Table of Contents

1 - What is colors?
2 - How do I set up Colors?
3 - Descriptions of Colors components
4 - Claiming Items
5 - Competition Mod
6 - Gameplay tips
7 - Tables and charts of information
8 - DMFLAGS
9 - Credits

What is Colors?

Colors! is a deathmatch, 1on1, and teamplay mod for Quake2. Multiple teams (up to seven, or as few as two) compete for control of the items on a level. You claim an item for your team by standing over it for a certain amount of time, which varies based on the power of the item. After that, you either gain the item immediately (Weapons, armor, ammo), or a short time later (powerups). Every item has a certain spawn time, and when that time has elapsed, the controller of it gains the weapon, powerup, health, ammo, or armor. When more than one player is on a team, all ammo, weapons, health, and powerups will bleed over to your teammates when your maximum carry limit is reached. So if you have 50 shells, with no bandolier or backpack, the next shells given to you will bleed over to a teammate who has less than their maximum shells. Ammo packs, bandoliers, minihealths, armorshards, and megaheaths are NOT shared between teammates. So if you want that shiny new backpack or megahealth, yer gonna have to snag it from your teammate ;) Features Support for custom maps Support for a map rotation Admin code support through a colors.ini file Kick irritating players Player ID Silence/Ignore the other irritating players Modified Hud Built in Competition mod Menu based control system Online help

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Installation and Setup Download the latest version from www.reactivesoftware.com - this should be something like colors!1x.exe. The zipfile will prompt you for your quake2 base directory (c:\quake2 or c:\games\quake2), and then unzip the files into quake2\colors. You don't need to download a server version, to run a server just start quake2 with +set game colors. The zipfile should contain the following files: gamex86.dll - contains the custom code written for Colors! pak0.pak - contains all of the Colors! sounds, files, etc. readme.html - this very file... colors.ini - see the description below server.cfg - allows you to set options such as r_con password, max number of clients, and various other fun stuff

Configuring Colors Colors! can be configured by modifying the colors.ini file. This file contains information such as the admin code, which is used to configure colors in-game, a map rotation and support for custom maps. The admin code is changed by changing the default (which should be done asap) value specified in the first line of the readme. Custom maps should be added after the line 'custom_map_list' contained in the readme. Similiarly, maps you want in your map rotation are changed by adding them after 'custom_map_list'. A sample colors.ini is included. In addition, the server.cfg file contains other useful settings for configuring the game. Be sure to exec this file in the command line so your settings take effect.

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Ok enough of that, show me the goodies!

Sure thing. First off, the new hud. The top right of your screen shows you all ammo, weapons, and powerups you have aquired. On the left of your screen, four slots are reserved to alert you to other teams stealing your items. The icons will popup as enemy players step on your teams items. Next, the new scoreboard. From left to right, it shows your name, your frags, your time on the server, your ping, and your percentage of map controlled. Below that it shows Team names, team frags, and team percentage of map controlled. The little green arrow always points to your name on the scoreboard, and a green arrow with an x points at the last person who killed you. As for the menu, just bind a key to inven (should already be your tab key, if not 'bind tab inven' at the console works just dandy) and press it to bring up your choices. From top to bottom: Join a Team, Help/Info, Request Admin, Request a Match, Vote Yes, Vote No, Ready for Match, Turn on ID. Standard Player Menu Join a team lets you join one of the seven colored teams, or become an observer. The console commands 'team ' and 'observer' will also work. Ready For Match indicates you are prepared for a match. Note you can duplicate this command by typing 'ready' at the console. You can use 'notready' to stop the countdown. Vote Yes means exactly what it says. It sends a vote of yes on whatever is being voted on Vote No means exactly what it says. It sends a vote of no on whatever is being voted on Request a Map Change put a vote to the general populace to change the current map Request a Match calls a vote to go into pre-match mode. Request Admin calls a vote to grant you administration privaledges, which lets you set match length, dm flags, go into pre-match mode or end a match, resign from admin, and get help on console commands. Turn on ID activites the player identification display on your hud. Just point at another player and his or her name, model, and skin will popup. Typing 'id' at the console has the same effect, toggling it on or off. Help/Info shows you the server settings, player ready status for matches, how to start a match, help on 'can't find pic' error, and email address and webpage for comments. Admin Menu Go To Player Menu returns you to the standard player menu. Kick Player removes the offending client from the game. Silence Player silences people who talk too much Set Match Length allows you to set the length of the next match Set DM Flags allows you to configure some of the DMFlags on the server. Note that not all dmflags can be changed Go to Pre-match/Free For all Mode puts the server into FFA mode if it's in pre-match mode or vice versa Change Map brings up a menu that contains a list of all the maps available on the server Turn Observer Mute on keeps spectators from chattering to the general populace during a match Resign from admin takes you out of the admin position when you're done making changes Command Help gives you help on your choices as an admin Config Goodies Anyone familiar with the location/weapon proxy in Q2CTF knows just how handy these little commands are in a team game. Thus we here at Reactive Software, in our endless pursuit to please the consumer, have included this feature in Colors! for your playing enjoyment. Not familiar with the proxies? Have a look... %l reports your current location %w reports what weapon you currently hold %h, %a reports your current health and armor, respectively "Great," you say, "but how the @$%! do I use these crazy symbols?" Patience, grasshoppa. In your personal config file (for instance, eyerool.cfg), simply bind the symbols within a message. Take a gander at this example: Ex. - bind f1 "say_team I'm %l using %w" This would report something like "I'm near the megahealth using the super shotgun" to your team every time the F1 key is pressed. top

