- Director: Grehorn
- Administrator: LioN, General Sibilla
- Cameramen: vanille, Sir
The Tournament Director is the sole arbiter and court of last resort for all disputes. Their decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
The Tournament Directors reserve the right to impose any sanction on any competitor or individual player at their sole discretion as circumstances may warrant.
Staff may participate in the tournament. Where there may be an appearance of a conflict of interest, a Tournament Director will yield to a counterpart if possible.
Official communication will take place via the group: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/atlantis-cup
The tournament will consist of two sections.
The first section will be a Swiss System tournament. A match win will score 1 point; a tie scores a 0.5 point; a loss or forfeit scores 0 points. After the registration deadline, teams will be seeded based on determined skill level. The first round will then be scheduled pairing teams in accordance to their respective seeds.
In subsequent rounds, teams will be paired against winners vs winners losers vs losers.
Under no circumstances will two competitors face each other more than once during the Swiss section.
In the event that a round must be paired with an uneven number of participants, a bye will be awarded to the lowest ranked participant in the lowest score group. A bye scores a full point.
Any team that forfeits two (2) consecutive matches may be automatically dropped from the tournament.
Because Swiss pairings are based on prior round scoring, the next round cannot be paired until all the results of the previous round have been reported. Therefore, there will be a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for matches that remain unreported past the round deadline. If teams are unable to schedule their matches within the nominated period, arrangements can be made to facilitate a match given acceptable circumstances.
Once the Swiss Stage is completed, teams will move onto the Double Eliminations playoffs.
Finales are to be played upon agreements reached by both team captains.
Normal Maps:
- Dead Center;
- Swamp Fever;
- The Parish;
- Death Toll;
- Dead Air;
- Blood Harvest;
- Passifice;
Custom Maps:
- Carried Off;
- Dark Carnival: Remix;
- Dead Before Dawn DC;
- Detour Ahead;
- Diescraper Redux;
- Hard Rain Downpour;
- I Hate Mountains 2;
- Open Road;
- Suicide Blitz 2;
Teams may register via: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/atlantis-cup/discussions/0/2264691750496406624/
The deadline for registrations is 24th May 2020 11:00 pm (CEST). Late registrations will not be accepted.
A player may be registered for only one (1) team in the tournament. A player who drops from a roster may not re-join with another team after the registration deadline.
Game servers will be selected according to the following criteria:
The tournament's home region is Europe. If your preferred region is Europe, then the server must be Atlantis (EU/RU).
In other cases it is possible to play on reputable server hosts, such as:
- Sir Please (US);
- Bom Bom;
- Paanchan;
- UNIFX.
The configuration and plugins - the version to be played will be Zonemod 1.9.8.
Servers should have enough slots for up to three (3) casters, two (2) cameramen, and an administrator/moderator. Support for the spechud addon is highly desirable.
Servers with tickrate greater than or equal to 100 are required.
Servers with DoS/DDoS Protection are preferred.
The tournament has been designated as international (a.k.a. "Home/Away") - The designated server will be determined in communication between the captains of the tournament's team. If captains cannot decide on a home/away or neutral match admins will drive the scheduling, considering all options - i.e. pings, time, availability, players etc.
Each team's home server will be a server that satisfies the above criteria and provides the best average ping for the members of their team.
It is not acceptable to choose a home server on the basis that it would provide poor latency for the opposing team. Attempts at gamesmanship in server choice will be dealt with by the staff.
Pairings and brackets for each round will be posted weekly on Monday.
Captains are responsible for agreements made prior to match commencement, such as match date, time and VPN utilisation, etc.
Matches must be scheduled and played before the commencement of the next round, i.e. Monday 11:00 pm (CEST) week following.
Teams are encouraged to negotiate the schedule early; delinquent scheduling will result in a double forfeit.
Any player on the roster may perform scheduling duties.
Results must be submitted, with a screenshot, by the following Monday (CEST) by midnight. Failure to report weekly round results before the deadline will result in a double forfeit. Under no circumstances whatsoever will extensions be granted.
To report match results, Discussion thread in group. Include a screenshot of the final scores. Results will not be accepted via Steam instant messenger, or the Steam Community.
