I Miss ASWZ



I miss the 5 hour Prestige vs StaTik ASWZ League matches.



I miss anyone who even remembers my name.



-dave-(aka: Illuminus)

Back before ASWZ became popular, arenas were forced to 2 teams of 8 players. This usually caused there to be only one pub arena at any given time. Once ASWZ lifted those restrictions, games became larger and more exciting, but private freqs and center-killers could quickly kill the flag game when only a few people were in the zone.



There are really four options available to us:

1. Force 2 freqs of a set size (8 or 10). More people means new arena.
2. Unlimited public freqs of a set size. Force people to grow 2 freqs evenly, then join them to a third freq. When third freq fills up, start a fourth. When fourth fills up, start a fifth. etc...
3. Unlimited public freqs of a set size. Allow people to be in whatever public freq they want.
4. Unlimited public and private freqs of a set size. Allow people to be in whatever freq they want.
   
   

My Goal: Release ASWZ Pub as of Thursday January 15, 2009 so that the first official pub games can begin that weekend.



Projects that need completion and status:

1. Maps.
   • We currently have 4 maps, two of which have been used in pub before. One has been used in ASWZL.
   • We need at least 10 maps for proper zone operation, more if possible.
   • Contact me if you have any or would like an arena to start building some.
     
     
2. Server.
   • Sknox has ordered the server and it should be arriving soon.
     
     
3. Pub programming.
   • ASSS out-of-the-box supports the "No Flags Outside" rule
   • The map voting system is about 50% complete, with the first version to be released possibly this weekend.
   • We will need some testing of the system once it has been released.
     
     
   
   

Every zone in SubSpace follows the same pub format: One map for two weeks, score reset and map change, rinse lather repeat.



With ASSS, we have the opportunity to change the map and settings in an arena without having to disconnect all the players. With this, we can have new ways to keep pub interesting and fresh.

• 6-12 maps in pub rotation
• Players vote on a new map every 30-60 minutes
• If flag game isn't finished when the map timer runs out, go to sudden death (disable respawning). After 5 minutes of sudden death, if flag game is not won, freq with most flags wins.
• Map changes, players download new map, game waits for a few minutes to allow players time to download.
• Flag game begins again.
  
  

For all of those wondering where ASWZ went, wonder nevermore! Due to a gracious donation of server and bandwidth by sknox, ASWZ is back!



I will once again be leading this endeavor. I have no doubt it will go far better than my previous attempt.



We're using the ASSS server (grelminar being an old ASWZer, it just feels right). Because of this, we already have a bunch of features that subgame simply is not capable of (flags cannot be dropped outside the map, for example).



Before we open officially, there are things we need to do:

1. Find maps.
   
   There are dozens if not hundreds of ASWZ maps out there. If you have a couple, please let us know.
   
   The old ASWZ ?go duel map is missing, if you have it we can put the duel arena back up.
2. Hire staff
   
   We will need 3-6 mods. To begin with, as mod, your job will be to populate the zone at designated times, help new players get the hang of the zone (by not killing them, letting them kill you, and/or protecting them from spawnkillers), and otherwise be the face of ASWZ.
3. Server Development
   
   There is little that really needs to be done here, but I have lots of ideas. These will be addressed in later posts.
4. Get the word out
   
   At its peak, ASWZ had more players than Warzone. Some of those players are still around.