World of Padman

World of Padman is a free first-person shooter computer game. It is commonly abbreviated WoP. Originally it was a modification for the game Quake 3 Arena titled PadMod. The current version runs on an enhanced version of the ioquake3 engine, which is based on the Quake III Engine. Most of the maps in the game are lilliput style, and have a commercial-quality level of graphic complexity. Because of originally being a mod for Quake 3 Arena, most of the gameplay is similar. However, there is no Capture the Flag mode in World of Padman. World of Padman fully supports bots in both online and offline play for all game types. The bots have a variety of skill levels that you can select based on what you feel your gaming ability level is. Even though there is no single player mode implemented yet there is an option for one on the main menu. This feature will be added later. World of Padman also allows you to record demos as .dm_68 files and videos as .avi files using /record and /video. To stop recording you can use /stoprecord and /stopvideo.

There is a excellent video of in game action available to watch here: Standalone Trailer

Weapons

 * Punchy
 * The punchy is a puppet that causes high damage. When wielding punchy you can run faster than if you were wielding any of the other weapons. If you can kill 5 players with punchy you will become a "Puppet Master" and gain a temporary increase in power.


 * Nipper
 * The nipper is the weapon you start with and is similar to a pistol. If you click the mouse button fast it shoots more rapid than the standard auto-fire speed.


 * Pumper
 * The pumper is similar to the shotgun in Quake 3 Arena. It has a very limited range of fire but can cause high damage.


 * Bubble G.
 * The bubble g shoots multi-colored ammunition rapidly. It is similar to a machine gun.


 * Balloony
 * The baloony shoots water bombs that cause high damage on impact. It is similar to the grenades from Quake 3 Arena.


 * Splasher
 * The splasher is a sniper rifle. It is great for camping and it is the only weapon with zoom but it takes some time to reload.


 * Boaster
 * The boaster can be compared to a water gun. It shoots out a stream of slippery liquid that causes damage on direct impact.


 * Boom-Boom Betty
 * This weapon can be compared to a rocket launcher. It shoots huge balls of fire towards enemies in a straight line.


 * iMPERiUS
 * The iMPERiUS is the most powerful weapon in the game. However the max ammo capacity is 5 and it has to "charge" for a few seconds right before shooting. The iMPERiUS is often well-hidden. There are guides on the internet which may reveal the location of the iMPERiUS.

Characters

 * Padman
 * Padgirl
 * Monsterpad
 * Fatpad
 * Padlilly
 * Piratepad
 * Biopad
 * Padsoldier

Health
In World of Padman when you run out of health you will die unless you restore your health at a loading station or with the power-up 'revival' unlike in other games. In World of Padman there are no health bubbles to collect unlike in games such as Quake III Arena. As long as you stand on a loading station, which is currently shown on the left of this section, you'll regenerate your health over a short period of time. Naturally, you won't get more than 100% health from a health station, but revival allows you to have up to 200% which is a huge advantage. If you reach maximum health at a loading station a voice that says "full energy" will let you know that you are fully healed. This will not happen with revival. Also, the stations cannon give unlimited health. The size of the cross in the center shows you how much health is left at a station. If a station is empty it will regenerate itself within one minute before it can be used again. Camping on a health station does not guarantee invincibility as it gradually restores your health instead of instantaneously. That gives your opponents the chance to shoot at you and kill you. This is that way to make gameplay more fair and to prevent unfair advantages/disadvantages.

Powerups
World of Padman has many useful powerups that give you an advantage during combat.


 * PadShield
 * Collecting this item gives you a 100% shield increase. You can have up to 200% shield, however your shield will gradually decrease.


 * PadShard
 * Collect a PadShard and you'll receive 5 shield points even if you currently have a 100% full shield.


 * PadPower
 * This power-up lets you do double damage on your opponents and gives you protection against them.


 * Revival
 * Revival automatically recovers your health over time up to 200% health.


 * Jumper
 * This power-up allows you jump three times higher than normal, allowing you to access certain parts of the map.


 * Visionless
 * This power-up makes you partially invisible, however in Spray Your Color, other people can still see your cartridges.


 * Speedy
 * This power-up increases your speed for escaping or fragging with the punchy easier.


 * PuppetMaster
 * After 5 frags with Punchy you will become the "Puppet Master" for 30 seconds. You'll be faster and stronger than your opponents, and the Punchy will cause more damage.

Holdables
World of Padman has 2 holdable items that can be used at any time with the key that is currently binded as 'USE'. By default this key is set to the enter key but it can be adjusted using the in-game menus.

Floater
The floater gives you the ability to fly. A picture of the floater is currently displayed to the left of this article. You can decide when you want to fly and how long you want to do so as long as the meter isn't empty. After you have picked up this item you'll get a new meter on the right, showing how much 'fuel' is still left. This item can be used to access items and areas that couldn't be accessed previously due to the fact that they were too high up. In certain stages it may be required to obtain the imperius, which is currently the best weapon in the game. Having the floater is a huge advantage as you can escape from other players and get to high areas and camp.

Killerducks
These come in sets of 5. There is currently a picture of the Killerducks to the left of this article. When you pick this item up you will get a new counter on the right showing how many ducks you can still release before you run out. When you are out of ducks this counter will disappear. You can let these loose on your opponents and they will attack them for you to aid you in defeating them. As soon as you are close to them, you can send out a duck which will attack and follow your opponent. If there is no opponent, the ducks may attack you. The ducks explode after a short amount of time and can cause damage if they explode near you or an opponent. It is very difficult to kill somebody with killerducks despite the name, so many people playing WOrld of Padman use the killerducks in addition to a weapon for support.