Tell me more about claiming items.

Sure. To claim an item, just stand on it until it changes to your team color. Once you have claimed an item, it will be surrounded in your color. Weapons, ammo and armor you claim will affect you immediately, and then more will be given to you every few seconds (see the tables for more detailed spawn times). Powerups are given to you 15 seconds after you claim them, and then every 60 seconds therafter. You can carry a maximum of two of any powerup, and you must use a powerup for it to take effect. top

What about the competition mod?

Setting up a match is relatively simple in colors. Just get at least one player in each team you wish to compete with, switch the server to prematch mode by either requesting admin and changing it, or voting for prematch mode. Then either select Ready for Match at the menu, or type ready at the console. Once all players are ready, a one minute countdown will begin. If, for some reason, you'd rather observe than actually partake in the action, you have to switch to observer mode. If you don't you'll hold up the match, becuase everybody who is on the server has to either be in observer mode or be a member of one of the teams. To check all players ready status, bind a key to readystatus or check player ready status on the Help/Info menu. Any player can pause the countdown by typing notready at the console. Once a match is in progress, no new players can join the game until it is finished. If you get disconnected, you can rejoin as long as you have the same team and name. Note that when the match starts, you are given a ghost identification number. Any player who has this number can join your team, which is useful if you want to give your ghost id number to spectating clan members, in case you get disconnected and need a substitute to play for you. To enter your ghost id, just type 'ghost' and your number at the console, and then join the appropriate team. Note that you can type ghost alone to check what your ghost id is currently set too. top

Share some of your spiffy secrets with me.

Well, ok, but only cuz you asked so nicely. Go for the big stuff first, weapons and armor, but don't neglect the little items. You can lose a match by ignoring all of the ammo, minihealths, and armor shards lying around a map. Remember that you gain a weapon the instant you claim it, so claiming all of the ammo lying around the map and then sneaking a weapon from the other teams is an effective tactic. Keep tabs on the dangerous powerups, because the team has to own them for 15 seconds before they get to use them. If you can reclaim them before that time, you won't be facing quadded/invulnerable/adrenalined enemies. This also applies to the powerarmor and the megahealth. Don't focus too much on either collecting items or killing enemies. You need to strike a comfortable balance. Bind those powerups! Quad and pent are obviously powerful, but adrenaline is oft-overlooked. Note that you don't have to stand completely on an item for the full claim time. You can step off an item for almost a second, and still have the counter ticking. top

Tables and other boring, but useful stuff:

Spawn times, claim times, and other miscellaneous info for various items:

Weapons:
By default all weapons are given every second, if Slow Weapons is enabled, you get the weapon on pickup, and every 20 seconds therafter. Weapons cannot be dropped.

Weapon Name	Starting Ammo	Time to Claim (seconds)	Carry Limit
Shotgun	6	1	50
Super Shotgun	6	2.5	50
Machinegun	30	1.5	250
Chaingun	30	2.5	250
Grenade Launcher	3	2	20
Rocket Launcher	3	3.5	20
HyperBlaster	30	2.5	250
Railgun	6	3	30
BFG10k * Requires 100 Cells to fire	30	6	250