1.0 General Information

Please look at the general GameArena ladder info page (General rules) in conjunction with this specific Soldat rules page.

1.1 Introduction

The GameArena Soldat ladder will run for a total of 10 weeks. The maximum team size for any match will be 4 players; however teams will be allowed to participate as long as they can field the recommended team size of 3 players.

At the end of the 10 week period, the ladder will be locked and the top 8 teams will participate in the finals. Finals will be run by the ladder officials in a format decided by them at the close of the season.

Once the finals are completed, the winning team will be declared the seasons’ champion and the ladder will be switched to freeplay mode. During this break, ladder officials will revise the rules and server configurations in order to prepare for the next season. Ladder officials will notify all players when the new season is ready to begin, and as a prelude, every team will receive activation emails. All teams wishing to participate in the new season must follow the instructions in the email to re-activate their team.

1.2 Match Format

The GameArena Soldat Ladder will be run in the ‘Capture the Flag’ game mode. There will be 3 rounds in total, each lasting 10 minutes.
The match winner will be the team with the highest number of round wins obtained from the 3 rounds, i.e. it is the best of 3 rounds.
The normal match format is 3 vs 3.
However, teams may also play 4 vs 4 if both teams have enough players and agree.

1.3 Server Configuration

The GameArena server system will automatically run a server for the time that was agreed upon by both teams and will automatically boot up with the following settings:

Round length: 10 minutes

Respawn time: 3 seconds

Maximum respawn time: 4 seconds

All guns: enabled

No power ups/bonus, except normal grenades and health packs

Friendly fire: off

Realistic, advanced and survival mode: off

Flag capture limit: 10

Stationary guns: disabled

Maximum grenades: 3

Game style is Capture the Flag

Bullet time: off

Minimap: disabled

Starting map: ctf_Laos

Match booking time: 1.5hrs

1.4 Default Maps

Currently only the following default ‘Capture the Flag’ maps are permitted in the GameArena Soldat Ladder.

The permitted maps are:

ctf_Ash

ctf_B2b

ctf_Cobra

ctf_Death2

ctf_Dropdown2

ctf_Division

ctf_Equinox

ctf_Kampf

ctf_Lanubya

ctf_Laos

ctf_Maya

ctf_Maya2

ctf_Nuubia

ctf_Run

ctf_Ruins

ctf_Snakebite

ctf_Steel

ctf_Viet

ctf_Voland

ctf_Blade

ctf_Guardian

ctf_Hormone

ctf_IceBeam

ctf_MFM2

ctf_Raspberry

ctf_Rotten

ctf_X

This list may be updated to include some popular custom maps in the future.

1.5 Match Rules

Matches are the best of 3 rounds.
The winner of the match is that team which has the highest number of round wins after all 3 rounds.

The map for the first round will always be ctf_Laos.
To avoid arguments, the challenging team will always start as Alpha (red).

The map for the second round will be chosen by the winners of the first round.
The sides (colour) for the second round will be chosen by the losers of the first round.
If the first round is a draw, the next map will be chosen by Bravo (blue).

The map for the last round will be chosen by the losers of the first round.
The sides (colour) for the last round will be chosen by the winners of the first round.

Maps cannot be played more than once (this includes ctf_Laos) during any one match.

The first 10 minutes of the server being up are for the sole purpose of allowing the player’s time to enter the server; this can be treated as free play time.
After this 10 minute period, teams now have another 10 minutes of planning time before the first round starts. During this period of time, players are to remain at their base at all times. If both teams agree, the match may be started earlier, the person responsible for the running of the match (defending team captain or Referee if present) simply needs to do a restart by entering /restart.

Any teams with less than 3 players after 10 minutes have passed since the server first came online, are deemed to have forfeited the match.

After rounds are completed, the teams have 2 minutes to decide on the map/team they will play on for the next round (as per previous rules for whom chooses what).
The person responsible for the running of the match (defending team captain or Referee if present) then changes the server to the appropriate map, once all players are on the appropriate side.
Another 2 minutes for planning will be given for that round. As before, the round may be started earlier if both teams agree. After the 2 minutes of planning (or when both teams consent to start earlier), the map will restart, at which time the next round commences.

Pausing is allowed up to a maximum of 5 times per team in the entire match. Any teams that pause more than this may be forfeited on grounds of disruptive use.

During the match, very limited global chat will be allowed provided it is specific to the game. In situations where people use global chat to abuse others, make inappropriate comments or accusations, the offender will be global muted (command: /gmute # where # is the player number). Repeated infringements by multiple team members may lead to a team forfeit.

