The Offical Qoole FAQ v0.01 (First Draft) by Kelly Michels a.k.a. VeRMaL This FAQ is for the kickass Quake/Quake2 editor Qoole from Lithium Software. The Qoole home page is http://www.qoole.com. In my opinion it's the best editor for both inexperienced mapmakers and seasoned map veterans. This FAQ only covers Quake2, as I only am experienced with using Qoole with Quake2. This could change though. =:-) This FAQ is constantly under development. If you have suggestions, useful information, or see anything needing correction please email me. I'm no "Qoole God" or anything and most likely have some mistake or typo! 1. Introduction 1.1 What is Qoole? 1.2 Legal Stuff 1.3 What is covered in this FAQ 1.4 Credits 2. Qoole Information 2.1 Who develops Qoole 2.2 Where can I get Qoole? 2.3 Is Qoole Shareware? 2.4 What is all included on the Qoole CDROM? 2.5 Why buy Qoole? 2.6 How do I report bugs? 2.7 Does Qoole have tech support, if so how do I contact tech support? 3. Using Qoole 3.1 What all do I need to build Quake2 levels? Is Qoole enough? 3.2 What is grouping and scoping in Qoole? 3.3 What are prefabs? 3.4 When I run Qoole it uses the .pak file on the Quake2 cdrom how can have it use the .pak file on my harddrive? 3.5 What is CSG Subtraction? 3.6 When I have Qoole export my .bsp I see an error pop-up but it continues on, how can I stop on errors so I can read the error message? 4. Editing Techniques with Qoole 4.1 I build lots of rooms and it's a pain to always line up the walls with a floor then also adding a ceiling. Is there a easier way to line up the walls and floors and ceiling? 4.2 I created a door with multiple brushes that open in multiple directions. As I approach from one side one half opens before the other. How can I trigger all parts to open at the same time? 4.3 How do I create lights in Qoole that "flicker" in my level? 4.4 I know Quake maps must not "leak". Once I test my map QBSP says it leaked and fails. How do I fix that in Qoole? 4.5 My weapons or other entity shows up in Qoole but not in Quake, why? 4.6 I can't get keys to work in my level, what am I doing wrong? 4.7 How do I make a Teleporter in Qoole? 4.8 How do I create a switch to open doors? 4.9 How do I make water? 4.10 Can Qoole build wind Tunnels? 4.11 How to make Moving brushes? 4.12 How do I put lava in my level? 4.13 What makes an area secret? 4.14 How do I set up rotating brushes in Qoole? 4.15 How can I tell what different door opening directions are? 4.16 How do I add ambient sounds to my level in Qoole? 4.17 When I load my .bsp in Quake2 my doors are invisible from most angels, what's the deal? 1. Introduction 1.1 What is Qoole? Qoole is a full featured Quake / Quake ][ Object Oriented Level Editor. 1.2 Legal Stuff Qoole is a copyright of Lithium Software. Quake & Quake2 are copyrights of iD Software. Free distribution of the plain ASCII text form of this FAQ is encouraged, as are conversions to HTML or other formats and translation to foreign languages, so long as no content is removed and there are no additions made without prior approval. The date and version number on the FAQ is considered part of the content that must not be removed. The reason I do not want anyone to add to or modify this FAQ is to make sure all added information is correct. Publisher's note: This HTML is the Intellectual Property of Kelly Michels. If you decide to "mirror" this page without permission you should be aware that you are violating my copyright. If you want to put an HTML version on your Website, just ask. Caveat lector: The information here is derived from Usenet postings, e-mail, personal experience, EfNet #QOOLE, and information on WWW sites. It could all be incorrect, and you are encouraged to verify it for yourself. I take no responsibility for incorrectness. So use at your own risk, wash hands immediately after use, contact a physician if a rash develops from continued use. 1.3 What is covered in this FAQ This FAQ is to help users of Qoole and those that are interested in finding out more information about Qoole and its use. I assume if you're checking out different editors you know at least basic info. about level editing. It does not cover aspects such as "What are brushes & Entities?" You should check some of the many Quake sites for basic getting started info. It also does not cover QBSP, QVIS, or QRAD errors unless it relates to Qoole. 