No, no step failed AFAIK. Anyway, I uninstalled Trenchbroom, cleaned my registry of all TB entries, made another clean install of Quakespasm at the system root with only the engine and the pak files, reinstalled TB, Tyrutils and the GUI and now it works like a charm. Don't know exactly what happened but I'm suspecting that a mod screwed my previous QS install because I was also getting odd crashes when playing. Now on to mapping! Thank you guys for your replies. 

Run as admin. J.A.C.K is known for not compiling properly without admin rights set. 

J.A.C.K. = Juicy Arsed Cock Knights ? 

If you run into the issue again, and can reproduce it, I would appreciate a bug report. The compilation feature is still new and I wouldn't be surprised if there are problems with it.

Thanks for using TB. 

@Qmaster Thanks but I'm using Trenchbroom, not J.A.C.K. (boy, this new name for Jackhammer is really way too reminiscent of Contract J.A.C.K. - to the point that one has to wonder if it's on purpose). Plus I'm still on good ol' WinXP so I don't have this admin issue.

@SleepwalkR Will do, but I'm fairly positive it was a mod issue. Also, as I said I've used Tyrutils & Necros' GUI to compile. I wasn't aware you had implemented a built-in compiler. I'm using an old version of TB that's been sitting on my HD for a while. Yeah I know, I should upgrade...

I did encounter a strange bug though: I've tried to tweak a light with a color parameter but I didn't know my shit and I input a value without knowing if it was valid or not. It didn't work so I deleted that light but it must have done something to my map because after that, each time I compiled in Necros' GUI it created a .lit file along with the .bsp that wrecked my lighting in the whole map. I had to go back to a previous autosave (thanks for this feature BTW, I didn't feel like starting this map over from scratch) to get things in order again.

Besides that, your program rocks, it's just awesome! I've tried using WC or Radiant back in the day but I was put off by the complexity of the tools. TB is really super intuitive and after 20 years, I'm finally making a map that contains more than one empty room! One thing though: as others have noted, I'd really like to be able to use traditional FPS controls to move around in my map, using mouse scroll is pretty weird and just not as handy. Speaking of mouse scroll, it would be cool if we could use the mouse wheel when in the texture manager instead of having to drag the scroll bar. BTW, is there a way to export my prefabs for later use? I didn't see any option for that in the menus.

@everyone here: is there somewhere on the net some kind of repository of usable prefabs under CC/GPL? Stuff like doors, teleporters, staircases etc... that I could use and/or modify without having to build them from scratch? Especially doors since I'm still getting used to building architecture and haven't wrapped my head around using triggers yet. 

Also, how do I make a directional spotlight? All my light sources are diffuse by default and I don't know the variable parameters. I've been looking for a comprehensive Trenchbroom tutorial but to no avail. Even the official documentation is more of a beginner's guide than anything, it doesn't delve into the specifics. 

 

Yeah, I've just DL'ed the latest build. I was actually using the "last stable build", v1.16. I remember picking that one precisely because of "last stable"... I've always been wary of betas. Judging by your reply, I guess the new version will answer most of my questions. Do I need to uninstall the previous first or can I overwrite?

What about the prefab repository? I did find one with pretty cool stuff over at Quaddicted but the links to the files seem to be dead... 

And no support for prefabs atm. 

So I couldn't wait for your reply and installed the latest build (and before you ask, I did NOT overwrite) but it doesn't work. Something about TB not being able to find a GetThreadId entry point in kernel32.dll (not sure if the wording is accurate, I translated the error message from french). This version DOES support WinXP, right? That's what your website says.

@the anonymous person above who thinks an IP makes a good alias Yes, than you very much, that's really helpful. Jeez... That's how I found the page with non-functioning links BTW. Asking you guys is not about laziness to do the research myself, it's about getting valuable advice from the masters of the trade. I guess I won't get that from you. Anybody else? 

And you had to post that twice? Wow, that's dedication in uselessness! 

Those 2 posts were spam posts, not someone telling you to use Google.

We get them from time to time. 

Oh, OK, my bad then. They weren't flagged as spam and I've noticed people here sometimes reply with titles only. 

It should work, but it's no longer officially supported since it's discontinued by MS. I test all releases under Windows 7. 

If it's easy to bring back XP support I'll do it. But I doubt it. 

Is there some reason why you can't just switch to Windows 7? It's really the only decent version of Windows. 

@SleepwalkR Will do but if it's too much work you don't need to go the extra mile for little ol' me. It's a matter of weeks anyway before I upgrade to 7. I've been waiting to get a new HDD (or possibly a SSD) to make the switch. In the meantime, I'll test earlier builds. Worst case scenario, I'll have to make do with v1.16 until then. No biggie, I can still get acquainted to the methodology of mapping.

@Rick Like I was just saying to SleepwalkR, I will have to eventually, and soon. It's not like M$ are giving me a choice recently, anyway... But though 7 is good, so has XP been for a loooong time. I was perfectly fine with it and thanks to the continuous support of the OS by the developers concurrently to 7, I didn't feel the need to learn a new one just because. Why change what works, right? 

"And no support for prefabs atm." This means it's gonna come eventually? How soon do you think it will be?

Oh well, I suppose it's still possible to kinda save/load prefabs if I store them in a .map, make copies of it and load one to build a new map, and when I'm done I can delete the prefabs from the map to leave only the actual map. 

Can't get any more specific than that. 

A quick question regarding some acrobatics I'm setting in the map I'm working on: how high can the player jump? I've tried googling the info but all I get are references to rocket/strafe jumping and that's not what I need. 

I just made some quick tests in Trenchbroom and I could jump up to a pillar that was 43 units high, starting pressed right up against it and holding W.
Very scientific, I know. 

Thanks Pritchard. There should be some sort of list gathering this kind of info, very useful for game design. 

It is true there isn't a one stop place in terms of documentation but I will share with you some places I used to learn a lot of stuff:

https://quakewiki.org/wiki/Entity_guide

http://www.bspquakeeditor.com/tutorials.php

And honestly, click "ALL" for this mapping thread...wait for it to load and then do a "find" on the topic you are asking about. Chances are, it has already been asked at some point!

Good luck!