Front Line Force
Instruction Manual v1.3

Table of Contents:
    1.  Overview
    2.  Getting Started
    3.  Controls
    4.  Classes
    5.  Weapons
    6.  Capture Points
    7.  HUD
    8.  Radar
    9.  Timer
    10. Team Bonus
    11. Stamina
    12. Scoring
    13. Command Menu
    14. Console Commands
    15. Miscellaneous
    16. Credits

    17. New Gameplay Style
Overview

In Front Line Force the players are divided into two teams: Attackers and Defenders. The object for the Attackers is to capture various Capture Points spread throughout the map. The object for the Defenders is to defend those points. Once a point is captured by the Attackers it cannot be taken back. The round is over when either the Attackers capture all the Capture Points or when the round time runs out, in which case the Defenders win. After the round is over, the roles of are switched. If you were previously attacking, you are now defending, and vice versa.

Also, introduced in version 1.2a, there is an alternative objective introduced in one of the maps, flf_chion. The Attackers take on the job of infiltrating the enemy base and destroying parts of the enemy base, once all of the objectives are destroyed in one room, the next one opens up and the objectives in that room must be subsequently dispatched of. The Defenders are tasked with the duty of defending these rooms from the onslaught of enemy bullets. A bit more info can be found here.

The weapons, player models, and maps are all based on realistic situations, but the damage system and the way the game itself plays is NOT based on realism. Players do NOT die in one or two shots, but rather it takes a few shots from even the strongest gun to kill them, similar to Team Fortress Classic or other traditional multiplayer games. When a player dies, he does NOT sit out the rest of the round like in other games, rather he will respawn after a designated number of seconds has elapsed.


Getting Started

When you first join a Front Line Force server you will be presented with a menu where you can select your team. You are then presented with a Class Selection screen, where you choose the class (Recon, Assault, Support) you wish to play as. You will then be presented with a choice of pistols to use.

After you choose a pistol, you are presented another screen where you may choose your primary weapon. Depending on the class you chose, certain weapons may or may not be available for you to use. For example, only the Recon class may use a Sniper Rifle, so the choice is not there for the other classes. After you have chosen your primary weapon, you are then presented with another screen similar to the last one where you pick your secondary weapon.

After you choose your weapon you will spawn in your team's spawning area, the location of which will depend on whether your team is currently attacking or defending. The words "You are Attacking" or "You are Defending" will appear in the middle of your screen to let you know what your role is to be for the round.

Before the round begins, there is a small "set up" time in which the Attackers cannot move and the Defenders prepare for the coming assault. Use this time to pick your weapons and communicate a plan of action to your teammates. When the time is up, the Attackers will be able to start their assault, and the Defenders will try their best to defend the Capture Points.


Controls

In addition to the regular Forward, Strafe, Jump, etc. commands that you will want to bind, there are a few new ones you will need to use as well. Using the Half-Life Controls menu, make sure that you have a key defined for each of the following:
USE The USE key that opens doors and activates switches in Half-Life is also used in Front Line Force to capture Capture Points when on the attacking team. To capture a Capture Point when you are an Attacker, stand near the Capture Point and press and hold down the USE key. A timer will appear near the bottem of your screen indicating how may seconds remain before the point is captured. During this time your weapon will holster and you will be venurable, so make sure you have teammates covering you from enemy fire! After the point is captured, your weapon returns and your team should advance your way to the next point. To stop the processes of capturing a point after you have begun to do so, simply either let go of the USE key or walk/run away from the Capture Point. Defenders cannot capture Capture Points.
PRIMARY ATTACK This key triggers the normal fire mode of your weapon just like in Half-Life.
SECONDARY ATTACK This key currenly only functions as the "zoom" key for the Sniper Rifles. For all other weapons it does nothing.
RELOAD This key reloads your weapon when its clip has run out of ammo.
COMMAND MENU This key is used to active that ingame Command Menu, where you can send Radio Messages to other teammates, check the status of all Capture Points, or change your team, class, or weapons.
DROP ACTIVE WEAPON This drops the current weapon you are holding so that you may pick up another weapon from the ground. Not all weapons can be dropped.
TOGGLE PRONE This button toggles the "prone" position, where the player lies flat on his or her stomach. While in prone mode, you can crawl around using the Forward, Backward, and use the Strafe Left and Strafe Right keys to roll. You cannot fire your weapon while moving in prone.

