In Quake 4, like in Doom 3, the Level Editor is actually part of the game executable. This means you can load the editor from within the game using the console.
- Run Quake 4 - Press Alt+Enter to go to windowed mode - Drop the console (Ctrl+Alt+~) and type "editor"
Quake4 remembers the last settings used. This can be very annoying when you are switching from editor to the game when testing your level. Also if you have anti-aliasing enabled in Quake4, you may experience some problems with Q4Radiant (the editor will show only solid white grid and camera views).
To avoid this problem and to make your life as a mapping guru much easier we are going to make 2 shortcuts. One for the game and one for the editor.
Make a copy of your Quake4 shortcut and rename it to Q4Radiant (or whatever you feel like naming it)
Right click your game shortcut and select Properties
Copy and paste the following command into the "Target" field
"C:\Program Files\id Software\Quake 4\quake4.exe" +set com_allowconsole 1 +set r_fullscreen 1 +set r_multisamples x +disconnect You need to define a number to x depending on your preferred anti-aliasing settings
Click Apply and close the window
Right click your newly created Q4Radiant shortcut and choose properties
Copy and paste the following command into the "Target" field
Note: The location of the game could be different on your system (default is C:\Program Files\id Software\Quake 4\)
Load the editor using your newly created editor shortcut. While in the editor press “P”. This gives you the preferences menu
Explanation of the commands
+set com_allowconsole 1: Allow access to the console by pressing ~
+set r_fullscreen X: Your r_fullscreen settings are saved each time you run the game or editor (0 = windowed, 1 = fullscreen)
+set r_multisamples x: This sets the number of anti-aliasing your are using in the game (x = 2,4,8 or 16)
+disconnect: Removes the intro movies (a great time saver)
+editor: Loads the editor
+set r_brightness 1: By default the game uses a brightness of 1.3, this can be annoying while working with the editor. Adding this will reset the brightness to the one your desktop uses
Troubleshooting If your editor runs really slow, even if you have not loaded a map yet, try to load the game in the editor by pressing "F2". You can quit the game after this. Somehow the editor loads things differently when you do this and it speeds up the editor by a mile.