Gameplay Features
A reference for players. What makes QWTA different from BaseETQW? While QWTA is very
customizable--as is illustrated below in the CVar reference--the features described here
are presented with the QWTA default configuration, despite it being possible to have QWTA
play exactly like BaseETQW with non-gameplay enhancements and bugfixes, if you wish.
General Realism
One of QWTA's founding ideals is realism. Weapons hit harder, kill faster, and require a more
deliberate aim to be successful with. Players run like normal humans, without bunnyhopping
across maps like racecars. Armoured vehicles are impervious to mere rifle fire.
You bleed when shot, and your vision fades to black as you die. Mines and APTs don't warn you
with neon text that you're about to die, and radar can't pick infantry out of ground
clutter(Although, the 3rd Eye Camera and MCP include Infrared scanners which will find infantry.),
and you're given no textual warning when artillery is fired, so pay attention.
Infiltrators and Covert Ops' are deadlier than ever with the new ability for knife backstabs
to inflict completely lethal damage: a medic won't save you from this. Additionally, realism fans
should note the removal of most crosshairs in the game, as well as the beep & flash hit feedback.
Realistic Weapons
QWTA tries to model the GDF weapons after their real-world counterparts. Generally trying to get a
certain form of performance out of them. ROFs, damages, accuracies, are just the start...
More or less, QWTA attempts to model weapons and vehicles along these lines:
- Pistol: Beretta M9
- Machine Pistol: Isreal Military Industries Micro Uzi
- Assault Rifle: Heckler & Koch XM8 (With some design differences allowed for a speculative prototype.)
- GPMG: Fabrique Nationale M240
- Shotgun: Benelli M4
- Rocket Launcher: Talley Defense Systems SMAW MK153(Looks) combined with Lockheed Martin FGM-172 SRAW(Functionality).
- Sniper Rifle: Barrett M82
- Minigun: (Appears on several vehicles in ETQW.) General Electric XM134
- Husky: ???
- Armadillo: HMMWV
- Trojan: ??? (AA Missile similar to Avenger Air Defense System AN/TWQ-1)
- Bumblebee: ???
- Titan: M1A1 Abrams (Tank Gun: 120mm M256)
- Anansi: AH-64 Apache (LAW exhibits characteristics of combined AGM-114 Hellfire and AIM-92 Stinger, Hydra 70 rockets)
- Platypus: ???
Obviously, the pure science fiction weapons, and Strogg equipment, have no real world counterparts. These have largely been left
at their BaseETQW performance levels, with tweaks to allow them to remain competitive with the more lethal GDF weapons.
The Quake Universe's History
QWTA takes the position that the Earth-Stroggos War in the Quake Universe spans ETQW as the initial
Earth invasion by the Strogg, followed by Quake 2, its mission packs, and finally Quake 4. As such, QWTA
considers itself a mix of ETQW's technology base(with the occasional bit of creative license and extrapolation of BaseETQW tech
and modern-day warfare technologies), with Quake 2 and Quake 4 technology inserted where it makes sense to be.
Generally, the more advanced technology in Quake 2 and Quake 4 appears in QWTA in prototype form.
Bigger, heavier, more fragile. QWTA at present includes various features players will recognize from other Quake games,
which shall be detailed below.
Improved Spectator Controls
Ever been cycling through players to follow while spectating in BaseETQW, seen something
interesting and accidentally clicked to the next player to watch? And then been stuck having to
cycle through all the players on a server to get back to where you were? QWTA corrects that
design oversight of BaseETQW by modifying the spectator controls.
Primary Fire: Switch to the next player to follow-spectate.
Alternate Fire: Switch to the previous player to follow-spectate.
Jump: When fully spectating(Rather than dead-spectating on a team.), switch to a free-fly camera.
New Class Award
The optional(g_useAwardJackOfAllTrades) Jack of All Trades award is given to the player who
has accumulated an average or better amount of XP with at least two classes in a round.
If more than one player meets this qualification, the player with the most XP accumulated
in the applicable player class proficiencies wins out.
This award is intended to highlight those players who are constantly switching classes throughout the round,
in order to serve their team's needs best, moment to moment.
BaseETQW 1.5 Bugfixes
- The 3rd Eye Camera updates properly when stuck on a moving vehicle, in QWTA.
- Autorecording demos start and stop properly on map change, without corrupting the demo.
