| New Game Quickstart Updated 05 Apr 2018 | Upper levels: - QuArK Information Base - 3. Advanced customization

3.3. New Game Quickstart | [ Prev - Up - Next ]

Here is a quick overview of how to support a new game; if the game uses pretty much the same technology as one that QuArK already supports, this might be enough, otherwise you might actually have to learn something about how QuArK works. But first, before actually doing anything, post to the QuArK forum and contact the QuArK development team to say what you want to do, in case somebody is already doing it.

Index

- - Delphi coding (05 Apr 2018)
- - Defaults.qrk (05 Apr 2018)
- - Game Data Addons (05 Apr 2018)
- - Distribution and Aftermath (05 Apr 2018)

Delphi coding | tiglari - 05 Apr 2018 | [ Top ]

At the minimum, there will have to be a gamecode for the game, defined in the source file prog/Setup.pas. Presently these are single-character alphanumerics assigned on the basis of what kind of engine is used: 1-9: Quake 1/HL A-Z: Quake 2 a-z: Quake 3 & other advanced A complete list of the gamecodes that have been checked out thus far is given in the GameCodeList.txt file located in QuArK's main runtime folder. As people use these codes this text file should be updated and committed to the CVS archives to maintain control and avoid confutation. Engines that do use shaders and might acquire curves should go into the last range (Quake 3 & other advanced). If the game has technology similar to one already supported by QuArK, then this may well be all that's necessary in the Delphi code, and one of the current Delphi coders will be able to do it for you. Otherwise there may need to be coding for texture-display, model-viewing, terrain editing etc., and you might have to do some or even most of it yourself.

Defaults.qrk | tiglari - 05 Apr 2018 | [ Top ]

Then the game will need a `:config` and `:form` section in the file Defaults.qrk, grouped with the `:config` and `:form` sections for the games already supported. Please place them in alphabetical order so they will show up on the Games menu and config sections that way. This allows for easier and more consistency in the positioning of these items. People usually copy the ones for the game that is most similar to the new one, and then change whatever needs to be changed. You should pick a recognizable abbreviation and use it consistently, e.g. SoF2 for Soldier of Fortune 2. Also, the game needs to be added to the " `QuakeCtx:form` -group `Game` -sub-group `Items` -variable" list (in Defaults.qrk).

Game Data Addons | tiglari - 05 Apr 2018 | [ Top ]

Finally you need to make addons for the game data. There are several of these:
DataXXX.qrk | Where XXX is your game's abbreviated name. This file contains the main info about the game, like some settings and the default room.
XXXEntities.qrk XXXMaterials.qrk XXXModels.qrk XXXShaders.qrk XXXScripts.qrk XXXSounds.qrk XXXTextures.qrk | Where XXX is the full game name. These files contain the main data about the game. Note: not all files are needed for all games.
UserData XXX.qrk | Where XXX is the full game name. This files contains some additional settings for QuArK for this game, like pre-fab object that can be dropped into the map, and the default settings for the build-menu.
The easiest way to make these is by copying ones from a similar game, and then adding/changing things to suit (the game abbreviation for starters). A workable texture toolbox for SoF2 is:
      Textures.qtx =
      {
        Toolbox = "Texture Browser..."
        Root = "SoF2 Textures.qtxfolder"
        SoF2 Textures.qtxfolder =
        {
          Textures and Shaders.osfolder =
          {
            path = "base"
          }
        }
      }
This will load up textures dynamically from the .PK3 folders. For better performance, you can use the 'make texture links' button in the texture toolbox and check 'static' to produce a list of the textures in the .PK3's. Access of Mod & Custom Textures Another way of setting up access to textures for Mods and Custom Textures is to set the "path" to that specific Mod folder and use the blanket command name "build" with a value of "1" setting as shown in the example below for the Mod "ET", a Quake 3 base game:
    {
      Description = "Enemy Terror Add-on"
      Game Context.qctx =
      {
        Game = "Quake 3"
        SourceDir = "ET"
        GameDir = "baseq3"
      }
      Textures.qtx =
      {
        ToolBox = "Texture Browser..."
        Root = "ET (Enemy Terror).qtxfolder"
        ET (Enemy Terror).qtxfolder =
        {
          ET Textures & Shaders.osfolder =
          {
            path = "ET"
            build = "1"
          }
        }
      }
    }
Basically what this does is tell QuArK to search the given path folder for all texture folders and files in all .pak files, no matter what their name is, and folders that have been named "textures" and, if the game supports them, "scripts" which are shader texture files like the ones used in Quake 3. In addition, any custom textures and shader files will also be included that are placed in the "textures" and "scripts" folders or in their own sub-folder placed in these folders, with any name you wish to give them. These custom sub-folders can also have sub-folder within them as well for a better grouping of files. All of the folders will then be grouped in the Texture Browser under the caption "Directories" and will be displayed by their individual folder and sub-folder names. For entities, if the game has a .DEF or .FGD file, you can use the 'File -> Convert from' facility from the QuArK-Explorer main menu, to produce a basic entity toolbox entry which in the case of SoF2 might start look like this:
      SoF2Entities.qtx =
      {
        ToolBox = "New map items..."
        Root = "SoF2 Entities.qtxfolder"
        SoF2 Entities.qtxfolder =
        {
          ;desc = "Created from entities.def"
          func_* entities.qtxfolder =
          .
          .
        }
      }
Whatever you get should be substituted for the entity toolbox folder in the file you're copying from, and later edited by hand to add missing entities, improve help, etc. More info about the converters and their options can be found here: 'QuArK Conversion Tools'

Distribution and Aftermath | tiglari - 05 Apr 2018 | [ Top ]

Once things get into a useable state, or possibly even before, somebody with SourceForge access should start committing your stuff to the repository, and it will begin to appear in snapshots. By `aftermath' I mean that if you initiate QuArK support for a game, people will tend to expect you to fix bugs in the game data, etc., and there always are some, so this can drag on for a while. People will also expect you to be able to answer basic questions about the peculiarities of editing the game. Also, if a converter was used: often the definition file is not up to date at all, so a lot of things might turn up later that have to be added to the addons by hand...

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