Assault

Assault
Goal limits	Missions Rounds Time
Is team-based?	Yes
Appears in	Unreal Tournament Unreal Tournament 2004

"In each round, one team takes the role of the attacker, while the other team defends, in recreations of famous (or infamous) scenarios. After a pair of rounds, the most successful attacking team scores a point."

– UT2004 in-game description

Assault is a gametype found in the Unreal series.

Overview

Assault is a round-based, team-focused game mode featuring two teams: attackers and defenders. The attackers must complete the map's objectives before time runs out, while the defenders aim to prevent this. After each round, the teams switch roles; defenders become attackers, and vice versa. The team with the most completed objectives at the end of the match scores a point.

The objective for attackers is to complete all missions before time expires. This may involve activating switches, destroying doors, or escaping the battlefield. A round ends when attackers finish all missions or when time runs out. The faster attackers win the round, the less time the attackers will have to defend next round. Often, completing an objective allows attackers to spawn closer to the next objective.

Assault supports all weapons, including standard Deathmatch weapons and Onslaught weapons. Adrenaline is usually disabled, but health and powerups remain available. In UT2004, weapons are typically acquired through weapon lockers near spawn points, except for more powerful weapons like the AVRiL. Attackers generally have less powerful weapons than defenders, with each team's weapon supply tailored to their needs. For instance, defenders often have hitscan weapons, while attackers usually have more spam-oriented weapons.

The objective for defenders is to prevent attackers from completing all missions and winning the match. Typically, an entire team will "camp" near an objective to prevent attackers from achieving their goals. The longer a team successfully defends, the more time they will have to attack in the next round.

Assault maps include vehicles and turrets. Some objectives may involve moving a vehicle to a specific location, such as in AS-Junkyard. Vehicles are sometimes unlocked for attackers upon completing optional objectives. Turrets may guard objectives, entrances, or team spawn points in order to maintain game balance.

Assault matches generally consist of two phases: the Attacking phase and the Defending phase.

Attacking phase

In the Attacking phase, the Red team assumes the role of attackers, while the Blue team defends. The Red team's goal is to either complete all the set objectives within the allocated time or achieve the highest possible number of objectives before time runs out.

Defending phase

During the Defending phase, the Blue team transitions to the role of attackers. They must aim to complete all objectives within the time limit previously set by the Red team, or accomplish more objectives than the Red team did.

Objectives

Common objectives in both UT and UT2004 include capturing or destroying vehicles, generators, or missiles. Sometimes, as in AS-BP2-Outback, objectives incorporate more creative elements, such as restoring alcoholic beverages to a pub.

Specific objectives vary widely and can be categorized accordingly. They may also be designated as either "optional" or mandatory. Generally, objectives follow a linear progression, meaning attackers can only complete them in a specific order. However, there are instances where multiple objectives are available simultaneously and can be completed in any order, such as "destroy all three locks." When an optional objective becomes available, it must be fulfilled before advancing to the next mandatory objective.

Objectives in UT are typically categorized in two ways:

• The objective must be destroyed before attackers can proceed to the next one. This is commonly used for objectives like "destroy the door/generator/counterweight/missile/computer."
• An attacker must enter the radius of a specific location to complete the objective. This is often seen in objectives such as "press the button" or "reach the ship/control room," etc.

On the other hand, objectives in UT2004 take several different forms:

• An "Energy Core" must be delivered to a certain location. Energy Cores are picked up when an attacker runs over them and dropepd upon the attacker's death. They cannot be thrown and defenders cannot move them. However, they reset to their original spawn point if untouched by an attacker for 30 seconds. This objective is featured in maps such as AS-Junkyard (Energy Core), AS-BP2-Acatana (Blueprints), AS-BP2-Outback (Hops Canister), and AS-BP2-SubRosa (Data Stick).
• An objective must be destroyed before attackers can proceed. This is usually seen in objectives like "destroy the door/generator/counterweight/missile/computer."
• An attacker must enter the radius of a specific location to complete the objective. This is often seen in objectives such as "press the button" or "reach the ship/control room," etc.
• When a member of the attacking team comes within the radius of a specific location, a timer begins counting down. If the player dies or leaves the radius, the timer stops. Once the timer reaches zero, the objective is completed. This type of objective is often used for tasks like "open the door" or "pull the lever."
• An attacking player carrying a specific item must enter the radius of a designated location to complete the objective. Typically, the item is a key or another tool for breaking locks, but it could also be used in a delivery context.
• An attacking player within the radius of a certain location must press the "use" key to complete the objective. This is often used to enable/disable a computer system, activate a button, open a door, or perform similar actions.

Scoring

At the end of the Attacking phase, the Red Team scores a point if they manage to achieve all objectives, while the Blue Team earns one otherwise. At the conclusion of the Defending phase, the Blue Team earns two points if they manage to outperform the Red Team. As such, if the Red Team fails to complete the objectives, the Blue Team wins. If the Red Team completes the objectives but the Blue Team does so in less time, the Blue Team wins. If the Red Team completes the objectives and prevents the Blue Team from doing the same before time is up, the Red Team wins.

