Ozin worked a lot on the rageball gamemode, changing it fundamentally and I decided to make a brief overview about the new gameplay since stuff became quite complex. Something to look forward to for the upcoming patch.
Summary:Rageball is a gamemode where a team has to score a goal to receive a multiplier, while losing all multipliers if the other team scores. Not scoring for a longer time also reduces the multiplier, hopefully disencouraging delaying. The goals are like scaled down football goals, only allowing scoring from the front. Fighting is part of the game but the focus should be on playing ball instead of out-slauthering the other team. That's why we have health regeneration as well as an increased respawn times when dieing in the other teams half. One also spawns further back, so attackers are encouraged to outplay the defensers instead of res-killing them.
To prevent that a teams blocks the goal with multible players, there is a circular zone around each goal that only allows one player(goalie) of the defending team and none of the attacking team to be inside. This makes the game a bit like handball and forces players to actually throw or kick the ball from some distance. It also makes the job of the goalie more interesting, who has now to actually be constantly aware of protecting one's goal from longshots/longthrows while not being in danger of getting spawn killed all the time. A player can get possession of the ball with picking it up and catching it passively or actively. If a ball flies out of bounce or lies still for some time, the team that did not touch it the last receives a freethrow that allows to safely throw it once without being attacked.
Picking it up:
A player that moves over an unmoving ball, picks it up. Exceptions are freethrows for the opposing team.
Passive catch:
If a moving ball intersects with a player, the player gets in possesion of the ball. An exception are powerfully kicked balls. If they are too difficult(high speed, curve) to catch they will bounce off the player instead of being catched. Very difficult balls will also be able to knock a player down, depending on the armor weight. More armor leads to better protection from those knockdowns. To improve one's ability to catch the ball one can block/defend in any direction. Knockdowns or bounce offs are less likely then.
Throws or headers are always safely catched, only kicks can bounce off or knock down.
Active catch:
With pressing the action key(default f) while being close enough to a moving ball and directly looking at it, a player can actively catch a moving ball. A goalie(player inside goal zone) can also active pick up an unmoving ball. An active catch is not prone to bounce offs or knockdowns like the passive catch.
Heading the ball:
If blocking up while doing an active catch, the ball is not catched but headed away in the directing the player is looking. It works like a throw but the special thing that it uses the speed of the incoming ball for the rethrow, so really powerful headers are possible.
When in possesion of the ball, it hoovers a bit above the player, sticking to him. The player's athletics and agility are divided by 3 then, to make it harder to outrun opponents. This penalty is kept as long no other player touched the ball, make throwing the ball to oneself(dribbling) less powerful. It still has its uses though, for example to preventing ball loss from getting hit or to set up a kick.
Losing the ball:
If one is getting hit while in possesion of the ball, it is thrown vertically with a slight random angle. There is also a way of directly stealing the ball from the ball carrier in melee.
Throwing the ball:With pressing the action key(default f) while in possesion of the ball, the player throws it in the direction he is looking. There are three different kind of throws, altering in throw strength. Strong and normal throw have delay before the ball is released.
Weak throw:
With f and right mouse button(defend) the weak throw is executed. It does not benefit from the throwers strength. It's range and power is very low but it is very good for safe passes to very close players while getting attacked, passing over the attacker. It is also useful for setting up a kick and for lobbing over the goalkeeper from the zone line when he decided to come out of his goal to shorten the angle. There is no throw delay for weak throw.
Normal throw:
Done with just pressing f. Good for passing, dribbling(because no lmb or rmb needs to be pressed that slows down) and to a lesser degree scoring. It benefits from the strength of the thrower and gets an increase in power. It has a short delay of about 0.1s before it is released.
Strong throw:
Attack key(left mouse button) and f leads to a powerful throw that is perfect for long passes, clearances and scoring. Combined with the ground bouncing of the ball, it can achieve a long range. It also gets stronger with high player strength. There is a delay of about 0.3s before the ball is thrown so when being pressed it might be a good idea to use weak or normal throw instead to get the ball away.
With the kick key(e by default) one can kick the ball if it is lying just infront of the player. Kick can put the most speed on the ball but they are also difficult to execute. Positioning to the ball, running speed and strength determine its power. A player can also curve the ball, giving it a side spin(bend) or top/bottom spin(lift).
Normal kick:
A normal kick in a plain kick without bend or lift. It has to be kicked centrally or a slight bend to either left or right will occur. Looking up or down during the kick changes the vertical angle with which the ball is shot. To achive maximum power it is usually best to kick the ball just before it would be picked up by oneself, running at maximum speed before the kick also leads to a powerup.
