[click here to see ebag's cool, but huge, graphic:
http://www.ebag333.gametribe.net/ebagcam.gif

-s]

How do you get this patented view?

Simply resize the arcadia width to the max of the screen. Resize the height to about half the width. Then move the middle slider bar up.

Simple!

"Proximity Mines"

You find them in packs of ... actually I will probably change this... They are fairly painful (200 units)... oh.. I have to change THAT to.

I was going to make the mines that YOU laid, be harmless to YOU...

But instead I gave them a 3 second arming period, and they are safe for everyone during that 3 seconds, then become dangerous to everyone.

Those 3 seconds go by fast, so be sure to be moving when you lay a mine.

I might make them spin when you are ALMOST close enough to set them off... a little warning.

And heaven help the flag carrier who gets too close to a star. (that would vote for the flag snapping all the way back to home base if the carrier is killed... we wouldn't want a little pile of flags in the center of the sun...)

----

As to the other comments... One has to balance one's sense of frustration against the fact that people *do* manage to rack up K points.

For example, the END key is, in many ways, similar to the BOOST function. So one can't be all bad while the other is all good. Whether or not it turns out that BOTH are bad still remains to be seen.

As to velocities... I think there is room for tuning.

(this includes the .0013 changes, since I never documented those)

* Advanced Weapon: PROXIMITY MINE

This is a 'trigger' weapon which must be selected by F2-F4 before it can be used.

When you fire it, a mine is left in your wake (mines do not move, and look superficially like normal powerups.. I should probably make them look EXACTLY like powerups, but I am not that mean)

The mine takes one second to arm (as of .0014) and is then dangerous to anyone but it's owner. If your creep up on one, you will see it change color and spin faster when it begins to sense you. That is your cue to back up.

Overall, mines are of dubious value, I suspect.

* Advanced Weapon: HOMING MISSILE

Another trigger weapon (you find it in powerups, in case I neglected to mention that) which must be selected by F2-F4

Once launched, the missile homes in on target (currently selected ship in player list)

It lives for about 30 seconds, and can be out-run by a fast enough ship.

* Advanced Defense: WARP COIL

This is basically an emergency escape mechanism (from player, from sun) which causes you to warp to a new spot in the galaxy.

It is a 'right side' ship effect (F5-F8) and is NOT a trigger weapon. Just press the FKey and it happens.

Your destination is picked at random, so it might not be very far away... or it might be close to the sun.. so this is not without risk.

After activation, it takes about one second before you warp (and another second to emerge out of hyperspace).

The person warping sees an amazing warp effect. Everyone else just sees you fly real fast to the new location.

* COOL ICONS (Thanks, cam)

Cam provided some icons, and I drew some more, for each of the powerups and I have peppered the marquee and a few other places with them.

* MISCELLANEOUS TUNING ISSUES

level 0 engines are faster than before, level 10 is not.

Bullets and Homing Missiles are faster. I think bullets might be too fast now (for esthetic purposes, I mean)

Shift-rotate no longer is faster than regular rotate. You can remove the sticky tape from your shift button now.

remember when the sun would whip you up to impossibly fast speeds?

That was when I was letting the math be pure.

So, for gameplay reasons, I limited that, but left it so that the sun can still send you zooming faster than a level 10 engine.

However, if I allowed the level 10 engine to send you that fast... well.. then it wouldn't be special...

So, it boils down to: I only enforce your engine's speed limit when you actually have your engine on.

Sure, it makes the physics a little impure, but I think it allows the better parts of the two options.

The thing you have to watch out for is running your wimpy engines while you are too close to the sun. The sun's natural gravity whip will tend to swing you past, if you coast on in. But if you run your engines, you will immediately slow down to your engine's max velocity.

And for wimpy engine levels, that is too slow to escape.

Note: This requires Arcadia A31 to work right.

Basically synSpace .0015 is same as .0014 with the addition of a small barrier area in the corner of the galaxy.

This is a small golden boxed area with one little doorway. Bullets and ships should bounce off the walls.

If you want to experiment with barriers, check out map0.ini in the (new) synSpace maps folder.

Barriers are made of horizontal and vertical line segments. If you make one segment 'too long' it might not display correctly when you are close to it.

Testing all those bullets against all those barriers has got to cause some amount of slow-down, so watch out for that.

Barriers too close to the edge of the galaxy will be permeable by fast moving things. The expense of fixing that seems too high to me.

Protection from the sun!

[horizontal]
0= 3570, 4335, 4845
1= 3825, 4335, 3825
2= 3570, 4590, 3570
3= 3570, 4590, 5100
4= 3825, 4080, 4590

[vertical]
0= 3825, 4590, 3825
1= 3825, 4845, 4335
2= 3570, 4845, 3570
3= 3570, 5100, 4590

I wrote up a little program to make maps. It is very, very rustic because I know the format will change and my work would be pointless. Select a V-line or H-line, click and drag. If you make a mistake, start over (sorry, don't want to get fancy). Click Open Code to get the final text that you need to paste into map0.ini.

http://www.lm.com/~ccw/Spacebar.exe

On note: when you get the final code, check to make sure all the first values are smaller than the second ones. I didn't check for that. For ex.: 0=a, b, c and a < b

I'm not ready to push it yet, but the next release has a map selection box on the options dialog.

It pushes the mapname instantly to all players

They check if they have that map (and the same version of it)

You cannot launch a new ship until you have the same map as the moderator (though right now, I let old ships continue on... )

Instead of the ENLIST button, you see a FETCH MAP button.

Pressing FETCH MAP.. guess what? Fetches the Map!

---

All peer to peer, with the usual firewall issues (i.e. this works just like sharing empyrion maps, so if you can do that, you'll be able to do this. Otherwise, say hello to mister ICQ/AIM/Whatever.)

------

Of course, this is not meant to imply that I have any actual maps, just that if YOU make a map, you can now share it 'easily'

This also means your window of opportunity for playing with divergent maps is fading.

Pretty much the same as 15 with a couple more cosmetic changes, PLUS

* Options Dialog has a "Map Selection" box

Moderator can change maps at any time. New ships cannot be launched unless they have the same map as the moderator.

* If you don't have the same map as the moderator, a FETCH button appears which let's you get it.

* I don't actually include any maps other than "map0" (but that's what YOU're for :-)

------

It's probably a mistake to release this without more testing, since the file xfer stuff is complicated enough that I probably have some state problems. So, lemme know.

Unless you're behind ebag's firewall or something. Map xfers won't be any more reliable than they are under Empyrion. Just simpler since there is only one file.