In-Game HUD
This game has 3 sections of HUDs. They include a left HUD, a middle HUD, and a right HUD, which is only used in certain game modes. There are 10 different HUD designs. These include, in order, black, red, blue, green, chrome, whitemetal, rust, flower, wood, and airforce. The left part of the HUD, which is currently shown to the left of this section, shows your selected weapon and the ammo for it. The scores of the teams are also shown here, so you can see see which team is currently leading. The yellow point containing the X shows which team is yours. The middle part of the HUD is the most important. It shows your health and shield status. The left part (red) is for health, and when completely filled up, you have 100% health. You can have more than 100% health with revival or after respawn, and having part of the bar in a darker red shows this. The blue side (shield) on the right works in the same way. If you have more than 100% shield, a part of the bar is dark blue. The right part of the HUD is special for certain game types. It is explained under the multiplayer modes section of the game type that uses that particular HUD.

Multiplayer Modes
Besides widespread gametypes like Tournament, Free For All, and Team Deathmatch, WoP features three uncommon gametypes: Spray Your Color, Last Pad Standing and Big Balloon. In the mod for Quake 3 Arena unlike the current standalone version, World of Padman also offered Capture the Flag for the PadCrash map.

Spray Your Color

 * This mode can be played as either free for all or a team vs team game. This mode is unique to World of Padman. The goal is to spray a logo on the walls in the sprayroom. When playing SyC (Spray Your Color) you must first frag (kill) an opponent and collect their cartridges. If you die all your cartridges are GONE and they now belong to the person that picks them up. You can NOT pick up your own cartridge. You must be carrying at least one cartridge other than your own at the time of entering the portal. Once in the portal simply spray on the wall that matches your team, or if in free for all SyC, on whichever wall you prefer. You or your team will receive five points per cartridge and if in FFA you kill yourself you will lose 1 point each time. The right HUD for Spray Your Color has circles on it that are colored red if you have a cartridge and blue if you do not. When you pick up a cartridge or spray a cartridge these will change colors respectively. You can carry eight cartridges at a time.

Scoring: Each cartridge gives five points either to you or your team depending on the mode of play. If you spray five logos without leaving the room you get five bonus points. If you spray eight logos (the maximum) without leaving the room you will receive ten bonus points.

Big Balloon

 * This is a team game related to "Domination" from Unreal Tournament. In each map there are three boxes, often referred to as balloons. The balloons start as neutral when the game begins. As soon as you camp at a box, a balloon that is your team's color will float up and each player in the game will be notified via the right hud and an in-game message. It will be either blue or red depending on what team you are on. If the balloon is fully filled your team will receive points. If the opponent can camp at the balloon for more than 3 seconds then your balloon will be destroyed and they may be able to replace it with that team's balloon by camping at it for a short amount of time. In that case the other team will get points for that balloon instead of the team previously owning that balloon. Shown to the right is the version of the right HUD for the big balloon mode of gameplay. Each balloon icon shows that what team captured which of the three balloons and the meter to the left of the balloon icons shows progress of inflating/deflating a balloon.

Scoring: For each balloon your team captures you receive 1 point every 2 seconds. If your team has all three balloons the amount of points you receive are doubled. Partially filled balloons will NOT score points for either team despite how close they may be to being filled to their maximum potential. When time runs out the game is over and the team with the most points at that point in time will be the winner.

Last Pad Standing

 * This is a last man standing mode. It is free for all. Each player starts out with a certain amount of lives and will be forced to be a spectator when they run out of lives. At the end of the game there will be only one player left. That player is the winner. Also this mode shows user's names above their heads to prevent camping and coming out when there is only one person left. Unlike Spray Your Color and Big Balloon this mode does not have a right HUD, similar to the standard gametypes. The scores window shows how many lives are left for each player instead of just scores.

Default Maps

 * PadKitchen by ENTE
 * Jail by MopAn
 * PadGarden by ENTE
 * Huette by Harmonieman
 * PadLibrary by ENTE
 * TrashMap by Kai-Li
 * Diner by Harmonieman
 * PadShip by ENTE
 * CybBath by Cyben
 * Backyard by GlowStar
 * PadAttic by ENTE
 * Cabin by GlowStar

Music
The in-game music is provided for free by the following artists:
 * Green Sun
 * Dieselkopf
 * Mighty Pete

Reception
WoP has been featured in several online publications such as Moddb, Slashdot and ESReality as well as printed game magazines. The German TV show GIGA broadcasted an extensive WoP review.

Though there are Windows and Mac players, the Linux scene is particularly interested in WoP. The Linux-Gamers.net portal has put WoP on their Live-DVD, which offers instant gaming out of the box.

Modifications
World of Padman fully supports modifications. Currently some of the most well-known modifications available are:
 * ENTE's PadPack
 * Carnage Music Pack
 * Insta-Gib
 * WoP Extended
 * Black Bubble G

Mapping
It is possible to create custom maps for World of Padman. You can learn to create maps with Kai-Li's Official Mapping Tutorial. This mapping tutorial is created specifically for World of Padman and it covers the basics of mapping with GtkRadiant. It is best if you have previous mapping experience for Quake 3 Arena as the transition towards mapping for World of Padman is nearly seamless.

Future Development
Currently a MonsterHawk alternative skin for MonsterPad is in the works, which will be shipped with the next game patch. Unlike MonsterPad, MonsterHawk will have no nail in his head or claws. Also, in the non-standalone version there were two maps, ENTE's PadShop and GlowStar's AnteRoom which haven't been converted to work with the standalone yet. These may be available in the future, and the development team is aware or the popularity of these maps. Also a fix for a clipping bug that is currently in one of the maps will be released with the next update as well.