Difference between revisions of "Combat"

Revision as of 08:09, 30 November 2010

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What is combat in Second Life?

Second Life combat generally refers to "games" where Residents fight other Residents based on rules imposed by a "combat system". A combat system is in turn used in a combat game. This is roughly equivalent to "player versus player (PvP)" action in various online games.

The main differences in Second Life combat is that combat systems and games in Second Life are created by Residents, real people like you. (There's only one exception, which we'll get to shortly.) This is similar to a gamemaster creating an experience inside of Second Life for you and others to enjoy. This also means that changes to a combat game aren't made by Linden Lab, but by the game creators.

Originally, there was only one combat system, the built-in one created by Linden Lab. It's rudimentary and doesn't offer the flexibility expected from those who've played various multiplayer games, so in response, teams of Residents began creating their own using the creation tools available to all Residents. Communities grew, and now, combat is a popular activity across Second Life.

Where can I find combat games in Second Life?

What are the available combat systems?

Weaponry

There are hundreds of weapons in Second Life to choose from, compatible with various different combat systems. There are two types of weapons "melee" and "ranged" weapons. Melee weapons are held by a Avatar (swords). Ranged weapons shot a projectile (guns, bows). They fall within numerous commonly known Classes:

Basic Guns - Guns that fire basic physical bullets. These are stopped by most quality shield systems.
Advanced "Guns" - Guns that fire tracking, non-physical bullets. These can't be stopped by all but the most advanced (and expensive) defense systems.
Explosives and "Nukes" - Self explanatory. These range from basic explosives to nukes that can kill everyone within 96m of the detonation point.
Advanced Weapons - The most effective and powerful weapons often combine a number of different effects with sophisticated, often HUD-based controls. There are several quality HUD-based combat systems available, as described below.
Robots and Turrets - These can be remote controlled, or set to fire on certain targets automatically.
Annoyance weapons - Stuff like caging guns, anything that flings people into the air, and in general things that annoy rather than, or as well as, dealing combat-system damage. Considered "noobish" and frowned upon by experienced combat people.

For more information, see Weapon.

Combat Vehicles

Sadly, the use of combat vehicles has reduced in second life. While they are very fun to fly, most vehicles will be "disrupted" by shields in actual combat situations, causing them to fly away. The only way to avoid this is to use non-physical vehicles.

The use of combat vehicles in LLCS has seen a surge recently (2009 - 2010) where the use of LlVolumeDetect to make an avatar invincible is used and then a custom damage system implemented. (Usually 100 "hitpoints", where each recognised bullet collision reduces one point, until zero where the owner/user agent is killed intentionally to simulate death)

Defense

Defense plays an important part in combat life. An undefended avatar can be obliterated by modern weaponry, ruining the fun for many new combat players. There are several ways to defend yourself in Second Life.

Shields
Offsim Bots
The Phantom Glitch

Shields, for the most part, have become obsolete with todays weapons. Any shield that offers true 100% protection will be using the Phantom glitch, by means of an object that you sit on.

Offsim bots place your agent out of the current sim, while moving your camera so you see through the eyes of the bot. This technology works well against less sophisticated weapons, but it can and has been defeated.

The Phantom Glitch was discussed in detail earlier in this article. When your agent is phantom, bullets and "killprims" can't collide with you, making you invincible.

Note that many role-play areas disallow some defensive items.

Non-Lethal Warfare

There are some weapons that can be used to disrupt or annoy another player without actually killing them.

Orbiting is the term used when one player causes another player to be flung up insanely high in the air.
People use "traps" to render a physical avatar unable to move.
"Lag-Bombs" are devices of various kinds that eat up Sim resources and cause lag, thus slowing down the target Resident's activities.

While this kind on non-lethal device can (sometimes) be appropriate to delay or detour a legitimate opponent in a combat game, they are also commonly used by griefers against unwilling victims in both combat and non-combat areas. They therefore tend to have a poor reputation, and to be looked down upon in many combat communities.

In the area of defense against pushes and pulls, most combatants use a device known as a "non-phys". A non-phys makes your avatar non-physical, in other words immune to being pushed or pulled. Period. A non-phys is basically a prim that you sit on, usually it becomes invisible once you sit, and you steer it around just like you are moving normally. When using a non-phys, you can pass through objects and walls.

If a non-phys is not handy and you are in danger of being orbited, just create a prim box and sit on it.

Advanced Weapons

The most powerful weapons in Second Life are advanced weapons systems. Because many of the currently popular weapons in this class use Heads-Up Displays (HUDs), they are sometimes referred to as "Combat HUDs". They usually offer a substantial arsenal of attacks that you can deploy, other than the standard "kill person" command. These include orbiting, "burning" people, trapping, auto-killing, etc.