1.4 Credits I decided to start a Qoole FAQ after I ordered Qoole. I am a professional graphic artist and technical director for Platinum Pictures Multimedia. I've made many Doom][ wads, Quake1 .mdl's and am very experienced with 3D Studio Max. Once I got started with Qoole I had basic questions about Qoole that got a great laugh out of the guys in #qoole. I was just unfamiliar with Qoole use. My level is now pretty complex and takes hours to qvis & qrad it. Since I can't do much while its processing I started thinking about my initial questions. As my number of questions grew I just decided to write them down, thus the FAQ was born! Lithium Software liked the idea and offered to help by getting me archived newsgroup & mailing list archives for additional info. They have also graciously given me a perfect site to host the Qoole FAQ, That being the Qoole WebPages! I really appreciate the offer. Also I've picked out some recent emails from the Qoole mailing list for additional information. Special thanks to -EraserX- on the mailing list, he seems quite knowledgeable on Qoole and is very helpful. A couple answers here comes from him, thanks for being cool to folks on the list -EraserX-! -Kelly Michels 2. Qoole Information 2.1 Who develops Qoole Qoole is developed and sold through Lithium software. Their homepage is http://www.lithium.com 2.2 Where can I get Qoole? You can download Qoole from http://www.qoole.com 2.3 Is Qoole shareware? How much does it coast and how do I order Qoole? Yes, Qoole is shareware. The shareware version is limited to 300 brushes in a level. The full version is only limited by Quake's limits. Qoole has three levels of purchasing: (Taken directly from Qoole website) Qoole CDROM - only $29.95 US The Qoole CDROM will carry a suggested retail price of $34.95 US. For our web customers, the price is $29.95 US. Shipping and handling is $5 for our customers in North America, and $9 for outside of North America. Qoole registration key only The software only version of Qoole is $24.95 US. After you download the software, and we receive payment, we'll send you a registration key via email. You may upgrade to the Qoole CDROM later if you'd like. Qoole CDROM Upgrade (from key) For current registered owners of the software, we offer an upgrade to the CDROM for $9.95 US. This price includes shipping if you live within North America. For overseas shipping, please add $4.00. 2.4 What all do I get if I order Qoole? · Registered WinQoole v2.00 (updates free) · 46 minutes of narrated video tutorials · 528 prefab objects · 1207 new textures · 40+ example levels with source · 50+ additional Quake editing programs · Quakelab QBSP compiling problem listing · Quake map specs · 11,272 Quake editing newsgroup articles · 1,922 messages from the Qoole mailing list 2.5 Why buy Qoole? There are many reasons. To me the most important is that they are working hard to provide you with a quality product. If you use it please buy it! You'll get the nifty CD and you'll sleep better at night knowing that somewhere your paying some guy to stay up late and work on the software you paid them to continue developing. 2.6 How do I report bugs? If you're pretty sure it's a bug and you can reproduce it please report it to bugs@qoole.com. Please check this FAQ for a solution to your problem first. 2.7 Does Qoole have tech support, if so how do I contact tech support? Registered users can email support@qoole.com. There is also a Qoole mailing list that is very useful for getting questions answered. You can join the mailing list by selecting the "Mailing List" in the title bar of the Qoole homepage. You can also get help in #Qoole on EfNet. Careful though, stupid questions can get various results, from helpful answers to a curt sarcastic answer followed by a swift boot to the head kick! Seriously though the whole gang there are pretty cool, please drop by. 3. Using Qoole 3.1 What all do I need to build Quake2 levels? Is Qoole enough? No, Quake maps must be run through three "post processors". The primary one is qbsp3.exe. This one is essential; it actually builds the .bsp for Quake2. The other two are qvis3.exe and qrad3.exe. You don't need to run these two to load your bsp in Quake2. They are for processing lighting and radoisty information. These two can get to be slow on complex levels, if you want to just test a level for structural or other things you can skip these two. I usually only process with them when I want to check actual lighting and for final release. These utilities can be downloaded at http://www.qoole.com/download/index.html 3.2 What is grouping and scoping in Qoole? These are two very useful features of Qoole. Grouping is simple