Red Faction Multiplayer Guide

NOTE: While much of the information in this article will carry over to PlayStation 2 multiplayer, the focus is PC multiplayer. This is because PlayStation 2 multiplayer is limited to botmatch and 2-player splitscreen (no online), only offers Deathmatch, and contains very few maps compared to the PC version.

Red Faction multiplayer at its core is a competitive arena-based FPS. That said, it differs in a few fundamental ways from most other arena games - notably the armor system, movement mechanics, and of course the presence of GeoMod technology. This article will cover the main aspects of RF's multiplayer component, including the vast degree of innovation the community has shown since the game's original release in 2001.

Essentials

This section will list key points that any players of Red Faction multiplayer should know, but are not necessarily immediately obvious to everyone.

Health and Armor

• Headshots deal 2x damage. Torso shots deal 1x damage. Arm/leg shots deal 0.5x damage.
• Armor fully shields health, meaning damage you receive is always taken from your armor (if you have any) before being taken from your health.
• When damage calculations occur, armor counts for twice as much as health. It may help to consider your combined health and armor as "effective health" - meaning if you're at 100 health and 100 armor (normally written as 100/100), you have 300 effective health. Some examples are listed below.
  • Example 1: You have 100/100 and take 150 damage. Since armor counts for twice as much as health, you will lose 75 armor, and end up at 100/25.
  • Example 2: You have 100/10 and take 100 damage. Your armor will soak up 20 out of the 100 damage since armor counts for twice as much as health. This leaves 80 additional damage, which is taken from your health. You will end up at 20/0.
  • Example 3: You have 100/100 and take 275 damage. Your armor will soak up 200 out of the 275 damage since armor counts for twice as much as health. This leaves 75 additional damage, which is taken from your health. You will end up at 25/0.

Item Respawn Times

• Damage Amplifier: 90 seconds
• Super Health, Super Armor, Fusion Rocket Launcher: 60 seconds
• Invulnerability: 45 seconds
• Everything else: 20 seconds
  • NOTE: Level designers do have the option to set different respawn times for items in their map - though most level designers just leave the default values.

Bullet Penetration & Spread

• The Sniper Rifle and Precision Rifle become 100% accurate (spread does not apply) when the scope is engaged, regardless of the zoom level.
• The impact location of bullets on your screen does not indicate where the bullet went for damage calculation purposes. If you hear a blood impact sound and see a blood particle emitter spawn, that does not necessarily mean the bullet dealt damage to your opponent. This is because spread is calculated independently on the server and for each client, but only the server's spread matters for damage calculation purposes.
• You can shoot through any grating with bullet weapons in multiplayer with 100% penetration. Even if you see and hear the bullet hit a "solid" looking part of a grating texture, that bullet still went through the grating and dealt damage.
• Bullet ricochets do not deal any damage in multiplayer. Even if you see and hear the bullet ricochet, ricocheted shots do not deal damage to players.

Gametypes

• Deathmatch (DM) - Standard free-for-all arena deathmatch. Each frag adds 1 to the individual player score, and each suicide subtracts 1.
  • Deathrun (RUN) - Though not literally implemented in the game as a gametype distinct from DeathMatch, deathrun/run maps have become an extremely popular "gametype" under DM tag within the online community. "Run maps" are race or obstacle course maps where the goal is normally to have fun with friends and race to the finish line without killing competitors. For more information visit: Run Maps Section
• Team Deathmatch (TDM or TeamDM) - Standard arena deathmatch, but with two teams rather than free-for-all. Each frag adds 1 to the individual player score and team score. Each suicide subtracts 1 from the individual player score, but not the team score. Winning team is determined by team score, when either the frag or time limit is reached.

NOTE: Team-specific respawn points are respected in Team Deathmatch if the server is running Dash Faction or Pure Faction. If the server is running an official version, team flags on respawn points are ignored and each player's spawn point is determined randomly as in normal Deathmatch.

