[Game Mode] Evil Escort! (aka Payload) UPDATE!

[MusashiAA]

I haven't played much, but I feel like making the cart solid would be nice...was this idea ever considered, and how do players feel about it after testing the gamemode?

[Jakeinator]

Making the cart solid would cause it to become stuck very easily.

[CutmanMike]

I tried to make it solid but it caused all sorts of issues with the pathing. The only other options was to make it shootable, but then players could literally hide inside of it and take no damage (except from aoe). There seems to be no safe/sane way to make it so players can't walk through it and can't shoot through it without having people block the payload's body with their bodies. If you have an idea on how to do it let me know.

[Celebi]

Replace setting SHOOTABLE to false with setting NONSHOOTABLE/INVULNERABLE to true during the respawn duration.  Setting SHOOTABLE to false can cause some weird issues such as projectiles fired by the player forgetting who their owner is, which results in "Player died" obituaries and in class mods like CBM, breaking their weapons. (Cutman's Rolling Cutter can't use pointer checks due to this.)  INVULNERABLE and NONSHOOTABLE should pretty much be the same as setting SHOOTABLE to false.  Be sure to check INVULNERABLE with that PowerInvulnerable pickup to make sure either isn't disabled ahead of time.

As a possible suggestion, consider making it impossible to contest the cart in anyway if a player is invulnerable or unshootable. (Edit: or just prevent moving the cart in general, they can still stop a push.)

[Dr. Freeman]

As a possible suggestion for more customization in the future, is it possible to add a way to change the base timer for potential custom maps? For example, let's say I was crazy and wanted a shorter, yet more crowded and hectic map. Right now the 5 minute timer is static, so any map that's shorter is weighted towards the attackers, and vice versa if you were making a longer map.
I'm just wondering if it's possible to like change the base time in a map script or something like that.

[CutmanMike]

Replace setting SHOOTABLE to false with setting NONSHOOTABLE/INVULNERABLE to true during the respawn duration.

Will do.

As a possible suggestion for more customization in the future, is it possible to add a way to change the base timer for potential custom maps? For example, let's say I was crazy and wanted a shorter, yet more crowded and hectic map. Right now the 5 minute timer is static, so any map that's shorter is weighted towards the attackers, and vice versa if you were making a longer map.
I'm just wondering if it's possible to like change the base time in a map script or something like that.

I will do this too. I'll also add the option to specify how much time a checkpoint will give you.

[CutmanMike]

New version is up! See front page for download links.

Fixed the escort status message displaying the wrong number of players escorting the payload.
 Fixed boss music overwriting the victory/loss jingle.
 Fixed additional overtime respawn time (now is increased per death per team rather than for both teams).
 Fixed spectate cheating respawn time.
 Fixed respawn invulnerability flags compatibility issues.
 Changed shield weapons so you cannot contest the payload while they are activated (RIP woodman).
 Changed maximum overtime respawn time (was capped at 50).
 Added boss music when the payload is close to the final destination.
 Added fancy lines between the checkpoint markers.
 Added more map customization with checkpoints and the timer (see playloadexample2.wad for more details).

[Orange juice :l]

Seems well good from what I've played of it (not much).

My perceptions are probably tainted by playing classes with this but one main thing immediately springs to mind- classes ala Toadman, Galaxyman, Grenademan, Dustman and so forth are very effective due to area denial/pulling/both which is, unsurprisingly, very effective in an area controlling mode. Not gamebreaking or anything but perhaps stick a "dampener" on the cart which reduces the effectiveness (nothing too huge) of AoE/forced movement/timestopping attacks?

Tanky classes definitely melt quickly (good) and I have no doubt face tanking to eat up seconds is even less effective in vanilla.

What's the reasoning behind not always granting Overtime? As is, as far as I can tell, only the singular tick where the timer hits 0:00 matters whether any Wily player is contesting the point, which is a little arbitrary considering how much of a gamechanger Overtime is. On the other hand, 10 seconds is a long time to only need occasional check-ins with the cart. Maybe some sort of inexorable decay of the overtime counter?

Classes issue, but Groundman and Drillman seem capable of bypassing the whole "invincibles can't push/block" rule.

[CutmanMike]

What's the reasoning behind not always granting Overtime? As is, as far as I can tell, only the singular tick where the timer hits 0:00 matters whether any Wily player is contesting the point, which is a little arbitrary considering how much of a gamechanger Overtime is.

I don't really have a great reason for this, it's just how Overwatch does it and I decided to base it on that. I might change it if players feel they're getting robbed.

On the other hand, 10 seconds is a long time to only need occasional check-ins with the cart. Maybe some sort of inexorable decay of the overtime counter?

Respawn timers increase every time a player dies during overtime which means if you keep killing the wily team they will eventually be unable to make it to the cart in time.

Classes issue, but Groundman and Drillman seem capable of bypassing the whole "invincibles can't push/block" rule.

I can't check for every type of invincibility unfortunately (until CheckFlag gets added to Zandronum). Groundman and Drillman are not as obnoxious as woodman at least.

[Dimpsy]

I haven't been able to discover what the cause is, but apparently there's a chance that you bypass the "Respawn Timer" and respawn early just with no HUD or visible skin, making it possible for a quick sneak attack on someone before the timer ends and your proper HUD and skin appear for everyone.

[CutmanMike]

Damn, haven't seen that yet. Let me know if more details come up about it. Haven't seen a server playing it today so haven't been able to do much testing of the new version.

[Dimpsy]

I don't know the specifics, it could either be a desync issue or the cause of continuously holding your action buttons upon death, it's not something I can pull off on a whim so I just brought it up in case you might know something to potentially fix this.

Also it'd be nice if you gave options to make the cart go faster, reduce/remove respawn timer, stuff that isn't default but can be altered in case people load up this mod with a classes mod like CSCC, TheMod, or CBM and when there's fewer people in a server.

[Thunderono]

bump

A couple of days after the release of this mod, I began to work on a project I dubbed "Core Conversions."  The goal was to take certain maps in core and change them to be compatible with payload.  My end goal was to get at least one map from each game into the pack.  Unfortunately, I took a lot of trips and ultimately lost the time and motivation to work on it.  I still got five maps fixed up for the mode, though, so I figured I'd drop them here.  All five function perfectly normally in payload.
The maps are: MM1GUT, MM2HEA, MM3SHA, MM4DUS and MM5CHA.  The maps were chosen to explore the different types of ways payload can be played.



Grab Core Conversions from TSPG here!  Mapcodes are the normal code with an E at the end (Example: MM1GUTE).



While I no longer want to work on this, I'd be more than happy to pass the torch to anyone who wants to add on.  A few things to note:

-The maps are changed in a way to create spawn rooms/bases for each team, something that the CTF maps ultimately lacked.  This is to create consistency when attacking, as a defender won't spawn behind the cart.  If you plan to make new maps, try to cluster the spawns together and section them off to make everyone's lives a little easier.

-In quite a few instances, I cut off routes and changed others to create a more balanced payload path.  It's generally a good idea to make sure the map's flow is changed to accommodate a single path instead of the existing deathmatch flow.

-I started working on this before the new version and never changed it to reflect, so timer values on the checkpoints remain unchanged.  The checkpoint distance is balanced around the default time gain.

-Minimal attention was paid to weapon/item layouts, with the only exceptions being huge offenders like defenders getting exclusive access to Atomic Fire.

-Pathing may look a little clunky on a couple of the maps, but the payload gets to the end just fine.


tl;dr made core maps into payload maps

[JohnVyttalRay]

Can someone link all the gamemodes created by the cutstuff group?

[HelloImMrSnrub]

The download link doesn't work anymore.