Some advanced weapons are designed primarily to deal damage and provide defense in a single combat system (either LLCS or a user-created system); others support two or more different combat systems in a single device. Still others concentrate on the non-lethal actions and annoyances described above, and merge into the category of griefer and anti-griefer devices and away from legitimate combat.

Some system within this class should be considered problematic. They should be used with care.

Optimizations for Combat

Perhaps nothing is more demanding on the SL server system, connectivity, and your PC/Mac then combat. To win you must be fast. To be fast requires a good connection, a good to great computer and a sim that is well managed by its' owner. All are essential to your success. But... there are some things you can do to "tweak" your system to win and make over all combat gaming better for all those involved.

Reduce your graphics settings as low as possible.
Disable all unneeded features in your preferences for your client.
Remove all unnecessary HUDs and AOs from your AV. (Most weapons come with an integrated AO for efficiency already)
Wear clothing and hair with the least amount of prims possible. This will lower your Avatar rendering costs (ARC). Fighting naked on most SIMs is prohibited. Wear some form of clothing.
Do routine maintenance on your machine before engaging in combat. (Defrag, check disk and remove junk files and unused programs)
Use ranged weapons with a reasonable rate of fire and tight conical spread. Be considerate of others.

In short you want to run as "lean" and well running a computer as possible.

