
 *** WHAT'S NEW -- Quake Army Knife 4.07 ***


Release : January 5th, 1998. For Windows 95 and NT 4.

QuArK IS SHAREWARE. IF YOU USE IT, YOU MUST REGISTER.
See file REGISTER.TXT for more information.

 * QUAKE 2 SUPPORT now full and tested. Changes from the
    previous version include full texture list, correct command-
    line parameters for running Quake 2, the ability to read
    files from the CD if you did a minimal install, correct
    lighting, textures correctly aligned in the 3D view (report
    misalignments if you still get some), the ability to extract
    Quake 2's pak0.pak file (there is a directory called '..'
    in there.. don't know why), and more. Support for custom
    textures not included yet. Animated textures not animated
    yet. I also need someone to sort the hundreds and hundreds
    of existing textures into more manageable tabs in the
    texture browser.

 * 3DFX driver version 0.4 released, see
  ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames2/planetquake/quark/qrk3dfx4.zip

 * Small bugs fixed : QuakeC compiler bug; "Replace" button in
    the Search texture box was not always enabled; ...

 * I know there are not so many changes aside Quake 2 support...
    But be patient, I've started to try to rewrite QuArK with
    the modular design explained at the web Home Page.



---- What were new in QuArK 4.06 (December 15th) ----


 * QUAKE 2 SUPPORT ! Although minimal, it's already
    there. There are only the entities and textures
    present in the first version, Q2TEST. Quake2 file
    formats supported : textures, .map, .bsp. You can
    use the extended face attributes (slick,
    translucent, ladder,...). More support will come
    later. Expect the full support to be ready for
    January, the 5th.

 * Hexen II rotating objects : the texture is now
    displayed in the 3D viewers the same as it will be
    in Hexen II.

 * Because of the change described above, old QuArK 3D
    viewers will not work with QuArK 4.06 and new 3D
    viewers will not work with older versions of QuArK.
    If you downloaded the QuArK 3DFX driver, you need
    to download the updated version, QRK3DFX3.ZIP.

 * More group attributes in the map editor : you can
    gray out, hide, ignore to build maps, and hide on
    the 3D viewer each group individually.

 * The mouse coordinates are displayed in the map
    editor.

 * If you didn't do it yet, download QBSP_AR version 0.2
    from QuArK's home page. It includes several bug fixes
    over other versions of QBSP, e.g. missing animated
    textures.

 * Alternate OpenGL viewer. It looks like the 3DFX
    version and uses the same subset of OpenGL commands
    but is not tied to 3DFX cards. It should work better
    than the standard OpenGL viewer with enhanced 3D
    cards, e.g. Voodoo Rush.

 * Increased 3DFX support : QRK3DFX3.ZIP released, see
    QuArK's home page.

 * Bug fixes : the "GO!" button didn't work correctly;
    the QuArK version was wrong in "New/Description";
    very long help texts are now allowed for entities
    in the map editor; and more...



---- What were new in QuArK 4.05 (December 1st) ----


This version adds several improvements to the map editor
interface :

 * Lights : when a light is selected, a circle is drawn
    around it to show how powerful the light is. The circle
    corresponds approximately to how far the light goes.
    (Hexen II's lights are less powerful than Quake's...
    no idea why)

 * Targeted lights : lets you make a light projected in a
    single direction only. This is nothing new but it has
    been explicitely added in the "New Items" window. Also,
    when using such a light, you must enter as "angle" the
    width of the light cone : QuArK displayed this like any
    other "angle", i.e. as a direction, which had no
    meaning and could create confusion. Now "angle" is no
    more displayed with lights.

 * Target-Targetname : when you click on an entity with a
    Target and/or Targetname Specific, QuArK shows you all
    the links visually.

 * Texture preview (bottom left) : it's now gradually faded
    from full-bright to black, using the same algorithm as
    Quake does. This lets you see if there are problems
    with some colours when there is too much light.

