Frag-Ops

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Frag.Ops
Developer(s)	Pandora Studios
Designer(s)	Matt Farber
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.5
Release date(s)	version alpha 1.0 (November 4, 2003) version 2.16 (April 6, 2005)
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: M (Mature 17+)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Linux Apple Macintosh
Media	Download
System requirements	950 MHz processor 256MB RAM DirectX 8 or OpenGL
Input	Mouse, Keyboard

Frag.Ops (also known as FO) is a semi-realistic, hybrid tactical first person shooter in a fictional near-future setting, with elements of roleplaying and real-time strategy. It is a code modification of the game Unreal Tournament 2004 game, based on the Unreal Engine 2. Unlike many genre shooters, neither team in Frag.Ops fills the role of good guy or bad guy.

Contents 1 History 2 Gameplay 3 Game types 4 Map list 5 Weapons 5.1 Special Ops 5.2 Mercenary 5.3 Shared 6 Awards 7 References 8 External links 8.1 News articles (by date) 8.2 Video

[edit] History

Many of the modification team's earliest members were former players and community coders of the Unreal Tournament modification known as Tactical Ops, when Tactical Ops development stalled, Farber and friends began independent development of the Frag.Ops codebase. A small portion of the Tactical Ops community followed the team to the new game which was built on the Unreal Tournament 2003 codebase.

The project leader Matt Farber (calling himself Squirrel Zero) contributed the Realtime Shadows code and vehicle code that later showed up in other UT2K4 mods, and created the Clash combat system for melee combat. The original mod team included FakeID, G0st and Zinh on 3D Models. Zephyr on 3D animations and sound. HedHunta, Sever, Lumpy_Milk and DeadGuy on 2D skins and textures. Nessy, Ben, KilEmDed, Ektophase, Tank-Bird, Vee, PureHybrid and HellRider were the original map team. Hardcor3, NathanYuy, poiz, HighPriest and Cyko were the PC Testers. And Santaduck handled Mac Testing and support. In earlier releases the Mercenary team was divided into very specific Mercenary outfits. There were also female models on both the Special Ops and Mercenary teams but these were pulled when it was discovered that using a female model offered an unfair advantage.^[1]

The game was in the process of being ported to Artificial Studios' Reality Engine for a self funded commercial release as Frag.Ops: Zero Squad. But that fell through with 75% of the code done when the project leader Squirrel Zero (Matt) walked away after personal commitments prevented him from proceeding. Pandora Studios fragmented with much of the original team ending up at a sister mod named Tactical Ops: Crossfire. In 2007 the original Unreal Tournament 2004 version was revived, and is currently being updated for relaunch by Matt Farber now calling himself Scry and a few former team members like lead mapper Steve Nothing (calling himself Kilemded). ^[2].

[edit] Gameplay

Frag.Ops is a team-based, WYSIWYS (what you see is what you shoot) first-person shooter in which players can play as either the mercenary or special ops team. Players comabat the opposing team while fulfilling predetermined objectives. Unlike Counter-Strike, Frag.Ops does not use a cone fire system so there are no "lucky" shots, and therefore it is much less forgiving of novice FPS players, the physical recoil system means that as long as you properly adjust for recoil you will hit what you are aiming at. Server settings may automatically balance teams when one team has more players than the other. Each round starts with the two teams spawning simultaneously, choosing and customizing their player models and traits, or loading pre-customized models and traits. Each player starts with 400 United States dollars, medium armor, two Action Points, a combat knife, one chambered clip of ammunition, and a H&K USP pistol for both Mercenaries and Special Ops. Players are generally given a few seconds before the round begins to buy weapons and armor, during this time they are unable to attack or move in any direction. Players may buy or sell weapons, and repair armor for the duration of the map, whenever they enter their team's buy zone. Once a round ends, surviving players carry their equipment forward into the next round.^[3]

• The mod allows players to customize not only the uniform worn by their model, but also the model's head and skin color. Due to identification issues with early models, all models now have paintball style team colors on a band around their left leg. Red and black for Mercenaries, yellow and black for Special Ops.
• The game's Trait System allows for the selection of several role playing game style traits which conferred very specific bonuses and minuses depending on your style of play. Traits can benefit rushers, defenders, stealth and even melee fighters.
• The Action Point system (AP) allows for several very specific player abilities. All players are designated Action Points depending on the type of armor worn, players wearing Heavy Armor only receive one AP point, players wearing light armor and medium armor receive three. Resting will restore any used Action Points. Action Points can be used to either sprint or steady your scoped view while sniping.
• The mod's Buy Menu allows for players to buy and sell back all weapons and equipment, and buy extra ammunition at any time during a match. Teammates could send each other cash using the Money Wire System. Armor available for purchase includes: Light Armor (vest), Medium Armor (light helmet, vest, leg guards), Heavy Armor (heavy helmet, vest, leg guards, arm guards).

• A RealMove lazy weapon movement system inspired by Half Life 2 and FarCry, gives a more realistic feel to onscreen weapon movement.
• Medals are awarded to players for achieving certain goals such as expert marksmanship, or special blade kills with the combat knife and machete. Achieving the highest marksmanship medal grants you access to the Golden Eagle a one-shot kill pistol.
• The direction you swing or stab in with a bladed weapon, is determined by the movement of your mouse. All bladed weapons use the project specific Clash system, a good parry can block or counter your opponent's blade or bayonet attack. You can also fight using your fists but there is no Clash system in place for unarmed combat.
• The Dynamic Objects system allows grenades to be deflected in mid-air with gunfire, or melee weapons. Discarded grenades will explode if shot. Dropped weapons can be destroyed.
• Grenades can be rolled ascross flat surfaces by pressing the alt-fire button.
• The Build Menu which was only available on War maps it allows players to construct towers, bunkers, FN M240 LMG machine gun posts and player-operable land vehicles and aircraft. buildable vehicles include a Jeep with rear machine gun turret, Stryker personnel carrier, and a RAH-66 Comanche helicopter.

