Seems like everyone is using something like this nowadays, and it's unfair that mediocre players get an advantage over some good ones just because they always know the exact moment that armor will spawn. Some people seem to think it's cheating (which it's clearly not, custom sounds have always been allowed; this is even explicitly stated in the PSL rules and have received no complaint there), and some people complain that it's a cheap trick even though they use one themselves. The basic point is that this is being used by many players, and it doesn't amount to skill when such a player beats a player that doesn't have a timer.
For the record, I am not chastising anyone who is using one of these, I have one myself. I just think it's high time that this becomes public knowledge so no one is at a lame disadvantage.
Hopefully this will level the playing field and bring some new, more advanced, tactics into dueling. There are also team-mode considerations here for armor control. My hope is that it will weed out the mediocre players that win games based on a predetermined advantage and let the truly good players shine.
I can tell you quite certainly that having this will not make you a better player. For those that are worried about duel tactics being lessened by this, I can also tell you that when all players are using this it leads to some extremely tactical and positioning-based games, where map control tactics become even more interesting. In short: it makes for awesome games with good players*.
INSTRUCTIONS: Navigate to Sauerbraten/packages/sounds/free/ directory. Rename the file 'tick.wav' to back up the original armor noise. Move the tick.wav file given here into this directory. Go play a real mode (i.e. non-insta).
NOTES: This sound will play for every armor on the map, not just YA. Obviously, just as you cannot hear a pistol firing from opposite ends of a large ctf map, you will not hear announcements for every single armor on a map. You will only hear the ones you are standing near. On duel maps you can usually hear every armor on the map.
This may be obvious, but I am not taking suggestions on how to improve the sounds. You can make your own. This post is just to open it up to everyone.
*DISCLAIMER: Knowing armor spawn times does not help the unskilled. I, your beloved ConMan, claim no responsibility for your lack of improvement and/or you still losing 50-0 against decent players.