 * Moving polyhedrons around will make adjacent polyhedrons
    be resized to stay adjacent; resizing polyhedrons already
    did this in previous versions, now simply moving
    polyhedrons also do. This feature can also be disabled.
    (this was already new in QuArK 4.04 but I forgot it)

 * 3DFX support now fully working - see QRK3DFX2.ZIP from
    QuArK's Home Page

 * Testing another colour sheme for the logo...

 * And other bug fixes and small enhancements, including
    bug with old values remaining when switching between
    games; the "select Quake path" is now a standard "Browse
    for folder" Win95-style dialog box; ...

 * Note : textures on Hexen II rotating brushes are not
    displayed correctly by the 3D viewers. Will be fixed in
    a future version.



---- What were new in QuArK 4.04 (November 24) ----


 * FULL Hexen II support ! Now you can make your Hexen II maps
    with QuArK. You need Activision's H2_UTILS, containing
    H2 versions for QBSP, VIS and LIGHT. To configurate QuArK
    for these tools, switch to Hexen II mode (menu Quake in
    the QuArK Explorer - if you have a menu "Hexen II" instead
    of "Quake" it means that you have already switched to H2)
    and open the Configuration dialog box. From there select
    this H2 version of QBSP, VIS and LIGHT.

 * There is also support for Hexen II messages stored in the
    file Strings.txt instead of in the map itself. This was
    a good idea from Activision to let them translate the
    strings into other languages but it complicates things
    for the map developers. Now any Specific that begins with
    a # in QuArK will be turned into the same Specific without
    # were the text has been put into Strings.txt and replaced
    by the corresponding number. It means that you just have
    to make "#message" Specific instead of "message" ones, and
    QuArK worries about the rest.

 * I'm testing a new logo. What do you think about it ?
    Comments welcome. Designed by Dudlay Bryan Jr.

 * A first version of a driver for 3DFX-based graphic cards
    is available. See at QuArK's home page. The file is called
    QRK3DFX.ZIP.

 * Direct texture viewing (not on 640x480-only screens) : you
    can see the texture of a polyhedron or polyhedron side
    directly in the map editor instead of having to open the
    texture browser.

 * The grid can be lowered down to 1 pixel, by common request
    from several users. Note that you can still enter any
    grid size with the View menu's "Grid size" command,
    including non-power-of-2 and even non-integer ones.

 * Animated textures : sorry, it still doesn't work... Refer
    to Derrick's comments on the News page about it.

 * 'Cut out corner' command : the corner is now cut out in a
    more natural angle. (try right-clicking on polyhedron 
    vertices !)

 * Command-line parameters for QBSP, VIS or LIGHT can be set
    globally instead of having to go through the whole Quake
    menu to change each command. (users upgrading from older
    versions of QuArK will loose their Quake menu
    customization due to this change :-(  sorry)

 * Texture offsets are now rounded to the nearest integer when
    writing .map files (QBSP doesn't read floats there).

 * Removed the hack for precise maps. This caused too much
    trouble and is no more required with versions of QBSP that
    can read coordinates as floats. WQBSP version 2 can.

 * 'Make new .pak' command added in QuArK Explorer's 'New'
    menu; lets you make a new .pak file from scratch. Note
    that like in previous versions you can edit already
    existing .paks simply by opening them in QuArK.

 * .....and more..... well, I've not been totally idle for
    these weeks with no QuArK update ;-)



---- What were new in QuArK 4.03 (October 28) ----


 * Implemented a correct syntax highlighting for the QuakeC
    editor. No more flashes and delays. Now you can also undo
    the last editor operation with Ctrl-Z.

 * The map editor displays the texture of a complete
    polyhedron and let you change it as you would with a single
    face, provided the polyhedron uses the same texture on all
    its faces. Also, you can now quickly pick a texture from
    a new pop-up list of textures currently used in the map.
    This is faster as opening the texture browser and it lets
    you avoid using dozens of similar textures.

 * Dragging polyhedrons make all adjacent polyhedrons follow
    (this feature can be disabled). This lets you resize a room
    by simply moving one of its walls : the other walls
    touching this one will follow.

