_____________________________

Rocketeer Alpha 2.44 - README
_____________________________


Website: rocketeer.unreal.fr
IRC: #rocketeer on QuakeNet

$Id: Rocketeer_README.txt 34 2004-12-16 13:32:57Z rork $

SUMMARY
    0. ABOUT
    1. INSTALLATION
    2. SETTING UP A SERVER
    3. CLIENT SETTINGS
    4. CONSOLE COMMANDS
    5. FAQ


______________________________________________________________________________
0. ABOUT

ROCKETEER (RKT for short) brings Rocket Arena gameplay to UT2004:

    - Multi-arena maps with lobby;
    - Concurrent games;
    - Team lines;
    - Standard maps support.

The game is played in rounds. At each round start, players from both teams
spawn with all weapons, ammo and full armor.

When you die, you have to wait the next round to respawn. The first team to
be eliminated (all players dead) loses the round, the other one wins the
round.

By default, you don't get damage from yourself, from your teammates nor from
falling. Only the enemy team players can damage you -- except if some environ-
mental hazard has been setup by the author of the arena ;)


______________________________________________________________________________
1. INSTALLATION

Use the UMod installer, Rocketeer_Alpha2.44.umod.zip, or decompress the zip
file Rocketeer_Alpha2.44.zip in your UT2004 folder.

    /!\ Do *not* put any RKT files outside UT2004\Rocketeer ! RKT is now a mod
        and has its own directory structure, so if you install its files into
        the main UT2004 folders (UT2004\System, etc) you may end up with a
        broken install!

You should end up with the following directory structure:

    UT2004
      Rocketeer
        Help
        Maps
        Sounds
        StaticMeshes
        System
        Textures

If you don't have this structure, then you didn't install RKT properly and
you'd better clean up and do it again.

______________________________________________________________________________
2. SETTING UP A SERVER

Setting up a server is done by editing Rocketeer.ini. No easy, GUI interface
for that yet :s

Look at the end of this section for a sample Rocketeer.ini.


Launching a server
==================

To launch a server running RKT, you have to specify the mod directory on its
commandline:

    ucc server <map> -mod=Rocketeer

Example:

    ucc server RKT-MoonFlyer2 -mod=Rocketeer


Round settings
==============

You can set the maximum number of rounds played in a match by setting
variable MaxRounds in [RocketeerGame.RKT_ArenaRocketeerGame].

At the beginning of each round, there is an optional "walk-in period" during
which players can move, fire and rocket jump but nobody takes damage. This is
to allow team regroups. The following variables control the walk-in:

    Setting                 Default  Description
    ----------------------  -------- ------------------------------------------
    MaxRounds               3        Maximum number of rounds in a match (odd
                                     number)
    bRoundTeamJoinAllowed   False    Whether joining a playing team during a
                                     round is allowed
    bWarmup                 False    Warmup period before actual match?
    bWalkIn                 True     Whether there is a walk-in period
    WalkInDelay             5        Duration of walk-in
    bWalkInFiringAllowed    True     Whether firing is allowed during walk-in
    bWalkInTeamJoinAllowed  True     Whether joining a playing team during
                                     walk-in is allowed
    InterRoundDelay         5        Delay between rounds, in seconds
    InterMatchDelay         10       Delay between matches, in seconds
    bDamageScoring          True     Whether scoring is damage-based instead of
                                     frag-based


Weapon configuration
====================

Several weapon game settings are available separately for each arena. These
options can be set in section [RocketeerGame.RKT_ArenaRocketeerGame] of
Rocketeer.ini:

    Setting               Default Description
    -----------------     ------- ---------------------------------------------
    bMultiRockets         False   Enable rocket launcher's multirocket fire
    bShieldGunShield      False   Enable shieldgun shield
    bAssaultGrenades      False   Enable assault rifle grenades
    bChargedBio           True    Enable bio rifle's charged fire
    bLinkLinking          False   Enable linking with teammates
    bFlakChunks           false   Enable flak secondary fire chunks
    bChildLightningBolts  False   Enable sniper rifle's child bolts

You'll notice that in order to reduce spam / lucky shots, flak explosions
don't spawn schrapnel by default (bFlakChunks=False) and that the sniper
rifle's lightning doesn't spawn child lightning bolts at the point of impact
of the main bolt (bChildLightningBolts=False).


