Ubuntuland & The Dream Planet

GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Selecting and deselecting

2026-04-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

The most basic interaction with the editor is selecting and deselecting objects and components. Everything else builds off from these commands.
The shape of objects can be changed by selecting and editing their component parts. The editor has three component-selection modes: Face (F); Edge (E); Vertex (V). These can be toggled on and off by using their shortcut key or toolbar button. Use ESC to exit a component-selection mode.

Selecting Objects and Components

Select single object or component

(SHIFT + LMB while mouse pointer is over desired unselected object/component)

In the Camera or Orthographic Windows, this toggles selection of the object/component that is “closest” to the viewer and the mouse pointer.
Use SHIFT+ALT to replace the current selection instead of toggling

Select multiple objects or components

(Hold SHIFT + LMB and drag a box over desired unselected objects/components)

In the Camera or Orthographic Windows, this toggles selection of all objects/components that touch the box.
Use SHIFT+ALT to replace the current selection instead of toggling

Cycle through stacked objects or components

(SHIFT+ALT+mouse1 while pointer is over map view)

Beginning with the component closest to the viewer, the user can cycle through vertically stacked components that are directly beneath the mouse pointer.

Deselect all selected objects/components

(Menu: Selection > Deselect)
(Shortcut: ESC)

All selected objects/components are deselected.

Copying, Pasting, Cloning and Deleting Objects

Copy

(Menu: Edit)
(CTRL+C)
This function copies all hi-lighted objects onto the clipboard. Contents of the clipboard may be pasted into the current open map file or into another open map file.

Paste

(Menu: Edit)
(CTRL+V)
The map information previously copied into the clipboard is pasted at the same XYZ coordinates as the original.

Duplicate

(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: SPACE)
Selected map components are immediately duplicated. The clone remains selected.

Delete

(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: BACKSPACE)
All selected map components are removed from the map.

Undo

(Menu: Edit)
(Shortcut: none)
Undo will undo any command that made a change to the map.

The number of levels of Undo can be set in Preferences. The default is 64, the maximum is 1024.

Working with Regions

Regions are an important tool to learn and use early on. Whether you isolate off a single brush, or half a map, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without this tool in other editing programs. The selections on the Region Menu allow the mapper to isolate, and work on, a subset of the map. There are innumerable benefits to working in a “regioned” area of the map. However, the following are the most important:

It allows you to work with a few objects at a time, without the distraction of the rest of the map.
When you want to perform CSG operations, regioning lets you isolate the pieces from the rest of the map, reducing risk of making unwanted cuts or splits.
Map regions can be compiled without having to compile the rest of the map. This can be an incredible timesaver. Instead of spending hours to compile an entire map just to check for leaks in new construction, or check the appearance of a room, or test a lighting effect, minutes can be spent processing just the room itself.

There are several ways to select a region, by a group selection, by XY map window dimensions (or the corresponding view in YZ and XZ), or by a few selected objects.

The commands for selecting regioned areas are found under the View > Region Menu heading.

View > Region Menu

Off

(Menu: Region > Off)

This returns you back to the full map. Brushes that were selected while in the regioned mode remain selected until ESC is pressed to unselect them.

Set XY

(Menu: Region > Set XY)

Any map components that are inside, or that are touched by the bounds of the XY Map window are converted into a region. The size or shape of the window does not matter. Nor does the degree of Zoom matter. This is an excellent way to select are larger subset of your map, such as a complex room or group of rooms. Any brushes selected before regioning the map remain selected.

Set Brush

(Menu: Region > Set Brush)

This functions in a similar manner to the group selection command, Select Touching. Any map components contained within the XYZ bounds of the brush, or touching the XYZ bounds of the brush will be regioned off. The selecting brush itself is discarded.

Set Selected Brushes

(Menu: Region > Set Selected Brushes)

If you need to work with just a few brushes, this is the option to choose. Hi-light the brushes to be worked upon then select this option. Only those brushes are moved to the region. The selected brushes are unselected when the region is created.

Compiling Notes: Sometimes, when compiling a regioned area, md3 map object models near the edge of the region can cause a “false leak” situation to occur. This can usually be corrected by adjusting the region size to include more of the map near the md3 map object model.

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GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Map Building Basics

2026-03-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

Once you have the editor installed and the preferences set, open the map and let’s get started.

Moving Around

There are a number of ways to move your point of view around in the map and camera windows. Some are easy to master. Others are a bit trickier. Find one that works for you and master it.

Moving in All Directions
All movement directions are given relative to directions in the XY map. When other map views are shown, movement is still calculated in terms of the XY view. Key press movement occurs in discrete increments.

Forward (in facing direction)
(Up Arrow Key) or (Keypad 8)

Turn left
(Left Arrow Key) or (Keypad 4)

Turn right
(Right Arrow Key) or (Keypad 6)

Backward
(Down Arrow Key) or (Keypad 2)

Move up
(D)

Move down
(C)

Look up
(A)

Look down
(Z)

Level View
(END)

Flying … through the Map
Rightclick in your camera window to start freelook mode. The mouse can be used to look around, up arrow is forward, down arrow is backwards, left and right are strafing. You can control the sensitivity of the camera controls in Edit > Preferences > Settings > Camera. Also you can enable inversed mouse mode here. Rightclick again to exit freelook mode.

Forward (in facing direction)
(Up Arrow Key)

Move left
(Right Arrow Key)

Move right
(Left Arrow Key)

Backward
(Down Arrow Key)

Zoom with a View
The zoom keys increase or decrease the visual scale of the map, letting you move in close to work with small details or move away to see the entire map at once. If Quad view is used (XY, YZ, and XZ views simultaneously), all three windows may zoomed at different scales.

Zoom in (DELETE)

Zoom out (INSERT)
You can also zoom in and out using the mousewheel.

Jump to Location
(CTRL + Middle Mouse Button)
Click on a 2D map and your point of view immediately moves to that location. In the 2D map windows, neither the facing, nor the “height” of the point of view changes.

Moving the Maps Around
A right-mouse-button click and drag on a 2D Map window will cause the map to be dragged, allowing you to easily reposition what is being viewed.

Basic Construction Tutorial

This is a simple, step-by-step guide to making your first room. Before attempting it, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the Brush selecting and handling tools. A Quake III Arena aficionado who goes by the handle “The Dog!” posted this simple tutorial on a Quake III Arena on-line message board. It appears here with his permission. It will walk you through creating a new map file, making your first “brush,” adding a start spot and a light and then compiling the map.
Note: this tutorial has been modified to make it appropriate for GtkRadiant

The Dog!’s Ten Quick-n-Dirty steps to a SIMPLE room:

Create new map:
1. Click file, new map
Create a small hollow room (make a box and hollow it out):
1. Make a box. In the XY Top window, click/hold your left mouse button at coordinates 256,-256 (upper left) - then drag your mouse to the -256,256 (lower right) [you should see a red square appear in grid].
2. Make the box taller. Change to the 'XZ Side' view (Ctrl+Tab) and the 'QE' tool (Q). Click/hold your left mouse button above the upper edge of the box and drag that bar up to about 256. [you have just raised the height of the box]
3. Make it hollow. On your Toolbar below the Menu bar, locate the 'Make Hollow' Button (should be a red box with a dotted box inside of it )located under the M in Misc). Press that button. This breaks the box up into six pieces: four walls, a ceiling and a floor. [you should now see a hollow room in the texture view window]
Press Escape to deselect the box (you are finished with room/box for now).
Add a player starting point:
1. Bring up the Easy Entity Menu. With your pointer over the room in the XY Top window, right mouse click INSIDE the newly created room box to open up the easy entity menu.
2. Place a Start Spot. Select info, then select info_player_deathmatch. [you should see a small pink box appear - this is where you will start in this map anytime its loaded]
3. Is it in there? Make sure that your new starting point is 'really inside' the room that you have created.
  1. Click the xyz button on your toolbar so that you can toggle through each 'view' of that coordinate (XY top, XZ front, or YZ side).
  2. Watch the red box (info_player_deathmatch) as you toggle through each view to make sure the red box is inside room
  3. If there is a view it is not located inside - simply stop and drag it inside the box. (You can learn how to put it in optimal places later), until it is totally inside the room.
Press Escape to deselect the info_player_deathmatch item.
The box now turns into a solid pink, box outline.
Now add some textures:
1. Load up Textures. Open the texture menu and select the 'gothic_wall' texture directory.
2. Open Texture window. Press “T” to open the texture window. It should be full of wall textures.
3. That wall will do just fine. Select the brushes (Shift+LMB) you want to apply the texture to.
4. Pick a Texture, any Texture. in the 'texture view' window, left mouse click on any wall texture. A red border will now surround this texture. And presto, the walls are given that texture too.
Save your map.
The editor doesn’t like to work with “unnamed” map files. From the menu, select File > Save. Name the map “test1”. Always use lower case for your map names.
Add a light.
1. Bring up the Easy Entity Menu Again. With your pointer over the room in the XY Top window, right-mouse-click INSIDE the newly created room box to open up the easy entity menu.
2. Place a Light. Select info, and then select light. [You should see a small red box appear (smaller than the player start).]
3. Move it into place. Do the same procedure you did for the player start spot, making sure that this light is inside the room.
4. Deselect the light. Press ESC to deselect. It will become a pale-blue box.
Compile it.
In the BSP menu, select “Q3Map2: (test) BSP -meta, -vis -fast, -light -fast -super 2 -filter”. Wait patiently for the program to finish three phases of compile: bsp, vis, light.
Start ‘er up.
Start your Quake III Arena game. When the menu appears, hit the tilda key (~). On most American keyboards, this is in the upper left corner of the keyboard, below ESC.
1. Set your game to run the map. In the console, type "/sv_pure 0"
2. Enter the Devmap. In the console, type “\devmap test1” and then ENTER.
3. Play it for all it’s worth. The map should start and you will be standing in the center of your first room.

Now go make something more complicated on your own!

GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Entities and Assets

2026-03-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

What are Entities?

Quake III Arena divides map components into two classes: World Geometry and Entities. World Geometry represents the brushes (the Q3A term for the blocks of geometry used to build the physical game world) and patches (anything built with calculated curves). Entities are a broad category that not only includes simplistic editor representations of game play objects like weapons and ammo, but also includes diverse things like player start spots, and lights. Typically, they are displayed as brightly colored cubes (for those entities not constructed of brushes). The following are the general category of entity types. The actual entities and the rules and tips for their use are listed in Appendix B.

Brush entities. The “brush” is the basic building block of Quake engine games (including Quake, Quake 2, Quake III Arena, and a host of games using the engine licenses). In its most basic form, it’s a block, a solid rectangular volume defined by the coordinates of its corner vertices. A single brush or a linked grouping of brushes can be turned into a brush entity. Brush entities include the movers (see below), triggers, and func_statics.

Movers. Most moving objects or "Movers" are built from brushes. These include doors, lifts or “plats”, rotating objects, buttons, pendulums and trains (objects following pre-defined paths), and bobbers (platforms that are constantly in motion, up and down or side to side).

Triggers. Triggers are brush entities that cause an event to occur when a player’s bounding box moves inside the volume of the trigger. Triggers can be targeted on many other entities, including most movers and targets. Some triggers also have more specialized functions. There are triggers that cause injury, activate other entities, and push or teleport the players.

Targets. Targets are the entities that are activated to cause events to happen in Q3A, or to redirect activations, insert time delays, mark locations for team play, or act as destination points for teleportation or pushing.

Lights. These are point lights, disembodied (read as no visible source) sources of illumination. They ca n be targeted at info_nulls to create spotlights. They can be turned into colored lights. Usually, they are used to create unfocused fill light in a large area or placed near glowing surface textures to create an effect.

Info. This category includes non-team player spawn spots, targets for lights, and camera locators for intermission shots.

Items. With the exception of ammo and weapons, these are things in the map that the players grab to use during play. Included are armor, power ups like the quad, and one-use items like the personal teleporter.

