QuakeEd
Overview
QuakeEd was the internal level editor used by id Software to create the maps for Quake.
The editor was developed primarily by John Romero and ran on NeXTSTEP workstations used by id Software during the mid 1990s.
QuakeEd was never officially released to the public in its original form.
Features
The editor allowed developers to construct Quake levels using brush based geometry.
Key features included:
• multiple editing views
• 3D camera view
• brush manipulation tools
• texture alignment tools
• entity placement
The editor also integrated with Quake's map compilation tools.
Map compilation tools
Quake maps created in QuakeEd were compiled using a series of external programs:
QBSP
Converts the map into BSP format used by the game engine.
VIS
Calculates visibility information used to determine which parts of the map are visible.
LIGHT
Generates lightmaps used for static lighting.
These tools formed the basis of the Quake level creation pipeline.
Legacy
Although QuakeEd itself was never publicly released, many later editors were inspired by its design.
Popular community editors such as Worldcraft and Radiant adopted similar brush based editing systems.
External links
QuakeEd archive documentation
https://www.gamers.org/dEngine/quake/QuakeEd/