GameCam - features

GameCam Features

Introduction

GameCam is a plug-in mod, or, to be more accurate, an API-proxy mod. GameCam adds a client camera (spectator mode) to any other Quake II mod. This is done by literally adding external code to an existing mod, without having to know or modify its source code.

GameCam contains only the code for the camera, which makes it a very small download (~90KB, including the manual...). Note that GameCam is a server-side mod, so clients don't have to download or install anything.

Camera Modes

GameCam provides three camera modes:

ACTION - based on q2cam by Paul Jordan. This is the default camera mode in which the camera tracks the areas where most of the players are. This usually means that it tracks the areas where most of the action takes place. Fixed camera positions may also be defined, so that specific locations usually get filmed from the same point of view.
CHASE - this is a very much enhanced version of the original id software CTF chase camera. The GameCam CHASE camera swivels around the player being chased to provide the best view of his/her closest opponent. Spectators also have the option to manually adjust the camera position themselves.
FREE - aka noclip: spectators move freely around the map, and can pass through walls, etc. This mode is usually disabled, and is mostly used for defining fixed cameras to be used with the ACTION camera.

The GameCam ACTION camera can be configured to focus on specific types of players, based on a priority list. This allows it to track CTF flag carriers, HeadHunters with the most heads, Quad berserkers, etc.

User Interface

The default settings of GameCam make it replace the in-game spectator mode. This means that players can become spectators by simply typing spectator 1 (or spectator <password>), and return to the game with spectator 0. This way players don't have to figure out any special camera commands.

While in spectator mode, players can access the camera menu. The menu allows spectators to switch camera modes, modify the camera options, get help about the camera keyboard binds, and return to the game.

The menu provides access to the most useful features of GameCam - other features can be accessed via the camera console command.

Automatic Demo Recording

With this feature turned on, GameCam makes the client record a demo of the game using a unique file name. The recording will be stopped upon changing levels and restarted with a different (unique) file name.

The demo file name format is as follows: mapname-DDMMYY-HHMM.dm2, where mapname is the current map (e.g. q2dm1), and the rest is the date and time (at the server!) when the recording started. This format makes it easy to sort the demos by map and date/time.

This feature is available to all players even if they're not spectators! - just type camera demo and start playing...

General Admission Mode

GameCam makes it easy to run and manage tournaments while playing mods that have not been specifically designed with tournaments in mind. In General Admission mode all players start as spectators, and only a limited number of players are allowed to enter the game. The rest just sit back and enjoy the show ...

If a time-limit is set then the timer will start as soon as the first player exits spectator mode.

To switch players during the match (why?), one of the players must step down (become a spectator, or disconnect), and one of the spectators can then join the game.

Everyone will return to be spectators upon changing levels.

Ticker Tape

This unique feature puts a scrolling line of animated text at the bottom of the screen in ACTION and FREE modes. The contents of the tape and the way it scrolls (right, left, blink, etc.) can be configured using a simple scripting language.

The text itself may include special characters, highlighted (green) text and escape sequences to print any console variable (e.g. hostname), the time and date in various formats and a simple running high-scores update.

The script is re-loaded upon level changes, and/or from within the script itself using the reload script directive. This feature allows automatic updating of the ticker script using an external utility.

Other Features

GameCam provides other features as well:

spectators do not appear on the scoreboard (but can be listed with the players console command),
the HUD is removed in FREE and ACTION modes,
player identification can be toggled,
the player's inventory can be inspected in CHASE mode (!)

Performance

GameCam actually reduces the load on the server, since spectators do not generate network traffic for other players. A game with 32 players is a lot more demanding than a match with 4 players and 28 spectators (which is a lot more demanding than a match with 4 players and no spectators ...)

Security Measures

GameCam provides features specifically designed to prevent lamers from cheating:

camera mode can be protected with a password, so that only authorized players may become spectators,
the number of spectators can be limited,
spectators return to the game as new clients,
spectators suicide as soon as they return to the game (may be disabled),
CHASE mode can be disabled, so that it is not abused,
spectators' chat messages can be disabled, so that they don't interfere with an on-going match, or try to tip off players (they can still chat with one another using say_team),
standard (v3.20) flood protection on spectator chat messages,
spectators' names are changed from name to [CAMERA]name, so that it remains clear who's playing and who's just watching.

Note that spectators can't improve their ranking on services like CLQ by chasing high ranking players, because their names show up as [CAMERA]name when queried by GameSpy, QStat etc. Furthermore, mods with any logging facilities treat spectators as if they disconnected from the game.

ZBot detection is provided (on Win32 systems) via a separate plug-in module - ZKick, which can be used with GameCam or independently. ZKick is available on the download page.

GameCam can also be used together with the BW-Admin and Q2Admin server administration plugins (both on Win32 and Unix servers).