Ammo. Locations for ammo boxes. Each weapon type in Q3A has its own unique ammo entity.

Weapons. Each of the weapons that can be picked up has an entity that can be placed.

Miscellaneous. This is another catchall category. It includes things like the misc_model which links into the models directory when placed, func_timers which are automated repeating triggers, shooters which fire one of three different weapon fire types, camera and portal surfaces, and path corners.

What are Assets?

Assets are the textures, sounds, and models that are used to flesh out the appearance and ambience of a game map. The editor is designed to use the assets stored in the pak0.pk3 file in your quake3 directory. Using GtkRadiant, the mapmaker can work with the assets in the Quake III Arena pak0.pk3 file or create new ones.

What are Textures?
The art appearing on the walls of maps are generally referred to as “textures.” Textures are created and stored as true color targa (.tga) or jpeg (.jpg) graphic files. The textures do not use a pre-defined color palette (as was the case with both Quake and Quake 2). Shader scripts can further combine textures and/or modify them in numerous ways. This document will briefly touch on shaders. For an in-depth treatment of shaders, refer to the accompanying Shader Manual.

What are Sounds?
Quake III Arena world sounds are played by target_speaker entities in the maps. They are stored as 22 khz, 16-bit, mono format .wav files.

What are Models?
The statues and lights in Q3A are models, just like the player characters. They are placed with the misc_model entity.

Creating New Assets

If you are familiar with the required tools, creating new assets for use in Quake III Arena is not particularly difficult. As a rule, you should create new directories for each map with names different from the names used by id. If you are making a map that will be called “H4x0r_D00M”, every directory containing new assets for that map should be titled H4x0r_D00M. This is to try and avoid asset directories overwriting each other as the editor and the game load in assets.

Creating Textures
Any combination of graphic programs and plug-ins that can output a 24 bit MS windows compatible Targa (.tga) or JPEG (.jpg) graphic file. If you plan to make textures that will have an alpha channel component (see glossary for definition), you must have a program that can create 32-bit art with that fourth channel.

Adobe PhotoShop has the ability to easily create alpha channels. Paint Shop Pro from JASC (v5.0+) can also make an alpha channel by creating a mask and naming it “alpha”.

Generally speaking, regardless of the program used, we found it best to do most of the art manipulation of the alpha channel in a separate layer or file and then paste it into the alpha channel before saving.

Setting up Files
The editor and the game program look for assets to be located along the paths set up in your project file. Start by creating a directory for you new textures by creating file folders to make a directory path as follows: quake3\baseq3\textures\[mymapname]

Running GtkRadiant for the first time will generate a text document called “shaderlist.txt” in the following path:

Quake3\baseq3\scripts\shaderlist.txt

GtkRadiant will use the contents of this script to grab your new textures for inclusion in the game. The contents of shaderlist.txt document will initially contain a listing of all the shader documents that were used by id Software to create Quake III Arena.

Since you will obviously want to create your own shaders, you need to put them in separate folders and create a new shader script for them.

If you plan to work on several maps at once and want to distinguish between textures used in each map, simply add additional map names here. For map and mod makers, we STRONGLY recommend that any new shader scripts created use the name of the map or mod in the shader file name. We know we can’t avoid every incident of files overwriting each other, but we certainly can advise you how to try.

Now, create another text file within the scripts directory and call it:

[mymapname].shader

This file will contain the shader scripts you write to modify a particular texture.

Rules
Follow these rules when creating textures for the Quake III Arena engine:

Save your textures into your new [map name] directories.
Don’t use the same names that id used for textures. It will cause problems.
For best quality, save textures without an alpha channel as 24 bit TARGA files. Using JPEG files can save memory space, but at the risk of losing detail and depth in the texture. JPEG files cannot be used for textures requiring an alpha channel.
Textures containing an alpha channel must be saved as 32 bit TARGA files.
If a new texture requires no further manipulation, it does not need a shader script.
Size textures in powers of 2. Example: 8x8, 16x16, 32x32, 64x64 pixels and so on.
Textures don’t need to be square. A 32x256-pixel texture is perfectly acceptable.

Guidelines
The following are some things the id designers learned about textures.

Create textures in “suites” built around one or two large textures with a number of much smaller supporting detail or accent textures.
Very large textures are possible, but some video cards compress textures larger than 256x256 pixels.
Textures are grouped alphabetically by name in the texture display window, so you may want to give suites of textures similar names.
Use the shader function qe3_editorimage to conserve memory when making multiple versions of a single texture (as in the case of a glowing texture with several light values).
Unless you are creating special effects or textures designed to draw the player’s eye to a specific spot, muted, middle value colors work best with the game engine.
Extremely busy (a lot of fussy detail) textures can break up or form visually unpleasant patterns when seen at distances.

Creating Sounds
Tools needed: Any sound editing program that can create and save out sound files as 22 khz, 16-bit, mono format .wav files.

Set up: The editor and the game program look for assets to be located along the paths set up in your project file. Start by creating a directory for you new textures by creating file folders to make a directory path as follows: quake3\baseq3\sounds\world\[map name]

Place your completed .wav files in the [map name] folder. You can access (and play) this file from within the editor (see instructions for Target_Speaker).

Creating Models
Map models need to be converted from their native file format into Quake III Arena’s native md3 file format. The modeling program, Milkshape 3D supports the file format needed to create map models for Quake III Arena (a link for this program is in the On-line Resources appendix). The compiling process merges the models into the bsp file. If you want other mappers to be able to use your models, you will need to include the md3 and supporting texture files within your pk3.

Making the .pk3 File

When you go to distribute your creation to the gaming world, you need to put your newly created map, textures, bot area files, and shader documents into an archive format called a “pk3” file. You do not need to include the shaderlist.txt file, since only the GtkRadiant editor uses that. Start by creating folders/directories in your root drive (C: for most of us). The game assumes that these folders are placed in the baseq3 directory, so you need to write your path names accordingly. You will need to keep the paths to the various assets the same as they are for the rest of the assets in the game. So your paths should be something like this:

Move or copy all your new game assets in their folders.

We used an archiving program call Winzip to make the pk3 file. Get Winzip from WinZip.com

NOTE: Do not include or redistribute any game assets that are not your own (at least without permission). This specifically refers to id-copyrighted material that came with the original game or subsequent id released patches.

Make a zip archive called “map-mymapname.zip”

If you plan on distributing other resources separately, we strongly recommend the following naming conventions:

md3-xxx.pk3
User Model with original associated skin files and sound files

bot-xxx.pk3
User bot files. May contain additional model or skin and texture files

skin-xxx.pk3
User skin with associated skin and texture files

map-xxx.pk3
User created map(s) and supporting files (arena, texture, sound, music)

tex-xxx.pk3
User texture and shader files

snd-xxx.pk3
Sounds only

mus-xxx.pk3
Music only

pfb-xxx.pk3
Map prefabs

(special thanks to Rogue13 of http://www.polycount.com for this naming convention)

When you go to add a resource to the archive, click on options to “Recurse Folders” and “Save Extra Folder Info”

Zip all the required assets into a zip archive file (Quake III Arena DOES support compressed pk3 files).

Rename the zip archive to mymapname.pk3

Put it where the Quake III Arena community can find it.

My .pk3 File is Huge! No One is downloading it!
Large pak files are daunting as downloads. And as specified by the Quake III Arena End User License Agreement, that is the only way those new game assets may be distributed. Be kind and remember that not everyone has access to DSL, ADSL, ISDN, Satellite, Cable Modem or other high speed internet connections. Before packing up your resources, you may want to look into some dieting tricks to make it smaller.

First, resave all your new non-alpha channel textures in JPG format. That will give you some significant art size savings.
Streamline your map’s art package. Id designers had to go on a rip ‘n strip rampage through their levels to cut down on unique texture usage. Do you really need all that additional art? Can you substitute more of the original Q3A art, or get more duty out of some of your new work?
Recompile your area files with the optomize switch. That will reduce their size. That's why it's in there as a command. This is also one of the biggest savings that you can make.
Turn up the level of compression when archiving into the pk3 file.
Compress again when zipping up the files.
Take a SERIOUS look at any new sound resources you've created. Sounds, especially long sounds can be HUGE! Can short sounds be cleverly used to replace longer sounds in your map? The id designers did a bunch of that for Q3A. Very short sounds, played off sync against each other were made to sound like longer, more expensive sound files.

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GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Installation & Set Up

2026-03-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

Open the installer package and follow the instructions. You may install GtkRadiant anywhere you choose.
Run GtkRadiant from the shortcut provided and choose a game to edit from the game-selection dialog.

Setting up Paths

Set the path to the engine in Edit > Preferences > Settings > Paths.

Improving Performance

If you find that the editor is sluggish on your system, try some or all of the following tweaks:

Upgrade to the latest drivers for your opengl graphics hardware.
Enable far-clip-plane in Edit > Preferences > Settings > Camera. This reduces the number of game components in view, by shortening the distance that the editor can "see." Use Ctrl+']' to set the distance to 13 (a good number in this case).
If you have a very old system, reduce the Texture Render Mode in Edit > Preferences > Display > Textures. Select an option earlier on the list than your current setting. We recommend not going below Nearest MipMap first. This reduces the amount of blending and filtering in the textures as they are seen in the Camera window, but still lets you see what the textures look like in a relatively undistorted manner. The Nearest setting will further improve performance, but textures may be distorted when seen in perspective.
In Edit > Preferences > Settings > Orthographic, disable “Update views on camera move.” This will stop the 2D-map window(s) from being redrawn when the camera position changes.
Reduce the Texture Quality in Edit > Preferences > Display > Textures.
Increase the Patch Subdivide Threshold in Edit > Preferences > Display > Patches.
Further performance can be gained by filtering curves with View > Filter > Patches.

Setting up Preferences

To set up your editing preferences, open the Edit menu and select Preferences. Use preferences to set a variety of options and editor behavior based on your personal preferences.

Globals

Log The Console To radiant.log - This will cause GtkRadiant to create a log file of all output from the GtkRadiant console. This can cause the editor to slow down, and is normally used for debugging purposes.

Game Settings / Select The Game
Choose a game configuration to use from the list. GtkRadiant must be restarted before the configuration will take effect.
GtkRadiant now stores preferences on a per game basis. Any settings for a given game are stored for that game mode only.

Interface

Start on Primary Monitor - Work-around for opengl problems with certain multi-monitor opengl implementations.
Disable System Menu on popup windows - Work-around for window-manager problems on multi-monitor systems.
Native File-Chooser - Use the standard windows file-chooser instead of the GTK+ file-chooser.
Default Text-Editor - Use the program associated with *.txt file-type when editing text-files, instead of the built-in text-editor.
Layout
- Layout - Choose from four layout styles.
  - Split Window View - This is the QeRadiant default view. The Camera, XY Map, Z-axis Scale, Texture, and Console windows are constantly displayed. While the arrangement of the windows cannot be changed, their size is adjustable by pulling the window border splitters. The Entity and Group windows share a common pop-up window. This arrangement is one that may work particularly well for mappers using smaller monitors and slower computers.
  - Floating Window View - This is the view used by id designers. The position, arrangement, and size of the windows are all adjustable. The windows initially come up on top of one another (a known bug), but once positioned, this view offers the greatest flexibility. The Camera, XY Map, Z-axis Scale, and a shared Entity/Texture/Console/Group window are all displayed simultaneously. Changing the size of one window does not automatically affect the others (it can lay atop the others). Additional map layout views can be cycled from menu commands or bound keys. This view only works well if you have a 20+-inch monitor.
    Make it Big! In floating windows mode (ONLY), you can double-click on any window’s Title Bar to enlarge the contents of the window to fill the screen. Double clicking on it again reduces it back to normal size.
  - Quad View - The display window is split into four equal-sized windows: Camera, XY Map, YZ Map, and XZ Map. This is similar to other editors and offers four-way viewing. You see the map components in three views simultaneously. The size of the windows (relative to each other) can be adjusted, by pulling the splitters. The combined Entity/Texture/Console/Group window is brought into view as a single, floating window that lays over the others. The Z-axis window is not used in this view. This is a popular editing configuration, but it has significant performance issues. The editor is drawing all the 2D map components three times (plus maintaining a camera view). Some mappers have notice significant performance slow-downs when working with curves. Using the Quad view is only recommended for mappers with more powerful computers.
  - Reverse Split Window View - Essentially the same as the Split Window view, except that the layout is flipped left to right.
- Detachable Menus - allow the menus to be detached and moved around.
- Patch Toolbar - Show additional patch-specific toolbar buttons.
- Patch Toolbar - Show plugin-specific toolbar.
Mouse
- Mouse Type: 2 Button / 3 Button - Use 2 button mode or 3 button mode. Each mode is different in some ways. The hot keys and key combinations are generally different for each mode.
- Right Button Activates Context Menu - If checked, this will create a menu where ever you click in the 2D View with a list of the entities you can select and place.

