User:SolarLight
Competitive PASS Time is a 4v4 competitive game mode. It is a more restricted version of regular PASS Time with much smaller maps and heavily restricted classes and weapons to put greater emphasis on movement and teamwork. A plugin is also used to make minor changes and improvements.
Contents
Class limits
Classes are limited as such:
All other classes are banned. This was done to address complaints about the presence of Engineers and Snipers and to force players to adopt a more offensive style of gameplay with a greater emphasis on movement.
Allowed weapons
4v4 PASS Time uses a very restrictive whitelist, only allowing projectile weapons. This was done to increase the viability of passing the JACK, as passes could otherwise be denied by shooting the JACK with bullets. The whitelist also increases the viability of explosive jumping. Demoman stickybombs were banned to prevent stickytraps on the goal and to prevent massive sticky jumps covering the entire map.
| Class | Slot | Item |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Rocket Launcher | |
Black Box | ||
| Secondary | Gunboats | |
Mantreads | ||
| Melee | Shovel | |
Equalizer | ||
Escape Plan | ||
Market Gardener | ||
| Primary | Grenade Launcher | |
Ali Baba's Wee Booties | ||
Iron Bomber | ||
| Secondary | Splendid Screen | |
| Melee | Bottle | |
Claidheamh Mòr | ||
Scotsman's Skullcutter | ||
Ullapool Caber | ||
| Primary | Crusader's Crossbow | |
| Secondary | Medi Gun | |
| Melee | All allowed |
Server plugin
A server plugin is typically used. It does the following:
- Enforces the whitelist for stock weapons, which is not normally a server feature.
- Prevents an instant respawn exploit.
- Disables the intercept/steal blur effect.
- Allows the Crusader's Crossbow to impact the JACK.
- Prevents the JACK from colliding with ammo boxes and weapons.
- Uploads log data for stat tracking purposes.
- Provides a PASS Time-specific anti-cheat.
- Prints text chat messages when performing various actions.
- Prints end of round statistics.
- Adds a practice mode that allows the JACK to spawn during Tournament Mode in pre-game.
- Provides some client options, such as playing a sound when picking up the JACK, and displaying text on the HUD or in chat when picking up the JACK.
- Prints various game events with tick count to SourceTV.
Some servers also use a Field of View plugin that allows players to increase it beyond the maximum of 90.
Strategy
General Strategy (All Classes)
- With team sizes of four and strict class limits, the most common team lineup is 3 Soldiers and 1 Demoman. When running a Medic, he typically replaces one of the Soldiers. At the start of a match, Medics overheal players before they leave their spawn rooms.
- Make frequent use of passing and movement techniques in order to move the JACK quickly and to keep it away from the enemy. Use voice chat to communicate with your teammates or use the "Pass to me!" voice command, to alert teammates with a speech bubble, similar to the one that appears when calling for a Medic.
- If you are about to die, pass the JACK to a teammate if a shot on goal would be too risky.
- Many competitive PASS Time maps feature ramps and sloped surfaces, allowing players to surf or rampslide on them. Some maps have jump pads that can only be used by Medics. With no hitscan weapons in play, the only ways to deny a pass are to airshot the JACK with a projectile, kill the player being passed to, intercept the JACK directly, or steal via a melee hit after the pass is received.
- The JACK can spawn from one or more random locations depending on the map. Most maps consist of an upper and lower spawn point to encourage both teams to contest multiple spawn areas at once.
- In competitive PASS Time maps, each side only has one goal. The JACK Power meter does not fill and effectively does nothing, as the 3-point bonus goal does not exist on these maps. Each goal is smaller, requiring more precision to score, and they are positioned above the ground. Goalkeeping can be done using rocket jumps or nearby ramps, requiring good timing to pull off. Goals can also be defended by shooting the goal with explosives, which knock the JACK away from the goal.
- Catapults are present on each side of the map. They barely affect players, but can send the JACK flying. These are useful when no teammates are available for a pass, but it can backfire if an enemy is standing at the destination.
- The JACK can bounce off certain map terrain, allowing it to be "dribbled" and then recollected while rocket jumping or trimping. Many competitive PASS Time maps almost entirely consist of flat, high-bounce terrain, making dribbles an important technique to learn.
- The complexity of dribbles can vary wildly depending on when it is used, what surfaces are involved, and the player's momentum. It can also be used to extend rocket jumps while carrying the JACK solo, or for wasting the time of defenders. Defenders may attempt to spend HP rocket jumping in front of the goal anticipating a score attempt, only for no score attempt to occur. Dribbling can also buy time while you wait for a teammate to pass to.
