Table of Contents
This chapter explains how to play the gametypes listed above with bots, so that you can practice in preparation for real Internet games.
The quickest way to start a deathmatch game in the first deathmatch level is to enter the dm console command. However, you'll find that this limits the variety of your games, as it always uses the same deathmatch mode and map. To customise the game mode and map, bring down the console and type:
deathmatch mode
where mode
is a number that corresponds to the variation on the weapon/item rules as described in the last chapter. For example, if you wanted to play the most popular type of deathmatch, you'd specify number one.
If you specify a zero in the above command, deathmatch mode is disabled. This (coupled with “maxclients 1”) switches you into singleplayer mode.
The above command simply tells the game that when you next start a map, you'll want to play it in deathmatch. You now need to chose a map to play on. In the full version of Quake (not shareware), there are 6 deathmatch maps. They are named “dm1” to “dm6”. AudioQuake provides a number of extra maps. Use the “map” console command to load one of them (just as with single-player).
map agdm01
When you're in the map, you will notice that there is not much going on. To create (“spawn”) a bot, press the comma or dot key on your keyboard. An enemy will be provided for you to play with. When either of you is fragged, you'll “respawn” at a random teleporter in the map, ready to resume the game – but with a slightly decreased frag count (your score).
Please note that the bots act like players; they use all the weapons and navigate the map on their own. In other words, they're tough!
You can play deathmatch and other multiplayer gametypes on the singleplayer maps but it is not as fun due to them only having one spawnpoint and not looping back on themselves. A deathmatch game is only as good as the “flow” from room to room in the map.
It is possible to set limits as described in the previous chapter. This section explains how to do this.
You must type in the commands described here before you open the deathmatch map you want to play on, or they won't take effect.
To set the fraglimit, simply enter the following command in the console:
fraglimit frags
where frags
is the number of frags a player must get to win the match. Set this depending on how many bots you expect to add. A good general value is 20. The time limit can be set similarly. To set a 10-minute time limit, for example, you'd enter the following into the console:
timelimit 10
Team Deathmatch games are started in the same way as regular deathmatches and can have frag and time limits. The previous section explains how to set these up. The important thing to note about starting team deathmatches is that the teamplay mode must be set before you open the map and start spawning bots. This can be achieved by using the simple teamdm console command. As above, you can take more control over the game mode and may by setting them manually – for example:
teamplay 1
You can of course replace the number one above with the number corresponding to the teamplay rules you prefer (described in the previous chapter) or specify a zero to disable teamplay (useful when returning to a singleplayer game afterwards).
Once you're in the game, you can spawn friendly bots with the comma key and enemy bots with the dot key. You can also call bots to your aid with the forward slash key. When they hear your call, they'll let you know and try to get to you. If they make it, they'll let you know when they arrive, too. When they get to your side, they'll start looking for enemies again.
In team games, the ESR detects enemy players or bots, as it does in deathmatch. It can also detect your team mates. To help you distinguish between the two, it makes a different sound to represent team mates than it makes when it detects enemies.
You can start a basic co-op game in the start map using the co console command. Once again, to get more control over the game, you can do things manually, as follows:
deathmatch 0
teamplay mode
coop 1
Deathmatch mode needs to be disabled to allow access to the co-op gametype. The coop command toggles the game into co-operative mode and mode
in the teamplay command signifies that you can, as with team deathmatch, choose which teamplay rules you'd like to use. After the above commands have been entered, you can start the map you wish to play. For example:
map e1m1
As with team deathmatch practice games, you can spawn friendly bots with the comma key and enemy bots with the dot key. You can still call bots to your aid with the forward slash key. When they hear your call, they'll let you know and try to get to you. If they make it, they'll let you know when they arrive, too. When they get to your side, they'll start looking for enemies again.
As with deathmatch and team deathmatch games, the ESR can help you out in co-op mode too. It will identify the nearest monster, enemy and team mate and will use a different type of sound for each.