Hoverboard

Hoverboard
Background info
Faction	Other
Game info
Type	Ground
Seats	1
Seat functions	Drive.
Appears in	Unreal Tournament 3

"The reliable delivery of dismounted infantry has been a battlefield logistical issue for millennia. Vehicle factories require massive Tarydium stockpiles, and personal translocating devices quickly deplete their energy reserves on large battlefields. In response to the need for a unified transport solution, personnel can now be equipped with anti-photon Hoverboards.
The harmonic oscillation of three radiating Tarydium-fiber flywheels provides enough thrust to keep riders in their air. Specially designed coil systems draw kinetic energy from the flywheels, powering a series of ducted fans along the underside of the board to generate forward momentum. The Hoverboard's agile design and attitude-based steering system does have one major drawback: the rider is defenseless, and any damage will suually result in a fall.
Note that the board does not perform well on low friction surfaces such as water and ice, but a magnetic grapple is provided should the rider wish to tow behind larger vehicles."

– UT3 manual

The Hoverboard is a vehicle appearing in Unreal Tournament 3.

Overview

It is a small deployable vehicle used by dismounted troops. Each and every player spawns with this piece of tech in vehicle-based gamemodes such as VCTF and Warfare matches, or Greed matches played on VCTF maps. The Hoverboard is activated by pressing the Translocator button in these matches. This will cause the player to hop on a hovering skate-board like device that is used mainly for transportation.

While on the Hoverboard, players can attach themselves to another vehicle. The flag or orb may be carried on the Hoverboard, but any amount of damage, even one point, will send the player tumbling (this includes falling damage) in addition to dropping the orb or flag, if they carried it, unless the player is wearing a Shield Belt. A player who falls off will be prone for a moment before being able to get up, which could naturally be fatal if there's opposition in the area.

The Hoverboard does not perform well under the conditions of ice and water. Also, due to the large amount of exposure of the hoverboard, the player is prone to be shot and fall off: This can be a window of opportunity for snipers to fend off retreating troops on their hoverboards. Lastly, the enemy shooting weakness also extends to grappling onto a vehicle, so if the carrier is shot from high up as they're attached to a Raptor or other flying vehicle, it is generally lethal unless the player has lots of armor and health.

Tips and tricks

• Jump and crouch sparingly, as this would either dodge sniper fire giving you a window of opportunity while retreating, or outright getting fragged.

Trivia

Preview notes

"Vehicle CTF offered the first chance to try out the hoverboard. When I initially heard that a hoverboard was being added I was a tad skeptical, thinking that it would just be silly. However, the more I played the more I actually began to appreciate it. There’s no reason to slowly move around the level when you can just as easily jump onto a hoverboard and whisk yourself along like in Back to the Future (no sweet jacket though…maybe a mod?). It also adds a variety of strategic choices to the game. You can carry the flag on the hoverboard, but taking a single point of damage causes the flag to be dropped and makes you vulnerable as your character recovers from the fall. Additionally, a grappling hook gives players the ability to hook onto vehicles by simply getting near one and pressing fire when a large targeting reticule appears. This ability leads to an obvious opportunity for team work when returning the flag or simply moving about the map quickly."

– PlanetUnreal

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