There are to be no spectators from either team during a match unless both teams agree to allow them. This is not negotiable. Players should move to a team as soon as they join the server. If a player does not move out of spectator mode once they have entered the server they will be kicked. If a player moves to spectator during a match they will be kicked regardless of the reason. If the player rejoins and continues to enter spectator mode, that players team risks receiving a forfeit.

1.6 Example Match

The following outlines a typical match. Please ensure you understand the rules above before reading this section.

Server appears at agreed booking time

10 minutes of freeplay
All players (and Referees if present + spectators if allowed) join within 10 minutes of the server booking time.
Once 10 minutes have passed since the booking time, the server will restart. This signifies that the match is now under way and that any team with less than 3 players has forfeited the match.

2 minutes of pre-match planning
The next 2 minutes are for team planning. All players must remain at their base during this time. If both teams agree to start the first round before the 2 minutes are up, that's fine, a restart is all that is needed in this case.

Match start
Once the 2 minutes of pre-match planning have finished, or the players agree to start earlier, the server will restart. After this restart, the match, and indeed the first round, have now started.

First round
Both team captains (or designated person if captain unable to play) must start a demo at this point, as per the section below.
Round 1 is played on the starting map ctf_Laos.
The challenging team goes on Alpha (red).
Once the 1st round is completed, the Team Captains should take a screenshot at this time, by pressing F4 just as the scores appear at the end of the game. Alternatively, the player can activate in the Soldat config menu “automatically take screenshot at end of game”, in which case a screenshot of the scores will be automatically taken. To do this, the option must be selected before starting the game.

Two minutes of second round decision time, 2 more minutes of round planning time
The winning team of the first round, now has 2 minutes to decide what map will be played for the second round.
The losing team of the first round then chooses what side to play on for that map.
After the 2 minutes have passed, the players must swap to the appropriate side. Once all players are on the appropriate side, the person responsible for running the match (defending team captain or Referee if present) changes the server to the appropriate map. 2 more minutes will be allowed for planning on that map. If both teams agree, the round can start earlier.


Second round
Round 2 is then played upon map restart. Both team captains (or designated person if captain unable to play) must start a demo at this point, as per the section below, with a name different to the first to prevent overwriting.
Once the 2nd round is completed, the Team Captains should take a screenshot at this time, by pressing F4 just as the scores appear at the end of the game. Alternatively, in the Soldat config menu, they can select “take screenshots automatically at end of game”.

Two minutes of last round decision time, 2 more minutes of planning time
The losing team of the first round, now has 2 minutes to decide what map will be played for the last round.
The winning team of the first round then chooses what side to play on for that map.
After the 2 minutes has passed, the person responsible for running the match (defending team captain or Referee if present) changes the server to the appropriate map. 2 more minutes will be allowed for planning on that map. If both teams agree, the round can start earlier.

Third round
Round 3 is then played upon map restart. Both team captains (or designated person if captain unable to play) must start a demo at this point, as per the section below, with a name different to the previous ones to prevent overwriting.
Once the 3rd round is completed, the Team Captains should take a screenshot at this time, by pressing F4 just as the scores appear at the end of the game. Of course, as before, you can select to take screenshots automatically in the Soldat config menu prior to starting the game.

Post match
The challenging clan must enter the score (round wins/losses) or a dispute as soon as possible within 2 hours.
The defending team must also confirm the score or enter a dispute within 2 hours.
All captains/players should move their compulsory demos and screenshots to a separate folder on their computer for safekeeping for at least two weeks.
Ensure the screenshots and demos are labelled appropriately, eg clanvclanDDMMYY.

1.7 Cheating and Glitching

The use of hacks, trainers, hex editors and anything else to give yourself an advantage over others is strictly prohibited.

Deliberately using or exploiting a bug in the game or a bug in a map also constitutes cheating. Such bugs include but are not limited to:

- Going to areas where a player can attack others but cannot be attacked themselves, except when it is part of the map, such as a bunker.
- Using polygon bugs, or flying over the top of ctf_B2b using minigun/m79.
- Glitch abuse (such as the prone glitch).

If a player is found to have cheated using a hack, by proof from demos and/or screenshots, they will be removed from the ladder immediately; the players' team will be dropped to the bottom of the ladder. The player in question will also be banned from all GameArena public servers.
Polygon, weapon, and movement (i.e. prone glitch) abuse will result in a single warning at most, and further infringement will result in the guilty player’s team forfeiting the round(s) they have used the bug(s) in.

