core

Core Gameplay Mechanics

Meta extensively modifies Quake's deathmatch mode. This page assumes you are familiar with the basic deathmatch mode as implemented in Quake.

Part 1: Classes

See classes for complete list.

Overview

Classes in Meta act as a way of selecting certain weapons, powers, and weaknesses. The main idea of Metamorphism Quake (and where the name ostensibly comes from) is that you get to pick different classes (morph) at any time. Every time you respawn, you respawn with the classes' abilities. When you first enter the game, you start as the "standard" class, which is the normal Quake character as found in regular Quake deathmatch. Most people will want to change to a different class as the standard Quake character does not start out with very powerful equipment compared to most classes.

Variances Between Classes

Each class has a varying amount of maximum health, ammo, and armor capacity. This naturally follows from the purpose of the class, e.g. the Soldier starts with high health, some armor, and can carry lots of ammo. The Mage on the other hand is physically weak, and can can limited amounts of ammo and armor, and has a much lower maximum health. Please refer to the individual class's page for detailed information.

The Help Screen

Built-in to Meta is the "Help" screen. This provides a brief overview of the classes and allows you to pick a class without opening the console.

Magic

See the Magic page for detailed information.

Some classes have magic, which shows up in place of the eighth weapon (the Thunderbolt). Instead of cells, magic uses "mana", which regenerates naturally. The Druid, Mage, Cleric, Lich, and Fire Elemental all have magic -- in fact, the Fire Elemental doesn't even use guns!
Magic can do a wide variety of things depending on which class you've picked, and most of the time are the primary strategy of the class is to make heavy use of magic.

Resistances and Weaknesses

In addition to a variety of abilities, each class has a special resistances and weaknesses to different types of damage. For example, the Fire Elemental intuitively enough resists fire, while cold damage deals extra. See part 2 for more information.

Changing Classes

When you select a class, you immediately respawn as if you had been killed (i.e. lose Quad, armor, weapons). If you changed your class to anything other than the standard Quake guy, then you lose a frag (except in CTF mode with team scores).

Part 2: Damage Type

Unlike original Quake deathmatch, Meta actually uses type-based system for damage. Thus, if a player is hit by ball of fire, this does a different type of damage than a bullet would. Since each class has a unique set of damage resistances (i.e damage types that do less damage) and vulnerabilities (i.e. damage types that do more damage), there is a great amount of value to incorporating these into your strategy. The following damage types are used:

• Physical - Impact from low velocity attacks, such as an axe or claw
• Bullets - Impact from high velocity projectiles as fired by the shotgun or the nailgun
• Magic - Damage from magical means such draining life force (ignores armor)
• Plasma - Damage from extremely high temperature matter
• Explosion - Damage from shrapnel and the shockwave from an explosion
• Fire - Damage from combustion and heat
• Cold - Damage from cold
• Acid/Slime - Damage from corrosive elements.
• Electricity - Damage from electricity
• Snipe - Damage from extremely high velocity rounds

Additionally, classes may have special protections against the environment:

• Waterbreathing - The class can breathe in water.
• Slime-immune - The class is immune to the poisonous and corrosive radiation of slime.
• Lava-immune - The class is immune to lava.

Conversely, classes may have special weaknesses against the environment:

• Waterburning - The class is harmed by touching water.
• Acid/Slime - The class takes extra damage in slime.
• Lava - The class takes extra damage in lava.

If a class has a resistance to a form of damage, it takes 40% less damage from it, while if the class has a weakness to it, it takes 30% more damage from it. Some classes have additional special bonuses/penalties against other classes. For example, the Scout takes even less damage from the Sniper.

Damage resistances and weakness largely serve as both a logical extension of the class (e.g. Fire Elemental is weak to cold but resistant to fire) and for game balance. They also exist to encourage different strategies depending on the class, so that each class plays differently and doesn't feel like "just another deathmatch".

Part 3: Runes

There are 5 runes that can be picked up, each with different powers. Since the runes are considered evil, the Cleric may not touch them. The runes are unique -- only a single player can possess them. If the player had a rune and dies, it is dropped. Alternatively, the player can type "droprune" in the console. Finally, the Cleric's spell "Dispel Evil" will cause nearby enemies to drop their runes.

Having a rune will give you a significant advantage over other players, so if you see a big glowing purple rune, grab it!

Part 4: Weapons

All weapons in Quake exist in unmodified form in Meta. In addition to the 8 weapons in regular Quake, many of the weapons have an alternate modes of fire. To cycle through the modes of fire, simply press the key bound to the weapon again (e.g: press '6' to cycle through fire modes for the grenade launcher.) Not all fire modes are available to all classes, and for some, the original Quake fire mode is not available. For many classes, their primary form of attack is a fire mode that is specific to them. For example, the Sniper uses 2 (shotgun) as the slot for the sniper rifle but does not have the shotgun's normal mode of fire available.