A wise man once said: "Those who do not read this document will suck at BFP."
Bid For Power (BFP) is a quake 3 total conversion. We have taken quake 3 and used it to create a new game. In order to play BFP, you will need the full retail version of Quake 3 Arena by ID Software, but once you have that installed, our game is a free downloadable add-on. Bid For Power will run on any windows, linux, or mac computer that is capable of running q3 and has both the full q3 version and the 1.27 or more recent point release installed.
Bid For Power attempts to capture the feel of anime style ki fighting. In the first release of BFP, 6 of the strongest fighters in the universe enter the arena in a fight for domination.
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6 different selectable characters, each with 5 attacks.
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21 different ki attacks including controllable, homing, and chargeable attacks (no guns).
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Toggleable flight.
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Offhand melee combat
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Re-"charge"able ki energy for ammo, flight, and speed/power boost.
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Power level determines the strength of attacks, speed of movement, max health, max ki, ki charge rate, and what attacks are available.
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5 different game modes: FFA, 1v1, Team DM, Last Man Standing Team DM, and Giant Monkey mode.
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Numerous new player animations.
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Head and full body transformations, selectable aura, ki trail, scalable attacks, big explosions, playable third person mode, first person vis mode.
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Install the full retail version of Quake 3 Arena. The demo version will NOT work with BFP.
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Install the latest point release for Quake 3 Arena, found at http://www.quake3world.com/files
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Run the bfpinstaller.exe program.
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To start the game, use one of the two shortcuts created by the installer.
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Install the full retail version of Quake 3 Arena. The demo version will NOT work with BFP.
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Install the latest point release for Quake 3 Arena, found at http://www.quake3world.com/files
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Unzip the bfpr1.zip file into your quake 3 arena directory. Make sure to use folder names when extracting the files.
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The directory "bfp" will be created as a subdirectory of the quake 3 directory.
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To start the game, either use the "Mods" tab in quake 3, or start the game with command line args "+set fs_game bfp".
This game is designed to be played multiplayer. From the main menu, click on the "multiplayer" button. BFP will scan all of the quake 3 arena servers and display any BFP servers that it finds. Once a BFP server is found, highlight it, click accept and the game will connect to the server.
Just barely. This game is intended to be played multi-player. A single player game can be played with the bots, but we recommend playing against real people.
Viewpoint is how you see the game while you play it. You have your choice of 3 different viewpoints for playing BFP. To switch between the views, use the BFP Options menu.
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Third Person: The model is seen from the outside. Unlike the standard quake 3 third person view, in BFP the crosshair is visible, and the angle is changed to create less blocking of the view. Cvars cg_thirdPersonAngle and cg_thirdPersonRange have had their cheat protection removed, and cg_thirdPersonHeight was added for additional customization.
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First Person Vis: First person where your own model is drawn. Your viewpoint is positioned on the model's eyes, and you can see your own arms and legs while fighting.
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First Person: The standard first person quake 3 view.
Power level is how strong you are. Power level determines max health, max ki, movement speed, damage caused by attacks, and which attacks are available to use. The only way to get more power is to kill someone. When you die (in most game modes), your power level is reset to the average of all current power levels. When the game ends or the server restarts, the power level of the players is reset to the default.
Power level is divided into tiers. While most power level effects are based on the power level itself, aura color and attacks available is determined by the tier.
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Tier 1: < 100,000 PL. Blue aura, only one ki attack available.
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Tier 2: 100,000 - 250,000 PL. Red aura, two ki attacks selectable.
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Tier 3: 250,000 - 500,000 PL. Red aura, three ki attacks selectable.
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Tier 4: 500,000 - 999,000 PL. Red aura, four ki attacks selectable.
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Ultimate Tier: 1 mil PL. Yellow aura, all attacks selectable.
When a player's power level hits 1 million, the transformation happens. The aura color turns yellow, and if the character has a transformation it occurs. Other than the benefits from increased power level, there is no additional benefit of the transformation.
Ki is your stamina. Ki is used as ammunition for the ki attacks. Additionally, ki can be used to increase power, speed, jumping height, and special attacks by using the boost key. Ki can be charged in order to replenish it at any time by holding down the charge key. Beware, while charging you can not move or attack, and are highly visible to other players.
BFP has a toggleable flight button. The default is "f" but it can be set in the controls menu. To begin flying, simply press f once, and once again to stop flying. While flying, you are able to move to wherever you look. The jump key will make you move up, and the crouch key will make you move down. Your ki drains at a steady rate. At low power levels you will need to limit your flight, while at high power levels you can fly all day. A large speed boost is gained by holding down the boost key.
To engage in melee combat, hold down the melee key and put the crosshairs over your opponent. If you are close range, then you will start beating on him. If you are long range, you will dive at the bad guy for a strike. To add extra knock back and stun your opponent, hold down the boost key while melee fighting.
