Product updates

Q3Edit release notes

New map-editing features, workflow refinements, rendering improvements, and Quake III compatibility fixes.

Latest release

August 5, 2026 - Game Export and Preview

Packaging and testing maps now fit more naturally into both game-level exports and the editor's Quick Play workflow.

Game-level export target

  • Release Package can export a game-level bundle.
  • The export includes the compiled level and its supporting files.

Reliable Quick Play updates

  • Unsaved previews use a content-addressed runtime map name, preventing an older BSP in an enabled archive from taking precedence.
  • Preview files are delivered as a temporary PK3 and the player page is cache-busted for each launch.
Previous release

August 5, 2026 - Editor Workflow Improvements

Selection, geometry editing, and brush creation are more consistent across the 2D and 3D views.

Selection and geometry editing

  • Selecting a brush or face now selects its texture in the texture panel.
  • Edges can be selected in the 3D view and are highlighted at a steady two-pixel screen width.
  • The transform gizmo uses solid geometry for better visibility.
  • Moving a selected face with the gizmo edits that face instead of moving the entire brush.
  • Option-click selects faces while editing polygons in the 3D view.

Brush creation and tools

  • New brushes inherit their depth from the centers of the other two orthographic views instead of always starting on the world origin.
  • Brush and entity tool options open on a second click, with a visible chevron indicating that the active tool has additional options.
Earlier release

August 4, 2026 - Portable Project Settings

Project configuration now travels with each map, keeping editing and build behavior consistent when maps are reopened or shared.

Map-local project configuration

  • Project Settings are embedded in the saved `.map` file and restored automatically when the map opens.
  • Build options, asset ordering, entity-definition sources, diagnostics preferences, and editor overrides round-trip with the document and follow undo, redo, and recovery.
  • Q3Edit removes the embedded metadata from compiler input, while PK3 binary data remains in browser asset storage.
  • Older maps without embedded settings continue to use the browser-stored project configuration as a fallback.
Earlier release

July 29, 2026 - UV Editing Update

More precise scaling controls and clearer orientation feedback make direct texture editing easier to understand and more predictable.

Scaling controls

  • Resize along one texture axis with edge handles, or scale both axes together from the corner handles.
  • Scaling keeps the opposite edge or corner anchored, so the part of the texture you are aligning stays fixed while you adjust its size.
  • Hold Shift for fine linear adjustments or Alt for coarse changes, with cursor directions that follow the visible handle orientation.

Orientation & feedback

  • Surface previews now open in a stable outside-facing orientation for walls, floors, and ceilings, with an optional Match 3D view mode when camera-relative editing is more useful.
  • U and V texture-axis indicators use matching colors across the preview and editor viewports, while the normal indicator shows which direction points outside the brush.
  • Camera-relative previews and controls rotate or mirror together, and the status display identifies inside-facing views that make textures appear mirrored.

Isometric 3D views

  • Switch the 3D viewport between perspective and orthographic projection, or jump directly to northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest isometric presets.
  • Projection changes preserve the current framing, while orthographic wheel zoom, screen-plane movement, orbiting, picking, and transform gizmos remain aligned with what is displayed.
  • The viewport label identifies orthographic and isometric views, and fullscreen walkthroughs automatically return to perspective projection.

Textured 2D views

  • Enable Textured 2D Views from the View menu to preview mapped brush and patch textures in the XY, XZ, and YZ viewports.
  • Texture offset, scale, and rotation are preserved, including curved patch UVs and terrain cell materials.
  • Grid lines, selection shading, and editing overlays stay visible above the texture preview, while missing or shader-only images retain the normal flat-color display.

Editor Fill rendering

  • Use the new Editor Fill renderer mode for a 3D drafting view that matches the blue wireframe and translucent fill language of the 2D viewports.
  • See-through faces and blue edges reveal geometry behind other brushes, while selection outlines and transform controls retain their normal highlight colors.
Earlier release

July 28, 2026 - Surface Workflow Update

A more direct texture-editing workflow and a broad interface consistency pass make detailed surface work faster and the editor easier to navigate.

Surface Inspector

  • Edit alignment and UVs together in the right sidebar, with the selected faces remaining visible while you work.
  • Inspect multiple faces side by side or overlaid, clip previews to their face shapes, and use auto-fit to keep small or heavily scaled surfaces readable.
  • Shift, rotate, and scale textures with responsive direct-manipulation handles, including modifier keys for fine and coarse adjustments.
  • Fit textures by width or height, reset alignment, transfer continuity across connected faces, and control texture-axis overlays independently from the panel.

