Mapping manual/Weapon and item placement

In this section we're going to deal with the weapons and items of the game, and where to better place them. Key objectives are mentioned in the gametype support page.

More infos about how each item works in-game can be found in Manual/Items and Manual/Weapons pages.

Entities

weapon_*

See also: Weapons

Every one of them gives a specific weapon to the players. The entities are weapon_bfg (BFG), weapon_chaingun (Chaingun), weapon_gauntlet (Gauntlet), weapon_grapplinghook (Grappling Hook), weapon_grenadelauncher (Grenade Launcher), weapon_lightning (Lightning Gun), weapon_machinegun (Machinegun), weapon_nailgun (Nailgun), weapon_plasmagun (Plasma Gun), weapon_prox_launcher (Prox Launcher/Mine Layer), weapon_railgun (Railgun), weapon_rocketlauncher (Rocket Launcher), and weapon_shotgun (Shotgun).

Chaingun, Prox launcher and Nailgun are not supported by most old mods for Q3A, so keep in mind that they will not spawn in the map under those mods.

Keys

• count: Modifies the amount of ammo given to the player. Each weapon has a default amount (see Manual/Weapons#Pickup_rules).
• wait: time in seconds before the item respawns after being picked up (default 5, -1 = never respawn). If the key is not set, the weapon will respawn after 40 seconds in Team Deathmatch mode and after 5 seconds in other modes.
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).
• team: set this to team items. Teamed items will respawn randomly after team master is picked up.
• target: picking up the item will trigger the entity this points to.
• targetname: a target_give entity can point to this for respawn freebies.
• notbot: when set to 1, a bot will never seek out this item.
• notfree: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Free for all" and "Tournament" modes.
• notteam: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Teamplay" and "CTF" modes.
• notsingle: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in Single Player mode (bot play mode).

Spawnflags

• SUSPENDED: item will spawn where it was placed in map and won't drop to the floor. Bots will only be attracted to suspended entities if they are reachable by way of a jump pad or launch pad (trigger_push), or are in water.

ammo_*

Every one of them gives ammo to a specific weapon. The entities are ammo_belt (Chaingun), ammo_bfg (BFG), ammo_cells (Plasma Gun), ammo_grenades (Grenade Launcher), ammo_lightning (Lightning Gun), ammo_mines (Prox Launcher), ammo_nails (Nailgun), ammo_rockets (Rocket Launcher), ammo_shells (Shotgun) and ammo_slugs (Railgun).

Ammo boxes for Chaingun, Prox launcher and Nailgun are not supported by most old mods for Q3A.

Keys

• count: Modifies the amount of ammo given to the player. Each ammo box has a default amount (see Manual/Weapons#Pickup_rules). Setting to negative values removes ammo from the player, but it's not advisable to do so, as having less than 0 ammo isn't really supported and causes strange behaviors like infinite ammo and odd counters in some weapon bar styles.
• wait: time in seconds before the item respawns after being picked up (default 40, -1 = never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).
• team: set this to team items. Teamed items will respawn randomly after team master is picked up.
• target: picking up the item will trigger the entity this points to.
• targetname: a target_give entity can point to this for respawn freebies.
• notbot: when set to 1, a bot will never seek out this item.
• notfree: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Free for all" and "Tournament" modes.
• notteam: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Teamplay" and "CTF" modes.
• notsingle: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in Single Player mode (bot play mode).

Spawnflags

• SUSPENDED: item will spawn where it was placed in map and won't drop to the floor. Bots will only be attracted to suspended entities if they are reachable by way of a jump pad or launch pad (trigger_push), or are in water.

item_* (General)

The entities in this category have different functions. They range from giving health, armor and temporal abilities to players to more advanced functions. In this section and the next ones, we're only going to see items which give players something in-game. This section will mention the shared keys and spawnflags across all these items. item_botroam is explained in the bot play page.

Keys

• team: set this to team items. Teamed items will respawn randomly after team master is picked up.
• target: picking up the item will trigger the entity this points to.
• targetname: a target_give entity can point to this for respawn freebies.
• notbot: when set to 1, a bot will never seek out this item.
• notfree: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Free for all" and "Tournament" modes.
• notteam: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Teamplay" and "CTF" modes.
• notsingle: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in Single Player mode (bot play mode).

Spawnflags

• SUSPENDED: item will spawn where it was placed in map and won't drop to the floor. Bots will only be attracted to suspended entities if they are reachable by way of a jump pad or launch pad (trigger_push), or are in water.

item_* (Armor)

See also: Armor

Gives armor to the player. The entities are item_armor_shard (Armor Shard, +5), item_armor_combat (Combat Armor, +50) and item_armor_body (Body Armor, +100).

Keys

• wait: time in seconds before item respawns after being picked up (default 25, -1 = never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).

item_* (Health)

See also: Health

Gives health to the player. The entities are item_health_small (Small Health, +5), item_health (Medium Health, +25), item_health_large (Large Health, +50) and item_health_mega (Megahealth, +100). Only "small" and "mega" can be picked up if the player is already over 100.

