Spyhawk

Everybody will start with all skill levels set to 0, because the new database table won't have any data to start with.

However, this is only a matter of a couple of hours before your characters maxes out. Remember the skill levels system has been originally designed around the Campaign mode, which is 3 maps only! It is obviously not easy to get all levels in only 3 maps, but it is indeed possible. Most people will reach max levels in a few evenings at most.

Also, if you guys want to try it out, the official test server has been running the prestige feature for a couple of weeks. We're polishing  minor details before delivering a new snapshot to TM. Disadvantage is that you'll play mostly against boring bots there.

1 hour ago, Svepa said:

Obviously not used it yet, but reading that i’m not excited at all.

If I’m reading it correctly, the better player will be dramatically better when they gain levels, and a lower player will die even quicker than they do now.

If that’s the case, I can see people going elsewhere for casual gaming

I don't know what your read, but that doesn't sound like you read the above :D

I'm not sure how to explain the system more clearly - it isn't complicated at all, and virtually changes nothing for people that do not want to collect PP, but I guess it's better to let TM try it for a week or so, after which you could evaluate the system for what it is.

Going the Fortnite route wasn't what was on our mind when we mentioned "new features upon this system".

It is true the possibilities are endless, but it doesn't mean we'll implement endlessly stupid ideas. (but I am sure Charlie wasn't entirely serious with his panza-sausage idea... ).

9 minutes ago, Ctrz said:

Not 100% against it, just might be confusing (like SR was/is) and/or have some issues. But lets try it. Its just my first opinion and Im glad if my caution was redudant  

Did you notice any SR issue recently? We've monitored the server and checked the SR data after a full month of use, and we've confirmed the fixes we pushed last year did the job (DB looks good, though I'll check again soon).

6 hours ago, Ctrz said:

In last months, Ive seen only 1 complain/discussion in discord where someone said that levelling up should be back. Otherwise - I have heard no complaint in server or anywhere. Members and guests seem to like full classes, no adrenaline, no double jump, no extreme new maps. I dont think the "most prestigious players" would be more popular than "highest skill rating player" that we have currently.

This is actually a very common complaint that is reported in our own Discord regularly (last time just a few... minutes ago), and the reason that feature was put out of the backburner.

See notes at the bottom!

While we keep working on the usual polishing and bug fixing, the next snapshot will introduce a noticeable feature: say welcome to Prestige!

I'm opening this new thread to present this feature, discuss it with TM admins/members, and also to keep track of your specific feedback.

What it is?

Prestige is our attempt to retrieve the original balance of the game, as it was initially designed. You're gonna like it - probably.

Why?

Back in 2003, Enemy Territory was unlike many shooters as it blended some RPG leveling element with the more classic FPS experience. Everybody loves to level his character to the maximum even today.

The balance of these skill levels were designed around the Campaign mode, which consisted of 3 consecutive maps after which the earned XPs were reset. Campaign was unfortunately not adequate for public servers, which preferred the Objective and later Map Vote modes instead. As XPs ranking was a way to fiercely display the capability of players to the world - much like a (virtual) wallet with plenty of big fat bills - soon the XP save feature introduced by some mods became the de-facto standard of measuring one to another (despite being merely a measure of time played, and barely related to player skill). And players greatly enjoyed it.

However, XP save also creates some imbalance by enabling skill abilities permanently (such as adrenaline for medics, or double strike for fieldops). These were never been accounted for in the original game balance, as XPs were reset at the end of maps or campaigns. Many mods introduced features designed to counter balance the side effects of XP save, f.e. by having bloaty options to limit adrenaline or self healing.  In Legacy mod, we introduced several changes over time to get rid of XP save, by displaying XPs earned on the current map only (so no more displaying of your 2 billion XPs) or by introducing a more robust system to measure and compare players' skill (Skill Rating).

Looking at TM current server settings, it is clear that work wasn't entirely done, as skill levels are still permanently enabled for players. This is the entire purpose of Prestige. 

How does it work?

Surprisingly, Prestige is very much like XP save: player's XPs are saved between played maps, and earned skill levels are retained for the next match. Where's the difference then?

Prestige keeps track of maxed out skill levels, and once a player maxes out all skill levels, the system will announce the player can collect a Prestige Point (PP) at the next intermission by clicking a button. Collecting a Prestige Point is entirely voluntary, and collecting a PP resets your current skill levels. Yes, you read that correctly: this is why they are called "Prestige Points" in the first place, because only the best players collect them!

Much like the ever-increasing XPs on some other mods, PP are displayed in-game on a separate scoreboard. There is no upper limit, and can be fiercely displayed to the world! The more you have, the more you are prestigious after all. Prestige of other players can also be optionally displayed by aiming at them (like classes and ranks), and a personal progress tracker to the next Prestige Point is visible on the limbo menu. And obviously, a new "Most prestigious player" award is now to compete for!

Advantages of this system include:

• rebalancing the game closer to its original balance as designed, by ensuring the average random player is always in the middle of the skill levels
• a sense of constant improvement: levelling up is what made ET cool and rewarding in the first place!
• a more varied play style, as players would be enticed to play all classes more often rather than sticking to their favorite class forever instead
• maintaining your skills: playing with (sometimes) a slight disadvantage makes you a better player over time
• a clear way to display your inherent alpha male/female superiority over your peers. Prove them they're just pussies!