At times polygon abuse cannot be avoided; such times will be examined closely to ensure this is the case by a Ref/GameOp should just an instance occur.

The last part of this cheating section is about the use of the /kill command in order to spawn back at base if a team member has leaked. This command is considered an emergency, for circumstances such as if you get stuck in a polygon accidentally and cannot get out, it's there to get you back in the game. It is not however tolerated to be used in any ladder match for any other purpose.

If you are unsure if a certain type of play is illegal, please contact a GameArena ladder official prior to your match.
Finally, the GameArena Soldat ladder official’s definition of cheating is not up for debate, and their ruling is final.

1.8 Mods

The only mods allowed for use in the GA ladder are those which change simple weapon and character graphics, such as the White Nade mod or Unreal Tournament mod. Any extensions to this definition (i.e increasing a graphics size to the point it allows one to see another player when they should normally be unable to be seen) that can be used for inappropriate means are prohibited, and players using such mods are subject to the maximum penalties applied to players cheating or glitching, as outlined in section 1.7.

2.0 Additional Information

2.1 Mandatory Demo Recording

All teams who participate in a match must record a demo, which must start as the first round commences and run at least until the completion of the match. To be clear, the demo must be started no later than the start of the round, i.e. instantly after the restart has occurred. This task of demo recording is usually assumed to be done by the team captain, but if the captain is unable to play, the team must decide upon another player who will fulfil this task. If the demo recorder disconnects, crashes etc, they must start a demo on rejoining the server. It is advisable in this case, that another member of that team takes over the demo recording while that player is out of the server, to ensure no gaps in the demo occur.

In the event of a dispute, or any other irregularity with the match, the Ladder Managers may request demos (and screenshots) for that match. Failing to supply a requested demo in a timely manner may result in the forfeit of that team. Demos and screenshots must be kept for a minimum of 14 days – the Ladder Managers will not request a demo more than 14 days old.

To record a demo, type this in-game:

/record DEMONAME

We strongly recommend you use a unique demo name, such as clanvclanDDMMYY (If *DF* was playing #HPL# on the 12 Feb 2005 the name would be DFvsHPL120205), so that there is no chance of overwriting another demo, and to make the demo easy to find if it is requested. If this is the second part of the demo, make sure that it is given a different name from the first part, or the first part will be overwritten.

To stop recording type:

/stop

At the end of the match, we recommend that the demo be moved to a separate folder on the player’s computer to ensure that it is not lost or overwritten.

2.2 Approved Commentators

GameArena may approve official commentators from time to time. These commentators may enter a Ladder server for the purposes of broadcasting (e.g. through shoutcast software) the game. All teams that compete on the GameArena Soldat Ladder are taken to consent to these broadcasts. The Ladder Managers will advise the community of any approved commentators through the GameArena Soldat forums. GameArena community members are encouraged to approach GameOps if they wish to become approved commentators and gain access to the GameArena resources for commentating on Ladder games.

2.3 Communication with GameArena

All teams are required to ensure that their contact email address listed on their team information page is up to date and checked regularly, and that their team captain’s email addresses in their GameArena profiles are also up to date and checked regularly. This is the primary means of contact, and all rules changes, important announcements etc. will be made through these email addresses.

All players, especially team captains, are encouraged to check the GameArena Soldat forums regularly, as the GameOps will both announce upcoming changes for discussion here, and check them regularly for informal feedback on the progress of the ladder.

2.4 Time Limits

All matches will be allocated one and a half hours to be completed. This should be more than adequate to allow for an entire match. If the server time runs out before a match is completed, the match will be declared a draw. Both teams will be required to enter a score of 1 in the match results to reflect this.

You should be aware of the server booking time and make sure you and your team turns up on time. Teams are allowed 10 minutes to connect to the server. Any team that has under 3 players after this 10 minute period will instantly forfeit.

If a team can prove (by means of the compulsory recorded demo) that their opponents are deliberately wasting time, the aforesaid team may have a forfeit issued against them. Time wasting can include but is not limited to: a team demanding the match be halted or restarted or a team waiting over the 10 minute time limit for extra players.

2.5 Server Crashes and Extreme Lag

In the event where a server crashes, or there is lag where playing conditions are severely reduced before round 1 is completed, teams must try to contact a GameOp or Admin straight away to get the server restarted. If the server is restarted successfully the scores must be reset to 0 – 0 and the match should be restarted.

If the first round is completed before the server crashes (or lags out), teams must still try to contact a GameOp or an Admin straight away to get the server restarted. If the server is restarted successfully the match must be resumed with the scores that were evident before the crash.