Player loadout
==============

A loadout is defined by a Loadouts= line. There can be an unlimited number
of loadouts.

    Loadouts=(Name=<name>,Health=<health>,Armor=<armor>,Weapons=<weapons>,
              Arsenal=<arsenal>)
    Loadouts=...

where

    <name> is the name of the loadout, e.g. "Test"
    <health> is the amount of health players start with, e.g. 100
    <armor> is the amount of armor players start with, e.g. 150
    <weapons> is the list of all the weapons given to the players,
              e.g. "R40,K30,S20" (see explanation below)
    <arsenal> is the name of the arsenal the weapons are taken from.

Note that no spaces are allowed in a Loadouts line.

Available arsenals are "Standard" (all weapons are stock UT2004) and
"Rocketeer" (see below).
	
The syntax of <weapons> is as follows (no spaces allowed within the
string either):

    <weapons> ::= <weaponcode1><ammo1>,...,<weaponcodeN><ammoN>

with

    <weaponcodeI> the one-letter code for a weapon
and <ammoI> the ammo amount for weapon <weaponcodeI>.

A weapon ammo amount syntax is
	
    <a0>[:<a1>]
	
where <a0> is the amount for the primary firemode and <a1> (optional,
defaults to 0) is the amount for secondary firemode.

The one-letter weapon codes are:

    A - Assault Rifle
    B - Bio Rifle
    F - Flak Cannon
    H - Shieldgun
    K - Shock Rifle
    L - Link Gun
    M - Minigun
    R - Rocket Launcher
    S - Sniper Rifle

The "Rocketeer" arsenal also has the following code:
	
    G - Grenade Launcher

Examples: The Standard and Rocketeer loadouts are defined like this:

    Loadouts=(Name="Standard",Health=100,Armor=100,
              Weapons="R40,H100,A50,F20,L120,K40,S20,B50,M50",
              Arsenal="Standard")

    Loadouts=(Name="Rocketeer",Health=100,Armor=100,
              Weapons="R40,H100,A50,F20,L120,K40,S20,G20",
              Arsenal="Rocketeer")

and a test loadout using weapons from the standard arsenal:
	
    Loadouts=(Name="Test",Health=100,Armor=150,Weapons="R40,G30,S20",
              Arsenal="Standard")

The loadout to be used in-game is specified by the config variable
CurrentLoadout.

Example: Using the Rocketeer loadout:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_LoadoutManager]
    CurrentLoadout=Rocketeer

Notes:

    * Presets "Standard", "Rocketeer" and "RA:UT1" are hardcoded and don't
      appear in the config file.

    /!\ In case a user-defined preset has the same name as one of these, it
        will be ignored and a warning logged.


Mutators
========

The only RKT mutator available at the moment is "Adrenaline Rewards", which
activates adrenaline (off by default in RKT) and gives adrenaline when you
are awarded a reward for a nice action (air rox, rocket snipe combo).

    /!\ Rocketeer now discards all standard mutators.

Standard mutators are discarded by default because in order to support multi-
arena maps and concurrent games, the base game code had to be altered a lot,
and most mutators won't work. Very simple mutators like Big Head can work,
though.

If you insist on trying to run a standard mutator, you can force its acceptance
by RKT by adding a ForcedMutators= line in Rocketeer.ini, like so:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_GlobalGame]
    ForcedMutators=<Mut1>
    ForcedMutators=<Mut2>
    (etc)

where <Mut1>, <Mut2>, and so on are the fully qualifed names
(<package>.<mutclass>) of the standard mutators you want RKT to accept.

Note:

    * Adding a mutator to the ForcedMutators list won't add the mutator to the
      game. All it does is make RKT not discard it. You still have to add the
      mutators the usual way (in-game menu, commandline, etc).