Configurable options

Unreal Tournament 2004

Configurable options
Item	Type	Default	Description
Bots
Number of Bots	Integer	0	Specify the number of bots that should join your match.
Bot Mode	List	Use Map Defaults	Specify how the number of bots in the match is determined.
Bots Balance Teams	Boolean	Yes	Bots will join or change teams to make sure they are even.
Bot Skill	List	Average	Set the skill of your bot opponents.
Game
Weapons Stay	Boolean	Yes	When enabled, weapons will always be available for pickup.
Enable Player Highlighting	Boolean	No	At a distance, players have a team colored glow.
Delay at End of Game	Float	4.000000	How long to wait after the match ends before switching to the next map.
Friendly Fire Scale	Float	0.00	Specifies how much damage players from the same team can do to each other.
Pair of Rounds	Integer	1	Number of pair of rounds (Attack and Defense) for this match.
Practice Time	Integer	60	Specifies how much time lasts the online practice round. (In seconds)
Reinforcements Time	Integer	7	Specifies time between reinforcements spawning.
Reset Countdown	Integer	8	Specifies how much time there is between each round.
Round Time Limit	Integer	10	Specifies how long each round lasts.
Spawn Protection Time	Float	3.00	Specifies how long players are invulnerable after they spawn (unless they fire).
Rules
Allow Weapon Throwing	Boolean	Yes	When enabled, players can throw their current weapon out.
Weapons Shake View	Boolean	Yes	When enabled, some weapons cause view shaking while firing.
Allow Taunts	Boolean	Yes	Enables players to use the recorded taunts.

Tips and tricks

• The attackers must complete the missions in a specific order or in a specific manner, unless otherwise stated.
• The second team to attack receives only the same amount of time the first team took to fully complete the Assault. Therefore, the faster the Assault by the first team, the higher their odds of success.
• If an attacker begins to trigger a lever or switch and dies, it remains in that position. Defenders cannot reset the lever or switch back to its original position (UT2004 only).
• A siren sounds for both teams when an attacker is in close proximity (UT2004 only).
• There are a few vehicles that are exclusively found (at least in official maps) in AS maps: the Ion Tank, the Ion Cannon, the Human and Skaarj fighters, and the Minigun turret.

Trivia

• Assault and Onslaught are the only gametypes in UT2004 that feature vehicles.
• Assault was omitted from Unreal Tournament 2003 because it "did not fit into the sports nature of UT'03".

Author's notes

"We wanted to add several new game types that were fun, simple to understand and play, yet required significantly different strategies and play styles- and had strategic depth (people would continue to find better strategies and ways of playing these games). The other key element was that they had to be games that the AI could be programmed to really understand well (Assault was definitely the most ambitious game from that point of view, but its coolness outweighed the complexity of programming it). I originally proposed these new gametypes, since I was writing the AI and knew what could reasonably be done. (...) Assault we wanted to be like a war movie. After I prototyped these games, they evolved substantially as everyone on the team gave feedback on how they should work. The fact that we had these game types working for over a year really allowed us to polish the rules and gameplay. We made major changes to the rules of both games, and constantly tweaked to the HUDs and scoreboards for these games."

– Steve Polge

"Assault is an objective/team based game mode in which two teams (attackers and defenders) battle each other in epic (and sometimes historical) battles taking place in the Unreal universe.

Attackers have several objectives to accomplish in order to win the round.

Defenders must prevent the attackers from doing so in order to win. Several rounds are played and teams can exchange roles after each round. There are several configurable options, such as the number of rounds in a match, and the time limit for each round.

Accomplishing objectives may involve reaching a key location, using machinery or computers in the level, or destroying a critical piece of hardware.

Assault also features many different useable vehicles and turrets, including Space Fighters, Buggies, Tanks, Energy Turrets, a Minigun Turret and the all powerful Ion Cannon."

– Mark Rein

Manual descriptions

"Players are divided into two teams, attackers and defenders. The attackers are attempting to destroy or take over an objective, such as blowing up a computer terminal, or escaping a castle. The defenders’ job is to prevent them from doing this. The way to win assault is to conquer the base in less time than your opponents’ team. If the first attacking team completes the objective in three minutes, then the sides switch and the team that was defending is now attacking and has three minutes to take the base. If they fail, they lose."

– UT manual

Preview notes

"Not unlike Team Fortress, players are split into attackers and defenders, wrangling for control of the other side's bases. The attackers must invade the enemy base and accomplish an objective, such as destroying a computer terminal, liberating a hostage, or hijacking a train. The defenders must stave off the attackers--they'll win if they can hold them off until time expires, while the attackers win if they can get the mission done."

– IGN, UT

"However, the big news for original UT fans is the return of the Assault mode, which was very much missed from UT2003. Polge said that while Assault was popular offline they wanted to make it more multiplayer friendly. However, don’t expect your father’s Assault maps in UT2004. The one Assault map we were shown at E3 took place in space. Yes, in space, with one team flying one man fighters to try and dock at a space station to take it over while the defending team fires turrets and launches its own fighters to stop them. Think UT mixed with the Death Star attack and you will get the idea."

– HomeLan Fed

Gallery

A defender defending the Barricade in AS-Fallen City (UT2004).

See also

• Warfare, a mix of Assault and Onslaught in Unreal Tournament 3.
• Blitz, also called "Flag Run", a mix of Assault, Last Man Standing, and Capture the Flag in Unreal Tournament 4.