Capture the flag

The FLAG game type works like a combination of TBD, BALL and TDM. Unlike TDM, there is a goal (capture the flag), but you don't have to carry anything and so are light and nimble. Like TBD/BALL, there is a singular concrete goal beyond just killing opponents. This is an area, like TBD, which must be either defended or infiltrated. The goal is for any member of a team to grep the flag power-up. You don't need to take it back somewhere, just a capture is enough.

The FLAG game type uses the ball scoring mechanism, and so all FLAG games should start with ball_flag_. Some members of a team may need to stay back for defense, like with BALL. While, others should push towards the flag, like TBD. If you encounter the opposing team along the way, the pushers may need to weaken the push like in TBD, or take out the opposition completely, like in TDM.

This game mode is faster than TBD because there is no waiting for a bomb to spawn. This keeps the pressure up at a level significantly higher. Infiltrating players are not marked (like in BALL or TBD), and so can come from anywhere.

In TBD, the width of a map is a critical design point because it specifies how far a plane, weighed down with a bomb, must travel to reach the goal. This slows the play of the game and requires coordination. This coordination makes for great games clan vs. clan, where the players are working together. But, it can be frustrating in pub servers where players either don't know how to work together, or simply just refuse. Because of this combination of push and defense, TBD is best played 7v7, and suffers below 6v6. FLAG, on the other hand, is best played at 5v5, with 4v4 and 6v6 also working quite well. FLAG also works better on a smaller map than TBD.

An example map shows the importance of width over height in a FLAG type game. Also, notice the turrets, which should be capable of halving the health of a Biplane before they get to the flag for at least half the routes to the flag.

FLAG maps should be designed similar to TBD maps. The area around the flag should be built to make the space defensible. While height is not critically important, the map should be high enough to allow teams to pass without seeing each other sometimes, it should be wide enough that more strategy is involved than simple try-respawn-try again. Generally, turrets should help protect a team's flag.

Each team should have its own spawn area at opposite sides of the map. Near this spawn area should be a shield power-up assigned to the opposite team, so only they can pick it up. This will be the flag. The flag icon should be placed on a parallax view above the shield so that it is always visible.

When a map contains _flag_, the FLAG game type is automatically enabled. The Alti+ server looks for team powerups and enables them as flags. You can set this with commands similar to:

/add powerup flag left 2338,821
/add powerup flag right 222,821

The first command creates a special powerup (assumed to be a flag by the server) named “flag” (the name is irrelevant here). It is specifically the powerup at the X,Y (Altitude geometry starting at lower left corner) of 2338,821. This powerup will be the flag for the left team. Notice though, that this flag is not on the left side of the screen. The flag should spawn somewhere near the opposite (in this case the right) teams spawn area.

Given the fast paced nature of this game type, it is often common to lower the player spawnHealth to somewhere between 75 and 85, this can be done with:

/set spawnHealth 75

The following flag images are available to add to the game. If you need to make modifications or add a new color, use the closest SVG image to what you want. Otherwise, the PNG images should just work. Remember to put the flags on their own parallax view, so they are above the power-up.

To keep consistency in the look and feel of the FLAG game type, the existing PNG images should be used unless they simply don't look right on the map.