BatchMap version 1.0 .MAP -> .BSP front end (C) Copyright 1996 Darrell Esau WHAT IS IT? Have you ever had 2 or 3 fairly large .maps to process, each one taking an hour or two? You know that each of the three utilities will take 30 minutes or so to run. So you start QBsp and let it run...come back half an hour later and start Light...come back half an hour later and start Vis. Then you do it all over again with the remaining .maps. Ok...maybe you've made a batch file to run all three utils at once...but you still have to run that batch file on each .map. I got tired of doing that, so I wrote BatchMap. BatchMap will allow you to process up to 30 different .maps, all with their own separate command line arguments. You can load BatchMap up, input the desired command line arguments, and let it go. When you come back hours later, it'll have processed each .map with it's own arguments and have each .bsp waiting for you with a little ribbon on....well...no ribbon. SO HOW DO I RUN IT? Just put the BatchMap.exe file in whatever directory you would like, and type BatchMap. Oh...give it a few .maps to chew on. ie: BATCHMAP JRBASE1.MAP COM28.MAP WOOD.MAP BatchMap needs a config file to run. It's just a text file with all your own personal settings in it. If it doesn't find one residing in it's directory, it'll ask if you want it to create one. After it creates a config file, it'll ask you where you keep your QBsp.exe, Vis.exe, and Light.exe utilities. It'll also ask you where you want your .bsp files dumped to. After you give it all the information it wants, it'll give you the menu screen. From here, you can turn the command line args on and off by pressing the letter corresponding to each arg. If the argument needs additional information, such as -threads, you will be prompted to put in the info. You can scroll through the supplied .maps by pressing the N key for next, or the P key for previous. There are several other options you can select for each .map...such as weather or not to delete the .h1, .h2, .prt, and .pts files, or weather or not to run Vis or Light.... You can change the output directory, or the utility directory from here as well. If you like the current settings and would like to set them as default, just press the S key to save. If you want to pull up the default settings for the current .map, just hit the R key for restore. You can also redirect the screen output to file (so you won't miss any of the cool errors that QBsp will give you), just select that option, and put in the name of the output text file. A word on redirecting: I just used the DOS double greater than symbol (>>) to redirect, so any text will be appended on the file if it already exists. If you use the same file for redirection, you will want to delete it after each use, or it'll get quite large. If you chicken out and decide not to run the .maps, just hit the Q key and you get dumped out to DOS. COMPATIBILITY: Will it work on my Power Mac? NO...unless you're an idiot with an emulator...in which case you're just in denial and really wish you had a PC. It was written for DOS so all you Windows-haters would be able to use it. If you do use Windows, you can drag multiple .map files and drop them on the BatchMap icon. If you have a fairly late DOS (5.0?) and a computer with ample resources you should be Ok. I believe you need at least 16 megs of RAM to process larger .maps...that's all I've got and it runs fine for me. BUGS/BUG REPORTING/TECH SUPPORT: If you've got any questions, or found any bugs, just mail them to: desau@toocool.itslab.calpoly.edu There shouldn't be any bugs, but hey, who's perfect? If you find a problem, email it to me and I'll try to fix it and send a "closer to perfect" copy back to you. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? If you use the program for more than 3 days, you are required to register it for $299.95. :) Actually...like any good utility, it's free. If you use it a lot, and would like to compensate me for my pain and agony of programming it, just send anything to: Darrell Esau 805 Boysen #13 San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I'm just a poor, starving college student at Cal Poly, SLO. Naw...life's not so bad... if you wanna check out my web page, go to: http://toocool.itslab.calpoly.edu/~desau ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Scott McNutt for testing. Check out SM Levels at: http://www.best.com/~smmcnutt Scott Lyon for testing. Check out the Gamers Corner at: http://www.cyberlynk.com/~scottl id Software for the awesome game, and for making it so easy to edit. DISCLAIMER: BatchMap is provided as is, and the user accepts any and all risks of using it. NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: QUAKE is a registered trademark of id Software. QBsp, Vis, and Light are all property of id Software. BatchMap is Copyright 1996 by Darrell Esau