Display

Textures

Texture Quality - This will increase or decrease the texture quality displayed in the texture window and 3D View.
Texture Gamma - Lower gamma values will brighten the textures. It is recommended to use the OS display settings to adjust gamma for your graphics card instead.
Texture Render Mode - Changes the filtering quality when rendering textured polygons in the OpenGL views.
Hardware Texture Compression - Choose the texture-compression system to use, reduces texture memory usage.

Patches

Patch Subdivide Threshold - Set the minimum curvature value at which to stop subdividing a patch for rendering. If set to low it can slow down the editor. If set very high it will look blocky. Essentially it works like the Quake3 r_subdivisions option.

Entities

Show Light Radii - Enables rendering of light-radii around light entities.

Settings

Undo

Undo Queue Size - Set how many undos you can do. This does require memory so do not set it too high if you do not have alot of memory.

Paths

Engine Path - Set the path to the engine for the game being edited.

Surface Inspector

Surface Inspector Increments Match Grid - Automatically fill in the Surface Inspector's shift 'step' values from the current grid setting.

Camera

Movement Speed - This will increase or decrease the movement of forward, back, and strafing speed in the 3d view.
Rotation Speed - This will increase or decrease the turning speed in the 3D View.
Invert Mouse Vertical Axis - This will reverse the mouse controls in freelook mode.
Discrete Movement - If checked, this causes the view in the 3d view to move one step at a time. If unchecked the movement is smoother.
Enable Far-Clip Plane - sets the far-clip plane to be close to the camera. Improves rendering speed by reducing the amount of objects to be drawn.
Render Mode - Choose the camera rendering mode from Textured, Flatshade or Wireframe.

Orthographic

Solid Selection Boxes - This will make anything selected draw with solid lines rather then the old style of dashed boxes. This can speed up rendering on Nvidia TNT cards.
Display Size Info - If this is checked on, it will display the size information of any object selected.
Chase Mouse During Drags - Turning this on causes the view to chase the mouse if you drag something off the edge.
Update Views On Camera Move - When interacting with the camera (which you will do a lot), turning this off will NOT update the camera icon location in the Map windows automatically. This can help with speed but prevents you from seeing exactly where the camera icon is positioned.

Clipper

Clipper Tool Uses Caulk - When using the clipper tool, the faces that are created from the clip will add a caulk texture to the brush.

GtkRadiant Editor Manual: Introduction & Minimum System Requirements

2026-03-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

Preface

The authors would like to thank the many supporters of Quake Engine editing who made this work possible. Several sections in the manual are based on material written by dedicated fans. Others were "corrected" by fans who found undiscovered bugs in both the editor and game code. Where possible, we have noted the contributors in the sections they helped produce.

Paul Jaquays
Robert A. Duffy

GtkRadiant note: This version of the manual has been adapted for GtkRadiant from the original Q3Radiant manual.

Introduction

Part of the fun of games like Quake III Arena is the ability to add to your own ideas to a favorite game and then have others play and enjoy them. While the technical skills needed to create a 3D graphic engine is beyond many game fans, the skills and equipment necessary to make modifications to the game are not. It has become the custom of many game developers to share their development tools with the public. This allows fans make their own game content. The GtkRadiant editor is based on the software used by the designers at id to create the arenas in Quake III Arena. In fact, it's an improvement on that editor, since it contains features that have been added since the game was completed. If you are familiar with GtkRadiant's major ancestor, the QERadiant editor for Quake 2, then a good share of what's in this manual will be old hat to you. Whether you are a veteran mapmaker or new to the art of making game arenas, we think you will find some indispensible information in this manual.

Now comes the caveat.

This manual will tell you how to use the tools, but not necessarily, how to make what you have in mind. Many fine on-line tutorial and resource sites will be listed at the end of the document.

Minimum System Requirements

The designers at id used Q3Radiant on some heavy-duty computing equipment to make their game maps. Despite the fact that Quake III Arena runs under several different operating systems, not every computer that can run Quake III Arena will be able to run the GtkRadiant editor.
GtkRadiant runs on MS Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP, MacOSX and Linux. The editor requires an Open GL 1.1 compliant 3D graphics acceleration card (it is expected that all cards capable of running Quake III Arena will be able to handle editor functions … although some may handle it better). A 3-button mouse gives the best performance.

Minimum System

The minimum system requirements generally require that preferences such as texture quality and screen resolution be set to absolute minimums. The editor will run on the systems described, but speed of operation and visual quality will probably be less than satisfactory. It should also be noted that you would be limited to working on relatively small maps with limited texture and model usage.

Processor:
P233mmx

RAM:
64 meg

Video Card:
4 Meg, software Open GL-compliant

Screen Resolution:
1024 x 768

Pointing Device:
Two-button mouse*

Recommended System

The more powerful the machine, the better and usually faster the development experience. This will become especially true when you get to the point of compiling your maps (turning them from editor code into game code). It should come as no surprise that, more powerful machines will crunch the numbers faster when compiling a map.

Processor:
P2450 (or better)

RAM:
128 meg**

Video Card:
Open GL accelerated video card

Screen Resolution:
1280 x 1024

Pointing Device:
Two-button mouse*

* This will work, but not well. A three-button mouse, even on a minimal system is highly preferred.
** id designers often found it convenient to work with several maps open at once. The recommended 128 Meg of RAM may not be enough to accommodate this.

What Doesn't Work (well) - and How to fix it

The key to a satisfactory editing experience is whether your video card supports the demands of the editor. The original id editor was designed for a workstation card called the Realizm, which ran on Intergraph workstations in a WinNT environment. Robert Duffy expanded this to include the Win9x operating systems and a number of other video cards. But not all video cards support the editor equally well.

The G200 and G400 require updated drivers from Matrox
The 3dfx Voodoo 3000 chipset requires a driver upgrade in order for the map grids to show.
If the map grids don't appear when using some ATI chip sets, try turning the settings on you desktop up to 32 bit (true color).
Nvidia TNT and GeFORCE have slowdown issues when the user selects curve patches. While this is a driver issue, it can be addressed by checking the "Solid selection boxes" feature under preferences.

Open Arena Gamer’s Manual: Configure GTK Radiant under Linux.

2026-02-28T09:57:00.000-06:00

Ubuntu

This guide works also on Ubuntu,Kubuntu and Xubuntu. Because they are based on Debian. Also other Debian based distros works.

Subversion

To download projects from Subversion/svn, you will need to have your distribution's subversion package(s) installed. This varies from distro to distro. The following command should do the job in Debian (logged in as root):

aptitude install subversion

GtkRadiant

N/A-----------

environment:

- gcc >= version 3.1 (preferably)

- scons >= 0.96 (radiant is built with scons rather than make)

- python >= 2.3.0, (scons requires python, some build steps use python)

- svn >= 1.1 (some build steps use svn)

dependencies:

- gtk+ >= 2.4.0 (requires glib, atk, pango, iconv, etc)

- gtkglext >= 1.0.0 (requires opengl)

- libxml2 >= 2.0.0

- zlib >= 1.2.0 (for archivezip module)

- libpng >= 1.2.0 (for imagepng module)

- libmhash = 0.9.0 (for q3map2)

The following command should install the dependencies, if I missed one, please let me know, or add it. You'll need root privileges.

aptitude install build-essential scons python libglib2.0-0 libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-0 libgtk2.0-common libgtk2.0-bin libgtk2.0-dev libgtkglext1 libgtkglext1-dev libxml2 libxml2-dev libpango1.0-0 libpango1.0-common libpango1.0-dev libatk1.0-0 libatk1.0-dev zlib1g zlib1g-dev libpng12-0 libpng12-dev libmhash2 libmhash-dev

To check GtkRadiant out of ID's svn repository, issue the following commands from whichever directory you'd like to install it (preferably your user's home directory), it will create it's own GtkRadiant directory. It's probably better to use a normal user rather than root for this.

svn checkout https://zerowing.idsoftware.com/svn/radiant/GtkRadiant/branches/1.5/ ./GtkRadiant
svn checkout https://zerowing.idsoftware.com/svn/radiant.gamepacks/Q3Pack/trunk/ ./GtkRadiant/games/Q3Pack
svn checkout https://zerowing.idsoftware.com/svn/radiant.gamepacks/Q3Rad_Manual/trunk/ ./GtkRadiant/install/Q3Rad_Manual

build:

If you have a single-core machine, execute the following command in the directory containing SConscript:

scons SETUP=0

If you have an SMP or multiprocessing machine, you can use the -j parameter to split the compile in to multiple jobs. The recommended setting is to use the number of processors or cores, plus one. For example, on my dual-core machines I use:

scons -j3 SETUP=0

install:

Return to the directory you were in before building and execute the following command:

python ./GtkRadiant/install.py

note - this script should be run after each time you update from svn

Open Arena

The following command will install the OpenArena packages (logged in as root):

aptitude install openarena openarena-data openarena-server

The dedicated server package is optional, but I included it anyway because it's pretty small.

Configuration

The Debian packages for OpenArena complicate things slightly because they keep the game libraries and binaries in different locations. Fortunately, we can use a strategically placed symlink to fool GtkRadiant in to thinking they are all together. Enter this as root.

ln -s /usr/share/games/openarena/baseoa /usr/games/baseoa

When GtkRadiant prompts us later, we will point it to /usr/games as the game directory.

Next, we need to get the mapping definitions for OpenArena in to our GTKRadiant installation(as normal user):

svn checkout http://openarena.ws/svn/tools/radiant1_5/ ./GtkRadiant/install

Try starting GtkRadiant as a normal user:

./GtkRadiant/install/radiant.x86

If you are prompted to enter the location of OpenArena, enter: /usr/games/

If upon attempting to start GtkRadiant, you get errors regarding shaders not being found, try the following (as root):

mkdir /usr/games/baseoa/scripts
cp ./GtkRadiant/install/oa.game/baseoa/default_shaderlist.txt /usr/games/baseoa/scripts/shaderlist.txt

If you get "map not found" errors when attempting to load your map, enter "set sv_pure 0" in the Open Arena console.

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Open Arena Gamer’s Manual: OpenArena Mapping Manual (WIP)

2026-02-21T09:53:00.000-06:00

This is a work in progress where all the info scattered around the web is collected, resumed and stored in a convenient place. Only the completed pages wil be shown. For the rest of the pages, check the Mapping manual page.

Pre-mapping stage: What makes a good map, the limits of the IdTech3 engine, map planning, the editor's grid, beta testing.
Lighting: Theory about lighting, how it works into OA (the LIGHT stage), how it's added to the maps, the "light" entity.
- Advanced lighting: Practical examples of lighting and where to better place it.
Weapon and item placement: How and where to place weapons, ammopacks and items.
Triggers and movers: Explanation of what the func_*, misc_*, path_*, shooter_*, target_* and trigger_* entities do.
- Creating dynamic features: Examples of what can be done with these entities, from teleporters to platforms to hazards.
Mapmodels: What are mapmodels, the misc_model entity, the .ase format, how to create .ase mapmodels, other supported formats.
Optimization and troubleshooting: How to optimize a map for better performance.
- Hint brushes: The VIS stage, the hint brushes, and how and where to use them.
- Bot play: How BSPC works, the info_camp and item_botroam entities, clusterportals, how to optimize a map for good botplay.
Appendix A: Glossary of terms: What some mapping terms mean.
Appendix C: Modelling a map: How to create a map from models.
Appendix E2: Model sets: OpenArena's default model sets in both 0.8.8 and SVN versions.

