BattleArena Demolition

Bukkit plugin that adds the Demolition game type to Minecraft servers running BattleArena (dependency).

Demolition - There is one bomb in the middle of the map. There are two teams each with their own base. There are three ways to win: 1. Eliminate the other team. 2. Pickup the bomb and destroy the other teams base. 3. Protect your own base by defusing the bomb before it detonates.

Concept to Implementation

So the initial question is "How do we implement this in Minecraft ?" and What mechanics & system will we use ?

First, I observed that breaking a block naturally takes a few seconds to perform... So this is a very good mechanism to use for defusing the bomb because we don't have to use system resources for a timer here. Notable blocks that are good to use: Brick + Nether Brick which both take 10 seconds to destroy, Hardened Clay at 7 seconds, and Logs at about 4 to 5 seconds. Altho, I might change this in the future (so the timing is less restrictive and more customizable).

However, placing a block is instaneous... and most Shooter games that I've played require about 5 to 8 seconds in order to plant the bomb. So what I'll probably do... is have two brewing stands... Each brewing stand will symbolize the position of a base... and it'll be the exact spot where you plant the bomb. When a player attempts to plant the bomb, the brew inventory will stay open until the bomb is planted (5 to 8 sec) then close. At which point, it'll turn into a bomb block that opposing players can break to defuse. (Please let me know if you have other ideas for how this can work).

Like most shooter games, if the bomb carrier dies... or throws the bomb on the ground, then we want some kind of way to let all the players know where the bomb is located. Easiest option will be via a compass. But I also want to add some kind of visual aid.

Changes:

Unfortunately, when I tested the original concept and implementation for breaking the bomb block in order to defuse it, it was flawed. Breaking one block is fine, but when I tested the breaking of multiple blocks, I found that the time required to break X number of blocks varied from client to client. For example, it took me 8.6 seconds to destroy 35 TNT while it took another player over 15 seconds to destroy the same 35 TNT. Probably due to latency. This is unacceptable because it gives players with a good connection an unfair advantage, and it penalizes players with a bad connection (unfair).

This is why bomb defusal mechanics have changed. Bomb Defusal now works exactly like Planting the bomb: simply interact with the Base Block.

Multiple players can attempt to defuse the bomb at the same time, but it does NOT speed up the defusal process. The first player to reach zero on their defusal timer is given credit for defusing the bomb.

Arena Setup:

/bomb create ArenaName

/bomb alter ArenaName wr 1 (Waiting rooms)

/bomb alter ArenaName wr 2 (Waiting rooms)

/bomb alter <arena> 1 (spawn point for team1)

/bomb spawnbomb <arena> (sets the bomb spawn location)

If the /bomb spawnbomb <arena> command ever breaks, then you can use these two commands instead:

/aa select <arena>

/aa addspawn 172 fs=1 rs=300 1

"aa stands for /arenaAlter. fs stands for First Spawn (1 second after the match begins). rs=300 stands for ReSpawn after 300 seconds. 172 is HARD_CLAY (substitute it with whatever you've defined the BombBlock to be inside config.yml).

Other commands:

/bomb join

/bomb leave

/bomb forcestart

/bomb delete ArenaName

Base Setup

The plugin needs some kind of way to identify bases and assign players to a base that they must defend... and to make sure players cannot arbitrarily destroy ANY base they find (like their own), but rather, force them to find and destroy the other teams base.

This is how you make bases:

• place two BaseBlocks (1 at each base. The default BaseBlock is BREWING_STAND, but this can be changed in the config.yml)
• do /bomb setbase <arena> <teamID> (value for team can be 1 or 2)

You can now join a BombArena (or even get a VirtualPlayer to test it out).

(Optional) You can add a Worldguard region to BattleArena so that block changes reset after each match. (Be careful when using LARGE areas, it might lag your server).

/region select RegionName

/bomb alter <arena> addregion

FYI: You do NOT need to use this last command. The Demolition plugin will automatically reset bases after each match. The last command should be only used if you want players to break blocks (or access chests) in the arena and have WorldGuard reset all the broken blocks to their original state after each match.

How to access Player Stats Database:

sqlite3 tracker.sqlite
.tables
.schema bt_Demolition_overall

output:

CREATE TABLE bt_Demolition 
  (ID VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL,
  Name VARCHAR(48),
  Wins INTEGER UNSIGNED,
  Losses INTEGER UNSIGNED,
  Ties INTEGER UNSIGNED,
  Streak, INTEGER UNSIGNED,
  maxStreak INTEGER UNSIGNED,
  Elo INTEGER UNSIGNED DEFAULT 1250,
  maxElo INTEGER UNSIGNED DEFAULT 1250,
  Count INTEGER UNSIGNED DEFAULT 1,
  Flags INTEGER UNSIGNED DEFAULT 0,
  PIMRARY KEY (ID));

sql command:

SELECT ID, Wins, Losses, Ties FROM bt_Demolition_overall order by Wins desc limit 100;

sample output:

Player	No. of Bombs Planted Successfully	No. of Bombs Failed	No. of Bombs Defused
Autumn07	25	75	3
SmileyBrooke	99	1	25
Europia79	9	1	25
Ralkia	4	1	25
Totals	137	78	78

As you can see, the No. of Bombs Defused in the last column will ALWAYS equal the No of Bombs that Failed to detonate.