If the server cannot be restarted within a reasonable time, the match will be cancelled outright by ladder officials and will not affect the rankings of either team. Both teams will be free to re-challenge each other or different opponents.

2.6 Ladder Bookings

The challenging GameArena Soldat Ladder team will select 3 potential game times and offer them to a team they would like to challenge. The defending team will select 1 time they are comfortable with. At this point, both teams will receive an email with the selected booking time, passwords to join and a list of players from both teams that are eligible to play in the match.

Teams should check the list of eligible players against the roster reflected on the GameArena Soldat ladder rankings page. If a player that is listed in the email is no longer listed on their teams' ranking page, that player is ineligible to play that match. Teams should also check for any players that are ineligible to play due to new recruit restrictions as these players are listed in the email regardless of their new recruit status.

2.7 Referees

We encourage teams to request a GameArena GameOp or Referee to be present (but not participating) during the game should they feel they would prefer someone to keep a close eye on the game to allow it to run smoothly.

When present, you must abide by all GameArena GameOp or Referee instructions at all times during the game. The GameArena GameOp or Referee’s word is final.

Should your team be disruptive during the game after request of a GameArena GameOp or Referee to stop, you will forfeit the game. Should you continue to do this outside of the server your team may be removed from the ladder.

If a Referee isn’t available to run a match, there is no excuse to cancel the match or delay its start. The match must go on. If a team behaves in this manner, their opponents may submit evidence and the offending team will receive a forfeit.

The Referee’s decision is final. Referees are expected to know the rules; therefor as a rule of thumb, you should accept their judgment. Referees are able to and will punish any problem players during ladder matches.

2.8 Pre – Match

The participating teams have 10 minutes beyond the point at which the server comes up to join. After these 10 minutes have passed, both teams must have at least 3 players (the competition minimum) each in the server. If one team fails to comply, the team that complies with the competition rules may file a forfeit win by posting a score of 1-0 and then putting the reason for the forfeit win in the comments. If both teams fail to gather enough players, both must enter a forfeit loss in the match results.

Any match that is found to have begun with both teams yielding less than the minimum players will be forfeited by ladder officials.

If a Referee has been requested and no Referee appears after ten 10 minutes, the team captains should take it upon themselves to run the match. Having no Referee turn up to a match is not a valid excuse for time wasting or cancelling that match.

2.9 Running a Match

In the event a Referee does not turn up to a match or is not requested, team captains should run the match as follows.

The Soldat GameCreate server config will automatically load the required time, round length and other settings. At no time should any team captain or Referee need to alter any of these settings, indeed doing so without permission of a GameOp could be deemed as cheating.

If a player needs to be kicked (because they are not ready 10 minutes after the server booking time, or need to be kicked due to connection problems etc) then the Referee or the team captain (defending team) that has taken responsibility for running the match should enter the rcon password (from the email sent when the ladder booking was made):

/adminlog password

Then kick the player using

/kick ID#

The ID number is the small white number that appears to the left of a players name when F1 is pressed, and after the / key has been pressed.

To change to the map that is chosen by the appropriate team use the following command:

/map ctf_name

The name is that which is chosen from the list of default maps listed above in section 1.4
Please remember that no map may be played twice in any one match, this includes the starting map ctf_Laos.

2.10 Post-Game

At the end of each round, the team captains must take a screenshot of the scores (either by pressing F4 at the end of the round or by having the “take screenshot at end of game” option enabled in the Soldat config menu). After all 3 rounds are complete; both the challenging and defending teams have up to 2 hours to enter the results of a game. Failure to do so will result in a forfeit by the team who does not enter a result. If neither team enters a result, the challenger will receive a forfeit.

Results can be entered and accepted/disputed via the ‘View Challenge’ link on the GameArena Soldat ladder page by Team Captains.

While entering scores for the ladder, note that each round is worth 1 point each. If you win a round, you get 1 point for that round. If you lose a round, you get 0 for that round. If a round is drawn, both teams receive 1 point. For example, if in a match between “team A” and “team B”, and team A wins 2 rounds and draws 1, they should enter the score 3-1 as the result for that match. Team B should confirm this result.

At the end of the match, we recommend that the compulsory recorded demo, and screenshots, be moved to a separate folder on the player’s computer to ensure that they are not lost or overwritten.


2.11 External Software

Voice communication software like Ventrillo and TeamSpeak are permitted, however games will not be paused or stopped to allow members to re-connect to voice communications if they should go down during a game.

If your clan wishes to use voice communication software, you must only use the official GameArena servers, and be within a channel made for your clan.

