A competition ladder is a structured list of players who are competing against one another for ranking on the ladder. The #1 ranked player in the list will have proven, usually through a match, that his skill is "above" the player directly below him. The #2 ranked player will have proven that he is "above" the #3 ranked player, and so on down the list, to the end.

The normal operation of a competition ladder requires the participants to play matches against one another in order to advance up the ladder. This method of competition has historically been labor intensive to administrate, especially in the case of large ladders with many games needing to be coordinated between pairs of players (who may or may not be available at similar times). An international ladder done this way would be impractical, if not impossible to administer, due to time zone differences between the players.

The Doom2.net Combat Shotgun Ladders overcome these problems by not requiring matches to be played between participants. They use the players' performances against a challenging, carefully balanced bot to create the rankings. The games against the bot are evaluated by a program, and a numeric rating is generated based upon a number of performance factors. The winners are as easy to determine as in a normal ladder, and there is also the added benefit that a player is not required to play against every single participant, in ascending order, to rise through the ladder. The bot being used is called the CMAT , and can be downloaded here .

The program that evaluates the ladder recordings is provided with the bot program itself, so players can easily check each of their performances with the bot, as soon as they are complete. So, there is no guesswork as to whether or not a particular recording should be uploaded.

Players who are competing in the ladder need only use their CMAT software to play as many times as they want against the CMAT bot, and any resulting recordings that are valid as new entries in the ladder are emailed to the ladder administrator for inclusion in the next update.

 
Explanations and rules for the Standard CMAT ladders :

Core CMAT ladder	The most well-rounded ladder available. Ranking is based upon the straight CMAT "core rating", which is a balanced result of considering accuracy, how well the player avoided damage, and how much damage was inflicted by the player per shot. Tied players are ranked by which entry was submitted more recently.
Core Accuracy ladder	Ladder rankings are based almost solely upon accuracy. Tied players are ranked by which entry has the highest Core CMAT rating.
Core AHI ladder	AHI stands for Average Hitpoint Infliction. Ladder rankings are based almost solely upon how much damage per shot the player inflicted (also known as, how few hits were required to kill the bot). Tied players are ranked by which entry has the highest Core CMAT rating.

Explanations and rules for the Doomgod CMAT ladders :

Ladder prerequisites	These ladders are only open to ladder participants who submit normal CMAT ladder demos rated 280 or higher. The Doomgod ladders utilize a different bot than the Standard ladders, and the rating is calculated on a different scale. People who have made 280+ rated CMAT recordings and want to participate in the doomgod ladder should email bahdko@erols.com for more details.
Doomgod Core ladder	Same basic ladder function as Standard Core ladder.
Doomgod Accuracy Ladder	Only zero-miss demos are eligible for inclusion on this ladder, and ranking is done by the Shot Accuracy/Real Accuracy percentage (these two stats are identical in a zero-miss demo).

Rules that apply to all ladders:

• All entries must successfully complete the CMAT. This requires, at a minimum, killing the bot, and the recording containing only that one CMAT attempt. It should also include picking up all stimpacks after killing the bot until you are at 100% health, and exiting the map.
• One nickname per person. If you want to change your nickname, that's fine, provided it is not part of an impersonation attempt.
• Should entries occur where a high rating is generated due to an unforseen bug, problem, cheat, or yet to be identified balance issue, such entries will not be useable for ladder rankings. Cheaters we catch will obviously be removed from the ladder, permanently.
• One entry can be submitted for more than one ladder, provided the entry meets all  ladder-specific requirements. 
• The CMAT rating is designed to work in conjunction with a player who is engaging the bot using more or less natural movement and aim techniques. Entries that do not resemble normal gameplay cannot be used in the ladder.
  
• Do not include documentary textfiles in your zipfile. Textfiles will not be included in the archives, nor linked from the ladder.
• Keyboard-only players are not permitted to compete in any of the ladders. Encouragement of keyboard-only configurations does not promote high deathmatch skill in the Doom2 community. Yes, we can easily identify keyboard-only recordings. Keyboarders should switch to mouse+keys.

Return to Main Combat-Shotgun Ladder Page