Rocket Arena: UT version 1.0

Documentation by Brandon ‘GreenMarine’ Reinhart

I.	Introduction

Thank you for downloading Rocket Arena for Unreal Tournament!  Get ready to
feed your need for one on one and two on two deathmatch.  Before you start
playing with RAUT, please read the instructions in this file.  If you don't,
you might get confused when you try to set up your first game.

Rocket Arena is a special kind of deathmatch game designed by David 'CRT'
Wright.  There are no pickups, no items to manage.  You start with every
weapon, fully loaded with ammo.  There isn’t any health, when you die you
lose.  The goal is to play the best you can play and to improve your raw
gaming ability at the same time.  You will play in small arenas against a
single opponent or with a partner against two opponents.  Its not going to
be easy, but if you work hard, you can prove to the world that you are the
best of the best.  Good luck!

II.	Getting Started

Note: Rocket Arena for UT requires the 413 Unreal Tournament patch.  There
are engine features in this patch that Rocket Arena uses.  You can get the
patch at unreal.epicgames.com or www.fileplanet.com
<http://www.fileplanet.com>.

First, unzip the RocketArenaUT distribution archive.  You can unzip the
archive anywhere.  The file should contain this documentation as well as
a "RocketArenaUT.umod."  The UMOD file is a sort of custom Unreal
self-extracting installer.  Double click the UMOD to start the installer.
If you are using Linux, you’ll need to download a UMOD unpack script.
There are several available on the net.  Choose to install the UMOD in the
same directory you have Unreal Tournament installed in.  Once that is done,
the setup program will unpack the game and set everything up.

Start Unreal Tournament normally and use the Category option under Practice
Session or Start Network Game to start a game.  Now read the rest of this
document for more setup and options information.

III.	Starting a Practice Session

Pull up the Practice Session window and select the "Rocket Arena" category.
Right now there is only one game type available in the category, but future
releases might introduce new independent gametypes.  Note that the Rocket
Arena gametype is actually a set of several different "arena games."  The
first release includes "Clan Arena" and "Multi Arena," but future releases
will include new arena games like "Round Robin" and "Red Rover."  We'll talk
about the specific rules of Clan Arena and Multi Arena in a bit.

One important piece of information to note before we go on!  Rocket Arena
currently doesn’t work with Mutators.  Future releases will, but for now,
Mutators are disabled.  If you add a Mutator to a Rocket Arena server it
will be removed before the game starts.

After you’ve picked a map to start with, click the Rules tab.  If you set
a time limit the server will change maps after that much time has passed
(in minutes).  If you don't set a time limit, the map will never change!

Click the "Game Rules Config" button.  The first option in the Game Rules
Config window is your Pickup Match type.  Every map in Rocket Arena contains
several small arenas and one full sized deathmatch map.  The full sized map
is called a "pickup map" where large games can be played.  Right now there
is only one pickup game available, traditional Clan Arena.  See the Clan
Arena section below for the rules.

The next section of "Game Rules Config" lets you set up default values for
the maps you run.  Every arena can have a different set of default values.
There is a MAX of 8 arenas per Rocket Arena map, including the pickup map.
When the a new game of Rocket Arena is started (meaning a new map has been
loaded, or the map has changed) the arenas will be initialized with the
default values.  Usually, you’ll want to set the same defaults for all 8
arenas.

The arena selection box tells you which arena you are currently setting the
defaults for.  The Round Limit edit box lets you set how many rounds will be
played per match.  We’ll talk more about rounds, matches, and the rules of
Rocket Arena below.  Self Damage and Team Damage let you set those variables
for the obvious damage behavior.  Remember, with self-damage turned off you
can do huge rocket jumps, so customize this to your play style.

Now close the "Game Rules Config" and open the "Weapon Config" menu.  The
"Weapon-Config" menu lets you set per-arena default weapon loadouts.  If you
don’t change anything, players will start with every weapon, full ammo, and
full armor.  You can use this menu to change the default loadout.  There is
no support for the Redeemer.  Using the Redeemer in a one on one match isn't
exactly a test of skill, so I haven’t even programmed any support for it.  Sorry.  The Enabled checkbox turns a weapon on and off.  Ammo selects the amount of ammo.  999 is the max ammo for any weapon.  Setting the ammo selection to -1 means "use the Rocket Arena standard ammo default."

The other Practice Session menus work normally.  You'll notice there isn't
any bot configuration menu!  This is because you add bots from inside the
game using the custom Rocket Arena administration menu.  So hold on!  Press
the start button to load up your match and you'll be greeted to the arena.
Your match is ready.  Now read the sections on "Game Administration" and
"The Rules of Rocket Arena" to figure out what the hell is going on!

IV.	Starting a Server

You set up a server like you would a normal Unreal Tournament server.  Just
make sure you select the Rocket Arena gametype.  The same instructions for
setting up a practice game apply.  One big thing to take note of!  There
isn't any extended remote server admin support in this release.  I know that
sucks!  The next release will definitely have all of the in-game admin
controls available from the remote server admin tool.  For now, you'll have
to make due with logging in to your own game to make administrative changes.  Read the section on "Game Administration" for instructions on the RA administration tool.

One other thing.  Bots are messed up in network games.  I can’t guarantee
they’ll work right at this point, so I suggest you avoid using them.  (They
work fine in single player practice matches though!)

V.	Using the Navigation Menu

When you first join a Rocket Arena game, you'll be greeted with a navigation
menu.  The actual layout of the navigation menu depends on what kind of
gametype the current arena is running.  With all of the shipping RAUT maps,
you'll start with the Multi Arena navigation menu.  You can abort its flying
about by pressing your left mouse button.

