NOTE: THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN WITH FAR CRY 2 IN MIND. While still of value for principles, it does not apply to Far Cry 3.
Overview
Capture the Diamond is
Far Cry 2's version of the Capture the Flag game mode found on most multiplayer FPS. The goal of the game is to capture the enemy's diamond from their Diamond Station and return it to your own Diamond Station, while at the same time preventing the enemy from stealing your diamonds. Each stolen diamond earns a point. The team to reach the match point limit first or having the most points when the match timer runs out wins.
Note that contrary to what it says in the
Far Cry 2 manual, the diamond is not to be returned to your base (or base marker) but to your team's Diamond Station.
Validation Requirements
- At least 8 and no more than 64 UFLL Spawn Points
- 1 UFLL base
- At least 8 and no more than 64 APR Spawn Points
- 1 APR base
- At least 2 and no more than 64 Spectator Cameras
- 1 UFLL Diamond Station
- 1 APR Diamond Station
Objects Unique to CTD
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign CTF (White Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> APR Sign CTF (Red Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign CTF (Yellow Diamond)
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Spawn Point
- Multiplayer -> APR Spawn Point
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Diamond Station
- Multiplayer -> APR Diamond Station
Objects that don't appear during CTD
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign VIP (White silouhette of man with rifle
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> APR Sign VIP (Red silouhette of man with rifle)
- Multiplayer -> Signs -> Sign VIP (Yellow silouhette of man with rifle)
- Multiplayer -> Spawn Point
- Multiplayer -> APR Base Marker
- Multiplayer -> UFLL Base Marker
- Multiplayer -> Control Point (all)
Map Topology Concerns
Topology is extremely important to making a fun-to-play CTD map. I've played well over a hundred user maps in capture the flag game modes and one fact comes to the forefront:
there need to be multiple paths to the goal points on either side.
The maps that play the best have the following characteristics in common:
- They don't force players through a single choke point to reach the goal;
- They often provide an alternate return pathway that is considered by players to be the "long way around" that avoids most of the battle areas; (KEY CONCEPT!)
- The goal area (flag/diamond/sample/etc.) always has three or more exits;
- There are multiple battle areas between the goal areas;
- The goal areas are blocked from most sniper positions;
- The paths have multiple intersection points.
Note that
Shotgun topology maps and other types of choke point maps are not necessarily bad -- they just don't play as well because it becomes difficult for anyone to score if the teams are evenly matched. Plus, shotgun maps make for less interesting CTD play than multi-path maps.
Spawn placement strategies
I'm going to repeat some of the things stated in Part 2, because the basic concepts surrounding spawn placement are so important.
Ideally, you should be designing your map around a particular spawn strategy rather than making your map and then attempting to place your spawns. A map supporting CTD should have been designed with CTD uppermost in the mind of the designer.
When you are placing your spawns, ask yourself:
"Is this spawn going to be annoying when I re-spawn from the Death Room?" Note that we don't care about the first spawn so much as the re-spawn, and that's the key --
the most common spawn placement mistake that most map designers make is that they are thinking about the first spawn onto the map and not considering what happens to the player after they've been killed and get re-spawned.
For
Far Cry 2, you need to be aware of two other facts:
- If you are supporting CTD, you are automatically supporting Team Deathmatch (TDM) and the same spawn points will be used for both game modes;
- If you are planning on supporting Uprising as well, it's very likely that the spawn strategy you choose for CTD will provide a less than optimal experience for Uprising.
In general, I don't like putting both CTD and Uprising on the same map -- usually because the spawn choices for CTD are very different from the choices I would make for Uprising. (The exception being the
Tactical Monte Carlo Cluster for CTD strategy, which
does work well for both game modes.)
Base Cluster (
good)
In this strategy, all of a team's spawns are placed in or around each team's Diamond Station. This has the advantages of placing team members together for setting strategy and also places team members in a position where they are able to immediately protect their own Diamond. This is the most common strategy used -- not necessarily because it is best, but because it is the most obvious.
