Title    : The Age of Elementals
Filename : tao_e.zip
Version  : Beta 0.9
Date     : 03/01/97
Author   : NiKoDeMoS
Email    : nikodemos@mindspring.com
Credits  : id software, of course, for the means.
           Zoid (author of CTF) for hints on messaging routines.
           Suck (from #quakeed) for hints on spawning items.

Build time: about 10 hours

Type of Mod
-----------
Quake C  : yes
Sound    : no
MDL      : no  


Format of QuakeC (if a Quake C Mod)
-----------------------------------
unified diff  : no
context diff  : no
.qc files     : no
progs.dat     : yes


Description of the Modification
-------------------------------

This is beta test release ... please, PLEASE e-mail me with comments and/or
suggestions!

The Age of Elementals is designed to extremely enhance deathmatch play. While
it can be incorporated in single-player games, it is highly recommended to
be used as a team deathmatch modification.

The Age of Elementals changes the rules of gameplay and introduces several
new items. These items enable abilities such as immunity to lava, the
ability to breathe underwater, the ability to fly, and the ability to blend
in with one's surroundings. These are NOT the same thing as powerups and
do not exhibit the same functionality.

A few new scoring rules are added as well as rules for exiting the level.
The intent of this mod was to make an interesting, challenging game. At this
release level, THERE IS NO CLIENT SIDE CODE NECESSARY. This means that
players connecting to a server running TAO_E need not have the patch
installed on their system. It will run automatically from the server.

This document will list the rules of the game. For design/coding specs,
please refer to techinfo.txt. For the premise/story behind the game, please
refer to intro.txt.

The Catalyst of Change
----------------------
The first player to enter the server will trigger the Catalyst of Change.
Likewise, the last player to exit the server will cause the Catalyst of
Change to remove itself. The Catalyst of Change is a driving entity in the
game. It constantly changes position with each cycle. When a player comes
into contact with the Catalyst of Change, the player is healed. If a player
finds a rune, the player must bring the rune to the Catalyst of Change for
its attributes to be enabled. The Catalyst of Change looks like a glowing
ball of lava that floats above the ground.

The Ages/Runes
--------------
The first wave of the game is concerned with ages. The first few minutes or
seconds of the game are like a regular teamplay deathmatch. Then a time of
change begins. The Catalyst of Change becomes active and starts to heal
players coming into contact with it. The first age is the age of fire. The
fire rune is introduced to the game. If a player can locate this rune, they
must then bring it to the Catalyst of Change and have its attributes enabled.
A player carrying a rune will glow. If that player is killed, they will drop
their rune. If one team has the fire rune, the other team can still get the
fire rune by killing the player with that rune, grabbing it, and taking it to
the Catalyst of Change to activate it. It is important, therefore, to share
attributes as frequently as possible (see below).

The ages are as follows:

Age             Rune    Attribute
---             ----    ---------
Change          no      Healing
Fire            yes     Immunity to lava/fireballs
Water           yes     Breath underwater
Air             yes     Fly
Earth           yes     Blend into surroundings
Exodus          no      Must assemble Key to Universe and escape level

The ages are additive. Oncee the age of fire is over, the fire rune still
exists, etc. There is only one rune for each element. The runes will change
location after a certain period of time. If they are dropped in lava or
thrown to an inaccessible place, they will move themselves after a cycle.
(see cycles below)

Here is a specific breakdown of the runes:

FIRE
====
The fire rune, when activated, gives immunity to lava and fireballs. The
player can therefore jump in lava and not be harmed. The player cannot
breathe in the lava, just as in water, but won't be scorched. Most existing
Quake levels have lava, but deep enough so that the player can't jump out.
If the player has the fire attribute enabled, the player will have a super
jump when in lava. The player should position themselves facing the surface
that they wish to jump onto, and move as close to that surface without being
flush or underneath it. Then the player starts to jump. With the right
orientation, the player will leap out of the lava and be able to land on
the surface. A recommended place to practice this is in the lava by the hard
level on the start map. It is simply an extended water jump that allows a
gigantic leap onto higher surfaces.

WATER
=====
The player can breathe underwater. If the player has the fire attribute, they
will be able to breathe under lava. The player can also breathe under slime,
but will still be injured by it.

AIR
===
The player can fly. The player flight IS NOT LIKE FLY MODE. It is more like
water mode. The player must toggle if they are flying or not. The command for
flight is FLYMODE. In order to start flying, the player MUST NOT BE ON
THE GROUND for the toggle to work. WHAT?! That's right. If the player is in
the water, falling, or jumping, the toggle will work. Not on the ground.
Example: bind "FLYMODE" to "f". Press f, then try to fly. It won't
work. Now jump, and while in the air, press f. Suddenly you are flying! To
navigate while flying, maneuver the same way as underwater. Just face the
direction you want to go and press the forward key. Pressing f again will
drop you back to the surface.

EARTH
=====
This is by far the most powerful rune. It allows the player to blend in
effectively with their surroundings. As long as the player is on the ground
and not attacking, the player will be invisible. If the player is in water,
in the air, or attacking, they no longer have a surface to camoflauge
themselves against or are making their presence known, so they will become
visible again until the attack is finished or they come into contact with
the ground again. This means that the player cannot become invisible in the
air while flying. This rune does not conflict with the invisibility powerup.
If the player has the invisibility powerup, they will be invisible at all
times. As an additional advantage, because the player is one with the
earth, they are not injured in falls.

SHARING ATTRIBUTES
------------------
A player can share their attributes with other members of the same team, even
if they don't have the rune. A player with an attribute simply has to touch
another player on their team, and that player will acquire those attributes.

AVATARS
-------
An avatar is a player who has all four attributes. This player is by far one
of the most powerful beings on the map. They can fly at will, swim forever,
hide in lava, and disappear when on the ground. The player will know they
are an avatar when the silver key appears on their console.

THE KEY TO THE UNIVERSE
-----------------------
The level cannot be exited until the key to the universe is assembled. The
key to the universe is assembled when one team owns all of the runes. That
team will see a gold key appear on their console. At this point, they are
free to exit at will. If a player carrying a rune is killed, then they
lose the key to the universe.

CYCLES
------
The ages appear in consecutive order based on cycles. The runes and the
Catalyst of Change move each cycle. A cycle is, by default, two minutes long.
The person running the server may change the cycle by setting timelimit.
TIMELIMIT IS NO LONGER HOW LONG EACH LEVEL LASTS. IT IS THE TIME, IN MINUTES,
BETWEEN EACH CYCLE OF THE GAME. A timelimit of 0.2, for example, means that
a cycle happens every 12 seconds. This means all the runes will enter the
game before a minute is up, and it is hard to catch the Catalyst of Change.
The runes automatically reset themselves every 2 minutes, in case they are
in lava or someplace unreachable.

A NOTE ON THE HEADS UP DISPLAY
------------------------------
The heads up display has an indicator for the runes. This is a global
indicator. If a rune appears on the heads up display, it does not necessarily
mean that the player or even their team owns that rune. It simply means that
rune has been acquired by someone. The easiest way to use this display is to
realize that, if a rune is not highlighted on the heads up display and its
age has passed, it is out there, somewhere, waiting to be claimed. GO GET IT!

SCORING
-------
Frag other team                 1 point
Frag other team as avatar       2 points
Capture a rune                  5 points
Activate a rune                 10 points
Exit the level (exodus)         20 points

The team with the most points wins. Therefore, it is not always adviseable to
exit once the Key to the Universe has been obtained. The team may need to
acquire some points first. In the event of a tie with points, the team which
exited successfully will be considered the winner. If a team exits when they
have less points, they are considered cowards.