Feel free to submit some kick-ass maps, and thanks Mosquito, for making a map editor.

-------

Note, if the moderator changes map in mid-game, and you don't have the new map, I do NOT boot your ship from the game, so you get to keep playing on the old map (or maybe you get to play with no map at all... not sure which).

So you can still cheat with a confederate, I guess.

I suppose I will have to boot your ship, in the long run, sigh.

========

I made one other change which might screw you up. The display rate is now so completely separate from the physics rate that you might start seeing 30 fps on the display.

* More cosmetic Changes

* F9, F11, and F12 now toggle between several states for each thing. Also, I remember your last setting for next time.

* PLASMA SHIELD powerup. This destroys all weapons within a short range of your ship. Lasts about 5 seconds. (your own weapons also explode)

* Enhanced Pointing Accuracy. Bullets should be better synched as a result.

* Barrier Lines are automatically cut into suitable pieces so that no wrap-around occurs.

* Change of moderator won't leave you with "no map" at odd moments

* However, if the moderator switches to a map you don't have, your ship *is* booted from the universe (no kill/death recorded, but the moderator can still hassle you in this way. Just don't play with evil moderators.)

---

ewwww!

Plus I would have to open and read every file in the folder.

ewwww!

Plus it doesn't add to the gameplay to be able to use goofy characters in map names (samsyn sez!)

eeeewwww!

-----------------
Having said that:

1.) map filenames must be kept short.. 15 characters in front of the .ini

2.) you should have the same troubles sharing synSpace map files, as sharing empyrion empires. No more and no less. I mean, a firewall should block both equally.

SO... if you are having different problems with synSpace than with empyrion, that would be a significant clue.

My only (abortive) experience so far was my inability to fetch from "Will" (and the attempt leading to a complete freeze of the UI for a minute while winsock manages to freeze the machine, even though it is running in a separate thread.)

If your firewall prevents you from "serving map files" to the other players, you might try the ebag trick of sending a little speech back and forth first to "prime the pump" That fools some firewalls into submission.

But you can now make them arbitrarily long, so you don't have to break them up into little pieces any more

(this means I have to test every bullet against up to 200 barriers for every little bit it moves...

20 fps * 300 bullets * 200 barriers = 1,200,000 checks.

Which is pretty amazing that computers can handle that sort of thing these days.

A couple versions ago, I de-coupled those so the physics still runs at the same rate, but the display runs "as fast as your computer can handle it"

in the upper left are a couple numbers showing the physics and the display frame rates.

On my machine, the much higher display frame rate improves the game immensely, with smooth marquees and animations.

But I can see how if the computer is struggling at all, doing an extra display frame now and then will be a chaotic thing, and quite possibly delay a physics frame.

In any case, please check out those numbers in the top left and see what sense they make when you toggle through the star and grid display options.

Here's the *official* documentation for the next release of map files. Old maps should be upwards compatible with no problem.

code:

---

; Example synSpace Map File
;
; note: barriers too close to the edge of the galaxy will not work as expected.
; keep them at least 20 units from edge
;------------
; Color Table
;
; You may define up to 9 colors (color indices 0-8) to be used with the barriers
; If you don't provide a table, the defaults will be GOLD for 0, and the regular player
; colors for 1-8.
; You only have to override the colors you want to change.
;
; Colors are defined as three decimal numbers (0-255) in the order Red, Green, Blue.
;
[colors]
0= 255, 204, 0
1= 204, 51, 104
2= 102, 204, 153
3= 153, 204, 0
4= 153, 153, 255
5= 255, 0, 255
6= 0, 255, 255
7= 255, 204, 51
8= 255, 204, 204
;---------------
; Pain Table
;
; You may define up to four pain levels (pain indices 0-3) to be used with barriers.
; Each barrier can then be assigned to one of these pain levels (default to level 0)
;
; The ship is then damaged by this amount when it touches the barrier.  Note that
; flying parallel and close to a barrier might inflict pain multiple times.
;
; It is advised to keep pain level 0 set to no damage.
;
; This pain is de-rated by the ship's shields.
; (note that negative pain might heal ship a bit, but test that first :-)
[pains]
0= 0
1=100
2=500
3=-1000

;--------------------
; horizontal barriers
;
; format is:  id=left, right, top, color, xpar, pain
;
; left (must be less than right)
;   0 (far left) to 8191 (far right)
;
; right
;   0 - 8191
;
; top  ('y' value of horizontal line)
;   0 (bottom-most) - 8191 (top-most)
; 
; color (optional):
;   0   color table index 0
;   1   color table index 1
;   2   color table index 2
;   3   color table index 3
;   4   color table index 4
;   5   color table index 5
;   6   color table index 6
;   7   color table index 7
;   8   color table index 8
;
; xpar (optional)
;   0   bouncy wall
;   1   wall you can go right through (secret door) 
; 
; pain (optional)
;   0   pain table index 0  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
;   1   pain table index 1  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
;   2   pain table index 2  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
;   3   pain table index 3  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
[horizontal]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 100, 255
2=100, 155, 255, 6, 1
3=155,256,255 
;------------------
; vertical barriers
;
; format is: id=bottom, top, left, color, xpar, pain
;
; Arguments are same as for horizontal barriers, except you provide the bottom and
; top of a vertical line segment, at 'x' position 'left'
;
; bottom must be less than top (increasing y is up the screen)
[vertical]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 256, 255
2=100, 125, 45, 2, 0, 3
3=100, 125, 225, 1, 0, 2

---

This is mainly a map-enhancement release.

* All 200 barrier lines (10H and 100V) are now available

* Barriers can not have different colors

* Barriers can bounce or be 'transparent' (look the same, but you can go through them)

* Barriers can cause damage when you touch them (whether you bounce or not)

* Barriers can HEAL when you touch them.

