UTimer 1v0.001 (c) 2002 Timmeh Lovebramble
WHAT IS IT?
===========
Unreal Tournament is a popular online team game for the PC.
When playing team against team it is advantageous to have an extra man on
BattleCom/RojerWilco/TeamSpeak/etc timing powerups. This player gives his
team an edge as they can prepare for a powerup spawning to make the most
use out of it.
Since the clan has to be using a VoiceComms program, and an extra man is
needed for the timing, this program can be considered a semi-automatic
timing program.
As it does not interfere with the Unreal Tournament exe in any way, and it
does not take it's time triggers directly from the game itself, it is not
banned in organisations like clanbase.
KNOWN LIMITATIONS
=================
* Can only support gametypes that have 2 teams
* Doesn't work when the desktop clock falls over from 23:59:59 to 00:00:00
so don't use this program near midnight
It does warn you if you try
and start timing 30 minutes before midnight tho, so you should still have
time for a 20minute game and 10mins overtime before it flips out
* Can only time a maximum of 17 PowerUps per map
* Only red + blue teams allowed
* Can only play one WAV at a time, so some cut others off at times.
WHAT IT DOES
============
* Times powerups, differentiating between friendly powerups, enemy powerups
and shared (in the middle of a map) powerups. Warns uesr when item is about
to spawn and when item actually has spawned.
* Displays Elapsed Time, Time To Go, Pause Time and any Overtime.
* Deals with the UT server being paused with out screwing up the timings.
* Calculates the number of times an item can spawn in a game of known length
and counts these down at they are taken or time runs out.
* Customizable through INI file. Maps can be added or changed or removed.
* Any pickup can be added in the INI file for timing. (Time that goo-gun ammo
to perfection you slotjockey!)
* Keeps timing into overtime.
* User-defined warning time limits flash yellow when an item is X seconds
from respawning. Can play a custom .wav at this time too.
* Can play user-defined WAVs upon the following conditions:
- Friendly Item about to spawn
- Friendly Item spawned
- Shared Item about to spawn
- Shared Item spawned
- Enemy Item about to spawn
- Enemy Item spawned
* Auto loose-track-of feature allows user to set elapsed seconds after a
PowerUp has spawned until the item is considered to be in an Unknown
state
* Clear and easy GUI
* Ghey colours
* Probably some bugs but I can't find any (except the clock roll-over thing)
so praps some features that can be added or something
How To Use UTimer
=================
OK you have your clan of 5 on the UT server for a CTF rumble against some
enemy. You're the 6th man on VoiceComms who is doing the timing. This is
what you need to do.
* First load the program
and get on your VoiceComms program too.
* Set the Map Name to what you're playing.
* Set the Team Colour to what your team is on the server.
* Set the game-length. Usually 20 minutes, but sometimes different.
* The Lock On/Lock Off disables/enabled the reminder times scrollers and
auto-loose-track scroller. (just so you can't click on something by accident)
* The AutoLooseTrack value is the time after an item has spawned that it
automatically enters an UNKNOWN state.
Eg: If the AutoLooseTrack value is 20 seconds, then if an item spawns and
isn't taken within 20 seconds, the item automagically changes to the
UNKNOWN state as it is likely it's been picked up already and you've just
lost track of it's timing info. If you set this value to 0 then you never
AutoLooseTrack. You can only set this value providing the front panel
has the Lock Off. This has the same effect as pressing an [X] button
on the front panel automatically after 20 seconds.
You are now ready to be the timer man. You click start when the UT game on
the server starts.
Now all you have to do is listen on your VoiceComms to what your team are
saying. When they tell you they've taken their Shield Belt, hit the "Our
Shield Belt" taken button. This will start the timer for that item.
