The Basics
HL2CTF has three game types. Maps that start with “ctf_†will be Capture the Flag mode. Maps starting with “1f_†will be One-flag mode. Maps starting with “dom_†will be Domination mode.
In Capture the Flag mode, the objective is to steal the enemy flag from the enemy base, and bring it back and touch it to your flag. If your flag is stolen, you must return it before you can capture. The team with the most captures wins, frags are not counted.
In One-flag mode, the objective is to pickup the neutral flag and carry it to the enemy base capture location. The team with the most captures wins, frags are not counted.
In Domination mode, the objective is to steal the neutral flag and hold on to it as long as possible. The team with the longest hold-time wins, frags are not counted.
Weapons
All of the weapons from Half-Life 2 Deathmatch are available in HL2CTF. In addition, HL2CTF has three new weapons not in HL2DM.
Alyx’s Gun is a selectable pistol/machine gun hybrid, as used by Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2. Secondary fire is used to switch between pistol and SMG mode. Highly accurate when used in short bursts.
The O.I.C.W. is an assault rifle coupled with a powerful grenade launcher. Highly accurate in short bursts. Use secondary fire to launch range-limited grenades.
The Combine Sniper Rifle is a powerful and highly-accurate sniper rifle. Use secondary fire to toggle betweem two zoom modes.
Special Items
Double Damage increases the damage you deal. Shield decreases the damage done to you. Regen slowly increases your health while have it. Drain gives you health as a reward for hurting enemies, and Cloak makes you fully invisible when standing still, and partially invisible while moving.
Sentry turrets are indestructable and intelligent tripod guns which are provided for the purpose of defense on several maps. To set up a sentry turret use your gravity gun. Sentry turrets will fire at members of the team opposite to the markings on the turret, but can friedly-fire if you get in front of them while they are tracking a target.
Pro Movement
In Pro mode, you can perform three movement tricks: bunny hop, wall jump and rocket jump. To see if a server is using Pro mode or HL2DM mode, check the Game column in the server browser.
To bunny hop, successively hit jump as you are landing on the ground from previous jumps. This will increase your speed and bypass the friction that would normally slow you down when running.
To wall jump, strafe into a wall, then, without releasing strafe, press jump twice rapidly. If you do it right, you will be pushed up and away from the wall.
To rocket jump, fire an explosive at the ground and press jump as it explodes to get an upward boost from the force of the explosion.
Scoring
Any points awarded to individual players are not counted towards your the team score. The only way for a team to win is to get the most captures, or the longest domination time.
Individual player points are awarded for:
- Killing an enemy (1 point)
- Capturing the flag (5 points)
- Returning the flag just before a capture (2 points)
- Returning the flag (2 points)
- Killing the enemy flag carrier (+1 point)
- Killing an enemy near your flag (+1 point)
- Killing an enemy near your flag carrier (+1 point)
- Holding the neutral flag (2 points every 30 seconds)
Teamwork
HL2CTF encourages teamwork and provides several ways that you can help your team out, aside from just killing enemies and capturing flags.
You can drop health (x), suit batteries (c), weapons (v) and powerups (b) for your team.
