Torque Game Engine DocumentationVersion 1.3.x
| Torque Game Engine Documentation Version 1.3.x |
QuArK is available from a number of sources:
Ken Finney has been generous enough to donate an installation program for QuArK from his book "3D Game Programming All In One." This installer greatly simplifies the setup of QuArK for Torque.
Quark Installer (12.0 Mb)
The version included above is 6.3. Newer versions of Quark are also available, but have proven buggy on some systems. These downloads do include Torque support, but require more custom configuration than the installer. You can have more than one version of QuArK installed on your system. The latest QuArK snapshot is available from:
The QuArK Installer greatly simplifies the installation process. Here are some simple instructions for running the installer.
Procedure 9.1. Setting up Quark with the Installer
Once the QuArK Installer has been downloaded, unzip the quark_setup.zip file.
Run the Setup.exe found within.
Go through the installer dialog. It is recommended that you use the default settings.
If you change the installation directory, you will have to manually adjust the directories that QuArK searches for the Map2Dif utility in the QuArK Configuration panel.
Now Quark is set up and ready to use. The QuArK application (QuArK.exe) can be accessed either through the Start menu, or on your hard-drive in the C:\QuArK 6.3 folder.
The installer created a number of new directories, and you will need to know where to look to find you maps once they are compiled.
Quark Installed Directories
The most important directory in the structure is C:\QuArK 6.3\torque\tmpQuark\maps. This is where your compiled interiors will be placed. In order to view your interiors in game, you will need to copy them from this location to the data/interiors folder in your game's directory.
When you copy your compiled maps into your game folder, you will also need to copy any textures that they use to either data/interiors or the same location as the interior files.
I find it helpful to create a set of links in my start menu to Quark and its related directories. A link to Quark, as well as one to C:\QuArK 6.3\torque\tmpQuark\maps and my data/interiors directory can prove quite handy when I am doing heavy QuArK work.
There are many other configuration options to fine tune your map-making operations; but the defaults work very well from the start. Once you are more comfortable with Quark, feel free to explore! If you want more information on advanced Quark configuration, look here: http://www.planetquake.com/quark/help/configuration/index.html
This section covers the specifics of the installer's setup in the Torque Installer. It is intended for those users who wish to manually upgrade to a newer version of Torque, or otherwise customize their configuration. If you are using the default setup described in the previous chapter, you may skip this section and continue on to the Using Quark section.
Detailed structure of important files in TorqueQuark directory:
C:\Quark6.3--|
|--QuArK.exe (QuArK executable file)
|
|--Setup.qrk
|
|--/addons-----|
| |--Defaults.qrk
| |
| |--/Torque----|
| |--DataTorque.qrk
| |--UserData Torque.qrk
|
|--/torque-----|
|---/base/textures/common (location of example textures)
|
|---/tmpQuArK--|
|--map2dif.exe
|--/maps (location of .map and .dif files after export)
|--/textures (empty except after "Prepare Used Textures")
The DataTorque.qrk and UserData Torque.qrk are add-on files that describe Torque entities and controls to the QuArK menus. These can be modified as new Torque features become available.
Different exporter versions can be placed in the root of the tmpQuark folder.
The /textures folder within /tmpQuark will not be searched for textures by the game engine. Before loading any of your dif files in-game, ensure that copies of you textures have been placed in the root /interiors folder.
Torque will search the root interiors folder, as well as the folder in which the interior is placed, for used textures.
Advanced users may want to relocate /tmpQuark inside the /interiors folder of their game, this would allow you to load maps from it directly in the Torque mission editor. This is a great way to do quick tests of the levels. This requires a lot of customization of the QuArK configuration, however, and is only recommended for experienced users.