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Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Noble Numbat) was officially released

2026-02-14T13:37:38.722-06:00

Florent 'Skia' Jacquet has announced an update to Ubuntu's 24.04 LTS branch. The new version, 24.04.4, continues the latest long-term support branch of the distribution while updating hardware support and applying security patches

Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Noble Numbat) was officially released on February 12, 2026.

As a "point release," it doesn't fundamentally change the operating system but acts as a major refresh. It bundles all security patches and bug fixes released since the original launch in April 2024 into a single update, making it the new standard for fresh installations.

Key Changes & Features

The most significant part of this update is the Hardware Enablement (HWE) stack, which pulls newer technology from the interim Ubuntu 25.10 release:

Linux Kernel 6.17: Provides improved support for newer CPUs, Wi-Fi 7 stability, and power management for Intel and AMD chips.
Mesa 25.2.x Graphics Drivers: A big jump for gamers, offering better performance for Vulkan and OpenGL, plus improved support for RDNA 4 and NVIDIA (via the NVK driver).
Wayland Protocols 1.45: Updates to the display server protocols, adding support for features like transparency blur and better pointer control in games.
Updated Apps: Includes the latest stable versions of core software like LibreOffice 25.8, Firefox, and Snapd 2.73.

How to Get the Update

User Type
Action Required

Existing 24.04 Users
No need to reinstall. Just run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. The HWE stack usually arrives automatically via standard updates.

Ubuntu 22.04 Users
You should now see an "Upgrade available" notification in the Update Manager to move directly to 24.04.4.

New Installations
Download the 24.04.4 ISO from the official Ubuntu website. This will save you from downloading gigabytes of updates after installing.

Support Lifecycle

Ubuntu 24.04 is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release. This means it will receive standard security updates until April 2029, and up to 12 years of support if you are using Ubuntu Pro.

Open Arena Gamer’s Manual: Starting a Game Server.

2026-02-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

Here just a couple of examples on few systems:

Execute the OpenArena dedicated server binary, called openarena_dedin Fedora. If you have a "headless" system which you SSH to, you might want to use a command like:

nohup openarena_ded [Q3-similar options] > openarena.log &

The nohup command will fork the rest of the command off and it will persist after you logout. The output will be dumped to "openarena.log" wherever you execute the command. Note you can also use the '<' to issue commands from a file. The ampersand will put it to the background.

Some server scripts to use with 'exec' command would be useful here.

To start a gameserver on a mac type:

cd /Applications/OpenArena.app/Contents/MacOS/

nohup ./ioquake3.ub +set dedicated 2 +exec server.cfg +map aggressor

OpenArena at LAN-Party

For an easy setup one player (preferably the one with the fastest computer) should run the server:

Multiplayer
"Create"
choose a game type and a map
open slots for other players
start the game by pressing the "fight"-button

Now the other players should start "Multiplayer" and find the new server under "local".

Making the game less violent

Type this in the console (pull it down with Shift+Esc or ` ):

/com_blood 0

/cg_gibs 0

In-game help

If you wish, you can install an optional ingame manual. The main help is this wiki site, but you may find useful also a simple help available directly inside the game, after you install it.

You can download if from here (mirror - v 018, 29-oct-2010, based upon OA 0.8.1). The downloaded file should be named autoexec.cfg and placed in your /openarena/baseoa/ folder (under your installation folder, or under your configuration folder, where q3config.cfg is stored too).
Note: if you are already using an autoexec.cfg file to execute your custom settings (not simply an earlier version of the guide, that could be simply overwritten instead), you have two options: 1) copy-paste the content of the guide inside it, merging the guide and your custom settings in one file... or 2) name the guide differently (like guide.cfg) and place an additional line (exec guide.cfg) at the end of your current autoexec.cfg file, to automatically load the new file, too.

You can then use the manual in-game by opening the command console (shift+escape), and typing in the following command: /help and then press enter. A list of commands to use for the manual will appear. If you are unsure how to use this, use the following command: /helpguide and then press enter again (you should after every command).

If you are having any trouble using this (it's not that easy to use for people new to consoles) feel free to ask help on the forum!

If you want to propose your suggestions or report errors in that in-game manual, you can use the thread on the forum about it.

Hints

Here you can find some things you may check before entering the arena the first times:

When you play the game for the first times, you may have to set ("bind") some keys for specific commands. It is advisable to go to Setup --> Controls menu and there, in the "Look" section, set your favourite mouse speed (e.g. you may find useful to set it a bit faster than the default). In the "Misc" section, set the "Use item" key (usually "ENTER", but you may want one next to the A-S-D-W keys usually used for movement). In the "Misc" section, set the key for the "gesture" (your character will perform some sort of "Urrah!" movement: useless but nice) and, more important, one for the "chat-team" feature (this one is useful during team-based gametypes: only your team-mates will see the text you will write after pressing this button, very useful to talk about tactics). Remember that you can use the GUI to bind up to two keys to a single function. It is advisable to quickly check everything in the "Controls" menu, to learn/set useful commands, like how to jump and to use "zoom".
Choosing your favorite "autoswitch weapons" mode from Setup --> Controls --> Shoot menu is probably a good idea. Console command is \cg_autoswitch <number>. With autoswitch set to 1, each time you pick up a weapon (even if you already have it), it will select it. Since there is a time needed to change weapon, doing it in the wrong moment (during a gunfight) may be a problem for you: you may prefer to switch weapons when you really want to do it (by default, you can do it using your mouse wheel). OpenArena 0.8.8 added some new autoswitch modes, but they will still work as "always autoswitch" while using old mods. Default value is now 2 -autoswitch if "new"- (it used to be 1, "always"), and often players like 0 (no autoswitch). Read Autoswitch weapons for more info.
Go to Setup --> Game Options and enable "Unlag hitscan". This way, the game will compensate your "lag" for hitscan weapons (those, like machinegun and railgun, that immediately hit the target when you press the button, without "flying" in the air). For those weapons, you will not have to anticipate the enemy's movements according to your ping: if you are correctly targeting him when you shoot, you will hit him, even if in reality you are watching the position where he was 0,3 seconds ago and he's there no more. This is useful for online gaming. Enabling or disabling this option trhough the GUI will change the value of at least two variables: cg_delag and g_delaghitscan (1=enabled): the first one is the client-side variable, the second one is the server-side variable.
You can go to Setup --> Game Options and enable "Automatic downloading". This way, if the server you are connecting to has its option enabled, it will send to you possible additional files that you don't have but you need to play on it. It will automatically download new maps or mods, if needed. For the place where autodownloaded data is stored, read here.
You can go to Setup --> System --> Graphics and adjust these options according to your system's "power" (e.g. you may want to select a higher resolution). If "flares" and "bloom" distract you from the game (especially flares), you can disable them. You can change Brightness from Setup --> System --> Display. You can check your frame-rate enabling \cg_drawFPS 1 from command console. Setting the texture detail to the maximum is advisable to get the best looking of the game. See also here and here. When you change something in "Setup -> System -> Graphics" menu, remember to confirm changes by clicking "accept" button in lower right corner.
There are some options that can enable useful on-screen info, like your current speed (and remember that you can gain extra speed using the "strafe jump" technique, continuously jumping again while landing from the previous jump) while holding forward key plus a strafe (lateral movement) key - usually, "a" or "d" keys - and moving the mouse), or your team-mates health and position (this one is "draw team overlay" in "game options" menu). Check the Manual/Graphic options page.
You can set your own nickname from the Setup --> Player settings menu. If you wish you can also use OpenArena Name Changer, a nice external tool, to do that. About "player settings" menu: it can be used to select your "model" (your character); setting "handicap" different from "none" would make you weaker.
It is advisable to set the correct "data rate" from Setup --> System --> Networking menu (it helps you to get the best experience in multiplayer mode). Nowadays, most users have fast connections and thus have to select "LAN/Cable/xDSL", but if you have an old 56k or ISDN modem, select the corresponding value.
Two very useful buttons, when you are in the game: "ESC" key opens the in-game menu, and "TAB" key shows score table (TAB has to be held). For the button to open the command console, instead, please read its own page.
When you see that someone starts a voting procedure (e.g. to change map), you can usually vote "yes" by pressing F1 key and "no" by pressing F2 key. It is possible to ask for a vote using the "/callvote" command or from the ESC menu.
You can install OpenAL in your system to get a more realistic 3D audio environment. It is not included with the game. Installing OpenAL is not necessary in order to play (you can live happy without it), but it is needed if you want to use the built-in Voice chat feature (and more, using it avoids a problem of sound disappearing when launching a mod, however other workarounds can be used).

Open Arena Gamer’s Manual: Installing.

2026-02-07T09:44:00.000-06:00

System Requirements

Minimum
- Pentium II 233MHz / AMD K6-2 300MHz or equally powerful processor
- 64MB of system memory
- OpenGL supported video card with 16MB of video memory. (Voodoo Banshee, TNT and up)
- 300MB of hard drive space

In theory, the game can run on any Pentium-class processor with a Voodoo2, but don't expect much performance over 20fps and expect loading time to be over a minute.

You must have accelerated drivers for your video card installed for best results. This may require using the not-entirely-open-source NVIDIA drivers for NVIDIA cards. This also means that some video cards may not work even if they meet the above-stated minimum requirements.

IMPORTANT: Various Linux repositories contain OpenArena packages. Such repositories are run by third-party, so their OA installs may have some small differences from the official packages. Sometimes, these differences may cause some problems. To avoid such problems, you may prefer to manually download an official OpenArena package from http://www.openarena.ws or https://lei-lei.neocities.org/openarena/, as explained below. It is the recommended way. If you wish to try with Linux repositories packages anyway, you can read the distro-related sections below.

Installation (ZIP)

Make sure you have the prerequisite libraries. They may include:

SDL
openal
curl
libvorbis

Get the official package of the game from one of the download mirrors, then extract all the contents of the zip.

The following versions are available:

*.i386 are for 32-bit PC processors. (386, 486, 586 and 686)
*.x86_64 are for 64-bit PC processors, such as AMD Athlon64 processors.

For a typical desktop or laptop PC, the following will work:

/usr/local/openarena/openarena-0.8.1/openarena.i386

The archives' contents itself are the game. They simply need to be extracted and run.

You can create a launcher on your desktop for convenience.

Ubuntu

Be aware that these packages may be outdated, regarding Ubuntu's release calendar and OA's release calendar.

Open the Software Center, go to the Games category, go to the Arcade subcategory and choose OpenArena.

Alternatively...

Open a console and write sudo apt-get install openarena.

In both, after installing...

Select the OpenArena entry, from the Applications menu, under Games.

If you have problems with it running, see the FAQ/Troubleshooting page.

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OpenArena Gamer's Manual: Skirmish

2026-01-31T16:18:00.000-06:00

"Skirmish" mode is similar to the creation of a multiplayer server (not "dedicated"), but is intended to be played locally.

Skirmish is what allows you to easily create custom matches: from the main menu, select "Single player", then the "Skirmish" button in the lower part of the screen. Select the gametype you wish, then the map you wish, and click "Next". Customize the bot list and the options like the fraglimit and the timelimit (when the match will end), then click "Fight" to begin the match.

Skirmish is meant to launch matches in any gametype, except for the single player deathmatch (g_gametype 2). You can use it to start your custom "Free For All" (aka Deathmatch), "Capture the Flag", "Elimination" matches, etc.

Unlike the multiplayer mode, usually the Skirmish match creation interface will automatically propose you some bots to be added to the match. You can anyway change them, add more or remove some of them, even after the match start.