    * TTM and UTComp will always be discarded, even if added to the
      ForcedMutators list, since they aren't compatible with RKT.


Turning debugging off
=====================

Because RKT is still Alpha and we need as much detail as possible when you
report a bug, debugging is enabled by default.

This can however lead to very big log files and can slow done the server and
have a negative impact on gameplay. That's why you can turn it off; just add
the following lines to Rocketeer.ini:

[Rocketeer.RKT_Util]
bDebugging=False

[RocketeerDebug.RKT_MutArenaDebug]
bDebugging=False


Sample Rocketeer.ini
====================

[Rocketeer.RKT_GlobalGame]
ForcedMutators=UnrealGame.MutBigHead

[RocketeerGame.RKT_ArenaRocketeerGame]
MaxRounds=3
bWarmup=False
WarmupDelay=30
bWalkIn=True
WalkInDelay=5
bWalkInFiringAllowed=True
bWalkInTeamJoinAllowed=True
bRoundTeamJoinAllowed=False
InterRoundDelay=5
InterMatchDelay=10
bDamageScoring=True
bMultiRockets=False
bShieldGunShield=False
bAssaultGrenades=False
bChargedBio=True
bLinkLinking=False
bFlakChunks=False
bChildLightningBolts=False

[Rocketeer.RKT_MutPlayerLoadout]
CurrentLoadout=Rocketeer


______________________________________________________________________________
3. CLIENT SETTINGS

Running RKT
===========

There is two ways to run RKT:

    - Through the User Mods / Community menu by selecting Rocketeer in the list
      of installed mods and then clicking on Activate.

    - By creating a shortcut on your desktop: UT2004.exe -mod=Rocketeer
      and you can assign it the mod icon located in Rocketeer\Help.


Player settings
===============

These settings are in section [Rocketeer.RKT_Player] of RocketeerUser.ini.
If the section doesn't exist, create it.

    Setting                  Default  Description
    -------                  -------  --------------------
    bUseLobby                True     Spawn in the lobby when connecting
    bPopMenuOnEnteringArena  True     Pop up the menu when entering an arena
    bPopMenuOnEnteringLobby  False    Pop up the menu when entering the lobby
    bNoRealtimeView          True     Use arena screenshots instead of
                                      realtime views
    DefaultTeamName          (blank)  Name to use as default when creating a
                                      team
    DefaultTeamPassword      (blank)  Password to use as default when creating
                                      a team
    bPlayAltFireWarning      True     Whether to beep when trying to altfire
                                      and secondary is disabled
    bPlayHitsounds           True     Whether to play hitsounds
    bPlayRewards             True     Whether to play rewards
    bDisplayRewardBeacons    True     Whether to display reward beacons above
                                      players' heads.

See below for more reward settings.


More player settings
====================

You can turn off the "green ghost" effect (body deres'ing and slowly rising
into the air) by setting bGreenGhost=False in section [Rocketeer.RKT_Pawn]
of RocketeerUser.ini.


Play warning
============

When your team is the first in the waiting line, which means you'll get to play
the next match, your position in the line (indicated by a three-dots symbol)
starts blinking.


Messaging
=========

You can customize which messages are shown on the HUD and in the console for
several types of messages.

Traffic messages
----------------

The traffic messages are about who entered or left the server, who entered
which arena, etc. The TrafficMessaging option lets you decide which traffic
messages you want to have displayed. Add or modify the following section
in Rocketeer.ini:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_MsgTraffic]
    TrafficMessaging=TRAFFIC_All

The following values are available:

    Value                  Messages displayed
    -----                  ------------------
    TRAFFIC_None           No traffic messages displayed
    TRAFFIC_BuddiesOnly    Only shows traffic messages about buddies
    TRAFFIC_ArenaOnly      Only shows traffic relevant to the current arena
    TRAFFIC_All            Shows all traffic messages

The default is TM_All, ie. all traffic messages (for all players, in all
arenas) are displayed.