Bend kick:
A bend makes the ball go left or right during its flight. Two ways exist to put a bend on the ball. There is a small natural bend that happens if the ball is kicked at the side instead of its center(Changed, applies only for kicks with attack curve). There also the manual curve that is done via block/attacking to either left or right side during the kick. A kick with a strong bend will change its course to the side, allowing skillful attemps on goal that surprise the keeper or nice crosses from the side.
Bottom spin kick:
A ball with a positive lift is call bottom spin kick or floater. It's rotation makes the ball seem to float in air, changing its trajectory a bit upwards. It is executed with blocking down(or attacking with the respective direction) during a kick. The kick itself will be a bit weaker than a normal kick but the floater is useful for precision long passes because it almost falls down vertically at the end of its flight, making it easy to catch or pick up for the receiver.
Top spin kick:
A top spin ball or drive kick has special trajectory resulting from the negative lift that flattens the trajectory. It is a bit more powerful than a normal kick and is very good for scoring because it is very difficult to catch (speed and lift) and it bounces off flat from the ground. To do a top spin ball one has to block up (or attack) during the kick.
Edit: With the new 2.7.4.1 patch I introduced a new mechanic that makes flat kicks stronger and high kicks weaker. Should help with going for goal with kicks. The relation to old kick strength with the kicking angle a is: new_kick_power = old_kick_power (5/7 + 1/2 * cos(a)^2)
So kicks with an angle greater than 41 degree are weaker while below that we have more power.
Fighting should not have the dominant role like in the other gamemodes but it of course is a big factor. Health regen makes armored characters have an edge in fights over lightly armored and the changed spawn system should make it harded to overwhelm the defenders by force - but not impossible. Shielded characters have an advantage in carrying the ball with their omniblock but it also limits their ball abilities, so they can't do a header and have a harder time putting curve on a kick because they can't do directional blocks.
Overall I hope that this gamemode offers fun for both agi and str builds, lightly and heavy armored ones. Fast chars are still awesome for fast plays with passes and dribbling while the smaller playfields make slower players feel less discriminated. As a defender you want to be strong and armored and even a goalie has a use for armor because it protects from getting knocked down from kicked balls(and of course protects from ranged).
The keeper has a big range of catch than a field player. So their active catch is a bit more powerful. Furthermore they are able to catch/pickup unmoving balls which is different from normal players. Another feature goalkeepers have access to is the goalie dive. With holding down a direction key and then pressing change weapon mode key(x is default) the goalie will do a dive in that respective direction. This helps to cover ground quickly but it has a cooldown and it freezes the player in place for a short time after a dive.
Additional note:
A goalkeeper that is in his zone can't score in his own goal. This is done to prevent accidental own goals when fetching the ball out of the goal after a scoring.
Update:With the newest patch, some new stuff has been added.
Pseudo offside:
When close to the enemy goal and either the goalkeeper holds the ball or the ball is in enemy possession in the other half of the pitch, one gets damaged every 5 seconds. Nakeds are taking the most damage. This is to prevent goal camping and useless fighting near the goal when the ball is away. Hopefully this will motivate players to fall back to midfield after scoring/missing.
Damage when getting hit by a kicked ball:
If the ball is kicked fast enough it will not only knock down but also deal damage to the one that was hit. Damage depends on speed and the armour of the victim. Nakeds suffer the most.
Volley:
It is now possible to kick a moving ball. The faster the ball, the more powerful is the kick. Prevented "dropkicks" for now with a timer because it seems too powerful to instantly kick the ball with throwing it into the own kick.
"Dreher" throw:
It is now possible to execute a special throw that makes the ball turn to the side after bouncing. It is comparable to a throw in handball, the -in German- "Dreher" (turner?). When doing a left or right swing, wait until the attack is half done and do a normal throw. It will turn to the side after the first bounce. How much it turns depends on your Weapon Master and especially Power Throw skill. This throw allows to beat the keeper from bad angles if you are skilled enough to pull it off.
Bicycle kick:
Ok, this is a hard one to pull off. It is special powerful kick can be triggered with starting a kick and then doing a header(upblock+active catch) on a ball that is moving above you. It then kicks the ball backwards with high speed. The exact release angle depends on the position of the ball when you "catch" it.
Power Jump:
This is a newly added option for all players(not only goalies) to jump higher than normal with a cooldown-bound special jump. To execute it jump, release all direction keys(WASD) and press left ctrl. Your char will now be accelerated in the air, allowing awesome blocks, exellent throwing positions, spectacular interceptions or just the fun of leaping over defenders. The height of the jump depends on your personal Weapon Master, Ironflesh and Power Strike skill. You also jump less high if you carry the ball.
