Quake 2 Remaster Jamming 101: Simple Tips for First-Timers

I wrote this to help folks who are new to Quake 2 Remaster mapping get up to speed with some best practices we have identified while testing and integrating jams. This is a starting point for avoiding common problems and getting a solid, playable map over the finish line. Note that this tutorial tutorial assumes you have already watched our Learn to Map for Quake 2 Remaster video and gotten everything set up.

Design

• The first step is simple: read the jam instructions carefully. Map-Center jams often use themes tied to specific Quake 2 units, mods, or campaigns. Before you start blocking out rooms, play through the relevant material and take notes. Pay attention to what you liked, what you would change, and what ideas come to mind.
• References are not cheating. Every designer and artist uses them, which is also why we include .map source files in our jams. Open them up and study how other mappers approach texturing, lighting, brushwork, encounters, and scripting. Learn from them, but do not plagiarize.
• Start small. A well-paced snack map beats a forty-five-minute slog. Scope creep is the map killer. It is better to finish something compact, polished, and fun than to build half of something huge and exhausting.
• Many new Quake 2 Remaster mappers come from other mapping communities such as DOOM and Quake 1. That experience is useful, but some habits do not transfer cleanly. Giant arenas, flat layouts, monster closets, and huge sightlines can create technical problems or dull gameplay in Quake 2.
• Quake 2 also does not reward enormous open spaces. They take dramatically longer to compile and can introduce difficult bugs into the final jam package. Instead, think in terms of connected spaces, readable routes, and vertical movement. Doing so usually makes your level feel more interesting and look better.

Technical

• Run full compiles early. If your map takes forever to compile, that is a warning sign. You may need to redesign, simplify, or hunt for leaks before the problem gets worse. Consider sealing your level early as well, since leaks are much harder to diagnose once the map becomes more complex.
• If a brush is not sealing the map, it should probably be func_detail because it helps keep compile times reasonable. Another major benefit is that setting _phong 1 on a func_detail enables smoother lighting and shading behavior, which often makes curved detailing look nicer without changing the actual brush geometry.
• In TrenchBroom, you can make selected brushes into a brush entity through the right-click context menu. Keyboard shortcuts may vary by operating system and user configuration, so check the TrenchBroom manual or your local Preferences menu for the exact binding on your setup.
• It is best to stay on grid as much as possible, especially for brushes that seal your map.
• When scripting, use consistent names for entities. Joke names are funny until you are troubleshooting a broken sequence at 1:00 AM. Use a clear naming convention and stick to it.
• Place enemies and items a few units above the floor so they do not get stuck or behave strangely.

Gameplay

• Gameplay should not be an afterthought. Quake 2 enemies are more complex than DOOM or Quake 1 enemies, and encounters should be built around how they actually behave. Think about what each monster does and what tools the player needs to deal with it. These articles provide a useful analysis of good combat design.
• Be especially careful with hitscan enemies. They are interesting, but overusing them can make combat feel cheap rather than challenging. Good combat is a problem for the player to solve within the world you have crafted, not just “place monsters in a room.”
• Keep objectives easy to understand. Get the thing. Destroy the place. Kill the boss. Escape the facility. Quake 2 is an action game, and clarity helps the player stay engaged.
• Storytelling can work well, but it is usually stronger when shown through the environment rather than explained through text. Half-Life is a useful reference point for this: the world tells the player what happened without stopping the game to overexplain it. For more on this design approach, see The Level Design Book’s section on environmental storytelling.

Aesthetics

• Use a cohesive texture set and take time to absorb Quake 2’s visual language. Decompiling the base campaign maps and opening them in TrenchBroom can be very helpful. Look at how the original maps use trims, panels, lights, doors, supports, machinery, and color contrast.
• The bsputil tool included with ericw-tools can decompile BSP files with the --decompile option. See the ericw-tools bsputil documentation for usage details.
• Quake 2 has a specific industrial science-fiction identity. You do not need to copy it exactly, but understanding it will make your own work feel more grounded.
• Linked groups in TrenchBroom are a major time saver. Doorways, light fixtures, repeating details, and even entities can be linked and updated together. Used correctly, this helps your map stay consistent while saving a lot of repetitive work. Note that mixing different rotations among linked group instances can make updates harder to predict, especially when the group contains angled brushwork or entities with orientation properties. Use them carefully and test after edits.
• The TrenchBroom manual explains how linked groups work and is worth reviewing before relying on them heavily.

Remember... the goal is to finish something fun (and have fun!) while learning the tools and engine. Do not worry about making it perfect. Hope to see you in the next jam!