Interface polish

  • Buttons, dropdowns, text fields, number inputs, and checkboxes now share more consistent sizing, spacing, colors, and alignment across sidebars and dialogs.
  • Number inputs have editor-styled steppers in Chrome, while controls and cards remain coherent across dark and light themes.
  • The texture and object panels have clearer structure, and shared dialog behavior makes closing and dismissing editor workflows more predictable.
  • Automation can select an editor theme through the URL, making visual checks more repeatable for both people and coding agents.
Earlier release

July 27, 2026 - Editor Tools Update

A major expansion of Q3Edit’s geometry, texturing, organization, and review tools for building and maintaining more complex maps.

Geometry editing

  • Edit brush faces directly, split and weld edges, place three-point clipping planes, intersect brushes, and quickly repeat the last move, rotate, scale, or flip.
  • Create hollow rooms with controlled wall thickness, apply conservative auto-caulk, and generate compiler-safe rocks and icosahedrons.
  • Smooth, thicken, subdivide, and deform patches, with the full set of existing patch operations now available from the Patch menu.

Textures & shaders

  • Use the interactive UV editor to shift, rotate, scale, fit, and clip texture previews with responsive direct-manipulation handles.
  • Fit textures independently by width or height and choose axial, camera, top, front, or side projection while preserving scale.
  • Create and validate project shader files inside Q3Edit, organize textures with persistent tags, and reload changed assets without reopening the map.
  • Preview surface-alignment changes live before committing them.

Organization & review

  • Save reusable selection sets, create linked geometry groups, and compare map revisions with object-aware two-way diff and three-way merge tools.
  • Select matching textures or connected entity chains, duplicate objects while remapping internal links, and export selected or visible geometry as Wavefront OBJ.
  • Choose from ten viewport layouts, inspect categorized entity properties, and see live selection dimensions in the 2D views.

Diagnostics & workflow

  • Apply safe fixes directly from diagnostics, visualize point-light radii and spotlight cones, and use expanded filters to focus crowded views.
  • New camera commands make it easier to look through entities and paths, move or paste objects at the camera, and step between floor levels.
  • Compile settings, release packaging, entity spawnflags, surface tools, and viewport grids received a broad usability and reliability pass.
Earlier release

July 24, 2026 - Update

Safer browser sessions, a unified history of editor activity, and interface refinements for a more dependable everyday workflow.

Recovery & history

  • Q3Edit now continuously saves the current document to browser storage and restores the map, filename, revision, and unsaved state after an accidental reload.
  • The docked Activity panel brings editor changes, file operations, BSP and Quick Play builds, MCP calls, errors, and recovery events into one chronological history.
  • Activity filters make it easy to focus on editor, MCP, file, build, or system events, while restored entries are clearly marked as historical and no longer undoable.
  • New activity follows the end of the console automatically, but the panel preserves the scroll position and expanded rows when reviewing earlier events.

Dialog workflow

  • Press Escape to activate the topmost dialog’s real Cancel or Close action consistently across the editor, preserving each workflow’s normal cleanup.
  • Release notes, preferences, diagnostics, exact primitive creation, MCP connection, model selection, compilation, and other editor dialogs now share the same dismissal behavior.

Website polish

  • The landing-page navigation remains readable without wrapping on narrow screens.
  • The editor screenshot caption now aligns more naturally with the visible browser frame across desktop and smaller layouts.
Earlier release

July 22, 2026 - Update 2

Bot-ready Quick Play, clearer MCP onboarding, and editing refinements that make testing maps and everyday construction more dependable.

Quick Play with bots

  • Generate Quake III AAS navigation alongside compiled BSP files through the bundled browser-based BSPC port, so custom maps can support bots.
  • Configure Quick Play quality, bot count, and bot skill once, then automatically compile, launch, and add up to three opponents with the remembered settings.
  • Start Quick Play from the persistent play button at the bottom of the tool strip or press F5, while keeping detailed options and manual BSP compilation available from the File menu.

MCP & website

  • Open the MCP installation guide directly from the Connect MCP dialog, with the same local AI map-authoring workflow now introduced on the public landing page.
  • Use clearer, non-wrapping landing-page actions with consistent Phosphor icons to reach Q3Edit, the MCP setup guide, and release notes.

Editing refinements

  • Resize texture-locked brushes without stretching their materials or accumulating texture drift during a drag, for both classic and brush-primitive projections.
  • Selecting Move or Resize now returns to the Select tool instead of leaving a conflicting placement tool active.
  • Choosing a point entity class closes the Place Entity picker immediately, while filtering the list keeps it open.
Earlier release

July 22, 2026 - MCP Preview

A complete local AI map-authoring workflow for Codex and Claude, with live editing, richer construction tools, visual review, diagnostics, compilation, and play-preview control.

Live AI authoring

  • Connect Codex or Claude to the current Q3Edit document through the experimental local MCP companion and see atomic map edits appear immediately in every viewport.
  • Target multiple open editor sessions reliably by filename, revision, connection ID, and last-active time instead of depending on whichever tab connected most recently.
  • Use revision-checked previews, symbolic references, persistent named groups, normal undo and redo, and exact selection references for safer iterative editing.
  • Follow every MCP request, result, failure, and revision change in the docked activity console or its append-only local transcript.

