Call of Duty 2 Radiant Editor Manual

Call Of Duty II - Radiant Editor Manual

by Barry Stephen Nieuport

Copyright 2007

Version 1.03 - 02/11/2007

Updated as of 21 June 2007

This manual endeavors to explain the procedures and familiarize the reader with the tools required to create their own single player or multi player game maps for Call of Duty 2. It's main objective is to provide a clear and concise explanation of the steps involved without leaving any guess work to the reader. Any suggestions, criticism, complaints or requests can be emailed to jbarradale@gmail.com. Thank you.

This manual is free to use by anyone of the Internet and Gaming Community and has no restrictions on it whatsoever, as I believe the Internet to be a place where people can locate information at no cost to them. I would only wish, but do not require, at least a mention of who wrote this manual. You may include the manual or a link to this manual on your own website at no charge. Updates will be posted only on this website and not any other. To get the most recent version, this is the place to go.

The people who have contributed to this manual and a great deal of thanks to them. They are as follows:

Barry Stephen Nieuport, Creator and researcher for this manual, appropriate since he is a published author, instructor, and all around computer expert for over 20 years.

I would also like to thank the many posts found on the Internet with too many user names to mention here, especially to the work done on the Quake 3 Editor manual, found at:
http://www.qeradiant.com/manual/Q3Rad_Manual/index.htm
Q3Radiant Editor Manual
Based on Version 192 - partly updated to GtkRadiant
By Paul Jaquays
With additional contributions by Astrocreep, Christian Antkow,
EutecTic, Inolen, Mr. Elusive, Maddog, Martin Ka'ai Cluney,
Robert A. Duffy, Small Pile of Gibs, Suicide20, and The Dog!
Special thanks go out to the members of the Quake3world Editing forum.
Your questions prompted many of the sections in this manual.
QERadiant.com thanks John Hutton for re-formating this manual into a more web friendly version.

Conventions used in this manual.

Procedures or steps will be shown as follows:

STEP ONE: Start The Editor. {Double Left Click} on your brand new icon for the Radiant Editor, if it is not already running.

The step will be numbered, bold, light blue, followed by an optional summary of what we are doing in bold black. The menu choices, mouse clicks, or buttons to be pressed will be shown. The way they are shown is as follows:

Step Numbers: STEP ONE
Mouse Clicks: {Left Click}, {Right Click}, {Left Click Hold}, {Double Left Click} ...
Keyboard Keys: <A>, <1>, <Backspace>, <Enter>, <Tab>, <PageUp>, <Home>, <End>, <Delete> ...
Menu Choices: [File]->[Save As...], [Selection]->[CSG]->[Hollow], ....
Each of the words or phrase enclosed in brackets are a {Left Click} on a menu item. The first item is the word along the top of the screen, the main menu item. It is followed by the {Left Click} on each of the sub-menus that appear with an arrow connecting them.
Buttons: (Save), (OK), (Rotate X), (Hollow), ....

There are many ways of doing things, if there is another way I have found, then this will be shown by the phrase Alternate Method in bold and italic type face.

II. Editor Fundamentals - The Functions, Commands and Procedures.

Previously we learned some basics of the editor and created a simple room. Now we get at the meat of the editor and discuss the operation of the editor. It is called fundamentals because we are not going to review a long list of commands and steps to create a world, but the fundamental concepts and procedures that make up the editor in order to create a usable, workable, playable, fun map level. In other words, the fundamental procedures that make up the entire process can include, hollowing out a cube for the world to be in, placing objects on the map, placing actors onto the map, placing terrain on the map, modifying the terrain floor to show hills and valleys, placing water on the map, placing a sky map, placing lighting, and so on. These are the fundamental procedures that make up the editor and are combined in many different orders or steps that are decided by the user, you. In other words, I am not going to tell you that you have to place your terrain textures, such as grass before or after you modify the levels of terrain to create a hill or valley, because there are always many ways of doing things. I will however, outline the steps I have taken to perform a "set of fundamental tasks" in order to create something. This way you will learn how the editor works down to its fundamental way and can combine these fundamentals in any way you wish to create YOUR map and no one else's.

These fundamental steps may for a while be bit unorganized, but they will be indexed and cataloged in the Table of Contents. Then a more logical way of listing them will be set up. So, as I progress through the editor I may over-look certain steps and explore them later.

A. Moving Around in the Views of the Editor.

1. The 2D View.

a. Moving the view in the X and Y. To move the view in the 2D View Window, you {Right Click Hold} inside the view and move the mouse around on the desk and then release. That's it. Simple. This is also called "Panning The View".

The view will at times automatically pan to the left, right, up, or down when you select an item or object and this object is partially off the screen. When you move an object in the view, you will also notice that the view will move as you approach the edge of the view. This is when you have the option checked in preferences, "Mouse chaser" under "New functionality" in the Preferences screen. This Preferences screen is accessed by pressing the letter <P> on the keyboard, or through the menus, [Edit]->[Preferences]. Then close the preferences window, by pressing the (OK) button at the top right.

Notice how I did not ask you to go find the section that describes this procedure somewhere else in this manual? First, I think it is rude. Second, I think it is stupid, especially if you move pages and sections around a lot and forget to update ALL the references to that section and people are looking on a page and cannot find it and think you are an idiot! Third, I AM good at this aren't I?

b. Zooming the View. To make the map smaller or bigger, or to be more precise, to increase or decrease the magnification of the view, you can use the mouse wheel.