Base Cluster with Support (
very good)
This is a slightly modified version of the Base Cluster strategy. In this case,
most of the spawns are near the Diamond Station, with a few support spawns placed in other strategic areas around the map. This is generally considered to be a stronger spawn strategy for CTD maps. The support spawns are in a position to immediately make a run for the other team's diamond, knowing that there are plenty of other team members already protecting the Diamond Station.
A slight disadvantage here is that the support spawns tend to be alone, which can discourage a team assault strategy.
Base Cluster with Support Clusters (very good)
This is an improvement on the Base Cluster with Support strategy.Again, most of the spawns are near the Diamond Station, with a few support spawns placed in other strategic areas around the map. Only now, the support spawns are clusters of 2 or 3 players that can act as an advance tactical team. Note that on re-spawn, the likelihood of having the full cluster spawn together goes down, but it does set the game up nicely for some action at the start of the match. From there on out, it generally plays out like the Base Cluster with Support strategy.
Monte Carlo (
okay to bad, depending on the map layout)
Monte Carlo spawns in CTD are very rare, but they do provide some interesting game play. Under this strategy, team spawns are randomly distributed throughout the map. Firefights between teams will break out almost immediately. There will also be quite a bit of confusion between team members over whether or not the team's Diamond Station is protected.
One disadvantage of this mode is that when the Diamond Station protector is killed, his re-spawn could be anywhere on the map, and since no one can talk from the
Death Room, there is no way to communicate that the Diamond Station is unprotected.
If well-planned, this strategy can provide some chaotic and fun game play, but it has some serious disadvantages that could have your players complaining severely about the spawn locations.
Tactical Monte Carlo Cluster for CTD (
good)
This strategy can be thought of as an extension of the Base Cluster with Support Clusters strategy. For this strategy, a "cluster" is 3 to 4 spawns. Two clusters are placed near the team's Diamond Station. Then as many clusters as the map can support are distributed around the map, avoiding a reasonable perimeter around the opposing team's Diamond Station.
There is another side bonus to this spawn strategy: it also works very well for the Uprising game mode on maps that were designed for it. This is also a good strategy for TDM. With those considerations,
I strongly advise using this spawn strategy for maps designed to support all game modes.
Frontal Assault (
good)
This is a rarely-used, but really fun layout strategy. It is basically the opposite of the Base Cluster strategy -- all of a team's spawns are positioned near the opposing team's Diamond Station. The match generally starts out with both teams immediately grabbing diamonds and then rushing to the center of the map to battle it out.
Note that this strategy works best when the map is designed from the start with this strategy in mind.
Blob Cluster (
bad)
A blob cluster will typically take one of two forms: both teams will be fully intermixed or the two teams will spawn facing immediately across from each other.
As stated above, this is just a bad idea. Unless you really think that
SKD game play is enjoyable, this strategy should be avoided.
I've never seen anyone use the Blob Cluster strategy on a CTD/STS/CTF map, but it's worth mentioning that it should
never be considered!
Rules & Tips
RULE: Provide multiple paths (at least three) to your Diamond Stations.
We said this above, but it bears repeating as a rule.
TIP: Provide one or more alternative (protected), long-walk paths between your Diamond Stations.
Again, this bears repeating. This single tip turns an average CTD map into a great one. For the diamond carrier, there is a great feeling that comes over you as you make those last few steps to the Station after sneaking around the enemy going the "long way around."
TIP: Set up Base-to-Base paraglider spawns.
Giver your daredevil diamond carriers a chance to show off. Set up paragliders in positions that will carry the rider to the Diamond Station. You can either make it easy for them, by finding the sweet spot where the paraglider will go to the Station without any steering, or give them a bit of a challenge by aiming the paraglider toward another target. Technically, this provides an alternate path on your map -- and for CTD, that's a good thing.
RULE: Orient your spawns to face the opposing team's Diamond Station or your own Diamond Station.
This is important! The most important piece of information that a player needs to know is "Where is the other team's diamond?" The second is "Where is my Diamond Station?" You can answer one of those questions immediately by orienting your spawns appropriately. In
Far Cry 2, icons are always present showing where the stations are -- orienting your spawns in those directions is just one more thing you can do for your players to ease their spawn disorientation.
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