Quake II Developer Links

Here are links to some resources that should be helpful when creating modifications for the id Software action game Quake II. The number of Quake II editing websites is exploding, but I will try to limit this list to a small number of utilities and resource sites (based on my personal preferences).

This page is constantly changing! It is being frequently reorganized to keep pace with the Quake II editing scene. If something is missing or broken, come back later.

id Stuff

The first place you should visit is id Software's FTP site (or a site where the files are mirrored). Here you can find the latest updates to Quake II, and the source code and id utilities for creating modifications. The next planned update for Quake II is the Point Release (containing co-op play, deathmatch levels, and many fixes), and an official Capture The Flag update should be available at about the same time.

Files

Quake II 3.10 patch (1 Mb)

This patch upgrades the shipping version of Quake II (version 3.05) to the latest version.

Quake II DLL source and utilities (1 Mb)

You should get this file if you plan to do any type of editing. Note that this file contains the 3.05 DLL source, not the latest version. A new version of this file will be released soon after the Point Release.

Quake II model help and samples (144 kb)

Get this file if you want to make custom models

Resources

Quake II Known Bugs -

Be sure to check this list before you report a bug, or if you are having problems and cannot determine the cause.

Quake II Manual -

This is the online version of the manual that comes with Quake II. This HTML manual is also on the Quake II CD-ROM.

General Editing

PlanetQuake Game Designer's Corner -

PlanetQuake is a huge source of information about Quake II, and the newly reopened Game Designer's Corner is a good place to start (um, maybe).

DLL Coding

All of the game logic for Quake II is stored in an external file in the quake2\baseq2 directory. The file is named gamex86.dll in Win95, and gamei386.so in Linux. This file is just an ordinary 32-bit DLL file that contains functions called by Quake II. For portablilty, it is written entirely in ANSI C and has no OS-specific code. The source code for this file can be modified and recompiled, and the new gamex86.dll can be placed in a new subdirectory beneath the quake2 directory. By running Quake II with the "+set game <mydir>" parameter, this new DLL (and anything else in the <mydir> directory) will be used in place of the original one. This is similar to QuakeC mods in the original Quake, but is much more powerful.

Tools

You need the Quake II DLL source code (see the id Stuff section) and a C compiler capable of creating 32-bit DLLs. I use Microsoft Visual C++ 4, but some popular freeware compilers are listed below.

LCC-Win32 -

A freeware 32-bit C programming environment, capable of creating DLL files. Check the resource pages below for tutorials on how to use LCC with Quake II.

GNU-WIN32 -

A port of the Unix GCC compiler to Windows. This compiler is probably of better quality than the LCC compiler, but there are reports that it currently cannot generate DLLs usable by Quake II.

Resources

Quake DeveLS -

Quake II DLL news and development information.

Quake II DLL's -

Good place for beginners, with both general C programming tutorials and specific Quake II information.

OpenQuake -

This is a group that plans to document the Quake II game logic DLL source code. They also "verify" third-party DLLs to guarantee that they contain no malicious code.

Level Design

Creating add-on levels for Quake II is a popular hobby for some, and I'm currently learning the process. The first thing you need is a level editor. The id source code package comes with QE4, id's level editor. Unfortunately this has very high hardware requirements, as do most of their tools. Some other popular editors are listed below.

After you have a level editor, then you will need some utilities do compile your .map file into a .bsp file usable by Quake II. id's compiling utilities, qbsp3, qvis3, and qrad3, can be found in the source code zip file on id's ftp site. There are also modified versions at some of the sites below.

You will also need some textures for your level. Most people use the textures that come with Quake II, but if you want to create your own custom textures see the Artwork section. To compile your map you need to extract id's textures from the pak0.pak file. Some PAK utilities are listed in the Utilities section.

Tools

BSP Headquarters -

BSP is one of the most popular Quake II level editors right now, and it is the one I use. The latest version is available at this site, as are some wonderful tutorials to help you get started.

QERadiant -

Home of the freeware level editor based on id's QE4 (but usable on normal machines). Still in beta, but it looks coolbeans. There's a SGI version of OpenGL here that's supposed to be faster than Microsoft's, with MMX optimizations and such.

