I found problems naming a level dm-something or dm_something amont QuakeWorld people. A server didn't like "-", others complained about "_", so on.

QW would benefit from some QuakeSpasmWorld, giving some love to the code. Downloading .lit files, for example. 

lol
frogbot dueling dmm3 and dmm5
http://quaketastic.com/files/demos/frogbotvertigo.rar 

It's certainly an improvement. I would probably have a play around with lighting now, an unlit map is never good. Get a good feel of what works and what doesnt. 

When first starting a map I usually just use one or two basic wall textures, one ceiling, and one floor.

I always place some basic lights from the beginning, but just to get a feel for how things look. They'll get adjusted and tweaked plenty as the map progresses, and many more will be added.

I never work on a map that has leaks or other compile errors. Any problems must be fixed first. 

The texture tip was great Rick, so thanks for that. The main problem is that I have no idea how to use lights in Quake. DP has something about RT Lightmaps, and there is that light entity in trenchbroom. I have no idea how to use any of these things, so if someone could explain it, that would be nice. Another problem with lighting is that I have to compile the map before I can actually see how the light turns out. One last thing: I've noticed these key things for entities, and I would like to know them so I can use entities effectively. If someone could link me a list or something, that would be awesome. 

I have no idea what leaks are, and I'm pretty sure there is much more to learn than that. 

http://shoresofnis.com/post.php?postID=2

i should update it as it's still referencing aguirre's light util, but that one is actually pretty outdated now (although still very usable). you'll probably be using tyrann's new light with all the bells and whistles (see here: http://ericwa.github.io/tyrutils-ericw/ for keys and other things specific to tyr light)

unfortunately, yes, because of the way lights are you'll just have to get used to the numbers.

usually the easiest way is to make one light, tweak the values until you're happy (by compiling and viewing in the engine). once you have a light you like, you just copy and paste it into all spots that have that kind of light. eventually you end up with a 'palette' of lights, maybe 3 or 4 main types for different things that you use over and over in the map. 

I like to use trenchbroom, but I think I would want to use a second level editor that has light rendering built into the editor, kinda like the UE3 engine. Maybe blender is an option, as I have seen people using that. 

Some may have noticed that I use DarkPlaces, and the only main reason I use it is because it has it's own package in Ubuntu Linux, so I use it often on my Windows PC as well as on my Linux laptop. The reason I ask this is because DP can be a little dramatic with it's lighting effects, so is there a better engine that I should use test maps overall? 

About lighting, no, there's no such thing. Quake lighting couldn't allow it. About engines, Fitzquake Mark V or Quakespasm are modern engines faithful to the original Quake. You should map for them. 

To add lighting to your map it's just a case of putting the light entities in there. There are additional features which increase/decrease the range of the lighting and there are different styles which add flickering effects too.

DP is probably not the best engine to test with unless you default back to normal lighting rather than real-time. RT lighting is something you can do once your map is finished and needs to be done within dark places itself. 

I'm pretty sure Quakespasm is also in the Ubuntu repositories, listed as "Quake". It wouldn't be the latest version, but should be just as easy to install as DarkPlaces.

Installing the latest version is trickier if you're not used to building programmes from source, but it's also doable. 

It really does look like original Quake! Well, besides the texture blending. I also figured out how to use the vis and light tools, and now I understand how I'm supposed to add and place lights. EricW's tools are a little advanced for me though, I have no idea what all of these features do. 

At least editor can show true attenuation start/end circles. I'd guess most (if not all) editors atm only take "light" key into account and ignore "wait" and "delay". 

It really does look like original Quake! Well, besides the texture blending.

Gah! You need to enable crunchy pixels. I'm in the pub right now slapping ales down me neck so can't remember the command, but can a charitable gent do the honours, please? 

 

gl_texturemode gl_nearest

or (smoother)

gl_texturemode gl_nearest_mipmap_nearest

or (why would you do this)

gl_texturemode gl_nearest_mipmap_linear 

to avoid it?

"sound ogre : ogridl.wav not looped"
"SV_Startsound not precached" 

You are the legendary quake modder, so I'm assuming I can get some free tips from a god (What do you want sacrificed?) 

Just realized this. I'm so fucking dead. 

You don't need all the fancy features of the light tool to make a great map. The original maps were made just using the lights as they are.

The most important key for lights is "light" which allows you to set the brightness of the light. 

But why light? I honestly think a DM map would be more effective if all places are equally lit, so that way you can easily see all places. I get the aesthetics, but not the effectiveness. 

Noone forces you to make a map without light.
It can be a good way for improving your level on texture alignment.
Only take care to give it the vis-test level 4.

There were times I didn't map and I was more home at work.
:P 

There's nothing stopping you from making a map that's bright. But no-one wants to play a full-bright unlit map. It looks ugly and would make you look like a lazy mapper.

At the end of the day it's your map, I would suggest making it lit because people will (quite rightly) moan. :P 

If you, at the time, do not care for lighting then just try something like this for your current map:

-------
Light
Key Value

light 450
delay 5
-------

Then just place them around the map, if you don't want many dark places then place many. It will look better than full bright and it will also be moderately equally lit.