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''Unreal Tournament'', '''''UT''''', or '''''UT99''''' is a popular First-person Shooter Video Game . It is Epic Games 's 1999 follow-up title to '' Unreal '' and focuses mainly on Multiplayer action. It was launched in direct competition to Id 's '' Quake III Arena '' which was released 10 days later. Although ''Quake III Arena'' has superior graphics and though its engine was more widely adopted, ''UT'' had both vastly superior Bot AI , "alternate fire" for weapons which introduced a further element of strategy, and more varied multiplayer capabilities. Its huge multiplayer success was rewarded by various "Best Game of the Year" awards. As with the original ''Unreal'', the ease with which players can create and release Mods to the core game is a key factor contributing to ''UT's'' longevity. ''UT'' improved upon the mod-friendly nature of its predecessor with support for '' Mutators ''. ''UT'' was also released on PlayStation 2 in 2000 and on Sega Dreamcast in 2001. Both versions allow for four players via splitscreen. The Dreamcast version has 8-player online support while the PlayStation 2 does not. GAMEPLAY ''UT'' and '' Quake III Arena '' both feature Deathmatch , team deathmatch, and Capture The Flag ; however, unique to ''UT'' was the "Assault" mode. With two teams taking turns, the attacking team tries to achieve objectives and pass through checkpoints within a certain time limit while the defenders use fortifications and defenses to hold the attackers back. Once the objectives have been achieved or the time has expired, the opposing sides switch to see which team has the better time for completing the objectives. It was said that many gamers bought ''UT'' solely because of the "Overlord" Assault map which simulated the famous World War II D-day beachhead assault on the Battle Of Normandy (although "Overlord" is closer to Juno Beach instead due to both having heavy gun batteries which the Omaha defenses lacked). Although the original release of ''UT'' had a small selection of Assault maps, there are many user-created maps, the most popular being Assault Bonus Pack 4.18 which received the endorsement of ''UT'' designer Cliff Bleszinski . Because of time constraints, Assault mode was removed from the follow up game, '' Unreal Tournament 2003 '', but was included once again in '' Unreal Tournament 2004 '' which was a superset of ''UT2003''. However, the Assault gametype has not been announced as being in the upcoming '' Unreal Tournament 2007 '', due to be released in 2006. ]] ''UT'' is also known for "domination", a gametype that pits teams against one another to maintain ownership of markers. Once these markers are held for a certain period of time, the team gains a point. This mode of gameplay was first seen as early as 1997 in the Quake Team Fortress map canalzone, but became popular thanks to its inclusion in ''UT'', and was later adopted by other games, including Bungie Software 's Halo 2 , under the name "Territories." Although the game was mainly intended for multiplayer use, it also includes a single player game that allows a player to play all of the gametypes that are available for multiplayer. The single player mode of the game has no real story beyond the player attempting to beat the current "Champion of the Tournament", Xan Kriegor. ''UT'' is known and widely praised for its A.I. . The player can choose a skill level (anywhere from "Novice" to "Godlike") for the bots to use in both single player and multiplayer games. In the multiplayer portion, bots can be further customized by changing names, appearance, accuracy, weapon preferences, awareness, and so forth. Weapons
Translocator The translocator is a small disc shot from a launcher. The player can then Teleport to the disc's location, including in midair or on top of a high ledge. Two popular translocator techniques used throughout ''UT'' are telepunting and Telefragging . ''Telepunting'' is a movement technique allowing for quick traversals of large open areas, reducing the likelihood of unwanted engagements. It is when the user "punts" the disc off the ground with a Shock Combo or a blow from the Impact Hammer. This trick is especially useful in Capture the Flag, as it allows for rapid flag-capture attempts without the long delay of traveling from base to base. This tactic is somewhat offset when the often used option to disallow flag carriers to use their translocator is enabled. The translocator is also used to perform the ''telefrag'', an instant death move in which the user translocates into the space occupied by another player. While this may seem unbalanced, it is usually only effective at close range and after a great deal of practice. It must be noted, however, that when the disc is disabled, at which point its usually blinking light goes out, the translocator's owner will themself get telefragged. This makes leaving the disc behind quite risky as it is likely to be spotted and disabled by the opponents. COMMUNITY As of August 2005, there remains an active but dwindling ''UT'' online community with a few thousand ''UT'' dedicated players online in multiplayer combat at any one time. It is easy to find a game any time of the day. For instance, from later in the evening to late at