Pointless Quake Mods Server-side modifications for Quake QuakeC by blaidd (Jed Hagen) version 0.421 This is currently an ALPHA release. In other words, things are still being re-thought, and this is not necessarily even close to the "final" form. The code is really messy, and a number of the effects are bad hacks. It may never get past this level, but feel free to use these mods on your server. Pointless Quake Mods consist primarily of a bunch of additional weapons for Quake. Although designed with deathmatch in mind, they all work in single-player mode as well (even the flash grenades have an effect on monsters). If there are any overall themes to these weapons, they are "silliness" and "increasing chaos." Bouncing things have always been a favorite of mine... With the exception of the Thunderbolt (and axe), all the original weapons remain in the game unchanged. I've tried to keep additional weapons (and there are a significant number of them) more-or-less balanced through rate of fire/damage/ammo cost with the originals. If any of these seem significantly more powerful than their parent versions, there is usually some significant downside (and it's usually "potentially deadly to user"). The ARCgun is a prime example. Then again, some of the weapons are just plain, well... pointless. YMMV. All of these changes are in code only. There are no new models or sounds, so you don't need a client-side version to play (although this readme might be nice to have). Only the server needs any new files. The latest version can be found at: http://members.home.net/blaidd/pqm/ I can be reached at: eridath@hotmail.com Please do not redistribute without permission -- _especially_ if you think you're gonna charge for it. If you really don't have any clue how to use this: - unzip the progs.dat file into a quake subdirectory called pqm/ - run quake with the command line: quake -game pqm (or something similar) - realize that it's too much trouble to use the number keys to cycle through the weapons, and... - create a autoexec.cfg file to hold all your favorite bindings (an example, called pqm.cfg, is included in the zip) ***** What's been changed: Physics: Falling damage is dependent on height Explosions tend to shove players around a bit more Weapons: Thunderbolt removed (no, it is _not_ coming back) Misc: Some death messages changed Added self destruct Rudimentary camping checker ***** What's been added: [axe] FORCE SHIELD: When you're holding the standard axe, you also get a force shield. It absorbs about 90% of incoming damage at the cost of ammo -- lots of ammo. If you're out of ammo, you're screwed. Melee weapons (other axes) are unaffected... must be one of those ones from Dune... GRAPPLE: fairly standard grappling hook. It does a pretty decent amount of damage if it latches onto a player. LAND MINES: hard to detect until you get too close. Once they have been tripped, if you move away they explode. There is a short delay before they arm; they last about 45 seconds. Dangerous to owner. BUBBLEGUN: it's fun, _and_ almost pointless. It does give a _slight_ advantage underwater. Quad damage = quad bubbles! This was the first weapon created for PQM. CLOAKING DEVICE: turn yourself invisible for a short time. Usually. Can't really use other weapons while cloaked, though. Uses shells. No, I won't say why. RADAR: primitive enemy location device. If you have someone's phase pattern (and they are in range) it points to them. Otherwise it tries to point to the closest living thing. Although you do not need any ammo to use it, it will try to eat 10 cells. If it can, recharge only takes about 1/3 the time. NAILFIELD: When you just can't stand it any more... Blows off about 40 spikes in random directions. Good for crowd control, especially with the quad. AXE of CHARACTER ASSASSINATION: steal someone else's frags & add them to your own! For some reason this really pisses off some people... It's just a game, dammit! [shotgun] PING-PONG LAUNCHER: shoots annoying little balls that make terrain more difficult to navigate. It can do a small amount of damage if the balls (or you) are moving fast enough. They disappear if there are too many on a level, or after about 45 seconds. Quad makes the balls really fly. Moderately dangerous to owner. This was the second weapon created, when "Pointless" could still be