Speaking of which, .0019 will support at least the following (this much is working already):

code:

---

; Example synSpace Map File
;
; The galaxy is a square 8192 units on a side.  All objects must be 'inside' the galaxy
; (no crossing the edge of the galaxy with a barrier, for example)
;
; The 'grid lines' (controlled by F11 key) are spaced at 256 unit intervals.
;
; The (x, y) coordinate system looks like this:
;
;  (0, 8191)          (8191,8191)
;     +-------------------+
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |         o         |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     +-------------------+
;  (0, 0)              (8191, 0)
;
; note: barriers too close to the edge of the galaxy will not work as expected.
; keep them at least 20 units from edge
;
; In general, avoid the edges of the galaxy.  In specific, avoid negative coordinates
; as many tables will treat that as a command to "generate a random value"
;
; A "map file" (such as this one), is a ".ini" file with some tables in it.  All tables are
; optional.  (I mean, your map file can be completely empty and synSpace will be just fine.
; But why bother with an empty map file?
;
; Things your map file can control:
;
;    * Barriers (bouncy, transparent, hurtful, or healing)
;    * Colors of barriers
;    * Pain levels associated with barriers
;    * Player "New Ship" spawn locations
;    * Power Up spawn locations (not yet)
;    * Gravity Objects (suns, black holes)
;
;
;------------
; New Ship Spawn Points
;
; Each of the eight ships (1-8) can be assigned a spawn point.  That means, when ship N
; enters the galaxy, it will always appear in a certain spot.
;
; This is probably only a good idea if that certain spot holds some protective features, since
; otherwise people will simply wait by the spawn point (or surround it with mines).
;
; If you don't call out a spawn point for a ship, then that ship will spawn at a random location
; (well, semi-random... around the edge of the galaxy, so you can keep your gravity objects
; near the center.
;
; Note, for TEAM-BASED maps, you probably want to put all the team-ships spawn points near each
; other (and perhaps near the team's home base thingy).
;
; Format of an entry is:
;
;   Ship# = x, y 
;
; use negative values to get a random location.. or just don't include the entry.
;
; This map doesn't want a spawn table... but I'll do one anyway, just for ship #1.. for now...
;
[spawn]
1= -1, -1

;-------------
; STARS (Gravity Objects, actually)
;
; Your map may have up to 16 gravity objects on it.  But that would be INSANITY.
; 
; It is recommended that they be kept near the center of the galaxy, since gravity does 
; not wrap over the galaxy boundaries.
;
; However, as you will see, you have a lot of setup possibilities with each star
;
; There are a lot of numbers associated with stars, so count carefully :-)
;
; Format of an entry is:
;
;   StarID = style, x, y, mass, reach, temperature, radius, red, green, blue
;
; That's 10 parameters per star.
;
;  * Style     ; make this 0 to turn the star OFF, 1 to turn it ON.
;              ; note: if you do not explicitly turn off star 0, the map will default to
;              ; one star in the center of the galaxy.
;
;  * x, y      ; the location of the star. (negative values will NOT make random stars)
;
;  * mass      ; This controls the pull of its gravity.  The star you are used to
;              ; has a mass of 1000
;
;  * reach     ; unlike real mass, gravity extends no further than this from the star
;              ; The default star has a reach of 2048 ( 8 grid segments)
;
;  * temp      ; The temp of a star controls how much it hurts when you get close to it;
;              ; A negative temperature will make a healing star.
;              ; The default star has a temp of 30.
;
;  * radius    ; approximately the physical radius of the star.  Please don't make huge stars
;              ; because they will look goofy.  The default star has a radius of 128
;              ; for an invisible star, use a radius of 0.
;
;  * R,G,B     ; The red,green,blue values control the color of the star.  Each is a
;              ; decimal number between 0 and 255. The final color should be one of the standard
;              ; colors in the Arcadia 256 color palette
[stars]
0 = 1, 4096, 4096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 200, 200, 0
;1 = 1, 300,  300, -100,  2048, -30, 128, 200, 200, 200
;2 = 1, 4096, 3096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 100, 100, 50
;3 = 1, 3096, 3096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 100, 20, 150

;------------
; Color Table
;
; You may define up to 16 colors (color indices 0-15) to be used with the barriers
; The default colors for entries 1-8 are the regular player colors. All other colors
; default to GOLD.
;
; You only have to override the colors you want to change.
;
; Colors are defined as three decimal numbers (0-255) in the order Red, Green, Blue.
; Colors should be kept to one of the colors in the Arcadia 256 color palette.
;
[colors]
0= 255, 204, 0
1= 204, 51, 104
2= 102, 204, 153
3= 153, 204, 0
4= 153, 153, 255
5= 255, 0, 255
6= 0, 255, 255
7= 255, 204, 51
8= 255, 204, 204

;---------------
; Pain Table
;
; You may define up to 16 pain levels (pain indices 0-15) to be used with barriers.
; Each barrier can then be assigned to one of these pain levels (default to level 0)
;
; The ship is then damaged by this amount when it touches the barrier.  Note that
; flying parallel and close to a barrier might inflict pain multiple times.
;
; It is advised to keep pain level 0 set to no damage.
;
; This pain is de-rated by the ship's shields.
;
; Note: Negative pain HEALS the ship! (and is NOT de-rated by shield)
[pains]
0= 0
1= 100
2= 500
3=-1000
;--------------------
; horizontal barriers
;
; format is:  id=left, right, top, color, xpar, pain
;
; left (must be less than right)
;   0 (far left) to 8191 (far right)
;
; right
;   0 - 8191
;
; top  ('y' value of horizontal line)
;   0 (bottom-most) - 8191 (top-most)
; 
; color (optional):
;   0   color table index 0
;   1   color table index 1
;   ...
;   15   color table index 15
;
; xpar (optional)
;   0   bouncy wall
;   1   wall that ship 1 can go right through (private door) 
;   2   wall that ship 2 can go right through (private door) 
;   ...
;   8   wall that ship 8 can go right through (private door) 
;   9   wall that ODD team can go through (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7)
;   10  wall that EVEN team can go through (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8)
;   11  wall that ALL SHIPS can go through
;
;  Then, sorry.. ADD ONE HUNDRED if bullets can go through it.
;
;  So, 111 = transparent to all ships and bullets.
; 
; pain (optional)
;   0   pain table index 0  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
;   1   pain table index 1  
;   ...  
;   15   pain table index 15  
[horizontal]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 100, 255
2=100, 155, 255, 6, 1
3=155,256,255 

;------------------
; vertical barriers
;
; format is: id=bottom, top, left, color, xpar, pain
;
; Arguments are same as for horizontal barriers, except you provide the bottom and
; top of a vertical line segment, at 'x' position 'left'
;
; bottom must be less than top (increasing y is up the screen)
[vertical]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 256, 255
2=100, 125, 45, 2, 0, 3
3=100, 125, 225, 1, 0, 2

---

The new bits in there are:

* 16 colors, not 9
* 16 pains, not 8
* 8 Ship Spawn locations
* 16 gravity objects (insanity!)
* TRANSPARENCY VALUES CHANGED!!!!

I haven't done the PUP stuff yet... it's a bit of a mouthful.

I've only penciled in some new transparency values, so I won't ramble on about that yet. I need to do the PUPs and the BASE/FLAG objects before I am comfortable with the permeability options.