You are not limited in the maps already unlocked in single player deathmatch mode: in skirmish mode you can play in any map you wish, even third-party maps that you will add to the game later (notice: some maps may not be correctly shown in the menu cause of missing scripts: in that case you may need to use the command console to launch them).

Medals obtained while playing in Skirmish mode are not stored.

OpenArena Gamer's Manual: Single Player Deathmatch

2026-01-24T16:15:00.000-06:00

"Single Player Deathmatch" (g_gametype 2) is the gametype used when playing locally (Singleplayer menu) and selecting the predefined matches against bots (not those in the Skirmish menu). It's also referred as "Unlock tiers" mode or "Campaign" mode.

Like Quake 3 Arena, the "Single Player" mode of OpenArena is not a "story mode", but a series of matches against bots. After starting the game for the first time, in "Single Player deathmatch" players can only access the first four maps, those that are placed in the first "tier". In order to play a map, select the map, the difficulty level, and press "Fight!".

After winning one of these matches, a symbol will appear on its icon, remembering the highest difficulty level you have been able to beat that challenge. Once all of the four maps are won regardless of their difficulty level, a newer tier will unlock, and you will be able to play four more matches, until you reach the final challenge.

The "Excellent", "Gauntlet", "Impressive", "Perfect", "Accuracy", "Frags" medals that you will earn while playing in Single Player Deathmatch mode are stored and shown every time you will enter the "Single Player" menu.

The "Reset" button in the Single Player menu deletes the stored medals and re-locks the tiers.

The campaign

Tier 1

Trial By Error

Kit's Mini Arena

Five Steps Ahead

Slime Facility

Tier 2

Inner Cistern

Outer Cistern

Sleek Grinder

The Fan Of Death!

Tier 3

Lava Arena

The Abandoned Base

Under Working 2.0

Blitzkrieg Base

Tier 4

Monastery At Night

Meisterlampe's Temple

Floating Tower

Think Twice Or Die

Tier 5

Darkest Hour

Galmevish Yards

Repulsive Castle

Aggressive Tendencies

Tier 6

Strange House

A Bad Place

Khaos Everywhere!

Lava House of Thon

Tier 7

Never Ending Yard

Shine In The Athmosphere

Space Contact

Suspended Satellite

Tier 8

The Space Spire

Other notes

It's not necessary to play this mode in order to unlock anything, except this mode own tiers, as nothing is locked in OA itself.
Single Player Deathmatch is the only gametype not intended to be used in either multiplayer and skirmish modes. Trying to use g_gametype 2 in such ways, there is the risk to get stuck at the end of the match.^[1]
"Single player" may also refer to the Skirmish mode. Even if you have not won any "single player deathmatch" match, you can create "custom" matches using the "Skirmish" button^[2], using different game modes (not only deathmatches, but also Capture the Flag, Overload, Elimination mode, etc.) and maps.^[3]
Since OpenArena 0.8.5, Single Player Deathmatch is the only gametype where you can use the detailed shadows. See Manual/Graphic options#Shadows.

OpenArena Gamer's Manual: Multiplayer

2026-01-19T16:13:00.000-06:00

Entering "Multiplayer" menu, you will see the integrated server browser (hint: for third-party, external server browsers -that may provide more features than the integrated one-, see Servers#Server browsers).
Press "refresh" button to update the server list. Press "spacebar" on your keyboard to stop the refresh (you cannot change options during refresh). Click on the server you wish and then "fight".
The table will show you the server's name, map in use, number of players connected/allowed, game mode or mod in use, IPv4/IPv6 and PING.

Remember that the server browser of baseoa shows also servers that are using mods. See Mods section below for more info.

"Ping" represents the lag time (latency), in ms. Think it is the time that passes from when you push a button and when the server knows you did. If this value is lower, it is better. For best performances, you should not use other bandwidth consuming applications (for example, peer to peer applications) when playing an online game. Some servers may not allow you to enter if your ping is too high (you would see "Server is for low pings only"): in that case, try another server.

Note: at first runs of the game, your Operating System or Firewall software might show a popup window asking if to allow the program for network access: you need to allow it. If OpenArena cannot reach the internet, it will not be able to find internet servers. Sometimes the popup window may become hidden behind the game window, in that case you may need to minimize/move the game window in order to see the popup window... or to allow the game through some other firewall setting interface.

Hint: when you are playing online on another server, you can't change map (or other parameters, like g_gametype or fraglimit) like on your own server, but you could (if the server allows it) be able to "call a vote" about it (for example \callvote g_gametype 0) and other players will be able to vote (usually, push F1 to vote "yes" or F2 to vote "no"): if the vote passes, the command will be executed. For example, you can use \callvote map xxx to change map or \callvote kick yyy to force disconnection of an ill-mannered player.

Tip: you can access the "Statistics" menu (from the main menu) to check how many "awards" you have got while playing against human players.

Options

You can find various options in the upper section of the screen:

Servers: you can search for servers over Internet, or inside your LAN (Local Area Connection) or from your Favorites list.
On the right, there is a button to delete a server from the favorites list.
Note: "Local" network scan finds only servers using UDP ports 27960, 27961, 27962 or 27963 (so, it will find max 4 OA server processes for each IP). However, if you know that there is a server within your LAN that uses a different port, you can still connect to it, manually specifing its IP and port using "Specify" button or \connect command (for example \connect 192.168.0.200:27970). "Internet" scan, instead, reads a server list from the "master server", that enumerates "dedicated 2" servers (please read Dedicated server), thus it finds also servers using different ports.
Game Type: you can show "all" kinds of game types (including some mod-specific gametypes), or filter for a particular game type.
Sort By: it allows you so change the order of the list. Usually it is by Ping, since having lower ping is better.
Show Full: if enabled, shows also "full" servers (for example 8/8 players slots already used). You will not be able to connect there until someone quits from that server.
Show Empy: if enabled, shows also servers with no players (for example 0/8).
Only humans: if enabled, hides "bots" from the count of players (you could notice, for example, a 2/8 change into 0/8, or a 4/8 change into 2/8 if there were two bots on that server)
Hide private: if enabled, hides "private" servers, that require a password to connect to. See Servers#Password-protected servers for more info (in short: as a client, you can use \password <text> to specify the password for the server you are connecting to).

Buttons

You can find various buttons in the lower section of the screen:

Back: return to main menù
Specify: you can specify a particular server address and port (default port is 27960) to connect to, if you know them (like using \connect <address>:<port> command form command console).
Refresh: update server list. You can stop update before it finishes by pressing spacebar.
Create: starts a game as a server.
Fight: connects to the server selected from the list.

Favorites

To show the favorite servers list, select "Favorites" from "Servers" option on the top of the "Multiplayer" menu.

To add a server to your "favorites" list, first connect to a server, then press "escape" key (to access ESC menu), select "server info" and then click on "add to favorites". To remove a server from "favorites" list, just select that server and then click on "delete" button.

Favorites IPs/URLs are stored in variables from "server1" to "server16" (their default value is "", blank), so you can store up to 16 favorite servers. You can show all of them in console typing \server and pressing TAB key.

Some external server browsers may allow to store many more favorites.

If you delete a server from the list, the variables that host the list will be "compacted" (sorted) when you exit from the "Multiplayer" menu.

To delete an unresponsitive server from the list using the graphical user interface, remember to set the "Gametype" filter to "All": they will be listed with no description, ping 800 and protocol ???.

You can also delete a server manually, from the console, setting the right variable (from "server1" to "server16") to blank (for example, \server5 ""). After deleting a server, it is advisable to enter and exit from the "Multiplayer" menu, to have the list "compacted".

Warning: As far as OA 0.8.8, there is no error message shown if you try to add a new server to favorites after 16, simply it will not be added.

Create

If you select to create a game, your machine will be a server, and other players will be able to join your game. Acting as both server and client from the same process, you run what is known as "listen server" (opposite to "dedicated server"). You can find this useful when playing with your friends over a LAN (playing on a server inside a Local Area Network usually permits lower pings than playing over the internet), or, if you want, over the internet (in this case, the host should be one with a good bradband connection). If you are the server, your ping will be 0.

You will need to select the "game mode" (a.k.a. "game type".... you will also be able to change it later with \g_gametype command) and the map (you can change it later with \map command), then click "next". It is also possible to select "Auto change map" flag (corresponding to g_autonextmap variable), this will cause the server to automatically change the map (you will not need to write down a map rotation script, and the next map will be picked up randomly).

Then, you can open a "slot" for each player allowed to join the game:

Human: this is you.
Open: this slot is available if someone wants to connect to your server.
Bot: a bot will be there. So you will not be completely alone, waiting for other players to connect. You can also set slots as "open" and add or remove bots later, from the game.
....: this slot is closed and no one will be able to use it.

It is later possible to change the number of "open" slots, using the sv_maxclients variable (a map restart is needed to have the change effective).

There are some options, like "frag limit", "capture limit" and "time limit" (when a match will end); "pure server" (usually you should enable it, it ensures that everyone have the same pk3 files loaded, preventing many common errors); "Optimize for LAN" (see below); "Instantgib" (all the players will have only the railgun and a single hit will kill a player); "All rockets" (all the players will have only the rocket launcher); "Physics" (in the original Q3A, player physics changes slightly depending on the players' frame-rate: in OpenArena this has been fixed. You can select to follow the original "framerate dependent" behavior -see Game physics and Manual/Graphic options#Framerate for some info-, or to emulate like all players have the same framerate ("fixed" at 91 or 125 fps), or "accurate" that, like the name suggests, should be the most precise physics calculation); "Hostname" (you can choose a name for your server).

When you are ready, click "fight".

The map will be loaded and your friends should be able to connect to your server. If there are problems, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#IPs, routers and firewalls.

Very important: the OA server really "runs" when it has got a map loaded. If the OA server program ("dedicated" or not) is launched, but it has no map loaded, clients will not be able to find or join it.

Optimize for LAN

If the "Optimize for LAN" option is enabled, the machines that connect to your server from your own LAN (from the same subnet) will ignore the "rate" limit and will get a "snapshot" for each server "frame" (they should get a more accurate representation of the simulated world).

The "Optimize for LAN" option corresponds to the \sv_lanforcerate <0 or 1> variable. Default value is 1.

For more details, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Optimize for LAN.

Pure server

A server can be "pure" or not, depending from the value of the /sv_pure <0 or 1> variable. It is highly recommended to keep the "pure" option enabled (sv_pure 1, which is the default value). Turning it off may cause problems, and should be done only for testing.

For more details, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Pure server.

Dedicated server

It is possible to start a server game also as "dedicated server": in this case the local machine will not use the graphical system and you will not be able to play directly from that OpenArena process. It is useful if you want to set up a permanent OpenArena server. You can run a dedicated server using "standard" OpenArena executable, or using a specific one designed for this mode only. "Dedicated 2" servers are listed "master server" (meant as Internet servers), "dedicated 1" ones not (meant as local servers).

For more details, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Dedicated server.

Hitch warning

An "hitch" is a sort of slowdown or interruption in the program "loop" that handles game events; dedicated servers may show warnings in console when they happen. But this does not automatically mean your server does have a major problem.

For more details, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Hitch warning.

IPs, routers and firewalls

You may need to configure your routers or firewalls for allow online gaming. While this is usually easy (such as allowing your OA executable on Windows Firewall) for players wanting to joining existing servers, allowing your own server server to be accessible from the internet and to be shown in server list is often an hardware task which requires some access to router configuration and some networking knowledge.

For more details and testing tips, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#IPs, routers and firewalls.
There is also a sort of glossary with links to definitions of related terms used: Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#What did you say?

If you are concerned about privacy, keep in mind that server admins can see your IP address (public IP on internet servers, local IP on LAN servers) and client identifier. Third party mods might potentially even show your infos to other players: most mods are perfectly "safe" in that regard, but OpenArena Team has got no control over mods. One more reason why "automatic download" is disabled by default.

Mods

See also: Manual/Using mods

You can connect to servers that are using mods, and of course your server can run a mod.