We hope this feature will help retrieve the original ET experience we all strive for.

What if we don't like it?

The good news is that you don't have to like it! Simply do not collect any prestige point and keep enjoying the game as you ever did.

What if it doesn't work?

This feature is actually based on similar systems implemented in more modern games. It seems to work well, and we hope it does in ET too!

This said, we're certainly interested in your feedback, and we hope TM admins will test this feature. We plan to monitor the server to see how it goes, and we've included some data tracker (in the database) to check if players collect points or not. Depending on the feedback, we'll see how to improve the feature if needed.

What if it really doesn't work?

The Prestige feature will be enabled by default in the next snapshot, but can be disabled by admins with a single cvar. It can also be completely disabled on our side easily before compiling the binaries, and in the worst case, if it really doesn't work without a clear mean to improve it, we can always scrap it entirely. 

What if it actually work?

We'd be glad to see players enjoying a closer experience to the original ET again! We might also build some new features upon this system in the far future

We're looking forward to your comments and feedback!

Notes:

• Prestige can be only enabled in Objective and Map Vote mode. It doesn't make sense to use it in Campaign or StopWatch mode.
• While designed to be used with all skill levels enabled, the feature still works with some specific skill level disabled
• Skill levels will have to be adjusted on TM, f.e. changing the current skill_medic "0 0 0 9999" to skill_medic "20 50 90 140" or skill_medic "20 50 90 -1"
• A new database version will be needed. Sorry about that! We'll send instruction for a manual upgrade if TM admins wish to keep the current SR data.

Should be fixed in the next snapshot:

Also, the little game of stealing the restricted weapon from teammates while in limbo should be gone now.

See my previous answer.

Oops, that's a different issue. Sounds like a bug indeed, we'll investigate.

Edit: Fixed for next snapshot!

Check PM.

Prone hitbox was twice(!) too high in 2.76. We fixed it a few months ago, now it's similar to etpro.

No no, I am actually very serious. The gap between our releases and TM deployment has been problematic in the past (from a development point of view), but I hope we can reduce it in the future.

It usually takes more time to update the TM server than to fix the issue, mostly because TM admins insist to have the server empty for the update. And since TM server is almost never empty... 

Server has been updated (-794). Changes are as follow:

Quote

* fixed objective indicator not reset when using multiple spawned items
* fixed object collision with better implementation to avoid corpse stutter
* fixed mortar hit marker position
* fixed mortar and airstrike missiles hit the sky too much
* fixed rank levels badly matching SR of playerbase distribution

Please notify us of any bug/regression that you might still encounter (revive without weapon, etc.) otherwise we'll consider them fixed. Ty!

15 hours ago, MrMuppet said:

this just cant decipher the Legacy logs correctly.

That's what I meant. There is nothing to be fixed in Legacy mod here, this program simply assumes some fixed format of logs stats, and these have been expanded in Legacy mod.

All people with a Kill Streak bigger than 20 are certainly aimbotter. Recommend immediate, permanent ban.

Joke aside, seeing how funny these stats look (no death, negative time played, no idea what's score or skill weight, ..) I don't think that stats board is any useful. Data seems to be parsed from the log by a closed source executable, so it might be impossible to fix what needs to be fixed.

20 hours ago, Svepa said:

As TM has a lot of contact with ET Legacy developers, can someone ask them to just remove the 31 map limit, how hard can it be (Clarkson words)

I'm glad you're not a developer 

Yes, mortar isn't properly fixed yet. Still working on it.

1 hour ago, Ctrz said:

I have same issue with normal chairs in normal life.

#offtopic

Have you tried shooting them? Seems to be an effective workaround.

@AoS|Stumpel|FIN Please provide the exact message.

@Svepa Thx, we're looking into that one. How odd.. 

Definitely not normal, no. My gut tells me that might be another case of using an old vanilla et config with etl.

Also, on any system - irrespectively of layout - the console can be opened with the additional shift+esc (and shift + ~ on US qwerty).

On which platform does this occur? Also, which keyboard layout are you using?

On 1/20/2020 at 3:11 PM, AoS|Stumpel|FIN said:

My ET says old ETLEgacy version Client download new one.. But download what??? Game works anyways, and  I think files are that same version what loading pic says..

This is referring to the ET client, as the ET:Legacy client has many features that make it easier to use on modern systems (such as windowed fullscreen, fast alt-tab, etc.). You're likely still using the vanilla client (2.60b). 

11 hours ago, divine_one said:

Server keeps crashing again. (21:18)

Recived signal 11 ----- FS_Startup ------

Last few lines says: "file: ui/ingametmmenu, line 41: too few define parms". same for line 42 and 43.

It seems there is something wrong with TM menu, but I doubt that has anything to do with the server crashing.

@Duro What I mean is that such issue is not map dependent. It would happens on all maps, the way OB scripting is done. Are you sure the fielops you requested ammo from had their energy bar filled? If they just requested an artillery or air strike, they might not have been able to give you ammo at that time.

I am told omnibot fieldops give ammo on both occasion: at spawn time, and on request via chat command. There seems to be nothing map specific here, and if you can't reproduce an issue on all maps, that means the ET:Legacy team didn't break anything!