One cool thing about stars (read about stars, they're cool!) is that.. okay, several cool things

1.) sure, they can be invisible (black hole)

2.) you can set the TEMPERATURE to determine how painful they are

3.) negative temperature makes "Healing Stars"

4.) You can set gravity, of course

5.) Negative mass makes anti-gravity... "swimming upstream" stars.

6.) You can set "reach" (very un-realistic) beyond which no gravity felt from star. The 'reach' box is actually a square, not a true circle, I believe. I might change that if it seems too hokey.
---------

OKAY, I CHANGED THE XPARENCY VALUES USED BY BARRIERS.

Sorry, Mosquito! Hopefully this will be the only 'incompatible upgrade'

The new xpar values are:

code:

---

; xpar (optional)
;   0   bouncy wall
;   1   wall that ship 1 can go right through (private door) 
;   2   wall that ship 2 can go right through (private door) 
;   ...
;   8   wall that ship 8 can go right through (private door) 
;   9   wall that ODD team can go through (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7)
;   10  wall that EVEN team can go through (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8)
;   11  wall that ALL SHIPS can go through
;
;  Then, sorry.. ADD ONE HUNDRED if bullets can go through it.

---

So, any maps which were using 1, should switch to 111 to keep the same effect.

I hope to come up with some "special color values" which mean things other than simple colors...

Like, I dunno...

electro-zappy color

I mean where I actually change the color and/or shape of the line in real time, rather than just paint the same color all the time.

This is probably the right way to handle "standard painful and healing wall colors" since we need all the really obvious solid colors for the ship 'doors'

---

Anybody got an idea of what colors the ODD and EVEN teams should be?

Don't say Black & White

Um, read back a couple posts for the details. Basically a bunch more MAP stuff.

MAP INCOMPATIBILITY:

The "xpar" field in the horizontal and vertical barriers table has been redefined to accomodate volte6's excellent 'tuned to ship' transparencies (hereafter referred to as LOCKED DOORS)

The old value "1" now means "only ship 1 can get through"

The new magic number for the old meaning is "111" (meaning all ships and all bullets, canget through this wall).

so, that's:

0 - bouncy to everything
1 - xparent to ship one, bouncy to all else
..
8 - xparent to ship 8..
9 - xparent to ODD team
10 - xpar to EVEN team
11 - xpar to ALL ships

Then, take any of those values, and ADD ONE HUNDRED, to add xparency for bullets.

Anyway, sorry mosquito. That probably hurts.

---

Heads up, if I manage to do "one-way-barriers" I am pretty sure I will add a whole new field for it.

---

But next I really have to buckle down and do the homeBase/Flag stuff.

Inside of the "current settings" box, why not have it read a portion of the map file and put Authors notes in there? For example :

--------------------------
Map: theprize (6AFB)
.. Map OK!
Upgrades spawned randomly
--------------------------

Why not have it say THIS:

--------------------------
Map: theprize (6AFB)
.. Map OK!
*******************
*The Prize ver. 1.5
*Created by: Volte6
*Designed for: DM (DeathMatch)
*# of players: 3-8
*******************
Upgrades spawned randomly
--------------------------

Something along those lines....?

You could put it in the .ini file like...

code:

---

[notes]
*******************
*The Prize ver. 1.5
*Created by: Volte6
*Designed for: DM (DeathMatch)
*# of players: 3-8            
*******************
(REST OF MAP INFO FOLLOWS)

---

This would also alert people to version info and stuff as well

[This message has been edited by Volte6 (edited 11-09-2001).]

-------

[welll.... I see "this map modded by ME.. original author lost" shortly behind.. this MAP is for MY PRVATE USE ONLY!"

But on a more serious note, I would like to keep the actual game settings "at the top" since that is what that box is for. But I don't object to maybe a little advertising for the map editor.. of course, people could just open the map file itself..... :-) -s]

; 9 wall that ODD team can go through (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7)
; 10 wall that EVEN team can go through (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8)

Actually, it is reversed. I made a map where ship 1 started in a box with xpar 9 and it was trapped.

All I am mentioning is that the Map0 is wrong. Please don't change it within synSpace, just fix the map0 file because you already set the standard for walls.

[I'm sorry, I have to fix it in synSpace... I can't allow 9 to mean EVEN... -s]

This is mainly a bugFIX release. No new powerups, sorry.

* bullet transparent barriers should work better now (problem occurred when switching between maps with different transparency)

* lag-sync-errors should no longer result in ships appearing to be stuck on the wrong side of barriers and bouncing at high speed to get through.

* map files tolerate a few errors (like not having small number to left of big number, or using color values out of 0-255 range)

a freshly launched ship is invulnerable until:

1.) It moves (rotating is OK)
2.) It shoots
3.) 60 seconds have elapsed.

Hopefully this will address the "camping at spawn point" issue..

Sorry for the quick release, but I wanted to fix that ODD/EVEN team thing before too many more maps got made...

* 9 (an odd number) means ODD team

* 10 (an even number) means EVEN team

* new ships are invulnerable for 60 seconds, or until they move or shoot.

==========

Here are the Pups I am working on for a future release:

* Ability to place pups in map files (and control respawn timing and position, of course)

* CTF 'Home Base' (odd and even)

* CTF 'Flag' (odd and even)

* Energy Repair Module (you collect them like plasma shields and they recharge you when used. I'm thinking only one size.. maybe.. oh a 50% heal?)

* Numbered WayPoints (must be picked up in order for credit. Keep split times for each one and a final for end.)

* Starting Gun... Some sort of countdown/flare to begin the race. This would be some sort of generic command, since it would also be used to reset a capture the flag game score.

That's my solution to the problem of handling a "everyone must start at once" game inside a drop-in infinite melee environment.

I'm still thinking about invulnerability, since it should be POSSIBLE to have races without bullets. Or at least without GM haveing bullets ;-p

You should be able to specify "zones".
A "Zone" would basically be in the map file as four points on the map, and if you wanted to have it 'visible' then you would draw a box around/in it for players to see.

This would be useful, and later you can add zone types.

so.......

code:

---

[zone]
2500,2600,2500,2600,1

---

This would specify an area of zone type 1.

Zones types would be added as needed by your superb programming skills...but this would be VERY useful...basically can be anything...

1.) CTF home base area
2.) Safe Zone
3.) Hurt Zone
4.) Heal Zone
5.) Goal areas for the much anticitpated "Comet ball"
6.) Friction area (Ship slows down if no thrust applied [or even if it is])
7.) and so on...

and so on...i guess I could give you a million more uses for it if you WANT...but i think that serves fine for now.