- The notorious Volcano map exploit has been fixed. (Including variations in other maps.)
- Sniper Rifles and Railguns can no longer be rapid-fired, skipping their reload cycle.
- GDF jumping sounds when carrying certain gear are correctly played where they were missing in BaseETQW.
- AVT missiles, Rail Howitzer/Artillery shells, Vampire bombs, and Obliterator/Rocket Launcher missiles are no longer randomly invisible.
- Frags made by vehicle explosions are now correctly attributed to the player who caused the explosion.
- And more...
Class Limits
A big open map being camped by a team full of Infiltrator snipers just waiting for your Soldiers
sound a wee bit unpleasant? As well as a strange specialization for a deployed combat force? No worries,
QWTA restricts the number of each class that is allowed to be used at any one time, dynamically increasing or
decreasing the amount based upon server conditions.
A Quake 2/4 styled Hyperblaster
Unlike ETQW's take on the Hyperblaster, as a high-ROF, high-damage hitscan(instant-hit) weapon,
previous Quake games have always used visible projectiles. In Quake 2, it was blaster bolts.
In Quake 4, the Hyperblaster fired blue plasma, yet the Quake 4 Nailgun most resembles the ETQW
Hyperblaster. The QWTA Hyperblaster as such, resembles the Quake 4 Nailgun the most. Specifically,
the Single-Player version of it, as the QWTA Hyperblaster features lock on and guidance capabilities
when used in ironsights mode. The ROF is relatively slow, but the projectiles do very high damage,
and include a small area effect explosion upon impact, making the Hyperblaster in QWTA a nasty
contender for lethality. Vehicle-mounted Hyperblasters also enjoy this change.
A Quake 2/4 styled Railgun
A strange peculiarity of the BaseETQW Railgun is that, unlike the Railgun of Quake 2/3/4 fame, it
does not shoot through multiple targets. QWTA corrects that oversight, so multiple kills with a single
shot are again possible with the Railgun.
The BFG10k and the Jupiter
The pride and joy of the Quake 2 arsenal returns, lovingly recreated as a prototype vehicle weapon,
mounted upon the Jupiter Assault Tank. The complex mechanics of the BFG10k are fully recreated in QWTA, as follows:
When you depress the trigger, the BFG takes several seconds to reach full charge, before firing.
Once the Jupiter fires its BFG shot, a massive glowing green ball rumbles through the air, spearing nearby enemies with brilliant
green laser beams as it travels. Upon impact, the BFG Ball detonates in a powerful explosion. Finally,
a half second after this detonation, any target in line of sight to both the detonation point and the
Jupiter tank, is erased from existence by the fabled, mystical BFG Effect.
The Abaddon, the Plasma Beam, and the Flamethrower
The Strogg also have a new vehicle to bring to the table in QWTA. The Abaddon provides a convenient
mounting platform for the Strogg Plasma Beam(First appearing in Quake 2: Ground Zero), a type of
mining laser that focuses a coherent beam of energy upon a single target, melting it to slag in short order.
Due to the nature of the precisely tuned electromagnetic frequencies in use by the Plasma Beam, it is less successful melting flesh off the living.
To address that design problem, in place of the normal secondary weapon--a Hyperblaster--of most Strogg vehicles,
the Abaddon mounts a short-range Flamethrower. While not appearing in previous Quake games(Although the
Quake 4 Napalm Gun has similarities.) directly, reducing GDF soldiers to charred, blackened cinders
has a certain appeal to the Strogg heart. The Flamethrower spews a continuous stream of fire and a shower of
sticky napalm at whatever target it's aimed at, setting anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the firestorm
ablaze. About the only good thing about the Flamethrower, from the GDF perspective, is its relatively short range and inability to harm vehicles or deployables.
The Abaddon, like the Desecrator, can hover across water and enter siege mode to allocate more power to its primary weapon system,
which allows the Plasma Beam to fire for a longer period of time without needing to recharge.
Advanced Vehicle Drops, Force Escalation & Logistics Points
Ever wanted to go cruising around Volcano in a Tormentor? Cruise a Titan inside Salvage? Now you can.
Every vehicle in the game can be requested from Central Command, to be air dropped onto your position.
There are some restrictions upon this, notably the current "Force Escalation"("FE") of a battle, as well
as a player's "Logistics Points"("LP").
