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Through all the parodies and mocking I have recieved, there is always at least one person in the bashing that says \"whats v-tec?!?\". I know v-tec does not have a very good reputation here at TL.net, but hopefully this will help. I have decided to make a thread to help clear things up (and perhaps make a few more fellow teccers out of you guys/3 girls). This being said, I hope you will all come to understand and know the game I love ^^
History
Not too long before broodwar was released, KnIgHtCoM (with the slight help of others) created a UMS map named V-tec. This map was a pioneer, if not the very first, of the paintball genre. For those who are not familiar, the object of paintball maps is simple - reach a certain kill score before the other team using a variety of units. V-tec introduced a system of play that included a flag, however, it retained its paintball nature and did not become a full \'capture-the-flag\' game. Rather, the flag was instead only used as a catalyst for action. This was a huge developement for the genre. As broodwar came into existance, the game\'s focus slowly changed from a spells type of micro into a more fast-paced mechanical/positioning battle.
Around this time is when V-tec experienced its golden years with the forming of multiple clans on multiple servers, and always with USEast sporting the top players. Even to this day, there is still a rivalry between East players (Easties) and West players (Westies).
With the rise of other popular copycat maps (*cough*Snipers*cough*), sport maps, and other various competative games (TMA anyone?), V-tec lost its popularity with the masses. A solid base of around 30 players, however, still played frequently (often at Op V-tec @ USEast). Today this base has dropped to around 15-20 players, or so, and games are usually arranged via AIM.
Rules
Taken from the mission briefing of Enhanced:
In this scenerio, the objective is to accumulate a total team score of 25-100 kills. You will start with a Terran Civilian that can be morphed by walking up to one of the green tubes in your team base. The tubes consist of Protoss, Zerg, and Terran characters. You can only morph when you are a Terran Civilian. The Young Chrysalis growing near your team flag beacon changes your units back into a Terran Civilian.
To earn extra units, capture your opposing team's flag and return the flag carrier back to your team beacon. This game includes many upgrades starting at 5 kills and increasing up to 20 kills. The Upgrade Center is located at the left-center section of the map. This map also contains an anti-camping system.
At first glance, the rules are fairly simple. In a 1v1 game be the first team to reach 25 kills, in a 2v2 game be the first team to reach 50 kills, ect.. Return the flag and get another unit to use to help kill your opponents.
However, in tournament play (as well as high level casual games), a set of unwritten rules were always observed in the best manner possible.
The first unwritten rule is no camping. While, the game has a built in \'no-camping\' trigger for the base, it is still possible to abuse it and achieve cheapness. Also, you can camp the upgrade area to prevent the other team from upgrading, making the game totally broken. The solution is simple - just be manner at the upgrade area and wait your turn (done by moving your unit around to prevent a fire or mashing stop as fast as possible) as well as dont abuse the base triggers. If a kill is made accidently, offer a sacrifice back to even the score.
The second is concerned with unit balance. When a person has captured the flag, that unit turns into a \'flag carrier\'. While having low health, this unit does excellent damage and can easily overpower unupgraded units. The rule is this: simply return to your base asap after turning into the flag carrier and only attack in self defence. You are able to do whatever is necessary to survive, however, even if this means not returning asap... just dont abuse this powerfull unit.
The third also is concerned with balance. It is seen as bad manners to use more than 2 units per player to attack with at a time, as well as upgrading to a mutalisk (15 kills) before the opposing team can upgrade to its counter, the ghost (10 kills).
The fourth is team killing. While it was an abusable issue in the earlier versions of the game, the newer versions have fixed this issue. Just don\'t do it and everything is fine.
Usually a breach of any of these rules results in the forfeit of the game by whomever broke them.
Basic Strategy
The strategy and depth of v-tec is vast and comes mostly from experience, so I offer just some basic advices.
The start of the game operates on a basic rock/paper/scissors system, with the diagram like this: Marine>Zergling>Dragoon>Marine. However, with proper micro and positioning, this system can be broken.
Not all units are created equall. Some can only fill specific roles, while others can be seen as a more general unit. For example, a firebat is generally only good vs zerglings and a templar (tassadar) only generally good vs marines. Of course situations will arise that can change all of this, but generally it is right.