While in hit stun, the player can not move, attack, block, or charge. 1 second of hit stun is added when the player runs out of ki. 3 seconds of hit stun is added when melee is used in combination with the boost key. Do not overlook this feature. Being able to knock people into hit stun with ki-boosted melee is one of the keys to being good at BFP.
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The melee stun can be avoided by holding melee while you are attacked.
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Hit stun can be ended by teleporting after one second.
BFP includes controlled short-range teleportation that is performed by double-tapping right or left movement keys. If right or left is tapped twice while moving forward, then the teleport moves in a diagnal forward direction. Teleporting diagnally backward direction can be done by moving backwards and then tapping left or right twice. Teleport is useful for dodging attacks, and can be used to break out of hit stun after 1 second.
Pressing block once grants the player between one and two seconds of blocking. Blocking drains ki quickly, but transfers all damage to ki instead of health. Blocking can also be used to deflect missile attacks. There is a one second delay between when the player stops blocking and when the player can block again.
Each character has 5 attacks. At the lowest power tier, the player only has one selectable attack. Each time the player advances to a new power tier, he gets a new selectable attack. By default, each of the numeric keys, 1-5, choose a different attack. Only one attack can be selected at a time, but switching between attacks is instant.
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standard attacks: hold down fire and you fire.
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charge-up attacks: hold down fire to start charging the attack, release fire to fire.
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minimum charge-up attacks: same as charge-up attacks, but with a minimum charge-up time. The ball of ki will appear in the player's hands once he is prepared to fire.
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beam attacks: a type of charge-up attack. Can only fire one beam at a time. After firing, you can aim the attack by moving the mouse, or detonate it by hitting fire again.
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homing attacks: these attacks will home in on the nearest opponent.
Unlike quake 3 attacks, BFP attacks are more than just a trajectory. Attacks have actual dimensions, and will explode on contact with players. If an attack looks 50' wide, it will hit any players who come within 25' of the center of the attack. Mid-air attack collisions also happen. Two attacks that collide will damage each other, and the stronger attack will cause the other to explode. The exception is any beam attack, which enters into a power struggle when hitting another beam attack, and will explode any non-beam attack except for the disk attacks and the deathball.
When two beam attacks collide, a power struggle will happen. Instead of the stronger beam blowing up the weaker beam, the stronger beam will push back the weaker beam until it hits the other player. Ki boost can be used to up the power of your beam if you are losing a power struggle. The Death Ball is an exception among the missile attacks, and can be used in a power struggle.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Blinding Flash: Hold down fire until charged, then release to blind the people around you.
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Homing Ball: homing ball. Hold down fire until charged, then release to fire.
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Homing Special: a missile that spawns 4 homing balls when detonated. Hold down fire until charged, and release to fire the missile. Press fire again to detonate the missile into 4 homing balls.
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Razor Disk: Hold down fire until charged, and release to fire. This attack goes through walls and does massive damage.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Large Ki Blast: larger ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Ki Storm: multiple fast-firing ki blasts. Hold down fire to attack.
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Impact Beam: a beam that has a massive explosion. Hold down fire until charged, release to fire. While firing, use the cursor to aim the attack. Press fire again to detonate into a massive explosion.
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Ultimate Blast: a large and powerful beam attack. Hold down fire until charged, release to fire. While firing, use the cursor to aim the attack. Press fire again to detonate the attack.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Homing Ball: homing ball. Hold down fire until charged, then release to fire.
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Ki Storm: multiple fast-firing ki blasts. Hold down fire to attack.
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Mantis Blast: beam attack. Hold down fire until charged, release to fire. While firing, use the cursor to aim the attack. Press fire again to detonate the attack.
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AGA Force Ball: A massive and continuous explosion. Press and hold fire. After a few seconds the explosion will appear. The player can not move while performing this attack.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Eye Beam: a continuous blast of power from the eyes. Press and hold fire.
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Ki Storm: multiple fast-firing ki blasts. Hold down fire to attack.
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Super Homing Ball: a fast and powerful homing attack. Hold down fire until charged, and release to fire.
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Spiral Screw Blast: a fast and narrow but extremely powerful spiraling beam. Hold down fire until charged, release to fire. While firing, use the cursor to aim the attack. Press fire again to detonate the attack.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Tornado Blast: An invisible blast of energy from the hands with a massive knockback. Hold fire to attack. This attack can also be used to bounce missile attacks.
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Homing Ball: homing ball. Hold down fire until charged, then release to fire.
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Ki Storm: multiple fast-firing ki blasts. Hold down fire to attack.
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Power Wave Blast: beam attack. Hold down fire until charged, release to fire. While firing, use the cursor to aim the attack. Press fire again to detonate the attack.
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Ki Blast: standard weak ki blast. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Finger Blast: fast firing, extremely fast moving ki blasts from the fingers. Has a very short range. Hold fire to attack.
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Piercing Blast: an extremely fast ki attack fired from the finger. Press or hold fire to fire a blast.
