KD's Mods. NEW B-Duel: A Host of Duel Improvements.

[King Dumb]

Hello. This is where I will be putting things that I make.

Mods:
B-Duel: A Host of Duel Improvements - Download 8BDM_BDuel_v1.pk3 on TSPG!
More coming soon!

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B-Duel

The long-awaited updated version of Duel Item Patch is here. Rebranded as B-Duel, this modification offers a host of improvements to Duel. Each change can be toggled via a server CVar, and they each work independently from one another! Each toggle has a default, but these gameplay modifications can be combined to your liking.

At a glance, the following features are offered in B-Duel (listed along with their accompanying CVar and its default):
- Item Removals and Replacements (duel_usereplacements = true). Items that have overcentralizing/degenerate effects in Duel are removed, and a few are replaced with alternative utility items!
- Always-On Energy Balancer (duel_usebalancer = true). Players have the Energy Balancer equipped at all times, benefitting from its ammo efficiency without needing to pick it up!
- Stock Duel (duel_usestocks = true). Players must reduce their opponent's stocks (or lives) to 0 to win! Falling in pits no longer puts victory further from reach, but it does put the opponent closer!
- Mobile Duel (duel_usemobile = false). Mobility items like Item-1 and Rush Coil are automatically given to players, and replenished when either player dies!

Let's get into some details!

Item Removals and Replacements
CVar: duel_usereplacements
Default: true

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There are many weapons and items that are perfectly good in Deathmatch and Last Man Standing game modes, but which throw a wrench into the core gameplay of Duel. B-Duel can remove those items, and replace a few of them with more suitable replacements.

When duel_usereplacements is true, the following weapons will be removed from any map where they would normally be found:

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- Time Stopper
- Centaur Flash
- Electric Shock

Reasoning:

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- Time Stopper completely degenerates gameplay in Duel. It's essentially a guaranteed kill every time you hit your opponent with it.
- Centaur Flash is problematic because of its incredible usefulness as an escape tool. Think of it as just a slower Exit Unit.
- Electric Shock is currently not working exactly as intended in v6a, so for the time being it is removed in B-Duel. Expect to see it re-added when the problem is fixed!

In addition, the following items will be removed from any map where they would normally be found:

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- E-Tank
- M-Tank
- Eddie
- Party Ball
- Beat Support
- Treble Sentry
- Eddie Bomber
- Reggae Call
- Proto Buster Upgrade
- Laser Buster Upgrade
- Arrow Buster Upgrade
- Exit Unit

Reasoning:

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- In general, if any non-weapon item is very powerful or always useful, it's generally not a great thing to have in Duel because they can be monopolized by one player. That said, there certainly are non-weapon items which remain in Duel; the ones removed also happen to be incredibly powerful for one reason or another.
- E-Tanks and M-Tanks provide a massive advantage if they are monopolized, and regardless of that they also significantly prolong duels.
- Eddie can throw the balance of a map's weapon set completely off by providing one player a level of power that the map doesn't normally offer.
- Party Ball isn't quite as volatile as Eddie, but it can still force huge swings in a duel based purely on RNG.
- Beat Support, Treble Sentry, Eddie Bomber, and Reggae Call are all very powerful offensive items that are essentially always immediately useful.
- Proto Buster, Laser Buster, and Arrow Buster are all often the best weapon on the maps on which they're found, and since they have infinite ammo, they can degenerate the gameplay of Duel pretty quickly.
- Exit Unit massively slows the game down.

Finally, the following replacements will be made, removing all of the left-hand items from any map where they would normally be found, and replacing them with the right-hand items:

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- Rush Jet/Rush Marine -> Item2
- Super Adaptor Upgrade -> Item3
- Treble Boost Upgrade -> Wire Adaptor

Reasoning:

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- Rush Jet and Rush Marine provide a massive advantage if monopolized, and they also significantly slow the game down since flying targets can be much harder to catch and to hit.
- Super Adaptor and Treble Boost are often the best weapons on the maps on which they're found, and since they have infinite ammo, it can degenerate the gameplay of Duel pretty quickly.