A match schedule consists of three elements:
The date and time, with the time zones, when the match will begin The number of games that will be played in the match The server(s) on which the games will be played
Each team must agree on all three points, or the match scheduling is incomplete.
Competitors are strongly urged to post their complete match schedules to avoid any possibility of miscommunication or dispute about these details at match time.
Each team has 15 minutes after the scheduled time to have 4 players on the server and readied up. The standard penalty for failure will be a forfeit loss of the match.
The competitors agree that the matches may be casted according to the usual process.
Access to mumble/discord servers for ‘war rooms’ is appreciated but not required.
Aside from tournament staff and authorized casters, no spectators whatsoever will be allowed in the server during matches.
Any team may request that an administrator be present at their match. The staff will honor reasonable requests to the best of their ability, weighing conflicting obligations, the significance of the match to the tournament results, and the seriousness of concerns about improper behavior that may take place.
A defining characteristic of a championship team is the capacity to field a team for a match at the agreed upon date and time. Therefore, both teams must agree to allow ringers, or ringers will not be allowed.
No registered player may ring for another team unless their team has withdrawn from the tournament or that player has been removed from the roster.
Each team must field at least three (3) rostered players in each match, regardless of consent from the opponent.
Each participant is required to record and save demos of their match play. All demos must be stored until the end of the tournament, and must be submitted promptly to a Tournament Director on request.
To record a demo, open the console and type record <demoname>. It is not necessary to re-record after a map change, but it is necessary to re-record after disconnecting from the server for any reason.
Each team is allowed up to one (1) pause per round to request screenshots.
Each player must take a screenshot whenever asked by anyone on the server.
Players are never required to provide demos or screenshots to anyone except the staff. Although there is no basis for an expectation of privacy, they are considered confidential and will be shared only for:
Asking second opinions of skilled players who are trusted to keep what they find in confidence To expose wrongdoing to the community if, and only if, it is discovered
It is each player’s individual responsibility to ensure that demos and screenshots are recorded, uncorrupted, and submitted in a timely manner.
Failure to submit demos or screenshots on the request of the staff will result at minimum in a zero score for the associated rounds, and possible suspension of the player from the tournament.
It is illegal to intentionally exploit AI pathing by moving to an area that causes NPC infected to stop attacking.
A typical penalty for intentionally exploiting AI pathing will be a zero score for the round.
If an AI tank stops advancing for any reason, the survivors must be notified in a reasonable time. Intentionally positioning a tank so that it cannot advance when AI controlled is not allowed.
A typical penalty will be equivalent to full map distance and health bonus at the time of the infraction.
It is illegal to use the !spectate command excessively or in a way that gains an unfair advantage.
Historically, accepted uses of the spectate command have been:
If the player is out of bounds or has become stuck in an object and cannot move or attack the survivors If a player-controlled SI is not being killed by the survivors in a reasonable time (e.g. instead of killing a spitter/boomer, the survivors are m2ing it for >5 seconds) If the server crashed at some point during the match and it is necessary to spectate in order to ensure a proper tank rotation
If a player spectates in a way that staff judge to be abusive, a typical penalty will be a zero score for the round.
It is illegal to exploit "stuck spots" by intentionally becoming stuck in a map entity. If a player-controlled special infected is teleported in this way, it must be killed via !spectate. If a tank is teleported, it must be slain via SourceMod or a vote-kick.
As survivors, it is illegal to cross the bridge on c10m1_caves without climbing a ladder.
As infected, it is illegal to clip through a brush or other obstruction by spawning while passing through it in "ghost mode".
The minimum penalty will be a match loss by forfeit.
As infected, it is illegal to attack the survivors in any way from out of the normal map bounds, i.e. spawning under the map to attack survivors.
5.8.1 Rescue vehicles In the event of a finale rescue vehicle glitch (most common on Swamp Fever, but also possible on Dark Carnival and Hard Rain) the half will be replayed following a restart round. If necessary the final scores will be calculated manually.
In some extremely rare cases, a pinned survivor cannot be cleared after an infected player gains control of the tank. In that event, either team may request that the round be replayed. If requested, the tournament directors may review demos and determine if the result of the replayed round will be used, or if some other action will be taken according to the circumstances.
