12:00am - Start of Hour #4
Well, I just couldn't help myself. After three straight console games, I had to switch to the PC for some good old fashioned fragging in my favorite FPS and PC game of all time, Unreal Tournament. So I hopped onto irc.gameradius.org and joined #mlut for some Capture the Flag pick up games (CTF pugs). This is basically a place for other UT CTF players to sign up to play in a pug. Once ten people sign up, captains are selected, and teams are picked. There are multiple community UT servers that can be used for pugs and there are generally anywhere from 5 to 25 pugs a day.
Team #1: sLY PiTHoN m3ss Rutzy FuzzyLogic
Team #2: NANM Ezscabar Sonic barbo Woahday
1:30am - End of Hour #4 (+0.5)
Teams were picked and the server was chosen. The first captain picks the server and the second captain gets first map pick. NANM (aka NoAimNoMoves) picked CTF-NovemberCE105 and sLY picked a Dallas, Texas server for advantageous ping. (the lower your ping, the faster your connection and the easier it is to play online) This particular CTF map is known as a stalemate map due to its heavily defensive design. There is only one exit from the base and most of the powerups are in the flag room or general base area.
As such, this map remained at a score of 0-0 for most of the 20 minute regulation time. However, with about 5 minutes left, sLY made a flag run to the enemy front door where he was met by teammates PiTHoN and m3ss, who had the damage amplifier (that's me, the ampwhore). sLY gets cutdown by the enemy defense, but PiTHoN is there to make the pickup as m3ss covers him through middle and seals the base for the cap, putting Team #1 up 1-0. We managed to hold them off for the rest of regulation time and won the map 1-0.
On map 2, sLY picked CTF-Cynosure][LE105, a less popular map that has recently been added from the european UT scene. For some reason, our team just couldn't get it going on this map until late in the game after we finally switched around positions. Our lack of communication on defense lead to some early flag captures for our opponents, forcing us to push three and four players on offense to try and tie it up before OverTime. We managed to close the ga[ from 0-3 to 2-3, but we just couldn't get the equalizer in the final minutes and lost it 2-3. (Sorry no screenshot)
The TieBreaker was again their pick, and they selected CTF-McSwartzly][, an old staple map that's been around since the Quake days. It usually makes for fast-paced, action-packed games, but sadly our enemies were simply outmatched on this map. I played flag defense on this map and managed to hold the enemy attackers at bay pretty much all game, rarely letting flags out to middle. The few that did make it out were quickly cutdown by my teammates sLY, PiTHoN, and Rutzy. Meanwhile, sLY was running circles around the opposing defense, racking up a hat-trick (3 flag captures) before even half the map was over. Eventually, the opposing team left the server early, as it was clear the map/pug was over and it was already 1:35am. As such, I don't have a good screenshot of this map either. (I have one, but it only has 2 people in it.)
Things I Learned While Playing Unreal Tournament
- The translocator and the shock rifle are the best FPS weapons ever. EVER!
- Talking smack is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Hell, even the bots talk crap in this game. "You suck!" "Loser!" "Learn how to aim!" "Eat that!" "I'm on fire!" "My House!" & my personal favorite: "Ha ha ha!"
- Loque owns.
- Capture the Flag is the greatest FPS mod ever. EVER!
- I am guaranteed to kamikaze myself with rockets or dive into a lavapit at least once a map. At LEAST.
- Even after 6+ years of playing it, this is still some of the most fun I've ever had gaming. It's the multiplayer, baby!
So there you have it, the completion of Hour #4 and a half of my m3sstacular Gameathon, on my favorite 8 year old PC shooter, Unreal Tournament. As I already stated, despite its age, this is still an extremely fun game, and there is still a small community of diverse people who play it. I tried the later incarnations of Unreal (UT2k3 & UT2k4), but none of them held my attention like the original. I still have high hopes for UT3 though, as they are supposedly bringing the franchise back to its roots and making it more like UT. We'll see I guess. Until then, I'll continue to bust combos and cap flags in the best online multiplayer experience since Duke Nukem. "Let's Rock!"