Zoning is the way of the future!

And it SEEMS so simple...

[man I hate it when people say things just before I push something reallllly similar!

I like the 'friction' bit though. I was just going to have x/y "current" (sort of a conveyor belt effect)

-s]

code:

---

;------------------
; Power Ups
;
; Powerups are objects which appear at specific or random locations at specified time intervals
; and which can be 'picked up' by passing ships
;
; Format is:  id= style, x, y, seconds
;
;  ID
;  0-255  (each pup occupies one 'slot' in a 256 entry table)
;
;  Style  (what sort of pup it is.  You might have the same style of pup in several slots)
;  0      No such pup, only use this if you are too lazy to delete table entries
;  1      RESERVED
;  2      Pack of Homing Missiles
;  3      Pack of Plasma Mines
;  8      Ship WEAPON upgrade
;  9      Ship SHIELD upgrade
;  10     Ship ENGINE upgrade
;  11     100% Energy Restore
;  12     20% Energy Restore
;  13     Concealed Trap
;  14     Warp Coil
;  15     Plasma Shield
;  240    Team 0 Flag (no ships belong to this team)
;  241    Ship 1 Flag (usually only ODD and EVEN flags should be used)
;  ...
;  248    Ship 8 flag (only ship 8 belongs)
;  249    Odd Team Flag (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7 belong)
;  250    Even Team Flag (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8 belong)
;  251    ALL Team flag (all ships belong to this team)
;  (missing numbers represent things which are not yet implemented, but reserved for future development)
;
;  X      X-Location of powerup on map
;  -1     Pick a random location
;  0-8191 Specific location (rounded to closest 1/256th of Galaxy)
; 
;  Y      Y-Location of powerup on map (same units as X)
;
;  secs   How many seconds elapse after the powerup is picked up, before a new one spawns in that slot
;  0-N
;
; Note: The first 20 slots or so are automatically filled for you with random powerups.  So if you
; Don't override the first 20 slots, that is what you will get.  Sort of like the description for
; STARS.  If you *do* override those slots, then your map takes precedence over the defaults.
;
; However, the moderator OPTION DIALOG takes precedence over the map, so if the moderator has 
; disabled "Advanced Weapons" then they will not appear, even if the map commands them.
;
; Obviously, the fewer powerups you define, the less laggy your map will be.
;
[powerups]
;------------------
; Zones
;
; Zones are rectangular regions with special properties applying to ships and bullets which
; are found within them.
;
; Since the rectangles might overlap, this list is processed in reverse order and the
; first 'hit' controls the behaviour of that point.  So the first entry on the list is the
; last to be considered and should be the 'largest' zone.  If your zones do not overlap, then
; ignore this paragraph.  But you might want the first zone in the list to do something like
; span the entire galaxy so you can set some 'global' behaviour (no bullets, for example) which
; is then overridden while in smaller zones defined later in the list.
;
; Just to keep things happy, number your zone IDs 0-N from top to bottom.  Belt and suspenders that
; way.
;
; Format is:   id= style, left, top, right, bottom, texture, team, pain, bullets, wayPtID, friction, cx, cy
;
;  ID (0-99)  Although you may define up to 100 zones, your map will be faster if you define fewer.
;  0-99
;
;  Style  (what sort of zone it is, if it has any super special purpose)
;  0      Disabled Zone
;  1      Normal Zone, no special meaning (other than properties)
;  2      CTF Base Zone (team set by 'team' property)
;  3      WayPoint Zone (wayPtID property sets additional info)
;  
;  left, top, right, bottom  (Coordinates of sides of zone rectangle)
;  0-8191
;
;  Texture  (reserved)
;  0
;
;  Team  (used to interpret pain and CTF HOME)
;  1-8    Specific Ships 1-8
;  9      ODD Team (valid for CTF HOME)
;  10     EVEN Team (Valid for CTF HOME)
;  11     All Ships
;
;  Pain  (Applies only to ships of specified team)
;  0     No pain/heal
;  >0    Hurts all ships EXCEPT those matching team property
;  <0    Heals ONLY those ships which match team property
;  Units are something like Damage Points Per Second, roughly.
;
;  Bullets  (What happens to weapons inside this region)
;  0     No special effect
;  1     Ship trigger is disabled, but bullets can live
;  2     Ship trigger is OK, but bullets expire
;  3     Trigger and bullets are disabled.
;
;  WayPtID  (Valid for waypoint style only)
;  0     START position (stopwatch is cleared while in here, starts running when you exit)
;  1     FIRST Waypoint (waypoints must be crossed in order, stopwatch split time kept per waypt
;  2..   Additional Waypoints as needed
;  -5    A negative waypoint means the END of the race and the final stopwatch is shown.
;        So, a complete race would number its waypoint zones:  0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., 12, 13, -14
;        (You can have as many waypoint zones as fit)
;
;  Friction (Volte6's cool idea)
;  0     Normal space
;  >0    you coast to a stop if you don't apply thrust
;  <0    Undefined, but I will try to make it boost your speed or do something 'interesting'
;
;  cx, cy  (river current)
;  0     Normal Space
;  +/-N  Adds this velocity component to your normal motion, to create a sort of conveyor belt/river
;        Effect (hard to go upstream, for example)  Good for that "pulling people towards danger"
;        effect.

[zones]

---

I *was* going to call them "Areas" but "Zones" is *so* much cooler!

1.) They have whatever other properties the map designer gives them (no bullets, etc.)

2.) They sense the presence of flags and will pull the flag off of any ship which flies through them. Except that any enemy ship can grab any flag from a home base without it getting pulled off.

If the base pulls the flag off of a ship, it is either:

* The home flag, in which case it has simply been returned home

* An enemy flag, in which case a point is scored by the home team for pulling an enemy flag all the way back to their home base. The flag itself is then sent back to its own home base.

Having more than one Home Zone on a map for the same team will lead to confusion, but might sort of work.

I Still maintain there are only two teams (ODD and EVEN) but I will probably leave the code open for individual ship teams. If a map had both a team 1 home AND an odd team home, then the team 1 flag could be pulled off at either location... and other weird things might happen.

Anyway, my plan there is simply to 'behave' and not enforce any more than I have to. Maybe some fun map thing will happen as a result.

Scores are reported by the moderator PC which sends text messages at appropriate moments.

"Samsyn crosses the finish line after 3:23.234"

"Samsyn scores another point for the odd team, and it's 12-3 odd over even"

I don't think the game will try to announce the winners per se, just the scores.

