TDM Guide

From PromodeWiki

This article is in two parts. The first is intended to give the complete newcomer to Team DeathMatch (or TDM) an overview of the game mode. The second part gives some helpful hints and explains some of the settings you might want to include in your config before you start playing as part of a team.

Contents 1 Part One: Principles of TDM 1.1 Team Scores, Net Scores 1.2 Controlling Resources 1.3 Powerups 1.4 Spawning and Surviving 2 Part 2: Tips, Configs and Scripts 2.1 Knowing the Maps 2.2 Weapon Dropping 2.3 Communications 2.4 Timers and Coaches 3 Additional Information

Part One: Principles of TDM

Team DeathMatch sounds like it should be the simplest of the team game modes around: there are no flags or particular objectives to meet, but instead it's just about getting more kills than the opposing team. However, as you soon find out if you play against a skilled and experienced team, there is a lot more to TDM than running around in a free-for-all-frenzy!

Team Scores, Net Scores

In TDM, it's the team total frags that determines the winner. On the TDM scoreboard, there's a column for frags and a column for net. Your net score is the frags you have scored minus the deaths you have conceded. If you have scored 30 kills but died 40 times, you have actually cost your team 10 points relative to the opponents score. So you can see that compared to some game modes such as FFA and CTF, staying alive is more important in TDM. Because of this, armour is especially important. Armours provide strong protection in CPMA, especially the Red armour, and this is reflected in team strategies.

While individual net scores are important, it's not normally enough for one player to get a good net by staying alive while the rest of the team get fragged to hell! Don't abandon your team mates to preserve your own net score. In combat, two players cooperating will stand a better chance of taking down an enemy than just going one-on-one. Two players with medium armour and a weapon or two can be more useful to the team than one player with all the armour and all the weapons. However note that team damage is ON in TDM, meaning that you can accidentally kill your team mates - this costs you a point as well as annoying your team mate!

What should I try to do?
• Avoid dying without purpose.
• Support your team mates by helping them in fights.
• Try not to shoot your team mates, be especially careful with rockets and grenades.
• Get armour!

Controlling Resources

Many state that the secret to success in TDM is the control of resources. In TDM, resources are the pickups: weapons, armours and the like. Typically, a team will try to control areas of the map (or zones) that have the best resources, normally with the red armour being the most important. If a team can collect the best pickups for themselves and deny the opposing team those valuable resources, they will stand a better chance in each combat because they have better weapons and protection.

How the team chooses to control the items can vary depending on the team strategy and the map. It can mean 'camping' an area (standing in a defensive position in the area), or 'running an item' (going to the location as the item is due to spawn, taking it, then moving off again to return at it's next spawn).

Item Respawn times:
• Weapons - 30 seconds
• Armour - 25 seconds
• Ammo boxes - 30 seconds
• Health - 30 seconds
• MegaHealth - 20 seconds after wear off (i.e. after player health drops to 100)
• Quad/Haste/Regen - 90 seconds
• Battle Suit/Invisibility - 3 minutes (180 seconds)

Part of controlling resources is sharing the resources among the team. Teams quickly get fed up with a player that picks up every item for themselves when fellow team members need them more. There are times when grabbing items as quickly as possible is the right thing to do, normally to deny an opponent from taking it. However if you have time to evaluate the situation, take a moment to think "should I take that item". Some examples: If you already have armour or a weapon and a pickup is available, consider whether a nearby team mate could benefit more from taking it than you. If a nearby team mate has more armour than you, it would be better that they take the rocket launcher or powerup.

What should I try to do?
• Learn the important areas/zones on the maps. Practice strategies to defend or attack those zones.
• Think before picking up spawned or dropped items.
• Drop weapons for unarmed team mates.

Powerups

Powerups are a special resource. Because Powerups spawn less frequently than armours and weapons, the team will often choose not to defend the location where the powerup spawns until it is next due. For instance, a team may move to secure the quad spawn area 20 seconds before it is due to appear. Powerups are designed to be very strong in CPMA and taking the powerups can often be the deciding factor in a match. It is very important that teams have a strategy for taking the powerups, and that they stick to it. If players forget to turn up at the powerups in time or turn up too late, it can cost their team the game.

Quad damage is the most common powerup in TDM maps, and amplifies the players weapon damage by 4 for 30 seconds. The BattleSuit is the most common secondary powerup, protecting the wearer for 75% of damage (on top of any armour) and making the wearer invulnerable to splash damage (e.g. non-direct rocket/grenade explosions) and lava/slime damage for 30 seconds. A player with a BattleSuit can rocket jump without taking damage. Both Quad Damage and BattleSuit powerups can be used to help one player rack up kills, or more tactically to secure a key location on the map.

