Hey!
Here's a suggestion for possibly re-inventing our beloved Quake a bit.
"King of the Server" or KotS was a mod originally invented for Quake 2. It combined the rawness of deathmatch Quake with certain elements of RPG's: You had a "character" based on your in-game name that was saved in a database which kept track of all sorts of stats.
You gain exp by fragging opponents, which eventually leads to your "character" getting a level up which allows you to upgrade your weapons and certain "player abilities". Ultimately it was about being the king of the servers - the guy with the most experience obtained on his character had the title of "King of the Server" in front if his name in-game whenever chatting. Similar to the ladder competition that was featured in Diablo 2.
The continuity of playing a "character" that you work on and improve really helped newer players and less-talented ones to bridge the gap between them and the hardcore Quake players by gaining levels and having a stronger character.
Both of these aspects I think are key components in getting and keeping people attracted to an aging hardcore game like Quake.
In a later iteration of the mod called "KOTS 2000" more depth was added to the mod and more titles were added - similar to the awards featured in QL but you would compete for them as it was only the guy with the highest in a given aspect that would hold the title - most frags/minute, most exp/minute and so on. Here's a link that shows an old database from back when the mod was quite alive: http://web.archive.org/web/200504182...ds2k/ranks.php
The mod was traditionally played like FFA DM featuring some runes that were unique to the mod; runes used the model of the weapon or player-ability they boosted with an overlay of a bright red or blue color. Fighting over runes was a big part of it as some weapons became truly hazardous when you had them maxed and with a rune: rocket launcher would fire two rockets per shot, hyperblaster would stun you for a short duration, grenades from grenade launcher would have a 'dizzy' effect on you.
The "player" upgrades were into certain branches that would give you various passive and active upgrades/skills:
The "strength" tree would increase your jumping height, your capacity to carry ammo and cubes, providing resistance to certain effects etc.
Other trees would feature "active" abilities/skills such as a grapple hook, the ability to fly, cloak, return damage, create armor/health/ammo and such; almost all of those skills required "cubes" which is the RPG equivalent of mana to utilize. Cubes were gathered through collecting armor shards as well as gained from certain playertree-upgrades.
More details on weapons and player trees
The RPG elements combined with the "ladder" competition and the hazardous nature of 8+ player FFA servers with so many abilities and weapons going around was a really addicting mixture and would keep you playing Quake for hours upon hours much more than any other mod I tried for Quake.
The source code for the last iteration of the mod, KotS 2007, is available which should make a port fairly easy provided there's not alot of engine conflicts. QL already features most of the infrastructure that the mod used with the database that keeps track of a unique profile and servers which aren't controlled by 3rd party.
Some servers could be level-capped to allow a starting-ground for newcomers.
I really do believe there's a huge crowd out there who would give this a go on the much more accessible platform that is QL than what we had going in the last years of Quake 2.
What do you think?
I'll update the thread later on and possibly elaborate on aspects and potential concerns with gameplay of the mod as well as answer any questions regarding things that I have missed...
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Originally Posted by Yakumo
