| Siege: Heads Up Display (HUD)
You'll note that in Siege mode, several new things display on your screen. If they do not, it's important to enable them (check your Setup options and there should be an on/off option and/or a key to bind in Controls for "Radar," "Team Overlay," "Team Beacon" etc. these can also be enabled in the console).
Radar:
If your radar is off, turn it on by typing cg_drawradar 1 in the console.
This orange circular display in the upper right corner of your screen shows the locations of nearby allies (represented by green arrow shapes) as well as the location of MISSION OBJECTIVES represented by various icons. Radar makes it much easier to navigate towards your goals using radar. The player is shown with a white arrow, and Neutral entities are shown in yellow.
Not all objects are shown on Radar, but many important ones are.
In space combat missions (such as Asteroids and Siege Destroyer) Radar will show other things, such as enemy ships (in red), asteroids, and missiles (red for enemy, green for friendly). Objects will also appear shaped like the particular ships they are, rather than just arrows.
Radar is also used in Team FFA and CTF, though it shows far less information since you have fewer mission goals to keep track of.
Team Beacons:
Over the heads of all teammates (allies) you will see a floating icon that indicates their affiliation. The "Rebels" have a Rebellion symbol, the "Imperials" have an Imperial symbol. Note that the color will vary depending on whether a team is attacking or defending. Blue indicates a Defending Team, Red indicates an Attacking Team.
Enemies will NEVER show their beacons, only teammates. So if you remembered to turn on team beacons, then no beacon = enemy!
In neutral Spectator Mode, both sides will show their beacons above their heads.
This is different from other gametypes (CTF, Team FFA) wherein the Rebels are always Blue and the Imperials always Red.
Timer (Clock):
On the righthand side of your screen is the timer inside a box. When starting out a Siege mission the timer will count UP (from 0), talling how much time the Attacking team has used up to accomplish their goal. Normally the Attacking team will get 20-30 minutes to complete their goals before they lose and the Defending team takes the match. If the Attackers win, whatever time they used will then be given to the Defensive team, who now is attacking (roles are switched).
In round two, the timer counts DOWN (from whatever total time the previous team had at the end of round one).
Not all servers (but most) employ the Team Switching option. In the second round the new Attacking team has only the amount of time the first team took to complete their objectives. They have only to beat the first team's time by 1 second in order to win. After this the round moves on to the next map in the rotation.
The timer's numbers appear in GREEN for the Defending Team, RED, for the Attacking Team.
However when a player dies (on either side), the numbers change to GREEN. During this short time (between 1 and 20 seconds), the numbers display the amount of time before the player can respawn. While waiting the player can wander around as a virtual spectator. After spawning the timer returns to normal.
The bottom line is that the Defenders have only to "hold out" until the timer runs out (or reaches 20 or 30 minutes, whatever is the max time of the particular map) to win.
Team Overlay:
In the upper righthand corner of the screen is a display often neglected by many players. The Team Overlay displays the names of all of your teammates, surrounded by a transparent colored box (showing your team color). Remember that in Siege Red = Attackers, Blue = Defenders.
There is a lot of info shown in this display (from left to right):
Player names, Location in the map of each player, player health, player weapon (it's a little hard to make out), and player shields. A circle with a line through it next to a player's name means the player is dead and not yet respawned.
Once you know the layout of a map, using Radar and the Overlay will ensure you never lose your teammates again!
Team Overlay is also usable in CTF and Team FFA gametypes, although it omits the "location" part.
Siege Scenarios
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