5thD -

Home of the m2m Quake->Quake2 map converter, handy if you have already created some Quake maps, and the pcx2wal texture tool.

Resources

LevelEd -

This site has a good coverage of editing news, plus an EditorWatch section that tracks the latest editor releases.

QuakeLab 2 -

This site is the home of the QE-Radiant level editor based on id's QE4 (but usable on normal machines). The site also has comprehensive coverage of level editing news.

Quake2 Workshop -

This site has comprehensive coverage of level editing techniques. They used to have some valuable VIS tips, but they seem to have disappeared in the transfer from Brutality to quake2.com.

Rust -

Many good Quake II level editing tutorials are here.

Models

Creating new models for weapons, monsters, and items can really make your add-on stand out from the rest. One of the neat new features of Quake II is the ability to have plug-in player models (PPMs) that allow you to appear quite different from the normal male and female characters in deathmatch games. Unfortunately model creation and animation is not an easy task, and the best tools are expensive commercial software packages like 3DStudio or Lightwave. However, there are some tools available online. I haven't been brave enough to attempt this myself yet.

Tools

Quake 2 Modelling Studio -

There is a Quake II model editor here, as well as some tutorials.

MedDle -

A popular Quake model editor with Quake II support.

qME -

Quake model editor, for creating monsters, weapons, and other items.

3D-Matrix -

Home of the qED level editor, and US sales site for the qME model editor and qART texture editor -- all quality tools.

studioMDx -

A new Quake II model editor, with an interface similar to 3DStudio MAX

QuArK -

Home of the Quake Army Knife, a tool that lets you edit virtually everything: levels, models, etc. You can even extract information out of existing BSP files.

jawMD2 -- Quake2 Model Viewer -

A popular model viewer with some unique features.

MD2VIEW -

Viewer (with source code) for looking at Quake II models. There is also a PCX <-> WAL (Quake II texture) converter program, and some other interesting stuff.

Resources

KrAy-ZeE's Modeling Guide -

A tutorial on creating new models, and home of the popular Snork PPM.

Artwork

Quake II uses an specific 8-bit (256 color) palette, and it is different from Quake's palette. The palette can be extracted from the player skin PCX files in the the quake2\baseq2\players directory. Most people use a standard graphics program like Photoshop to create textures and model skins, but a Quake II model viewer is helpful for seeing what a skin will look like when wrapped around a model. Some new tools allow painting the skins directly on the models. Quake II has two new features that artists can play with, namely environment maps (skys) and cinematics. These can be tricky to implement well, but they add a lot of atmosphere to the game.

Tools

Quake-related utilities by Iikka Keränen -

Texture editing tools from a master mapper.

SkyPaint -

A Photoshop plugin which can be used to create environment maps (sky textures) for Quake 2.

Resources

Deconstruct -

Help for creating skys, cinematics, and models, plus downloadable samples.

The Quake2 Skin Shack -

Skin news, tutorials, and downloadable custom skins can all be found here.

Quake Skins Tutorial -

A tutorial for creating custom Quake II player skins.

Skin Tutorial -

Another skin tutorial.

Millennium's Editing Page -

The creator of the excellent colored Quake II skin packs shares his secrets.

The Chop Shop -

All aspects of Quake resource editing are discussed here: sprites, textures, sounds, etc. The Quake II section is still under construction.

Utilities

Most of the resource files (such as levels, monster models, and textures) that come with Quake II are stored in a large file called pak0.pak in the the quake2\baseq2 directory. To access these files, you need to "unpak" the file with one of the tools below. If you plan to release your add-on and it has many new files, you will probably want to combine them into a PAK file of their own.

Pak Explorer -

PAK file viewer/editor similar to Win95's Explorer

WinPak for Quake -

a PAK tool similar to the one above

News and References

Blue's News -

Quake and gaming news

Redwood's News -

Quake and gaming news

Slipgate Central -

tons of Quake links

The Unofficial Quake II FAQ -

Got questions? Here are some answers.