In maps with two powerups, if one team has Quad and the other has BS, it's common that the two powerups will seek each other out and attempt to take down the opponent. In this situation, Quad and BS effectively negate each other (4x damage vs 4x protection) although the knockback effect of Quad pushes the BS player around alot and the BS player takes no damage from rocket splash. The quad player is probably best off using a shotgun if close or railgun at range, while the BS player should try to get as close as possible and use a rocket launcher. Sometimes facing the opposing powerup isn't the best strategy: if a team is trying to make up a frag deficit, it might be better if their powerup player avoids the opposing powerup and picks off the weaker opponents. If one team takes both powerups, it can often result in a killing spree for that team. If you are on the no-powerup team, you might want to keep your head down or find somewhere defensible to hold up for 30 seconds.

Invisibility is a very different powerup as it does not turn the player into a killing machine - however if used cleverly it can be very useful. The best use for invisibility is to give the player the benefit of surprise. Since you are not fully invisible, you may still need to be a bit sneaky to take full advantage of it. In the WANsanity tournament, Invis got given the subtitle "Quad Assassin", as the most tactical use for the invis might be to ambush and kill an enemy quad runner.

The powerups first spawn on the map between 15 and 30 seconds into the game (i.e. from when the clock shows 19:45 to 19:30 in a 20 minute game). This means you normally have time to grab the closest item or two, then rush to the powerup zones. Some maps have more than one powerup, such as Quad and Battlesuit or Quad and Invis. Because BattleSuit (BS) and Invisibility (Invis) respawn twice as slowly as Quad, alternate powerup spawns will be Quad only and Dual powerup. Teams may have different strategies for each situation (i.e. all go to BS or half go to BS, half to Quad). If multiple players are present, the best armoured player should normally take the powerup and weapons should be dropped for them if required. If you can steal a powerup from under the nose of the enemy team then go for it. However, if you recognise that the opposing team has totally locked down the powerup zone, it can very often be futile to rush in - you are just giving the opposing team extra frags. Instead, you may be better off falling back to secure another zone, or preparing an ambush for the enemy powerup. Many over eager quad runners get taken down by a surprise shotgun blast as they come round a corner or leap across a lava bridge!

What should I try to do?
• Always keep in mind the time of the next powerup.
• Turn up to the powerup zone in good time (depending on team strategy)
• Determine before the game what your team strategy for dual powerups will be.
• Make good use of powerups if you take them - either for score or for strategy.
• Don't grab a powerup if a better armed and armoured team mate is nearby and no enemy threatens to take it.

Spawning and Surviving

Just as CPMA puts alot of importance in resources, it does not give many resources to a freshly respawned player. The machinegun has very little ammo and the player has only 100 health and no armour. In this weakened state, it's important to be careful. It can be very tempting to run back into the fray and fire that machine gun at the nearest enemy. Think first! If you fire that machinegun, you are drawing attention to yourself. That opponent may not have seen you spawn and unless you know he is weakened, there's a good chance he will kill you easily. If you are stealthy, you might be able to grab a weapon or even sneak a gauntlet hit (which does alot more damage). Another temptation to avoid after respawning is to run as fast as you can around the map until you find a pile of weapons. Before you charge headlong into another armed enemy player and give him an easy frag, think! Use your team overlay to see where your team mates are, or use your "Need Weapon" bind or voice comms to find a safe place to retreat and re-arm. If there is nowhere obvious, try lurking in an area where you can overlook more than one weapon spawn spot. If you do need to move around the map, moving with a bit of caution can help you avoid running into an opponent. The most disheartening experience for a player new to CPMA TDM is to be repeatedly slaughtered at the spawn - what's known as "spawnrape". It's not uncommon and it isn't alot of fun. Even the best players can suffer an unlucky run of spawns and it can be a sign that the other team is simply playing better than your team. Take a deep breath and stick with it. Learning to survive a respawn is a skill that you will learn through practice.

What should I try to do?
• Assess your situation upon respawning. Decide: "Fight or Flight".
• Try to re-arm before engaging enemies
• Request support from your team
• If you are being repeatedly spawnraped, take a second or two to relax before respawning.

Part 2: Tips, Configs and Scripts

Knowing the Maps

Learning the maps is key to ongoing success in any game. The following list outlines the maps that you should try to learn and some general pointers to help you get started. Links are provided for any maps not included in the standard CPMA installation.

