It's been established that CTF won't work in tremulous. I've played many CTF mods, aliens win every time. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that an adv. Goon can outrun a human any day. However, I propose a new gametype, one that requires both strategy and skill, and is fairly balanced. Conquest.
*note*: All numbers are estimates and can be changed according to how the games play out.
Basic Laydown: The map is split into about 5-10 sections, depending on the size of the map. Each teams score is changed every 10 seconds or so. If an area is held for 10 seconds, it adds 1 point to the teams score. So, if your team has captured 4 areas at one time, each 10 seconds your team gains 4 points. If your team has 2/10 points, while the other team has 3/10 points, and 5 are neutral, every 10 seconds your team gains 2 points, while the opposing team gains 3 points.
In order to capture an area, a player must stand in the capture zone (a small area, possibly 5x5 or something like that) for 20 seconds or so. Once a player successfully captures an area, it belongs to his/her team and contributes points to his/her team. If an alien was to stand on a humans capture point for 20 seconds, the area returns to neutral. Once another 20 seconds have passed, the area belongs to the aliens. It does not take 20 seconds to convert an area, but in fact, 20 to change from neutral to captured. So, if an area is blue (humans), it will take 40 seconds to convert it to red (aliens). If an alien stands on a humans capture point for 10 seconds, and is then killed, the timer will return to full human control in 10 seconds. For example, if an alien were to stand on the ATCS bunker for 10 seconds before being shot, then a human stands in the point for 2 seconds before being killed, the area is currently controlled by the aliens, but a second alien would have to stand on the capture point for 12 seconds in order to capture it. The game is over when one side reaches a certain score limit. The limit is different for different maps. On ATCS it may only take 1000 points to end the game, where as if you were playing on Karith, 1000 points might be accumulated in the first 10 minutes of the game.
This brings me to the final aspect of scoring, the player scoring system. I think that this idea works particularly well with the 1.2 scoreboard. Players receive points for destroying enemy structures, killing enemies, but now there is another way to earn points. Say an alien is standing in a humans area, and begins to capture it. The aforementioned alien stands on the capture point for 13 seconds, before being shot down by a human. The alien will receive 13 points to their score, which is about equal to a kill.
Balance: This is a fairly balanced way to play the game. Humans have the strength of building strong and reliable bases that make it difficult for aliens to breach the walls of turrets and actually convert the base safely. However, aliens have the strength of small, quickly built and versatile bases that can be built in many different areas to prevent humans from entering. Buildpoints for either team remain the same as a regular gametype. I chose it to be this way for three reasons. 1. Nobody stresses their brains out over trying to capture that last point because it has amillion barricades and tubes over it. Second, because it means that humans cannot reinforce their bases with turrets, Tesla coils and telenodes like they would their default base. and finally C. It means that the game is kept active. It is easier to take areas, and also easier to lose them. You might have just finished taking the halls aliens halls in ATCS, when suddenly the bunker has been converted to the enemy team, making you rush back to try and retrieve it.
In summary, aliens have the strength of quick rushes and versatile bases, where as humans have the strength of reliable bases and strong defenses, making it harder for aliens to capture bases as quickly. Also, the humans have the advantage that they can destroy alien bases fairly quickly.
Maps: For larger maps, there should be many more areas to capture. A map like ATCS would only have 5 or so areas. Alien halls, Human halls, alien base, human base, bunker. A map like Karith on the other hand, would have perhaps 10, 12, maybe more areas. Larger maps need more areas, to increase playability. For instance, if the aliens were to control the Train area of Transit, it would be very easy to take the area, because it is hard to defend such a widespread section of the map. There would be Train 1, Train 2, undertrains, etc etc. On larger maps, there are more areas, which means the score increases quicker. This also means the the score-limit is increased, to provide longer games. Score-limits may take awhile to assign after being played a few times to find a limit that provides a decent amount of play time before the game ends.
Some maps are also unsuited for this gametype, such as Tremor. The humans can control the Crate Room, Human Base, Halls 1, Tunnels 1 and the Plant Room, all within the first 2 minutes of the game, while aliens only have Alien Base, Halls 2 and Tunnels 2.
This gametype may also encourage the creation of maps specifically designed for playing Conquest.
Well there you have it, please give me some constructive feedback and let me know how it can be improved and possibly implemented into tremulous.