Every unit has a different upgrade, but they all come at specific times. The first is at 5 kills, the next at 10, the next at 15, and the final at 20. For the 10 and 20 mark, only one or two units get an upgrade change while the rest stay the same.
Timing is very important. Attacking the flag while the other team is upgrading will result in less defence at the flag. Counter-flagging may give your team the edge necessary to kill their flag carrier. Attacking while the opponent is respawning will allow you to overpower the remaining defenders/ect..
Future
Right now, the future for V-tec looks very bleak. Most of the regular players are gone, and the ones that are still around dont game often. Hopefully this thread will revitalize the scene a bit. Perhaps if there is enough interest, a tournament of sorts could be arranged ^^ There is always a channel open for people wanting to play (Op V-tec @USEast), but maybe we could get a few games going in Op TL-West ^^
Alright, thats it. If you want more info as well as the maps, you can go to the humble v-tec site http://www.members.shaw.ca/v_tec/ or you can give me a pm with your questions --. The current map we play is Enhanced, although we occasionally game on Evolutions.
oh, and hurray colts!~
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Baltimore, USA22251 Posts
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Bw really is a deep game, isn't it? Tweaking features to support ums, new strategies, there's no limit. I plan on at least probing V-tech sometime. Nicely written
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On February 04 2007 21:11 EvilTeletubby wrote:
...
Are you overwhelmed or underwhelmed? -_-
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On November 05 2006 01:24 ZaplinG wrote:
We v-tec players have been doing micro like this for yeaarrss.
especially with ranged goons...
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oh, come on ETT. nothing bad was said here t.t
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United States20661 Posts
I actually really want to try this. It may make me able to micro reavers like RainbOw, mutalisks like July, and dragoons like Kingdom.
[and HT like reach, dropship like BoxeR, defiler like YellOw, vessel like NaDa, zealot like PuSan...]
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On February 04 2007 21:15 Last Romantic wrote:
I actually really want to try this. It may make me able to micro reavers like RainbOw, mutalisks like July, and dragoons like Kingdom.
[and HT like reach, dropship like BoxeR, defiler like YellOw, vessel like NaDa, zealot like PuSan...]
its ok, i expected to get some flames in the comments ^^
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
It's definitely sounding very fun. I want to try this sometime. Where to download?
EDIT: What I am uncomfortable with are those unspoken rules. Any competitive activity that has to rely on these 'etiquette' rules to prevent mass abuse is usually an activity that ends up not being much fun when people mass abuse it out of a sense of hyper-competitiveness and unrelenting drive to win.
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United States20661 Posts
Which map is the most commonly played one? i.e., which one is most canon, that I should download first?
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Enhanced is the standard. Evolutions is also still played, but the respawn times on it are cut down drastically and it changes the timing most people are used to.
edit: @grandinquisitor - its really not that hard to follow them. only takes a game or two for newer players to get used to it. no muta before 10 kills, only 2 attacking units per player at once, dont kill anything around the upgrade area unless a battle has moved there, dont camp the base, and only attack with the flag carrier in defence.
its like playing free-ins in basketball, or taking the ball back outside the 3 when playing half-court
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Ahh wow. I remember those good days.
frankly, I miss that map.
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wow, that informed me a lot - thanks ^^
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
On February 04 2007 21:22 ZaplinG wrote:
edit: @grandinquisitor - its really not that hard to follow them. only takes a game or two for newer players to get used to it. no muta before 10 kills, only 2 attacking units per player at once, dont kill anything around the upgrade area unless a battle has moved there, dont camp the base, and only attack with the flag carrier in defence.
its like playing free-ins in basketball, or taking the ball back outside the 3 when playing half-court
I don't disagree that it'll be easy to follow, but this absolutely requires that you *have* to play with mannered people.
It's different from basketball cause people are less rude in real life. What it's like is like trying to play competitive NR15 games or something. I fear that a lot of people are just going to bm and dick around.
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It sounds like the vtec map is really broken to have so many "unwritten rules". I never liked those sniper type games because there seemed to be absolutely no skill involved, just patrol and there's a 50/50 chance you'll 1 shot the other guy before he 1 shots you.
