Match
Match is a main gametype in SRB2. It is a variation of a typical first-person shooter Deathmatch game with Sonic elements. It is played in first person view on an exclusive rotation of nine maps designed specifically for that gametype. The players throw Rings at each other to score points. Since Rings fly considerably slower than projectiles and players are much faster than in regular shooter games, SRB2's Match mode plays differently: Players must anticipate the movement of their opponents and aim Rings ahead of them to successfully hit them. The objective is to score the highest amount of points in a specific time (5 minutes by default) or to be the first to reach a specific number of points.
Team Match is a variation of Match in which the players are divided into two competing teams that fight each other. Match mode is enabled for a map by adding 4 to the TypeOfLevel parameter of its level header.
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Gametype Format
Spectating
When joining a Match game, new players spawn in spectator mode. Spectators are invisible and intangible and cannot participate in the game. Therefore, they are not listed in the score overview when pressing the TAB button, but their names are displayed in a separate line below the score overview. While spectating, players can move around freely without being bound to gravity. Pressing Jump will make them float and pressing Spin makes them sink. They can also watch one of the other players by pressing F12. Pressing the Fire button will make them enter the game.
During the game, you can always switch back to spectator by typing CHANGETEAM SPECTATOR into the console or selecting the "Spectate..." option in the main menu. Beware that this will reset your current score to 0, even if you join again in the same round. The server and game admins can force players to spectate or play by typing SERVERCHANGETEAM [player name] SPECTATOR/PLAYING into the console. The console variable ALLOWTEAMCHANGE can be turned off to prevent spectators from playing and players from spectating.
Scoring
Each shot lowers the Ring counter of the shooting player by one. If the Ring counter hits zero, they cannot shoot anymore until they collect new Rings. Hitting a player with a red Ring, weapon Ring or a shield attack rewards the scorer with 50 points. If multiple players are hit from the same shot or shield attack, 50 points are awarded for every hit player. Additionally, all the items that the hit player(s) carried will be dropped for anybody to collect, until they disappear after a few seconds. If the opponent is hit while not carrying any Rings or a shield, he dies and the scorer receives 100 points. If a player dies, either from a stage hazard or from enemy fire, 50 points penalty are subtracted from their score.
The objective of Match is either to score the most points in a specific time or be the first to hit a certain point limit. By default, Match rounds last 5 minutes and the player with the most points wins afterwards. The objective can be modified with the console variables POINTLIMIT and TIMELIMIT. The former sets the point limit, with "-1" turning it off. The latter sets the time limit in minutes, with "0" turning it off. Both limits can be enabled at the same time, in which case the game ends once the first of the two limits is reached.
If the game is played with a time limit and two or more players share the highest score after the time runs out, the Star Post sound will be played and "OVERTIME!" will start to flash at the bottom of the screen. The round will then continue until one of the players scores another hit and the tie is broken. This behavior can be turned off by disabling the OVERTIME console variable.
An alternative scoring system can be enabled with the MATCH_SCORING console variable. If it's set to 1, the 50 point penalty is disabled. Additionally, hitting a player that is equipped with a shield will only award the scorer with 25 points. Sudden Death mode can be activated with the SUDDENDEATH console variable. If enabled, all players will die after being hit once, even Super players.
Weapons
Apart from the default red Ring, there are six special weapons available in the game. Their availability can be turned on or off with the SPECIALRINGS console variable, but they are enabled by default. To use one of them, the player must collect the appropriate weapon panel. This allows the player to select that weapon and fire it. The player can carry all weapons at once, but they can only fire one type of weapon at a time.
Weapon usage is restricted by ammunition. Each shot of a weapon Ring, apart from depleting the Ring count by one, also subtracts one ammo item for the weapon that was fired. If the ammo count hits zero, the weapon cannot be fired until more ammo is collected. This can happen either by collecting the panel again or by picking up one of the stand-alone weapon Rings scattered around the stage. Without a panel, these weapon Rings don't allow the player to fire the weapon, but their ammo is saved until the player collects the panel. If a player is hit, they drop all their panels along with their Rings and ammunition.
The weapons are as follows:
- Red Ring - Default weapon, cannot be dropped. In a team game, the blue team will fire blue Rings, instead of red. No other weapons are affected.
- Automatic Ring - Fires a rapid stream of 17.5 Rings per second. To that effect, it quickly uses up the player's Rings, but also increases the chance of hitting a target.
