Nice! Please use a proper host like Quaketastic:

http://www.quaketastic.com/
Username: quaketastic
Password: ZigguratVertigoBlewTronynsSocksOff

Great choice on the map ;) 

i got a lotsa batch files too
to launch a multiple mods for quake
this is seems handy 

is there a random map command (button)? 

(>';')># 

is there a random map command (button)?
Actually, why not? :)

SQL v1.01:
You can now play a random map from a random mod at random skill.
Folders without maps are no longer shown in the "Game" drop-down.

Download 

Its has happened. Really thanks MadED! 

And, because I'm good at finding bugs right after I've uploaded a new version of something, here's SQL v1.02:

The last map in the "Maps" list was selected instead of a required map when trying to guess the start map.
Duplicate maps are no longer shown in the "Maps" list even if a mod (e.g. Nehahra) contains duplicate maps.

Download 

It's kind of cool how it loads the icon of executable. 

It's a Windows exe. Not a Mac solution.

Again, a simple randmap.bsp file located inside the id1/maps folder, that would launch a random bsp file from a predefined list would be the best solution, IMHO. 

seems to be quite similar to what can be done using Baker's undergate map pack.
http://quakeone.com/files/2-maps/8-undergate-release-2-7-zip/
This pack comes with a launcher map, or a hub of some sort, via which you can easily access all the maps in the pack (mostly the hall of fame maps as rated in the now defunct Underworld Reviews site)

One catch, though, is that the hub map doesn't randomize the accessible maps. You need to manually pick which one map you want to play. Though this can be "randomized" by closing your eyes and walking blindly in the map, until you stumble into one of the teleporters leading to a map. 

It would also help if the -hipnotic and -rogue flags were set for at least hipnotic and rogue mission packs themselves. 

Is there a bulletproof way to detect these packs? Do all quake ports support these flags? Won't they work just by running them like "someengine.exe -game hypnotic / rogue"? 

no, of course not, this is QUAKE!
all nq engines will (qw engines might not).
-game instead of the official/specific argument results in the hud being buggy in most engines. 

and they released only so much of them.

so the launcher simply needs to check the folder name, and if the name is hipnotic, rogue, quoth, or nehahra, then use the relevant commandline accordingly. Not much code needed I would say. 

- Map titles (a map's "message" worldspawn key) are now shown in the "Maps" drop-down.
- Added special handling for hipnotic, rogue, quoth and nehahra mods (based solely on folder names).
- PK3 files are now scanned for maps.

Download 

when I said all nq engines would understand hipnotic/rogue, I meant only hipnotic and rogue. quoth and nehahra are 3rd-party mods and are not guarenteed to be supported in any way - consult engine docs for these. I really have no idea which engines support those two. :s 

i've got new version(1.03)
and its send me some warnings, ok
in the fild where i have to chose the mods
its enable just backstaint, ok
gotta switch back to my batch files 

 

dammit 

 

Worth it. 

i've got new version(1.03) and its send me some warnings, ok
What warnings?

in the fild where i have to chose the mods
its enable just backstaint, ok
Which mods should be there? How are they located inside of your Quake folder?

Sorry, I cannot fix anything if all you say is "boo doesnt work, also blackstein". 

Do you have a donate button I can use? 

qlauncher warning http://quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/qlauncher-warning.png
it is a bit complicated to translate , as its all russian lang

qlauncher1.0 drop down menu mods http://www.imagebam.com/image/652401346420787

qlauncher1.3 drop down menu mods http://www.imagebam.com/image/9df6b8346421364 

- Mods in subfolders are now detected (e.g. Quake/mods/func_mapjam2 will now be detected) (this PROBABLY fixes spy's problem).
- PAK files: maps located in subfolders inside of "maps" folder are no longer added to the maps list.
- "-game" parameter is now added for quoth and nehahra mods alongside with "-quoth" / "-nehahra" flags.
- "-game" parameter is now added when an official map pack is located in a subfolder inside of Quake folder (like "Quake/mods/ROGUE").
- Possibly fixed a crash related to text buffer overflow when parsing a map's entities (this PROBABLY fixes spy's crash).

Download 

Do you have a donate button I can use?
No... I've lost the last one years ago... 

- Screen resolution can now be picked.
- Fixed a couple of bugs related to mod names with spaces in them.

Download 

is phenomenal! Thank you very much! 

thanks, it works now (v.104) 

Thumbs up man! 

- Changed "Quoth" checkbox into "Base Game" drop-down, which allows you to choose between Quake, Quoth, Nehahra and 2 official map packs.

- Added "Refresh" buttons to Games and Maps lists.

- Fixed incorrect map name when trying to launch a random map from a given mod.

- Engine and mod folder are now checked for existence before launching.

- Some improvements in application logic.

Download
Source 

Fixed a crash when trying to read a file with "Read-only" attribute.

Download 

Dear MaxED!

Thank you for SQL.
Your efforts are highly appreciated.

However, shouldn't the '+ skill' be BEFORE the '+map'
in the command line preview?

I tried loading a couple of maps.
Came to the conclusion that putting the +map before the + skill
in the command line means
the mob show up as if normal skill was selected
(I mean the monster count and
monster type, not the behaviour),
regardless of which skill has actualy been chosen.

Example: launching e1m1rmx(thx to czg&Vondur!)
by SQL v1.07 choosing 'Hard' results in loading
the Slipgate Duplex and 'playing or hard skill'
appears on the screen, but pulling down the console shows 'kills: 0/23'.

All it takes to fix this is to put '+skill' before +map in the command line and you got the full crew of 42 on board:)

At least this was my personal experience
with the following engines: JoeQuake-gl
and Quakespasm-0.90.0, both on Windows. 

Is that expected behaviour in Quake?.. Because it looks like an engine bug to me. 

I wonder that as well. Seems like the order should be arbitrary. 

that makes sense though. the engine will process the commands in the order it receives them, so if you put your +map in there, it will load the map first (using the default setting for skill) and then change the skill setting after the map has loaded. 

+ commands are just stuffed into the console in the order given, after the game is initialized

- commands are handled in a predefined order regardless of the order in the command line, during initialization 

Thanks for clarifying this stuff.
Changed "skill" and "map" commands order in 1.08.

Download
Source 

Thanks to all for the quick reaction.

Additional thanks to MaxED for
the swift update.

Glad if I could be of any help. 

After a post over at Quakeone I thought someone should bump this thread, if for no other reason than to say the latest version (though a year and a half old) is now 1.09.

Personally, I'd like to see the program get a more prominent home. It's really handy for newbs trying to get into Quake... Anything that makes that easier can only be good for the community. :) 

I like this little program a lot.

I download the .zip files and load the maps with the SQL.

To me it's better than all the typing in the console, and also better than quake injector which is clunky. 

Agreed. It takes a little while to load and I wish there were a couple more features like load .dem and profiles. Haven't found a better launcher yet.

I also use Nercos' compiler to launch the game a lot by hitting Ctrl+R ;) 

Couple of suggestions:

1) Currently - if map is set to [no map] it forgets this when restarted - ideally it should remember to keep the [no map] preference.

2) Please include a tickbox to optionally include all maps in id1/maps as well as the mod-specific maps when you have a non-id1 mod set.