Alden Bates' Weblog

So, today I'm going to look at the Warfare game type and one particular example, Tank Crossing. This map, as you can see above in the screen shot which looks vaguely like it came from a CGI wallpaper site, has pretty scenery. It's also a really good example of how UT3 meshes together the Onslaught, Assault, and Bombing Run game types from UT2004.

The level consists of two bases - one in military style and the other in pagoda style. In between them is a ditch with two drawbridges over it and a node in the middle:

The node not only exposes the enemy power code to damage, but lowers the appropriate bridge so that you or your team mates can drive a tank across it:

The tank can then drive up to the side of the enemy base, where they've inexplicably installed a pressure plate which exposes their power core to damage. Note that UT3 appears to have the same glitch as UT2004, whereby the turrets of tanks are pointed the wrong way during demos:

The other team is, of course, trying to prevent this while also attempting to do the same thing from their side. The Bombing Run part of Warfare is the "orb" (which leads to the giggle-inducing announcment "GRAB YOUR ORB!") which you can pick up and carry to the node and capture it with sparkly special effects:

The orb carrier, when near a captured node, also protects the node so it can't be damaged by the opposing team, and also repairs it to maximum health. A simple way to win this map is therefore to capture the centre node, then get your orb to it an protect it long enough for your tank to get across the bridge and blow the crap out of the opposing team's power core.

Another helpful tip is that if the enemy orb is dropped, you can destroy it by jumping on it and pressing "use". Of course, this is a suicide move.

As mentioned in my previous post, UT3 doesn't have a spectator mode (at least not in the single player part). As I discovered last weekend, it does allow you to fly around in spectator mode when playing back a demo, however it also replaces all the player characters with a default skin, which is going to make icons tricky to make.

Pity.

Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing what custom levels come of the Warfare game type.

Previously: Part 1