QuakeMap Explorer

Using New Textures


How to use new textures ?

You know that QuakeMap doesn't work with .wad files; instead, it extracts textures directly from the pak0.pak file. This concerns id Software's original textures only. However, using new textures doesn't require you to work with a .wad, either. You must import into QuakeMap the textures you want to use. There is a QuakeMap Explorer Entry Type designed to hold new textures. To create such an entry, choose New, New textures. Now, when you open the texture browser, you will see one more page besides the normal Bricks, Metal, Doors, etc. The new page has the name of the entry, which is New textures by default. You can open the texture browser, either as you usually do, i.e. from the map editor, or by clicking on the New textures entry and then on the View / Edit button.

Maybe you weren't aware of it, but the texture browser has a menu, accessible from a click on the right button of the mouse.

The menu commands that modify the texture list are not available on all the pages with id's original textures. They are only available when the selected page is from a New textures entry. Use them to add textures into QuakeMap. You can import and export textures from/to .wad's, .bsp's or .bmp's, as well as the clipboard. If you make your own new textures with a picture editor, save them as .bmp's and import them back in QuakeMap - or use copy and paste. Width and height must be a multiple of 16. The colors will be converted to fit the color palette of Quake.

You probably know that Quake uses 4 images for each texture : besides the normal one, there is a another image, twice as small as the first one, a 3rd one, 1/4 of the original size, and a 4th one, 1/8 of the original size. This helps prevent aliasing effects. QuakeMap will automatically compute these scaled-down images, by computing means for each pixel. However, you can also import and export .bmp's with all 4 images. Such images must be arranged in the bitmap as follows :

The normal-sized image is on the left, immediately followed by the 1/2 image, 1/4 image, and finally the 1/8 image. The rest of the image is ignored.

If QuakeMap detects that your .bmp contains a single image, it computes the scaled-down ones; if it detects that the scaled-down textures are present, they are directly used.

The process of color conversion consists of assigning for each pixel the nearest color available in the Quake palette. Be careful of some color effects : some colors, like light green, can't be rendered, because the palette of Quake doesn't contain any light green entry. Also note that some colors look strange in fully lighted Quake maps, because of Quake's lack of light colors. The navy blue, for example, will be light gray in too bright maps. You can see this effect in the original levels of Quake, in the Well of Wishes, for example : the blue Dopefish background becomes light gray if you come near with a powerup that makes you shine. Don't blame QuakeMap as I first did.

Be aware that textures are stored in the .qme file itself, so they can make it grow a lot.


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Date: 2.02.97, by Armin Rigo