You can also issue radio commands, and when you talk to your team (u), your current location will be printed automatically. You can also use chat macros to quickly report your status:
| Char. | Macro | Example |
|---|---|---|
| $A | Suit remaining | 100 armor |
| $H | Health remaining | 100 health |
| $M | Ammo | ammo 4|1|120 |
| $R | Current powerup | Double Damage |
| $L | Location | Combine Base |
| $S | Current team name | Rebel |
| $Q | Enemy team name | Combine |
Pro vs. HL2DM
The following table illustrates the differences between Pro mode and HL2DM mode:
| Game Setting | Pro | HL2DM |
|---|---|---|
| SMG recoil spread | 3° | 5° |
| SMG damage | 6 | 5 |
| Shotgun spread | 10° | 10° |
| Shotgun clip | 8 | 6 |
| Shotgun damage (per pellet) | 7 | 9 |
| AR2 damage | 12 | 11 |
| RPG damage | 100 | 150 |
| Combine ball suicide | Yes | No |
| Gravity gun rapid fire | No | Yes |
| Bullet impact force | ½ | Normal |
| Run speed | 235 UPS | 190 UPS |
| Bunny hopping | Yes | No |
| Wall jumping | Yes | No |
| Rocket jumping | Yes | No |
| Fall damage | 10 | Realistic |
| Drop items | Yes | No |
| New weapons | Yes | Yes |
| New items (turrets, powerups) | Yes | Yes |
| Health and Suit chargers | Fast | Normal |
| Default spawn weapon | Pistol | SMG |
| Spawn selection | Farthest | Random |
| Heads-Up Display (HUD) | New features | Colorized |
Console Commands/Variables
The following commands can be used via remote console (rcon) or from a listen server, to control game settings:
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| ctf_motd 0/1 | Toggles the Message of the Day when joining the game. |
| ctf_promode 0/1 | Toggles between Pro and HL2DM. |
| ctf_capturelimit n | Maximum number of captures before the round ends. |
| ctf_mercyrule n | Maximum number of captures a team can lead by before the round ends. |
| ctf_arenamode 0/1 | When enabled, players spawn with all weapons. |
| ctf_matchmode 0/1 | When enabled, players ready up and there is a 45 second warmup. ctf_matchmode_password will set a password when in matchmode. |
| ctf_allowscripts 0/1 | When disabled, players may not use scripted binds. |
| ctf_weapons n | Bitmask control over weapons in Pro Mode *See server.cfg |
| ctf_powerups 0/1 | Toggles powerups. (runes) |
| ctf_turrets 0/1 | Toggles floor turrets. |
| ctf_extramodels 0/1 | Allow or disallow the use of extra single player models. |
| ctf_overtime n | How many minutes of overtime to have if the game is tied at round end. |
| ctf_idlelimit n | How long a player must idle before being switched to spectator. |
| ctf_dominationlimit n | Force Domination game to end in minutes if your server is set to no timelimit. |
| ctf_combinescorehandicap 0/1 | Score Handicap for Combine Team. (they start with this many points) |
| ctf_rebelscorehandicap 0/1 | Score Handicap for Rebel Team. (they start with this many points) |
| ctf_forcemelee 0/1 | Force the flag carrier to melee weapons and gravity gun only. |
| ctf_disablepropphysics 0/1 | Causes physics props not to spawn in the map. |
| ctf_mutespectators 0/1 | Prevents players from seeing chat messages from spectators. |
| ctf_enablechatmacros 0/1 | Toggle the use of chat macros. |
| ctf_slamsdiewithowner 0/1 | Set SLAMs to detonate when the owner dies. |
| ctf_grenadehp n | Set Frag Grenade Hitpoints to detonate when shot. (0 disables) |
| mp_forcerespawn 0/1 | Forces player respawn otherwise a key/button must be pressed. |
| sv_gravity n | Set the server gravity. (defaults 800 Pro | 600 DM) |
| forcecfg 0/1 | If forcecfg is 0, cvars changed via rcon will persist through map changes. |
| forceready | Forces all players to be ready. |
| restartround | Start the round over. |
| nextmap mapname | Sets the next map to mapname. |
The following commands adjust client preferences:
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| cl_autowepswitch 0/1 | Toggles switching weapons when you pick up a new weapon. |
| cl_rebelmodel | Sets the model to use when joining Rebels. |
| cl_combinemodel | Sets the model to use when joining Combine. |
| hud_hitsound 0/1 | Toggles a registration sound being played when you hit an enemy. |
| hud_quickinfo 0/1 | Toggles the display of health and ammo around the crosshair. |
| hud_showcarrier 0/1 | Toggles the display of the flag carrier names on the HUD. |