When the shield belt is about to spawn (say in 12 seconds) the text will go
yellow and a custom .wav played to warn you the item is about to spawn. This
is when you should warn your team ("Shield belt spawns in 10 seconds") so they
can get ready for it. (2 seconds to say it)
When the shield belt has spawned the text will go green and a different custom
.wav played to warn you the item has spawned. The 'taken' button will be
clickable again, so when your teammate picks the item up he tells you and off
you time again
Now for what's under the START button.
From left to right
* the [X] button will tag that item as in an UNKNOWN state, ie: you don't know who
last took it and when. Enemy powerups will mostly be in this state unless your
teammate on the server is fortunate to get the item and let you know - then it's
back under your timer control!
HINT: At the start of a game the enemy items will also be taken quickly, so you
can sort of time then by guessing 2 seconds into the game most of the goodies will
already have been taken, so click the Enemy's ".. taken" buttons.
* The next column indicates ownership. Ie: Friendly or enemy or shared PowerUp. The
colour of the text represents your team colour. Your team colour will always be
at the top, and the enemy powerups always at the bottom if you select your colour
to match that on the server.
* The column after that is the Item Name. ("Armour", "Damage Amp", etc)
* And the next column is the PowerUp status (Available/Unknown/Time Left To Respawn)
When the game hasn't started this field shows the respawn time of that item.
* The number in () is the number of times in the game-length that that item
will respawn.
Eg: ShieldBelt respawn time is 55s, so in a 1 minute game this value will
be (2) as the SB can only spawn twice within a 1-minute game.
* Next there is the warning timer gauge. This is the time before respawn that
the program will warn you that the powerup is about to spawn. (and play the
corresponding WAV) You can set this warning time to what you want (no larger
than the item's repsawn time tho), providing the front panel has the Lock Off.
Eg: If you set it to 12 then 12 seconds before that item is about to respawn,
the text background will go yellow to warn you and a WAV palyed
When the item has spawned the background will go green for go and a different
WAV played.
* Lastly there is the "Our Shield Belt taken" button, etc, which you click when
you hear on VoiceComms that the item has been taken.
And that's it
Oh BTW MAKE SURE THE INI FILE IS IN THE SAME DIR AS THE EXE
INI FILE EDITING
================
This is only for the most l337 n3rdz out there, cuz you have to use notepad!
Open up UTimer.ini with notepad.
The first lines should be like:
[WAV Paths]
OurItemWarningWAV=S:\WAVs\brdgbtn3.wav
OurItemSpawnedWAV=S:\WAVs\brdgbtn4.wav
SharedItemWarningWAV=S:\WAVs\jad0007a.wav
SharedItemSpawnedWAV=S:\VAVs\CRASHBUZ.wav
EnemyItemWarningWAV=S:\WAVs\c828.wav
EnemyItemSpawnedWAV=S:\WAVs\b5-tones.wav
If you have a cool wav (short beep wavs are best, from star wars!) then you can
use it by pointing these entries to the wav to play them. If you can't figure
this out, you're not nerdy enough so go whack off in your dads toolshed to make
yourself feel good.
The reason this part isn't GUIized is that it would mean i'd have to bundle
an .ocx with this program to make sure everyone could run it, and that's
ghey. So i didn't make a nice GUI WAV selecter so you have to nerdy it.
If you don't want sounds then don't make an entry in the INI file, eg:
OurItemWarningWAV=
This entry:
[AutoLooseTrack]
AutoLooseTrackDefault=20
tells the timer what the default loose-track time is. It is loaded up on program
start and set then. You can change it if you want. Remember setting it to 0 disables
this option.
This entry:
[Map Details]
NumberOfMaps=12
tells the timer how many maps worth of data it's loading in. If you're adding
or removing maps then don't forget to change this value accordingly otherwise
they will either not load in, or some mad shit will get loaded in instead. And
you don't want that, believe me. Map numbers are stored like [Map 02] and
always starts at [Map 01] (NOT [Map 00])
This is how a map is stored in the INI file.
Let's look at an example. That fuckmap CTF-Orbital will do nicely.