• CPM4 / CPM4a - Realm of Steel Rats. The first real CPM TDM map, also well known in vQ3. One powerup (Quad), and a fairly compact layout often lends towards fast and furious play. Dominating the Quad is the key to success, with Armour control a close second. A winning team will most commonly try to control 2 of 3 major locations: RA/RL, Quad/RL/YA and PG/YA. CPM4a is a retextured version, recently released and available for download from Challenge-TV.
• !CPM18i / CPM18r - Powahaus. Another older map, CPM18 is very much a run'n'gun map. There's more than enough weapons to arm both teams. This medium sized map features a Quad damage, Invisibility and MegaHealth. Strategies vary from team to team: some prefer to keep a strong hold of the RA room while other choose to dominate the 2 YA suits, MegaHealth and the majority of the weapons. Some teams will ignore the invisibility, preferring to send all 4 team members to Quad, though a clever down team can use Invis to take down Quad and turn the flow of the game. CPM18r is the redux version of CPM18i that features reduced ammunition counts and some additional cover at Quad. It can be downloaded from Challenge-TV.
• CPM21 - Foolish Legacy. The last of the older TDM maps, CPM21 is a common favourite. One of the largest TDM maps, CPM21 features a Quad, Battlesuit, Megahealth and a couple of interesting traps. Divided into some fairly distinct zones, strategies will normally focus on control of the RA room but then vary on what other zones to control from the Mega/Rail area, and the two RL / YA areas. Powerup strategies also vary, with some teams preferring strong Quad control while others use the Battlesuit.
• OSPDM5a - Deep Inside. A slightly modified version of the OSP classic, OSPDM5a removes the railgun, adds some green armour suits and shifts the position of LG and Megahealth. OSPDM5a has a similar playstyle to CPM4, but the more defensible Quad zone often rewards the team that digs in early. It can be downloaded from Challenge-TV.
• NODM12 - Out of the Dark. Newer TDM map of a similar scale and playstyle to CPM21, with a similar Quad and Battlesuit combination. The RA/RL/Rail zone is large and fairly complex, and can host some interesting combat. Team strategies vary on how many team members to allocate to RA defence ... with some teams ignoring RA altogether and focussing on the resources available outside the 'base' side of the map. Available from Challenge-TV.
• NODM14 - Inspired. Newest TDM map, the most vertical of all the CPM maps. A large central atrium with several surrounding zones containing key resources. The map features Quad and Invisibility powerups and 2 Megahealths. The Quad zone is fairly defensible but small, so a well prepared team may opt to lock entrances rather than all pile into the room. The invisibility can be reached from above, or by trick jumping from below. The map is available from Challenge-TV.

Weapon Dropping

The most important change to make to your config for TDM is to ensure that you have a weapon drop bind. Without this, you can't drop a weapon for a friend. The simplest way to do this is using a single key to drop the weapon you are currently using:

bind x "say_team ^1[^7 Dropping #W for #F ^1]^7;drop"

This bind will announce to your team that you have dropped your weapon, and the name of your nearest team mate, then drop your active weapon. The trick to good weapon sharing is to be proactive and selfless. If you see a team mate that hasn't got a great weapon, and you have more than one, don't wait for him to signal that he needs a weapon, just drop one for him. Don't just drop your worst weapon - if you have less health and armour than he does, perhaps you should drop your best weapon. If he has a powerup, drop a weapon that works well with that (ie. rocket for BS, SG or LG for Quad). If you are guarding a zone that contains a weapon, you should probably drop that weapon, as you will be around when it spawns next. You also need to be careful when you drop weapons. If you stand next to the dropped weapon as your unarmed team mate comes to pick it up, an enemy could get you both with one rocket. Normally better to stand slightly clear of the dropped weapon but still covering it. Often an opponent may try to leap in and steal the weapon, so be ready to punish anyone who tries.

Communications

In spite of the increase in the use of voice comms, key binding for messages are still very common. By binding a key with say_team "message", you can also use say_teamNL if you don't want the location name included. CPMA converts certain 'chat tokens' automatically for you. For example #H will show your health, #A your armour, so bind x "say_team I have #H/#A" will report your current health and armour. A full list of chat tokens is included in the CPMA\docs\client.txt file in your CPMA installation. What messages you choose to have binds for is up to you. There are a few key ones that everyone should have: "Item Available", "Item Took", "Get Quad", "Get BS/Invis", "Yes/Coming", "No/Can't". How you setup these binds is up to you, here are some simple colour coded messages as starters.

