CTFAlive

v1.2 by Patrick Freeman - a.k.a. "Mental"



This mutator for CTF games takes away a players strength after they are killed.
Strength is restored after a flag capture, or after a specified number seconds, whichever comes first.

Normally, players in CTF games, especially defenders, don't need to guard their lives much
because if the attacker kills them while storming the base they then just respawn with full health right there at base again.
Very frustrating for the attackers!
Now, with CTFAlive, players had better be a bit more concerned about dying, because now they'll be penalized.

How it Works
After a player is killed, he will respawn with limited strength.
This is DeadStrength. You can set this strength from 0 to 100 (% of normal).
When a player has limited 'strength', his weapons won't do as much damage to other players.
He'll now have to wait a specified number of seconds (the ResetTime) before his strength is returned.
While his strength is gone, the player will be very skinny, allowing others to identify him as a non-threat.
However, he can still do things to help his team, such as getting the opponents flag or returning his own, he'll just have to do it without strength.
Perhaps he could knock a player off an edge with rockets, it's up to how crafty he is.

Every time a new player is killed they are put on the 'no strength' list and the 'reset strengths' timer is set to 0,
so some DeadStrength players will have to wait even longer before they are restored to normal strength and fatness.
Basically, the first players killed are penalized for dying so early :O
When the 'reset strengths' timer is up, or a flag is captured (whichever comes first),
all players are immediately restored to normal strength and fatness.

Another feature of CTFAlive is the ability to have the Flag Carrier be stronger or weaker than normal.
This is FlagStrength. You can set this strength from 0 to 300 (% of normal).
Also, if FlagStrength > normal strength, he will be fat,
or if FlagStrength < normal strength, he will be skinny.
These conditions only last while carrying the Flag, so if he scores the Flag his strength and fatness are reset to normal,
or if he is killed, his strength is reduced to DeadStrength and he will be skinny.
However, while he is holding the Flag he will have FlagStrength, even if the 'reset' timer is up.

There is an indicator at the top of your HUD that shows what your strength is (% of normal).
Also, a message is sent to the player in his message window when his strength is altered.
You can always know another players strength by his fatness: skinny=weak, fat=strong

Settings
ResetTime, DeadStrength, and FlagStrength can be configured in the CTFAlive Config window.
which comes up when you click the UT "Mods" menu and choose "CTFAlive".
The settings are saved to the file "mentals_mutators.ini" in your UT system folder.
That file is used for all my mutators, with each mutator's settings in their own section.


This mutator has been tested for both network and standalone games (with bots).


Any comments, bug reports, etc.
email me at -
patrickf@oz.net

Version History:
================
v1.2 - added config window and new settings
v1.1 - added hud display
v1.0 - Initial Release

Improvements planned:
==========================
have an onscreen indicator of the reset timer
got any more bright ideas?

Credits/Thanks:
===============
Tim Sweeny's docs
Rene-Claude Parent for the concept of this mutator
Richard Osborne of FEBA Spirit WAR for the HUD & replication help
and all the many other mod authors who's code I've browsed through and learned from!

Disclaimer/Legal stuff:
=======================
I've tested it but use it at your own risk (although I don't know of any risks).
This Mutator is Copyright 2000 by Patrick Freeman
Please do not try to make money with this, or distribute it under a different name, etc.
If you do use my code in someway I would be grateful of some kind of acknowledgement.