================================================ Action Half-Life - BETA 2 (08/23/99k) ================================================ ======================== It's a BETA!!! ======================== Please remember that this is a beta, meaning it is NOT the completed version of AHL. Keep this in mind when you give feedback, etc ======================== IMPORTANT NOTES ======================== * This mod is NOT compatible with regular Half-Life PLAYER MODELS!!!!! * It does not contain bots * It does not support Single Player * If your map.txt file is not included it is because we do not have it. Plese send any readme to us for the next release" * It can use regular Half-Life maps, not just ones made specifically for it. * This mod is NOT compatible with regular Half-Life PLAYER MODELS!!!!! (That's important dammit!!!) ======================== So, what is it? ======================== Action Half-Life is a 'mod' (as in, 'modification') for the First Person Shooter Half-Life. A mod is something that changes how the original game (Half-Life) plays, looks sounds or feels. In this case, all of the above. To use it, you do NOT have to change your normal Half-Life in any way. Action HL sits in a directory under the main Half-Life directory and loads when you connect to a server running it or if you load it up manually (explained below). AHL is inspired and based (to a large extent) on 'action' movies. More precisely, Hong Kong Blood Opera's such as Hard Boiled and good Hollywood action movies like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. There are no rocket launchers, no surviving 5 grenade hits or being able to shrug off bullets like an old coat. One shot to the head will KILL. In Action Half-Life, getting hurt actually 'hurts'. ======================== Features (Rough) : ======================== - Completely new gameplay mechanics. - New player models with customized animation exclusive to AHL. * This mod is NOT compatible with regular Half-Life PLAYER MODELS!!!!! * - New maps based on realistic locations (city blocks, malls, ware house's etc) - All new sounds developed specifically for AHL's unique play style. - New scoring system's * Staying Alive Deathmatch scoring system means staying alive is just as important as making sure your enemy does not. * During team games, the teams score has the priority. Individual scores are no longer shown. Helps premote team work. - Unqiue action style teamplay where 2 (or more) teams head off against eachother with the one weapon and item of each players choice. Once a player dies they stay dead, until the round ends (i.e. one team wins). - Falling damage and locational damage more in line with Action Movies. (Don't go jumping out the 10th storie windown now...) - Loss of health is unrecoverable. Once you loose it, it's gone. - Untended wounds will leave a blood trail that may lead the enemy to your whereabouts. Stop wounds bleeding by self-administered bandaging. - Ammo is sparse, making every bullet count (Kill opponents to get more ammo). - AHL includes special items that you would expect to find in a good action movie, such as silencers and bullet-proof vests. You can carry only ONE at a time. - Unique gun system with all larger weapons being one of a kind (non-Action Teamplay only). - Sniper rifle with 2x, 4x, and 6x zooms that are 100% accurate. - More realistic weapon behavior * Movement, type of weapon etc affects your accuracy * Weapons damage based on range & hit location * Range & substance taken into account when calc'ing a weapons penetration. (eg. No shooting through a foot of concrete with a beretta) - Lots of other stuff... ======================== Installing : ======================== Make sure that you have the latest version of Half-Life!!!! This is a very important. Without it, you won't get very far. The upgrade patch to the latest version can be found at WON.net or many other sites. ***BETA 2 UPDATE*** You must already have the FIRST PUBLIC BETA installed to install this update. Just run the .exe and point it to your C:\Sierra\Half-Life\ directory (or where ever you installed Half-Life too). ***FULL BETA 2*** Just run the .exe and point it to your C:\Sierra\Half-Life\ directory (or where ever you installed Half-Life too). ======================== Usage : ======================== Action Half-Life can be RUN in two ways : * The easy way * - Load up Half-Life and click on Custom Game. - Select Action Half-Life and hit 'activate'. * The MANUAL way * - Load up Half-Life with the command line 'hl.exe -game action' (Make a shortcut if need be) After loading it up, go to through the menus and setup your controls. Any Action specific commands can be set through the menus. There is no need to learn how to bind etc. Next, goto the multiplayer menu in Half-Life (or what ever program