game-source/ParoxysmII/README

Paroxysm II - Release Notes
Copyright (C) 2002 Jeff Teunissen <deek@d2dc.net>
Copyright (C) 2002 Contributors to the QuakeForge Project

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at
your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser
General Public License for more details.
	
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to:

	Free Software Foundation, Inc.
	59 Temple Place, Suite 330
	Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

Paroxysm II is based on "Paroxysm", created and donated to the public
domain by Frank "p0x" Condello <pox@planetquake.com>.

Table of Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1	Special Thanks
2	About Paroxysm II
3	Requirements
4	Installation
5	New Commands
6	Weapons
7	Armor
8	Configuring Deathmatch Options
9	Troubleshooting
10	Credits


1	Special Thanks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The QuakeForge Project would like to thank Frank "p0x" Condello, first for
writing, and then donating Paroxysm to the public domain. You've created
a great game, and we hope that Paroxysm II lives up to the high standard
you've set.

We would also like to thank Id Software, Inc. for writing and releasing
Quake under the GNU General Public License. The Quake engine is a most
excellent gift for the Free Software community, and has created an
entire subculture dedicated to playing all the wonderful Quake
modifications. Thank you!


2	About Paroxysm II
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paroxysm II (Pox2) is a Deathmatch game for the QuakeForge engine. While
most (if not all) of Pox2 will work with non-QuakeForge Quake engines,
it will take some work, and we will not go out of our way to support
running Pox2 without QuakeForge servers and clients.


3	Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pox2 requires a QuakeForge engine built with compression support. The
files in the package are gzip-compressed for small size and speed of
loading.

An OpenGL-supporting client is HIGHLY recommended. The game works in
software mode, but it's nowhere near as cool. :)


4	Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copy the "paroxysm" directory in the distribution to the directory in
which your shared QuakeForge data files are located. On a Unix-based
system, these will usually be in "/usr/local/share/games/quakeforge"; on
a Windows system, this will usually be C:\QUAKE or something similar. 
Create a subdirectory called "paroxysm" in your unshared data files (on
a Unix system, typically ~/.quakeforge/ -- on a Windows system, it's
usually the same as the shared directory), and copy the autoexec.cfg
there. You should edit this file to create a standard configuration for
yourself.

NOTE: Make sure the "secondtrigger" command is bound to a key or button
that you have fast, ready access to; you won't be very formidable in a
deathmatch if you can't use the special features of the weapons! :)


5	New Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These commands can by typed into the console, or bound to a key.

The default bindings can be changed in the autoexec.cfg file (note: this
will change in the future -- there will be a "bindkeys" command that
will rebind the default keys for you, allowing you to use autoexec.cfg
for your own stuff.

Command		Description
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
secondtrigger	- Activate the current weapon's secondary trigger.
		- Default key binding: ALT
		- This command is used a LOT. The Paroxysm II weapons
		  are most powerful when you learn how to use both of
		  their functions.
idtarget	- Display the names of players that pass through your
		  line-of-sight. (toggles)
		- Default key binding: I
rules		- Display the state of all Deathmatch modifiers.


6	Weapons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pox2's weapons are substantially different from Quake's. Paroxysm II
contains a number of rule changes that you may not be used to:

There is no weapon auto switching when you run out of ammo. You will
hear some sort of click or buzz indicating you need more ammo. (Although
you can run out of ammo, you still can't cycle to a weapon if you have
no ammo for it.)

NOTE: This rule can be overridden by using the Weapon Autoswitch Option.

If you touch a weapon, it becomes your active weapon (no auto best
weapon). Picking up a backpack that contains a weapon will NOT change your current weapon.

NOTE: This rule can be overriden by using the Weapon Autoswitch Option.

You can not pick up a weapon if you already have it. The chief reason
for this is that it prevents things like respawn camping of certain
powerful weapons to dominate a map.

Here is a table of the weapons, what they are and what they do.

Weapon (#)	Description
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T-Shot (2)	A rotating triple-barreled shotgun. The secondary
		trigger primes all three barrels for a powerful
		triple-blast.
		(you spawn with this weapon)

Combo Gun (3)	Double-barreled shotgun. The secondary trigger fires a
		short-range impact grenade.

