Rival Species Mapping Reference
Index
| Required Overview Direct Confrontation Capture the Artifact Arena Area Control Desrtuction Additional Goodies Entity Index In Depth Entity Information Class Shrink Calculator Weapon Shrink Calculator |
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Required
In order to create a map for RS you will need to configure your map editor to use the RS mapping entities. The FGD file for configuring the Valve Hammer editor is included in your RS installtion folder (rspecies.fgd). If you wish to map for RS using another editor you will have to convert the FGD into whatever format your editor requires yourself. Additonaly an FGD file including all the standard half-life entities is available here (74KB, Right click & Save As... or your browser will attempt to view it).
Overview
When players connect to a RS server or the round ends players are spawned as a spectator at an info_player_team_st entity . HL multiplayer can handle up to 32 players at once, so you'll need a lot of these. Spectators are invisible and intangible, so they won't distract players in-game.
For each team you want in your map you must include a mission_modifier entity. As well as telling RS what teams are available it also holds all the setting specific to that team, such as what class and weapons are available. Set it's "class shrink" property to 0 will prevent players joining the specified team.
Each team has it's own spawn location enity anything from servo skulls to dreadnaughts can be spawned at these locations, so give them room. Here is a list of which entity to use for which team :
| Black Templars | info_player_team_bt |
| Ataloc Craftworld | info_player_team_at |
| Iron Warriors | info_player_team_iw |
| World Eaters | info_player_team_we |
RS has several game modes, but relies on entities placed & configured by you, so they can be mixed and matched. In any game mode after 8 minutes a draw is declared. However you can trigger any ending you want with the rs_roundend entity.
Direct Confrontation (DC game mode)
Direct Confrontation map names start with rs_dc_ . It's a basic team deathmatch mode, once you've done everything that's required in the section above this mode will work.
Capture the Artifact (CA game mode)
Capture the Artifact map names start with rs_ca_ . This is a kind of capture the flag mode for RS. In it's simplest form one team has to capture an item and the other team has to stop them. It is a simple matter to make a map where both teams have to capture the same artifact or where each tem has to capture a different artifact. The artifacts themselves are world artefact entities, you can configure which team is allowed to pick up each entity using it's properties. Picked up artifacts are captured at world_capturelocation entities, you can use this to trigger a rs_roundend for a basic capture the flag round.
Arena (AR game mode)
Arena map names start with rs_ar_ . Arena maps are a bit of fun, offering everyone the chance to get up close and personal. This mode is intended for hand to hand combat only. Setting the "ArenaMode" proprty of mission_modifier to 1 will disable all ranged weapons. Using the weapon shrink properties of the mission_modifer you can limit the weapons available to each class, so players have to get up close for a good look at the mod's great player models and to beat the living crap out of each other.
Area Control (AC game mode)
Area Control map names start with rs_ac_ . Area Control maps are based around a number of strategic locations marked by world_areacontrol entities. As soon as a player touches the world_areacontrol's model (which you will have to specify) the model will change to indicate the team that now control's that location and victory points are awarded. Controlling all the world_areacontrol locations wins the round.
Desrtuction (DE game mode)
Destruction map names start rs_de_ . In this game mode the objective for one or both teams is to destroy a specific structure (such as a generator for example). The target to be destroyed is usualy a func_breakable entity with lots of health, with it's "target on break" property specifying the winning team's rs_roundend entity. This way destruction of the breakable awards the team victory. In order to make the objective a little more difficult you might want to use a multi-source so that multiple objectives have to be destroyed, or you can put the objectve behind a locked door.
Additional Goodies
You can reward teams to achieving map specific objectives by triggering a rs_victorypoints entity. All entities named "round_start" will be triggered at the start of each round, and all entities named "reset" will be triggered at the end of a round.
The following entities are reset automatically at the start of a round to the status the had when the map loaded :
world_artefact, func_button, func_door, func_breakable, laser_beam, func_wall_toggle, light, trigger_hurt, trigger_relay, trigger_once, func_wall, info_player_team_bt, info_player_team_iw, info_player_team_at, info_player_team_we and multisource
The following standard entities have all been modified so that they can be configured only to activate for members of a specific team using "triggerteamshrink" property :
func_button, func_rot_button, func_door, func_rot_door, func_plat, func_train, func_illusionary, func_mortar_field, func_momentary_door, func_momentary_button, trigger_changelevel, func_ladder, trigger_gravity, trigger_hurt, trigger_multiple, trigger_push, trigger_teleport and trigger_once
| All Teams (Default) | 0 |
| Spectators | 1 |
| Black Templars | 2 |
| Iron Warriors |
4 |
| Alaitoc Craftworld | 8 |
| World Eaters | 16 |
Entity Index
In Depth Entity Information
| info_player_team_st | Spectator spawn location. The only thing to configure with this is what "angle" the spectator will be facing when they spawn here. | ||||||||||
| info_player_team_bt |
Black Templar's spawn location. Use the "angle" property to configure which way the marine is facing when they spawn. Use the "class shrink" property to specify which classes can spawn here (use the class shrink calculator to work out the right number to enter). If you "Name" the spawn location you can turn it on or off by triggering it. By setting "Inactive Start" to a non-zero value you can prevent players from spawning the at start of the round and use a trigger to activate the spawn location later. |
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| info_player_team_at | Alaitoc Craftworld spawn location . Works the same way as the Black Templar's spawn location only for players on the Alaitoc team. | ||||||||||
| info_player_team_iw | Iron Warriors spawn location. Works the same way as the Black Templar's spawn location only for players on the Iron Warriors team. | ||||||||||
| info_player_team_we | World Eaters spawn location . Works the same way as the Black Templar's spawn location only for players on the World Eaters team. | ||||||||||
| mission_modifier |
Team specific setup is done here. Most important is to specify the "team name" to let RS know that this team is available in this map. You can modify the balance of the map by changing the ratio of points that each team gets to spend on respawns using the "Team Balance" property. Use the "Class Shrink" property to specify which classes are available to this team (use the class shrink calculator to work out the right number to enter). You can use the weapon shrink properties for each class to limit which weapons are available (use the weapon shrink calculator to work out the right number to enter). Setting the "ArenaMode" proprty to 1 will disable all ranged weapons. The victory target specifies the name of an entity to trigger when this team wins a round (works for both timeouts and rs_roundend victories). Add together the values for whichever game modes your map supports and enter it in the "Game Mode" property.
