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Quake Editing Digest Volume 1 : Number 3
quake-editing-digest Saturday, 9 March 1996 Volume 01 : Number 003
ADMIN: digest operational
Re: reference library design/mdl file formats
Question
Re: Question
Unofficial Quake Specs 3.0 released!
Re: Question
Re: Question
Re: Question
Quake Palette
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 11:00:39 +0100 (MET)
Subject: ADMIN: digest operational
It looks like the digest has been fixed, and even the volumes do
have the right number now :-). Please feel free to change your
subscription if you prefer the digest mode.
Those who have missed earlier postings might want to look at
the Hypermail archive at http://www.nero.uni-bonn,de/~dn/q-sup/,
the page that hosts the Quake Developers support pages. My
apologies for any inconvenience.
b.
------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 14:38:47 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Re: reference library design/mdl file formats
>From: "Brian K. Martin" <brian@phyast.pitt.edu>
>If anyone want's to learn 3d texture mapping techinques, I strongly
>recommend 3DGPL.ZIP at x2ftp.oulu.fi
>You will learn enough there to make a portable and solid 3d rendering
>engine.
I second that. It includes tutorials and source. The "x2ftp" site
is a very good repository anyway, as well as the 3D engines page
at
http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~ki/engines.html
Also, do not underestimate Mesa. A decent library with a fast separate
data path e.g. for span blitting is a good ground to stand on.
See the wadtoiv home page on how DOOM levels might look once they are
converted for Quake :-). For now, it is just OpenInventor.
b.
------------------------------
From: Olivier <montanuy@lsun80.lannion.cnet.fr>
Date: 07 Mar 96 17:12:17+0100
Subject: Question
Hello Bernd,
Well, the stuff is finished, Ralph has it. Whatever he intends to do with it.
Now, a Question: any idea whereI could get a decent free/shareware modeler?
I used POV and MORAY, but maybe you know of something better? for windoze?
I need to display everything in 3D, to check, and don't want to add my own
3D bugs to the stuff already there. Well, if there isn't anything suitable
I'll have to hack in my own stuff. whatever. Will take me days...
Olivier
------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 17:45:46 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Re: Question
> Now, a Question: any idea where I could get a decent free/shareware modeler?
> I used POV and MORAY, but maybe you know of something better? for windoze?
I know that there's Midnight modeler for linux, but nothing else. Chris?
> I need to display everything in 3D, to check, and don't want to add my own
> 3D bugs to the stuff already there. Well, if there isn't anything suitable
> I'll have to hack in my own stuff. whatever. Will take me days...
Considering conversion issues, I think it will be worse. Of course, this will
be a problem for all of us planning on tools for 3D.
I see not too many alternatives. My suggestion for now:
- use Mesa (OpenGL API) to display. This will work on all UNIX, and
is supposed to work with Windows, too (haven't tried). It will render slow
texture mapping, but will be written fast and portable. And it works
really fast on my linux box.
Depending on your experience with OpenGL, you will get preliminary results
within hours - but the rendering will be slow.
In the long run, especially with complicated (and still changing data
structures) I'd suggest the following:
- get VRweb, the source of the VRML browser based on Mesa, written by
the Hyper-G team. Out of the box, it is for UNIX, dunno if there is a
windows version already.
- get the qvlib parser and I/O libraries at the VRML software
repository, and do conversion from your own PAK/BSP/WAD utilities to
VRML, using those C++ libraries.
This seems a very good idea in the long run anyway. Will guarantee lots of
publicity, too.
Anybody to suggest a decent solution that will work tomorrow?
b.
P.S.: VRweb, the VRML repository, and Mesa referenced on the "overview of
resources", on the QuakeDev support pages at
http://www.nero.uni-bonn.de/~dn/q-sup
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Between you and us, conformity of purpose will be achieved
through the mutual satisfaction of requirements."
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: Raphael.Quinet@eed.ericsson.se
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 17:51:03 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Unofficial Quake Specs 3.0 released!
Greetings, fellow Quake hackers!
I am pleased to announce the release of the "Unofficial Quake Specs",
version 3.0. This document, written by Olivier Montanuy with the help
of Brian Martin and yours truly, contains all the technical
information that has been discovered so far about the test release of
Quake (QTEST1).
This document can be distributed freely and is intended to be a
reference for all authors of Quake editors and utilities, as well as a
source of information for the curious. It is the result of several
days (and nights) of hacking and is certainly not complete, but it
will be updated as new information is discovered.
Here is the table of contents:
0. Introduction
1. The PACK files
1.1 The PACK file format
1.2 The Resources files
1.3 The Sound files
1.4 The Code lump
2. The Level Map Models
2.1 General description of levels Maps
2.2 The Contents of .BSP files
2.3 The Format of .BSP files
2.4 The Format of the level entries
2.5 Additional informations
3. The Entity Alias Models
3.1 Explanations of Alias Models
3.2 Animating Alias Models
3.3 The Alias Model .MDL file format
4. The sprite models
4.1 General description of Sprites
4.2 The Format of the .SPR files
5. New WAD file
5.1 WAD2 File format
5.2 Format of status bar pictures
5.3 Format of console lumps
5.4 Format of palettes
6. Final word
The Unofficial Quake Specs are available at the following WWW sites:
http://www.nero.uni-bonn.de/~dn/q-sup/spec/qspec-current.html
http://www.stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/ftp-mirror/quake/docs/
http://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames2/docs/ (in ZIP format only)
Discussion of these specs should take place in the newsgroup
rec.games.computer.quake.editing or on the quake-editing mailing list
(please use these fora for technical discussion only - gameplay issues
should be discussed in rec.games.computer.quake.misc only). Exchanges
in a public forum are better than private e-mail, so that others can
be informed before a new edition of the specs is released. Also, the
authors don't want hundreds of messages in their mailboxes. Hmmm...
someone told me to add this: DO NOT BOTHER THE AUTHORS BY E-MAIL OR
THEY WILL MAKE .MDL VOODOO PUMPKINS OUT OF YOU AND WILL FILL YOU FULL
OF NINE INCH NAILS. So there! :-)
Enjoy!