Plasma Gun (4)	Fires short, fast-moving bursts of charged plasma. The
		secondary trigger overloads the weapon, firing a large
		plasma burst with high radial damage...but it takes time
		to recharge when you do.

Nail Gun (5)	The gift that keeps on giving, the Nail Gun has a
		secondary trigger that launches a Shrapnel Bomb. A
		second press on the second trigger detonates your
		deployed shrapnel bomb.

Grenade		Primary trigger fires "bouncy" grenades. Secondary
Launcher (6)	trigger plants phase mines. Phase mines fuse with
		inanimate objects and arm themselves on contact. They
		are triggered by touch, damage, or movement. Phase mines
		explode after 60 seconds, and can be placed inside
		powerups, dead bodies, attached to walls or ceilings,
		etc. In a future version, phase mines may become
		invisible, but do less damage.

Annihilator (7)	The Annihilator is the weapon your mother warned you
		about (or should have). It's a semi-automatic,
		shoulder-mounted, double-barreled high-impact grenade
		launcher. It fires two grenades per shot, and must be
		reloaded after four shots. Because its main function can
		be so devastating, the secondary trigger performs a
		reload instead of some other offensive capability.


7	Armor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like Paroxysm before it, Paroxysm II deals with armor in a different way
than Quake does. You don't pick up armor, you stand in a regeneration
station. There are three types of regeneration stations; blue, yellow,
and red. This color coding shows how high the station can recharge your
armor; blue can give you 50 armor points, yellow 150, red 250. Your
powered armor only has the capacity to hold 150 power units without
losing some over time...so if your armor meter shows red, you will lose
armor points over time until it reaches 150.

The color of the armor indicator only shows how much armor you have --
unlike Quake, there are not multiple armor types, they all protect
equally.


8	Deathmatch Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Server administrators can change how Paroxysm II plays by setting the
"deathmatch" Cvar in the server console. Deathmatch modifiers are
"bitfields" -- to combine two modifiers, add their values.

NOTE: Normal deathmatch has a flag of 1.

The "fraglimit" and "timelimit" Cvars still apply, but may not work the
same in various game modes.

Mode (value)		Description
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Predator Mode (2)	All players are cloaked (eyes only)

Dark Mode (4)		Lighting is dimmed, and players are equipped
			with flashlights.

Last Man Standing (8)	Players start with a set number of frags, and
			lose a frag when they die. When only one player
			remains, the game is over.
			* fraglimit sets the initial frags for players

Free For All (16)	Players spawn with full health (200), armor, all
			weapons, and 5 seconds of invulnerability.
			Shield generators, quad damage, cloak, and
			MegaShields are the only power-ups.
			Backpacks contain health and any ammo left when
			its owner died.

Gib Mode (32)		Players always gib when killed, and never drop
			backpacks.

Weapon Autoswitch (128)	Similar to the original Quake weapon pickup
			rules; Switches to another weapon when you run
			out of ammo, selects your best weapon when you
			pick up weapons or ammo.
			
			(NOTE: You still can't pick up a weapon you
			already have)


9	Troubleshooting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Problem: My flashlight doesn't work in dark mode when using OpenGL!
Fix: Hit "L" to toggle the gl_dlight_lightmap Cvar. This may slow your
gameplay down a bit, but it is necessary for dark mode to work in GL.

Problem: There's not enough ammo on (insert map here).
Explanation: Although Paroxysm II is compatible with existing DeathMatch
maps, some maps may not be ideal. Due to weapon and rule changes, many
(mostly older) maps will not have enough ammo for a solid game.
Unfortunately, none of the original Quake Deathmatch maps are
ideal Paroxysm II maps. For this reason, we are compiling a list of maps
that are known to work well with Paroxysm II. If you know of a map that
works well with Paroxysm II, please let us know via email, at:
"QuakeForge Users" <quakeforge-users@lists.quakeforge.net>

10	Credits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All models, and all skins (except for the Plasma Gun) were created by
Frank Condello. The Plasma Gun was skinned by Forest "LordHavoc" Hale
with help from Jeff "Deek" Teunissen.

The QuakeC code was written by Frank Condello. It is currently being
maintained by Jeff Teunissen.


		Ok, that's all of it. Really, no foolin'.


				GO PLAY!