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| rs_roundend | Used to end the round before the 8 minute timeout. Use the "Name" property so it can be activated by another entity. Pick a reason for the round to end from the list in the "Reason" property. | ||||||||||
| world_artefact | An artifact that can be captured. Pick the "Team Name" of the team that can collect it from the dropdown list. Browse the "Model Path" for a model to represent the artifact. Specify "Capture Points" to reward the team for picking up the artifact. | ||||||||||
| world_capturelocation | Marks a location where an artifact can be captured. Pick the "Team Name" of the team that can capture items here from the dropdown list. Browse the "Model Path" for a model to represent the location (not necessary if the location is distinct in the map). Specify "Capture Points" to reward the team for capturing the artifact and bringing it here. | ||||||||||
| rs_victorypoints |
Used to reward a team for achieving secondary objectives. Give it a "Name" so it can be triggered by another entity. Pick the "Team Name" of the team that will receive the victory points. Finally specify the "Amount" of victory points to be given. |
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| world_areacontrol |
The model switches depending on which team is in control. If a team captures all the world_areacontrols in a map they win the round. Area controls appear in the top left of the HUD, displaying their "Control Identifier" property and in the map as the model specifed by it's "Model Path" property. When captured it's appearence will switch to the model indicating the capturing team. The "* Target" properties are the target names of entities to be triggered when this area is capture by the relevent team. For example when and black templar marine captures a location the entities named by "BT Target" will be triggered. The "Control Target" is triggered every time the area is captured, but just before the team target is. NOTE: The "Control Identifier" MUST be prefixed by a number ( 0-9 ), this indicates it's sequence in which area controls will be listed on the HUD. |
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| rs_timer | Only activates it's target entity if it is triggered at the start and end of the timespan. | ||||||||||
| rs_particle_emitter |
Specifies the location, direction and style of a visual effect known as a "Particle System". Particle systems are purely asthetic and have no effect on game play, but properly configured can geatly improve the appearence and atmosphere of a map. A particle system appears as a cloud of additive rendermode sprites around the particle emitter, that generaly move toward the entity specified by emmiter's "Target" property. The exact appearence of the system is specified by an INI file in the player's rspecies/particles/ folder. The INI file used by an emitter is specified by it's "Particle"property. Configuration of particle system INI files is explained by Appendix 1 thanks to Char0n. An emitter will start to produce particles once it has been triggered using it's "Targetname", however you can have it start as soon as the map is loaded by setting it's "Start Active" spawn flag (on the flags page of the property editor). If you want to be able to turn it off again you must use the "May Toggle" spawn flag. NOTE : Each rs_particle_emitter must have a unique "ID" property or it will never generate particles. We plan to do away with this in a later release, currently it is still required. |
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| rs_fog |
Creates the appearence of fog filling the map. This can create a very atmospheric effect, but looks a bit odd in maps that are partialy indoors. Players in the map can see clearly up to "Start distance" units from them, the fog then thickens until it reaches "End distance" beyond which it appears a solid color. The colour of the fog is specified by the "Fog color (R G B)" property. |
Class Shrink Calculator
Calulating class shrink values is a flexible but complicated process for limiting what classes are available to each team. To simplify the process of calculating the class shrink for you I have included this tables. Simply find the table for the team you want check the boxes next to the classes you want to allow (and uncheck the ones you don't) and click the "GO!" button the class shrink value will then be displayed, so you can copy and paste it into entity's property value.
Alaitoc Eldar
Iron Warriors
World Eaters
Weapon Shrink Calculator
From version 1100 onwards RS allows you to forbid the use of certian weapons on a map by map and weapon by weapon basis. The weapon shrink calculator works in a similar way to the Class Shrink calculator, however in this case ticking the boxes forbids the use of the weapon rather than allowing it.
Alaitoc Eldar
World Eaters
Black Templars