Using the menu is simple.  Next Arena cycles from arena to arena.  Use this
to move around the server.  Join Arena moves your team from a spectating
state into a waiting list.  You can’t join an arena until you’ve created a
valid team.  Join A Team pops up a list of teams that are in this arena.
You can join any team that isn't grayed out.  In 2 on 2 maps, you'll want to
either start your own team or join a team that needs a partner.  Create A
Team lets you create your own team.  Just type the name of the team and
press enter.  Once your team is created you can join the current game, but
make sure you’ve got enough players.  Spectate lets you move around the
current arena as a spectator.

In Clan Arena, there are several different options.  Auto Join Team makes you join the team that has the least number of players.  The Join Blue/Red Team buttons add you to the team you choose.
A couple notes on teams and navigation!  You cannot leave an arena while you
are playing.  You have to wait until the match is over.  If you logout while
playing, your team will be disbanded and your opponent will win.  If one
member of a team leaves the arena between matches, the team will be
disbanded and the other member will have to find or create a new team.
In a "Practice Session" if you create a team in a 2 on 2 arena, a bot
partner will be added for you.

VI.	The Rules of Rocket Arena

Rocket Arena has pretty simple rules.  First of all, there isn’t just one
game going on at once.  There are actually a number of games going on equal
to the number of arenas in the map.  In addition to that, they might not all
be the same game type!  In the first release of Rocket Arena there are two
gametypes.  "Multi Arena" for the small arenas and "Clan Arena" for the
large ones.  We’ll talk about the two games separate since they are each a
bit different.  You can tell what kind of game the current arena is running
by looking at the header on the navigation menu.  It also lists the name of
the current arena.

Multi Arena

Multi arena games are a series of 1 on 1 or 2 on 2 matches.  A match
consists of several rounds.  The winner is the person with the majority of
round victories.  That means that if the server operator sets the number of
rounds to 3, the first team to get 2 wins takes the match.  Both 1 on 1
matches and 2 on 2 matches are considered to have "teams" of players.
In a 1 on 1 match, the team is just a one man operation.

The team that wins a multi arena match stays in the arena and has to defend
his title.  The team that wins is moved to the end of the waiting list.
The team that was "on deck" to play moves into the arena and the whole
waiting list advances one position.

When you spawn into a multi arena game you have all the weapons, full ammo,
and full armor (unless the server operator has changed the default loadout).  There isn’t any health and there isn’t any ammo on the floor.  Your only job is to use all of your elite deathmatch skillz to take out the enemy.
The HUD has a few extra bits of information for you to use.  First, it
displays the health of everyone on your team and the names of everyone on
the enemy team.  (Spectators will see the health of both sides.)  Second, it
displays a countdown you can use to track the current period of the match.
Third, it displays your position in the waiting line when you are waiting to
play.

If you happen to kill your opponent without losing any life, the game will
announce to everyone that you played a "Perfect" round.   If you win every
round in a match without losing any life, the game will announce to everyone
that you played a "Flawless" match.

Clan Arena

In Clan arena teams can be of any size.  It's a lot like traditional
deathmatch with large teams fighting in a full sized arena.  Unlike
traditional deathmatch, you don’t respawn when you die, you start with full
ammo and weapons, and there aren’t any pickup items.  The first team to lose
all of its teammembers loses the round.


VII.	Config Options

If you go to the Rocket Arena Configuration menu under Mod on the main UT
menu bar, you can choose between various game options and the game admin
tool.  Right now there is only one measly little option.  You can choose
whether or not the game voice is male or female.

Actually, there are two other options that aren't under that menu.  Under
the normal button binding preferences menu, you can bind keys to Next Arena
and Popup Main Menu.  Next Arena lets you easily browse around the game
using a key.  Popup Main Menu will open the Navigation Menu whenever you hit
it.  Makes things a bit easier.

VIII.	Game Administration

First things first.  A big THANKS to Warren at Infiltration for letting us
base our administration menu off of his own.  It’s a great system and really
easy to use.

The Admin menu is accessed from the Mod menu’s Rocket Arena Configuration
entry.  Just open the menu and select the Admin tab.  If you are connecting
from a remote client and haven't logged in as admin yet, you'll need to
enter the admin password to become authorized.  Once that is done, you can
freely access the menu’s options.  In practice sessions, the admin menu
works exactly the same, but you don't need to log in.

The first two options on the menu Game Rules and Weapon Config work exactly
the same as the setup menus of the same name.  One slight difference is that
while they still change the default values, they also change the values for
the current game.  So if you take out the rocket launcher, for example, the
next set of players to spawn in that arena won’t have one.

The Players KICK/BAN option lets you do just that.  Kick out punks who are
giving you a hard time.  Just highlight their name and give them the boot.

The Bots ADD/REMOVE menu lets you add bot teams to a game.  I said teams,
not individual bots, so if you are adding bots to a 2 on 2 arena, every team
added means 2 bots.  If you have an area with 6 bot teams in it already and
you set the number to 4 it'll remove 2 teams.  The "modify" button isn't
finished so its greyed out, but in a future release youll be able to
customize the teams that you add.

The Restart Game option restarts the game.  Pretty simple.

Admin Logout logs you out.

IX.      Credits

Programming:
	Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart
	Stefen "Eavy" Daniel Schwarz
	Mike "Mongo" Lambert

Art:
	Shane "2LowG" Caudle
	Steve "G Man" Garofalo

Map Design:
	Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski
	Warren "Taskmaster" Marshall
	Rich "Akuma" Eastwood
	Eric "Ebolt" Boltjes
	Sidney "Clawfist" Rauchberger
	Cedric "Inoxx" Fiorentino