---

Oh, drat, I forgot my starting gun thing. For the waypoints it isn't critical since YOUR clock starts the moment you leave waypoint 0.

How about a characteristic that would apply to....something....maybe zones....maybe walls...i dunno. maybe everything should have this, but anyhow, call it the "Trigger" effect for now.

Each object will have a trigger number. Multiple objects can have identical trigger numbers...

Now we create a special object called the actual "trigger". This trigger will also have a number.

Now, the idea is that when a Trigger is somehow affected (shot, pushed....whatever for now)...It will toggle the state of every object that has an identical "Trigger Effect Number".

Walls can appear/reappear for a "Jail" effect.

ForceFields can be disabled.

Zones can be disabled.

Maybe things like...say...COMETS! can come into play once the trigger is pressed...

You get the idea, but i think its a useful one

(Try and work with it...i hope I made sense...)

[you're starting to scare me now... :-) This would allow the implementation of Zelda I :-) Push the block, the door opens... kill all the zombies, the stairs appear... fly into zone 2, and the gateways ahead turn deadly.. I think this will have to backburner for awhile so my brain doesn't melt. -s]

1 flag in the center of the level, the two teams have no flag...
The teams have to battle over that one flag the whole time and try and bring it back to their base! BRILLIANT!

/a pats himself on the back

---------------

Oh, and how about being able to set flag spawn points, so the base is separate from the flag? (I know, I know, I ask too much...)

[This message has been edited by Volte6 (edited 11-12-2001).]

[I guess we were both editing this one at the same time, and I lost First of all, this idea rocks, and I suggested using TEAM ZERO (no ships belong to this team) for that center base and flag. I was pleased that you came up for an excuse for team zero, since I had a big gaping hole there.

Secondly, yes. Bases are Zones, and Flags are Pups. Because of the way pups are setup, I sort of have to define 12 separate pups to cover all the possible flags (1-8, odd, even, all, and none), even though I recommend that most CTF flags only use the odd and even pup flags. Come to think of it, I am not sure where the ALL flag will come in useful, but symmetry is a wonderful thing. -s]

Reverse Tag type thing...

Basically, you want to be the person holding the flag for the longest period of time before the limit is reached. Each occurance of holding the flag adds to the total time you had the flag. Everyone wants to kill the guy with the flag so they can get it from him and hence gather time for themselves.

This is basically a mode of play from an N64 game called Goldeneye...Its fun though

They aren't very spectacular, of course, but I can place them via map, pick them up via ship, and drop them when I die (or if I pick up a new flag)

I also have zones with most of the properties working, but not actual home base or waypoint effects yet. (just pain, heal, friction, bullet, drift.. ah DRIFT.. that would have been a much nicer word than CURRENT.

-------

Now, I was wondering if... maybe if you are carrying the flag, your INSert key should not shoot weapons, but rather it should 'drop the flag'

And maybe you should HAVE to drop the flag to get credit (as opposed to the home zone automatically grabbing it from you).

But would it be bad or good to not be able to shoot while carrying a flag? (and this wouldn't be something you could fix with a map flag later either...)

Alternatively I could set some Fkey to 'drop flag' whenever you were carrying one. I suppose that would provide the most flexibility...

--------

So:

1.) Does it sound OK if you have to push a button to 'drop the flag' ?

2.) Would it be OK if that replaced your trigger (adding to the fun possibility that you accidentally drop the flag a bunch)

3.) Or should it be F8 (I would pick one key that I always used)

2.) I think ultimately it would be a bad thing to replace the trigger. Its too limiting, especially if its a permanent thing that cannot be specified in a map or anytning. If nothing else, people who CAN shoot with the flag would choose not to most likely because then they would incur damage, and risk losing the flag. So they should be ABLE to shoot, but they would probably choose not to
I *DO* think there should be something about the flag carrier that is different however... Maybe no pups while holding the flag? All stats become default?
Or perhaps they would just lose 4 speed off of whatever they are at engine-wise...do to weight or something...?

And should the flag get knocked out of your hand only when you die, or even if you just get a little damage. I know the answer will be "map variable!" but if you HAD to choose one....

I am assuming that death would be the logical reason to lose the flag, and not just getting hit.

---------

But OK, F8 is now the "dunk" button and you must push it while you are over the appropriate goal zone to earn a point. Otherwise you are just dropping the flag on that spot (to be picked up by someone else).

---------

A team could also cluster around the flag carrier and take turns running plasma shields..

But you know, if I am worried about that, then all you have to do is make a map without such shields on it. Or disable them on the OPTIONS dialog.... more or less.

So, I hereby stop worrying about that!
-----------
Recap:

1.) Requires death to get you to drop the flag involuntarily.

2.) requires F8 to drop the ball on purpose.

* New Map Concept: Zones
* New Powerups: Flags
(see map0.ini for details)

Zones are invisible rectangular regions, defined in the map file, which can hurt, heal, drag, or drift your ship. Zones can be assigned to one of the 12 teams (none, 1-8, odd, even, and all)

Dropping a flag on a GOAL zone scores one point for the zone's team.

Flags are powerups with little flags on them. Fly over one to pick it up. Press F8 to drop it. Try to drop it in a zone other than the one it belongs to.

Note that nothing stops a member of one team from scoring points for an opponent, so pay attention :-) If the flag drops in any goal zone but its own, it scores for that zone.

Scores, if any, are shown on left of map.

Moderator should reload map to clear scores and return flags to start locations (set by MAP file)

I *think* it should be pretty straightforward once you see it...

map0 now has two zones, an ODD (gray) and EVEN (white) goal zone, and flags which start in center of their zones.

Pick up a flag from one zone and carry it to the other.

While carrying a flag, your ship's engine level is reduced by 4. (so watch out for the sun!)