Death messages
--------------

Death messages can be turned on and off much like in xDeathMessage for
regular UT2004. Add or modify the following section in Rocketeer.ini:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_MsgDeath]
    bNoConsoleDeathMessages=False


Rewards
=======

Reward beacons are displayed over other players' heads abd can be toggled on
and off in section [Rocketeer.RKT_Player].

Your own rewards are displayed on the HUD as you get them. You can setup how
you want them displayed through variable SelfRewardsDisplay in section
[RocketeerGame.RKT_HudOverlayRewards] of RocketeerUser.ini. This variable
can take the following values:

    Value                          How displayed
    -----                          -------------
    SELFREWARDS_Off                Never
    SELFREWARDS_AlwaysShow         Permanently
    SELFREWARDS_ShowWhenAwarded    At the time it's awarded (default)

When set to SELFREWARDS_ShowWhenAwarded, rewards slide in and out of view on
the HUD as you get them and are shown for a limited amount of time.


Killer portrait
===============

When you are killed, a portrait of your killer is displayed on your HUD along
with his health and armor at the time he killed you.

This option is on by default (portrait shown) but you can disable it like this:

[RocketeerGame.RKT_HudOverlayKiller]
bShowKillerPortrait=False


Tweaks
======

There are several client-side graphical settings known as "tweaks" available.
They can be changed in-game using the command "tweak". See the Console Commands
section further down for more info on this command.

The tweaks are saved in RocketeerUser.ini in section [Rocketeer.RKT_PlayerTweaks]:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_PlayerTweaks]
    bNoViewShake=False
    RocketTrail=20
    RocketExplosion=6
    bNoRocketSmokeRing=False
    FlakTrail=35
    FlakExplosion=5
    bNoFlakSmokeRing=False
    bStraightLink=True
    bNoLinkPlasmaTrail=False
    bThinLightning=True
    bNoShieldChargeParticles=False

    /!\ Note that tweaks have not been updated to UT2004 yet. Expect most
        of them to have no effect. This will be corrected at some point.


The Lobby
=========

When you connect to a server, you first spawn in the lobby (unless you have
buseLobby=False). The lobby is the entry arena of the map and you don't get
to play in there: you select the arena you want to go play in.

In the lobby, players have a beacon and their name displayed on their head.
The color of a player's beacon depends on his buddy status: if he's a buddy,
the beacon is bright green while if he's not, the beacon is white. When his
status is unsure, the beacon is dark green.

The buddy status of a player is deemed "unsure" when his name matches the
name of one of your buddies but the case is different. Say I have a buddy
whose nick is "MoonFlyer" and a player with nick "MoOnFlyEr" is playing:
his buddy status is "unsure" because of the uppercase/lowercase differences.

If there are buddies of yours currently playing on the server, they will be
displayed on the left of the lobby HUD along with the number and name of the
arena they're playing in.

If you want to enter the arena where a buddy is playing, you can either pass
through a portal to that arena, type "EnterArena <number>" or just type
"Follow <BuddyName>".

Note that the Follow command also works in real arenas, not only in the
lobby.


Sample RocketeerUser.ini
========================

[Rocketeer.RKT_Player]
bUseLobby=True
bPopMenuOnEnteringArena=True
bNoRealtimeView=True
DefaultTeamName=
DefaultTeamPassword=
bAltDupsPrimary=False
bPlayAltFireWarning=True
bPlayHitSounds=True
bPlayRewards=True

[Rocketeer.RKT_Skinner]
bUseBrightSkins=False
bSkinDarkening=True

[Rocketeer.RKT_PlayerTweaks]
bNoViewShake=False
RocketTrail=20
RocketExplosion=6
bNoRocketSmokeRing=False
FlakTrail=35
FlakExplosion=5
bNoFlakSmokeRing=False
bStraightLink=True
bNoLinkPlasmaTrail=False
bThinLightning=True
bNoShieldChargeParticles=False

[RocketeerUI.RKT_HUDRocketeer]
bShowMatchStatus=True

[Rocketeer.RKT_MsgTraffic]
TrafficMessaging=TRAFFIC_All

[Rocketeer.RKT_MsgDeath]
bNoConsoleDeathMessages=False

[RocketeerGame.RKT_HudOverlayRewards]
SelfRewardsDisplay=SELFREWARDS_ShowWhenAwarded

[RocketeerGame.RKT_HudOverlayKiller]
bShowKillerPortrait=True


______________________________________________________________________________
4. CONSOLE COMMANDS

Note:

    * Console commands are case-insensitive. Case is used for clarity only.


