What is q2 beaver?
It
is a compile tool, you must compile a map before you can play
it. You make maps in worlcraft, and you save them as .rmf files,
and .map files. You take this map file and turn it into a .bsp
file using compiling frontend tools such as q2beaver.
Why
not use Worldcrafts built in compiler?
Q2beaver
is simply a lot better, more options, and the main advantage is
that it uses a lot less ram, so you can compile maps faster and
better.
Is
it difficult to use?
No
its quite easy really, you can set various options, but once you
are setup then you can merely select your map and click compile.
Where
do I get a copy?
You
can get one here
Q2beaver
quick setup guide
All
q2beaver needs is directions to where your keeping your vis, csg,rad,
and bsp programs, now these 4 programs come with zoners tools,
you can get them here as well.
Now
when you first start beaver I think it asks you for these paths
im not sure as mine is already in, but anyway, once in q2beaver
click on game in toolbar and select halflife. The select options
and paths, and browse for where you have the files:
You
will notice the different sections in beaver, like csg, bsp, vis
etc, these are the different sections of the compile process.
The are a lot of options in each one, some of them you can tick
the box to get that option.
Now
if you leave the cursor over what an option says, an explanation
will come up to what it is, now you can play about with various
options and see what you get, personally I dont know what every
one can do, I have, however found the following useful,
csg
options:
no
wad textures - If you tick this then you wont need to worry about
having wads sent out with your map, each texture is saved into
the actual map.
vis
options:
fast
- if you click this, you can do a fast vis, which is quicker,
but the optimisations are a lot poorer and this should never be
used for final compiling, just for quick tests where you dont
need full lighting to see what you need to test etc.
rad
options:
extra
- suppose to improve stair stepping, which I believe is where
light cuts off in steps as it fades, ticking this can smooth it
out
bounce
- can be useful, set to around 2-4 for how many times your lighting
will bounce, dont go over 8 as it wont compile
smooth
- set to 20-80 in some cases, set to higher if you have a curvy
map.
additional
options - now in here if you put -sparse you will see your vismatrix
be a lot smaller, and it will compile a lot more faster in many
cases, probably one of the most useful commands in compiling,
as well as -estimate, put this in all the boxes in each thing,
csg, bsp etc and it will tell you the time it estimates to take
for that part of compile.
After
you have finished with your options you may want to compile something!
to actually compile your map, click on file , select map, and
the select your map, and click compile, a dos window should pop
up and the compile will begin.
Download
q2beaver
Win2k
users may find q2beaver doesnt work, if so try out Nemisis
compiler here