On map0, the zones are painful to opposing team mates, so zip on through when picking up the flag. (and fill your zone with mines for additional protection :-)

map0 still has the old random powerups as well, but your map can now set up the powerups exactly as they like them (up to 256 of them, but that would probably be laggy) (see map0.txt for details)

Well, OK, here is map0.txt

code:

---

; Example synSpace Map File
;
; synSpace is an Arcadian toy.  For more information, please visit http://www.synthetic-reality.com 
; Copyright (c) 2001 synthetic-reality.com
;
[credits]
author_name = Dan Samuel
author_email = dan@synthetic-reality.com
author_sernum = 1
version = 1.001
description = General demonstration map.
;--------------
;
; The galaxy is a square 8192 units on a side.  All objects must be 'inside' the galaxy
; (no crossing the edge of the galaxy with a barrier, for example)
;
; The 'grid lines' (controlled by F11 key) are spaced at 256 unit intervals.
;
; The (x, y) coordinate system looks like this:
;
;  (0, 8191)          (8191,8191)
;     +-------------------+
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |         o         |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     |                   |
;     +-------------------+
;  (0, 0)              (8191, 0)
;
; note: barriers too close to the edge of the galaxy will not work as expected.
; keep them at least 20 units from edge
;
; In general, avoid the edges of the galaxy.  In specific, avoid negative coordinates
; as many tables will treat that as a command to "generate a random value"
;
; A "map file" (such as this one), is a ".ini" file with some tables in it.  All tables are
; optional.  (I mean, your map file can be completely empty and synSpace will be just fine.
; But why bother with an empty map file?
;
; Things your map file can control:
;
;    * Barriers (bouncy, transparent, hurtful, or healing)
;    * Colors of barriers
;    * Pain levels associated with barriers
;    * Player "New Ship" spawn locations
;    * Power Up spawn locations (not yet)
;    * Gravity Objects (suns, black holes)
;    * Rectangular Zones with special properties
;
;
;------------
; New Ship Spawn Points
;
; Each of the eight ships (1-8) can be assigned a spawn point.  That means, when ship N
; enters the galaxy, it will always appear in a certain spot.
;
; This is probably only a good idea if that certain spot holds some protective features, since
; otherwise people will simply wait by the spawn point (or surround it with mines).
;
; If you don't call out a spawn point for a ship, then that ship will spawn at a random location
; (well, semi-random... around the edge of the galaxy, so you can keep your gravity objects
; near the center.
;
; Note, for TEAM-BASED maps, you probably want to put all the team-ships spawn points near each
; other (and perhaps near the team's home base thingy).
;
; Format of an entry is:
;
;   Ship# = x, y 
;
; use negative values to get a random location.. or just don't include the entry.
;
; This map doesn't want a spawn table... but I'll do one anyway, just for ship #1.. for now...
;
[spawn]
1= -1, -1

;-------------
; STARS (Gravity Objects, actually)
;
; Your map may have up to 16 gravity objects on it.  But that would be INSANITY.
; 
; It is recommended that they be kept near the center of the galaxy, since gravity does 
; not wrap over the galaxy boundaries.
;
; However, as you will see, you have a lot of setup possibilities with each star
;
; There are a lot of numbers associated with stars, so count carefully :-)
;
; Format of an entry is:
;
;   StarID = style, x, y, mass, reach, temperature, radius, red, green, blue
;
; That's 10 parameters per star.
;
;  * Style     ; make this 0 to turn the star OFF, 1 to turn it ON.
;              ; note: if you do not explicitly turn off star 0, the map will default to
;              ; one star in the center of the galaxy.
;
;  * x, y      ; the location of the star. (negative values will NOT make random stars)
;
;  * mass      ; This controls the pull of its gravity.  The star you are used to
;              ; has a mass of 1000
;
;  * reach     ; unlike real mass, gravity extends no further than this from the star
;              ; The default star has a reach of 2048 ( 8 grid segments)
;
;  * temp      ; The temp of a star controls how much it hurts when you get close to it;
;              ; A negative temperature will make a healing star.
;              ; The default star has a temp of 30.
;
;  * radius    ; approximately the physical radius of the star.  Please don't make huge stars
;              ; because they will look goofy.  The default star has a radius of 128
;              ; for an invisible star, use a radius of 0.
;
;  * R,G,B     ; The red,green,blue values control the color of the star.  Each is a
;              ; decimal number between 0 and 255. The final color should be one of the standard
;              ; colors in the Arcadia 256 color palette
[stars]
0 = 1, 4096, 4096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 200, 200, 0
;1 = 1, 300,  300, -100,  2048, -30, 128, 200, 200, 200
;2 = 1, 4096, 3096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 100, 100, 50
;3 = 1, 3096, 3096, 1000, 2048, 30,  128, 100, 20, 150

;------------
; Color Table
;
; You may define up to 16 colors (color indices 0-15) to be used with the barriers
; The default colors for entries 1-8 are the regular player colors. All other colors
; default to GOLD.
;
; You only have to override the colors you want to change.
;
; Colors are defined as three decimal numbers (0-255) in the order Red, Green, Blue.
; Colors should be kept to one of the colors in the Arcadia 256 color palette.
;
[colors]
0= 255, 204, 0
1= 204, 51, 104
2= 102, 204, 153
3= 153, 204, 0
4= 153, 153, 255
5= 255, 0, 255
6= 0, 255, 255
7= 255, 204, 51
8= 255, 204, 204
9= 128, 128, 128
10= 255, 255, 255

;---------------
; Pain Table
;
; You may define up to 16 pain levels (pain indices 0-15) to be used with barriers.
; Each barrier can then be assigned to one of these pain levels (default to level 0)
;
; The ship is then damaged by this amount when it touches the barrier.  Note that
; flying parallel and close to a barrier might inflict pain multiple times.
;
; It is advised to keep pain level 0 set to no damage.
;
; This pain is de-rated by the ship's shields.
;
; Note: Negative pain HEALS the ship! (and is NOT de-rated by shield)
[pains]
0= 0
1= 100
2= 500
3=-1000
;--------------------
; horizontal barriers
;
; format is:  id=left, right, top, color, xpar, pain
;
; id number should be from 0 to 99 (100 lines max)
;
; left (must be less than right)
;   0 (far left) to 8191 (far right)
;
; right
;   0 - 8191
;
; top  ('y' value of horizontal line)
;   0 (bottom-most) - 8191 (top-most)
; 
; color (optional):
;   0   color table index 0
;   1   color table index 1
;   ...
;   15   color table index 15
;
; xpar (optional)
;   0   bouncy wall
;   1   wall that ship 1 can go right through (private door) 
;   2   wall that ship 2 can go right through (private door) 
;   ...
;   8   wall that ship 8 can go right through (private door) 
;   9   wall that ODD team can go through (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7)
;   10  wall that EVEN team can go through (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8)
;   11  wall that ALL SHIPS can go through
;
;  Then, sorry.. ADD ONE HUNDRED if bullets can go through it.
;
;  So, 111 = transparent to all ships and bullets.
; 
; pain (optional)
;   0   pain table index 0  (usually you should set that to 0 pain)
;   1   pain table index 1  
;   ...  
;   15   pain table index 15  
[horizontal]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 100, 255
2=100, 155, 255, 6, 111
3=155,256,255 
4=1948,2148,1948,10,11,0
5=1948,2148,2148,10,11,0
6=6044,6244,6044,9,11,0
7=6044,6244,6244,9,11,0