To zoom in (increase the magnification) you move the Mouse Wheel forward or away from you by placing your finger lightly on it, not pressing it because it is also a button, and then moving your finger away from you, or towards the computer. This will make the grid lines farther apart, just as if you were using a magnifying lens on a piece of graph paper. They "appear" to be closer. This is not changing the map, simply changing how much of the map you are looking at. If you want to see detail, you zoom in to make the objects appear larger. If you want to look at the "big picture" to see how something fits into the level, you can zoom out. To zoom out you do the opposite, lightly press the mouse wheel and move your finger towards you, or away from the computer. It is like you are using your finger to pull the camera back out of the picture, or pushing it in to see closer detail. To show this operation, we will use: {Mouse Wheel Forward} and {Mouse Wheel Back}.

Alternate Method: In the main menu at the top of the screen. {Left Click} on [View]->[Zoom]->[XY Zoom In]. Imagine that! To zoom the view, you use [View], then {Zoom], then [XY Zoom In], kinda logical isn't it.? As you become more familiar with this editor, the commands will become second nature like this. You will know instinctively that a command is located in a specific place. There is also a shortcut key listed in those menus. For zoom in there is <Delete> and for zooming out, there is <Insert>. Try them, play with them and see if this is true with your version.

2. The Camera View or 3D View.

a. Moving the left and right angle of the camera view. To move the view in the Camera View Window use a similar method to the 2D View. You {Right Click Hold} the mouse in the 3D View Window and drag it left and right.

This is however a more complex window and has more than two-axis represented in the window. This method moves the camera view left and right only. Think of a stationary camera on a tripod, you are rotating the camera left and right, changing its angle of view from North, East, West or South.

Alternate Methods: Using the arrow keys on the keyboard also function the same way. Press <Left> to turn the camera to the left and press <Right> to turn the camera to the right. Commands: CameraLeft and CameraRight

b. Moving the camera forward and backward. To move the camera around inside the window, {Right Click Hold} and then mouse the Mouse, not the wheel, around on the desk. Move the Mouse forward and the camera will move forward in the room. Move the Mouse back and the camera will move back.

Alternate Methods: Using the arrow keys on the keyboard also function the same way. Press <Up> to move the camera forward and press <Down> to move the camera back. Commands: CameraForward and CameraBack

It is just as if you picked up the camera tripod, walked forward and then set it back down. So, you can "rotate" left and right with the mouse right button down by moving the mouse left and right, and also you can "move" forward and backward moving the mouse forward or back. In this way you can place the camera in any place in this room, subject to this plane of existence. The plane we are moving in is referred to as the XY plane. A plane is a two dimensional existence in a 3D world. The ocean surface or the ground we walk on, just the surface, is one plane. It has two dimensions, the North and South axis and the West and East axis. This is not taking into consideration the height of the ground relative to sea level, the Z-axis because that is in another plane.

Try this experiment. {Right Click Hold} in the 3D View Window and pull the mouse, does not matter where you start, and keep pulling the mouse away. If you need to, I have a small desk, you can lift the mouse up, move it away from you and replace it back down in order to continue moving it toward you. Now keep going until you are out of the room. Suddenly, the world goes dark, the other side of the walls have no texture on them, so the may say "default texture" or something and the world is dark and grey. Oh no! But you can still see the box that is your world. You have simply left the known universe and are exploring the outside where there is nothing. There is nothing there, because you have not created it yet. Okay, relax, you can go back into your world again and see the nice wood floor that you have been shooting holes in. Yes, I caught you, you plugged a few holes in the walls too, didn't you?

c. Moving the camera up and down. Now to move the height of the camera. Not the angle of it, press <Control> + {Right Click Hold} and move the Mouse forward and back. Moving forward raises the height of the camera. Moving back lowers the height.

Alternate Methods: Using the keys on the keyboard also function the same way. Press <D> to raise the camera up and press <C> to lower the camera down. Commands: CameraUp and CameraDown

You will also notice, as you are moving around in the 3D View, the 2D View is not updated with these moves. If you {Left Click} once on the 2D View Window, you will see the small blue camera symbol in the 2D View Window instantly move to the new location. To have these changed updated dynamically, another fancy word for "at the same time", you can check the option in Preferences, "Update XY views while dragging". This could possibly slow your performance down if you do not have a fast computer. To access this preference, press the letter <P>, {Left Click} inside the little white box and a check mark will appear, turning it on. Then close the preferences window, by pressing the (OK) button at the top right.

d. Moving the camera left and right (strafe). To move the camera to the left, not rotate, but to "strafe left" or "strafe right" you press <Control> + {Right Click Hold} and move the Mouse to the left or right.

Alternate Methods: Using the keys on the keyboard also function the same way. Press <Comma> to strafe left and press <Period> to strafe right. Commands: CameraStrafeLeft and CameraStrafeRight

e. Moving the angle of the camera up and down. To move the angle of the camera, not the height of the camera, you press <Shift> + <Control> + {Right Click Hold} and drag the mouse up and down to angle it towards the ceiling or the floor. Dragging the Mouse forward tilts the camera up, dragging the Mouse back tilts the camera down.

Alternate Methods: Using the keys on the keyboard also function the same way. Press <A> tilts the camera up and press <Z> tilts the camera down. Commands: CameraAngleUp and CameraAngleDown

f. Zooming the View. To make the map smaller or bigger, or to be more precise, to increase or decrease the magnification of the view, you can use the mouse wheel. {Mouse Wheel Forward} or {Mouse Wheel Back}

This is another option in the preferences screen ( [Edit]->[Preferences] ) that is labeled, "Use mouse wheel in camera window". Move the Mouse Wheel forward, or away from you to zoom in. (ie: pushing the camera or view closer to the map) To zoom out pull the mouse wheel towards you, or pull the view outward farther from the map.

g. Move Camera With Mouse. To set the cameras position, press <Control> + {Middle Click} in the 2D View. To set the direction, pick a spot that you wish to look at in the camera and place the Mouse Cursor there and press {Middle Click}.