you use to find servers) and connect to a server. If you just want to muck around, create your own server (Multiplayer, LAN, create). ======================== Running a server : ======================== Most settings are available in Half-Life itself. If you wish to make a config to run you server with, check out the 'example server.cfg' that is included with Action HL, and consult the file 'cvars n commands.txt'. ** SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ** To change a level and KEEP clients connected, use the 'changelevel ' command, not 'map '. Half-Life is like Quake in that respect, not Quake2. (GRIM - Woohoo! Maybe now ppl won't tell me it's a bug!!!) ======================== Playing : ======================== When you first join a deathmatch game you will have a choice of what you want your starting weapon to be. Choices are the Beretta 9mm, the Anaconda .44 magnum or extra knives. The Beretta is fires faster and holds more ammo than the Anaconda. The Anaconda is stronger though, can go through MUCH thikcer walls and makes you feel like Dirty Haryy :) The knives hit about as hard as a Sniper Rifle when thrown. Once you get to the last one, you can always slash with it instead and then take the other guys gun once they're dead. **UNIQUE WEAPONS** There are larger, more powerful guns that you can get. These are called 'unique weapons'. Usually, there is only one of each kind in a map, and you can only carry one at a time. These weapons include the Handcannon (Sawn off 12 gauge), a pump-action Shotgun, a Sub-Machinegun and a Sniper Rifle. **UNIQUE ITEMS** On top of the weapons, there are also unique items. These are helpful items that are in random locations around a map. There is only one of each kind and only one can be carried at a time. So if you want one that someone has you have to take it from him because there are no others like it. The unique items currently consist of a Flashlight (lights stuff up when it is turned on), a silencer (silences shot sounds as well as muzzle flash), a bandolier (doubles max ammo), a bullet-proof vest (greatly reduces damage done from shots to the chest area), silent slippers (silences ALL running, walking, falling sounds), and laser sight (makes your shots more accurate in the code as well as giving you a little red laser dot to look at). **COVER & PENETRATION** Remember to use cover, but pay attention to what cover that is. Hiding behind something no longer means that you are safe. All weapons can penetrate glass, thin walls etc, and hit what is on the other site. The amount of penetration varies from weapon to weapon and substance to substance. A Shotgun may only be able to go through thin street signs, but a Sniper Rifle or Anaconda could go through a fairly thick wall and still have enough power to do major damage to whatever is on the other side. **ACCURACY** Try to think before firing. Your accuracy is affected by movement, rate of fire, distance, weapon type etc. This may sound complicated, but once you know it, the system is quite simple. Basically, if you have an MP5 and run through a room jumping up and down with the trigger held down, don't expect to hit anything (unless it is right in front of you). However, take the same MP5, switch it to 3 round burst, stop moving and duck, and your chance of of hitting what you are aiming for is VERY good (Unless it is quite far away). All weapons follow this system except the shotguns. They just get less effective the further away you are because of the spread of pellets. **DAMAGE** Damage is also dependant on more then one thing : * Each weapon has its own base damage. * Damage drops off for all non-shotgun weapons, after a certain range (Pretty far). * Shotguns actually do a lot MORE damage at very close range. * If a bullet goes through a wall/person it will be doing less damage when it comes out the other side. * Head shots always kill while leg shots do a lot less damage. **HEALTH & WOUNDS** Health can never be recovered. Once you get hit, you will not gain that health back until you die. Also, any type of damage that penetrates the skin (bullets, explosions etc) will cause you to bleed. You will continue to bleed and loose health, until you either bandage (which makes you vulnerable for short time) or until you die from it. While bleeding, you also leave behind a trail of blood that people can easily follow you by. Falling damage currently does not cause any bleeding damage, but will cause you to limp until you bandage. **KICKING & DESPERATION** When bandaging or completely out of ammo, your only weapon/defense is the jump kick. This kick can be used any time on any breakable object or person. You can for example kick through glass with it. It is preformed by jumping into something/someone in an upward arc. All you have