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-== Introduction ==
-Some areas of Second Life <!-- We really don't need to start the article off by advertising a sim * , like New Jessie, * -->are designed for the sole purpose of combat, in other areas combat is part of a larger role-playing theme.
-There are two types of combat system in second life:
-*The built-in Linden Lab Combat System (LLCS)
-*User-created combat systems.
-==Linden Lab Combat System (LLCS)==
-The Linden Lab Combat System is in effect in any parcel that the owner has designated as "unsafe". When you are in one of these areas there will be a heart with a percentage next to it on your upper menu bar. When you see this meter, it means you can be killed in the area. When this percentage drops to zero, you are then 'dead', and you will teleported to your home location.
-Please note that being killed is '''not''' a big deal. You have to teleport back into the combat simulation from your home location, if you want to return to the combat. You will not lose anything (money, attachments, inventory) if you happen to die in this manner. However, NEVER set your home to an area that has Damage enabled, or else you may become stuck in an infinite teleport loop by a weapon that continuously kills you.
-In the LLCS, damage is dealt by collisions with scripted objects that have used [[LlSetDamage]] to make themselves damaging. Residents also take damage when they collide with any object, or with the ground (as in falling), at sufficiently high speed.
-There are several ways to defeat the LLCS. The most prominent method involves forcing your agent to become phantom. This is accomplished by sitting on an object, and then having that object enable Volume Detect. The agent will be “phantom” and no objects will be able to collide with that agent.
-To instantly kill an agent, that agent must be hit with an object that has its damage percent set to 100% (via llSetDamage()). Here are the conditions that will cause death.
-*Agent is not sitting
-**Agent can be killed by any non-physical, non-phantom object.
-**Agent can be killed by any physical, non-phantom object.
-*Agent is sitting
-**Agent is phantom
-***Agent can’t be killed
-**Agent is not phantom
-***Agent can NOT be killed by a non-physical object.
-***Agent can be killed by any physical, non-phantom object.
-Damage "heals" gradually over time.
-If several agents sit on an object and a collision occurs with a damage enabled object, the damage will be spread evenly across each agent.
-So, what regions support combat? For the beginner, places like New Jessie, Combat Core and Rausch are good ideas.  They all cater to different tastes, so let's check them out.
-===New Jessie - an Open Combat Zone===
-[http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Jessie%/128/128/20/  New Jessie SLurl]
-[[Image:New Jessie Ideal.jpg]]
-New Jessie is an open combat sim which is unaffiliated with any military and where everyone is welcome.  When you land here, you can set your home here so that during combat, you need not teleport back when you die. There is a healthy mix of close quarters combat in a small town there, as well as a pair of bunkers and a shorefront with barbed wire and tank spikes.  On top of all of it, there is a hub featuring a weapons shop, many free weapons, and a combat museum detailing the history of early combat in Second Life. New Jessie is the premier sim for conventional combat in Second Life.
-===Combat Core===
-Do or Die ?
-This SIM is full of danger.Combat (sandbox) Core  (wipa 60min) LLCS damage.
-You do not need the reason for attack in this SIM.
-The use of arms that the guns and are all HUD is permitted to you.
-Prohibition item:HUGE PRIM, chat spam and more spam.
-[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Combat%20Core/128/128/28  Combat Core Safe Zone SLURL]
-[[Image:Core_logo04.jpg]]
-Combat Core is a free combat sandbox that allows you to utilize varioius weapons to fight other combatants.
-There is no unnecessary obstacles and object, which makes movement in Combat Core smooth and relatively lag free.
-At Combat Core, you may also make your own weapon, and use them during combat. If  you join the "Core Combat Crew" group at the front of the central tower, you will have access to home setting.
-This will allow you to eliminate the time which must be used to TP from your home to the combat sandbox if you get killed.
-All are free to join the "Core Combat Crew" group. Enjoy exciting and efficient combat simulation at Combat Core!
-===Public LLCS combat areas===
-Some of the most popular public LLCS combat areas are Rausch, Blue Base, and Red Base. These three sims are free-for-all sandboxes. There is a "safe zone" in the Rausch sandbox where you can't be attacked. It is usually surrounded by big yellow markers, and people have a tendency to gather in this area. (Please note that the "bases" are not really "bases" for anyone. They are free-for-all maps.)
-The difference between Rausch and other combat sims is that Rausch is a public sandbox region, as opposed to a private combat sim.  Anything is allowed here, so you're very likely to be killed before you know what hit you - although it also means you can kill others the same way.
-The fastest way to find these regions is to type "combat" into the places search.
-[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Combat%20(sandbox)%20Rausch/172/163/22 Rausch Safe Zone SLurl]
-[[Image:CombatBases.jpg]]
-===Themed Military Roleplay Combat Areas using LLCS===
-There are also many other regions & groups specifically for combat or military roleplay, which are running the LLCS damage system, among these are:
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Jessie/197/92/301  New Jessie SLurl]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Combat%20Core/128/128/28  Combat Core Safe Zone SLURL]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Badnarik/172/163/22  Merczateers HQ(Badnarik) SLurl]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Titan/172/163/22  Ordo Imperialis HQ(Titan) SLurl]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/2142/172/163/22  2142 HQ(2142) SLurl]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Elshout/172/163/22  Alliance Navy HQ(Elshout) SLurl]
-*[http://slurl.com/secondlife/Silver%20Side%20Bay/128/128/26  Gravity Zero Public Combat(Silver Side Bay) SLurl]
-== User-Created Combat Systems (UCCS) ==
-User-created combat systems do not use the built-in LLCS (and for this reason are sometimes called "safezone" combat systems), but instead use scripted objects both to track and to deal damage.
-This type of combat system can be used in any area that allows scripts to run. Usually these systems require the player to wear a "tag" or a "HUD" in order to play. This monitors your health, and various other stats, as well as add varios special features like heals, spells and miscellaneous weapons.
-These systems usually come with their own sets of rules that disallow the use of anything from advanced weapons to Bots to shields to instant-killers with the exception of basic weaponry and in some rare cases some small explosives. Sometimes the UCCS' rules include the neccessity of [[Roleplay]]ing, but some again are just straight forward killing. Some advanced UCCS keep stats of the players such as kill count, death count, level etc.
-When the player dies, unlike the LLCS, they will not be teleported back home. They will typically either "respawn" after a few minutes or some advanced systems will spawn a "spawn ball" which the player sits on and they will be able to respawn at a random location in the combat area with full health. The exact effects of "death" depend on the particular UCCS in use.
-It is important to note that many UCCS discourage Defenses (shield, auto orbit), Advanced "guns", Large Scale Explosives (+5 m), Automated Turrets, orbit, lag bombs. Most UCCS simulations also recommend using High quality basic weaponry that do not cause Lag within the SIM.
-A Few Notable User Created Combat Systems are '[http://larps.net/features.php LaRPS]', '[http://www.dcs2.org DCS2]', '[http://www.bnjrps.com RPS]', '[http://reference.ccs-gametech.com/#fragment-1 CCS]', '[http://gm.mivabe.nl/ GM (Gorean meter)]', '[http://www.combatsi.com/e107/news.php C:SI]', 'Spell Fire', '[http://www.rpcombat.com RPCS]', 'URCS', [http://BNWCS.org 'BNWCS'], [http://vicecombat.com/ 'VICE'], 'XRPS', 'FFRP'.
-Because user-created combat systems generally depend on cooperation between scripted damage-dealing objects and scripted damage-sensing objects owned and worn by the player being damaged, there is a great potential for 'cheating', by writing scripts that appear to be obeying the rules of the system, but that in fact make the player very hard to damage, very good at dealing damage, or both.  Also meter resetting during play is common using these systems. While most users of these combat systems enjoy competing legitimately, there are always a few who try to cheat, and different combat communities and combat systems have taken various approaches to detecting, preventing, or discouraging the cheaters.
 === Weaponry ===