Trenchbroom is very good, but I still think, it's not the best possible map editor. It uses brush-based approach, which isn't the right way of designing maps for games in closed spaces (like Quake). Creating each room requires creating at least 6 brushes for its walls/floor/ceiling, which is way to much for such stuff. On the other hand Unreal Editor (for first Unreal and Unreal Tournament) supports creating rooms directly (as subtractive brushes), when two room primitive touch each other, they are automatically connected.
replyI know nothing about this scene, but interested to know more. I remember hearing that Unreal Tournaments engine used this subtractive model internally so it is not strictly editor ux decision?
replyI don't know what Unreal Tournament did use internally, it's hard to investigate, since there is no (official) source code release for it. But I do know, that brush-based (additive) approach isn't strictly necessary for creating maps for Quake/Quake II/Quake III, it's technically possible to write a map compiler taking maps in some subtractive format. The reason why it's not done (or at least not common) is because it's not a trivial task and because existing infrastructure adds some friction.
replyTrenchbroom is legitimately among the best software I have ever used. I grew up using Hammer and this simply blows it out of the water.
replyOne nice thing is that you can use it as a level editor for your own games in Godot with func_godot
Agreed! I used it to build the maps for my 13kb Quake demake[1]. Compared to q3radiant that I used back in the day, Trenchbroom is just so much more pleasant to work with. In hindsight it seems totally obvious that _this_ is the way a map editor should work.
reply> I grew up using Hammer and this simply blows it out of the water.
replyStrange to read "I grew up using Hammer." when I still see Hammer as a newfangled update to Worldcraft.
No Quake map editor will let you do anything the Quake engine can't, of course.
If you draw your maps on paper first, as id Software did[0], then the editor you use doesn't matter so much.
J.A.C.K.[1] is the current torchbearer for the Hammer lineage.
Also there is a community fork of Trenchbroom[2] that exists because Trenchbroom includes slop. Or "machine generated code" or "wAIfu generated code" or however salves your feelings.
"The map editor everybody uses" is reductionist.
func_godot works better than I expected it to the first time I used it, properly imports and compiles triggers, lights, materials, sounds, etc straight from trenchbroom so you really can do 90% of your work in trenchbroom. It's awesome for prototyping!
replyCool article, never knew the actual history of how Trenchbroom got started! Have been using it very casually over the last decade or so. There are some incredible Quake mappers out there making things that would make your jaw drop if you haven't seen Quake in quite a while.
replyFor example, Arcane Dimensions[0] or the Quake Brutalist Jam[1]
Anyone looking to get into single player Quake should grab an engine like IronWail and just go through all three Brutalist Jams. These are essentially map packs with contributions from various mappers, linked by a museum like base map (as many jams do). Each successive Brutalist Jam pushes the boundaries of what a thirty year old base game can still do.
replyIt is neat all of these years later to see Qt pop up now and then, just chugging along with comments from users like the author saying "Yep, that was worth it.". Just doing its thing getting out of the way and letting users build what they want to do.
replyTrenchbroom is excellent and fun. Many game devs use it to block out levels or make entire games.
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