ericw-tools/man/qbsp.1

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.TH QBSP 1 "TYR_VERSION" TYRUTILS

.SH NAME
qbsp \- Compile a Quake BSP file from a MAP source file

.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBqbsp\fP [OPTION]... SOURCFILE [DESTFILE]

.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBqbsp\fP is a tool used in the creation of maps for the \fB id Software\fP
game \fBQuake\fP. qbsp takes a .map file as input and produces a .bsp file
playable in the Quake engine.  If the \fIDESTFILE\fP argument is not supplied,
the output filename will be chosen by stripping the file extension (if any)
from \fISOURCEFILE\fP and appending the .bsp extension.

.SH OPTIONS
.IP "\fB\-nofill\fP"
Doesn't perform outside filling
.IP "\fB\-noclip\fP"
Doesn't build clip hulls
.IP "\fB\-noskip\fP"
Doesn't remove faces using the 'skip' texture
.IP "\fB\-onlyents\fP"
Only updates .map entities
.IP "\fB\-verbose\fP"
Print out more .map information
.IP "\fB\-noverbose\fP"
Print out almost no information at all
.IP "\fB\-splitspecial\fP"
Doesn't combine sky and water faces into one large face
.IP "\fB\-transwater\fP"
Computes portal information for transparent water
.IP "\fB\-transsky\fP"
Computes portal information for transparent sky
.IP "\fB\-oldaxis\fP"
Uses original qbsp texture alignment algorithm
.IP "\fB\-bspleak\fP"
Creates a .por file, used in the BSP editor
.IP "\fB\-oldleak\fP"
Create an old-style QBSP .PTS file (default is new)
.IP "\fB\-nopercent\fP"
Prevents output of percent completion information
.IP "\fB\-leakdist [n]\fP"
Space between leakfile points (default 2)
.IP "\fB\-subdivide [n]\fP"
Use different texture subdivision (default 240)
.IP "\fB\-wadpath <dir>\fP"
Search this directory for wad files (default is cwd)

.SH "SPECIAL TEXTURE NAMES"
.PP
The contents inside a brush depend on the texture name(s) assigned to
it.
.PP
By default brush contents are solid unless they have a special name.
Names beginning with an asterisk are liquids.  A prefix of
\fI*slime\fP indicates slime, \fI*lava\fP is for lava and anything
else beginning with \fI*\fP will have contents as water.
.PP
All faces of a brush must have textures which indicate the same
contents.  Mixed content types will cause qbsp to print an error and
exit.

.SS "SKIP"
.PP
Any surfaces assigned a texture name of \fIskip\fP will be compiled
into the bsp as invisible surfaces.  Solid surfaces will still be
solid (e.g. the play can't walk or shoot through them) but they will
not be drawn.  Water, slime and lava surfaces can be made invisible
using the texture names \fI*waterskip\fP, \fI*slimeskip\fP and
\fI*lavaskip\fP respectively.

.SS "HINT"
.PP
Hint surfaces cause a bsp split and portal to be generated the on the
surface plane, after which they are removed from the final bsp - they
are neither visible, nor structural.  Strategic placement of hint
surfaces can be used by a map author to optimise the PVS calculations
so as to limit overdraw by the engine (see also: \fBvis\fP(1)).
.PP
Use a texture with the name \fIhintskip\fP on any surfaces of a hint
brush which you don't want to generate bsp splits or portals.  All
surfaces of a hint brush must use either the \fIhint\fP or
\fIhintskip\fP texture name.

.SH "DETAIL BRUSH SUPPORT"
.PP
This version of qbsp supports detail brushes which are similar in concept to
Quake 2's detail brushes.
.PP
To be compatible with existing Quake 1 mapping tools, detail brushes can be
added by creating an entity with classname "func_detail".  When qbsp reads the
map file, it will add any brushes included in a func_detail entity into the
worldspawn as details and remove the func_detail entity.  Any number of
func_detail entities can be used (useful for grouping) and all included
brushes will be added to the worldspawn.
.PP
Here is an example entity definition suitable to add the the .QC files used by
BSP Editor:
.PP
.nf
    /*QUAKED func_detail (0.5 0.5 0.9) ?
    Detail brushes add visual details to
    the world, but do not block visibility.
    func_detail entities are merged into
    the worldspawn entity by the qbsp compiler
    and do not appear as separate entities in
    the compiled bsp.
    */
.fi
.PP
For WorldCraft in .FGD format (untested):
.PP
.nf
    @SolidClass color(128 128 230) = func_detail: "Detail" []
.fi
.PP
For Radiant in .ENT format:
.PP
.nf
    <group name="func_detail" color="0 .5 .8">
    Detail brushes add visual details to the world, but do not
    block visibility. func_detail entities are merged into the
    worldspawn entity by the qbsp compiler and do not appear as
    separate entities in the compiled bsp.
    </group>
.fi
.PP
What should be written to the .map file is a simple entity with one or more
brushes. E.g.:
.PP
.nf
    {
    "classname" "func_detail"
    {
    ( -176  80  0 ) ( -208  80  0 ) ( -208  48  0 ) COP1_1 0 0 0 1.0 1.0
    ( -192 -80 64 ) ( -208 -80  0 ) ( -192 -64 64 ) COP1_1 0 0 0 1.0 1.0
    ( -176 -80  0 ) ( -192 -80 64 ) ( -176 -64  0 ) COP1_1 0 0 0 1.0 1.0
    ( -16   48  0 ) (  -16  64 64 ) (    0  48  0 ) COP1_1 0 0 0 1.0 1.0
    ( -16   64 64 ) (  -16  80  0 ) (    0  64 64 ) COP1_1 0 0 0 1.0 1.0
    }
    }
.fi
.PP
When qbsp detects detail brushes, it outputs a modified portal file format
with the header PRT2 (default is PRT1).  This portal file contains extra
information needed by vis to compute the potentially visible set (PVS) for the
map/bsp.  So you will also need a vis util capable of processing the PRT2 file
format.

.SH AUTHOR
Written by Kevin Shanahan (aka Tyrann)
.br
Based on source provided by id Software and Greg Lewis
.br
http://disenchant.net

.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Please send bug reports to tyrann@disenchant.net.
.br
Improvements to the documentation are welcome and encouraged.

.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2013 Kevin Shanahan
.br
Copyright (C) 1997 Greg Lewis
.br
Copyright (C) 1997 id Software
.br
License GPLv2+:  GNU GPL version 2 or later
.br
<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl2.html>.
.PP
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is
NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBlight\fP(1)
\fBvis\fP(1)
\fBquake\fP(6)