Combat And Spawning
Sandstorm
Join Date: 2003-09-25 Member: 21205Members
Join Date: 2003-09-25 Member: 21205Members
<div class="IPBDescription">a history lesson</div> There have been various changes to combat's spawning system since it was introduced in v3.0. When evaluating the current situation, it helps to reflect on the past. For those new to the game, I will list them:
v3.0 Beta 1 (1/24/04) - Spawning based on points spent
Spawn time = (5 * Points spent) seconds (unconfirmed, from memory)
There is no spawn queue, nor any type of wave spawning. Simply, you died, and x seconds later, you're spawned. The maximum wait time was set very high, so players could easily spend 45 seconds waiting in to spawn, even in a 1 vs 1 game. Generally, players upgraded in tiers to avoid unnecessary wait time, ie. Damage 1 and Shotgun. Super-skulks were especially useless, although most players were obsessed with it. A skulk with all 9 upgrades was the "in" thing back then.
Due to lack of official changelog, here are some forum posted changelogs:
<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55671' target='_blank'>v2.1 - 3.0 , 3.0c, 3.0d changelog </a>, <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59508' target='_blank'>v3.0f changelog</a>, <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=60060' target='_blank'>v3.0g changelog</a>
I can't seem to find the 3.0e changelog, but that appears to be the one where v3.0 Beta 1's spawning system originated from. These changelogs were reposted from the private constellation forums.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b2-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 2</a> (1/30/04) - Wave spawning
Spawn time = (5 + (1 * number of players on the team)) seconds
Max wait time was lowered, so players needed not wait forever to spawn in. Players seemed to enjoy the fact they didn't have to limit their upgrades to avoid longer respawns. However, this spawn system resulted in hour long combat games on large servers.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b3-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 3</a> (2/10/04) - Quarter wave spawning
Spawn time = ((5 + (2 * number of teammates in wave)) + additional waves) seconds
Only one-fourth of the team can spawn in at a time. This means a max of 4 players per wave on a 32 player server. This didn't cause nearly the level of spawncamping that Beta 4's spawn system did, but complaints about it started to show up. Many people expected Beta 4 to fix the spawncamping issue.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b4-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 4</a> (4/23/04) - Spawning using a Queue
Spawn time = (5 + (5 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
This version was considered very alien-friendly, seeing as aliens gained experience over time. Generally, marines could only win if they all rushed hive immediately.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b4a-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 4a</a> (5/1/04) - Tweaked Spawning using a Queue
Spawn time (aliens) = (5 + (5 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
Spawn time (marines) = (4 + (4 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
Tweak was due to addition of combat timelimit.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b5-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 5</a> (9/3/04) - 5 player max wave spawning
Spawn time = ((5 + (4.5 * number of teammates in wave)) + additional waves) seconds
Wave cannot exceed 5 players regardless of team size. This wave system has some similarities to Cheesy's Respawn System, except it has a wait time multiplier of 4.5 instead of 2, and it has a limit of 5 instead of 8.
v3.0 Beta 1 (1/24/04) - Spawning based on points spent
Spawn time = (5 * Points spent) seconds (unconfirmed, from memory)
There is no spawn queue, nor any type of wave spawning. Simply, you died, and x seconds later, you're spawned. The maximum wait time was set very high, so players could easily spend 45 seconds waiting in to spawn, even in a 1 vs 1 game. Generally, players upgraded in tiers to avoid unnecessary wait time, ie. Damage 1 and Shotgun. Super-skulks were especially useless, although most players were obsessed with it. A skulk with all 9 upgrades was the "in" thing back then.
Due to lack of official changelog, here are some forum posted changelogs:
<a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55671' target='_blank'>v2.1 - 3.0 , 3.0c, 3.0d changelog </a>, <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59508' target='_blank'>v3.0f changelog</a>, <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=60060' target='_blank'>v3.0g changelog</a>
I can't seem to find the 3.0e changelog, but that appears to be the one where v3.0 Beta 1's spawning system originated from. These changelogs were reposted from the private constellation forums.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b2-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 2</a> (1/30/04) - Wave spawning
Spawn time = (5 + (1 * number of players on the team)) seconds
Max wait time was lowered, so players needed not wait forever to spawn in. Players seemed to enjoy the fact they didn't have to limit their upgrades to avoid longer respawns. However, this spawn system resulted in hour long combat games on large servers.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b3-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 3</a> (2/10/04) - Quarter wave spawning
Spawn time = ((5 + (2 * number of teammates in wave)) + additional waves) seconds
Only one-fourth of the team can spawn in at a time. This means a max of 4 players per wave on a 32 player server. This didn't cause nearly the level of spawncamping that Beta 4's spawn system did, but complaints about it started to show up. Many people expected Beta 4 to fix the spawncamping issue.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b4-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 4</a> (4/23/04) - Spawning using a Queue
Spawn time = (5 + (5 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
This version was considered very alien-friendly, seeing as aliens gained experience over time. Generally, marines could only win if they all rushed hive immediately.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b4a-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 4a</a> (5/1/04) - Tweaked Spawning using a Queue
Spawn time (aliens) = (5 + (5 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
Spawn time (marines) = (4 + (4 * number of teammates in queue)) seconds
Tweak was due to addition of combat timelimit.
<a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/v30b5-changelog.html' target='_blank'>v3.0 Beta 5</a> (9/3/04) - 5 player max wave spawning
Spawn time = ((5 + (4.5 * number of teammates in wave)) + additional waves) seconds
Wave cannot exceed 5 players regardless of team size. This wave system has some similarities to Cheesy's Respawn System, except it has a wait time multiplier of 4.5 instead of 2, and it has a limit of 5 instead of 8.