The following guidelines will assist the competitors in understanding the intentions of the Tournament Directors. However, the tournament directors may choose to impose sanctions for any addons or modifications at their sole and arbitrary discretion (per Section 1.3).
All players are strongly urged to discuss modifications with the Tournament Directors to ensure they are fully in compliance with the rules before making any changes. The best way to avoid the severe penalties associated with bending or breaking these rules is to play with a stock configuration.
The minimum penalty for illegal modifications or addons is a forfeit loss for the match. There is no maximum penalty, which may include team expulsion from the tournament, forfeiture of already played matches, and forfeiture of team eligibility for any prizes.
The following modifications are PERMITTED:
All modifications to the Left 4 Dead 2 user interface that do not alter, nor interact with the in-game user experience nor provide additional information about the game state (e.g. ZoneMenu, menu music, menu fonts, menu shortcuts, console fonts, etc.) are allowed.
Modifying or removing HUDs, crosshairs, and pain pointers is allowed.
Modifying or removing gun models and animations is allowed.
Modifying or removing "tank music" including altering the volume is allowed.
Modifying or removing music played at the end of the round after a wipe, saferoom door closed, or player death is allowed.
Modifying or removing the blue tint while spawning special infected in "ghost mode" is allowed.
Modifying or removing the red tint that appears while spawned as a special infected or tank is allowed.
Source engine configuration files and scripts that do not exploit "cheat" cvars and do not circumvent cvars blocked by the competitive configuration (e.g. mat_hdr) are allowed.
All command-line arguments that do not exploit nor allow the player to exploit “cheat” cvars are allowed.
Use of scripts is not permitted to enhance gameplay whatsoever, i.e. bunny hop scripts /pistol scripts/ melee quick-switch etc.
Any configuration setting that can be altered using the standard in-game menu options or legal console variables is allowed.
Modifying materials and sounds that are related to weapons or items that are banned in the competitive configuration (which may include: "Tier 2" weapons, chainsaw, M60, grenades, etc) is allowed.
Aside from the above, no modifications to game files or materials, nor use of third-party software and applications that affect gameplay will be allowed, without the public, prior, and written authorization of the Tournament Director(s). This includes but IS NOT LIMITED to:
Any changes whatsoever to the stock survivor or infected models, map textures, skyboxes, props, or other materials and files used for rendering the in-game environment are forbidden.
Any changes whatsoever to game sounds are forbidden.
Any third-party applications, programs, or macros that read or modify memory in a method for affecting gameplay, or that provide information about the game state to the player, or that simulate mouse movement (aiming) while the game is running are forbidden.
After the ready-up for the first half of each map, changing the following cvars is forbidden until both halves of the round are complete, i.e. if you start a round with 0 lerp you must play both rounds with 0 lerp.
Each participant is expected to hold themselves to a high standard of professional and courteous conduct toward others at all times. Abusive, harassing, disrespectful, or unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated -- either during a tournament match nor in any other venue.
Any competitor who, in the judgment of a staff member, has not committed their full effort to winning the match is guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Repeated or lengthy use of the pause function disrupts the normal flow of the match and frustrates the expectations of the spectators and other players. Therefore, extensive pausing is unsportsmanlike conduct if it is judged by staff to be excessive, regardless of the reason.
Players may not use console commands or radial menus to trigger sound effects that taunt, harass, annoy, or confuse other players. This includes but IS NOT LIMITED to:
Survivor laughter or coughing vocalizations User-controlled special infected vocalizations of any kind whatsoever Survivor death sounds, or other vocalizations associated with player state or health (such as incapacitation or being “black and white”) Triggered vocalizations or sound effects associated with director events (such as the rescue vehicle’s arrival, etc.)
Players may not use sprays that imitate or resemble environmental objects, such as: weapons, other players, infected models, props, or any other recognizable game element.
Players may not use sprays that are grotesque, violent, obscene, or depict other disturbing or offensive imagery such as pornography, racist logos, or "shock" images.
An entire team may be held responsible for the unsportsmanlike conduct of any team member.
Tournament competitors will not break server rules at any time when they are using someone else's server.