diff --git a/tools/quake3/common/stringfixedsize.h b/tools/quake3/common/stringfixedsize.h
index 7caf4bc8..22a885d9 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/common/stringfixedsize.h
+++ b/tools/quake3/common/stringfixedsize.h
@@ -37,8 +37,11 @@ public:
 	StringFixedSize() {
 		clear();
 	}
-	explicit StringFixedSize( const char* string ){
-		operator()( string );
+	template<typename ... Args, typename = std::enable_if_t<sizeof...(Args) != 1 || //prevent override of copy constructor
+	             !std::is_same_v<StringFixedSize,
+	                             std::decay_t<std::tuple_element_t<0, std::tuple<Args...>>>>>>
+	explicit StringFixedSize( Args&& ... args ){
+		operator()( std::forward<Args>( args ) ... );
 	}
 	std::size_t write( const char* buffer, std::size_t length ) override {
 		if( m_length + length < SIZE ){
@@ -53,15 +56,14 @@ public:
 		return length;
 	}
 
-	StringFixedSize& operator=( const char* string ){
-		return operator()( string );
+	void operator=( const char* string ){
+		operator()( string );
 	}
 
 	template<typename ... Args>
-	StringFixedSize& operator()( Args&& ... args ){
+	void operator()( Args&& ... args ){
 		clear();
 		( *this << ... << std::forward<Args>( args ) );
-		return *this;
 	}
 
 	operator const char*() const {
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/bsp.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/bsp.cpp
index 284ea3e0..a1ef1ec8 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/bsp.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/bsp.cpp
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static void ProcessAdvertisements() {
 			bspAdvertisement_t& ad = bspAds.emplace_back();
 			ad.cellId = e.intForKey( "cellId" );
 			// copy and clear the rest of memory // check for overflow by String64
-			const auto modelKey = String64()( e.valueForKey( "model" ) );
+			const String64 modelKey( e.valueForKey( "model" ) );
 			strncpy( ad.model, modelKey, sizeof( ad.model ) );
 
 			const bspModel_t& adModel = bspModels[atoi( modelKey.c_str() + 1 )];
@@ -396,8 +396,7 @@ static void ProcessWorldModel( entity_t& e ){
 
 	/* ydnar: fog hull */
 	if ( e.read_keyvalue( value, "_foghull" ) ) {
-		const auto shader = String64()( "textures/", value );
-		MakeFogHullSurfs( shader );
+		MakeFogHullSurfs( String64( "textures/", value ) );
 	}
 
 	/* ydnar: bug 645: do flares for lights */
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/bspfile_abstract.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/bspfile_abstract.cpp
index c82d56b6..b2c1beb7 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/bspfile_abstract.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/bspfile_abstract.cpp
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ static void SwapBSPFile(){
 			const shaderInfo_t *si = ShaderInfoForShader( shader.shader );
 			if ( !strEmptyOrNull( si->remapShader ) ) {
 				// copy and clear the rest of memory // check for overflow by String64
-				const auto remap = String64()( si->remapShader );
+				const String64 remap( si->remapShader );
 				strncpy( shader.shader, remap, sizeof( shader.shader ) );
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/map.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/map.cpp
index 05af398e..485b0dd6 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/map.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/map.cpp
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ static void ParseRawBrush( bool onlyLights ){
 
 		/* read shader name */
 		GetToken( false );
-		const auto shader = String64()( "textures/", token );
+		const String64 shader( "textures/", token );
 
 		/* set default flags and values */
 		shaderInfo_t *si = onlyLights? &shaderInfo[ 0 ]
@@ -1440,7 +1440,7 @@ static void LoadEntityIndexMap( entity_t& e ){
 			if ( space == NULL ) {
 				space = offset + strlen( offset );
 			}
-			im->offsets[ i ] = atof( String64()( StringRange( offset, space ) ) );
+			im->offsets[ i ] = atof( String64( StringRange( offset, space ) ) );
 			if ( space == NULL ) {
 				break;
 			}
@@ -1576,7 +1576,7 @@ static bool ParseMapEntity( bool onlyLights, bool noCollapseGroups, int mapEntit
 	const char *value;
 	if( mapEnt.read_keyvalue( value, "_celshader" ) ||
 	    entities[ 0 ].read_keyvalue( value, "_celshader" ) ){
-		celShader = ShaderInfoForShader( String64()( "textures/", value ) );
+		celShader = ShaderInfoForShader( String64( "textures/", value ) );
 		Sys_Printf( "Entity %d (%s) has cel shader %s\n", mapEnt.mapEntityNum, classname, celShader->shader.c_str() );
 	}
 	else{
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/model.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/model.cpp
index 10b933df..a01292eb 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/model.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/model.cpp
@@ -1127,14 +1127,7 @@ void InsertModel( const char *name, const char *skin, int frame, const Matrix4&
 
