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Zeroping Quickstart

Using Zeroping Online

You don't need to download anything to play with Zeroping on the Internet. When you connect to a Zeroping-enabled game server, Unreal Tournament will automatically download a 30kb file that contains everything you need. Just play normally. The Sniper Rifle, the Shock Rifle, the Instagib gun and the Enforcer will all fire instantly, with no lag at all.

Finding Zeroping Servers

All Zeroping servers begin with "zp|", so look for games with names like "zp| Another UT Server". To make it easier, you can click on the "Server" tab in the upper left corner of the UT server browser to sort games alphabetically, then look for the Zeroping server with the best connection.

The Zeroping Taste Test

The Zeroping Instagib rifle has two firing modes: with and without Zeroping. Its primary fire mode is zp-optimized; its secondary mode uses Epic's original networking code. Compare & contrast.

New Features

Goal of the Zeroping Beta

The Alpha release of Zeroping showed that client-side hitscan can give modem players much better gameplay. The goal of the Beta release is to prove that this can be done without altering the laws of physics, making low-ping players suffer, or making it easier to cheat.

What's new in the Beta

Here's what's new in Zeroping 1.0:

  • Can't get hit after ducking behind a corner
  • Can't run around killing people while lagged
  • Fixed shots that hit, but seem to miss
  • Fixed shots that miss, but seem to hit
  • Added commands to enable/disable ZP on your own weapons
  • Fixed Instagib rifle sometimes failing to fire
  • Can't kill the same person twice in a row with double headshots
  • Encrypted net traffic to prevent proxy hacks
  • Optimized net traffic to reduce bandwidth use
  • Fixed double "zp|" bug
  • Fixed bug that prevented "zp|" from showing up with UT 413
  • Fixed double flash on shock rifle
  • Removed annoying Zeroping message

About Zeroping

What is Zeroping?

Zeroping is a mutator that replaces Unreal Tournament's normal, server-side hit test code with client-side routines. Since Zeroping checks to see if your shot was a hit on your own computer, your weapons will fire instantly, and be much easier to aim. You'll still see a lag between your shot and your victim's death, but that won't affect your accuracy at all.

What Zeroping Does

Zeroping optimizes the primary fire modes of the following weapons:

  • Sniper Rifle
  • Shock Rifle
  • Instagib rifle
  • Enforcer
These weapons will fire the instant you press fire, no matter what your ping is, and they'll hit whatever is in your crosshairs. Zeroping makes these weapons as accurate as they are on a LAN.

What Zeroping Does Not Do

Zeroping does not:

  • Affect your movement.
  • Enhance rapid-fire weapons. A later version will.
  • Enhance projectile weapons like the rocket launcher. The idea behind Zeroping just doesn't apply to them.
  • Reduce your ping. Zeroping just makes your ping seem low.
  • Work with Last Man Standing. Instagib LMS works fine with Zeroping, though.

Running a Zeroping Server

Installing Zeroping

Installing Zeroping is easy, but requires a little more than opening the umod file. Zeroping has a code package that clients must download, so you'll have to let Unreal Tournament know about it by adding a line to UnrealTournament.ini, as explained in the next section. The file zp_modify_ini_v100.umod will add this line automatically, but you must remember to remove it manually when you uninstall Zeroping.

Here's how to install Zeroping:

  1. Quit Unreal Tournament
  2. Uninstall any old version of Zeroping (see below)
  3. Install Zeroping.umod by double-clicking on it
  4. Add a line to UnrealTournament.ini (see below)
  5. Restart UT, and start a game with one zp mutator

Modifying UnrealTournament.ini

Modifying your UnrealTournament.ini file is the only tricky part of installing Zeroping. You can have modify it automatically with the zp_modify_ini_v100.umod, but you'll have to remember to delete the line manually when you uninstall Zeroping.

The line goes at the bottom of the Engine|GameEngine section of UnrealTournament/System/UnrealTournament.ini. The line is:

ServerPackages=Zeroping_v100
If you choose to add this line manually, you should put it after all other "ServerPackages=" lines. If you want to add it automatically, just double-click on "zp_modify_ini_v100.umod", and hit next a bunch of times. Either way, you must manually remove this line to do any of the following:

  • Start a server without a Zeroping mutator active
  • Install a new version of Zeroping
  • Uninstall Zeroping

Starting a Zeroping Game

Zeroping should work with all versions of Unreal Tournament up to 405b. When 406 comes out, I'll test it and release a new version if necessary. To start a Zeroping server, make sure your UnrealTournament.ini is properly modified (see below), then start a game with one of the Zeroping mutators. These mutators are:

  • Zeroping - Standard weapons, with Zeroping optimization.
  • Zeroping AccuGib - Instagib, with Zeroping optimization.
  • Zeroping ShockArena - All weapons replaced by Zeroping Shock Rifles.
  • Zeroping SniperArena - All weapons replaced by Zeroping Sniper Rifles.
Do not use Zeroping with the standard UT Instagib, ShockArena, or SniperArena mutators. Use the Zeroping equivalents instead. Don't use the zp mutators in combination, either; one is always enough. You should check "Always use this Mutator configuration" so that you never forget to include a Zeroping mutator.

If you want to start a server from the command line or a batch file, use the following mutator names:
  • for Zeroping, use ZPServer.ZeroPing
  • for Zeroping AccuGib, use ZPServer.AccuGib
  • for Zeroping ShockArena, use ZPServer.ZP_ShockArena
  • for Zeroping SniperArena, use ZPServer.ZP_SniperArena
For example, to start a zeroping Instagib CTF game on Face:
ucc server CTF-Face.unr?mutator=ZPServer.Accugib
To start low-grav zp Sniper Arena DM on Conveyor:
ucc server DM-Conveyor.unr?mutator=BotPack.LowGrav,ZPServer.ZP_SniperArena

Starting a Non-Zeroping Game

If you want to run a game without Zeroping, you must remove the line mentioned above from UnrealTournament.ini. If you don't, players will autodownload Zeroping even though you're not using it. To play with Zeroping again later, put the line back in.

Uninstalling Zeroping

Again, the only trick to uninstalling Zeroping is the ServerPackages line. When you uninstall Zeroping, you have to remember to manually edit UnrealTournament.ini to remove it. Other than that, uninstalling Zeroping is a cinch:

  1. Quit Unreal Tournament
  2. Run UnrealTournament/System/Setup.exe, and remove the Zeroping mod(s) you installed
  3. Double-click on UnrealTournament/System/UnrealTournament.ini, and delete the ServerPackages line that refers to Zeroping
  4. Restart UT, and play

Help & Feedback

You'll always be able to find the most recent version of Zeroping, current release notes, and troubleshooting information at my web site: http://zeroping.home.att.net. Please email me with any bugs, comments, questions, or insane rants: zeroping@att.net.

My name, by the way, is John Fraser.