The integrated server browser shows both servers that run the standard game (baseoa) and servers that use mods, although the server browser built-in in some mods may have been tweaked to show only servers using that specific mod.
There is a column which shows a short version of the gametype name for servers running baseoa and mod name for servers running a mod. Some third party server browsers, such as Monster Browser, allow to see the name of the mod from the the game variable of the server, which is set when it's not running baseoa.
Some mods may use the same gametypes numbers as are used in OpenArena, but with different meanings (for example, take a look to the gametypes list of the Excessive Plus mod).

If you try to connect to a server that is using a mod, and you have it already installed (manually or automatically), the game will start; if you don't have it yet, and you have the "autodownload" option (\cl_allowdownload) turned off (or the server has \sv_allowdownload turned off), the game will not work. If, instead, autodownload is enabled, the required files will be automatically downloaded to a specific subfolder, dedicated to the mod. To know where the autodownloaded files are saved, please read FAQ#Where are autodownloaded files saved?. Sometimes, enabling autodownload may be necessary also for servers that run baseoa, if they include additional maps.

To have your own server to use a mod, if you use the standard OpenArena executable, you can launch it from the "mods" menu and then create the match (the cvar "\dedicated" can be set to 0, 1 or 2), or load the mod directly from the OS command line (openarena.exe +set fs_game <modfolder>). If you use the "dedicated server" specific executable (oa_ded), you have to load the mod from command line (oa_ded.exe +set fs_game <modfolder> +set dedicated <1 or 2>). It is advisable to update the sv_hostname variable (your server name) to exaplain what your server is running.

A "real" mod, worth of its name, is a work of one or more coders, map creators and beta testers, that includes specific programming, to get something new out of the game... but, in a certain sense, you can easily "create" a mod simply creating a new folder and putting inside it various pk3 files with additional stuff, like new maps, models, sounds, textures, shaders, that are added to or replace the ones provided by the standard game. Each folder at the same tree level of baseoa contains a separate mod: you can easily copy an existing mod to a new folder and add your own additional data to create your own "fork" of that mod... but if you want to modify the code part of the mod (for example, to change score rules, game physics or user interface), you may need to get its source code in some way (maybe trying to connect its original developer).
Remember to enable sv_allowdownload 1 to allow clients to download the new stuff from your server; you can also use "www download" feature to allow clients to download files from an external web server at higher speeds. Remember that some additional pk3 files may cause compatibily problems in the clients (sometimes these problems may show themselves only in a second time, when the client will try to play locally); usually they can simply be fixed by the client by deleting the additional pk3 file responsible of the problem, but sometimes it is hard to identify it, and it will be downloaded again when re-connecting to the server for the first time. Thus, be careful when adding stuff to the game, inside mods folders and especially inside the baseoa folder: in the latter one, usually only new maps are added. And making some tests to be sure that your server does not modify the clients in a wrong way could be a nice idea; for example, you should not place in the baseoa folder of your server a pk3 that changes the sounds of the weapons, while you may want to do it in the folder of your own mod.

External server browsers

We described the integrated server browser, above. But you can also find online OpenArena servers from some web pages or from external server browser programs. They could include more informations and more functions than the integrated server browser (for example, Qtracker shows you also the name of the mod in use on the server). Please read Servers page for more info and Servers#Tools section for a list of external server browsers that support OpenArena.

Commands

See also: Servers and Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Commands .

Here we list just a few multiplayer-related commands and variables. For more of them, please read Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Commands.

Some commands and variables may be available only when acting as server, or as dedicated server, or as client. When playing locally, you are both client and server.

\connect <server:port> - Use from client. This command allows you to specify a particular server to connect to. For example, \connect 127.0.0.1 or \connect 127.0.0.1:27960 (use the server's IP instead of 127.0.0.1, anyway this address will work if you launch two OpenArena precesses on your machine, one as "dedicated server" and the other as a client).
Remember that the command console allows you to paste (e.g. Shift+Ins) text from your OS clipboard. Can be very handy for entering server addresses.
\reconnect - Use from client. Reconnects to the last server. Useful if you lose connection for some reason.
\disconnect - Use from client. Disconnects you from the current server, returning to main menu.
\callvote <command> <parameters> - If the server allows it, players can "vote" to change some server settings, for example map or g_gametype.
\serverstatus - Use from client. Gives information about the server you are connected to (e.g. current map, gametype and dmflags).^[1]
\sv_maxclients <number> - Use from server. This is the number of clients that will be able to connect to your server at the same time (including bots, human players and spectators). Default value is 8, and 16 is a quite common value... anyway it can be higher or lower. A change will be effective after a map restart. Take in account your connection bandwidth (especially upload bandwidth) and your sv_maxrate value.
\password "<privpass>" - Use from client. Set it to match the password for the "private" server you are connecting to, to be able to enter. Ask the server admin for the password. See Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced#Commands for more passwor-related variables.

OpenArena Gamer's Manual: Quickstart

2026-01-12T16:10:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Arena! This is where warriors from around the world will meet! There is no attendance fee so everyone is invited to join. (Well, we need some kind of short ingame-introtext and I'm no Shakespeare...)

Welcome and thank you for downloading/copying OpenArena!

First this is a completely free game and always will be free!
The game is released under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 license (GPLv2+).

Quickstart

After installing the game start it with

Windows: Start/Programs/OpenArena/OpenArena , if the version you downloaded had an installation program. If not, just run the executable (something like openarena.exe or openarena.x86.exe) from the folder where you uncompressed the downloaded package.
Linux: Games/Open Arena (Gnome,XFCE, Unity, KDE, LXQt or any Freedesktop-compatible DE/WM); via terminal by typing openarena or /usr/games/openarena if /usr/games is not your $PATH
Mac OS X: double-clicking its icon

Note: it is highly advisable to check/set/enable some options and key bindings, so please take a look to the Hints section below.

Multiplayer

Click at "Multiplayer". On the "Arena Servers" menu change "Server: Local" to "Server: Internet" . A list of open games should appear. Turn "Show Full" and "Show Empty" off. Click on one of the games, press "Fight!" and you are ready to play!

Singleplayer

If you don't want to play the game online click on "Single Player", then choose if to start one of the tier's match against predefined bots (Single Player Deathmatch) or starting a new game clicking on the "skirmish" button.

What is OpenArena?

OpenArena is an open-source content package for Quake III Arena licensed under the GPL, effectively creating a free stand-alone game. You do not need Quake III Arena to play this game.

Installing OpenArena

See also: Manual/Install (and see Download mirrors to get the game). See Ports and markets for more platforms.

Windows: Uncompress the downloaded zip it into a folder of your choice (e.g. C:\Program files\OpenArena): that folder will be your "basepath" folder.

Linux: read the Linux Install for infos about different distros. Debian provides the deb files.

Mac OS X: See Manual/Install#Mac (and Download mirrors#v0.8.8 unified Zip archive for an important notice about 0.8.8 for Mac).

Basic information

/Glossary

User Interface

/Game menus
- /ESC menu
/Player settings (Name, handicap, effects, model)
/Head-up display

Gameplay

Starting to play

Starting a Game Server

More info on the Servers#Server Setup, Manual/Multiplayer and Manual/Multiplayer/Advanced pages.

Here just a couple of examples on few systems:

Execute the OpenArena dedicated server binary, called openarena_dedin Fedora. If you have a "headless" system which you SSH to, you might want to use a command like:

nohup openarena_ded [Q3-similar options] > openarena.log &

Some server scripts to use with 'exec' command would be useful here.

To start a gameserver on a mac type:

cd /Applications/OpenArena.app/Contents/MacOS/

nohup ./ioquake3.ub +set dedicated 2 +exec server.cfg +map aggressor

OpenArena at LAN-Party

For an easy setup one player (preferably the one with the fastest computer) should run the server:

Multiplayer
"Create"
choose a game type and a map
open slots for other players
start the game by pressing the "fight"-button

Now the other players should start "Multiplayer" and find the new server under "local".

Making the game less violent

Type this in the console (pull it down with Shift+Esc or ` ):

/com_blood 0

/cg_gibs 0

Please read Manual/Graphic options#Blood and gibs for more infos.

Advanced information

Maps
FAQ#Configuration files and automatic downloaded files path ("homepath" folder)
Command console
/Console Commands
/Techniques - It is a good idea to learn how to strafe jump and rocket jump
/Automatic downloading
/Demos
/Using Mods
/Graphic options
/Voice chat
/Text colors
Bots
/Statistics
Tweak - Tweaking various aspects of the game, for example to optimize performaces or network settings
Game physics - This is more for server admins, but you may be interested to know about the various kinds of physics in the game
Basic game options - Infos about gametypes, fraglimit, capturelimit, timelimit
Special game options - Settings that modify gameplay in many ways
Disabling and replacing items
/Glossary - If you have some doubt about a term which may be related with the game in some way, here you may find the answer!

In-game help

If you wish, you can install an optional ingame manual. The main help is this wiki site, but you may find useful also a simple help available directly inside the game, after you install it.

You can download if from here (mirror - v 018, 29-oct-2010, based upon OA 0.8.1). The downloaded file should be named autoexec.cfg and placed in your /openarena/baseoa/ folder (under your installation folder, or under your configuration folder, where q3config.cfg is stored too).
Note: if you are already using an autoexec.cfg file to execute your custom settings (not simply an earlier version of the guide, that could be simply overwritten instead), you have two options: 1) copy-paste the content of the guide inside it, merging the guide and your custom settings in one file... or 2) name the guide differently (like guide.cfg) and place an additional line (exec guide.cfg) at the end of your current autoexec.cfg file, to automatically load the new file, too.

You can then use the manual in-game by opening the command console (shift+escape), and typing in the following command: /help and then press enter. A list of commands to use for the manual will appear. If you are unsure how to use this, use the following command: /helpguide and then press enter again (you should after every command).

If you are having any trouble using this (it's not that easy to use for people new to consoles) feel free to ask help on the forum!

If you want to propose your suggestions or report errors in that in-game manual, you can use the thread on the forum about it.

Hints

Here you can find some things you may check before entering the arena the first times:

