same map, having learn a valuable lesson: submit maps on the less-player-friendly sites first, then on the other sites.

The map with no doom 3 textures (as shown below) can be downloaded here: http://serge.billault.pagesperso-orange ... bos_dm.zip

I have not been editing quake3 maps since ~2002, however I strongly believe that if there is something so awfull about this map, people wont miss an occasion to tell me, wich would still be better than me trying to understand why the submisison of this map seem to be ignored by Planet Quake. I made all the assets, and can provide the gmax files if requested.

. Infos.txt: yes
. Level Shot and arena file: yes
. AAS file: yes
. game modes supported: free for all, team deathmatch and tourney.
. Nb players: up to 10~12

Here are some screenshots (making-of + result ingame)

[ShadoW_86]

Hi Bonnebez! Welcome to q3w forum, it's always nice to see new 'faces' here . Please don't take me as attacker, or somebody who wants to upset you, because it's not true, but:

So here I am, with 2 versions of the same map, having learn a valuable lesson: submit maps on the less-player-friendly sites first, then on the other sites.

No offence, but the lession you should learn here is - don't use doom3 textures in any other game then doom3, and don't redistribute them.

[Bonnebez]

No problem, thanks to this i learned a few tricks on how to make some cool textures. My only real regret is that i should have spent some more time to make a real real texture for the speeder (which, in this context, is only there to "present" the weapon to pick up on top of it) instead of a five minute thingy because i finished the weekend with this one.

[VolumetricSteve]

Yeah, same deal here, It's awesome to see people still coming into quake 3 mapping, new, in 2011...especially since there are lots of cool things on the horizion. (mapping contests, the constant stream of incredibly high quality maps that show up here, and the devlopment of Q3Map3 just to name a few) but if you study your End User Licence Agreement for both quake 3, and doom 3, you'll find that in both of them it states you're only allowed to use packaged assetts from those games exclusively for only the games they came from. In other words, you can only use BaseQ3 Textures in quake 3 maps, and stock doom 3 textures in doom 3 maps. I think there was a project a long time ago that sounded awesome, Quake 3 Arena Generations or something like that which violated the EULA all over the place, and was promptly taken down.

But don't let this discourage you! There are links all over the web, and especially on this forum about creating custom textures for your own maps, or links to open, freely redistributable texture packs. Again, welcome.

*edit, on a side note, uploading to Planet Quake has been a pain for me in the past, I generally upload to the Map Factory first

[Bonnebez]

Thanks for these infos, i finally get some feedback. You mention some great texture assets that i can freely reuse but i cant find them with google. If you happen to know a free textures pack that contain something that i can use as a replacement for the ones i made and posted above i will gladly jump on it.

Actually i found this one: http://www.planetquake4.net/file=1805. I look into it and will report if there is something that i could have used.

[obsidian]

Texture links:
viewtopic.php?p=4739#p4739

[Bonnebez]

I did look into the wall/door/floor directories of the 125M textures pack. There is nothing i could have reused. But i will continue to search...who knows...

I also did look at the page linked above, but all the links are broken. I will spend more time (at home) to try the other links and find one that work.

--------------------------

When disabling NoScript and FlashBlock at home i was able to go through some links.

Results:

Mr. Clean's Textures - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - to test
Immortal's Textures - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - to test
Berneyboy's Textures: Photorealistic (124 MB) - no texture suitable
Berneyboy's Textures: LetGo Textures Pack & MapPack (LEGO) - i am not doing lego maps
Christopher Buecheler's Sets - error message
Idolator's q32thecore_txtset1 - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - to test
Chris 'Mr.LyCon' B Jensen's - Neotech Set! - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - to test
Iron and Dull Colored Ores BadMeat's Metals - error message
Shiny Non-Precious Metals: Subversion's Metals - error message
Shiny Non-Precious Metals: Biff's Metals - error message
Bedrocks and Heavy Stones: no stone in my map
Dirts: no dirt in my map