The commands
============

Version

    Display both RKT and UT2004 versions in the console.

EnterArena <Arena#>
    <Arena#> ::= 0..<N-1> (N = number of arenas in the map)

    Enter the specified arena.

LeaveArena

    Leave the arena you're viewing/playing in. No effect in lobby.

NextArena

    View next arena. No effect in lobby.

PreviousArena

    View previous arena. No effect in lobby.

ArenaViewpoint

    When spectating, repositions the player at the arena viewpoint.

NewTeam <TeamName> [<Password>]

    Create a new team in the line with name <TeamName> and password
    <Password>. The password is optional.

JoinTeam <TeamName> [<Password>]

    Join the specified team. If the team is passworded, the password must be
    entered to be allowed to join the team.

LeaveTeam

    Leave the team you're in.

Follow <PlayerName>

    Search for the specified player in all arenas, and join the arena the
    player is found in. If several players with the same name are found,
    it reports the ambiguity.

GlobalSay <Msg>

    Send a global message. The message will be received by all players in
    all arenas, not just players in the same arena as the player that issued
    the command.

    You can bind command GlobalTalk to a key (e.g. set input G GlobalTalk) to
    type a global message in the same way as you do with Talk and TeamTalk.

    This is *not* a typo: you should bind GlobalTalk, *not* GlobalSay.

Tweak  <Twk> <Value>

    Enable/disable the client-side graphics tweak <Twk>. All tweaks are
    disabled by default. To revert integer tweaks to their default value,
    set to -1. Here is a list of all available tweaks:

        Tweak                     Description
        -----                     -----------
        NoViewShake               Don't shake the view when firing
        RocketTrail               Set size of rocket smoke puffs (0 = no smoke)
        RocketExplosion           Set rocket explosion visual/brightness
        NoRocketSmokeRing         No smoke in rocket explosions
        FlakTrail                 Set size of flak smoke puffs (0 = no smoke)
        FlakExplosion             Set flak explosion visual/brightness
        NoFlakSmokeRing           No smoke in flak explosions
        StraightLink              Make the link beam straight
        NoLinkPlasmaTrail         No trail for linkgun's primary fire projectile
        ThinLightning             Rail-like sniper beam
        NoShieldChargeParticles   No particles when charging shield's primary

Bskin 0|1

    Toggles the use of brightskins.

Bskin <Team> <Color>      

    <Team> = Team | Enemy | Red | Blue
    <Color> = None | Red | Blue | Green | Cyan | Yellow | Gold | Violet
            | Pink | White

    Team and Enemy colors show up only when forceteams is enabled (set to 1).
    See command Bskin ForceTeams below.
    
Bskin ForceTeams 0|1

    Force the skinning on a team/enemy basis rather than red/blue.

Bskin Darkening 0|1

    Toggles the darkening of dead players.

Bskin Spawn 0|1

    Toggles the coloring of the spawn effects to match team color.


______________________________________________________________________________
5. FAQ

Q1: RKT crashed with some D3D-related error message, how can I fix this ?
A1: We don't know yet what's causing the problem. Try using Crush's ini files
    (you'll find them in Rocketeer\Help) and see if it helps.

Q2: I want to map for RKT, how can I do that ?
A2: We'll publish an updated mapping guide, but no ETA.

Q3: My server is logging TONS of debugging messages and the log file is getting
    too big. Can I turn off debugging ?
A3: Yes. Add the following lines to Rocketeer.ini:

    [Rocketeer.RKT_Util]
    bDebugging=False

    [RocketeerDebug.RKT_MutArenaDebug]
    bDebugging=False
