STAND ON THE FREAKIN' POINT

[Hallan Parva]

I saw a server in Doomseeker with this title, and it was using a foreign WAD I had never seen before: "stdom.wad". I tried taking the lazy way out and Wadseeking it, but to no avail. Then I used my handy-dandy Google and found lots of references to the file, but all the download links were unfortunately broken... sigh. Cue theme music.

Apparently, it's a WAD for an Unreal Tournament style "domination" game mode where players have to contain special control points for a period of time. Similar game modes exist in popular franchises like Halo and TF2. Anyway, the WAD seems to have successfully ported the Domination mode into "Team Game", so I thought it was worthwhile to share with you guys. Who knows, maybe we could have some Domination-oriented maps pop up in the near future?

Also, the server I mentioned... it's empty. Presumably since nobody else can find the WAD it took me 20 minutes to find a working download link for. Don't worry, the author of the WAD said that anybody was free to download and use it, so go ahead and make those Domination maps! But, more importantly, download this and get to that server so I'm not so darn lonely!

[Shade Guy]

Oh god this mode is insane.

Everyone keeps swapping teams...Nevertheless, someone should implement this coding to add capture points similar to what we see in the PK3 to the stock maps.

[Hallan Parva]

I can tell from last night's play session that this proved to be extremely popular! For those of you confused about what the hell was going on, I'm here to explain how the maps work.

First and foremost, all of the "bugs" (random team switching, warping upon fragging players, irregular capture points) were within the first 8 maps of the pack. These maps were meant for Doom and as such might not act exactly as intended, so I'll just drop a "it doesn't work so don't use it" and move on.

I'd like to focus your attention on maps 9, 10, and 11. These maps were fully functional (the game modes worked, there was no random warping or team switching, etc) and are intended to be used as templates for designing your own maps under the Team Game archetype. I'll explain the three different play styles presented here, in brief summaries.

Accumulation (reminiscent of Halo or TF2 style Domination)

There can be any number of control points on a map.
EDIT: I just realized... if you only use one control point, congratulations it's KING OF THE HILL.
A team's score is incremented as long as they control a point.
The more points a team controls, the faster their score will rise.
Reach a certain score amount before the other team to win.
Opinion: the Domination that most people are familiar with. Great fun, and simple to learn.

Collection (from what I can gather, it appears to be original)

There have to be at least 3 control points on a map.
For the most part, score is irrelevant. A team wins by capturing more points than the other team.
Points are usually well-placed across the map, so points are always easy to reach.
Opinion: fun at first, but the cut-throat fast-paced nature of the mode gets tiring quickly.

Countdown (the infamous Double Domination from the Unreal Tournament series... sigh)

There must be 2 and ONLY 2 control points on a map.
Teams must attempt to capture both control points at the same time.
When both points are under a single team's control, a 10-second timer begins.
If the timer runs out and the points are still under control, that team earns a Win Point.
If the opposing team captures a point before time is up, the timer stops and must restart.
Opinion: the most "teamwork" oriented mode of them all. Gets annoying though, if UT2004 has taught me anything...

In my opinion, if anyone wants to make MM8BDM maps for Domination, I would suggest using either the Accumulation or Countdown archetypes. Also, I noticed that the game uses the "Team Game" slot in Skulltag, which was previously unused. Maybe CutmanMike could add official Domination maps and game mode support in the next version of MM8BDM?

[Myroc]

I doubt an official Domination mode is out of the question, but modders are going to have a blast with this one. Thanks for sharing this.

Just one thing, though. Instant captures are probably not going to work as well for MM8BDM as it does for Doom, since combat in Doom is usually a lot more lethal than in MM8BDM. Having a basic "stand in this zone long enough uninterrupted" would work better, if implementable.

Edit: The method seems fairly simple as well. I'm gonna see if I can make a basic mockup map for King of the Hill to demonstrate. Nothing fancy, just a simple layout and few weapons here and there.

[TheBladeRoden]

Hmm I didn't realize my domination mode for TF2 got popular.

[Hallan Parva]

Just one thing, though. Instant captures are probably not going to work as well for MM8BDM as it does for Doom, since combat in Doom is usually a lot more lethal than in MM8BDM. Having a basic "stand in this zone long enough uninterrupted" would work better, if implementable.

I can see where you're coming from for normal Domination (accumulation archetype), but for Double Domination (countdown archetype) I suggest leaving the insta-capture so a team can potentially "last second save" and prevent the opponent from scoring.

[Myroc]

I made a small map for TF2-styled King of the Hill. Further information in this post.

[JaxOf7]

I hosted that server by the way.

[Bikdark]

This would be the most fun thing in the world with classes.

[Shade Guy]

With permission from CMM, I assume it would be possible to use the coding to edit some of the stock maps and add control points to them.

I'm thinking MM3DW1 with one or two control points making for a fun domination match.

[Bikdark]

Yeah, this could become a successful addition to the game if each map had balanced control points.

[Hallan Parva]

Even better.

A control point in Burst Man's hot tub time machine purple chemical pool of doom, so people actually play in that area.

[Shade Guy]

Uh, maybe not, since that's where all the good weapons are located there.

Also the whole issue of jumping into a pool to capture a point while your opponents are shooting you from said pool so your opponents can climb up, jump back down and capture a point so you can do the same to them.