taken in several ways... [super shotgun] CHAIN PING-PONG GUN: similar to the above, but shoots about 4 times as fast. Some people find the sight slightly distressing. Interestingly enough, it is also a somewhat effective defence against the ARCgun. AUTO SHOTGUN: holds 8 shells, and fires them twice as fast as the normal shotgun. There is a slight delay to reload more shells when you run out, however. [nailgun] ACID NAILS: over a short period of time, these nails eat away at a target's armor. The are slightly less effective underwater. (KNOWN BUG: acid nails sometimes "follow" you when you respawn. If you wait a second or two after dying, this shouldn't happen) FLARE GUN: These nails light up shortly after they hit something. (And they give a nasty burn to a creature.) They stay lit for about 15 seconds, initially bright and then gradually dimming. The duration is shorter when there are high numbers of active flares (a speed limit, rather than a logic one). [super nailgun] ARMOR-PIERCING NAILS: this high-powered ammunition does a large amount of damage, mostly ignores armor, and bounces off of inanimate objects (at reduced effectiveness). Dangerous to owner. [grenade launcher] FLASH GRENADES: these temporarily blind opponents. If you are not right on top of the grenade when it explodes, looking directly away from it will avoid this effect. Quad damage permeates that area around the grenade with bright light; looking away (and even walls!) won't stop the effect. Duration of blindness is directly related to how close you were to the explosion. (NOTE: this effect is achieved through a rather inelegant approach -- you may need to adjust your screen gamma afterwards). Dangerous to owner. REPULSION GRENADES: tosses anything nearby _away_. CLUSTER GRENADES: it's raining grenades! These "new" grenades usually act like normal grenades. On occasion, however, you get lucky and they are themselves cluster grenades. Then again, on occasion, sometimes you get a dud. Dangerous to owner. [rocket launcher] ANTI-PERSONNEL MISSILES: these missiles concentrate all of their explosive damage into a single point. There is no "splash" damage. It generally does enough to kill someone wearing yellow armor, and might kill someone wearing red. PHASE MISSILES: Probably the most complicated weapon in PQM (although some might argue the ARCgun is worse). These require you to "lock on" to a particular target (via impulse 101). Once locked, they have a limited homing capability with respect to that target. They also have the effect of skipping through anyone they do NOT have an appropriate pattern for, passing through them harmlessly. They only explode when they hit their target or an inanimate object. When a player's pattern is acquired, they receive a warning message; a pattern is lost if the target is gibbed (by anyone), the owner of the missiles tries to acquire a different target, or the level changes. The explosion splash damage is dangerous to the owner, similar to normal rockets. Under quad damage, they also skip through walls... (but don't do any extra impact damage) [lightning gun] ARCGUN: this is what the lightning gun _should_ have been (and is what it replaces). The wielder first generates a large charge (by holding down the fire button) and then releases it in the appropriate direction (by releasing the button). The charge seeks out the nearest "ground", traveling straight ahead if there are none in sight. "Ground" generally means things which are grounded -- those with a large quantity of metal (such as heavy armor and those wearing it), those standing in water, and anyone else unlucky enough to be too close. If sufficient energy remains after it hits something (gibbing a target, or exploding off a wall), the remainder of the charge sits and actively looks of more targets, jumping to each in succession or gradually fading with time. If the charge terminates in water in this way, if fries anything else nearby that's wet (and avoids a bug in the original thunderbolt). This weapon is highly dangerous, both to opponents and its user. If the gun is overcharged (with the hope of a really big blast), there is a chance that it will explode. Also, DO NOT use this weapon if you yourself are a grounded entity! You are the closest viable target, after all... This weapon is _extremely_ dangerous to