Configuration Tutorial

The following page describes the complete sequence to install Boost, configure a game arena and set the game running.

Installation

• Download the Boost jar file from its Spigot page.
• Place the jar file into the plugins sub-directory of your Spigot or Paper server.
• Start or re-start your server.

Boost will create a sub-directory boost under plugins and create its initial configuration files in that plugins/boost sub-directory.

Boost has permissions that you can assign but initially you may not need to. All server-OP players will be able to run any Boost configuration commands. Any regular, non-OP, players will be able to use any Boost player commands (join and leave games, and query player statistics).

You will need to build and otherwise interact with the world normally to set up game arenas, but in normal operation Boost actively stops modification of the world. At this point it is easiest to disable Boost. All configuration commands will remain active even with Boost disabled but it will stop blocking your ability to build and it will stop attempting to teleport you to any pre-set lobby location.

• Run /boost off.

Language

Boost can switch languages in game. You can also add translation into your own language.

• You can switch language in game by using /boost language xx, replacing xx with the code of the language you want to use, e.g. /boost language cn to switch to Chinese.
• /boost language en will switch back to English, which uses the configuration files with no prefix.

Creating a Boost world

In its initial configuration, Boost is active (and takes control of certain actions) in all worlds. This is suitable if you are running a server dedicated to Boost.

You can instead have a single server with one or more normal worlds (e.g. survival) and keep Boost in its own world with the following procedure. In this case, Boost event handling and many commands work only in the world(s) designated as Boost worlds.

• Use Multiverse or other multi-world plugin to create a world for Boost. For this tutorial we'll assume the world name is "boostgame".
• Teleport to your new world, "boostgame".
• Run /boost addgameworld boostgame.
• If you make a typo or add the wrong world, use /boost removegameworld xx, replacing xx with the unwanted world name that you want to remove.

Game Arenas and Lobbies

Each Boost game requires a game arena where the game will be played and may have a queuing lobby where players who have joined the game wait for the game to start. Boost supports multiple simultaneous games, each with their own game arena.

Main Lobby

Since Boost can support multiple game arenas, you need a main lobby. Upon joining the Boost game world (or server) players will be teleported to the main lobby.

• Create an area for your main lobby however you like. There are no special requirements for the main lobby design.
• Stand in your main lobby area at the point where you want players to appear when they join the Boost world or server. This is the same concept as the "spawn" point you would normally set in a world.
• Run /boost setmainlobby.

You can re-run this command to change the main lobby spawn point in the future if necessary.

Now that you have specified the world in which Boost should run and set a main lobby spawn point, you can re-enable Boost if you want to.

• Run /boost on.

The next steps may involve building if you do not have pre-built lobbies and arenas.

• Run /boost build to enter "build" mode. This will set you into creative mode and allow you to remove and place blocks.

Queuing Lobby

The function of a game's queuing lobby is to visibly separate those players that have joined a game that is queuing to start. However, this is an option not a requirement. You are free to use the same lobby for both the main lobby and the game queuing lobby. Note that you have the option to enable players to practice boosting themselves while queuing for a game, so a game queuing lobby may need to be more enclosed to prevent players escaping into other areas.

Game Arena

Boost is a game where you try to cause other players to fall by "boosting" them up and off their platforms, without you falling such that you are the last player who has not fallen. The general concept of a Boost game arena is therefore one or more platforms. These can be at different heights or spread out horizontally or a mix of the two. A player targets the blocks that another player is standing on. It is possible to do this from underneath another player's platform, so platforms that are one block thickness are good for this.

For an initial try at a game arena I suggest creating three or more platforms floating above the ground level.

• If they are arranged vertically, make sure that they are not exactly aligned with each other when looking from the top. Generally you will want sometimes to be able to land on a lower platform when boosted off a higher platform. A reasonable vertical spacing is 10-16 blocks apart vertically.
• If they are arranged horizontally, a reasonable spacing is probably 10 blocks apart horizontally.

It is not necessary to enclose the game arena in a box. A Boost game arena has a start spawn point and a losing ground level. There is no horizontal limit that you need to define. Arenas can be as large as you want. You will want to ensure that players cannot jump to any place where they can safely remain above the losing ground level and never get out, for example escaping back into a lobby.

