Information of FeatureBan WeaponBan and Fragban. If you are trying to
decode that fragban number you see in the gamespy extended info, readon.
(You can see the number in the extended info of Gamespy--if you dont understand
forget you saw this page-- it is not that important)
If you run a server, you probably know that the Quake II engine can
accept certain variables when setting up the server to turn certain options
on or off. The WOD mod expands on this idea letting the server ban any
weapon or prevent the user from scoring a frag from using that weapon.
There are certain numbers associated with items such as the blaster or
the homing rockets. These numbers are based on a binary progression, where
each number is double the value of the previous number. (i.e. 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128....)
When you add these numbers together you get a sum that is unique because
you can only use each number exactly once. When the number is displayed
in binary form, the(00101001) ones correspond to each specific value. This
is a little tough to explain and doesnt really matter. The result is that
if the third digit from the right is a one, then you will know that "4"
has been included in the sum when the features were added together. (All
you see is the sum like 135331840, which need to be converted to binary
which would look something like this 0010001000001 and you could compare
this to a chart and figure out which 3 items were included.)
It is too much trouble to convert the decimal number into binary and
try to match up the 1's by hand. If you have the list of decimal numbers
with the corresponding features in front of you, just look for the largest
number on the list that can be subtracted from the total feature/fragban
number. That item is definitely included. Subtract that number out, and
repeat with the remaining number. If you do it right, you will end up with
a zero and a list of numbers corresponding to the features that are banned.
The list of features and weapons is included in the server
readme file.
To do this automatically, there are probably utility programs used by computer programmers. I don't have any of these, but I wrote a spreadsheet that does it for the fragban list in WOD. I didn't bother with the feature/weapon ban list because if the weapon is not there then it just doesnt matter. And the number for weapon banning is the same as fragbanning, so you can use the same program. The real problem is when the weapon is there but it doesnt count. Its nice to know before you waste time using it. So I have the file in Excel old 2.1 version, later 7.0 version a macro version 7.0, and (data interchange format). You can try to use it in your own spreadsheet program. You will need to have excel or Lotus or maybe Works, (something that can read one of these formats) to make this work.
Some of the clans like ASK
have gotten together to try to define a set of feature/frag banns to havebetter
competition matches. I have a copy of te Competition
WOD FAQ from the ASK clan here updated as of April 99.
I don't know if there is a simpler trick to decoding these binary key
things, but the spreadsheet seems to work.I pulled the info below
from about 20 servers, it will give you an idea of what features are usually
being banned. these servers have probably changed their fragbann features
since I posted this.
Most servers like to ban the homing rockets, cataclysm device, and
telefrag. If you are wondering what to ban, I strongly suggest the cataclysm,
as people will abuse it and ruin the game for everyone. They can constantly
respawn and pick up the grenade launcher and immediately fire a cat killing
themselves and anyone close by. I've seen people do it for 15 minutes straight.
