Thanks for the tips! I figured out the avril alt-button trick last night, and suddenly I had a purpose as a foot soldier. I liked hiding up in the rocks above the pass and lighting up vehicles around the first node.
Does anyone have any tips on how to be effective with the infantry weapons? I feel like I’m in combat with dancers from the Bolshoi ballet, and the weapon feedback isn’t all that great.
Unfortunately, for this map, it seems infantry is best designed with support roles as anti-artillery and replenishment. Its a shame when more people don’t realize how effective even two Link gun users can be in fixing nodes, 3 moreso.
I wonder if the game is designed to be primarily a vehicle game, because that’s what the volume of vehicles is telling me from this map.
The ability to create a number of .ini files that reconfigure the layout of the node connections is kind of neat. A number of server admins haven’t figured out that the “randomly reconfigure nodes” doesn’t do it by itself, it merely reads in all the node .ini files you’ve created and then randomly picks one.
The “text-to-speech” feature for the text based chat messages is hilarious in use. It’s like having Stephen Hawking playing along side you.
Heavy play is really showing the warts on that Onslaught map, but a few tweaks could make it better. We’ll see if Epic really treats this as the beta that they call it.
I was on a team last night that broke out of our base and ended up winning the map, but it wasn’t easy. In addition to controlling Redeemer use (I shot down three myself - use the minigun alt-fire for a good combination of accuracy and fire volume), it was key that we didn’t just run straight to the other node. I got good results taking a Manta and leaving the base from the other entrance, swinging up on the closest hill to kill all the snipers, then jumping to the other hill and doing the same. Everyone is too focused on pounding the base, and you can run around the rest of the map without ever seeing any opposing players - perfect for flanking and sniping from behind. With those hills cleared I could attack our first node from behind, which constantly disrupted the other team’s offense, and then quickly switch to the corner node when we gained back the first. I’m curious how this will work with teams that remember to guard their flanks.
Most people don’t get group tactics at all. When I would come in from behind, without fail three or four people would come after me. From the Stephen Hawking chat, they were even getting mad and starting to hunt me down. They didn’t understand that their quest for revenge or glory was killing their team, since those three or four guys missing from the frontline battle were making them lose nodes. Once we had them in their own base, I danced around on the hills and played containment to prevent anyone from doing what I had done. The Keg and shield on the top of the hill go a long way toward keeping you alive up there. The AVRiL dispenser is a big help, too.
Something else I’m learning is to always spawn at my own base. There are more weapons there, plus once the battle moves away, the Keg o’ Health and the Shield are usually sitting there unloved. Grab all the weapons and a vehicle, then you’re off to kill the enemy with a huge advantage over the people spawning at nodes.
Derek, can you point me towards some instructions for that node-connection .ini thing? I’d like to fiddle with it, but I’m having trouble finding out how it works.
To create custom links, just start a botmatch (“Instant Action”) and once the game is underway, hit ESC. On the map screen that comes up, look for the “Link Designer” button in the lower right hand side.
You’re right! I wonder how I missed that. I’m probably always too anxious to get in and shoot stuff.
The demo is actually fun. What in the hell happened?
Finally got some to play this demo last night, and MAN was I impressed. I really enjoyed UT2003, and UT2004 is even better in almost every way. I am putting my pre-order down for this one ASAP.
I take it back. Onslaught is actually fun, even on that dinky map. The rest are excercises in either boredom(CTF) or pointless attrition(Assault).
Epic. Hi. Put Onslaught in a box and ship.
Tip for breaking out from your base:
Remember that you can’t spawn at link nodes that are under attack. So when you make you push for the nearest node, if you have the Raptor strafe the nearby tank node, or snipe it or whatever, they won’t be able to spawn there.
I tend to think the Tank is overrated, but when the Tank spawns in firing range of the enemy node as it does when they have YOUR tank node, it can be a game breaker. You have to harass that node during your attack.