There is an alternate win condition that, instead of being the last player still on a platform, you can aim to be the first to reach a specified height. You can also enable both conditions in the same game.

Creating a Game

The following steps will create a game configuration.

• Choose a name for your Boost game. For this example I will use "Boost1". Wherever you see "Boost1" in the commands below, you can substitute your chosen game name if it is different.
• Run /boost creategame Boost1 to create the game "Boost1". This creates the initial configuration node for the game with a few default settings. The game is not ready to play at this point and players will not be able to join it even if there are other games already created that they can join.
• Run /boost setgametype Boost1 elimination to set the type of game play to eliminate other players.
  A popular alternative is /boost setgametype Boost1 race to set the type of game play to race to the top.
• Move to the point in the game's queuing lobby where you want players to be teleported when they join the game before it starts. As noted above, this could also be in your main lobby.
• Run /boost setlobby Boost1.
• Move to the point in the game's arena where you want players to spawn when the game starts. If you have made a vertical arrangement of platforms then probably the best initial choice is the top platform.
• Position yourself in the centre of the platform.
• Run /boost setstart Boost1 Start1, where Start1 is the name of your first start spawn (and only start spawn unless you add others later).
• Measure the distance in blocks from your start position to near the edge of the platform. For this example I will assume that the platform is at least 10 blocks across and the start position is in the centre. I will therefore use a measurement of 4 from the start position to near the edge.
• Run /boost setspread Boost1 Start1 4 where 4 can be any measurement that suits your start platform.
• If your game type is "elimination", move to the point where you want players who lose to spawn in spectator mode for the remainder of the game.
• If your game type is "elimination", run /boost setloss Boost1.
• You must set one of either the losing ground level or the winning ceiling level, or the game will never end. You can set both on one game arena.
• If your game type is "elimination", drop to the ground under your platforms. If you have built in a void world, fly down to a point under the platforms but ensure you are higher than -1.
  Run /boost setground Boost1. This is setting the "ground" level at which a falling player is considered to have lost and is then out of that game.
• If your game type is "race", fly up to the winning platform level.
  Run /boost setceiling Boost1. This is setting the "ceiling" level at which a player is considered to have won, regardless of how many other players are still in the game.

Your game now has a basic configuration ready for play. There are some defaults that you can change later, such as minimum players to start, countdown time to start, coloured display name.

• Run /boost showgameconfig Boost1 to display the current configuration of your game in chat.

Signs

Boost can use sign clicks to join and leave games, and to query the leader board and a player's own game statistics. Sign clicks are recognised based on the text on the sign. Boost sign configuration commands will set the text on the signs correctly for each of the sign click functions.

• In the main lobby, place a sign that you want players to click to join the example game "Boost1".
• Face the sign and run /boost setsign join Boost1. The sign should be given three lines of text: "[Boost]", "Click to join" and "Boost1".
• In the queuing lobby for the game Boost1, place a sign that you want players to click to leave the game before it starts.
• Face the sign and run /boost setsign leave.
• In the main lobby, place a sign for players to see their game statistics and run /boost setsign stats.
• In the main lobby, place a sign to fetch the overall leader board and run /boost setsign top.
• In the main lobby, place a sign to fetch the weekly leader board and run /boost setsign top weekly.

If you have one sign above another on a wall, I have found you need to look about where the sign post would be if it were a free standing sign, rather than directly at the sign. If the signs are all at one level then it just works.

Open the Game to Players

At this point your game is still not queuing, so players cannot join. This is intentional to protect new games so that you can build without players joining the half-built game.

• If you are still in build mode Boost will not allow you to use the signs or join games. Run /boost nobuild to exit build mode.
• For a one-off test you can run /boost queue Boost1. This will start the game queuing so you can join it and test it. When someone has won the game will stop.
• Run /boost autoqueue Boost1 on when your game is properly ready. This will enable automatic queuing for your game. This means that it will start queuing when the server is started and it will start queuing again immediately that a game finishes.

If you are attempting to test an arena by yourself, you will need to set the minimum player count to 1 using /boost setminplayers Boost1 1.

Boost Sticks

Permissions