CTF idea... posted in wrong thread to begin with.

[Fridgecritter]

I think I posted this in the wrong thread to begin with (development) since I haven't actually developed this.  It's only in the idea/theory stage.  Let me know what you think:

I have had this idea for a while, but can't get the final details worked out. Here is the summary:

Capture the flag: Event NPCs that spawn every day at a certain time (or 4 times a day, etc...) and Shout2 to the server that the event is beginning. You zone into the event, and you are put on a team (NPC will pick team 1 for first, 2 for second, 1 for 3rd, etc.)

OR if that's not possible, then a GM can run it, and assign teams to every other player in the same fashion, but you can still use an NPC to port the players into the CTF map. Maybe even choose what team you want to be at the NPC, and the NPC will port you to the correct side of the map according to what team you choose. GMs can then balance the teams if need be.

Teams based on race, and I'll get to why in a minute... But the important part is, there is an NPC waiting as you zone in, and you are in a closed room on your team's side of the map (base). You have to hail the NPC there, and he will change your race to gnoll or frog based on what side you are on (or whatever races you choose for your server).

Now, you can't leave that room until you hail the NPC because in addition to changing your race, he gives you a key to the door (temporary, poofs on death) doesnt matter at that point because you dont need to get back into that room when the event is under way, the flag is not in there. This way people don't start the event without changing races. Then you can go out to the next room which is the ready room. When the GM (or NPC if possible) starts the event, the doors open and both teams may start.

When you get to the other side of the map in the opposing team's base, there is an object there that you click on to get the flag (or NPC, whichever is easier for perl checks) It checks for the following things:

1. There is not a flag already checked out, or you don't already have a flag (prevents people from getting 10 flags and turning them in) or just make them lore if you use an item for the flag... get to that in a minute.

2. You're race is the opposite team's race (thinking gotta pick races that enchanters can't illusion into) Keeps players from taking their own flag and hording it. That's where the changing people's races comes into play. This way with a small population such as Emu, you can still fill up the teams.

For the map, you custom make a map in a quake III editor so you don't have to worry about copyrighted maps, and convert it using openzone, then add your doors and NPCs, objects. You can even put in triggers like areas that check proximity and check if the player has the flag, then shout to the zone where they are on their way to their own base.

OR, you could use an existing map such as GukH that is not being used, and already has long corridors and a map that looks like you could have a base at the north end, and one at the south end. You could even block off other areas and make it so the map tells on the player in the zone if they try and go off down an alley and hide. This way, your players would not have to download any new map files.

When the player gets to the other end of the map and back to their own base with the enemy flag, they get AA points or Items given to them from the NPC that add up that they can spend at a special epic weapons and good armor vendor, or however you want to work it. Easy enough.

NOW... here's the part I have not figured out yet. This part escapes me. The actual Kills/Flag removal part. Since you would take forever killing a warrior while he is running across the map with a disc on, especially if you are say, level 30 and the warrior is 75, there needs to be a way that keeps it level neutral. Such as:

1. The flag is a spell, The npc shouts in the zone who he casts it on, and all players get an item that casts a weak dispell to get rid of the flag on your target?

2. The flag is an item so you can actually see who has the flag, but then how do you handle getting it off the player? Maybe an item that has a clicky and disappears if you zone, that kills the targeted player if they have the flag (no idea if that's possible), and the flag is temporary so when you die you lose it?

3. If you choose to kill players to get rid of the flag, then they will need to be bound on their side of the base... so then you need to make the entry NPC bind you on entry. Then when the event's over, who cares if people gate into it because the NPCs in the event map are on a spawn timer, and they poof after the event's over. You could even do like in cshome and put Uber powerful mobs in there that are on an opposite spawn timer as the event NPCs, and they deathtouch you upon gating in, and shout to the world that they killed you when you tried to enter the CTF map when the event isn't running? Maybe there is a way that when you use the NPCs that spawn to let you out of the event at the end, they can change your bind point to 0,0,30 in Nexus?

I am open to suggestions on this, and I hope everyone throws in their two cents, including the Devs and Quest writers, as I think this would be a very fun event.

Thanks.

[trevius]

Wrong forum again lol. This should probably have gone into development::feature requests or in development::custom code.