 * The file quark.cfg was finally removed and its information
    moved into the Registry. In the future you won't loose
    your custom Quake menu each time you install a new version
    of QuArK. You can delete 'quark.cfg' and 'quark_h2.cfg'
    from older versions.

 * Bug fix : the message "no format for %s" appeared when you
    tried to run your map without having VIS.EXE or LIGHT.EXE
    in the correct directory and with the correct name. Note
    that now you don't have to rename these tools any more,
    anyway.

 * Models for Hexen II were written in directory "progs/"
    like for Quake. Hexen II's Models directory is "models/".

 * More bug fixes.


---- What were new in QuArK 4.02 (October) ----


 * Hexen II support is always increasing ! However, we still
    have to wait for the Hexen II version of QBSP/VIS/LIGHT...
    New Hexen II Spawnflags supported : entities can appear
    in easy/medium/hard/deathmatch/coop/single player modes
    or any combination of them. The code compiler now outputs
    correct HexenC code, although it doesn't recognize
    HexenC-specific instructions yet.

 * Maybe the very first HexenC mod in the history has been
    included in this release ! "HIIClass.qme" changes
    deathmatch games in the following way : you can switch
    to the class of your choice once you are dead, before
    you respawn, and experience points are not reset to zero
    when you die. You play it, simply double-click on
    HIIClass.qme and select the big "GO!" button.

 * Hexen II entities have been organized in groups by
    "Ziggy113". Thanks Ziggy ! What remains to do is list all
    Specifics appliable to all entities and document them...

 * In the Help File I included an introduction text to Quake
    maps. This text covers editor-independant topics such as
    Quake coordinates system, texture projection modes, and
    common Specifics like Killtarget, Spawnflags, etc. If
    you like this text, you can freely copy it; you can for
    example make an HTML version out of it and put it on
    your page. Just give me credits, please, even if you
    modified the text.

 * Visual .pak edition : add or remove files and directories
    in .pak files, directly from QuArK. In the Open dialog
    box, simply double-click on a .pak file to edit it.

 * By default, the texture cache for the Texture Browser is
    now disabled, because loading the textures from .pak
    files is now nearly as fast as from the cache,
    and the cache could cause some problems when you switch
    from one configuration to another.

 * "External Editors", in the Confguration dialob box, was
    still not working. Thanks Seth.

 * Small bugs fixed, including crashes on maps with
    old-style mirror Duplicators (with "sym" Specific).

 * Three bugs have been reported, but I can't figure out were
    they occur. If they occur again with QuArK 4.02, please
    send me a copy of the generated Exception Report. This
    applies to all bugs you find, but the three bugs I'm
    speaking about now are :

     - "no arg for format %s", a message that seems to
       appear on some machines when you click on GO or
       QuickGO

     - "Division by zero", a message that occurs sometimes
       when you drag polyhedron vertices

     - "Invalid polyhedron", a message that occurs on some
       machines when you try to open the "New Items" window.

-----------

Note 1 : Released in the same time : Deacc32, a decompiler
          for "progs.dat" files that can handle HexenC as
          well as QuakeC. Use the decompiled ".hc" files
          as documentation for the Hexen II entities, as
          long as no other source is available.

Note 2 : QuArK 4.01 was never officially released.



---- What were new in QuArK 4.00 (October 1st) ----


Wow ! A new major version number... So, what's new ? Mainly,

 == HEXEN II SUPPORT ==

Support for Hexen II is still very basical and needs improvements;
however, you can already do a lot of stuff with this new version of
QuArK. Making maps is possible but I don't know whether Raven
already distributed its version of QBSP. If not, you won't be able
to compile them right now. What you can do right now is playing
around with the already existing maps of Hexen II. Just open the
.bsp files that are in the .pak files, look at and change the
entities, and try this modified map with Hexen II.

Dual Quake and Hexen II support is provided through the "Quake"
menu in the QuArK Explorer.