;------------------
; vertical barriers
;
; format is: id=bottom, top, left, color, xpar, pain
;
; Arguments are same as for horizontal barriers, except you provide the bottom and
; top of a vertical line segment, at 'x' position 'left'
;
; bottom must be less than top (increasing y is up the screen)
[vertical]
0=19, 256, 20
1=19, 256, 255
2=100, 125, 45, 2, 0, 3
3=100, 125, 225, 1, 0, 2
4=1948,2148,1948,10,11,0
5=1948,2148,2148,10,11,0
6=6044,6244,6044,9,11,0
7=6044,6244,6244,9,11,0

;------------------
; Power Ups
;
; Powerups are objects which appear at specific or random locations at specified time intervals
; and which can be 'picked up' by passing ships
;
; Format is:  id= style, x, y, seconds
;
;  ID
;  0-255  (each pup occupies one 'slot' in a 256 entry table)
;
;  Style  (what sort of pup it is.  You might have the same style of pup in several slots)
;  0      No such pup, only use this if you are too lazy to delete table entries
;  1      RESERVED
;  2      Pack of Homing Missiles
;  3      Pack of Plasma Mines
;  8      Ship WEAPON upgrade
;  9      Ship SHIELD upgrade
;  10     Ship ENGINE upgrade
;  11     100% Energy Restore
;  12     20% Energy Restore
;  13     Concealed Trap
;  14     Warp Coil
;  15     Plasma Shield
;  240    Team 0 Flag (no ships belong to this team)
;  241    Ship 1 Flag (usually only ODD and EVEN flags should be used)
;  ...
;  248    Ship 8 flag (only ship 8 belongs)
;  249    Odd Team Flag (ships 1, 3, 5, and 7 belong)
;  250    Even Team Flag (ships 2, 4, 6, and 8 belong)
;  251    ALL Team flag (all ships belong to this team)
;  (missing numbers represent things which are not yet implemented, but reserved for future development)
;
;  X      X-Location of powerup on map
;  -1     Pick a random location
;  0-8191 Specific location (rounded to closest 1/256th of Galaxy)
; 
;  Y      Y-Location of powerup on map (same units as X)
;
;  secs   How many seconds elapse after the powerup is picked up, before a new one spawns in that slot
;  0-N
;
; Note: The first 20 slots or so are automatically filled for you with random powerups.  So if you
; Don't override the first 20 slots, that is what you will get.  Sort of like the description for
; STARS.  If you *do* override those slots, then your map takes precedence over the defaults.
;
; However, the moderator OPTION DIALOG takes precedence over the map, so if the moderator has 
; disabled "Advanced Weapons" then they will not appear, even if the map commands them.
;
; Obviously, the fewer powerups you define, the less laggy your map will be.
;
[powerups]
249=249, 6144, 6144, 600
250=250, 2048, 2048, 600
;------------------
; Zones
;
; Zones are rectangular regions with special properties applying to ships and bullets which
; are found within them.
;
; Since the rectangles might overlap, this list is processed in reverse order and the
; first 'hit' controls the behaviour of that point.  So the first entry on the list is the
; last to be considered and should be the 'largest' zone.  If your zones do not overlap, then
; ignore this paragraph.  But you might want the first zone in the list to do something like
; span the entire galaxy so you can set some 'global' behaviour (no bullets, for example) which
; is then overridden while in smaller zones defined later in the list.
;
; Just to keep things happy, number your zone IDs 0-N from top to bottom.  Belt and suspenders that
; way.
;
; Format is:   id= style, left, top, right, bottom, texture, team, pain, bullets, wayPtID, friction, cx, cy
;
;  ID (0-99)  Although you may define up to 100 zones, your map will be faster if you define fewer.
;  0-99
;
;  Style  (what sort of zone it is, if it has any super special purpose)
;  0      Disabled Zone
;  1      Normal Zone, no special meaning (other than properties)
;  2      GOAL Zone (team set by 'team' property) (earn points by dropping FLAGs here)
;  3      WayPoint Zone (wayPtID property sets additional info)
;  
;  left, top, right, bottom  (Coordinates of sides of zone rectangle)
;  0-8191
;
;  Texture  (reserved)
;  0
;
;  Team  (used to interpret pain and CTF HOME)
;  1-8    Specific Ships 1-8
;  9      ODD Team (valid for CTF HOME)
;  10     EVEN Team (Valid for CTF HOME)
;  11     All Ships
;
;  Pain  (Applies only to ships of specified team)
;  0     No pain/heal
;  >0    Hurts all ships EXCEPT those matching team property
;  <0    Heals ONLY those ships which match team property
;  Units are sweeten to taste, but 10 drains you pretty fast, and -100 charges you quickly
;
;  Bullets  (What happens to weapons inside this region)
;  0     No special effect
;  1     Ship trigger is disabled, but bullets can live
;  2     Ship trigger is OK, but bullets expire
;  3     Trigger and bullets are disabled.
;
;  WayPtID  (Valid for waypoint style only)
;  0     START position (stopwatch is cleared while in here, starts running when you exit)
;  1     FIRST Waypoint (waypoints must be crossed in order, stopwatch split time kept per waypt
;  2..   Additional Waypoints as needed
;  -5    A negative waypoint means the END of the race and the final stopwatch is shown.
;        So, a complete race would number its waypoint zones:  0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., 12, 13, -14
;        (You can have as many waypoint zones as fit)
;
;  Friction (Volte6's cool idea)
;  0     Normal space
;  1-100 you coast to a stop if you don't apply thrust.  At 100 you stop almost at once
;  <0    Undefined, but I will try to make it boost your speed or do something 'interesting'
;
;  cx, cy  (river current)
;  0     Normal Space
;  +/-N  Adds this velocity component to your normal motion, to create a sort of conveyor belt/river
;        Effect (hard to go upstream, for example)  Good for that "pulling people towards danger"
;        effect.  A value of 50 is a slow current, 500 is medium.  Sweeten to taste.
; id= style, left, top, right, bottom, texture, team, pain, bullets, wayPtID, friction, cx, cy
;
; On this map, zone 0 is the EVEN team goal zone, and zone 1 is the ODD team goal zone
[zones]
0=2, 1948,1948,2148,2148, 0, 10, 20, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0
1=2, 6044,6044,6244,6244, 0, 9,  20, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0

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I think everything else works, however.

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Oh, and I found another memory problem having to do with the marquee.. On my PC that made some barrier lines change color now and then... but I think it could have done other weird things as well (to your barriers mostly).