Make arches and curves the correct way
This tutorial will show you how to make a Quake style archway to connect 2 rooms. It's very easy to do and only takes into account basic understanding of the Worldcraft editor. When done properly, a very nice looking curved arch will be the result of only a few minutes work that will add to the flavor and functionality of your level.
Rule #1- *STAY ON THE GRID* -All points where a brush ends or meets another brush must stay on the grid. Why you ask ? Because if you don't, you can get leaks, strange errors, or cause higher r_speeds since the engine tries too hard to calculate where in the hell your brush ends.
Rule #2- *WE DON'T EVER CARVE* -As far as I'm concerned, the carve function can be removed from the editor. I never, ever use it and I suggest you don't either...ever ...dammit ! Once you know how to make a nice assortment of polygons, the clipping tool is all you'll ever need to use. Anyone who tells you to carve anything that's curved doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. You will get errors. You will have leaks. You will be a sucky mapper!
Step 1- The Arch
Change the primitive from block to arch and make a brush in the top view with your tool to dimensions 256 x 256 by 64 thick. When you hit enter the arch box will pop up. Look at the picture below to see the settings I use for the arch. You can change the number of sides to more or less, depending on how many polygons your level can afford, and how detailed of a curve you want. 24 sides makes a smooth convincing arch nearly as good as anything you've seen in Quake 3.
Once you have the parameters set, click ok and you should get a circle that looks like the picture below:
Select the circle and click the ungroup button to free all the brushes from each other. We're only going to use the top half of them and now's a good time to delete the ones we don't need:
Wait a minute. We're deleting the bottom half of the brushes ? Why in the hell didn't we just set the arc properties box at 180 instead of a 360 circle ? Answer: It makes some godawefull thing that looks like the top of an Atlas rocket....that's why ! Once you've deleted the unnecessary brushes, group the remaining ones to keep things together. These pieces are all aligned on the grid at a unit of "1" so getting them back in place if you accidentally move one is a pain in the ass. Ok so there's an undo function. So what just group them anyways. Once you're done it should look like this:
So then, we have a properly made arch... well... half of it anyways. Now we'll give it some height by adding a few block brushes. Switch the brush primitive back to block type. Make a block for each side of the arch. Make it to dimensions 32 x 32 x 64 thick (same thickness as the arch) and then extend each block inwards by 2 units. This will give it a nice contrast later. Remember to stay on the grid at all times.
Now we'll give it some taller legs, high enough for the player model to pass under. Add another brush to each side, 32x80x64 thick. When you're done it should look like the picture below. Group all the brushes and we have a finished archway.
Step 2- Making a curve fit into a square wall
As you can see, the arch is not going to seal when we put it into a wall. Make a block brush like the picture below, only make it 32 units thick instead of 64. Center the brush in the middle of the arch (use a side view, not shown here) so that the arch will extend 16 units on either side of it. 32 will be the thickness of the wall the arch sits in.
Here's where you need to be very careful. This next part is easy to do, but you will be working with the grid set to 1 unit which means you'll be zoomed in a lot so that you can see the grid. It can be easy to lose your bearings at this setting so be patient and zoom out for a look if you get lost and then zoom back in. You're going to use the clipping tool to chop up the new brush we just made at each intersection point for each individual arch piece. Clip at each point but don't delete the sections... yet. Make sure you're clipping at the outer intersection points of the arch as shown in the picture below. Go ahead and clip all the way around the arch.
After you've clipped the brush around the arch it should look like the picture below. All the wall brushes are still there and each one is clipped at each arch intersection point.
Now we'll clip out the parts we don't need. Starting at the bottom left, select the first thin wall section and clip it as shown below. You'll be using the lower and upper arch intersection points to set the clipping tool on. Clip away the lower piece of each wall section. Take your time and STAY ON THE GRID!
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When you're done you should have a chopped up wall that looks like the picture below. If you stayed on the grid, you won't have any errors, and in game you won't see the clipping lines so don't worry. It makes a bunch of brushes but it's not that many, so who cares?
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Ok, so now we have an archway with a wall section that we can very easily fit into a map now. At this point, select all and group everything together. we don't want any accidents spoiling our work. Here's a 3D view to see what we have. Making sure it's all grouped together, select it and rotate it so it's standing up. You'll notice the wall section is centered in the middle of the arch so that the arch will extend on either side of the wall. If you want the arch flush to the wall that's up to you.
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Now all you need to do is add 3 wall sections to surround it and we have a finished product... almost. See picture below.
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All that's left to do is texture everything. At the moment, I'm working on DMC maps, so I have a Quake1 wad loaded. Texture it up and here's the finished product!
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Looks pretty good eh ? Put a nice flame torch on either side and we got ourselves the makings for a cool quake, er...DMC map. Obviously, the arch can be used for any kind of map, and for other applications such as a nice curved wall etc...