The scoreboard shows team scores in addition to data for each player: name, score, deaths, and ping. The scoreboard also shows the status of each player whether living or dead, all medals received, and what trait they have equipped.^[4]

[edit] Game types

• Mission - In Mission Mode maps give you many different types of map victory conditions. Fetch and Carry ala CTF such as in MIS-MetroCity where a suitcase full of money must be stolen or protected or in MIS-UptownBank where a bank certificate must be stolen. Bomb Plant such as in MIS-TrainStation where the Mercenary team must plant a bomb on subway tracks. Hack and Destroy such as in MIS-Backdoor where a laptop must be hacked and then destroyed. Or Escape as seen in MIS-Alcatraz where one team must escape from the map.
• War - War is an objective styled game mode based around large maps designed for the three new vehicles. War mode allows players to construct towers, bunkers, machine gun posts and other tactical buildings. Players also have the ability to create vehicles using the Build Menu. In War Mode you either had to destroy a designated target, or slaughter the opposing team.

[edit] Map list

Originally Frag.Ops mission maps used "FO-MIS-Mapname" as a designator, this was later changed to "MIS-Mapname" in response to community feedback.

Mission	Creator(s)	War	Creator(s)
MIS-Alcatraz	Kilemded	WAR-Predator	Ektophase
MIS-ArcticShatter	Digital Angel	WAR-RelicsRemix	Angelheart
MIS-Backdoor	Laurent Soucy	WAR-Serenissima	ShokaZuLu
MIS-Blizzard	Ville P. Lehvonen	WAR-ShadesOfBlue	Laurent Soucy
MIS-Dam	Laurent Soucy	WAR-Tropical	Tank-Bird
MIS-LostCityClassic	Kilemded	WAR-UrbanBay	ShokaZuLu
MIS-LostVillage	Kilemded
MIS-MetroCity	Ektophase
MIS-Nightfall	Ektophase
MIS-ReturnOfRuins	Kilemded
MIS-TrainStation	Kilemded
MIS-TrainingArena	Kilemded
MIS-UptownBank	Kilemded
MIS-Waterplant	Kilemded

[edit] Weapons

The game offers 24 unique weapons divided evenly between both the Speciat Ops and Mercenary factions except for a few shared weapons. Every weapon in the game can be upgraded with optional attachments, such as machete poison, rifle bayonets, pistol scopes, akimbo submachine guns, and quick loaders. The Beretta AR70/90^[5] was later replaced by the M4A1 Commando on the Mercenary side. Two other weapons were modeled and partially coded, but never included in the game. The Fabarm FP6 Entry shotgun, and the Enfield SA80 sniper rifle.^[6][7]

[edit] Special Ops

Name	Description	Name	Description	Name	Description
ZM8	XM8 rifle	SMP45	H&K UMP45	8X Enforcer	S&W Model 627-5
FMS 556	GIAT FAMAS	RMP9	Steyr TMP

[edit] Mercenary

Name	Description	Name	Description	Name	Description
Commando	M4A1 Commando	Rygar MP99	Ruger MP9	Arctic Eagle	Desert Eagle
FKE 103	AK-103	AMP7-PDW	H&K MP7 PDW

[edit] Shared

Name	Description	Name	Description	Name	Description	Name	Description
MBT Law	M72 LAW	FP N90	FN P90	Machete	KA-BAR Black Cutlass	High Explosive	hand grenade
CT 42	AMP DSR-1	MG5-SR	Navy MP5-SR	Combat knife	KA-BAR NextGen	Napalm	incendiary grenades
STF-U30	Sako TRG42	Gold Eagle	Desert Eagle			Flash	flashbang
Ultra 90	Benelli M4 Super 90	SG-Pro	Sig Sauer P226			R. Smoke	red smoke grenade
Red Dragon	Ruger Red Label	UXP45-T	H&K USP45			Y. Smoke	yellow smoke grenade

[edit] Awards

Below see a detailed listing of the mod's placement in the "Make Something Unreal" contest:

• Phase II: "Best FPS Mod" placed 5th
• Phase III: "Best FPS Mod" placed 4th
• Phase IV: "Best FPS Mod" placed 2nd
• Grand Finals: "Best Mod" placed 7th

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Frag.Ops Revival Forum
• The Frag.Ops Hungary weapons page
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine: Frag Ops.com
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine: Pandora Studios.com
• Gamespot: Changelog for the final 2.16 release
• Realtime Shadows (code created by project leader)
• Pandora Studios (defunct studio site)
• X-Fire: Frag.Ops 2.16 Mod installer
• Filefront: Source Code for the unreleased version 2.17

[edit] News articles (by date)

• Beyond Unreal's Frag.Ops post mortem (March 24, 2006)
• Game Shrine: Matt Farber, Pandora Studios (January 26, 2006)
• Game Industry Biz: Pandora Studios LLC website launched & Reality Engine Licensed (March 3, 2005)
• Megagames: Team Frag.Ops Announces Game (March 3, 2005)
• Boomtown: Frag.Ops 1.2 game review (November 11, 2003)

[edit] Video

• Google Video: Frag.Ops: First Strike trailer