- -Raphael
------------------------------
From: Mark Hughes <kamikaze@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 16:55:43 -0800
Subject: Re: Question
Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE> spake:
>Anybody to suggest a decent solution that will work tomorrow?
Rayshade is a great raytracer, and there's an X-based 3-D semi-interactive
modeler called "raypaint" based on it (rayshade is as much a software library
for raytracing as it is a standalone program). I highly recommend it. While
it's not a 3-D motion engine, it works well for producing snapshots of a scene.
<a href="http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/~cek/rayshade/">Rayshade</a>
<a href="ftp://ftp.flame.org/pub/netshade/">Netshade</a> - the latest version
of Rayshade.
-Mark Hughes
------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 13:09:56 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Re: Question
> misc. stuff on Mesa, VRML etc. deleted
Bogus. Looks like I haven't really been awake yesterday.
The main advantage of using VRML is that there are already
VRML browser/viewer. Convert whatever you want to see to
VRML scene descriptions, and load the file with one of them.
Dead slow on a PC for now, but workable and portable.
I digged up the mail on GLView at home: forwarded with next
posting. For all you Windrowsers out there :-).
There is an overview at
http://www.sdsc.edu/SDSC/Partners/vrml/software/browsers.html
Modelers are available there at ../modelers.html.
VRweb (recommended for linux) is at
http://www.iicm.tu-graz.ac.at/Cvrweb
(possibly slow connection).
Now what you need is to get a version of qvlib running
with your program, and dump your data to a VRML file.
Depending on your browser's caps, you're done.
b.
------------------------------
From: Bernd Kreimeier <Bernd.Kreimeier@NeRo.Uni-Bonn.DE>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 13:10:40 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Re: Question
Forwarded: a shareware OpenGL based Windows VRML browser.
b.
From www-vrml-owner@wired.com Fri Nov 24 23:22 MET 1995
From: "Holger Grahn" <hg@berlin.snafu.de>
To: www-vrml@wired.com
Subject: ANNOUNCE: GLView 2.02 a new WIN VRML OpenGL Browser
Announcing GLView 2.0, the worlds first Shareware VRML Browser
for Windows 95 and Windows NT.
GLView uses Microsoft OpenGL for rendering, meaning support
for *all* display modes from 16 and 256 to True-Color
and support for 3D engine boards (e.g. Glint or others).
Available at:
http://www.snafu.de/~hg
GLView provides more features than any other VRML browser (at least currently):
- import of RAW, GEO, Wavefront OBJ (f) and AutoCad DXF files.
- export of RAW, GEO, STL, VRML (single object) files
- support for SFImage, SGI RGB, DIB/BMP, Targa, Jpeg and GIF texture image formats.
- simple VRML object/material/texture animations using experimental VRML extensions nodes
Rotor, Shuttle, Blinker, TextureRotor
- supports 3D extruded VRML text
- 3D morphing of arbitrary VRML indexFaceSets (e.g. a cow becomes a sphere).
- detailed camera control including near and far clipping planes and view angle
- many viewstyles from shaded, bounding-boxes to lighted/textured/antialiased wireframe
- for portability from Inventor, most Inventor Geometry nodes are supported.
- - support for all special things like multiple emissive indexed
face/vertex materials, LOD, WWWAnchor and camera switching, viewpoints, texture
transforms ...
automatic triangulation of indexed faces sets ....
For VRML Authors there are other features of interest like
- collapsing an entire VRML Scene-Tree to a single (triangulated) IndexedFaceSet
- Material-Editor
- special TextureCoordinate generation functions (e.g. sphere/cylinder projection)
- creation of 3D Text logos from arbitrary True-Type fonts
- 3D-file conversion
For a GL techie GLView allows access to low-level OpenGL options like
- Texture filtering rules (e.g. mip-mapping, bilinear)
- Fog
- OpenGL pixelformats, triangle strip construction
- OpenGL extension functions
- frame rate display ....
The next versions will probably bring :
a Python script language VRML extension, 3D Particle Systems, some VRML scene editing,
a VRML NodeInterpolator for camera animations and texture/material blending.
e.g. to animate Material over time using some keyframes:
NodeInterpolator { # interpolate all child nodes and traverses the resulting in-between node
<options>
speed 5.0 # once cyle in 5 seconds
Material{}
Material{}
Material{}
...
}
I hope you will have fun with GLView,
thanks for the help with Netscape DDE to the VRML mailing list.
HG
###################################################
Holger Grahn
hg@berlin.snafu.de http://www.snafu.de/~hg
------------------------------
From: Jim Bucher <jim@gcchem.com>
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 18:49:12 -0600
Subject: Quake Palette
I am working on a .mdl viewer and I need to know the internal format of
the quake palette. I imagine it uses a look up table, but I don't know
the format of the table. BTW, does anyone else think it is strange that
the .mdl textures are variable width? This makes the inner loop a lot
slower than using a 256 or power of 2 width.
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End of quake-editing-digest V1 #3
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