Crypt Wars

Crypt Wars is the first ZestyGame to be released that was made entirely by members of Zedwork. It is a team based capture the flag game with PvE elements. Crypt Wars runs on version 1.12.2. Players collect loot in the dungeons to fight the opposing team and mobs, and must venture though them to climb the tower and reach the flag.

Game Mechanics

Joining Teams and Starting the Game

When you first join the game you will start in a building with a brief introduction of how to play. To join a team, leave this building and go up the stairs on the opposite side of the lobby and walk into the tower of the team you want to join and stand on the pressure plates inside. To start the gameboth teams must stand on the pressure plates on the top of thier towers. Once the game is running you can still join, but will be auto assigned to teams. Simply stand on the pressure plates where the stairs used to be.

You can also choose to spectate the game by standing on the pressure plate in the white tent.

Flag

The flag is the item your team must retrieve in order to win. It looks like a floating black banner, and can be picked up by walking into it. It will attach to a player in this way until thier death. When the flag is picked up it blinds the person carrying it, leaving them vunerable to attack. Green particles will point the flag carrier in the general direction of thier base, and they should follow these home. In order to take the flag off the opposing team you must kill the person carrying it, at which point it can be picked up again.

Capture Area

When the flag is in a teams capture area a countdown begins. If the flag remains there for 2 minutes then that team will win. The capture area is the square area between the two middle towers of a teams base and does not include thier spawn or side towers. It is marked by gold particles when the flag enters it.

Crypts

The tower that houses the flag at the start of the game must first be accessed by venturing though the crypts. They contain monster spawners and have a randomised layout, but also contain lots of loot chests. The tower itself also contains loot and mob spawners, but has the same layout each time. Doors that can let players in from outside can be opened from the inside to allow a quick route inside for team members that die.

Loot Chests

In the interior of the tower and crypts players can find chests that contain better equipment to use in combat. The quality of this loot becomes better as the game progresses, starting out with fairly basic gear and ending up with extremely powerful diamond weapons and armor. Various items are available, including swords, bows, axes, armor and potions. Music discs can also be found which can be played using the jukebox in a teams base.

Treasure Items

Occasionally you may find items on the ground that have very special and powerful effects. They can turn the tide of battle, and thier effective use can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. There are 6 items that can be found like this.

Notch Apple

A standard notch apple, it is extremely powerful and is very useful to have in combat. It gives resistance, regeneration, absorbtion and fire resistance.

Zedwicks Head

The head of our beloved server owner, which can be worn to obtain a portion of his power. If you put it on your head lightning will strike members of the opposite team who dare to approach you.

Exterminator Bow

A very powerful bow that deals massive damage even to armored opponents. Unfortunatly it is nearly broken, and will wear out after 5 shots.

Magicians Snowball

A prop used by a magician in the glory days of the tower. Used to make rabbits appear, they have been stuck in there too long and have developed a terrible bloodthirst. It will spawn 6 killer bunnies on impact when thrown.

Levitation Mine

This can be placed on the ground to leave a mine. It will inflict levitation on the opposing team when it goes off, and is very effective defensivly. It can be disarmed safely by hitting it with an arrow or weapon. The colour of the wool on the levitation mine indicates the team that placed it.

Regenerator

When placed this will give all players regeneration, regardless of their team. Can be used as a stalling tool in order to capture the flag and win the game.

Tactics

The general aim of the game is to simply carry the flag to your base and defend it. However, this becomes more complicated to do when the other team is trying to take it off you.

The importance of loot

While the other team is busy climbing the tower to try and snatch a quick victory or is otherwise occupied it is often a good idea to try and find good loot in the dungeon. This will give you a better chance of defeating them when met in combat. Even if the other team has the flag in thier base a quick trip to the dungeon is often better than being killed immediatly and respawning at the other side of the map.

Chests inside the bases can be used to safely store loot for later, and having a good stock helps greatly in the later stages of the game when spending time rummaging through dungeon chests is undesirible.

Defending

Once your team has the flag you will want to defend its carrier as well as possible. Leaving them on thier own at the base while the enemy assaults it will lead to it being quickly lost and carried across the map. If the whole team is defending it will be much easier to keep the flag. The fireball cannons on the side towers can be used to try and defend but are difficult to use effectivly.

Key defensive items:

• Armor
• Healing and regeneration potions
• Steak, providing more regeneration than the default carrots.
• Sheilds, which provide 100% damage immunity until they wear out
• Weakness potions to reduce damage from enemy attacks
• Regenerator for a burst of healing
• Levitation Mine to confuse enemy players
• Magicians Snowball to make certain areas dangerous to pass.

Attacking

If the other team has the flag in thier base your team will be wanting to take it off them. One of the most common reasons for loss in Crypt Wars is an uncoordinated attack on the enemy base, with each player making a charge one after the other and being swiftly dispatched by the enemy. Attacking as a group is far more likely to be successful. It should be noted that pushing the flag carrier out of the capture area, even for a second, will reset the teams capture timer and give extra time to gather loot for a final assualt. The fireball cannons on a teams base can be very useful for attackers if they can gain access to them.

Key offensive items:

• Weapons
• Poison and harming potions
• Knockback to push the flag carrier out of the capture area
• Exterminator Bow
• Magicians Snowball can make the capture area very uncomfortable