night, games in countries on the other side the globe can be found. At four A.M. in the United States, there are active servers in Europe where it is already lunchtime. From the hours of approximately eight A.M. until ten P.M. in the United States it is very easy to find a full server of Deathmatch, Capture the flag or Team Deathmatch. Unfortunately, at this time there are few hours of the day when a full Assault or Domination server can be found. Also dwindling are the leagues that once existed for competitive play. One such league, the Proving Grounds, was arguably the longest lasting and most respected gaming league for ''UT'' that ever existed. Unfortunately, the Proving Grounds closed its doors in 2004 to the dismay of many online clans who actively played in the United States based league. One active Assault league called UTassault is European-based and provides a great community in which the best assaulters from around the world compete for the title of best assault clan. However, since it is European-based and all games must be played on European servers, non European assaulters have a very difficult time climbing the ranks due to excessive network latency. Also in existence is the '' ProUnreal '' {Link without Title} league which was mainly started as a CTF league but has adopted some of the orphaned Proving Grounds competitors. This league is based in North America and includes newer Epic ''Unreal'' Series games such as ''UT2003'' and ''UT2004''. ''UT'' is an aging game, and many new players come and go. This may be due to several factors. First, a high skill level is needed to compete in many of the existing servers. Many of those who still play ''UT'' are or were at one time dedicated to the game much as a professional athlete would dedicate himself to his sport. Many of these player are very skilled, know the maps in and out, know the location and use of all secrets and powerups, and use weapons in ways that newer players would probably never discover. Second, many modern servers are heavily modified and require downloading the altered files, a task which can be very time consuming for players with slower connections. Third, because of the prevalent cheating in the game, the game engine has been modified multiple times to versions 436 and 451. This latest release came about by the joint efforts of the game's modding scene, united as UTPG.org, wanting to keep ''UT'' up to date after Epic Games stopped supporting the title. Clients can but do not have to apply this patch, as they can still connect to 451 servers while running version 436. A public beta of UTPG for the port. Internal betas have been released to his testing group, Mac Ninjas, and Gordon has stated publicly that the project will be completed some day, although not by any fixed deadline as it is a volunteer effort. By far the largest faction of the ''UT'' online gaming community is the European one, largely based (but not ending) at ClanBase , the largest online gaming community in the world which spans nearly all major online multiplayer games. There are also grass-roots gaming communities, which frown upon using the term "clan," (e.g., s Cubed ). ''UT'' has also been kept alive thanks to its dedicated CTF community, consisting of a number of devoted players who have resisted both changes to the Unreal Tournament series and modern FPS titles. However, the game shows no signs of slowing down just yet. Due to the age and status of the game, it has proven to pose a steep learning curve for new players to the online community. Now thanks to new gametypes such as the "Spamcup" mod, now in its third season as a hosted cup on ClanBase new clans and players are encouraged to take part alongside seasoned veterans and regular players alike. There are also more minor factions which support more particular communities. For example, PiPGN (the Primus Inter Pares Gaming Network) is an online gaming community supporting a very dedicated Sniper Arena community (and, of course, welcoming others!). MLUT The ''Unreal Tournament'' community of Capture The Flag and Team Deathmatch began a league of their own. The site which was designed by ''UT'' players is a drafting league like the major leagues such as the NFL and NBA. In MLUT there are player sign ups and captain sign ups that are announced in the mainly used IRC by the ''UT'' community. After the signups each person is given a ranking based on salary. After salarys are posted, the picking begins. Each captain has a certain salary cap that they can not go over during the rounds of picking so one team cannot be "stacked" and have a unfair advantage. There have currently been 9 successful Capture the Flag seasons and there is word of a 10th to come soon in late March of 2006. NAAT The North American Assault Team has organized the UA (Unreal Alliance) a team of some of the best Assaulters from the United States, Canada, and even some European players to compete in the european UT Assault League . SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Microsoft Windows
Mac OS
Mac OS X
Linux
MOD SUPPORT Selected mods and mutators for ''UT'':
CHEAT CODES These codes can be used in the single player game by typing them in the console, by default the ~ key.
EXTERNAL LINKS
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