Also notice what the SQL columns mean for the Bomb Game Type:

  Wins   = # of Bombs Planted Successfully
  Losses = # of Bombs that Failed to Detonate
  Ties   = # of Bombs Defused

Notice that each time Autumn planted the bomb, she successfully destroyed the other teams based 25% of the time, and that she caused her own team to lose 75% of the time. Whereas Brooke was successful 99% of the time. Europia was 90% successful, and Ralkia was 80% successful.

So... you can use BattleTracker to store player stats into either an sqlite or MySQL database... You can then have your website access the database and print the player stats. Just use the above SQL SELECT command: it's the same for both sqlite and MySQL. Then, you can even calculate the percentages and display those too if you want.

Also, there's a fake player in the SQL table called Bombs Planted Defused that contains the totals.

Listener Methods:

• onBombSpawn(ItemSpawnEvent e)
  • Set the compass so players know where the bomb is located.
• onBombPickup(PlayerPickupEvent e)
  • put a HAT on the bomb carrier so that players know WHO has the bomb.
  • Map the Arena to a value of PlayerName (so that the plugin itself knows who has the bomb for each arena).
  • Set the compass to the opponents base.
• onBombCarrierLeave(ArenaPlayerLeaveEvent e)
  • Does this person have the bomb ?
  • if so, drop it on the ground.
• onCarrierDeath(PlayerDeathEvent e)
  • remove them from the map listing.
  • drop the bomb on the ground.
• onBombDrop(PlayerDropItemEvent e)
  • make sure they didn't throw it outside the map.
  • point the compass to the direction of the bomb and
  • give a visual aid so that players know the location of the bomb.
• onBombDespawn(ItemDespawnEvent e)
  • This event breaks ALL other events.
  • The despawn time for the bomb is now set to the entire duration of the match.
  • cmd (/bomb spawnbomb) is the cmd that sets the duration on arena setup.
• onBombPlace (BlockPlaceEvent e)
  • Going to help new players out by calling onBombPlant if they're close enough.
  • If they're not close enough, then tell the player to follow their compass.
  • client-side bug (invisible bomb) was fixed with deprecated updateInventory().
• onBombPlantDefuse(InventoryOpenEvent e)
  • check defuse conditions.
  • check plant conditions.
  • start a 8 sec PlantTimer or 8 sec DefuseTimer.
  • Successful PlantTimer will start a 30 sec DetonateTimer.
  • Successful DetonationTimer or DefuseTimer will declare the winners.
• onBombPlantFailure(InventoryCloseEvent e)
  • cancel() the PlantTimer or DefuseTimer.
  • Notice that there's two ways for Plant or Defusal to fail:
    1. Player prematurely closes the inventory, or
    2. the player dies. If the player dies, then we'll let onCarrierDeath handle everything.
• onBaseExploit(BlockBreakEvent e)
  • Prevents players from destroying base blocks.
• onBaseInteraction(PlayerInteractionEvent e)
  • Allows players to plant+defuse inside protected regions.

Dependencies:

• BattleArena
  • http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/battlearena/
  • Demolition plugin is just a game-type addition to BattleArena.
• BattleTracker
  • http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/battletracker/
  • Used to track player stats like "Bombs planted" and "Bombs defused"
  • Optional dependency
• Holographic Displays
  • http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/holographic-displays/
  • Adds visual aid for when the bomb is dropped on the ground.
  • Future dependency (not currently implemented).

Downloads:

Official builds

You can find the official builds at dev.bukkit.org .The source code for these builds have been checked to make sure that they do NOT contain any malicious code.

[http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/bombarena/] (http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/bombarena/ "Official builds")

Development builds

"Development builds of this project can be acquired at the provided continuous integration server."
"These builds have not been approved by the BukkitDev staff. Use them at your own risk."

http://ci.battleplugins.com/job/BombArena/

The dev builds are primarily for testing purposes.

To-Do List

• test against the lastest versions of BattleTracker.
• have onBombPlace() trigger onBombPlant() event (if the player is close enough).
• Finish implementing backwards-compatibility with BattleArena.
• Add & implement other commands:
• /bomb checkbase
• /bomb clearbases (listen for /bomb delete )
• write PHP script to access the database & display player stats on a website.
• Implement config options. done.
• Update arenas.yml to match any changes in config.yml option BombBlock. done.
• Update bases at the start of the game to match config option BaseBlock. done.
• Restore missing (destroyed) brewing stands (bases) at the end of the match. done.
• Close plant+defuse exploit done.
• Kill off players that are too close to the bomb when it detonates. done.
• Add compass direction to let players know the location of a dropped bomb. done.
• Add HAT to the bomb carrier onBombPickup() done.
• Take away the HAT+BombBlock after the player plants the bomb (instead of at the end of the match). done.
• update to UUID Not necessary because BattleTracker handles persistent data.
• /bomb setconfig done.

Bugs to fix:

• onBombSpawn(ItemSpawnEvent e) breaks ALL other events.
• onBombDespawn(ItemDespawnEvent e) breaks ALL other events.
• onBombDespawn() is not necessary since the despawn time is now set to the max duration of the match.

Known Issues:

• Requires BattleArena v3.9.7.3 or newer.
• Killing a player who is planting or defusing the bomb should stop their progress but this was never tested since it requires a 2nd player to test.

Contact:

Nick at Nikolai.Kalashnikov@hotmail.com

Nicodemis79 on Skype

http://rainbowcraft.net/

Javadocs & Wiki

http://ci.battleplugins.com/job/BombArena/javadoc/

http://wiki.battleplugins.com/w/index.php/BombArena