[Map 10]
MapName=CTF-Orbital
NumberOfPowerUps=8
Item0=0,Redeemer, 55, 12
Item1=0,Shield Belt, 55, 12
Item2=1,Damage Amp, 109, 12, 12
Item3=1,Armour, 45, 12, 12
Item4=1,Jump Boots, 27.5, 12, 12
Item5=2,Damage Amp, 109, 12, 12
Item6=2,Armour, 27.5, 12, 12
Item7=2,Jump Boots, 45, 12, 12
* [Map 10] = the tenth map. Make sure all maps are uniquely numbered and the NumberOfMaps
value is set accordingly.
* MapName - can you guess what this is for? Oh go on, give it a go. It's the Map Name what
appears in that pulldown menu thingy for map selection.
* NumberOfPowerUps is, wait, can you try and guess? Yes! It's the number of items we're
timing on this map. If it is set to 8, then the software will look for Item0 to Item7
(8 items) - so if you're adding or removing powerups remember to make sure this number
is set correctly
* Item5=2,Damage Amp, 109, 12, 12
Item<NUMBER> = <TEAM OWNERSHIP>, <NAME>, <RESPAWN TIME>, <REMINDER TIME FRIENDLY> <REMINDER TIME ENEMY>
- Item0 is the 0th Item. The next item must be Item1, then Item2, etc. These must be in
order. You can only have a max of 17 items per map.
- <TEAM OWNERSHIP> is the Team Ownership. 0 = Powerup in middle of map, 1 = blue, 2 = red
Maps like Dreary have one amp only on one side of the map, so make sure you set this
value correctly!
- <NAME> is the name of the item (duh)
- <RESPAWN TIME> is how long it takes for the item to respawn (in seconds)
- <REMINDER TIME FRIENDLY> and <REMINDER TIME ENEMY> let you set different times depending if
the power up is yours or the enemys. (You might want a longer warning time for enemy PUs as
they are further away to get to.)
<REMINDER TIME FRIENDLY> is how long before the item is due to respawn the user gets
reminded (=12 means 12 seconds before the item spawns the colours will go yellow and the wav
played) - for when this item is a friendly powerup
<REMINDER TIME ENEMY> is how long before the item is due to respawn the user gets
reminded (=17 means 17 seconds before the item spawns the colours will go yellow and the wav
played) - for when this item is an enemy powerup
NOTE: for PowerUps that have <TEAM OWNERSHIP> set to 0 (Powerup in middle of map) you don't
need to set the <REMINDER TIME ENEMY> time as these powerups are considered to belong
to both teams.
Let's add a DM Map. Paste this into the bottom of the INI file
[Map 13]
MapName=DM-Example
NumberOfPowerUps=4
Item0=0,Shield Belt, 55, 12
Item1=0,Armour, 27.5, 12
Item2=0,Damage Amp, 109, 12
Item3=0,Thigh Pads, 27.5, 12
and change
[Map Details]
NumberOfMaps=13
and save the INI
Now when you run UTimer you are set to time powerups when playing TDM.
Note that all Items in TDM are considered shared, so <TEAM OWNERSHIP> is always 0
and there is only one warning time, ie: NO <REMINDER TIME ENEMY>
* NOTE * If you make any changes to the INI file then you have to close the program down
and restart it for any changes to be loaded.
Unreal Tournament spawn times can be found here:
http://www.organizedviolence.com/girlfriend/guide/timing/timing.htmIt's all pretty logical, so you should be able to make your own map details easy.
Although this was programmed with UT in mind, there's no reason why it can't be used with
other games too
Calls kernel32.dll (INI file routines) and WinMM.dll (WAV playing routine)
Think that's about it. Hope you like this FreeWare timer. No waranties are made, so if it
gets your toaster pregnant that's your tough titty. Deal with it bubba.
mail me if you like it with some funny shit. otherwise give me suggestions and stuff.
timmehlovebramble@hotmail.com
Timmeh Lovebramble
EOF
or just ask in the support forums: 