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BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS K
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@GI: hmm, DotA faces the same challenge of unwritten rules, but we can agree it works at a competitive level. If someone does it then they are banned (or just never allowed to play with the community again). easy fix.
V-tec was popular a long time ago and managed to survive with the rules, so from experience, it's safe to say that it works ^^
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@beaver: you have to click on them to attack them in snipers. cant just patrol around.
also, if you believe it is 50/50 chance that you kill the other guy, then you need to watch some of the better teams just utterly destroy everything. its all about angles and lures. not random at all.
maybe it would be better to play a few games so you can see for yourself ^^
------
If anyone wants to give the map a shot, I'm in Op Tl-west right now
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v-tec paintball died a looooong time ago, long before snipers bald did.
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On February 05 2007 00:20 useless wrote:
v-tec paintball died a looooong time ago, long before snipers bald did.
seriously, and snipers died in like 03 =D
(and was way better than v-tec or locks !!!)
oh and EAST 4 EVER!1111one
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On February 05 2007 00:41 Locked wrote:Show nested quote +On February 05 2007 00:20 useless wrote:
v-tec paintball died a looooong time ago, long before snipers bald did. seriously, and snipers died in like 03 =D (and was way better than v-tec or locks !!!) oh and EAST 4 EVER!1111one
'03 sounds about right; i remember coming back from a little hiatus and finding only a handful of games. Now the only sniper games are locks, made by elitist pricks who would boot any downloaders.
anyway, v-tec was fun while it lasted. marine would own if you can find the few blind spots, or bothered to lure with vis. ling was good too. i dont remember using goon much.
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Used to play v-tech on europe. Even joined v-tech clan. Think I got the old maps on a disc somewhere.
On February 04 2007 21:01 ZaplinG wrote:
However, in tournament play (as well as high level casual games), a set of unwritten rules were always observed in the best manner possible.
why has nobody changed the map so that they dont have to be `unwritten`? Example: making upgrade areas inside own base so camping is not possible.
When I played, ling and marine had about a 50-50 chance taking eachother out, depending on how they met. Ling would cling to walls and chokes, while rine would try to spot at distance.
Many players chose ling as it always took out goon and goon always took out 1 rine.
I remember hydra was also an option from start, but non ever picked it.
anyways, GL with your project. I would play if not for my router firewall
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Well written, and kinda sad because its a part of the brood war community thats almost dead. But its commendable that you're trying to revive a community thats only 15 players strong now.
I have played this map once, but I didnt really understand what was going on haha. I'll definitely drop by to play once I get my internet fixed 
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The upgrade not being in your base is more to do with timing than anything else. Without it being far away, it would be very hard to find the free time to capture the other teams flag during the lategame.
The other rules are for balance issues. As it stands right now, the game is perfectly balanced as long as you abide by them.
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Oh, and it should be known that Fakesteve and SuperJongMan won the first ever v-tec game played in op tl-west ^^
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aha. I thought it was just another name for the "Snipers" map with ghosts. I tried snipers years ago but got furious because I couldn't understand why I was losing my ghost all the time in 1v1 encounters :p
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flag carrier could be made like a normal marine
muta could be made weaker or taken away for another unit
killing own team could give less points by ums triggers?
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if the flag carrier become a normal marine, then there is no advantage in getting the flag late game. It becomes too costly to try to capture the flag vs upgraded units.
the muta is a crucial counter to tanks/archons, both of which are staple units later on. Reducing its damage will make it unprofitable to ever get a mutalisk. Mutas have a counter, it just comes with the 10 kill upgrade.
you cant kill your own team anymore. triggers now prevent you from attacking your own teammate.
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On February 05 2007 09:15 ZaplinG wrote:
if the flag carrier become a normal marine, then there is no advantage in getting the flag late game. It becomes too costly to try to capture the flag vs upgraded units.
the muta is a crucial counter to tanks/archons, both of which are staple units later on. Reducing its damage will make it unprofitable to ever get a mutalisk. Mutas have a counter, it just comes with the 10 kill upgrade.
you cant kill your own team anymore. triggers now prevent you from attacking your own teammate.
maybe you can get a different flag carrier depending on how many points you have
and if you're raping your opponent 15 kills to less than 10 maybe they should just lose anyhow -.-, either that or find some way to balance it with a different unit
upgrades were always just gay IMO anyhow, you're trying to give them an advantage for more points yet at the same time let it be counterable for less points?? bigger form of rock paper scissors?
snipers ftw! no upgrades! equal units!
edit: sorry, as a snipers player v-tec always bothered me =X
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heh, it is entirely possible to kill a flag carrier with level 1 units, its just hard and takes experience. And the 15-10 thing doesn't happen that often. Usually only when the game is a runaway, anyway.
