Red Faction Multiplayer Guide
This article focuses specifically on PC multiplayer. While much of the information in this article will carry over to PlayStation 2 multiplayer, the focus is PC. 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
- Weapon damage is adjusted by static multipliers assigned to specific regions of the body. Hits to the Torso deal the standard amount of damage, while hits to the arms and legs deal half. Headshots deal two times as much damage per hit.
- Armor, if equipped, will always absorb damage taken before health.
- Armor absorbs twice as much damage as health. Put another way, one point of armor is equal to two points of 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.
Scoring
Deathmatch
- +1 personal score for each kill
- -1 personal score for each self-kill
Team Deathmatch
- +1 team score for each kill
- +1 personal score for each kill
- -1 personal score for each self-kill
Capture the Flag
- +1 team score for each flag capture
- +5 personal score for each flag capture
- +1 personal score for each flag return
- +1 personal score for each kill
- -1 personal score for each self-kill
Game Modes
Red Faction features three distinct game modes:
- Deathmatch (DM) - This mode pits every player against one another, with the goal of achieving the highest score by the end of the game. Each kill adds one point to an individual player's score, and each suicide subtracts one. Winner is determined by highest score, when either the kill or time limit is reached.
- Team Deathmatch (TDM or TeamDM) - This mode pits two teams against each other in an arena, with the goal of scoring the highest number of points before the game ends. Player kills are counted towards their team's score. The winning team is determined by highest score when either the kill or time limit is reached.
- Capture the Flag (CTF) - This mode pits two teams against each other in an arena, with the goal of achieving the highest score before the game ends. Team and player scores are tracked individually, but only team score decides the result of the game. Teams score by "stealing" their enemy team's flag from their flag stand, and "capturing" it by bringing it back to their own. Each flag capture adds one point to a team's score. The winning team is determined by the highest score, when either the capture or time limit is reached at the end of the game. Players are able to acquire points for their individual score via kills, flag captures, and returns.
Adapted Game Modes
While not distinguished by Red Faction's game client, a variety of community built custom maps, modifications, and "house rules" have been implemented as de-facto game modes on top of the mechanics offered by the basic DM, TDM, and CTF modes. The ones most commonly played are:
- "Deathrun" or "Run" - Typically built on the Deathmatch moede, these maps place players in a map where the goal is for the player to run through a course of obstacles without dying. These maps commonly implement "checkpoint" systems for players to save their progress at certain fixed points of completion. Combat is generally frowned upon if not outright restricted through various means, but some Run maps with player vs player elements do exist. For more information visit: Run Maps Section
- "Rail-only" or "Rails" - Inheriting the scoring and gameplay mechanics of DM, TDM, or CTF, the most restrictive form of this mode permits players the use of the Rail Driver exclusively. Several variants of this mode exist, but the most common implementation allows for the additional use of the Baton and C4; for close-range combat and Geo-Mod respectively. The use of the Pistol, even if seemingly available, is highly discouraged if not prohibited.
Pickups/Powerups
| |
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
| |
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)