 		/* shader renaming for sof2 */
 		if ( renameModelShaders ) {
-			auto shaderName = String64()( PathExtensionless( picoShaderName ) );
-			if ( spawnFlags & eRMG_BSP ) {
-				shaderName << "_RMG_BSP";
-			}
-			else{
-				shaderName << "_BSP";
-			}
-			si = ShaderInfoForShader( shaderName );
+			si = ShaderInfoForShader( String64( PathExtensionless( picoShaderName ), ( spawnFlags & eRMG_BSP )? "_RMG_BSP" : "_BSP" ) );
 		}
 		else{
 			si = ShaderInfoForShader( picoShaderName );
@@ -1382,7 +1375,7 @@ void AddTriangleModels( entity_t& eparent ){
 		shaderInfo_t *celShader;
 		if( const char *value; e.read_keyvalue( value, "_celshader" ) ||
 		    entities[ 0 ].read_keyvalue( value, "_celshader" ) ){
-			celShader = ShaderInfoForShader( String64()( "textures/", value ) );
+			celShader = ShaderInfoForShader( String64( "textures/", value ) );
 		}
 		else{
 			celShader = globalCelShader.empty() ? NULL : ShaderInfoForShader( globalCelShader );
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/patch.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/patch.cpp
index 36ac36e1..68490baa 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/patch.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/patch.cpp
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ void ParsePatch( bool onlyLights, entity_t& mapEnt, int mapPrimitiveNum ){
 
 	/* get shader name */
 	GetToken( true );
-	const auto shader = String64()( "textures/", token );
+	const String64 shader( "textures/", token );
 
 	Parse1DMatrix( 5, info );
 	m.width = info[0];
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/shaders.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/shaders.cpp
index ae342483..29560fad 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/shaders.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/shaders.cpp
@@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ shaderInfo_t *ShaderInfoForShader( const char *shaderName ){
 	}
 
 	/* strip off extension */
-	auto shader = String64()( PathExtensionless( shaderName ) );
+	String64 shader( PathExtensionless( shaderName ) );
 
 	/* search for it */
 	deprecationDepth = 0;
diff --git a/tools/quake3/q3map2/surface.cpp b/tools/quake3/q3map2/surface.cpp
index 9bd410f5..977eb824 100644
--- a/tools/quake3/q3map2/surface.cpp
+++ b/tools/quake3/q3map2/surface.cpp
@@ -667,8 +667,8 @@ static shaderInfo_t *GetIndexedShader( const shaderInfo_t *parent, const indexMa
 
 	/* get the shader */
 	shaderInfo_t *si = ShaderInfoForShader( ( minShaderIndex == maxShaderIndex )?
-	                            String64()( "textures/", im->shader.c_str(), '_', int(maxShaderIndex) ):
-	                            String64()( "textures/", im->shader.c_str(), '_', int(minShaderIndex), "to", int(maxShaderIndex) ) );
+	                            String64( "textures/", im->shader, '_', int(maxShaderIndex) ):
+	                            String64( "textures/", im->shader, '_', int(minShaderIndex), "to", int(maxShaderIndex) ) );
 
 	/* inherit a few things from parent shader */
 	if ( parent->globalTexture ) {
@@ -759,10 +759,10 @@ mapDrawSurface_t *DrawSurfaceForSide( const entity_t& e, const brush_t& b, const
 	}
 
 	/* ydnar: sky hack/fix for GL_CLAMP borders on ati cards */
-	if ( skyFixHack && !strEmpty( si->skyParmsImageBase ) ) {
+	if ( skyFixHack && !si->skyParmsImageBase.empty() ) {
 		//%	Sys_FPrintf( SYS_VRB, "Enabling sky hack for shader %s using env %s\n", si->shader, si->skyParmsImageBase );
 		for( const auto suffix : { "_lf", "_rt", "_ft", "_bk", "_up", "_dn" } )
-			DrawSurfaceForShader( String64()( si->skyParmsImageBase, suffix ) );
+			DrawSurfaceForShader( String64( si->skyParmsImageBase, suffix ) );
 	}
 
 	/* ydnar: gs mods */