User Interface/Client Enhancements

Coliseum2 adds many new client visual and sound options. To better help players better select their preferences, the User Interface(UI) has been extended to make them readily accessible. Some options are integrated into existing menus where appropriate, such as Rail Type under Setup | Player, while others are grouped into their own sub menus.

This chapter describes the menu changes along with their corresponding client game cvar variables that can also be set in the Quake3 console.

Menu: Setup | Player

Two new items have been added to the Player setup menu: Weapon Hand and Rail Type.
A new sub menu called HUD (Heads Up Display) have also been added to allow players to further tweak their in-game display.

Weapon Hand

This will allow players to select which hand their weapon appears on. Possible selections are Right(default), Center, Left and None. The weapon hand setting will affect only how the weapon appears from the first person perspective. CVAR: cg_hand (auto archived) 0 - Right - default 1 - Center 2 - Left 3 - No visible weapon

The original cvar cg_drawGun that was once used to make the weapon invisible will no longer work as it is used along with the new cg_hand variable. The cg_hand variable, when set to any value other than 3 (no visible weapon) will automatically set cg_drawGun to "1". To make the weapon invisible, use the new cg_hand variable and set it to "3".

Rail Type

This will allow each player to further customize their rail trail even further. Two new rail trail types have been added and each with its own subtype. Each player can choose their own type and it will be colored by the effect color that all other players will see. CVAR: cg_railtype (auto archived) 0 - Original Quake3 - default 1 - Spiral Dots 2 - Spiral Bubbles 3 - Dotted Core 4 - Bubble Core

By default, all custom rail trails are drawn with the rail core. This may cause performance problems on less powerful machines. If so, players may go to the Force Rail Settings in the Coliseum2 sub menu under Game Options and force the client to override and not draw certain types of rail trails.

The custom rail trails also have their settings (railtime, ringsize, etc.) hardcoded. The new rails are very complicated and the optimal settings were chosen and hardcoded to prevent potential serious problems should their settings be changed beyond what the Quake3 engine can handle. Rail settings will still be effective when using the original Quake3 rail trail.

Menu: Setup | Player | HUD

The new sub menu provides players with additional options to customize the in-game display.

Large Status Bar
This option, when turned off, will make the status bar appear slightly smaller thus giving players an increased playing view area.

> CVAR: cg_largestatus (auto archived)

> > 0 - Off - smaller status bar
> > 1 - On - large status bar - default

3D Icons
This option makes easily available a built-in feature that draws status bar icons (ammo, profile and armor) using a simple bitmap image instead of the 3D models.

> CVAR: cg_draw3dIcons (auto archived)

> > 0 - Off - use simple image
> > 1 - On - use 3D models - default

Show Attacker
This option, when turned off, will not display the player's attacker on the top left hand corner of the display.

> CVAR: cg_drawAttacker (auto archived)

> > 0 - Off
> > 1 - On -defau lt

Efficient Scoreboard
Coliseum2 comes complete with an alternate scoreboard that is smaller, draws faster and shows more players. It is compatible with all game modes and is also capable of displaying "times killed" and FPH. Times killed is displayed after a player's frag score and indicates how many times that play was fragged by other players. Death by world events such as lava, falling and void does not count towards "times killed". Times killed does not display if the server does not report it using the game rule bit flag TRACK_KILLS.

> CVAR: cg_scoreboard (auto archived)

> > 0 - Regular Quake3 - default
> > 1 - Coliseum2 Style with "times killed" and FPH

Menu: Setup | Controls

Coliseum2 adds two new client player controls features. Users may use the console "bind" command to change the control mapping at any time from the console or use the integrated menu options which will perform the bind commands automactically.

Controls | Shoot

Offhand Grapple

This control will allow players to fire a grapple hook, if enabled my the server, and reach those places impossible to reach otherwise--or to make a quick escape. The hook will appear like a "red laser" coming from the bottom of the screen and will shoot towards the crosshair. The hook will travel until it touches a solid map object as long as the control is held down and will then pull the player towards that point. Releasing the control will cause the player to release the hook and fall if they are off the ground. If the hook is shot at another player and makes contact, damage is done to the other player according to the server setting. Bind: "+button5"

Controls | Misc

Show High Scores

Coliseum2 servers may choose to record the top 10 players for each map. To view the high score table, clients must bind a key. In the Controls | Misc menu screen there is a key binding option to show high scores. You may then press this key anytime during the game to see the top players for the current level, timelimit and/or fraglimit. High scores may not be active on some server. High scores are updated only after a match ends. Bind: "+hscores" Example: /bind x "+hscores"

A separate high score set is kept for each distinct combination of timelimit and/or fraglimit. High scores are not tracked for CTF games or when there is no timelim it or fraglimit. Also, in team Deathmatch games, only players on the winning team will be considered for high score recording.

Show Server Rules

In the Controls | Misc menu screen there is a key binding option to show server rules. Players may press this key at any time to see if various server game rules features are set away from their defaults. Bind: "+rules" Example: /bind x "+rules"

Drop Rune

If activated by the server, powerup items called runes may appear from time to time. Each are color coded and will provide a unique powerup for the player. However, a player may only carry one rune at a time. The current rune in possession is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the status bar.

There is very little for the player of Coliseum2 to set up in order to use the Runes. All you need to do is bind a key so you can drop a Rune. "Why would I want to drop a Rune?" you ask. Say you had the Health Rune and you run across a nice shiny red Strength Rune. In the next room you can hear 4 players beating on each other. Well, drop the Health, pick up the Strength, walk into that room and lob a rocket... maybe two... BOOM!! BOOM!! 4 quick frags :).

There are 2 ways to bind a key for dropping a rune.
The first is by manually typing the bind into the console. To do this you must be either at a Coliseum2 server or have loaded Coliseum2 from the Mods Menu. Once you have done that, hit the tilde key (~) to bring down your console. Then type the following EXACTLY as it is written then hit Enter.
/bind x drop rune
You MUST have the '/' before bind and 'drop rune' MUST be two words. If not, the bind will not work. In the above example the 'x' key is bound to drop the Rune. You can change that to any key you would like. Once the key is bound all you need to do in order to drop a Rune is hit the key and the Rune is dropped.

The second way to bind a key to drop a Rune is to go to the Controls|Misc menu and use the option provided and bind a key there. The player will toss the current rune in any direction either in front or behind and will be able to pick up another one. Bind: "drop rune" Example: /bind x "drop rune"

In Game Menu: Player & Controls

Coliseum2 has enhanced the in-game menu by adding the menus Player and Controls, making it more accessible and easy.

Table of Contents | All About Runes | Coliseum2 Client game options