Bombing Run
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Bombing Run (abbreviated BR) is a team-based gametype in the Unreal Tournament first-person shooter series, introduced in Unreal Tournament 2003. It can best be described as Unreal-style American football where the goal of the game is to grab the ball, take it through enemy territory, and score in the opposition's goal. Players can pass the ball to other teammates by launching the ball to them. The ball carrier drops the ball when they are killed. Just like American football's scoring system, if the ball carrier manages to run through the goal or launch the ball into it, the ball carrier's team is awarded with 7 and 3 points respectively. The ball carrier regenerates 3 hit points per second until the traditional health limit (100) is reached, but the ball carrier cannot attack while in possession of the ball.
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[edit] Overview
Bombing Run, as described by the masters of the genre, is an all-out simulation of a generic team-versus-team ball game. BR-Football is just one map in this genre that simulates American football. It is a symmetrical map with 2 goals on either side of the field. This is not one of the stock maps packaged with the game.
In general, BR maps are geometrically symmetric with a single axial plane of symmetry, although this is not always the case. Bombing Run maps tend to have good open fields to pass, which include clever placement of ledges, platforms, etc. for trickjumping. These maps are usually quite big, which allows players to effectively retreat in order to defend one's own goal. Strategic weapon emplacements are also characteristic for the defenders to have an effective weapon to kill the ball carrier; the shock rifle and rocket launcher are favorites in BR and typically placed near the goal, although the offense may see it as tedious. The standard Bombing Run maps are most often played in the nwBR (normal weapon Bombing Run) version of the gametype, which shows how hard it is to make a balanced Bombing Run map. In the iBR (instagib Bombing Run) version, more custom-made maps are played, and tactics are not as effective because one hit with the super shock rifle (the instagib weapon) will instantly kill.
The same dynamics that are felt by football players, basketball players and other team-versus-team ball game players in their real-life games can be simulated and experienced while playing Bombing Run. However, due to the gametype's relatively high demand of physical and mental capacity, it has not gained much popularity and Epic Games plans to discontinue the gametype in Unreal Tournament 2007. Some people did not seem to appreciate maneuverability demands of the gametype. There have been several attempts to revive BR, with new servers which had better ping than the old school jolt server which was the only BR server for a long time in UT2004. BR is currently under another attempt to revive the gametype's popularity; the jolt BR server is not as popular as it once was, but there is a new BR server titled "UUTF & Friends public BR server".
Unlike any other Unreal genre, the score in terms of points in Bombing Run does not necessarily reflect the success of the player. For example, one common strategy in Bombing Run is to commit suicide when the enemy ball carrier is entering the player's territory while the player is too deep within enemy territory to kill the ball carrier. After committing suicide, the player will likely respawn close enough to the enemy ball carrier in order to kill and gain possession of the ball. Obviously, the UT2004 point allocation system would mark a player negatively for a suicide, but in certain maps, such as BR-Colossus (perhaps the most popular map in the genre), this strategy works well against a fast but amateur player. This strategy is not exclusive to BR, but it is the most effective among the UT gametypes.
[edit] Origin
Bombing Run was added to the Unreal Tournament series after the success of the the mod FragBall for the original Unreal Tournament. Many Fragball players consider it a superior game to Bombing Run.
Unlike Boming Run, FragBall does not prevent the player with the ball from using weapons. To throw the ball, players must equip the Impact hammer (Unreal Tournament's mêlée weapon)
There are rarely FragBall servers online, and the single player play is acceptable but not spectacular. FragBall is most often played on LAN parties.
[edit] Ball-handling and point system
There are several options that the player is faced with when they pick up the ball. The most instinctive option is to charge all the way to the enemy goal while attempting to dodge every shot for survival. It is very dangerous, but if the player manages to score this way, they (i.e. only the player) are rewarded 10 or 4 points if they run through the goal or launch the ball through it, respectively. Other teammates do not receive points, but the team's score increases by 7 or 3 (respectively).
The ball can also be passed to a teammate. When this is done and the ball carrier scores, the ball carrier's points are again determined by the system explained above. Half of the ball carrier's awarded points are also added to each teammate who had touched the ball during the possession. Hence, for example, if the ball carrier runs through the goal and receives 10 points, each teammate who touched the ball during the possession receives 5 points. If the ball is given to the opposition, the possession is over.
If the ball carrier is killed by an enemy player, the player receives 3 points for the kill plus 12 adrenaline. A ball carrier also receives 25 adrenaline when scoring a goal. In BR, the typical kill results in 2 adrenaline, as opposed to 5 adrenaline per kill in deathmatch (DM).
BR inculcates several key skills that are not predominant in the other gametypes of UT:
- Ball running
- Ball passing
- Field goal scoring
- Blocking
[edit] Bombing Run styles
- Standard: the most common style, which is all-around: getting the ball, passing, teamplay, and killing ball carriers and opponent defenders.
- Deathmatch (DM): the player attempts to as much kills as possible during a match.
- BR-only or Ball running: with aggressive play for the ball, the player picks up the ball on several occasions and often passes it to teammates. Players who use this style do not kill much, and many of the cases are telefrags. GoldenSun — a famous BR-only player — popularized this style among other BR players.
- Camping: the player stays put within their own territory, normally near the goal, in order to make their goal more difficult to score on.
- Ball spamming: spamming of projectile (non-hitscan) weapons (e.g. rockets, shock combos, flak balls) on the ball.
- Assrunning or Hunting: hunting specific enemies who are threats to the team's defense. Ball runners and DMers are the most common targets for hunting.
[edit] Instagib Bombing Run
Instagib Bombing Run is other than the normal Bombing Run, because peoples can kill others in one shot. Therefore popular iBR (instagib BR) maps are very similar. In general, an iBR map is basically a very large room with the bombing run ball in the middle, and the goals are located on opposite sides. The main tactic is getting the ball as quick as possible, and shooting it into the goal with super shock rifle. It is difficult to master, but the team is rewarded with the aforementioned 3 points. When a player has enough adrenaline, they may also have a chance to score after using the speed combo.
Also, iBR can be played with several mutators, this will make the gaming, faster, more dynamic and a lot more of blood is spilled during a match, because one shot kills. This all due to faster gamespeed, multidodging and low gravity.
[edit] Boost-shots
Mastering a so called boost-shot (shooting the ball and then shooting it with super shock rifle to correct its trajectory and increase its speed) is very important in Instagib Bombing Run. Also important is fast reaction and movement skill. So as to be able to pick up the ball without getting shot and score a goal or try to survive and pass it to a teammate which has a higher potency to score a goal.
[edit] Bombing Run maps
[edit] Popular nwBR maps
The following is a list of popular normal-weapon Bombing Run maps (in alphabetical order):
- BR-Anubis
- BR-Colossus
- BR-Disclosure
- BR-Icefields
- BR-Skyline
- BR-TwinTombs
[edit] iBR maps
Popular maps are
- EX3-Stellar Tennis
- EX3-Saratoga Rock
- EX3-Buzzed and Bashing
- EX3-Romra Station
- HOG-Unspunout
[edit] iBR clans
These are some of the most popular clans which the iBR/BR community ever had:
- Lost In Darkness Website: http://www.lostindarkness.net
- Non Plus Ultra
- Forsakens Website: http://www.forsakens.de
- Omega Website: http://www.clan-omega.com/
- Team Over Scare Website: http://www.team-tos.com
