Understanding Private CTF/(any gamemode) Rules

[Shane]

With the latest boom in private capture the flag I figure it an appropriate time to reiterate the rules that have been passed down through, literally, a generation by now on an outlet that can be suitably tracked and documented for new players to read and become acquainted with the world of private competitive gamemodes. Really these rules apply to almost any gamemode and I will list each stage of a private match and with it any and all matters that might be brought up. Guidelines are important in keeping games flowing at a normal pace as to not spend too long bickering on technicalities, and there are some rules that have been forgotten by time as well as some new ones I will propose thanks to the addition of the "ctfcap2d.pk3" mod introduced to private capture the flag. To begin this guide I will use private capture the flag as a base from which to explain the rules on, keep in mind as again, these rules can apply to any gamemode and not be exclusive to private ctf.

-: Getting a private game started :-

Like most multiplayer games, one would need more than one person to start 'priv' and usually priv ctf requires a minimum of 6 players to play a match of 3vs3. A 2vs2 is acceptable as long as players agree to it, 5vs5 is also fair game but, again, only if players agree to it however the most common games take place in 3vs3 and 4vs4 respectfully. Announcing for priv is entirely left up to whoever wants to start it and the method they use; anyone can call for priv and the outlets available make it easy and accessible for other players to notice and opt in or out of the experience. When the required number of players has joined the server then begins the next stage of priv.

-: Setting team captains :-

In this day and age most Zandronum priv players use ctfcap2d.pk3 and its various puke commands to determine, at random, who the two team captains will be generally with the console command "cc_caps". However as many people may not know is that players can opt in as captain by simply saying so or joining a team, this is how captains were first decided during priv way back and any one player can opt in as many times as they like unless the other collective players veto the captain.

• Now this is where we start to deviate from the norm; should the opportunity rises where a player opts in as a captain, but random caps has to be called then the name that shows up second
is the opposing team captain and leaves the choice of first pick or map to the captain that opted in.
(E.G. Player 1 joins blue team then calls for random captains, Player 2 is forced into red team then Player 1 decides that red will have the map choice)
Now that it has been mentioned this is a good time to bring up "first pick" and "map pick". To help keep things fair, both of the captains are given a unique choice to make, one captain will always get first pick of a player in waiting of their choice where as the other captain has to pick second but will get to choose what map to play on. Captains pick in what is known as a "snake" draft, where one captain chooses a player and then the opposing captain chooses a player and this process repeats until both teams are at 3 (or 4, 5 etc.) players equal.

• Captains choosing players may only pick from a select pool of players, which are players that don't have an asterisk (*) at the end of their nickname on Zandronum. In Zdaemon it's players on the white team spectating that are willing to play and in Odamex it's any player that has "readied up".
(The asterisk is also required when not able to play as it lets ctfcap2d.pk3 to not include that player when choosing a captain, same goes for the ready system in Odamex)
Any player (anyone opting out of play not included) is subject and required to captain at least once if chosen by the random captain system of any priv. Failure to captain the first time results in that player becoming an invalid pick for play for the current round that they refused or could not be captain for. This is to ensure that everyone gets a fair share of responsibilities on the upkeep of priv, and it keeps things fresh and interesting when irregular captains pick for their respective teams. Should the situation ever occur where a player chosen to captain, who has captained before, refuses to be the assigned captain then the process of calling random captains begins anew.

-: The actual process of picking players :-

Hypothetically speaking the situation has advanced to where there are 6 players present and 2 captains are on both teams and are ready to begin the actual process of picking their players. Once the captain with first pick has chosen their first player then any player that joins the server (or unstars/ready up/joins white team) looking to play is now an invalid pick. These players are known officially as "midpicks" which simply means they are not allowed to be chosen by a captain so as to keep balance and fair play from someone looking to stack their odds.

• There are exceptions to this rule however; should a team of 3vs3 be interrupted before the actual game by 2 more players joining the server then the captains of both teams can agree to extending said teams to make it a 4vs4.
There is not a whole lot of technical stuff to this process, so carrying on with our hypothetical situation once teams have reached their respective amount of players each it is time to begin the next phase.

-: Pre-game preparation :-

Captains are the end all be all authority over their respective teams, mostly, and can pretty much dictate what their players are going to do, but normally this is just restricted to assigning the positions of a defender, mid/roam and offense. The captain can ask for suggestions from their team, but ultimately it is their job to give the orders and there is no way around it, so pick wisely. Most decisions are not made until the captain with the map pick has carefully chosen their desired map and announces it to the rest of the server. Once a map has been chosen, captains have dished their team on what positions they will be playing and either the captains or a player from each team have signified to each other that they are "ready", normally by chat or any other applicable means, then just callvote the map number and all good to go.

• When a captain has given an order then these orders are absolute, whether it be what position what player plays and what map is chosen (by the captain with map pick) with no way to veto either decision so long as it was made by the captain. Be sure to pay attention to whatever captain chooses you to be on their team.
And with that there is not much else to priv besides enjoying yourself. There may be a lot to take in, but most of these actions and processes come habitually after a while and it's best to have a detailed description of what goes on before a priv match begins. After that it's just common sense what one does during the game, long as it's not detrimental and either causes stress or ruins the enjoyment of others at their expense, then it's all fair game.

I hope this finds players well, and I am glad to see new faces in priv. This is all for educational purposes at best so anyone looking to join can feel more confident on how the priv system works.

[mondobizarrro]

so you are new to priv? like you have no skills and are very new into priv? dont fear, while priv maybe a bit scary, here are some pro tips for you.

if you know nothing about priv or ctf, you should go O, your job is simple, even for doom standards, and that is to run to the flag and run back to your flag without getting killed.

well here are a few pointers to get you to playable levels fast.

before you do ANYTHING, please type in your console (~ key) 'crosshair 1' to put a green crosshair on your screen if there isnt a crosshair



now that is out of the way, i also need you to go to customize controls and find a little bind for 'strafe', please make it a button on your mouse that isnt mouse1 (leftclick, your fire button)

here is what we call 'SR50' it is done by holding down that bind while pressing the move forward (most likely w on your keyboard) and either the strafe left or strafe right (most likely a or d on your keyboard) to SR50 into any direction. this makes you go faster than normal movement in game at the cost of being unable to turn, its good for shorter maps and when running in a straight line isnt a death sentence.



next we will talk about wallrunning, a common practice from ye olde days, one dm flag in the priv servers allows a trick called wallrunning, it is done by getting somewhere facing ~15-45° (granted i dont know exact angle) away from the wall, if done correctly you will get a massive boost from the wall as it flings you forward very quickly, a good map to practice wallrunning is map15.



this is my advice for the new people, and tips on how to o


(im not really a goto for teaching on how to mid/d, id say go to ammar or someone like him for advice like that, his video is still a very good one for newbies


link: https://youtu.be/q5JeULmUurY)

[muska]

Wow, really appreciate the write up. I've been lurking and spectating a couple past games now, but have been too scared to jump in until last weekend when I finally got called out lol.