I used QuArK's entity and texture search functions to build a list
of all Hexen II entities and textures. When in Hexen II mode, QuArK
displays these lists instead of the standard Quake ones. However
these lists need to be sorted and classed. If anyone can make order
there for me, I would be really thankful - I'm too busy to do it
myself. For technical details, see the files "QuArK_H2.cfg" and then
"Model_H2.qme".

What remains to do for Hexen II :

 * Messages support : Hexen II stores strings in a separate file,
    "Strings.txt", which let Raven provide partially translated
    versions of their game by simply replacing this file. In maps,
    you are supposed to enter string indexes instead of the strings
    themselves. I'll fix that by automatically adding the strings
    of a map into the "Strings.txt" file.

 * SpawnFlags support : Easy/Med/Hard/DM is not the same as in Quake

 * HexenC extensions over QuakeC : QuakeC commands are compatible
    with HexenC, so you can write and compile patches for Hexen II
    with QuArK right now, but you can't take advantage of the
    language extensions of HexenC over QuakeC.


 -- Other improvements in this version of QuArK --

 * Hollow Maker works more intuitively, i.e. it doesn't dig into
    polyhedron besides it any more, as the Digger does.

 * the Check Holes function doesn't consider any more Doors and
    Triggers as closing the gap between the map and the outside.
    This new behaviour is the one of QBSP and VIS.

 * Angle specific : when you set the angle of an entity to "east",
    QuArK produces a value of 360 instead of 0, because 0 can
    for some entity class make Quake think there is no angle.

 * Texture in the 3D viewer were not displayed exactly the same
    way as Quake did on walls at 45-degree angles.


---- What were new in QuArK 3.92 (September 25th) ----


Not a lot of new stuff in this version - I'm really too busy...

 * A new option let you resize several polyhedron at once, by making
    adjacent faces on other polyhedrons following the one you are
    dragging. For more information see the menu Option, "Glue adjacent
    faces while resizing a polyhedron".

 * When an error occurs, you can ask for a "report" that gives more
    information about the error to you - and me, if you discovered a
    bug and report it to me. For example, on invalid polyhedron errors,
    you get a text dump of the bad polyhedron in the same format as in
    .map files.

 * You can read and manually change the coordinates of a single vertex
    with a new command in the menu that pops up when you right-click
    on a vertex. This also applies to the blue handles of Duplicator
    images.

 * Bug fixes : the last page of the Configuration dialog box,
    "External Editors", was messed up; the current view mode
    (gray out of view / hide out of view / etc) was not correctly
    saved and restored; and more.


---- What were new in QuArK 3.91 (September 10th) ----


 * Textures follow polyhedron ! Okay, a lot of you have been asking
    this feature, but it only comes now. Sorry. Also note that this
    is not a perfect solution : textures only follow polyhedrons that
    you drag (translations), not polyhedrons that you rotate or zoom
    or whatever else. This would be really complex and not always
    possible due to limitations in Quake's texture coordinate system.
    Texture following can be enabled or disabled from a menu options.
    Duplicators can also optionnally make textures follow the
    polyhedrons they duplicate; to do so, add a Specific "textures"
    and set its Arg to 1. (This new Specific is set by default in new
    Duplicators you insert in your map with this version of QuArK.)

 * Diggers can be made 'Permanent', like you can 'Dissociate'
    Duplicator images.

Other new features :
 - colored groups : if you assign a color to a group, now you see that
    color in the hierarchical entity list, too.
 - if a texture is used in a map but not found by QuArK, the guilty
    polyhedron is automatically selected.
 - Shortcut to enable/disable the grid (Alt-G).
 - texture bitmap files (*.bmp) created by QuArK can be written in the
    directory of your choice. This lets you enter another directory
    than the default one, which is a temporary directory cleaned by
    QuArK when you close it.
 - Added quotes around the path to QBSP/VIS/LIGHT in the batch file;
    this lets you put QBSP/VIS/LIGHT in a directory whose name contains
    spaces (e.g. Program Files).

And - guess what - I also made small bug fixes.



(older WHAT'S NEW dropped)