I am left with those, if i find somthing i will sort them and store the links somewhere for quick access later:
Mr. Clean's Textures - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - all 4 paks: no suitable textures
Immortal's Textures - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - no suitable texture
Idolator's q32thecore_txtset1 - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - found one metal surface that i could use for texture grain, but not in phobos_dm
Chris 'Mr.LyCon' B Jensen's - Neotech Set! - recquire a (free) registration to fileplanet - most potent with 4 textures, 2 of them are a variation of quake 3 textures, which i did not choose because i needed a doom 3 stylish ambiance. The 2 others are doors that i may use in futur maps if i use doors, but without the words SYNCHRO that unfortunately take a good part of the bitmap.

Conclusion: the most potent condidat for my needs is Chris 'Mr.LyCon' B Jensen. Unfortunately there's not much about doom3 stylish textures. But since he is the most potent candidat, i will monitor the packs he release in the futur.

[hint] brush

[ShadoW_86]

Maybe check out this Doom 3 retexture project. Actually I'm not sure what you can download from there right now, but you can always try . Files seems to be working. Since it's fan project, you can probably use those textures/materials (I advice to simply contact the project members about that).

[Bonnebez]

With the first version of the map I have been "punished" precisely for doing that http://doom3-hr.com/Gallery_Eng.html : to take a doom 3 texture and not modify it to the point that i can pretend it is no more a doom 3 texture used in a quake3 game...

[themuffinman]

Maybe check out this Doom 3 retexture project. Actually I'm not sure what you can download from there right now, but you can always try . Files seems to be working. Since it's fan project, you can probably use those textures/materials (I advice to simply contact the project members about that).

The screenshots looks impressive! Gotta download it sometime. I just wish ZeniMax would hurry up and give the go-ahead on releasing the Doom 3 source code.

[Eraser]

Some quick feedback:

First of all, these doorways:


are non-solid at the protruding bits in the middle:



Are these doorways mapmodels instead of brushes perhaps? Either way, make player clip (and probably weaponclip as well, otherwise you can still shoot through them) brushes to clip off those edges.

The little fighter thing with the LG on top looks like you can simply walk up to it as the wings form a sort of ramps up. But you can't walk over it, you have to jump. Maybe if you clip it off with brushes that follow the shape of the fighter more closely, you get more natural movement over the thing.

I also found the map a tad dark (my screenshots had their brightness increased by 15%). I know it fits the Doom 3 theme, but it makes spotting your opponents very, very hard.
The light that is there does seem to come out of nowhere. Try to add some detail by putting light fixtures up against the ceilings which act as a source of light. I assume you use light entities (also called "point lights") to light your map now. If you use light textures, then you can probably get rid of those point lights as the light textures will emit light themselves. This gives a more natural looking light.

The map also feels rather cramped and movement is hard with all the objects around the map. It looks nice, but it doesn't work that well for a Quake 3 map with it's high pace. However, I'd say stick to what you've got, maybe make hallways a bit less narrow here and there and you'll still have something that's fun to play.

[Eraser]

The screenshots looks impressive! Gotta download it sometime. I just wish ZeniMax would hurry up and give the go-ahead on releasing the Doom 3 source code.

That won't help you at all I'm afraid. If they release the Doom 3 engine source code, all the assets used in the game (models, textures, sounds, levels, etc) is still owned by id Software and cannot be used in other games.

[themuffinman]

The screenshots looks impressive! Gotta download it sometime. I just wish ZeniMax would hurry up and give the go-ahead on releasing the Doom 3 source code.

That won't help you at all I'm afraid. If they release the Doom 3 engine source code, all the assets used in the game (models, textures, sounds, levels, etc) is still owned by id Software and cannot be used in other games.