Prone is useful for the sneaky player who likes to attack his enemies while giving them little clue to his or her location. It takes a small moment to go from standing to prone position (or vice versa) in which time you cannot move, cannot fire, and are vunerable to attack. So make sure you don't go prone in a firefight!
CAPTURE POINT STATUS This key brings up the "Capture Point Status" display, which can also be activated via the Command Menu. This screen tells you the current status of all the Capture Points. It displays the Name of the Capture Point, your current role (Attacking or Defending), and whether the point is "Captured" or "Free", which is also displayed in the color of the team who controls the Capture Point.
RADIO This button brings up a menu of radio commands that can be activated via the number keys. Some people like to use it rather than the Command Menu.



Classes

There are three different classes you can choose to play as: Recon, Assault, and Support.

Recon - Fastest speed, but can take less damage before dying. Only class that can use Sniper Rifles. Gets 2 Flashbangs and 1 Frag Grenade. Can capture points faster than normal.
Assault - Medium speed, medium damage. Gets 1 Flashbang and 1 Frag Grenade.
Support - Slow speed, can take the most damage. Gets 1 Frag Grenade. Takes longer to capture a point.


Weapons

There are several different weapons at your disposal in Front Line Force. Here is a brief list of them all, along with a list of their advantages and disadvantages:
     Pistols
      Beretta .92fs             Medium Rate of Fire. Low Damage. Medium Accuracy.
      Mk. 23       Slow Rate of Fire. Medium damage. Medium Accuracy.

     Shotguns
      SPAS-12                  Medium Rate of Fire. Medium Damage. Medium Accuracy.
      RS202M2                  Fast Rate of Fire. High Damage. Low Accuracy.

     Sub-Machineguns
      MP5A2       Fast Rate of Fire. Medium Damage. Medium Accuracy.
      MP5SD       Medium Rate of Fire. Medium damage. High Accuracy. Silencer attached.
      Ingram MAC-10       Very Fast Rate of Fire. Low damage. Low Accuracy. Silencer attached.
      UMP .45       Slow Rate of Fire. High damage. Medium Accuracy.

     Rifles
      M4 Carbine             Slow Rate of Fire. Medium Damage. Medium Accuracy. Only usable by Assault & Support class.
      Famas              Fast Rate of Fire. High damage. Very Low Accuracy. Only usable by Assault & Support class.
      AK5              Medium Rate of Fire. Medium damage. Medium Accuracy. Only usable by Assault & Support class.
      MSG-90              Fast Rate of Fire. Medium damage. High Accuracy (Zoomed). TERRIBLE Accuracy (Unzoomed) Only usable by Recon class.
      Sako              Slow Rate of Fire. High damage. High Accuracy (Zoomed). TERRIBLE Accuracy (Unzoomed) Only usable by Recon class.

     Heavy Weapons
      H&K21                    Slow Rate of Fire. High Damage. Medium Accuracy. Only usable by Support class.


Capture Points

Capture Points are the main focus of Front Line Force. The capturing of these points determines which team wins, and which team loses. The object of the game is for the attacking team to capture these points, or for the Defending team to successfully stop the Attackers from capturing them.

As an Attacker, press and hold your USE key when standing near a Capture Point to capture it. Your weapon will holster while you are capturing the point making you vunerable to attack, so make sure you have some team members backing you up. Each capture point takes a different amount of time to capture, and the class you are playing as effects the time it takes for you to capture a point. Recons can capture points faster than Assault, who in turn can capture faster than the Support class. When all Capture Points are captured, the Attackers win the round.

As a Defender, your job is to protect the Capture Points at all costs. The only way your team can win is if the time left in the round runs out before the Attacking team can capture all of the points. Once a Capture Point is captured by the Attackers it cannot be "recaptured" back to your side. It is lost for the rest of the round, so you should move on and protect the remaining Capture Points. If your team successfully holds off the Attackers until the round time runs out, the Defenders win the round.

Secondary Capture Points: These are points which do not need to be capped, but when capping them you set off different events which can help your team, for example, if you cap the secondary point in FLF_Ascension, a small bridge opens up which allows your team another route into the enemy base.

HUD

There are many new onscreen elements added to your Heads Up Display in Front Line Force.


1.   Location
2.   Health & Armor
3.   Radar
4.   Timer
5.   Stamina
6.   Ammo

Radar

Your radar can be used to find other teammates or Capture Points near you. The bright dot in the center is you, with the triangle representing your current field of vision. Yellow dots on the radar are capture points, and green dots are your teammates. When a teammate is above or below you, they will turn into an arrow pointing up or down (corresponding to their location) When a teammate uses their radio, their dot will change colors.

You can move the position of the radar in the "Advanced" menu under Multiplayer->Customize (where you set your player name). The positions can be Off, Bottem Center, Upper Right, or Upper Left.

