Setting up a Stop that Tank! server
This tutorial will guide you step-by-step through the process of setting up a Stop that Tank! server. It is assumed that you already have installed a TF2 server with SteamCMD.
STT requires a few extensions not included with SourceMod. Here's a handy list of them:
- TF2Items
- DHooks
- (optional) SteamTools - Overrides the game from 'Team Fortress' to 'Stop that Tank!' in the server browser.
- (optional) SendProxy - Allows the Giant Engineer to destroy sapped buildings. Removes the miniboss health meter from the Super Spy when he is disguised.
Download the latest release of STT here then extract the files into your server's tf/ directory.
At this point, STT should be fully installed. If you switch over to a payload or payload race map, you should see the tank boss. You can type !stt in chat to confirm that STT is running.
To get the most out of STT, take some time and go over the many commands and cvars available to you:
You can change any of these cvars by placing them in tf/cfg/server.cfg which is executed every map change. Tip: The config file tf/cfg/stt.cfg will be executed only when STT is enabled.
You can design your own Giant Robots and tinker with many of the settings on a per-stage basis to suit you. If this interests you, have a quick look these config files (they are well-documented):
- giant_robot.cfg - Payload giant templates
- giant_robot_plr.cfg - Payload race giant templates
- stt.cfg - Map config file
Special game log events are built into STT. These events can be tracked by programs such as HLstatsX:CE and gameME in order to reward players for completing objectives. To have them tracked, you must first configure your stats system to recognize them.
For HLstatsX:CE, new Actions can be added from the Admin panel on the website. Under Game Settings click on the game your server resides in. Under the expanded options, click on Actions. Scroll down and enter the following Actions in the empty new row. When finished, hit the Apply button.
| Action Code | Flags | Player Points Reward | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| bomb_deploy | Player Action | 10 | Bomb Deployment |
| tank_mvp | Player Action | 10 | Tank MVP |
| giant_mvp | Player Action | 10 | Giant MVP |
| giant_mvp_race | Player Action | 5 | Giant MVP in Tank Race |
| tank_damage | Player Action | 2 | Damage to Tank |
| tank_damage_race | Player Action | 1 | Damage to Tank in Tank Race |
| giant_damage | Player Action | 2 | Damage to Giant Robot |
| giant_damage_race | Player Action | 1 | Damage to Giant in Tank Race |
| player_revived | Player Action | 2 | Player Revived |
This option means that you'd like to run STT all the time and only maps that function with STT. To set up a custom map cycle, create an empty text file called mapcycle_tank.txt in your server's tf/ directory. Populate it with the maps you wish to run. Below is list of all the official supported maps:
pl_badwater
pl_barnblitz
pl_cactuscanyon
pl_frontier_final
pl_goldrush
pl_swiftwater_final1
pl_hoodoo_final
pl_thundermountain
pl_upward
pl_borneo
pl_millstone_event
pl_snowycoast
plr_hightower
plr_hightower_event
plr_nightfall_final
plr_pipeline
To tell the server to use your new map cycle, add the following line to your tf/cfg/server.cfg file:
mapcyclefile "mapcycle_tank.txt"
This option is for people that would like to run more than one gamemode on their server. STT is designed to quarantine itself when it is disabled so as to not interfere with any other fancy mods you may be running. Out of the box, STT will try and run on any maps with the pl_, plr_, or stt_ prefix.
If you do not want STT to run on a particular map, just set the tank_enabled convar to 0. This convar takes effect on map change. Set tank_enabled to 1 to turn STT back on again. Tip: Ultimate Map Chooser can be configured to run commands when specific map groups are chosen.
A pure server forces clients to use content that matches the server. The default value of sv_pure 0 applies the rules in cfg/pure_server_minimal.txt only. These rules miss a few MVM particles which players can use to their advantage to block particles from the tank, sentry buster, or bomb explosion. To prevent players from being able to do this, add the following lines to cfg/pure_server_minimal.txt:
particles/bigboom.pcf trusted_source
particles/bigboom_dx80.pcf trusted_source
particles/mvm.pcf trusted_source
It is recommended to leave cfg/pure_server_minimal.txt alone and instead place the modified version in a custom directory such as tf/custom/tank/cfg/pure_server_minimal.txt.
The gamedata that STT uses contains signatures and offsets that are susceptible to breaking on TF2 updates, particularly major ones. If the mod stops working after an update, check back here for a gamedata update.
Here are some ways to get notified about updates:
- Subscribe to this discussion on the Steam group. Whenever there is any update to the mod you should receive a comment notification on Steam.
- Subscribe to this thread on AlliedModders.
- This Atom feed for releases on GitHub.
Should you run into a problem while setting up STT, please check all of the logs in SourceMod's logs folder for any possible hints. If you are still stumped, feel free to post in the Steam group and include any information you were able to gather about the problem and your setup.