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Pro Mode:
-Download
Introduction
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Pro Mode MBs:
Public MB
Admin MB
Design MB

Older GX MBs:
Public MB
Admin MB
Design MB

Pro Mode Contacts:

Welcome
Welcome to the first public beta release of the Challenge Pro Mode mod. The purpose of this release is to get feedback.

Note that the Challenge Pro Mode is still a "work-in-progress". This is a Beta released for testing purposes, to get feedback, and because people have asked to see something. There *will* be further changes.

In particular:

• None of the changes thus far are finalised.

• We haven't considered a lot of stuff yet - e.g. weapons/ health spawn times.

• We believe a map pack will be necessary, but until the gameplay changes are finalised we can't build any maps.

• We want to make a new player model specifically for tournament play, but we're stalled on that one for now. If this Beta is popular, I'm sure we can find some modellers and skin artists to work with.

• We have a lot of other things we would like to do. It all depends on the response to this modification :). Let us know if we're heading in the right direction!

We will listen to feedback from all sources, however the final gameplay decisions must be taken by our core design team. We will filter the feedback and present it to our core design team for consideration. Please do not contact them directly about this. Accordingly:

• We have set up an email for feedback which is -

• You can also use this public discussion board to discuss the pro mode beta - Message Board

What is Pro Mode?
Pro Mode is a modification for Q3A which aims to make the game more exciting and challenging for "expert players". It is NOT a remake of Q3A as QW or Q2, although some features from both previous id Software games have made their way into pro mode.

What's in this First Beta Release?
The first beta contains two versions of pro mode, "Classic" and "Full".

The Classic version is for the conservatives among us. It doesn't make any changes to weapons (aside from faster weapon switch). It's basically just a few changes that we think Q3A benefits from. We have added a little more air movement, made weapons switching a little faster, and made a few changes to the armors (which now don't count down, they accumulate, and they are slightly stronger for teamplay games). In teamplay (includes FFA and CTF) your respawn health is set at 100, while in 1on1 it remains at the default 125. There are some other minor tweaks as well - you pick up items when you jump over them, for example.

The Full version includes most of the stuff from the Classic version, but it also has weapons changes and the armors don't accumulate. The changes aren't what we would describe as "radical", but they make for a more strategic and challenging game. At least we think so :).

To see the exact changes in both versions of pro mode, you can check out this table. Why do we have two versions? Because our core design team was split, and we want to see which version is the more popular. Do we think it is bad to have two versions? Not at all, we don't see it as a big deal.

There's some other cool stuff in pro mode. Most visibly, you'll find some new HUDs that we have developed which you can find out more about right here.

What About the Candidates List?
A lot of people seemed to freak out about the Candidates List, thinking it was a workplan that we were following. The Candidates List was always just a tool we used to help get ideas expressed, organised and to make sure we didn't miss out anything important. Making a list forced us to sort out our ideas, and most importantly, we had to describe what each proposed change actually was. A list like that is simply a tool that you use in a design process.

The Candidates List did come to reflect more QW-related than Q2 changes. One of the guys who wrote some of the comments was also a bit biased towards QW over Q2 (sorry), so that didn't help either. But pro mode is NOT about remaking Q3 into QW. It's simply about making Q3, hopefully, more exciting and challenging for expert players.

If you want to check out how the first Beta of pro mode stacks up against the candidates list, go here. Remember, the first Beta is just that - step one. There are several areas we still intend to develop and work on. But overall we're very pleased with the amount of changes suggested on the Candidates List that we have actually implemented in this first Beta.

What About the Settings in the KDemo?
Some of you may have seen a demo of an alpha of pro mode which showed off some really radical stuff, such as *very* fast weapons switches. Those settings were never developed by our core design team, and were the preferred settings of the gamers recorded in the demo. We're sorry if the demo confused you or raised/ lowered your expectations. It was just a bit of fun.