• Capture the Flag (CTF) - Standard arena capture the flag. Each frag, flag return, or flag capture adds 1 to the individual player score. Each suicide subtracts 1. Each flag capture adds 1 to the team score. Winning team is determined by team score, when either the capture or time limit is reached.
  • Rail-Only CTF - Normal CTF, but the only available weapon is the Rail Driver. Though not literally implemented in the game as a gametype distinct from normal CTF, Rail-Only CTF has become a very popular "gametype" within the online community.

Pickups/Powerups

Red Faction (1) Items

Health: Medical Kit - First Aid Kit - Super Health Armor: Suit Repair - Miner Envirosuit - Super Armor Powerups: Damage Amplifier - Invulnerability Weapons: Weapon Pickups - Ammo Pickups

Weapons

Red Faction (1) Weapons

Close Combat: Control Baton - Flame Thrower - Riot Shield Semi-Auto: 12mm Pistol - Shotgun - Sniper Rifle - Precision Rifle Heavy: Rail Driver - Heavy Machine Gun - Assault Rifle - Submachine Gun Explosive: Remote Charge - Grenade - Rocket Launcher - Fusion Rocket Launcher

Maps

Red Faction (PC) multiplayer may be played on one of the 27 default maps, or any one of the several thousand custom maps that have made made throughout the years using the Red Faction Level Editor.

To find and install custom multiplayer maps, see the Guide on Installing Custom Levels.

In contrast to the PC version of the game, the PlayStation 2 version of Red Faction featured just 9 default maps, and no ability to install custom maps.

The default Red Faction multiplayer maps are:

Capture The Flag

• Blasted Canyon by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• Warlords by Nathan Camarillo (PC Only)
• Score by Brad Johnson (PC Only)
• Nemesis by Racer X (PC Only)
• Checkmate by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• The Art of War by Brad Johnson (PC Only)
• En Masse by Racer X (PC Only)

Note: The Capture The Flag gamemode is only available in the PC version.

Deathmatch

• The Lobby by Nathan Camarillo
• Installation XJ15 by Mark Lewis
• Waste Treatment Plant by Mark Lewis
• Badlands by Mark Lewis
  • PS2 version is called The Badlands
• Hangar 18 by Mark Lewis
• High and Dry by Mark Lewis
  • PS2 version is called Waterlogged
• Mine Warfare by Mark Lewis
• Relentless by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• Office Space by Brad Johnson (PC Only)
• Any Way by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• Watch Your Step by Matt Boynton (PC Only)
• Killbox by Brad Johnson (PC Only)
• Mazeway by Racer X (PC Only)
• Coffee Break by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• One to the Dome by Matt Boynton (PC Only)
• S.R.O. by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• Grey Matter by Matt Boynton (PC Only)
• Zig by Racer X (PC Only)
• High Rise by Mark Lewis (PC Only)
• Hermis by Matt Boynton (PC Only)
• Blasted Canyon by Mark Lewis (PS2 Only)
• Warlords by Mark Lewis (PS2 Only)

Characters

There are 20 playable characters in Red Faction PC multiplayer. See Red Faction Multiplayer Characters for a full list.

Voting

• When in a Dash Faction dedicated server server, the following commands can be entered via chat, allowing players to vote to perform actions like changing the map or kicking a player.
• If you host a dedicated server, see Dash Faction Enhanced Dedicated Server Config for specifics on how to configure voting options available to your players.
• Only one question can be active at any given time. Unless customized by the server host, each vote will last for 60 seconds.

vote y 

• If a vote is on-going, enter this command to vote for it.

vote n 

• If a vote is on-going, enter this command to vote against it.

vote rest 

• Start a vote to restart the current map.

vote next 

• Start a vote to change to the next map in the server's rotation.

vote prev 

• Start a vote to change to the previous map in the server's rotation.

vote ext 

• Start a vote to extend the current map by 5 minutes.

vote kick <player name> 

• Start a vote to kick the named player.

vote map <map name> 

• Start a vote to change immediately to the named map. (maps must be named by their .rfl filename)