- Stealing or intercepting the JACK provides 3 seconds of invulnerability and a speed boost. An intercept only counts if the JACK has not touched the ground, so it is still possible to intentionally disarm enemies with the JACK by bouncing it off the floor, preventing the buffs from occurring. This can be followed up by a melee steal, which then provides the 3 seconds of invulnerability and speed boost to the stealer.
- Dying while receiving a pass results in the JACK falling whilst retaining its team association, allowing it to still score a goal. Players can suicide using a killbind when near a goal during a pass, causing the JACK to fall in. This technique is called a "deathbomb".
- Holding alt-fire (default key: MOUSE2) while throwing the JACK ignores all lock-on targets and performs a normal JACK toss. This can be used to position the JACK in convenient places to be collected by teammates who are rocket jumping. Directly hitting a teammate with a normal JACK toss is called a "handoff".
Class-specific strategy
Soldier
- Contest the high ground, including the upper JACK spawn area before it appears. Demoman and Medic cannot easily reach this area, so this is Soldier's domain.
- Rocket jump while the JACK is being passed to you. Let your teammates know where you're going beforehand, so that they can more easily line up the pass.
- Pass the JACK back to your other Soldiers when they begin jumping. This keeps the JACK moving quickly and will make you less vulnerable to enemies.
- Try to position yourself in high places so that your JACK carrier can easily begin a pass.
- Go for advanced dribbles to mix up your approaches or go for solo plays. This makes your movements less predictable and allows for more routing options when moving around the map.
- The Market Gardener can be used to hit opponents who perform very basic dribbles. More advanced dribbles are harder to read, so this may not always work.
- You can pick up the JACK while rocket jumping off a wall, if the wall jump explosion also hits the JACK, resetting its team affiliation. If done from the ground, the JACK must be thrown as high as possible, and the first jump should not use crouch, otherwise you will be too high for the explosion to hit the JACK.
Demoman
- Fight the enemy Demoman at the lower JACK spawn area before it appears. Your Soldiers should be fighting the upper area.
- If you're currently dead during the JACK spawn period, inform your team. One of your Soldiers may take your place in the lower area.
- The Ullapool Caber lets you explosive jump, steal the JACK, and take no damage by hitting an enemy.
- If you start a charge during the swing animation, but before the swing hits the enemy, you'll keep the charge's momentum while caber jumping with the JACK.
- Use Ali Baba's Wee Booties or the Bootlegger for faster trimping, aiding in picking up a JACK mid-air.
- The Iron Bomber's lack of rolling on its grenades is useful for explosive jumps while holding the JACK.
- Go for melee steals if possible. Using Ali Baba's Wee Booties can allow for a steal-centric, melee-only playstyle.
- You can throw the JACK onto a ramp and then trimp into the ramp, picking up the JACK as you slide up. This is more effective when using Ali Baba's Wee Booties due to the turn rate bonus, but there are still some setups that work in a straight line.
- Be aware of the decreased throwing strength compared to vanilla PASS Time. This affects scoring distance, and some throw lineups when performing jumps or trimps.
Medic
- Keep your teammates overhealed when they have recently spawned, as players heal more quickly when they have not recently taken damage.
- Use the Crusader's Crossbow to apply healing from long distances or deny a JACK carrier's jump.
- The Crusader's Crossbow can also deny a JACK throw if it hits the JACK directly.
- Use your faster movement speed to steal the JACK from opponents with your melee weapon.
- Use your higher throw strength to snipe the goal from longer distances.
- Bait enemies into firing rockets into you so that you can surf off them.
- Stand near the JACK carrier to provide them and other nearby teammates with a speed boost.
- Avoid ÜberCharging at the wrong times, as it prevents teammates from picking up the JACK or receiving passes.
Gameplay demonstration
History
There were attempts to play PASS Time competitively in a Prolander format, but players would often use strategies considered boring such as getting a score lead then defending the JACK in their base until the timer ran out. Other teams used the opportunity to set up a massive sticky jump, covering the entire map with the JACK in hand and bypassing any kind of counter-strategies.
JaguarFiend then created a competitive game mode specifically for PASS Time. Originally, it was supposed to be a 6v6 variation on a large map named Arena. But then it was later modified to a 4v4 format on a smaller map named Arena2 with a stricter ruleset that removes many classes and weapons. A plugin was developed to fix various bugs and add quality of life improvements.
The game mode started off as a small niche. European and North American pickup game servers were set up, but the European servers eventually stopped hosting games, leaving the North American servers as the sole way to play competitive PASS Time. After further development of the competitive game mode, several RGL cups were held and helped increase player interest, and an ETF2L cup revived the European scene. Since then, there are pickup game servers in a total of five regions: Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Asia.
External links
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