Bombing Run

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Each level has a ball that starts in the middle of the playing field. Your team scores by getting the ball through the enemy team's hoop. You score 7 points for jumping through the hoop while holding the ball, and 3 points for tossing the ball through the hoop. The ball can be passed to teammates, and is dropped if the player carrying it is killed.

Bombing Run, or BR, is a standard gametype which was introduced in Unreal Tournament 2003 and continued to Unreal Tournament 2004 but has been dropped as of Unreal Tournament 3. The object of the game is to deliver a ball, also known as "bomb" though it never causes a significant explosion, to your enemy's hoop to score points for your team.

Overview

Bombing Run is played out similarly in strategy, at times, to Capture The Flag due to its two team nature and the design of it's maps. The objective of the game is to grab a ball that spawns at the beginning of each round in the center of the map, then deliver it to the opposing team's goal. Running through the goal will score your team 7 points, while shooting the ball into the goal will score your team 3 points. When you grab the ball, you are forced to wield the Ball Launcher, preventing you from shooting at your opponents. This adds an element of strategy over simply carrying the flag in CTF. The Ball Launcher also drains the energy from the Translocator, preventing the ball carrier from tossing the ball and translocating to move faster. This option can be disabled though.

Construction and Layout

Each team in Bombing Run begins on opposite sides and possesses a Hoop. The bomb spawns in the center of the map. Maps are fairly linear and usually do not have very many routes from hoop to hoop. Hoops themselves are usually located in such a position that anyone who jumps through the hoop will die. That doesn't matter too much though, because everything, including the ball and players, are reset several seconds after a score (players respawn without losing a life and with the same inventory). The few maps that don't kill players (including BR-Colossus and BR-Bifrost) usually give something to the ball carrier after a successful score, be it some adrenaline pills or weapons.

Short view distances are common in BR to limit the ability of enemy players to kill the Ball Carrier. BR maps tend to have their health pickups in locations that aren't in the direct path from ball to hoop. Other items are scattered around the map, although there are often fewer weapons available than in other gametypes and the most powerful weapons are often near the Bomb spawn. Powerups are necessarily common.

Strategies

The best Bombing Run strategy is to pass the bomb frequently. Because the ball carrier is being hunted by the entire enemy team, that player's health is likely to be in serious jeopardy. By passing the bomb to healthier players, a team is ensured a longer run. The Ball Launcher's alt-fire is very useful for this purpose because it locks on to nearby teammates for a more accurate pass. Also, support is necessary for the Carrier to make it all the way to the enemy hoop. Lots of dodging is recommended for the Carrier. Usually everyone playing in the match will go for the ball carrier, so there isn't anyone staying behind to guard the hoop (this works because players respawn by their hoop, in the way of the Carrier).

The ball will be reset if no one touches it for fifteen seconds, or if it enters an area which will kill players. If a ball carrier is being assaulted by the enemy in his own base, a good tactic is to throw the ball off the map so it will be reset farther away from the Hoop.

Offensively, many players use what is called "punting" to get across maps faster, or to shoot the ball in the enemy goal for 3 points from a greater distance. To punt, you must have a Shock Rifle in your inventory, and it must be the weapon that pulls up when you launch the ball. Simply launch the ball high into the air, and, while it is sailing, shoot it with the Shock Rifle. This will give the ball a great deal of additional momentum, which can easily be seen by practicing this strategy on BR-Colossus. Although the ball gets reset fairly shortly, so excessive punting is not possible.

Trivia

In Unreal Tournament 2003, Bombing Run was probably the main new gametype developed. Bombing Run, due to its football style, was one of the reasons to rename Unreal Tournament 2 to UT2003, giving it a sports feel. In the UT2003 intro, the Tournament champions were also going to have a Bombing Run match in BR-Icefields.

Bombing Run changed a lot during its development, and it seems that originally was planned to be somewhat different. A lot of unused or oddly named things are left in the game, including the name. The Bomb, later changed to the Ball but retained the name in the code, still explodes when going through the Bomb Delivery, renamed to the Goal. It is unknown how BR was supposed to be earlier, but the name suggests that the Bomb should kill the Carrier after going through the Delivery - this function was then replaced with the traps that kill the Carrier only after he goes through the goal. The unused announces also suggest a different, football-like gameplay, where the Ball could be returned instead of being reset, all completed passes and interceptions were announced, last second resets were possible, players could be punished if they went out of "bounds" and the announcer announced Goal! instead of the standard ... takes the lead!.