to do is jump at them while moving up and forward. This is very useful even though it is mostly used out of desperation. There is also a standing spin kick which does more damage. It is preformed by holding the new STUNT key (have to bind it in the menu system) and hitting your normal jump button. More movements will be added to the stunt key later, but for now it is only for the spin kick. **LONG JUMPING** There is a long jump that can be preformed by pressing duck and then jump while moving forward. It is used the same way as Half-Life's long jump (for simplicity sake). However, it is less extreme and has a delay between uses. It is still very useful for getting places you normally can't or for easily clearing jumps that make you nervous without it. **TEAMPLAY** Teamplay is quite a bit different than Deathmatch. There is no Staying Alive scoring system for starters. In fact, a players score is not shown to help premote teamplay. After joining a team, you are prompted to choose your weapons and special item. This is very different to deathmatch, because the weapons & items are no longer unique anymore. The basic play is the same (damage, accuracy etc), but dying & spawning is very different. When a round starts, you spawn, you spawn with your entire team (on one spawn point!). Don't worry, there is no telefragging. In fact, you are invincible for a few seconds (this includeds falling damage), allowing everyone on the team to get into position. When you die, you will stay dead until the round is over. While dead, you cannot interact with anyone who is still playing. This includes talking, radio messages etc. A round is over when only one team remains alive or the time runs out. In either case, a team will only score points if they have actually killed a memeber of another team. That way, only teams that get involved can actually win. In Action teamplay, it is recommended that you stick to small groups and choose weapons that are compatible. If an entire group of people have hand cannons your going to get mowed down from afar, etc. These are just recommendations though, play however you can that will keep you and your team alive. Just remember if you run and they all die then it is going to be you versus an entire team, and those aren't the best odds in the world... **TEAM DAMAGE & TEAM KILLERS** If team damage is turned off, there is no way that you may harm a team mate. All damage that you would be able to do is simply ignored. Though not realistic, it does take care of any problems that may occur with team killer's. If team damage is NOT turned off, there are some added features that should help 'dis-suade' people from killing a team mate. This includes automatic punishment & the option to vote-kick a player, once they have killed too many people. Don't worry, the system allows for a few "accidents" to happen before kicking in. Basically, you would have to kill a certain amount of team mates deliberately before anything would happen. That 'certain amount' is decided by the server op. Punishment is simply that. You will spawn with no weapons or items until your 'team killer count' gets below half-way. While like this, you can't pick up stuff either, or even kick things. You become an easy (& glowing) target for anyone... I mean ANYONE. Even team mates will get a free-frag by killing you, with no penalties. So basically : DON'T BE A TEAM KILLING MORON! **CHEATING & POV CAM (CHASE CAM?)** As already stated, after you die in a Teamplay game, you stay dead. Usually you are in 'NO CLIP' mode, letting you fly around and watch the game from anywhere. There is however, an option that forces you into POV cam apon death, helping to prevent the possibilty of 'spying' on the other team (through name changing or real time voice progs etc). If you are not put into POV cam apon death, you can access it by hitting +attack. In either case, you can cycle through your Team mates eyes using the movement keys. To leave the POV cam, hit +attack2 (only works if it wasn't forced). **COMMUNICATION** There is now more then one way to communicate. On top of the standard 'say' and 'say_team' commands, you can also use 'gestures' or the 'radio' to communcate (Radio is available in teamplay only). The radio isn't finished yet, but is functional enough. ======================== Stuff : ======================== Feedback on this readme or other subject should be sent to : suislide@telefragged.com Remember that this is a beta, NOT the completed version of AHL. Keep this in mind when you give feedback, etc Any code related bugs should go to : mr_grim@telefragged.com The main Action Half Life webpage is at ahl.action-web.net. Feel free to edit any of the weapon skins, player skins, sounds etc, and send them into guild.action-web.net so that others can use them as well.