Upgrades stay constant after 15 kills. If you are playing 2v2, the end is at 50 kills, so that leaves 20-30 kills (depends on partners score). Thats close/over half the game with the same units. If you are playing a 3v3, its even longer! So all they are, basically, is just a way for getting yourself into position lategame, where the majority of fighting happens.
While I enjoy snipers, I never saw how snipers could compete with v-tec. What it has strategy-wise for the ghosts, V-tec also has ... except with 20x's the amount of units. ^^ Ultimately, I think this is what turned away most people. Casual gamers did not want to learn 20+ unit combos/timings/positionings in order to be competative with those who had.
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dont really understand how this muta thing is gona work... i mean when i play pvz i dont go "hey yo dont get mutas yet wait till my archon is done k? ^^ or else ima get raped" or any of this "plz dont get lurks observatory nearly done kk?"
if the muta is so horrifically imba then nerf it? and if the other team has worked hard to achieve muta level then they deserve it dont they?
i duno just came across as a pretty strange thing, i mean isnt the point of the game to win?
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its not horrifically imba and will die quickly in the hands of a new player. A more experienced player can just rape with it, though.
Those rules are meant for a cleaner/manner game. otherwise it turns into upgrade camp fest which results in someone leaving before they get 5 kills.
Once again, instead of theorycrafting it, I ask you to just play so you can see how it works out yourself ^^
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On February 04 2007 21:01 ZaplinG wrote:
fellow teccers out of you guys/3 girls
We V-tec players have been working a positive ratio for yeeearrrs.
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On February 05 2007 11:54 ZaplinG wrote:
its not horrifically imba and will die quickly in the hands of a new player. A more experienced player can just rape with it, though.
Those rules are meant for a cleaner/manner game. otherwise it turns into upgrade camp fest which results in someone leaving before they get 5 kills.
Once again, instead of theorycrafting it, I ask you to just play so you can see how it works out yourself ^^
We BGH players have been doing micro like this for yeaaaaarrrrrs
Especially with ranged Zerglings...
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Baltimore, USA22251 Posts
On February 04 2007 21:14 ZaplinG wrote:
oh, come on ETT. nothing bad was said here t.t
I just couldn't believe you actually bothered to write all that about Tec. 
PS guys: The "We V-tech players have been doing XXX for years..." joke got old after the first 50 times. Let it go.
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On February 05 2007 20:55 EvilTeletubby wrote:
PS guys: The "We V-tech players have been doing XXX for years..." joke got old after the first 50 times. Let it go.
We V-tech players have been letting it go for yeeeeaaarrs. Especially with old jokes.
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United States20661 Posts
On February 05 2007 21:01 Flaccid wrote:Show nested quote +On February 05 2007 20:55 EvilTeletubby wrote:
PS guys: The "We V-tech players have been doing XXX for years..." joke got old after the first 50 times. Let it go. We V-tech players have been letting it go for yeeeeaaarrs. Especially with old jokes.
just relax it -_-;;
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I'm on now if anyone wants a game - op tl-west
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
the funny thing is i remember when it wasn't a fad
and i saw someone do it
and i posted it like once
and soon after everyone started doing it in every topic regardless if it was funny or not
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FYI: It's still hilarious.
At least to me =[
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Baltimore, USA22251 Posts
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On February 05 2007 01:56 ZaplinG wrote:
Oh, and it should be known that Fakesteve and SuperJongMan won the first ever v-tec game played in op tl-west ^^
You heard it here folks.
Me and Steve don't even like v-tec but we continue to make history.
It's our jobs afterall...
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Does anybody still play V-TEC?
User was warned for this post.
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EPT
