FreeGameDev

I noticed that instagib and a few other modes are disabled on the official red eclipse server.
Will they be completely removed in 1.5?

Leihens {l Wrote}:I noticed that instagib and a few other modes are disabled on the official red eclipse server.
Will they be completely removed in 1.5?

Inta disabled ?! Lol why ? o_0
But I don't think that it's removed completly.

Probably not from the whole game I'm guessing. Since more than half the matches are insta it seems, I think it's a smart strategy to disable it on the official server.

Insta has no skill required, anyway

On the note of that, I'd like ballistic mode to make a return in 1.5... in one form or another. With much reduced rocket radius and damage it could be quite fun, and im missing the mode much already.
I know the default argument against it is that one can easily set up the mode themself, but only being able to force it, not vote it is a weakness, as well as that setting it up properly takes quite some var changes.

Sniper-Goth {l Wrote}:Insta has no skill required, anyway

+1

restcoser {l Wrote}:On the note of that, I'd like ballistic mode to make a return in 1.5... in one form or another

ok will do, my friend

Instagib hasn't been removed from the game, it has been disabled on many servers (including play.redeclipse.net) because a large portion of the community (including myself) was becoming increasingly annoyed by the fact that most games ended up in an instagib loop (the "Sauerbraten Effect"; nobody wants to play the "default" game because it isn't <whatever> enough for them).

I have arthritis, I rely on weapons that don't require precision aiming, taking them away from me makes the game unenjoyable for me (and I daresay many others who do not share your love of this game type). When I lose interest in RE, more than just my presence online is altered. I stop developing the game completely, I go play other games that don't frustrate me as much, then they get my full attention.

So I suppose we need to make a choice, play the game forever how it is now and receive no further updates, or find a way to fix the instagib epidemic. Disabling it on the main server doesn't solve the problem, it merely puts a band-aid on it.

qreeves {l Wrote}:So I suppose we need to make a choice, play the game forever how it is now and receive no further updates, or find a way to fix the instagib epidemic. Disabling it on the main server doesn't solve the problem, it merely puts a band-aid on it.

Sounds to me like a large portion of your community enjoys instagib mode.

Hence calling it an "epidemic" and a "problem" shows a big prejudice on your part.

Nevertheless, it's your kitchen rules, and you could eliminate that game mode and see the community drop off to consist of only people you enjoy playing with. I just find something a bit offensive about that.

Ah ah ah really? You removed instagib!? My dreams have come true. Thanks, qreeves

Personally, having a "mutsrepeat" var seems like the way to go.

Servers would keep count of how often a mutator has been chosen, and the count will reset when a match begins not containing a mutator. For example:

instagib: 0 | multi: 0
multi-instagib ctf match -> instagib: 1 | multi: 1
instagib dm -> instagib: 2 | multi: 0

When the count of one of these mutators is equal to mutsrepeat (if mutsrepeat is set to 3 and 3 instagib matches have been played after each other) it will be disabled for once match (as the count will then reset back to 0 for it not being chosen) to ensure that the next match will not contain this mutator.

I believe that this would be a fairly reasonable way to bring back variation without plain out killing the community's ability to play instagib. After all, this would allow them to play instagib matches for half an hour before they have to take a 10 minute break, after which they could go back to playing instagib (assuming the default value of mutsrepeat would be 3).

This would also ensure that new mutators, if they will ever be added, will not be overplayed too much.

Servers would be able to disable this behaviour by simply setting "mutsrepeat" to 0.

The same could also be done for gamemodes, under "moderepeat", if there is a want for variation there. Perhaps it could simply be added for consistency.

Thanks for the answers

andrewj {l Wrote}:Sounds to me like a large portion of your community enjoys instagib mode.

Actually, nobody but me has the raw data to infer that, so your response is specious at best. Thanks for the unsolicited condemnation though.

There is actually a minority of people who enjoy banding together with Instagib votes in order to lord over noobs. I've observed a general 3 instagib / 5 other vote ratio, but the other 5 never agree on one thing in order to pass a vote. Red Eclipse's skill curve was never meant to be "pros" vs "noobs", but more gradual and, need I say it yet again, casual. Instagib is one thing that does not reflect the core project goals. Your life span per spawn should be more than thirty seconds, and anyone who isn't a pro-tier player should at least stand a chance against of defending themselves.

I'm welcome to any prejudice I please anyway, as I created Red Eclipse in order to get away from the Quake bunny-hopping and Sauerbraten Instagib-whores. I think it is only fair there is a FPS game that catered to my disabilities. As I said, if I can't play effectively, what reason do I have to continue playing and developing it? Tesseract will be here soon, and then you'll have a game that is purely Instagib (and nothing else).

The "mutsrepeat" setting TLP suggested was my initial thought on the subject, and may very well end up being what I use, just so people don't complain I removed Instagib. Alas, this too is another band-aid and means I'll spend 30 minutes waiting to play for 10 minutes, during peak times anyway. Either that, or I leave my server with it disabled, and then I can play the game I want, and everyone else can play what they want.

I like the sound of that mutsrepeat var, and think it is nice compromise, that could be applied to other situations such as ffa after ffa after ffa (to me that gets tiring). The var would help spice up the gameplay, as the maps are already non-repeatable.

I like the idea to have insta disabled on some servers - players who are tired of the mutator can join a server according to their preference. Although player numbers are relatively low again, it seems a clear and convenient solution to me.

bonifarz {l Wrote}:I like the idea to have insta disabled on some servers - players who are tired of the mutator can join a server according to their preference. Although player numbers are relatively low again, it seems a clear and convenient solution to me.

I have experienced myself that player numbers, although lower, are staying at a higher average.
The amount of players fluctates widely during the day and week span, with the most players online in the evening of [GMT + 1] and on weekends.

Why not experiment around with variations of the Rifle in instagib, like a weapon that fires tiny fast rockets (pulse rifle, like in Tesseract)? This could make it more fun.

bonifarz {l Wrote}:I like the idea to have insta disabled on some servers - players who are tired of the mutator can join a server according to their preference. Although player numbers are relatively low again, it seems a clear and convenient solution to me.

Agreed, especially since there are a least a couple of dedicated insta-only servers.

Then perhaps we've already solved the problem?