Developer's Corner

November 21, 2006, 15:22:32

Not requiring the definition of a new game type, certain variables could be introduced to extend the flexability of existing game modes.  For example, in addition to sv_fraglimit (whatever the equivelent variable is named) there could be a sv_lives variable which dictates how many times a player can die in a round.  This would allow for games of LMS and CaptureStrike (LMS CTF) to be created without the need for any special wads.

Additional variables could include:
sv_damage (affects the damage dealt by shots, can be used in a similar way to the difficulty mode, but can be set to above 1 for extra damage)

why don't some of you other people think of a few ;)

November 21, 2006, 23:30:17

I don't know about this. They (sv_damage in particular) sway a bit too far from Doom for my liking.

Of course, one could argue that I'm being a hypocrite since CTF is in Odamex, but that has proven to be perfectly playable in a standard Doom environment.

November 22, 2006, 19:13:06

Sure but having CTF is a new game you meerly play in the doom universe, doing things like changing shot damage fundamentally changes the universe itself. That would not be desireable. I like the way in many ways Odamex is a very minimalist mod. It makes changes to the outside making the game more accessible and less of a headache, but leaves the inner 'doominess' alone.

November 23, 2006, 14:17:21

I'm gonna go with deathz0r, skulltag had the same features in mind but put a lot more work than a single cvar for the game mode to work. Additionally simply enabling this cvar on a DM server inorder to play a different game mode would be cheesy and probably just leave an equally cheesy substitute for an actual game mode which the dev's probably have little interest in.

November 24, 2006, 03:01:00

Someone correct me if I'm incorrect in my assumption but could a server not load a dehacked patch to get this done?

November 24, 2006, 07:34:50

It could, but I guess that works, since wads can be loaded and unloaded at any time, unlike with zdaemon.  Still, some form of lms would be nice (as am alternitive to the way it is done in zdaemon currently, placing spawns in a seperate room and making the players go through one-time teleporters.  This is something that cant be changed in dehacked.

(my thinking with sv_damage was something that works in the same way sv_teamdamage might, where it could be set to 0 (in coop for example.. er I guess teamdamage covers that))

November 26, 2006, 20:05:41

Perhaps modifying game-affecting variables, such as sv_damage, could be activated as a server-side "Enable Game-affecting Variables" option.

November 26, 2006, 21:57:44

You won't be seeing it in Odamex itself. We want to keep it as close to Doom as possible but with a few new additions to bring life to it. However, that doesn't prevent you from making a fork of Odamex and adding all the features yourself!

November 26, 2006, 22:10:01

However, that doesn't prevent you from making a fork of Odamex and adding all the features yourself!

Open-source FTW!

My suggestion was ignorant. I keep forgetting that Odamex was to be as authentic to the classic Doom as possible.

Oh, the fun of seeing new paths. Perhaps I should make a build with every FPS gametype known to man? That would kick ass.

November 28, 2006, 16:18:14

Not that we are encouraging every joe shmoe to fork the project just to add little tidbit features of course.  If something can be implemented relatively easily, and the person or people who suggested the change are willing to pony up and help out, it's quite possible some "non doom" features could be added, especially if they don't directly change the core game.

December 04, 2006, 15:08:56

we just need to make sure DMFLAGS is a 128 bit variable :P

December 04, 2006, 15:32:31

we just need to make sure DMFLAGS is a 128 bit variable :P

The dmflags is not used for server configuration in odamex.  The dmflags system is horrendous and confusing.

December 04, 2006, 15:55:19

Aww, I loved using an external setting editor to produce an archaic number which controls the most important functions of the game :'(

December 04, 2006, 16:45:02

actually, DMFLAGS makes passing around the settings of a gae alot easier.  Perhaps there could be console constants such as DMF_CTF predefined?  just thoughts

December 05, 2006, 15:01:00

actually, DMFLAGS makes passing around the settings of a gae alot easier.