enough. It allows to take objects and group them so you can move/scale/rotate them all as one object. You group object by selecting the first object to start the group. Then go to OBJECT/GROUP menu or press G. Select you next object and repeat. Since you are in group mode any object selected turns brown. Once you've selected all objects then hit ALT-G or go to OBJECT|GROUP|FINISH to "close" the group. To me Scoping is one of Qoole's best features. It allows you to select a group of objects and "Scope down" on them. It allows you to work with individual objects in groups. Another and very useful feature of scoping is when you scope down on a group of objects all other brushes and eninnites in a map disappear. Make it very easy to see what you're doing when your map is pretty full and "cluttered". 3.3 What are prefabs? Qoole is setup so you can build model libraries of pre-built objects. It is also great for folks to build and release objects for others to use. You can take common objects you like to use often in levels and save it as a prefab, then load it into levels as needed. Arakin of #Qoole is starting a prefab resource at http://www.ntplx.net/~atbiker/ might want to check it out. 3.4 When I run Qoole it uses the .pak file on the Quake2 cdrom how can have it use the .pak file on my harddrive? When you run Qoole it builds a file called quake2.tex in the Qoole directory. It looks in the Qoole.cfg file to determine what .pak file to read for viewing textures in the .pak file. This setting in the Qoole.cfg file is: quake2_pak = "f:\quake2\baseq2\pak0.pak" where f is the drive Qoole uses. If you change it to "c:\quake2\baseq2\pak0.pak" Qoole will still use drive F since that was the drive used at the time it built the quake2.tex file. To have qoole rebuild the quake2.tex file delete it, change the drive path to the .pak file you want Qoole to use in Qoole.cfg then run Qoole, it'll build the new Quake2.tex file from the path specified in Qoole.cfg. 3.5 What is CSG Subtraction? This is a "Boolean" tool. It allows you to "carve" brushes using it as a sort of cookie cutter. For example, you have a solid wall and want to put a door. You would create a cube brush the size of a door. Then place the cube exactly where you want to cut the door, making sure it pokes out of each side of the wall. Then hit or and any brush that is inside the volume of the cube brush will disappear. Delete the cube brush and you know have a doorway cut! 3.6 When I have Qoole export my .bsp I see an error pop-up but it continues on, how can I stop on errors so I can read the error message? On the "Export BSP" menu is a checkbox for "Build Pause." When enabled Qoole will pause with a "Press any key to continue" prompt. At that time you can read any warning or error messages. 4. Editing Techniques with Qoole 4.1 I build lots of rooms and it's a pain to always line up the walls with a floor then also adding a ceiling. Is there an easier way to line up the walls and floors and ceiling? Qoole has a very useful feature called Hollow Brush. It will take a solid brush and convert it to the six sides of a brush. You can access it via the Edit|Hollow Brush menu at the Qoole menus or by pressing ALT + H. Some times you will get the error: "Hollow Wall setting is to high to hollow this brush out." That just means the sides are wider than can fit in the hollowed brush. The thickness of the hollowed walls is defined in Qooles Config. Under Options|Config or ALT + C. 4.2 I created a door with multiple brushes that open in multiple directions. As I approach from one side one half opens before the other. How can I trigger all parts to open at the same time? All you need to do is place one brush with a trigger_multiple before your door (both sides) and link it to your doors. 4.3 How do I create lights in Qoole that "flicker" in my level? Create a light in Qoole. Then under it's entity parameters (Alt + E) click the (new field) button. Then enter in "Style". Then set a value on the right. In some testing I've found the following: 0 = Standard light 1 = Pulsates fast the lights value about -10 to +10 of the lights value 2 = Slowly fades from the lights value to 0 then back to its value in a loop 3 = Fades ½ to lights value then blinks then continues to full value, blinks then loops 4 = Fast almost random blinking 5 = Fades to lights ½ value the back to full then loops 6 = Kind of a jerky fade of about -5 or -10 to lights value looping 7 = Fades in to lights value, blinks twice then loops 8 = Fades fast to ½ lights value, blinks, goes to full value, blinks a few times, loops. 