When you play the game for the first times, you may have to set ("bind") some keys for specific commands. It is advisable to go to Setup --> Controls menu and there, in the "Look" section, set your favourite mouse speed (e.g. you may find useful to set it a bit faster than the default). In the "Misc" section, set the "Use item" key (usually "ENTER", but you may want one next to the A-S-D-W keys usually used for movement). In the "Misc" section, set the key for the "gesture" (your character will perform some sort of "Urrah!" movement: useless but nice) and, more important, one for the "chat-team" feature (this one is useful during team-based gametypes: only your team-mates will see the text you will write after pressing this button, very useful to talk about tactics). Remember that you can use the GUI to bind up to two keys to a single function. It is advisable to quickly check everything in the "Controls" menu, to learn/set useful commands, like how to jump and to use "zoom".
Choosing your favorite "autoswitch weapons" mode from Setup --> Controls --> Shoot menu is probably a good idea. Console command is \cg_autoswitch <number>. With autoswitch set to 1, each time you pick up a weapon (even if you already have it), it will select it. Since there is a time needed to change weapon, doing it in the wrong moment (during a gunfight) may be a problem for you: you may prefer to switch weapons when you really want to do it (by default, you can do it using your mouse wheel). OpenArena 0.8.8 added some new autoswitch modes, but they will still work as "always autoswitch" while using old mods. Default value is now 2 -autoswitch if "new"- (it used to be 1, "always"), and often players like 0 (no autoswitch). Read Autoswitch weapons for more info.
Go to Setup --> Game Options and enable "Unlag hitscan". This way, the game will compensate your "lag" for hitscan weapons (those, like machinegun and railgun, that immediately hit the target when you press the button, without "flying" in the air). For those weapons, you will not have to anticipate the enemy's movements according to your ping: if you are correctly targeting him when you shoot, you will hit him, even if in reality you are watching the position where he was 0,3 seconds ago and he's there no more. This is useful for online gaming. Enabling or disabling this option trhough the GUI will change the value of at least two variables: cg_delag and g_delaghitscan (1=enabled): the first one is the client-side variable, the second one is the server-side variable.
You can go to Setup --> Game Options and enable "Automatic downloading". This way, if the server you are connecting to has its option enabled, it will send to you possible additional files that you don't have but you need to play on it. It will automatically download new maps or mods, if needed. For the place where autodownloaded data is stored, read here.
You can go to Setup --> System --> Graphics and adjust these options according to your system's "power" (e.g. you may want to select a higher resolution). If "flares" and "bloom" distract you from the game (especially flares), you can disable them. You can change Brightness from Setup --> System --> Display. You can check your frame-rate enabling \cg_drawFPS 1 from command console. Setting the texture detail to the maximum is advisable to get the best looking of the game. See also here and here. When you change something in "Setup -> System -> Graphics" menu, remember to confirm changes by clicking "accept" button in lower right corner.
There are some options that can enable useful on-screen info, like your current speed (and remember that you can gain extra speed using the "strafe jump" technique, continuously jumping again while landing from the previous jump) while holding forward key plus a strafe (lateral movement) key - usually, "a" or "d" keys - and moving the mouse), or your team-mates health and position (this one is "draw team overlay" in "game options" menu). Check the Manual/Graphic options page.
You can set your own nickname from the Setup --> Player settings menu. If you wish you can also use OpenArena Name Changer, a nice external tool, to do that. About "player settings" menu: it can be used to select your "model" (your character); setting "handicap" different from "none" would make you weaker.
It is advisable to set the correct "data rate" from Setup --> System --> Networking menu (it helps you to get the best experience in multiplayer mode). Nowadays, most users have fast connections and thus have to select "LAN/Cable/xDSL", but if you have an old 56k or ISDN modem, select the corresponding value.
Two very useful buttons, when you are in the game: "ESC" key opens the in-game menu, and "TAB" key shows score table (TAB has to be held). For the button to open the command console, instead, please read its own page.
When you see that someone starts a voting procedure (e.g. to change map), you can usually vote "yes" by pressing F1 key and "no" by pressing F2 key. It is possible to ask for a vote using the "/callvote" command or from the ESC menu.
You can install OpenAL in your system to get a more realistic 3D audio environment. It is not included with the game. Installing OpenAL is not necessary in order to play (you can live happy without it), but it is needed if you want to use the built-in Voice chat feature (and more, using it avoids a problem of sound disappearing when launching a mod, however other workarounds can be used).

Why are blockchain games for Linux popular?

2026-01-05T15:11:00.000-06:00

The popularity of blockchain games is due to several factors:

Asset Ownership:

Players can own and trade their digital assets, such as characters, weapons, or land, giving them greater control over their gaming experience and the ability to generate revenue.

Virtual Economies:

Blockchain games often have virtual economies where players can earn cryptocurrency and tokens for their in-game achievements.

Transparency and Security:

Blockchain technology ensures that transactions and asset ownership are transparent and secure.

Community:

Blockchain games often foster strong communities of players who share interests and goals.

Considerations:

Risks:

Investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain game tokens can be risky, and it is important to research and understand the risks before investing.

Volatility:

The prices of cryptocurrencies and tokens can be volatile, so it is important to be aware of the risks associated with investing in these types of assets. Accessibility:
Some blockchain games may require an initial investment to acquire assets or tokens, which may limit access for some players.

Blockchain-Based Games for Linux.

2025-12-29T15:09:00.000-06:00

On Linux, there are several blockchain-based games, also known as NFT games or crypto games, that offer the chance to earn cryptocurrency or digital assets while playing. Popular examples include Axie Infinity, Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Gods Unchained. These games use blockchain to ensure transparency and security of transactions, and many of them allow players to own and trade digital assets within the game.

Popular Blockchain Games for Linux:

Axie Infinity: A strategy game where you breed, battle, and trade digital creatures called Axies, which are NFTs.

Decentraland: A metaverse where users can create, explore, and monetize virtual lands.

The Sandbox: Similar to Decentraland, it allows users to create and monetize interactive experiences in a virtual world.
Gods Unchained: A collectible card game where players can buy, sell, and trade NFT cards.

Alien Worlds: An exploration and mining game in a virtual world where players can earn cryptocurrency.
CryptoKitties: An NFT-based virtual cat collecting game.

MIR4: An MMORPG where players can earn cryptocurrency rewards.
BattleRife: Kingdom of Champions: A blockchain-based collecting, trading, and combat game.

PEPEGAMES: A meme-themed gaming hub built on Solana.
Pudgy Penguins: An open-world metaverse game with a focus on NFT collectibles.
What are blockchain games?

Blockchain-based games, also known as crypto games or NFT games, are video games that use blockchain technology to provide a more secure and transparent gaming experience. Benefits include the ability to own in-game digital assets (NFTs), earn cryptocurrency for playing, and participate in decentralized virtual economies.

Avidemux: The Complete Tutorial and Review for Beginners

2025-12-22T09:42:00.001-06:00

- "I have a problem installing Avidemux…"

- "I'm trying to cut an MPG file and then save it with Avidemux. However, I get the error: Too short. What should I do to fix the video too short error when cutting the MPG file?"

- "So far, no reason. Avidemux has broken down. It worked fine for a long time without any changes. It just doesn't work anymore. Can anyone show me an alternative program similar to Avidemux?"

It's well known that Avidemux is a free and open-source video editing software . This free video editing software offers many built-in features and functions. However, do you really know everything about Avidemux? So, if you want to handle Avidemux smoothly, the following tips and tricks are very important. Yes, this is your complete Avidemux review and tutorial. Just be patient and read on to learn more about Avidemux in detail.

Part 1. Key Features Overview: What is Avidemux?

Avidemux is a free video editor that allows you to complete basic video and audio customization. In other words, you can get many useful features from Avidemux for free. You can get a full impression of it in the following paragraphs.

Key Features:

Offer multiple filters to cut, merge, split, rotate, or perform other editing activities.
Wide support for integrated video and audio input and output formats.
It works on most operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and BSD.
Supports multi-threading and prioritization configurations.
List all recently opened projects in the recent menu for easy access.
Get the Real-Time Video Filter Manager window.

Supported input video formats: 3GP, ASF, AVI, FLV, H263, JPEG, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPEG4, MPG and OGM.

Supported output video formats: AVI, FLV, M1V, M2V, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, OGM and TS.

Part 2. Avidemux Official Site: Where can I download Avidemux?

If you go to the official Avidemux website, there may not be a direct link to the Avidemux download package. Therefore, once you locate the section for a specific operating system, you won't be able to download it directly. To be more specific, you'll be directed to the FossHub website before downloading Avidemux. However, there are many versions of Avidemux Video Editor available here.

Additionally, you can also download Avidemux for Mac, Windows, or other versions from other download sites, such as Softonic ( https://avidemux.en.softonic.com/mac ), FileHippo ( https://filehippo.com/zh/download_avidemux/ ), UptoDown ( https://avidemux.en.uptodown.com/windows ), VideoHelp ( https://www.videohelp.com/software/AviDemux ), and more. Just find and download the latest version of Avidemux Video Editor you need for free.

Part 3. Avidemux Review: What People Think About Avidemux

Pros:

Avidemux is widely accepted by almost all operating systems. Therefore, there are no incompatibility issues to worry about.
It offers the most standard video processing features and some useful presets.
You can get good coding options in a clear interface.

Cons:

Avidemux does not provide a timeline.
It lacks creative effects or transitions for professional customization.
It needs additional codecs to handle unpopular video and audio files.

Well, you can still get help from many Avidemux members if you're having trouble using Avidemux, due to its long history. And Avidemux can meet most of your needs compared to other free video editing programs.

Part 4. Avidemux Tutorial: How to Use Avidemux to Trim/Join/Rotate/Convert Video

Step 1 Import video into Avidemux

Download Avidemux on your computer. Launch Avidemux after installation. Then, click "Open" in the "File" drop-down menu. To start, make sure you're in "Copy" mode. This is a great way to save time by using your existing video instead of re-encoding your project into a new file.

Step 2 Trim the imported video

Locate the desired frame if you want to trim your video project. Find and click the icon with an "A" in the toolbar. Then, drag the slider gently to set the end time. Click the icon with the "B" to complete the process.

Step 3 Join video with Avidemux

Click "File" in the top toolbar. Choose "Append" from the list. Later, you may find that the total video length will increase. During this time, you can add video effects. Simply click "Filter" in the left panel. There are many filters available, including "Transform," "Interlace," "Color," and more.

Step 4 Rotate Avidemux video

Well, head to Avidemux Video Filter Manager after clicking "Filter." Choose "Transform" and scroll down to click "Rotate" on the main interface. Configure how you want to rotate the video with Avidemux, then click "OK" and "Close" to exit the window.

Step 5 Convert video using Avidemux

To export your video from Avidemux, you can click the down arrow under "Format" in the left panel. Choose the specific output format. Then click "Save" in the "File" drop-down menu. Select "Save Video..." from the submenu. Avidemux will quickly begin encoding your video.

Part 5. Avidemux Alternative - Professional Video Converter You Can Also Try

While Avidemux is an excellent video editor, it doesn't offer many professional editing tools. Fortunately, Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate is your only option. It allows you to convert, download, enhance, and edit videos and music quickly and easily.

Proton: Your favorite games running on Linux

2025-12-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

In case you didn't know, any Linux distribution can run games developed for Windows. This is achieved through a custom implementation of WINE called Proton, which not only matches the game's performance, but often surpasses it. For some time now, you've only been limited by your hardware.

Valve's Proton turned 6 in August 2024

It's worth clarifying here that Proton has some limitations, especially those games with anti-cheat mechanics that depend on the Windows kernel, since in those cases the games won't be able to run on Linux.

OK, but what is Proton?

Proton is a compatibility layer for Microsoft Windows games to run on Linux-based operating systems. Proton is developed by Valve, the creator of Steam, in collaboration with developers at CodeWeavers, the creators of WINE.

It consists of a collection of software and libraries combined specifically for running video games. Proton is designed to integrate with the Steam client as "Steam Play." It is officially distributed through the client, although third-party forks can be installed manually.

In simpler words, Proton is not an emulator , it's more of a translator, it takes a binary made for an operating system, in this case Windows, and translates those binaries into a "language" that Linux can understand, then the game runs as if it were a Windows machine, with support for controllers, sound controls etc., so it's not emulating, it's translating a program made for Windows, as if it had been made natively for Linux.

WINE: WINE is Not an Emulator | WINE No es un Emulador

Why is this important?

Well, a great excuse within the Linux community is precisely entertainment. Most video games are created for Windows, and those of us who haven't used that operating system are basically left out. But now things have changed with Valve and its Steam Deck, which proves that the Linux gamer exists.

Ready to install Proton on Linux?

Well, you don't have to do anything, just install the Steam client on your Linux and your compatible games will use the best version of Proton possible, in the case of Steam Deck, the option is by default, just download a game and that's it.

The Steam Deck is a console PC that uses a version of Linux called SteamOS

What games are compatible with Proton?

This is the complicated answer: not everything works. Sometimes it works poorly, other times it works fantastically. I recommend using Proton compatibility search engines, sites like ProtonDB , one of my favorites, to check before purchasing a game. If the game you're looking for says " Borked " or " Broken ," it means it's not currently supported. So, well, there's a win and a loss.

Unsupported games are marked as BROKEN within ProtonDB.

So now you know, if you want to switch to Linux and you're afraid of not being able to play your favorite games, maybe it's just a matter of using the perfect version of Proton for you. For example, I managed to run Windows 98 games on my Steam Deck, games that can't even be played on current versions of Windows. Gamers don't only live on AAA games, retro is also the thing today.

Cheer up, life is a game.

Deepdwn - Markdown editor and organizer. Explore, study, create

2025-12-08T09:33:00.000-06:00

Deepdwn is an offline markdown editing suite for Linux, designed to organize and edit collections of markdown files.