- Bounce Ring - Will bounce off solid surfaces for a short period of time. Useful in small tunnels or cramped quarters.
- Scatter Ring - Fires a cross of 5 Rings which slowly spread apart as they fly. At close range, it can launch the opponent extremely far.
- Grenade Ring - Fires a grenade-like projectile onto the ground which will explode if an opponent gets too close. It will explode on its own if it hasn't been triggered after a while.
- Explosion Ring - Fires a projectile that explodes on contact with surfaces or other objects.
- Rail Ring - Fires an instantaneous shot that instantly hits any opponent in its path.
In a typical Match stage, each weapon tile is placed once on the map in a distinct-looking spot to make sure players can remember its location. This forces Match maps to be asymmetrical, diverse and fairly large to host all the required weapons and ammunition.
Random Monitors
Additional power-ups are distributed through randomly respawning monitors. Apart from several Super Ring Monitors that are scattered across the stage, there are one or two Strong Random Monitors and two to four Weak Random Monitors on each map. These spawn different items with different likelihoods to make sure the item distribution is fairly weighted. Along with the weapon tiles, these monitors frequently serve as focal points for multiplayer stages, as they are the only way of obtaining shields and other powerful items.
The monitor behavior can be controlled with the MATCHBOXES console variable. 0 is the default behavior, in which SRMs and WRMs handle the respawn behavior. 1 replaces all monitors with non-weighted Random Monitors. 2 disables any random respawn behavior and prevents Random Monitors from spawning. 3 removes all monitors from the game.
Emeralds
About one minute into the match, Chaos Emeralds will start to spawn in random locations in the map and will continue spawning until there are seven in the stage. Players can collect these by picking them up. Getting hit will cause a player to drop all the emeralds they've collected. If a player collects all 7 emeralds and 50 rings, they can go super with a double jump (unless they are currently equipped with a shield). While in their super form, they can run fast, jump high, and will lose 10 Rings when hit. The amount of Rings lost per hit is doubled every 5 minutes when super. When the player runs out of Rings, super form ends and they lose all the emeralds, which will then start spawning again.
Each character has a different super form with different abilities. They all have the same bright yellow color as Super Sonic to help distinguish them in-game at a distance. Super Tails and Knuckles also have invincibility stars going around them in super form to make it even more clear. Super Tails and Super Knuckles are exclusive to multiplayer, and do not appear in the Single Player game in any way.
- Sonic - Same as in Single Player mode. Very fast, high jump, and can hold spin while jumping to hover in air.
- Tails - Infinite flight. Pressing spin while jumping will cause Tails to launch into the sky, similar to the effect of the Whirlwind Shield, but a lot stronger.
- Knuckles - Increased glide and climb speed. Releasing a glide in midair will also return Knuckles into a spin, allowing him to glide as many times as he wants while in midair.
Chaos Emeralds can be turned on or off with the POWERSTONES console variable. They are enabled by default.
Team Match
Team Match is a variation of Match in which the players are divided into two competing teams that fight each other. One team is red and the other is blue. All players are forced to have the skin color of their teams and the Rings they shoot have that color as well. It is automatically enabled for all maps that support regular Match mode. The scores from each player of the team are added together to form the cumulative team score. However, the 50 point penalty for death is only subtracted from the player score, not the team score. If a player leaves a team, their points achieved until then are still counted in the team score. Otherwise, Team Match works just like regular Match, and the team with the higher cumulative score wins.
Players are automatically assigned to a team if they enter the game. However, they can choose a team of their liking with the CHANGETEAM command or the "Switch Team..." option in the main menu. The server and game admins can reassign players to different teams with the SERVERCHANGETEAM command. The console variable ALLOWTEAMCHANGE can be turned off to prevent players from changing their teams. Players have the option to chat only with players of their respective team by using the SAYTEAM command.
The server and game admins have the option to scramble the teams with the TEAMSCRAMBLE console variable. When set to 1, the teams are randomly scrambled; when set to 2, the teams are scrambled according to the players' points. The same option is also available in the main menu as "Scramble Teams...". SCRAMBLEONCHANGE is identical, except that it automatically scrambles the teams each time the game advances to the next map.
Team Match can be enabled and disabled during the game with the MATCHTYPE console variable. 0 is regular Match and 1 is Team Match.