9 = On one second, off one second, looping 10 = Very fast series of blinks, a black pause then repeats. (NOTE: There are many more, but that's all I've tested so far. If you know more please send to kelly@socket.net) 4.4 I know Quake maps must not "leak". Once I test my map QBSP says it leaked and fails. How do I fix that in Qoole? All Quake2 maps must be totally "enclosed". If there is an opening in your level QBSP will fail. Troubleshooting leaks can be frustrating, just try to find anywhere your level could "leak" from. To track down a leak create a hollowed brush that encloses half your level and run bsb, if it doesn't leak then scale down the hollowed bush to cover half of the total area it previously covered. Keep scaling in half till you find the general area causing the leak. 4.5 My weapons or other entity shows up in Qoole but not in Quake, why? The common cause of this is the weapon is to close to the "floor". You Usually want to place the weapon at least two times the height of the weapon above the floor. If you tried that already make sure the entity has the correct spawnflag for your skill level and or single player/deathmatch. 4.6 I can't get keys to work in my level, what am I doing wrong? NOTE this is for Quake2 only! Make a door with targetname door1. Just in front of that door, place a brush with trigger_multiple with target red. Now place a trigger_key in your level like this: trigger_key Item key_red_key (Place here the item, needed) You need to type in item in the blank of the properties; it's not listed. Then type in key_red_key (or blue key if its a blue) target =door1 targetname =red 4.7 Making Teleporters in Qoole. To make a Teleporter in Qoole ADD ENTITY|MISC|TELEPORTER and place it somewhere in your level. The create a Teleporter Destination (ADD ENTITY|MISC|TELEPORTER DESTINATION) and place it where you want it. Then select Teleporter, under entity properties (OBJECT|ENTINITES or ALT-E) set "Target" to tele_1. Then edit the Entity properties for the Teleporter Destination; set "Target Name" to ttele_1. That's it! Now just step on the Teleporter pad. 4.8 How do I create a switch to open doors? Actually switched doors are pretty easy. Create your door and create your switch. Then select the door brush and go to entity properties (ALT-E). Set TARGETNAME to a unique name for the door. Then select the door switch and under properties set TARGET to the unique name you set under the door's TARGETNAME. If you want a switch to be able to open the door multiple times the set the WAIT to the time to wait until he switch can be used again. 4.9 How do I make water? 4.10 Can Qoole build wind Tunnels? 4.11 How to make Moving brushes? 4.12 How do I put lava in my level? 4.13 What makes a area secret? 4.14 How do I set up rotating brushes in Qoole? (This comes from Bitmaster of #Qoole, thanks dude!) 1) Create the object(s) that will rotate. 2) Create a brush with the origin texture (this is the centerpoint that it will rotate around). 3) Group them all together. 4) Hit Alt-E and assign the func_rotating entity to the group. Set other options as necessary (like start on, x-axis, etc). 5) Done. How can I tell what different door opening directions are? 4.15 How can I tell what different door opening directions are? 4.16 How do I add ambient sounds to my level in Qoole? 4.17 When I load my .bsp in Quake2 my doors are invisible from most angels, what's the deal? The quake engine tends to see right through a door and draws all the polys beyond that door. This causes the framerate to drop and maps look poorly designed. This is a problem in the Quake engine. As a solution iD created an entity called func_areaportal in Quake2. To fix this create a brush that is totally enclosed inside the door and totally covers the area of the door so engine can not "see through it" at any area. It's best to make the brush a bit bigger than the door to make sure it will cover it completely. Then set the brush as a func_areaportal. Now you need to tell the func_areaportal to disappear when the door is opened and to reappear once it is shut. All you need to do is give the func_areaportal a targetname and then setting the target func_areaportal to the door. For example, if the func_areaportal has a targetname of doorap then the TARGETNAME DOORAP, then set the func_door to TARGET DOORAP. If you do not set the target of the func_areaportal then you will get these strange results that look very wrong, like the old "Hall-of-Mirrors" effect.