New version is up
http://www.gizstuff.com/victrix/beefyctf/
Full readme:
BEEFY CTF version .2
Date: 11/20/05
http://www.gizstuff.com/victrix/beefyctf
Current test server: None yet! Contact if you can provide server space.
PREMISE
-------
Quake is more fun when fights last longer than 3 seconds. Flag runs are more fun when the Flag Carrier can take more than 3 hits. Rocket battles are more fun when you can bounce a person with more than 3 rockets. Beefy CTF is designed to enhance players to a serious level of toughness, rather than the one rail is lethal style 'pioneered' by Q3 and continued in Q4. If you prefer sturdy players and longer battles, this mod is for you. If, on the other hand, you are completely happy with Q3/Q4 vanilla, stay far away!
The primary changes that affect player sturdiness are the removal of health and armor bleed, and a general increase in the amount of armor given to the player. Additionally, team armor damage is removed if team damage is disabled, meaning the Flag Carrier will no longer get wasted by friendlies while getting mobbed by enemy players. Several other changes emphasize player toughness, most other tweaks are either general annoyances (eg, Machinegun volume), or improvements to the base game (new weaponswitch code).
For any version of Beefy CTF, check the changelog here in the readme to see exactly what changes have been made to the game.
SETUP
-----
1) Place the beefyctf.pk4 file in a \beefyctf directory under your Quake 4 directory (eg H:\games\Quake 4\beefyctf\beefyctf.pk4)
2) Start Q4 with +set fs_game beefyctf (eg "H:\games\Quake 4\quake4.exe" +disconnect +set fs_game beefyctf)
3) Connect to a Beefy CTF server!
The use of an external server browser is highly recommended, as the in-game browser is not particularly useful. Try Echelon (
http://q4echelon.thewizclan.com/) for a simple, no-frills server browser.
Configuring weapon switch priorities
------------------------------------
Normally, when your currently selected weapon runs out of ammo, Q4 automatically switches you to the 'highest' weapon in your inventory - which is rarely the best weapon for the current situation, or your preferred 'fallback' weapon. This cvar allows you to set your weapon switch priority preferences, in any arbitrary order, and allows you to use the Gauntlet as a 'stop' to prevent from autoswitching to potentially suicidal weapons (typically the DMG, but could be anything explosive - rl, nailgun, grenades, etc)
Set the new cvar beefy_weaponSwitchOrder from its default string "0,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" to your custom string
To configure it, set the weapons in your preferred order
0 = Dark Matter Gun
9 = Lightning Gun
8 = Railgun
7 = Rocket Launcher
6 = Nailgun
5 = Grenade Launcher
4 = Hyperblaster
3 = Shotgun
2 = Machinegun
1 = Gauntlet
If you don't fill the string completely, and you don't have one of your preferred weapons when your ammo runs out, you autoswitch to your 'highest' currently available weapon, as Q4 normally does
For example, if you want your order to be Rocket, Lightning, Shotgun, but you don't care about the rest, set your string to
beefy_weaponSwitchOrder = "7,9,3"
But if you want a fully custom order, fill every weapon in
beefy_weaponSwitchOrder = "7,3,9,6,4,2,8,1,0,5" - in this case, the Dark Matter Gun and Grenade Launcher will NEVER be automatically switched to - you'll switch to your Gauntlet should you run out of ammo for other weapons. You can use the Gauntlet as a 'stop' to avoid switching to weapons that can damage you, for example. The same pattern ending in 1 would work just as well.
At some point we'll add a menu option with this and other Beefy CTF tweakable attributes
Newbies, if you don't know how to set this, hit ctrl+alt+` (or equivalent on your keyboard) to access the console, then type in beefy_weaponSwitchOrder = "your numbers separated by commas"
If you type seta com_allowconsole 1 while at the console, you can access the console simply by pressing ` in the future (no need to hold ctrl+alt).
The console also features command completion, so if you press TAB in the middle of a cvar, the console will fill in the rest (or show you multiples if more than one cvar matches). Typing beef and hitting TAB will fill in the rest of the cvar automatically.
NEW CHANGES in .2
-----------------
Added cvar to allow player configured weapon priorities (so you switch to weapons in the order of your choice, rather than 'highest to lowest')
Removed Team Armor damage when si_teamDamage is 0 (why the hell was this in there to begin with?)
Fixed FOV to allow for ranges from 30 to 170, no longer clamped to 90-110, enjoy
Lowered Machinegun volume to a less irritating level
Quad is now Quad again :P
Added version info on loading screen, rather useless. Need a game browser visible cvar, si_version doesn't seem to be usable
CHANGES in .1
-------------
REMOVED Armor and Health Bleed completely. Beefy.
REMOVED Falling Damage. Chunky.
Increased Small Armor pickup to 75 armor. Thugly.
Increased Large Armor pickup to 125 armor. Studly.
Increased Health and Armor shards to 10 Health and Armor respectively. Meaty.
Railgun nerfed severely. 45 damage now. Sorry railboys! Use it at a distance, don't expect to kill people in one shot and a few machinegun plinks. The days of it grossly outdamaging all other weapons on a per hit basis are gone. Still very useful for long range combat, mid range combat, odd angles, and any time someone foolishly hits a jump pad, but it won't dominate games anymore, which is the intent. Larger hitboxes, highly skilled players, low pings, and high framerates put that weapon into the realm of extremely unpleasant. Rocket whoring recommended. Expect lots of close range fights.
FUTURE CHANGES
--------------
Being within a certain radius of the Flag Carrier will give bonuses to 'escorts'
Being within a certain radius of the Flag in the base will give bonuses to 'defenders'
Possibly add Runes, at least for public games
DOWN THE ROAD
-------------
Look at enabling a set of server variables that can be easily configured and loaded as a 'batch'. Particularly useful for various leagues/ladders, as they could easily get servers to conform to a certain set of configurations
See about enabling more cvars that allow players to more easily reach a stable 60fps
Look at allowing the player to customize their hud. I'd rather not hardcode a 'new' 'better' hud when the tools are in place to allow nicely customized uis.
Grapple? Other alternate movement tool?
More as they occur
Mappers! I'd like to talk to you. Ex 'pro' or at least 'know they're actually skilled' players from QW/Q2/Q3, and mappers with D3 experience would all be useful. This mod to CTF gameplay is going to require larger maps, to give more room to breathe. The base Q4 ctf maps are ok, but the distance between the bases is designed for caps that take a few seconds. I'd like to make that process a bit more epic. Flag running and escorting should actually mean something. Get in touch with me if you're interested.
Another issue that's blatantly apparent with the base maps - rapid strafe jumping (and sometimes just hitting jump pads and steering yourself!) often results in slamming into a low ceiling, or some stupid pipe sticking out of the wall. Lame! Needs more space! More room for beefy brawls.
CREDITS
-------
Designed, built, and tested by Phillip Marcus (eg|victrix) and Derick Linkous (eg|giz)
Other bitches too busy writing sock sorting programs to help
#evilgamers on the GameSurge irc network
Contact me at
egopowered@hotmail.com for questions, comments, or hot sex
In terms of files or other stuff, steal as much as you want. I'd also like to share the source, but I'll probably wait until this is made into a sourceforge (or similar) project to allow for easy code distribution.
http://www.gizstuff.com/victrix/beefyctf