I guess my post was a bit misleading - I'm not trying to port Doom 3. My interest in those textures was purely to use them in Doom 3 and as for the source code, well imagine an idTech4-powered Q3, with remastered textures, models, animations and skins, map relights, etc.. Damn right it'd be sexy!

[Eraser]

I guess my post was a bit misleading - I'm not trying to port Doom 3. My interest in those textures was purely to use them in Doom 3 and as for the source code, well imagine an idTech4-powered Q3, with remastered textures, models, animations and skins, map relights, etc.. Damn right it'd be sexy!

They tried that. It's called Quake 4 and they failed miserably.

[Bonnebez]

The door ways are not the only things that miss cliping brushes. Their primary function is to help the brain to quickly spot junctions in the heat of the battle with contrasting yet somehow friendly colors. You could also say that some corridors and rooms are too small, and so are the doors frames, wich is the second reason i didnt added clip brushes to those. Artists will spot endless details, random players want something playable, and i tried to focus on that given the time i had for this experiment ( remember that 4 out of the 6 evenings used to make this map were spent learning gmax to model the assets ) and my natural lazzyness. In reality this map is plagued with discutable things, but my real focus, as stated on the page that anounced my project, was to see what kind of look and feel we can get with md3s. Now concerning the page where i am told to go back and see the post that state that the guy isnt the author of the textures he used, like the guildwars players before you, you will soon learn when i'm pretending to be an idiot, and when i'm really in idiotic mode.

On a side note: i'm not interested in e-penis contests.

[spirit_]

Hehe, true.

Screenie looks good (maybe except for the texture on the ceiling), I'll give your map a try when I get back home. Thumbs up for learning GMAX and publishing a map within a few days from me.

[Eraser]

The door ways are not the only things that miss cliping brushes. Their primary function is to help the brain to quickly spot junctions in the heat of the battle with contrasting yet somehow friendly colors. You could also say that some corridors and rooms are too small, and so are the doors frames, wich is the second reason i didnt added clip brushes to those. Artists will spot endless details, random players want something playable, and i tried to focus on that given the time i had for this experiment ( remember that 4 out of the 6 evenings used to make this map were spent learning gmax to model the assets ) and my natural lazzyness. In reality this map is plagued with discutable things, but my real focus, as stated on the page that anounced my project, was to see what kind of look and feel we can get with md3s. Now concerning the page where i am told to go back and see the post that state that the guy isnt the author of the textures he used, like the guildwars players before you, you will soon learn when i'm pretending to be an idiot, and when i'm really in idiotic mode.

On a side note: i'm not interested in e-penis contests.

I'm sorry, I misinterpreted your intentions with posting this level here. I thought you were looking for genuine gameplay/aesthetics feedback but I guess you're not.

[Bonnebez]

Planet Quake ignoring the submission is the principal reason this map landed here. It was a lucky move because thanks to this I discovered some interesting people like Obsidian and Volumetric Steve. Concerning feedback, any one would have made my day when i posted the screens, because i hadnt had any so far, Planet Quake having only discussed the fact that i had used doom 3 textures. Special thanks for the quotes, i like to read what i wrote a lot.

[ShadoW_86]

Bonnebez - this is a best place to publish your q3 maps - http://www.lvlworld.com/. They host final maps, so it's really good idea to start with the map here, and get some feedback before releasing it as final.

[Bonnebez]

Why do you think that this site does not deserve to get maps submissions ?

[v1l3]

I like your map. It would be cooler if it wasn't symmetrical, but the textures set it apart from any other map obviously. This site here is a good testing or a preview site, but you have to submit it to the site that Shadow suggested. You could have a couple of people download it here, or you can have hundreds of people download it there.

[Bonnebez]

Noted. Thanks for the info.

[Eraser]

Why do you think that this site does not deserve to get maps submissions ?

Because Quake3World is not your personal .pk3 upload service

[Bonnebez]

Personal pk3 upload services exist ? Where can i find one ?

[cityy]

http://www.dropbox.com/