Timer

The timer marks how much time is left during the round. Before the round begins it marks how much time is left in the warm-up period. As time runs out, the timer begins to flash, signifying that you are running out of time.

Team Bonus

Team bonus is a new, unique feature in Front Line Force. It rewards players by staying with their team and using teamwork to accomplish the goal rather than going off on their own and getting themself killed. The more team mates are around you, the better your "Team Bonus Factor" is. Team Bonus slightly improves your accuracy as well as your Stamina rating. You also slowly regain health when you are near your teammates! The more teammates around you, the faster you regain your health.

You can see how many team mates are affecting your "Team Bonus" by the number of helmets in the lower right of your HUD. If there is one red helmet, that means there is one teammate near you. Two yellow helmets mean there are two teammates near you. Three green helmets mean there are three or more teammates near you. No helmets mean you are all alone, and you should try to regroup with your team.

Stamina

Your Stamina Meter is on the lower right of your screen. It measures how much "Stamina" you have left. When you jump, your stamina goes down and recharges back up. Don't worry, you have plenty of Stamina to help avoid enemy fire or jump over a few crates, but if you are a "bunny hopper" then you will have to get used to not jumping around every 5 seconds. :)

**NOTE** Stamina does NOT affect your speed of running, ducking, or anything else. It ONLY affects jumping.




Some other things you may see on screen:
1.   Team Icons (Indicate a member of your team, turn off with cl_teamicons 0)
2.   Accuracy Circle (Indicates the accuracy of your weapon at any given time, turn off with cl_accuracycircle 0)
3.   Capture Point Locations (Will help guide you to a capture point when it is being capped, turn off with cl_cphelp 0)
4.   Capture Point Status (Displays status of capture points at all times, and time left in capture, turn off with cl_cpstatus 0)


Scoring

Since FLF is a team game, the emphasis of scoring is based on teamwork and doing the job which your team is supposed to do rather than rewarding you for playing a deathmatch. For individuals, the scoring goes like this:

Defense:
    1. Killing a member of the opposite team - 1 Point
    2. Killing somebody while they are capturing a point - 5 Points
    3. Killing somebody who is capturing a secondary point - 3 Points
    4. Killing somebody who is near a capture point - 3 Points
New
    5. Diving on a grenade thrown by the opposite team - Depends on # of teammates near you
            ¤ 0 Teammates - 0 points
            ¤ 1 Teammate - 1 points
            ¤ 2 Teammates - 3 points
            ¤ 3 or more Teammates - 5 points

Offense:
    1. Killing a member of the opposite team - 1 Point
    2. Capturing a capture point - 5 Points
    3. Capturing a secondary point - 3 Points
    4. Being near a point when successfully captured (protect the capper) - 3 Points
New
    5. Diving on a grenade thrown by the opposite team - Depends on # of teammates near you
            ¤ 0 Teammates - 0 points
            ¤ 1 Teammate - 1 points
            ¤ 2 Teammates - 3 points
            ¤ 3 or more Teammates - 5 points



But since Front Line Force is a team oriented game, the goal is not to have the highest personal score at the end of the game, but rather to have the highest TEAM score. Team score is determined by how many capture points are in the map and if your team successfully captured or defended each of them. For instance, if a map has three capture points and the defense successfully holds two of them then they get a point each capture point which was left in their control. Conversely the offense only earns points if they capture all of the points, but they earn a point for each capture point in the map.

NEW! At the end of the round, those who played well will be recognized by the new titles system which will pop up displaying different 'awards' The different awards that can be obtained are as follows:
            ¤ Best Offense - This is given to the player who caps the most points
            ¤ Best Assist to Offense - Kill people near cap points (When on Offense) to get this one
            ¤ Best Defense - Given to the player who stopped the most caps
            ¤ Best Assist to Defense - Kill people near cap points (When on Defense) to get this one

            ¤ Best Teamplayer - Stay with your team to earn this one, longer you stay with them the more chance of winning the award, so don't let them out of your sight!
            ¤ MVP - Determined by a combination of the above awards



Command Menu

The Command Menu (using the VGUI) can be a very helpful tool to you. Make sure you bind a key to it in the Controls menu! Using the Command Menu you can use a variety of Radio Commands that audibly broadcasts a message to your entire team, a very useful thing to have instead of typing. Be careful though, if an enemy is near you when you use the radio they can hear your voice!

You can also use the Command Menu to change your team, your class, your weapons selection, or check the Capture Point Status menu.