Keys

• wait: time in seconds before item respawns after being picked up (default 35, Megahealth default 40, -1 = never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).
• count: sets the amount of health points given to the player when item is picked up. Default value depends from the health kind chosen.

item_* (Powerups)

See also: Powerups

Gives temporary advantages/abilities to the player. The entities are item_enviro (Battle Suit), item_flight (Flight), item_haste (Haste/Speed), item_invis (Invisibility), item_quad (Quad Damage) and item_regen (Regeneration).

After a gamestart these power-ups appear sometime between 0:30 and 1:00 for the first time. Later respawns depend from "wait" key.

Keys

• wait: time in seconds before item respawns after being picked up (default 120, -1 = never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).
• count: time in seconds that power-up will last when picked up (default 30; "Flight" lasts 60 seconds by default).

item_* (Runes)

See also: Runes and Special game options#Runes

Runes (also known as "persistant power ups" or "team power ups") give persistant advantages/abilities to the player until he's fragged or suicides. They do not respawn before their old bearer is dead, and do it immediately then. The entities are item_ammoregen (Ammo Regen), item_doubler (Doubler), item_guard (Guard) and item_scout (Scout).

The standard use of runes is to place them in the two bases, and use "spawnflags" to allow the players of each team to get only those in their own half of the map. But it's also possible to place them in the middle of the map, without team limits: this would make the two teams battle to get them.
In case you use team-limitation on them, it is highly advisable to also set "notfree/1" on them, to prevent the runes from spawning in non-team-based modes, where nobody would be able to pick them up. In case you placed both team-based and non-team-based runes (aiming for different gametypes), you may wish to also use "notteam/1" on the non-team-based ones.

Runes are not supported by most old mods for Q3A and will spawn in baseoa only if g_runes CVAR is set to 1 (default is 0).

Keys

• wait: time in seconds before the item respawns after being picked up (default 0, -1=never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).

Spawnflags

• REDTEAM (2): only players of red team can pick it up
• BLUETEAM (4): only players of blue team can pick it up

holdable_*

See also: Holdable items

These items can be hold until a key is pressed, which activates them. They can be used at any time, hence the name. There are four entities: holdable_invulnerability (Invulnerability), holdable_kamikaze (Kamikaze), holdable_medkit (Medkit) and holdable_teleporter (Personal Teleporter).

Invulnerability and Kamikaze are not supported by most old mods for Q3A.

Keys

• wait: time in seconds before the item respawns after being picked up (default 60, -1 = never respawn).
• random: random time variance in seconds added or subtracted from "wait" delay (default 0).
• team: set this to team items. Teamed items will respawn randomly after team master is picked up.
• target: picking up the item will trigger the entity this points to.
• targetname: a target_give entity can point to this for respawn freebies.
• notbot: when set to 1, a bot will never seek out this item.
• notfree: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Free for all" and "Tournament" modes.
• notteam: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in "Teamplay" and "CTF" modes.
• notsingle: when set to 1, entity will not spawn in Single Player mode (bot play mode).

Spawnflags

• SUSPENDED: item will spawn where it was placed in map and won't drop to the floor. Bots will only be attracted to suspended entities if they are reachable by way of a jump pad or launch pad (trigger_push), or are in water.

Design tips

NOTE: This section is about the different entity options that can be set. For the actual tips on where to place the weapons and items on the maps, check the "Pickup placement" section under Map gameplay.

• The use of the "wait" and "count" keys is unadvisable in non-experimental maps, as they do change the respawn time and amount these items can give, indeed changing the gameplay.
• The amount of time it takes for an item in the team to respawn is determined by the "wait" value of the item that was picked up previously. So if one of the items in the team has it's "wait" key set to -1 (never respawn), the random respawning cycle of the teamed items will stop after that item is picked up.
• When the random key is set, its value is used to calculate a minimum and a maximum delay. The final time delay will be a random value anywhere between the minimum and maximum values: (min delay = wait - random) (max delay = wait + random).
• An ammo item can be given a negative "count" value. In combination with a target_give entity, it can be used to, for example, remove the machinegun ammunition from a player when they spawn into the map.
• Usually, there's no need to include the machinegun weapon in the map, but only its ammo, because by default all players spawn already having it. Also, usually there is no need to include the gauntlet, as it's a "stock" weapon, too.
• In order to bypass the Missionpack item availability, a possible trick is to use the "team" key to make a Team Arena item (usually a weapon) to spawn alternately with a standard item. This way, in old mods, the standard item will spawn each time.
• Unless the "suspended" flag is set, these items will spawn on the ground even if you placed them mid-air: you do not need to align them perfectly with the ground, you can just place them far enough from ground and walls to prevent the model from being shown partially in solid while in game.
  • Items crossing a solid brush won't be able to spawn at all. When you load your map in the game, take a look to the command console output, under "---- Map Loading ----" section and below "AAS initialized" line: it may report something like "item_name in solid/startsolid at (x y z)"... in that case, you should go to those coordinates in the editor, and move the items which "start solid" enough to solve the problem. This test can be performed even more easily by using dedicated server executables (oa_ded), because of much less stuff shown in console at map load.
    • If the map has got its .aas file, under "map loading" section of the console log you may also find notes about items which are "not reachable for bots" (e.g. due to appearing inside a "botclip" area).

Notes

<< Previous (Advanced lighting)	Mapping manual	(Triggers and movers) Next >>