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Homing Razor Disk: The homing version of the kienzan. Hold down fire until charged, and release to fire. This attack goes through walls and is not as powerful as the straight razor disk..
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Death Ball: a gigantic ball of ki. Hold down fire until charged, and release to fire. This attack is huge in size and does massive damage.
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Death Match: Players start at ~50,000 PL. Additional PL is gained for each kill. On death, the PL of the player resets to the average of all other PLs.
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Tourney: Same rules as DM, but with only two players at a time.
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Survival: This is a faster paced tourney mode. Two players fight. When one player dies, he is removed from the fight and the spectator who has been waiting longest enters the game. The winner does not get healed in between rounds, and the scores of spectators are visible. The first player to reach the fraglimit is the winner, and the map restarts in order to set the spawn power level back to the g_basepl setting.
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Team DM: Same rules as DM, but with teams.
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Team LMS: Last Man Standing. If you've ever played clan arena you should know this mode. Players start at 1 mil PL, and players who die can not respawn until the next round.
If you don't already know what a cvar is you should probably ignore this section. These can be used from the q3 console to access features. Most of these features can be set from within the menu.
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g_basepl [1-999]: set the starting power level from one thousand to one mil. -
g_hitStun [0/1]: turn on or off the melee hit stun. -
cg_kitrail [0-99]: set the length of the ki trail. 0 turns it off. -
cg_crosshairhealth [0/1]: turn on or off the feature that makes the crosshair turn red when you score a hit. -
cg_lightauras [0/1]: turn on or off the aura dynamic lights. -
cg_lightexplosions [0/1]: turn on or off the explosion dynamic lights. -
cg_drawKIWarning [0/1]: turn on or off the low ki warning. -
cg_chargeupAlert [0/1]: turn on or off the "ready" message when charging attacks. -
cg_stfu [0/1]: disable character voices when firing attacks. -
cg_lowpolysphere [0/1]: force the use of a lower polycount sphere. -
cg_explosionShell [0/1]: turn on or off the explosion shell. -
cg_explosionSmoke [0/1]: turn on or off the explosion smoke. -
cg_explosionRing [0/1]: turn on or off the explosion ring. -
cg_particles [0/1]: turn on or off particle effects. -
cg_playHitSound [0/1]: turn on or off the q3 hit "ping". -
cg_drawOwnModel [0/1]: toggle first person between traditional and vis modes. -
cg_flytilt [0/1]: toggle the tilting during flight. -
cg_stableCrosshair [0/1]: turn off the accurate crosshair
A separate doc, explains how to create custom models for BFP.
With all of the graphics options turned on, BFP takes a much beefier system than standard Quake 3. If your computer sucks, don't despair. We're looking out for you. BFP is meant to push a p3 500 with 128 megs of memory and a GeForce video card, but it is designed to be able to run playably on a celeron 300 with 128 megs of memory and a TNT1. However, with a much weaker system than that, you are pushing your luck with BFP.
Here are some things you can do to try to boost your performance.
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The first thing to try is turning off dynamic lights in the game options menu. Quake 3 can be slow when it comes to handling dynamic lights, and there are a lot of them in BFP.
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Go into the BFP options menu and use the ki trail slider bar to lower the length of the ki trail. Few systems can handle the ki trail at its max length without framerate loss. With the slider bar all the way to the left, the ki trail will have 0 length. With the slider bar all the way to the right, the ki trail will almost stretch the length of our maps.
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Go under the systems setting menu and lower the resolution to 640x480. Don't gag, most Quake 3 competition players seem to use this resolution.
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Go into the BFP options menu and set the aura type to "polygonal aura". This is the least costly aura type. Using the BFP options menu, turn transformation aura off, dynamic aura lights off, dynamic explosion lights off, ki trail off, small own aura on, and ssj perma glow off. With these settings BFP should run about as well as quake 3 does on your computer.
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If you are really having trouble go into the video set-up menu and change the lighting from lightmap to vertex. Everything will look crappy, but the game will run faster.
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If your system is running low on memory, use the BFP options menu to turn Force Default Skins on. This is the BFP equivalent of cg_forceModels in Quake 3. Force Default Skins will disable all custom skins for the models. With this option on, there will only be one skin shared between all Vegetas.
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open up the file baseq3/q3config.cfg.
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find the line seta vm_cgame "2"
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change the "2" to a "1"
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do the same for the file bfpq3/q3config.cfg.
- delete the following 3 files:
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- baseq3/q3config.cfg
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- bfpq3/q3config.cfg
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- bfpq3/bfp.cfg
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update your quake 3 to the 1.31 point release.
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if you continue to have the problem then you are probably connecting to a server that uses an old point release.
- update your quake 3 to the 1.31 point release.
My third person view is all messed up and I can't fix it by using cg_thirdPersonRange and cg_thirdPersonHeight.
- Go to the bfp options menu, and find the button labelled "Fixed Third Person", and turn it on.