Console Commands

Server Commands:

NEW mp_wavespawn
Controls wavespawn feature, when enabled players will spawn together in 'waves' - For instance, if player A dies he starts with 10 seconds till he respawns, Player B dies 5 seconds later - Rather than have player B wait 10 seconds, wave spawn will make him spawn at the same time as player A (In other words since he died 5 seconds into spawn he only has 5 left, 10 - 5 = 5) The settings are as follows: 0 = disabled, 1 = both teams, 2 = attackers only, 3 = defenders only

mp_allow_kickvote
This command toggles the ability for players to vote people off of the server

mp_autoidlekick
This option allows your server to kick players who are idle

mp_autoteambalance
This automatically balances the teams at the beginning of each round, making it more of a fair fight.

mp_timelimit (default 0 min)
Period between map rotations. If timelimit is hit before a round is over, the round will finish before changing levels.

mp_fadetoblack
This command will toggle what happens when a player dies, if set to 1 their screen will black out (So they can't reveal enemy locations, etc)

mp_flashlight (default 1)
Set to 1 to enable the use of flashlights, 0 to disable.

mp_forcebalance
This makes it so that a player cannot join a team that already has more people than the other team. This helps balance out the teams and is highly recommended.

mp_roundlimit (default 0)
When a team reaches the round limit (number of wins), then the map switches.

mp_teamchange (default 1)
Allows players to switch teams after warm-up time.

mp_friendlyfire (default 0)
Friendly Fire (players can damage their teammates).

mp_footsteps (default 1)
Plays footstep sounds.

mp_allowspects (default 1)
Allows Spectators.

mp_allowicons (default 1)
Allow players to use cl_teamicons to toggle the display of team icons (Setting to zero disables team icons)

mp_spectchat (default 0)
Spectators can talk to Players currently playing the game.

mp_grenadespam
Toggles the allowance of grenade spam in respawn, set to 1 to allow it

sv_startmatch
This "restarts" the map without causing the players to load the map. Highly recommended for clan matches and tournaments, this lets the map "start over" without having some players join later than others.


Client Commands:

cl_captimes (default 0)
This toggles the display of the capture point status (cl_cpstatus) between bars and numerical values when a point is being captured.

cl_maxdebris (default 90)
This limits the amount of debris which will appear when walls/floors/ceilings are shot (Decrease to improve performance)

cl_maxbarrelsmoke (default 25)
This limits the amount of smoke from your barrel that appears when you shoot (Decreasing may improve performance)

cl_maxshells (default 55)
This limits the number of shells that appear / stay on the ground (Decreasing may improve performance)

cl_maxshelllife (default 2)
This controls how long shells stay on the ground (Decreasing may improve performance)

cl_maxsmokepuffs (default 120)
This limits the number of smoke puffs which will appear when walls/floors/ceilings are shot (Decreasing may improve performance)

cl_maxripples (default 60)
This limits the number of water ripples displayed when water is shot or has debris fly in (Decreasing may improve performance)

mp_decals (default 300)
Decal Limit (reduce for better performance).

listplayers
Lists the players in the server and gives you the ID number of each player, this is used with kickvote.

kickvote
Allows you to start a vote to kick a specific player, 65% of the server needed for motion to pass, syntax is kickvote [ID number] Example: kickvote 2 Use this with listplayers.

cl_radar (default 2)
Radar Position.
 0 - Off
 1 - Bottom Center
 2 - Upper Right
 3 - Upper Left

cl_detail (default 1)
Detail Level. Change to 0 for better performance.

cl_cphelp (default 1)
Capture Point Help (for new players).

cl_accuracycircle (default 1)
Toggles the display of the accuracy circle, when it is on you can see how accurate your weapon is at any time.

cl_himodels (default 1)
Toggles between high and low poly/quality player models (Set to 0 for better performance, changes are made on the fly so there is no need to exit the game)

cl_cpstatus (default 1)
Constant display of CP Status, set to 0 to turn it off

cl_nohud (default 0)
This will turn off your hud display, useful for taking screenshots (1 turns off hud, 0 puts it back)

cl_radarupdate (default 1)
Sets radar's update speed (0 is slow, 1 is medium, 2 is fast)

cl_showbonus (default 1)
Sets whether the game gives point bonus feedback on your hud or not (0 for no)

cl_showstatus (default 0)
This determines if the team status listings are shown automatically when you are dead (Useful to keep track of the game, recommended to be on)

cl_teamicons (default 1)
Shows an icon over your teammate's head, identifying them as on your team.

cl_traceshots (default 1)
Toggles whether you see the "tracer" effect some guns have.

