King of the Hill

Orange Smoothie Productions

http://www.OrangeSmoothie.com/koth/



Map Construction Guide v1.0
  by Brandon Reinhart



Technical Stuff:


  Making a new level for King of the Hill requires two new
entities:  the trigger_hill hill entity and the info_player_koth
start point.
  Trigger_hill is used like any other trigger entity.  Just
make a brush where you want your hill to be and attach the
trigger_hill.  It works like a bounding box.  Anyone inside
or touching the trigger is considered on the hill.  You
CAN make multiple brush hills if your editor allows you to
make multiple brush triggers.  HOWEVER, making more than one
brush and attaching seperate trigger_hills is a No-No.
A player touching two separate trigger_hills at once would
be considered on both hills...doubling his/her rate of time
gain and causing the mod to behave in an unpredictable
(and probably undesirable) fashion.
  Info_player_koth is, essentially, a KOTH specific deathmatch
start.  Info_player_koth and info_player_deathmatch can be
mixed.  When a KOTH game is played (using the KOTH gamex86.dll)
the info_player_koths will be used as start points.  If
your level is loaded into a regular Quake2 deathmatch the
info_player_deathmatchs will be used.  This allows you to
make a level with start points that are different in normal
deathmatch than in KOTH.  It also allows you to add new KOTH
starting points to a level you might have already designed,
without having to go to the trouble of changing it significantly.
NOTE:  When KOTH levels with info_player_koth entities are loaded
into a non-KOTH gamex86.dll the message "info_player_koth does not
have a spawn function" will appear multiple times.  This is
normal.  It just means that the dll doesn't know what an info_player_koth
is.  It will not effect your level at all.
  Most map editors use QuakeED style header parsing to define what
entities do what.  Here are the QuakeED headers you can
add to your editor so you can start making your own KOTH levels:

/*QUAKED trigger_hill (.5 .5 .5) ?
This is the King of the Hill "hill" entity.
The brush to which this trigger is attached becomes
an invisible bounding box.

WARNING: Only add one trigger_hill to any level.
*/

/*QUAKED info_player_koth (1 0 1) (-16 -16 -24) (16 16 32)
potential spawning position for King of the Hill games
NOTE: info_player_deathmatch is ignored in KOTH games.
Use info_player_koth for starting points for a deathmatch game,
and info_player_deathmatch for starting points during a non-koth
game (on a non-koth server)
*/

  If you don't know how to use these QuakeED headers, check
the web page for your map editor.  If you have other questions
about KOTH's technical aspects, contact GreenMarine at
greenmarine@planetunreal.com.

KOTH Map Making Considerations:

  First of all, be creative.  A hill doesn't have to be a
traditional bump in the ground.  Remember: the goal is to make
a place that is difficult to defend while being fairly accessable.
It should be FUN to get to the hill and FUN to stay there.
If worst comes to worst...think like a camper.  If you don't
have any immediate ideas for a KOTH level, but you really want
to get involved, send an email to Craig Sparks (botanika@ittc.ukans.edu).
He's got a billion map ideas that he hasn't got around to and
I'm sure he'd be more than happy to discuss a layout or answer
a question.
  Second, remember time considerations.  The goal of the player
is to dominate the hill.  Powerful weapons and power-ups should
only be available at the expense of time (or the risk of exposure).
An excellent example of this is "Plasma", the first level in the
KOTH release.  The BFG10K is just under the hill in "Plasma"...to
get there, however, the player has to crawl through a small
passage (which takes time) and expose himself to risk from
railgun attacks.
  An exception to the weapon-time trade-off rule is that you might
want to make one fairly powerful weapon or power-up available at
the hill.  This rewards the quick player and creates an incentive
for everyone in the game.  On "The Dirt Pile," for example,
there is a red armor on the hill.
  Armed with these two pointers, go out and make a level!  The ONLY
way to get really good at level design is practice.  Hopefully,
KOTH presents you with an interesting level design challenge.

Brandon Reinhart, greenmarine@planetunreal.com