To see some of the other possibilities for the arch, check out some screenshots of my DMC map in progress. I hope this tutorial helps you. Any questions or feedback can be sent to me at dwaters59@msn.com , or visit my website at http://www.planethalflife.com/3dconstruction
Rule #1- *STAY ON THE GRID* -All points where a brush ends or meets another brush must stay on the grid. Why you ask ? Because if you don't, you can get leaks, strange errors, or cause higher r_speeds since the engine tries too hard to calculate where in the hell your brush ends.
Rule #2- *WE DON'T EVER CARVE* -As far as I'm concerned, the carve function can be removed from the editor. I never, ever use it and I suggest you don't either...ever ...dammit ! Once you know how to make a nice assortment of polygons, the clipping tool is all you'll ever need to use. Anyone who tells you to carve anything that's curved doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. You will get errors. You will have leaks. You will be a sucky mapper!
Step 1- The Arch
Change the primitive from block to arch and make a brush in the top view with your tool to dimensions 256 x 256 by 64 thick. When you hit enter the arch box will pop up. Look at the picture below to see the settings I use for the arch. You can change the number of sides to more or less, depending on how many polygons your level can afford, and how detailed of a curve you want. 24 sides makes a smooth convincing arch nearly as good as anything you've seen in Quake 3.
Once you have the parameters set, click ok and you should get a circle that looks like the picture below:
Select the circle and click the ungroup button to free all the brushes from each other. We're only going to use the top half of them and now's a good time to delete the ones we don't need:
Wait a minute. We're deleting the bottom half of the brushes ? Why in the hell didn't we just set the arc properties box at 180 instead of a 360 circle ? Answer: It makes some godawefull thing that looks like the top of an Atlas rocket....that's why ! Once you've deleted the unnecessary brushes, group the remaining ones to keep things together. These pieces are all aligned on the grid at a unit of "1" so getting them back in place if you accidentally move one is a pain in the ass. Ok so there's an undo function. So what just group them anyways. Once you're done it should look like this:
So then, we have a properly made arch... well... half of it anyways. Now we'll give it some height by adding a few block brushes. Switch the brush primitive back to block type. Make a block for each side of the arch. Make it to dimensions 32 x 32 x 64 thick (same thickness as the arch) and then extend each block inwards by 2 units. This will give it a nice contrast later. Remember to stay on the grid at all times.
Now we'll give it some taller legs, high enough for the player model to pass under. Add another brush to each side, 32x80x64 thick. When you're done it should look like the picture below. Group all the brushes and we have a finished archway.
Step 2- Making a curve fit into a square wall
As you can see, the arch is not going to seal when we put it into a wall. Make a block brush like the picture below, only make it 32 units thick instead of 64. Center the brush in the middle of the arch (use a side view, not shown here) so that the arch will extend 16 units on either side of it. 32 will be the thickness of the wall the arch sits in.
Here's where you need to be very careful. This next part is easy to do, but you will be working with the grid set to 1 unit which means you'll be zoomed in a lot so that you can see the grid. It can be easy to lose your bearings at this setting so be patient and zoom out for a look if you get lost and then zoom back in. You're going to use the clipping tool to chop up the new brush we just made at each intersection point for each individual arch piece. Clip at each point but don't delete the sections... yet. Make sure you're clipping at the outer intersection points of the arch as shown in the picture below. Go ahead and clip all the way around the arch.
After you've clipped the brush around the arch it should look like the picture below. All the wall brushes are still there and each one is clipped at each arch intersection point.
Now we'll clip out the parts we don't need. Starting at the bottom left, select the first thin wall section and clip it as shown below. You'll be using the lower and upper arch intersection points to set the clipping tool on. Clip away the lower piece of each wall section. Take your time and STAY ON THE GRID!
[
]
When you're done you should have a chopped up wall that looks like the picture below. If you stayed on the grid, you won't have any errors, and in game you won't see the clipping lines so don't worry. It makes a bunch of brushes but it's not that many, so who cares?
[
]
Ok, so now we have an archway with a wall section that we can very easily fit into a map now. At this point, select all and group everything together. we don't want any accidents spoiling our work. Here's a 3D view to see what we have. Making sure it's all grouped together, select it and rotate it so it's standing up. You'll notice the wall section is centered in the middle of the arch so that the arch will extend on either side of the wall. If you want the arch flush to the wall that's up to you.
[
]
Now all you need to do is add 3 wall sections to surround it and we have a finished product... almost. See picture below.
[
]
All that's left to do is texture everything. At the moment, I'm working on DMC maps, so I have a Quake1 wad loaded. Texture it up and here's the finished product!
[
]
Looks pretty good eh ? Put a nice flame torch on either side and we got ourselves the makings for a cool quake, er...DMC map. Obviously, the arch can be used for any kind of map, and for other applications such as a nice curved wall etc...
To see some of the other possibilities for the arch, check out some screenshots of my DMC map in progress. I hope this tutorial helps you. Any questions or feedback can be sent to me at dwaters59@msn.com , or visit my website at http://www.planethalflife.com/3dconstruction
