How-To Make a Doombot CTF Map
By Richard Clark

CTF, or Capture the Flag, is one of the most popular modifications to ever hit the gaming world. When the first CTF mod came out for Quake it was an instant success and spawned a multitude of variations. In the FPS genre, if you don't support some sort of CTF, you are missing out. Unfortunately, CTF was just a dream for us Doomers. That is, until id graciously released the source code to the public for non-commercial use. It didn't take long before CTF showed up in Doom and I am glad it did.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a CTF map using the Doombot, version 2.3. You will need the Doombot for this tutorial. If you don't have it, I would suggest downloading and installing it, then you can try your hand at a CTF map.

The idea behind a CTF game is not just gibbing your opponents, although there will be plenty of that. The main objective is to capture the opposing team's flag, and take it back to your own base to score a "touchdown". There are two teams, red and blue. Each team has two players. The red team consist of the player and a bot, the blue team, two bots.

Most CTF maps are symmetrical in design with an area designated as the "base" where the teams weapons are stored and the flag and touchdown markers are kept. The two bases are connected and the action moves from base to base as each team tries to capture the other team's flag and carry it back to their own touchdown marker.

There are several elements to a Doombot CTF map:

Blue Weapons Sector | Sector Type 0x0C9 (201)
Blue Flag | Blue Skull Key
Blue Touchdown | Blue Card Key
Red Weapons Sector | Sector Type 0x0CA (202)
Red Flag | Red Skull Key
Red Touchdown | Red Card Key
Bot Node | Small black candle

I use WadAuthor and I have created a wcf file that makes it a little easier to make a CTF map. If you use WadAuthor, unzip this wcf file into your WadAuthor folder and select ctf.wcf from the Select Configuration File menu item.

To make a CTF map, create your two bases and connection hallways and rooms. In each base, make a sector and mark it as the appropriate weapons sector. It is important that this be a separate sector from your touchdown and flag markers. Entering a weapons sector of the opposing team is instant death and if the opposing team can't reach your flag, it won't be much of a game. I usually load up all the weapons and ammo in the weapons sector for the team to use.

In the home base, place a skull key for the Flag and a card key for the Touchdown. I usually place these on a 64 x 64 sector that is elevated slightly and colored the appropriate color, red or blue. The bots don't care of course, but this makes it easier for the player to navigate the map.

Place the nodes (candles) in a path from one base to the other. Do not place more than twenty, and I have found that you need to use as few as possible so the bots don't get confused.

The node pathing takes some time to perfect, but a map with well placed nodes will be a fun and challenging map. Place the nodes in a line-of-sight fashion, where the bots will need to turn. Be sure there is a clear path from one base to the other. If the map is well designed, no more than a dozen nodes will be necessary.

The blue team will use player starts 1 to 4. Place these around the blue base. The red team will use deathmatch starts. Place these around the red base. I do not use more than four deathmatch starts.

Some things to keep in mind:

- Bots like room to move. Make the hallways wide enough to easily accommodate.
- Don't overload your map with a lot of sector detail will hang up the bots. Put your detail above the bots and leave the hallways clear for them to move.
- Don't use a lot of stairs. This seems to confuse the bots.
- Place health packs through out the level, but put the weapons in the respective weapons sector to force each team to retreat if they run out of ammo.
- Place red and blue banners, lights and textures around the two bases to make them easier to find for the player and to create an atmosphere for the game.
- The bots will pickup the megasphere, but not the soulsphere.

CTF has come to Doom and by following these simple steps, you can make your own CTF map and beat up on them Blue Boys.

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