Sounds like an interesting and well thought out idea. I think most of that would be pretty straight-forward to write as quests. Pretty much everything you want done is doable in one way or another. If I ran a PVP server, I would probably start working on this immediately lol. I may eventually try something similar to this for PVE if I ever get the time.

[trevius]

Actually the more I think about this, it could probably have gone into the Quests::Q&A section. Since I think most of it can be done via quests. Depends on if any of it would need custom code to work properly or not.

[Fridgecritter]

So you see my dilemma. If need be, maybe a moderator can move this to the appropriate section where you think it belongs. Don't think it's the right thing to do to post this in several threads (Spam).

However, while we are discussing it, I would like to know how you would recommend implementing the kill/and/or/flag taking issue, while keeping it level neutral so that all parties can participate regardless of level?

I know the other aspects can be handled through quests, such as the race checks at the NPC, the item issuance (flag) and such. That part is easy enough. I am wondering really if anyone has any idea on what to do for the actual flag loss on death or tagging/however you would do it.

[trevius]

Ya, you definitely don't want to post this anywhere else. Just wait to see if it is moved or not. Spamming can get you in big trouble.

To even the battlegrounds, I would probably have to make it so the events had a level range specified. Some might be for 20-30, some might be 1-10, some may be 60-70 etc. I would also allow level 70s to temporarily de-level to that level range using my de-level quest. Then it would come down to who has the best no level req/rec gear and/or best skill.

Depending on player race, the NPC that sends players to that zone would send different races to either side of the zone. You can divide it up however you want. Simply add a race check to the porting NPC and then the quest::movepc(zoneid,x,y,z); to have different locations of the zone depending on which side that race is considered to be on. I am not sure if illusions are considered or not, so that might take some testing to make sure people can't cheat and switch sides.


This is one way to do it:

The players zone into a small room that has a locked door on it, and 1 NPC in that room.

That NPC will have a proximity that will cause any players that enter it to be bound to that area and also change their race to the race of their team so sides will be easily identifiable. It will also set a quest global on them all for use later on.

The NPC will ask them to say [ready] when they are all ready to go.

Once one side says they are ready, a signal is sent to another NPC that keeps track of the event. That NPC will then send a signal to the opposing side NPC and the opposing side NPC will say that the other team is ready and all they have to do is say [confirm] which will send a signal back to the event tracking NPC and this will open the doors to begin the event.

Upon getting to the opponent's side of the zone, there will be another NPC in a separate area from the starting room. This NPC will have a small proximity set on it that once entered by the opposing team will cause the NPC to despawn, use quest globals to "flag" the player and set their race to yet another race so that everyone can identify who has the "flag" easily.

If the flag carrier is killed, they will return to the bind point where they zoned in and their "flag" will be removed by entering the bind NPC's proximity. Their race will also be set again to their team's race.

Finally, if the player with the "flag" makes it back to their side (different room than the zone in room), their own flag NPC will check their globals and race to verify that they have the flag and have the correct flag race and then reward the player however you see fit. It will send a signal to the event tracking NPC which will announce that the event has been completed and will despawn all NPCs related to the event.

Deciding the reward(s) is up to you.


Another option might be to have the NPC at the zone in do all of the things I already listed, but also then send the players to their "flag" room. The binding NPCs could then be anywhere that is blocked off from the rest of the zone. I don't think something like this would be all too hard to write. It would just take some testing and working out the final details. The hardest part would probably be setting up the doors.

There are many options that could be added to this quest. It definitely sounds interesting.

[Fridgecritter]

Sounds very promising. I still don't know about the combat element of it though. Sure, with Quake III or similar FPS games, you get hit maybe 3 times max and you are dead, but in EQ, you may get get 500 times before you die.

This is the hard part to mitigate. One idea I had after reading your post is to have everyone delevel to a certain level upon entry to level the playing field, and then an NPC puts a debuff on them that makes AC almost nonexistent. Like I said before as well, there needs to be narrow corridors on the map that serve as choke points so you don't just have people running a loop around the competition to make the point.

Another thing to figure out is the flag check. I like your idea about using yet a different race as the flag. This is great. We could even make it so the NPC changes the #size too so you are easier to target and hit. The hard part is going to be preventing everyone from a team from changing race, and you have an entire team with flags.

Any ideas on the zone flag check function? I think the rest is pretty much hashed out for sure?

P.S.
Feel free to use this idea. I want to see it work.