If you need a channel to be setup for your clan, please go to this website www.gamearena.com.au/voice and make sure you have all the required information, then go to General chat (#home in The Arena) and ask nicely for a GameOp to assist you in making a channel.

2.12 Disputes

In the event that one team may believe the other team guilty of rule violations (including cheating), they may file a dispute with GameArena officials. Teams are requested to decide if a dispute is absolutely necessary.

If a dispute is filed, team captains must contact a GameArena Soldat GameOp and provide as much supporting evidence as possible to help resolve the matter quickly.

Any member who is not a designated captain is not allowed to report a dispute and will be ignored. Only designated leaders are allowed to sit in on the dispute process unless a GameArena official specifically requests their presence.

If evidence is requested, any available evidence must be forwarded to the GameArena Soldat GameOps within 24 hours of the lodging of the dispute. At this point, GameArena Soldat GameOps will review the situation and have a ruling for both teams as soon as possible. Their decision is final and not up for debate.

False accusations are completely unacceptable and annoying for GameArena officials to deal with. Thus, repeat false-accusers will be punished.

2.13 Forfeits

Any team winning by forfeit should, preferably after consulting with a GameArena GameOp or Referee, submit a 1-0 victory with "Forfeit Win" as the match comment.

2.14 Suspension and Expulsion

Grounds for suspension or expulsion of players and/or their team include, but are not limited to:

- Violation of the GameArena Soldat ladder rules.
- Violation of the GameArena Terms & Conditions.
- Abusive or any unprofessional conduct against a team competing in the ladder or a GameArena official.

3.0 Miscellaneous

3.1 Finals

All finals matches will be monitored by ladder officials. The top 8 (depending on numbers) teams at the end of the season will participate in the finals.
Any new recruits added less than 2 weeks prior to the end of the ladder will not be allowed to participate in the finals.
Ladder officials will decide on the finals format at the end of the season. Once a format is decided on, the ladder will be switched to freeplay mode. Once in freeplay mode, a deadline will be set for each corresponding team named by the ladder officials to challenge the appropriate opponent. To ensure all teams have a good choice of times, ladder officials will cancel all non-finals related freeplay challenges lodged in the finals period.

Finals formats are not up for debate, any team disagreeing with the finals format risks removal from the finals and will be replaced by the next highest ranked team.

3.2 Changes and Interpretations

GameArena officials reserve the right to modify the rules as needed. This includes changes due to software updates or releases, ladder officials meetings and all other changes deemed necessary to the GameArena Soldat ladder. Teams should check the rules on a regular basis and prior to every match to ensure they are fully aware of changes. A simple way of checking if new rules are in place is to look at the version number at the top of this rules page, if it is the same version as before you are fine, if it is a different version you had better make sure you read to learn any changes.

In the future, anti-cheat measures may be introduced. If anti-cheat measures are introduced, all teams will be notified via email and via the GameArena Soldat messageboard. The rules will also be updated with relevant information in this case. All teams are expected to comply with all anti-cheat measures that may be introduced in the future. Any refusal to do so will result in the team being removed from the ladder.

4.0 Final Notes

4.1 Terms and Conditions

By playing in the GameArena Soldat ladder, you agree to comply with all GameArena terms and conditions set out here, and in the general account terms and conditions.

By playing in the GameArena Soldat ladder you also agree that the Soldat ladder manager's word is final.

4.2 Definitions:

Ladder Official:
A Ladder Official can include a designated GameArena Soldat Referee, GameArena Soldat GameOp and any GameArena Administrator.

Smurfing/Ringing:
The term smurfing or ringing is used to describe the practice of playing or being registered or playing for more than one team on the GameArena Soldat ladder.

Match:
A match consists of 3 rounds, each lasting around 10 minutes. Two teams participate in a match. The match winner is determined by round wins.

Point:
One point is awarded for each round win a team gets. The team that completes the map with the highest capture score, gains a point for that round. Points are used to determine the overall winner in a GameArena Soldat ladder match.

Round:
A round is most easily defined as, a game. Rounds on the GameArena Soldat server are set to last 10 minutes each.

Round win:
A team wins a round when, at the completion of the round (10 mins), that team has a team capture score which is greater than the other team.

Round Draw:
A round is deemed a draw when at the conclusion of the round, both teams have an equal number of flag captures. In this circumstance both teams get 1 point each.

Win:
A team is deemed to have won the match when it has the highest number of points at the conclusion of a GameArena Soldat ladder match.

Loss:
A team is deemed to have lost when it has the lowest number of points at the conclusion of a GameArena Soldat ladder match.