Deepdwn supports organizing documents by both tags and categories stored in your document’s YAML front matter, and supports backlinks to connect documents together.

Deepdwn has a number of editing features, like document outline, distraction-free mode, table auto-formatting and editing, Vim and Emacs keybindings, automatic list continuation, persistent section folding, image drag-and-drop and in-editor image preview, per-file and global word count history, and special effects for writing streaks.

Deepdwn also supports some additional block elements:

Mermaid diagrams
AsciiMath, Katex, and mhchem for math and chemistry rendering
Sheet music, guitar tabs, and songbooks

Why Brave rises and Firefox sinks?

2025-12-01T09:27:00.000-06:00

Maybe you noticed that many people talk about Brave these days. Many content creators use it or even endorse it. This is particularly strong in the crypto community. As some of you already know Brave browser is a project started by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. The browser came out with a unique ecosystem for advertising and support of the content creators powered by BAT. There are tons of articles about this so I will not go into details.

When there is some hype I usually stay aside for some type as I am not a herd following type of person (...well, mostly :D). I gave it a try, installed it but I saw no benefits to other browsers I was using at that time. These were Vivaldi and Firefox. I mainly used Vivaldi for work and Firefox for personal stuff. For some reason, I felt like giving a Brave another try recently and It was a pleasant surprise! Compared to two years ago there were many new features and I liked how they work together.

Firefox takes a plunge

I must say I am a bit disappointed by Firefox and maybe Mozilla these days. I really loved Firefox and I was using it from the very beginning. At the time it was a fresh breeze in the world of internet browsing. However, in the last few years, Firefox suffered from several issues. The browser started to lag behind Chromium-based browsers in terms of speed and ease of use and security. Mozilla tried to address some of these issues with limited resources it had available. Firefox UI was reworked, some of the codebase updated and the overall performance and security have improved. But this came at a cost and it was the drop of the support for the legacy add-ons. This angered some of the users and made them switch to forks (like SeaMonkey or Pale Moon) or leave, but it also brought some new users, who were attracted by the new, fresher look of the browser.

Nevertheless, Firefox usage continued to decline although thanks to its fingerprinting blocking, it's hard to say what is the real number.

Two browsers, two different ways of doing things

Since Brave was started by a former CEO of Mozilla I closely watched how these two browsers develop. Why Mozilla decided to start many side projects with the hope that some of them will bear fruit. These were Firefox OS, a programming language called Rust, Firefox VPN, Lockwise, and more. The full list can be found here. Brave took a different approach. Brave focused on one thing at that is to create a fast, secure, and privacy-respecting browser. Since today's internet is fueled by ads, it also tried to solve the problem with ad-blocking which, to a certain degree, leads to a loss of revenue for the content creators. Although many people were quite skeptical about this idea (me included), they stubbornly continued and developed this system step by step. This gave birth to BAT (Basic Attention Token) powered system. If this system continues to grow it might help fund the content creators while also securing a stable income stream for the Brave software.

In contrast, Mozilla was starting new projects, canceling some of the old ones, and trying to find direction. Not that Mozilla does not have any vision or mission. But this mission is bold and quite abstract and it seems Mozilla lacks a clear pathway to achieve these plans. Or at least from an outside perspective. Please don't think I want to bash Mozilla here. I know they did a lot for the internet and I appreciate everyone who has helped Mozilla to make that contribution. Without Mozilla, the internet as we know it today would be probably different, perhaps still dominated by Microsoft.

I am aware that Mozilla is not only about Firefox and perhaps never meant to be. But it makes me sad to see the browser usage crashing down. But why is that? Why many people chose something like Brave over Mozilla? Here are some ideas why not only from my head but also what I've seen frequently on Firefox forums or /r/Firefox subreddit:

Updates are too frequent and break things too often.
Gui changes quite often as well and not always for the better.
Settings are confusing and lack a unified concept, look how Vivaldi's or Brave settings. look like. All neat and organized in one place!
Some features disappear or are moved, updates break add-ons, and more.
Bugzilla is not user-friendly which discourages users from reporting bugs.

Although some users blame Google for aggressively pushing Chrome I doubt this is the main reason. I personally don't know a single person who switched to Chrome because they were hypnotized by the "Use Chrome ad in Google search". Most of the people I know loved Firefox and stopped using it because their workflow was seriously disrupted.

However, there is one extra dimension to Firefox. It is actually the only fully independent browser. Yes, Chromium is an open-source project and it can be forked any time. But Google still has big say in its direction. Because the Chromium browsers are dominant Google can basically dictate or ignore web trends at a whim (and they already do so). What would happen if Mozilla as a non-profit would suddenly cease to exist? Would that be the end of Firefox? Maybe or perhaps the Firefox would be reborn under the hands of the community as something better. It's really hard to predict at this point.

Does history repeat itself?

In the late 90's Netscape Navigator was a non-free proprietary web browser. Can you imagine paying for the web browser? I guess not :D Over time Netscape fell to Microsoft Explorer, and its source code was given to the open-source community. From its ashes, Firefox was born (check this article for the full story)

When I tried Brave I was shocked how fast the browser is. I must admit this was one of the major selling points. Unlike Firefox, the performance is very consistent across devices and even platforms. It works well on Linux, Android, and Windows 10. I use all three platforms so this is quite an important point for me. Sync is not as easy as with Chrome but compared to Firefox it is still fine. Can Brave replace Firefox as the "privacy browser"? Perhaps to some degree, but Firefox still has features that no other browser has, like containers or built-it anti-fingerprinting protection.

Should Firefox throw the towel in the ring? Definitely not, I am not burying the Firefox here and I think we will still see it around. I just want to point out that things change and something ends it is not always bad in the long run. I will be watching both browsers closely and wait where will they develop.

Ubuntu Linux - nmon Command for Performance & Process System Monitor

2025-11-24T09:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I covered one of the performance monitor terminal command. Today I tried two commands but so far only one worked out for me. I was trying to install glances and for some reason it did not worked out well. So I stopped working on it and instead moved to the nmon. This terminal command requires the installation.

So to install nmon you have to type the command.

sudo apt install nmon

and then you have to type out the nmon which would bring the following type of the screen.

nmon

and the output is like this:

I noticed that nmon gives you option to choose from what to view and getting back menu was the problem for me.

As for exiting, the usual ctrl c works out just fine. I loved this small utility for the usage of the process monitor and other system information too.

Have you used nmon in Linux? How is your experience using this small utility?

Ubuntu Linux - Gnome System Monitor GUI App

2025-11-17T09:22:00.000-06:00

I have mostly covered the terminal based apps for the Linux which allow you to monitor the system process and other system information. So I thought I should try to show you what are some of the apps which linux distros ship for the system information.

Gnome for an example is basically found on system like Ubuntu, Elementary, Budgie and few others make use of the default system monitor that you can try.

You can find the system monitor through search or through the menu options if you are using the same.

It looks like below image shown.

As you can see this is enough information under three mutliple tabs that you can watch and learn about the system.

It may look similar to the Windows task manager. I love something like this as it saves my time trying to understand the words from the terminal.

Have you used gnome system monitor GUI app?

Ubuntu Linux - uptime Command for Checking System Uptime

2025-11-10T09:21:00.000-06:00

I always wanted to know about how long the computer is active. And in case of android it shows us the time since the phone was in use. Like it is for days or year etc. So I wanted to know if Linux can keep track of atleast daily if not since the installation.

And so I find the command there for the same purpose that shows simple information like say - uptime.

When you type the "uptime" command you get the output like the following shown in the image.

This command shows you how much time you are logged in into the linux. So this can be handy when you have the multi user machine and want to see how long a user is connected to the system.

I think in case of office and the school and other enterprise places where this can be handy and also help keep track of what is going on.

Have you used uptime command? What is your experience? Do you know any windows specific tool or the command where it can be used there?

Ubuntu Linux - ps Command for Linux Process

2025-11-03T09:19:00.000-06:00

In past I checked out some of the interesting process and the system information commands. And I would like to continue that as long as I can cover most of the terminal utilities as well.

Here I am going to discuss the ps command. This command shows you the process of the linux machine. And few other details of the process as well.

When you type the ps command in the terminal. It should give the command output just like the following.

This command also has an option for the - A and the -e attribute. As you can see that would also give different output based on those attributes sent to the command.

Have you used ps command? How did it worked out for you? Have you used any other command that would work out in a better way for you? I'd love to explore new commands with similar or more output.

Ubuntu 25.10: A Complete Review and Installation and Customization Guide

2025-10-28T15:36:07.902-05:00

Ubuntu 25.10: A Look at the Evolution of the Distribution

The Linux community always eagerly awaits new releases. Ubuntu 25.10, known as "Oracular Oriole," arrives brimming with promise. This intermediate release lays the groundwork for the upcoming LTS. Therefore, it deserves a detailed analysis of its main features. Let's dive in.

The Main New Features Under the Hood

First and foremost, Ubuntu 25.10 incorporates a completely updated technical stack. First, we find the Linux 6.17 kernel. This kernel improves support for new hardware. Furthermore, the desktop environment is GNOME 49. This release introduces refinements to the user experience. For example, it includes HDR brightness controls. It also offers accessibility improvements on the lock screen.

Changes to Default Applications

Canonical has decided to make significant changes. Specifically, to the preinstalled applications. They've replaced the classic GNOME Terminal. PTXI Terminal is now available by default. The image viewer has also been replaced. The Magnifier app replaces Eye of GNOME. These changes aim to provide a more modern experience.

The Technological Transition: Rust and Dracut

One of the most talked-about transitions is that of Rust. The system now uses sudo-rs sudo as an experimental replacement. This change seeks to improve the security of the sudo command. In parallel, another important change affects the initialization system. Dracut replaces sudo initramfs-tools to generate the initramfs image. This promises a faster and more reliable startup.

Enhanced Security with TPM Support

Security is a constant priority in development. Ubuntu 25.10 integrates robust support for the TPM. The Trusted Platform Module enables automatic disk encryption. This feature makes it easier to protect sensitive data. It also speeds up the system recovery process. This is undoubtedly a crucial advance for business environments.

Step-by-Step Installation Guide

Now we'll proceed with the practical installation of the system. First, we'll download the ISO image from the official website. Next, we'll create an installation medium, such as a bootable USB drive. Then, we'll boot the system from that medium. The Ubuntu graphical installer is very intuitive. It will guide us through language selection and network configuration.

Setting Up Disk Partitions

Disk partitioning is a fundamental step. Personally, I recommend a specific scheme to optimize performance. For the root partition, I suggest using the BTRFS file system. This system allows you to use subvolumes for Timeshift backups. For the /home directory, the XFS system is an excellent choice. This scheme combines efficiency and ease of backup.

Personalization and Post-Installation Settings

Once the installation is complete, the real work begins. It's time to customize the system to our liking. We can start by updating all existing packages. To do this, open a terminal and run sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y. Next, it's a good idea to install additional essential software. Packages like htop, gufw for the firewall, and , timeshift are essential.

Empowering Software with Flatpak

The Ubuntu software ecosystem can be easily expanded. A great option is to enable Flatpak support. This gives us access to a vast collection of updated applications. First, we install the flatpak GNOME Software package and plugin. Then, we add the Flathub repository with a simple command. Finally, we can easily install applications like LibreWolf or Telegram.

Transforming the Desktop with Extensions

The GNOME desktop is tremendously flexible. Its true power is unleashed through the use of extensions. We can install the extension manager from the official store. Then, it's time to customize the interface. Extensions like "Dash to Panel" merge the dash and the top bar. "Arc Menu" provides a classic, functional application menu. These tools completely change the desktop experience.

Conclusion: A Solid and Forward-Looking Version

All in all, Ubuntu 25.10 is an extremely interesting release. Not only does it consolidate modern technologies like Rust and Dracut, but it also improves security with the integration of the TPM. Its updated foundation lays the groundwork for the future LTS. Further customization allows us to adapt it to any workflow. Therefore, it is a highly recommended option for users looking for the latest in the Ubuntu ecosystem.

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