FFAmod Recommended Settings
The mod is compiled to run the recommended settings as the default.
You don’t have to set any mod cvars (except perhaps the MOTD cvars) if
you want the recommended settings.
I strongly recommend sticking with the default settings. I have played JK2, Jedimod, and
Jediplus a lot and spent a lot of that time working with other players
to determine the most balanced settings for saber play. Note, I did not
say the most fun settings, but the most balanced. That is, these
settings provide for a number of different gameplay styles, each requiring skill,
but none having a significant advantage
over the other. If you use the defaults, you should not have to insist
on battling players with exactly the same saber configuration that you
want to use in order to have a fair fight.
I wont give a detailed, blow-by-blow analysis of each of
the settings, but let me illustrate with a few cases.
Multiple Saber Blades.
It is very much fun to play with dual sabers or dual bladed sabers.
However,
each saber blade does damage. A player with two double bladed sabers
has a heck of an advantage over a player with a single blade. The
default settings for FFAmod provide a balance for this situation in the
following way:
As a result of these restrictions, the most effective single blade
saber style and the most effective multi-blade styles neatly divide into
what I can the Obi-Wan style (traditional jedi) and the Darth Maul style
(spinning, leaping attacks). Single bladed players using the Obi-Wan
style and multi-bladed players using the Darth Maul style are quite well
balanced and you can have a very interesting match testing the two
styles against each other.
On the other hand, if you allow all blade combinations to use all
saber styles (and you can do this if you want with FFAmod), then
everyone will play with dual dual-bladed sabers (or be dead quickly) and
madly cycle through all five styles.
Saber Blocking
Saber blocking occurs when you throw your saber at a player who's saber
is defending (i.e. they are not attacking). When this happens, your saber
will be blocked and knocked to the ground. The saber will remain on the
ground for a random amount of time and then return to you. During the time
the saber is knocked down: the saber remains off, you cannot use force,
and you are defenceless save to run lick heck to avoid attack.
Saber blocking is a counter to players who do nothing but stand away
and throw their saber. With saber blocking, saber throwing should only be
done when you know that your opponent is exposed to an attack.
This makes saber throwing more balanced with other types of saber
attack.
Jetpack
The jetpack is normally configured to consume 5 units of fuel for every
second that it is on. This added "realism" is intended to limit
the abuse of the jetpack. While the jetpack is on, you cannot ignite your
saber nor use force powers (by default).
Message of the Day
You can set a 16 line MOTD, one line per cvar mod_motdX (X=1,...16). This
message will be sent to players when they first join battle or when a new
map starts. This MOTD will not be displayed until they actually join
battle so you don't have to worry about the time they might spend fiddling
with their setup. The message disappears after a short time.