Tribes 2 // Mod Development Handbook GitHub

25 · Bounty

An assigned-target elimination gametype, untouched by Classic — no Classic-side file exists for it, so it runs exactly as base/scripts.vl2 ships it under any mod, patched or not.

The rules

scripts/BountyGame.cs’s header, plus the developer’s own clarifying note immediately beneath it [script]:

Eliminate Targets in order assigned; eliminate Pursuer(s) without penalty
Killing a Bystander who was a former Target returns him to your Target pool
Killing 3 or more Targets in a row without dying earns a bonus
Killing all Targets first earns a bonus
Red = Target, Green = Bystander

Spec Note:
  All opponents have green triangles.
  Once you select your target, that player's triangle appears red (for you).
  If someone who has you as a target (a Pursuer) damages you, his triangle disappears altogether (for you).
  Once your target is eliminated, he respawns with a green triangle.
  If your Pursuer kills you, he has a green triangle again when you respawn (unless he becomes your target).

The colour coding is per-player, not global — your target’s triangle is red only on your own screen. Everyone in the match is simultaneously someone else’s target, someone else’s pursuer, and a bystander to everyone not currently hunting or being hunted by them. There is no shared “wanted” state to observe; each client renders its own view of who matters to it.

Scoring

Set once, near the top of the file, in the same named-constant style as Defend and Destroy [script]:

%game.SCORE_PER_TARGETKILL = 1;
%game.SCORE_PER_BYSTANDERKILL = -1;
%game.SCORE_PER_SUICIDE = -1;
%game.SCORE_PER_DEATH = 0;
%game.SCORE_PER_COMPLETION_BONUS = 5;
%game.SIZE_STREAK_TO_AWARD = 3;  //award bonus for a winning streak this big or better
%game.WARN_AT_NUM_OBJREM = 2;    //display warning when player has only this many or less objectives left
%game.MAX_CHEATDEATHS_ALLOWED = 1;

Killing your assigned target scores; killing anyone else — a bystander to you — costs a point. Three or more target kills in a row without dying triggers a streak bonus, and clearing every assigned target first earns a flat +5. Deaths are free; only suicide is penalised.

MAX_CHEATDEATHS_ALLOWED = 1 is a small anti-abuse detail worth noting on its own: the comment identifies CTRL+K and leaving the mission area as the “cheat death” methods it is capping, meaning Bounty specifically defends against a player ducking a pursuer by suiciding repeatedly rather than fighting. Exceed the limit and the player is “labeled a cheater” — the file does not implement a punishment beyond that label, leaving enforcement to an admin watching for it.

No static defence

Bounty bans an entire category of items outright, at the top of the file [script]:

$InvBanList[Bounty, "TurretOutdoorDeployable"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "TurretIndoorDeployable"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "ElfBarrelPack"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "MortarBarrelPack"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "PlasmaBarrelPack"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "AABarrelPack"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "MissileBarrelPack"] = 1;
$InvBanList[Bounty, "Mine"] = 1;

Every deployable turret and barrel pack, plus mines. Bounty is built around player-versus-player hunting, and static defence would let a target camp behind emplacements rather than being found — banning the category is a cleaner fix than trying to balance around it. $InvBanList is a general mechanism, keyed by gametype name; any gametype can populate it. See Turrets and deployables.