Always-On Energy Balancer
CVar: duel_usebalancer
Default: true

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Energy Balancer is an item that makes collecting ammo more efficient; rather than having to switch to weapons individually to fill them up, carrying an Energy Balancer means that you will always collect Weapon Energy capsules if you're carrying any weapon that isn't at full ammo, and that Weapon Energy will go towards refueling your weapon with the least ammo, provided the one you're currently using is at full.

A huge quality of life change, when duel_usebalancer is true, players will always have the Energy Balancer, without needing to pick it up. As such, if this setting is enabled, the Energy Balancer pickup will be removed from all maps where it would normally be found.

Stock Duel
CVar: duel_usestocks
Default: true

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When duel_usestocks is true, Stock Duel will be enabled. In Stock Duel, instead of reaching a certain fraglimit to win, you must instead reduce your opponent's stock count (their lives) to zero. This means that any death will put your opponent closer to winning; stage hazards are no longer a means to stall out a duel, but rather an element that players can try to leverage to their advantage. On the other hand, dying to a stage hazard no longer moves the goalpost for your own victory; it just means the opponent is catching up!

There are several important things to note with Stock Duel:
- The new CVar duel_stocks controls how many stocks (lives) players have in a duel. Default is 5.
- Stock Duels must be played without a timelimit. Fortunately, this is already the standard for all dueling (and the mod will force this setting at the start of each duel).
- Stock Duels must be played with a fraglimit of 0, in order for the stock mechanisms to determine the correct winner (the mod will force this setting at the start of each duel).
- Players will be updated about the stock counts upon each death, be it by frags or other means, and in addition you will find an addition to the bottom of the scoreboard where you can see the stock counts of the current players! We worked hard to make this scoreboard augmentation a reality, so please enjoy it (and let us know if something goes wrong).

Mobile Duel
CVar: duel_usemobile
Default: false

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When duel_usemobile is set to true, Mobile Duel will be enabled. This is an experimental twist on how mobility options are presented to players. In Mobile Duel, players will spawn (and respawn) with every mobility item present on that particular map already in their inventory. In addition, a player's supply of these items will be replenished whenever either player dies. Accordingly, all pickups for these mobility items will be removed from any map where they would normally be found.

Mobile Duel aims to capitalize on the usefulness of mobility items like Wire Adaptor and Item2 for securing a kill, and encourage players to use them for that purpose. Use your tools to secure a kill and be rewarded with a fresh supply for the next engagement! Of course, you can always use them to flee and heal, but you risk being out-tooled by your opponent until you replenish your supply (one way or another!).

The following items are affected by Mobile Duel:

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- Item1
- Item2
- Item3
- Rush Coil
- Rush Jet
- Rush Marine
- Wire Adaptor
- Beat Call

Mobile Duel will function whether or not duel_usereplacements it true. If it is true, Mobile Duel will give players the appropriate replacements for those items removed.

Credits:

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Creators: KD and Mickle
Testing: KD and Mickle
Feedback: Trillster, Venus, Russel, Tlp
Additional Code: Jaxof7

Huge thanks to Trillster for thinking of a workable way to implement "lives" in Duel!

HUGE THANKS to Mickle for cleaning up my messy HUD drawing code and solving lots of
problems with it, as well as for being incredibly patient with me when I was slow to
understand things!

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[Trillster]

Mentioned that this was a cool idea when KD and I were brainstorming about it, but I think it's worth reiterating. Base Zandronum gamemodes gave us some pretty janky rules to get used to, but this mod amends those to give a more engaging experience and I think that's super commendable. Hope to see it become a standard for all duel servers.

Now we just gotta see B-TLMS make its awaited return

[Pr. Gibberoni]

is mmvsat a legal map