anyone nearby if you have the quad damage. Do not fire it at a nearby target if this is the case (as the significant leftover charge will probably come back to haunt you). Damage and range are highly variable, potential range is determined by the number of cells expended (based on charge, about 17 cells for a "full charge"). At 100% charge, you should be able to fry just about anything within the range of the old thunderbolt. Just for kicks, all enemy entities are considered valid targets, although not quite as attractive as normal grounds. Also, due to some quirk (Rev's request), pingpong balls are considered valid targets... Dangerous to owner. A sufficiently large charge can take out a number of opponents, however. BLASTER: This is a standard laser, with the plus (or minus) that the beam bounces off of things. They hang around until they have spent their energy potential, either on opponents, yourself, or the local scenery. Dangerous to owner. But fun in crowds. JUMPGUN: This is a personal teleporter. Aim and shoot. You show up where you aimed (or nearby) a short time later. Or, if you targeted a creature, you switch places. This does use up a _large_ number of cells, however (more if the target is farther away), and leaves you vulnerable for a brief time after firing. If you do not have sufficient cells to complete the transfer, the gun uses them all to no effect. If you have the quad damage, the transfer process is somewhat more efficient. (NOTE: the jump carries through even if you die beforehand.) ***** Charts: S = shells; N = nails; R = rockets; C = cells Weapon Impulse Ammo/shot Damage/direct hit AXE 110 - 20 (force shield) (lots) (-) grapple 111 - 20 + about 20/second mine 112 1 R about 30-40, explosion bubblegun 113 - - cloaking device 114 1 S - radar 115 (10 C) - nailfield 116 10 N 18 each, if they hit ACA 117 - 1 frag SHOTGUN 120 1 S 24 (min 4) pingpong gun 121 1 S not much SUPER SHOTGUN 130 2 S 56 (min 4) chain pingpong 131 1 S not much auto shotgun 132 1 S 24 (min 4) NAIL GUN 140 1 N 9 acid nails 141 2 N 16 (min. 10) flares 142 2 N 12 SUPER NAILGUN 150 2 N 18 ap nails 151 6 N 32-42 (min. 22) GRENADES 160 1 R 120, explosion flash grenades 161 3 R 30, explosion, blindness repulse grenades162 2 R 30, explosion, toss cluster grenade 163 10 R 120 each, explosion ROCKET LAUNCHER 170 1 R 100-120, explosion apm 171 5 R 230-310 phase missile 172 2 R 70-90, explosion ARCgun 180 var C var blaster 181 3 C 30 (up to 3 direct hits) jumpgun 182 10+ C - OTHER IMPULSES: 23: help screen 100: toggle between ARCgun and jumpgun (this will change shortly) 101: acquire phase pattern of target. There is a limited range. "crosshair 1" is highly recommended when using this. 102: self destruct. Convert all of your weapons and ammo to a large explosion. A warning is sent out to all players, and they have 3 seconds to run for cover or try to stop you (I won't say how, though). If you successfully self destruct, you lose an extra 2 frags (for a total of -3). But anybody nearby is probably toast. 103: drop armor. Makes your armor (if any) go *poof*. Only really useful when dealing with the ARCgun. ***** If nothing else, you'll want to bind impulses 101 and 110. ***** KNOWN BUGS: - Sometimes death messages don't match the correct weapon. - Sometimes you get stuck on mines. - the respawn things - Flash grenades do not function properly in GLQuake (hey, I've only had a 3d-card since late '99!) ***** Thanks to Id, for what is probably the most-played game I've ever bought. ***** Last changes: 6/21/00 - (0.421) Updated readme with GL-bug and correct URL. 6/6/98 - (0.42) Made axe-shield slightly less effective, made some alterations in how the quad damage affects weapon behavior (some of them work differently) 12/16/97 - Added ACA 12/5/97 - removed cap on pingpong damage, reduced flash effect for owner. 11/16/97 - small chance that the grappling hook will snap if on a living thing. Just too ugly before... 10/7/97 - flares now light up creatures 10/2/97 - added auto shotgun, force shield 9/29/97 - reduced cost for jumpgun, fixes to grapple and self destruct 9/27/97 - added nailfield. random tweaks, put jumpgun back into impulse 8 cycle. 8/14/97 - added stupid radar thingy. tweaked inviso dev. 8/13/97 - tweaked phase missile homing, made APMs faster, added crude camping detection & cloaking device