Construction & discovery

  • Create boxes, wedges, cylinders, stairs, arbitrary convex brushes, curved patches, paths, rooms, gameplay helpers, controlled patterns, and semantic areas and connections.
  • Refine geometry with clipping, hollowing, CSG subtraction, chamfers, face offsets, transforms, detail or structural classification, per-face materials, and patch thickening.
  • Search and inspect textures, shaders, entity classes, properties, groups, spatial plans, construction paths, map objects, and the user’s current selection without guessing names or references.
  • Carry structured style and spatial intent between agent sessions, with texture-projection guidance and abstract design patterns that encourage more varied layouts.

Review, compile & play

  • Capture perspective, top, front, and side editor views with shared framing, coordinate overlays, sections, x-ray rendering, and optional sky, tool, group, or marker hiding.
  • Review geometry, textures, gameplay placement, jump trajectories, routes, spatial composition, and overall design through structured diagnostics linked back to map references.
  • Run compiler-safe preflight checks, save and compile maps, export BSP artifacts, reuse unchanged builds, and inspect structured BSP, VIS, and lighting results.
  • Launch the compiled map, wait for renderer readiness, position the game camera at coordinates, entities, or player spawns, and detect unusable black screenshots.

Local companion

  • Use the deployed q3edit.com editor while the MCP server, files, compiler, and logs remain on the user’s computer.
  • Pair the browser with a per-start code from the View menu or status bar; local and q3edit.com editor origins are validated before a document can connect.
  • Install Q3Edit plugins for Codex and Claude Code so ordinary map-editing prompts route to the MCP tools instead of generic browser automation.
Earlier release

July 21, 2026 Update

A focused workflow and rendering update with faster multi-object editing, a more flexible workspace, and closer agreement between the editor and Quick Play.

Editing workflow

  • Edit shared entity properties across multiple selected entities from the Entity Inspector, including adding and removing keys for the whole selection.
  • Start marquee selections over brushes in locked groups while the locked geometry itself remains protected from selection and editing.

Workspace

  • Show or hide the right sidebar from the View menu or the top-right toolbar button, and drag its edge to choose a comfortable width.
  • Solo any sidebar panel to temporarily collapse the others, with sidebar visibility, width, and panel states remembered between sessions.

Rendering & Quick Play

  • Dynamic-light preview now chooses up to 16 lights by their influence on the current view, keeping large and heavily lit maps accurate as you move around.
  • Quick Play now resolves mixed-case shader image paths correctly, preventing fitted textures such as jump pads from compiling at the wrong scale.
Earlier release

July 2026 Update

A major editor update with richer Quake III compatibility, modern entity and model workflows, advanced geometry tools, camera paths, project configuration, and a more dependable editing core.

Entities & models

  • Search game entity definitions while placing entities, then edit typed properties in the Entity Inspector.
  • Choose MD3 models and skins with textured, drag-to-rotate previews in both the browser and editor view.
  • Compile misc_model entities with Q3Map2-compatible origin, scale, yaw, pitch, and roll transforms.

Maps & assets

  • Load, edit, and round-trip classic brushes and brushDef map formats with clearer parser diagnostics.
  • Manage an ordered PK3 asset stack with shader-aware texture lookup and JPEG image support.
  • Quick Play now keeps base-game assets separate and handles browser mouse capture more reliably.

Geometry & terrain

  • Create precisely sized boxes, cylinders, cones, spheres, and pyramids with the Exact Primitive dialog.
  • Use expanded patch operations for rows, columns, subdivisions, caps, thickening, fitting, and alignment.
  • Sculpt, smooth, erode, stitch, and texture terrain with a dedicated inspector and brush controls.

Organization & paths

  • Create persistent named groups, then select, hide, lock, and manage their members from the sidebar.
  • Build open or closed camera splines with timing, FOV, look targets, actions, scrubbing, and looping playback.
  • Generate smart camera paths and func_train paths directly from the editor.

View & customization

  • Switch renderer modes, texture filtering, display categories, and a tuned dynamic-light preview.
  • Customize shortcuts, themes, viewport layouts, and editor defaults in global Preferences.
  • Keep game paths, assets, compiler options, entity sources, and overrides in separate Project Settings.

Reliability & diagnostics

  • Document revisions, unsaved-state tracking, centralized mutations, and consistent undo transactions protect edits.
  • Inspect map and entity diagnostics, find brushes by address, and run JSON brush macros as one undoable action.
  • Review live MCP tool activity, arguments, results, failures, and revision changes from the View menu.
  • Expanded regression coverage protects map round-tripping, geometry editing, assets, entities, and editor workflows.