+commandmenu
Brings up the Command Menu VGUI, where you can send radio messages and change your settings.

drop
Drops current weapon so that you may pick up another.

toggleprone
Allows you to go prone and get up again. When in prone you can crawl forward and roll left/right, but you can only fire when not moving. When you go into water you automatically go un-prone.

cpstatus
Displays Capture Point Status screen.

changeclass
Brings up the Change Class menu to change your class.

changeteam
Allows you to change your team.

changeweapons
Brings up the Weapon Selection menu to change your weapons.

radio
Displays Radio menu.

radio 1
Displays Radio Report/Responces Menu

radio 2
Displays Radio Emergency Messages Menu

radio 3
Displays Radio Orders Menu

NOTE: All the radio menus can be accessed from the Radio menu.

timeleft
Displays the time left before the map changes.

Miscellaneous

Q: I'm having troubles with the mod acting strangely...
A: Try deleting your CONFIG.CFG file in your /half-life/frontline/ folder.
  if that doesn't fix it feel free to email one of us or visiting our "Help" forum on the web site.

Q: Some people have a radar, but I don't. How do i get one?
A: Go to Multiplayer->Customize->Advanced Options. There is an option there labelled
   "Radar Status". Simply select where on the screeen you'd like your radar to appear.

Q: Some people have icons above their teammates heads, but i don't! How do i get them?
A: Go to Multiplayer->Customize->Advanced Options. There is an option there labelled
   "Icons over Teammates". Checking it puts an icon above your teammate's head easily
  identifying him as on your team.

Q: Why can't I pickup a weapon on the floor?
A: To pickup a dropped weapon, you'll need to drop one of yours first, you will not be able to pickup
   more than 1 rifle or more than 1 heavy weapon at a time. If you are a class that normally is not
   allowed to choose a weapon, you CAN still pick it up from the floor, but your accuracy will not be
   as good, only use this as last resource.

Q: Hey, I can't hit anything, my accuracy sucks, whats up with it?
A: Accuracy is modified by movement, rate of fire and other factors. We suggest using short controlled
   burst to mantain a good accuracy, if you are crouched or in prone position, you'll get a higher
   accuracy than if you were running. Jumping will give you the worst accuracy.

Q: I'm getting low FPS while playing Front Line, can't I do anything to fix this?
A: You can lower the detail level by using cl_detail 0, which should help a bit your framerates, also
   you can always use our low poly player models, using cl_himodels 0. To turn off the Debris Effects,
    use cl_maxdebris 0. NOTE: All these changes are applied on the fly, so no need to restart or reconnect.

Q: When I am Zooming with the Sniper Rifle, I keep coming unzoomed, is this a bug?
A: No, its not a bug, after each shot from the SAKO, you go unzoomed. The MSG is unaffected.
  

Q: I'm a mapper who would like to make an Front Line Force map, where can I get started?
A: We have a Mapping Tutorial for mappers who wish to quickly set up their map for use with
    Front Line Force! It is available at the Front Line Force Web Site: http://www.flfmod.com/
    Be sure to grab the FGD


Q: Where are the capture points? I can't find any!
A: You are probably playing one of the new maps for FLF which has different objectives, read up on it here.


Credits

   The Front Line Force Team is:

     Adrian "Pink" Finol - Code/Lead Designer

     Ildegardis "Deimos" Briceņo - Models, Animations and Graphics

     Michael "AD Squirrel" Melgares - Beta Testing Coordinator, Manual, Readme, Website, Misc.

     Mary "MaryB" Beth - Mapper

     Alfred "Alfred" Reynolds - Linux Porter

     Jorge "Nava" Nava - Player model creator

     Tom "Guiver" Guiver - Models, Skins, Graphics

     Sterling "BigGuy" Greene - VGUI Programmer, Assistant Coder

     Ted "Cipher" Nugent - Graphics, Web Guy

     Dave "David" Dynerman - Coding


   Special Thanks To:

     Valve Software
     Russell "DOOManiac" Weed
     Frank "SiTh" Nuccio
     Rewolf Software
     Shrike
     Brandon "Schrade" Renfrow
     Phil "Fuel" Sanford
     Lance
     Eric Cherry
     Paul 'MoOg' Samways
     Gooseman
     Mr_Grim
     Kwakkasaki
     relic
     Timay
     All of the FLF Beta Testers

   Manual by Russell "DOOManiac" Weed and Michael "AD Squirrel" Melgares

:F Aunz You All, Admit it... What? Not used to my "hidden" messages by now? For Shame! :D