FE is an average of all the players on a server's XP, with unusually low-XP players discarded for the calculation,
and slightly boosted for each player on a server; it doesn't favour one team over another.
LP is a tally of a player's accumulated XP per map, and is expended when a vehicle drop is used. Think of it as spending your XP without hurting your final score.
As conflict goes on, XP goes up, and as a result, FE and LP go up as well. The current FE is displayed on
your HUD just to the right of your current XP, with LP just below that.
The Force Escalation and Logistics Points requirements for each vehicle are as follows:
GDF Vehicle FE Prerequisites & LP Cost:
- Husky: 10FE 2LP
- Platypus: 15FE 5LP
- Armadillo: 20FE 15LP
- Trojan: 40FE 30LP
- Bumblebee: 50FE 40LP
- Titan: 60FE 50LP
- Anansi: 90FE 80LP
- Jupiter: 120FE 100LP
Strogg Vehicle FE Prerequisites & LP Cost:
- Icarus: 15FE 5LP
- Hog: 25FE 20LP
- Desecrator: 45FE 45LP
- Cyclops: 60FE 60LP
- Tormentor: 80FE 70LP
- Abaddon: 100FE 90LP
Vehicle Charge is also a factor, most vehicles require a full charge to be airdropped, although the Icarus
and Husky will accept less. Vehicle charge is displayed between FE and LP on the HUD.
To use the QWTA Advanced Vehicle Drops, use the Quickchat menu:
Quickchat->Vehicles->Vehicle Drops->Select your vehicle of choice.
Force Escalation can also be applied to regular vehicle spawning, to restrict the availability
of vehicles without using Advanced Vehicle Drops: server administrators will want to read about g_vehicleSpawnsUseFE, below.
Tactical Nuclear Weapons
The BaseETQW Hammer missile with its conventional explosive warhead always seemed to be a little lacking, as
the most powerful weapon being used in the defense of earth from invading aliens bent on reducing the entire population to stroyent.
In QWTA, the GDF has stopped pulling their punches, and has equipped the Hammer missile with a tactical nuclear device.
Damage remains the same, but a powerful EMP effect is emitted when the bomb goes off, as well as a blinding flash that can sear the retinas of the unwary.
Finally, as this is a fission weapon, radioactive fallout lingers after detonation, poisoning the area.
Both GDF and Strogg forces are equipped with Geiger Counters to advise them of nearby radioactivity, and it is not recommended to
look directly at the flash of a detonation from too close, as it can cause temporary blindness.
Quake 4 Dark Matter Cannon
The infantry weapon in Quake 4 by the name of Dark Matter Gun, makes an appearance as an upscaled
reimagining of the Dark Matter Cannon artillery piece. Rather than--as in BaseETQW--firing a simple explosive
projectile... The QWTA Dark Matter Cannon fires a miniature black hole, which not only damages nearby objects
as it flies, it also exerts extreme gravitational effects upon anyone who gets too close, dragging them
forcefully into the blast area when the DMC returns to earth.
Team Bind Contexts
To facilitate complex player control schemes, QWTA implements a second set of class bind contexts, called "gdf" and "strogg"
which envelope all classes on their respective teams. Rather than binding the same bind to every class on a team,
players can simply set a contextual bind to the proper team, which is evaluated separately from the class-specific binds.
Some examples of a few common binds:
bind "r" "_stroyDown" "" "strogg"bind "MOUSE2" "_weapon0" "" "vehicle"bind "c" "addChatLine 'I am a soldier!'" "alt" "soldier"bind "c" "addChatLine 'I am an aggressor!'" "alt" "aggressor"Logical Expansions to ETQW Features
QWTA doesn't overlook the little things either. Megatexture autodownload means QWTA is fully ready to go in running
custom maps. Or the ability to see which gametype other QWTA servers are using while browsing the server menu...
Small improvements like providing an altfire for the Vampire and Violator that causes them to reverse their direction of travel.
Or an altfire for the Tactical Shield that absorbs shields to help remove them quickly.
Informative Settings Menu
As some of QWTA's optional settings can change gameplay considerably, QWTA provides some new information on
the Limbo menu. Notably a listing of QWTA-relevent serverside settings--so players can be informed of what
options a QWTA server is running when they connect--without having to ask an admin or through trial and error.
Bot Support
The bots may not be very bright about some things, but QWTA does its best to ensure bots are aware
of and make use of new QWTA features and game mechanics.