Deathmatch

Deathmatch is a game type, in which the point is to either reach a certain number of frags (or kills), or to highest number of frags at the time limit for the match. This game type also has 2 similar counter-parts, Team Deathmatch and Last Man Standing (in Unreal: Return to Na Pali, there are also Gravity Match, Dark Match and Terran Weapon Match). Deathmatch is a difficult game type, that requires a lot of training, if one is playing against other players that is. Deathmatch may be played against a mix of human or computer ('Bot') opponents.

History

Deathmatch has made appearances in every game of the Unreal franchise (although Unreal II has the gametype hidden), and is likely to do so through all the coming versions.

Maps

Maps for deathmatch are typically small, compact and they tend to take place inside, or inside a closed area. Ordinary Deathmatch maps, do not contain any kinds of vehicles or turrets. Normally, a Deathmatch map only has about 4 - 6 weapon types, with 2 spawnbeacons each. In deathmatch maps, the spawnpoints are also spread widely, yet one will normally spawn in front of a weapon. Just like any other map in Unreal Tournament, all enviroments are possible, from a tropical rocky mountain area, to a high-techlaboratory.

Weapons

Normally, a deathmatch map contains one superweapon, one or two hitscan weapons, and one or two projectile weapons. Some map makers tend to not even include superweapons in their maps, and many server-hosts have a mutator activated, which replaces all superweapons with another weapon, usually a rocket-launcher. Translocators are off by default in Deathmatch, however they can be turned on. Instagib is also very popular in Deathmatch.

Pickups

An important aspect of Deathmatch is the control and use of pickups.

In addition to weapons, pickups fall into three general classes:

• Health
• Armor and shield
• Power-ups with limited time or number of uses, like the Jump Boots or UDamage

The number and nature of the pickups varies between the different games in the Unreal series.

Pickups often come in two sizes - big and small - for example, in Unreal Tournament, Thigh Pads provides 50 armor points whilst the Body Armor provides 100 armor points.

Well-designed Deathmatch levels will balance ease of access to pickups against the value of the pickup. General ammo, health, Adrenaline, smaller armor and also the Jump Boots are usually easy to find in Deathmatch, while super weapons like the Redeemer and power-ups like the Shield Belt, Big Keg O' Health, UDamage and Invisibility are usually hard to get to and expose the player to risk in the process of obtaining them. There is no requirement for any or all pickups to be implemented in a map.