Quake Level Combiner
====================
Copyright © 1996 by John Baumbach

Written December 22, 1996
email: mantis@vcnet.com
Home Page: http://www.vcnet.com/mantis
Quake Name: mantis [g.r.u.]
Quake Clan: Gibs 'r Us

Disclaimer
==========
The author of this program is not responsible for any data loss
or other damage to the user's computer as a result of the use of this program.  If
you do not agree with this, please delete it from your system!

If you are reading this file from Quake Level Combiner's first run, the program will
start as soon as this application is closed...

About the program
=================
This program allows you to make a Quake C patch that causes Quake to run only the
levels you select.  You need to decide ahead of time which levels to use and then
use this program to make a Quake C patch.  The best part about it is that it will
customize your existing Quake C source files, preserving any other patches you may
already have.

The way it works is by reading in the contents of the Quake C file "client.qc" and
making a change to the function "GotoNextMap".  Actually, it completely removes the
contents of this function and replaces it with the level changing code.  So, if
you happen to have a QC patch already that does something to this particular function,
it will be incompatible with this program.

What you need
=============
In addition to this program, you will need the Quake C source files and the Quake C
compiler.  This can be found on almost any Quake C editing cite.  There's also a
QC compiler for Windows95 but I haven't used it yet.  I use the original "qccdos.exe"
from id.

Since there are no actual changes to the Quake levels or to Quake itself, a
Quake C patch must be created telling Quake which levels to load.  If you've never
used Quake C before, the following process may seem kind of involved but it's
really easy and it works great.

You can get the Quake C files from my home page:

    http://www.vcnet.com/mantis/qcc.zip

How to use the program
======================
If you've never used Quake C before, follow the instructions in that program's
"readme.txt" file.  It basically tells you how to set up the directory structure for
QC.  For the Quake Level Combiner program to work, you must have the "qccdos.exe" file
the same directory as the QC source files (ie. "progs").

For example, create a directory called "mygames" in the "quake" directory and copy the
QC files and "qccdos.exe" file into a subdirectory of "mygames" called "progs".

** Important:  make sure you make a backup copy of the "client.qc" file!  This program
never crashed for me but it's possible that it may and your "client.qc" file would be
corrupted.

Unzip the Quake Level Combiner anywhere.  I prefer to create individual directories
for utilities like this and put the files in there.

Run the Quake Level Combiner and set up the paths to the 3 files that are requested.  When
you first run the program it will ask you to do this.  It will remember your paths when
you run it again later.

Once you've set up the paths, the main screen will come up listing all the BSPs (Quake levels)
in the "quake\id1\maps" subdirectory.  If there are no maps listed, then Quake Level Combiner
can't find any BSP files in the "id1\maps" subdirectory of the "quake.exe" file's
directory you selected in the program setup.  Make sure this path is correct!

Select which levels you want to play and move them to the right.  Right now, the
only way to set the order of play is to select and move the levels (one at a time) in
the order you want to play them, but selecting the FIRST one you want to play LAST.
I know it's kinda lame, but oh well, it works.  If there's any interest I'll add an
order changing feature later.

Once you've selected your levels, click the "Create Game Patch" button.  This will cause the
program to parse your "client.qc" file and make the necessary changes.  It will then
run the Quake C compiler that you've selected.  You can tell that it worked if QCC
doesn't bomb out on the "client.qc" file while it's compiling it.

When it's done compiling, your patch has been created.  To use it, run Quake with
the command line option "-game mygames" (or whatever you named the directory).  When the
game starts, you will start out in the "start" level, but when you run through
any level-starting teleporter your selected levels will appear!

When you want to play Quake normally, don't run the patch.

If you have any problems, questions, or suggestions, feel free to e-mail me.

Happy Quaking!

Special Thanks: id Software for making such an amazing game...