bind 1 "say_team ^2YES^7/^2COMING^7"
bind 2 "say_team ^1NO^7/^1TAKE IT^7/^1CANT^7"
bind 3 "say_team ^2SECURE^7 (#H^7:#A^7 #W^7) #U^7"
bind 4 "say_team ^1HELP! (#E^1)^7"
bind 5 "say_team ^7TAKE ITEM ^5(^7#I^5)^7"
bind 6 "say_team ^2TOOK #P^7"
bind 7 "say_team ^3NEED WEAPON/AMMO ^7(^9#M^7)^7"
bind 8 "say_team ^5QUAD SOON^7"
bind 9 "say_team ^3SUIT/INVIS SOON^7"
bind 0 "say_team ^1KILLED BY ENEMY QUAD AT #C ^7:("

Timers and Coaches

Since respawning resources are so important, it's pretty useful to be able to communicate the time an item is due to respawn. I am assuming that you already have cg_drawTimer "1" in your config. This displays the match time in the top right hand corner. The match timer in CPMA counts down. i.e. it shows how long is left in the match. So, if a Quad is taken at 19:30 and spawns 90 seconds later, it spawns at 18:00. Doing maths in the middle of combat is a drag, so timer scripts were invented. Timer scripts allow a player to key in the time an item was taken and (as a say_team message) report the time the item will respawn.

For CPMA, the best timer script is the ixtimer. You can get the original ixtimer from [URL here], but you might want to use this version which I've updated and modified for ease of use: ixtimer hacked by swelt edition - this is the version that I'll talk through using.

Installation:
• Extract the zip, with folder names, to your quake3\baseq3 directory.
• Add "exec ixtimer/ixtimer" to your config, or type "/exec ixtimer/ixtimer" when you want to use it.

Usage:
• First press one of the item keys. These are (on the numpad):
* + for Quad * - for BS/Invis * * for RA * / for Upper YA (U.YA) * NumLock for Lower YA (L.YA)
• Type two digits for the time the item was taken. e.g. If Quad was taken at 19:30, enter 3 then 0 on the numpad. The script should say something like "[QUAD] :00". This indicates that the Quad will respawn at 00 seconds.
• Once an item time is stored in this way, you can repeat the time later. Press the item key, then press Enter on the numpad. The script will say "[QUAD] :00". If you press Enter again, it will repeat again enabling you to 'spam' the time. :)
• If you have timed an item, and it was taken exactly as it spawned, there is a shortcut to avoid having to re-key the time. Select the item, then press the "."/Del key.

Example:
Red Armour (RA) was originally taken at 19:30, then respawned at 19:05 and was taken straight away.
• When the item is first taken, key * (for RA) then 3 then 0 (for 30)
• When the time to respawn is close, key * (for RA) then Enter to repeat the time, letting your team know that RA is due to respawn.
• When it is re-taken at 19:05, you can just enter * (for RA) then del (for re-take). The script will announce [RA] :40, as the next Red Armour will spawn at 18:40.

Timing in this way is achievable while playing, but it becomes much easier when you have a coach. A coach is a team member that spectates and communicates with his team mates. The coach can see through the eyes of his team (either all of them in separate multiview windows or just one). The coach cannot view through the eyes of the enemy team, nor can they free-float. say_team messages from the coach are seen by the team. A player must be invited to coach the team. A team member enters "/players" at the console to view their desired coaches "client number", then enters "/coachinvite #" where # is the number. The coach should see a message letting them know that they have been invited to coach the team and then must enter "/coach". They will automatically enter multiview mode: they can then click with the left button to switch between split screen multiview mode and fullscreen multiview. If desired, fullscreen multiview can include smaller 'picture-in-picture views of the remaining players. Set the following values in your config for a recommended PiP view:

 set mvw_TDM1 "80 300 160 120"
 set mvw_TDM2 "240 300 160 120"
 set mvw_TDM3 "400 300 160 120"

Coaches are a very useful member of the team and any clan that is serious about winning will always include a coach. There are different styles of coaches, some focus completely on timing items, while others give strategy and tactical advice. A good coach can turn an average team into a winning team. a|wiseguy's coaching guide gives a much more detailed explanation of the role of the coach and is well worth reading.

Additional Information

• For another perspective, you might also want to go read a|wiseguy's CPM TDM article. This is written more for the benefit of experienced vQ3 TDM players coming across to CPMA as it was published for the WANsanity tournament. A few bits are out of date now, but most of the advice is as solid as it ever was.
• There are hundreds of CPMA TDM Demos on Challenge-TV.
• There are some TDM focussed clipquake movies listed on Promode.org, notably the "GGL CPMA 4on4 Promotion" by Pez.
• On the Promode Website is the CPM TechSheet. This includes precise details of weapon properties, item respawn times, player characteristics etc.