The large variety of terms and vocabulary found in a typical FPS game, such as Unreal Tournament 2004 tends to confuse newbies. This section deals with all terms found in the game.
General
Frag
A point. Awarded for different things depending on which style server you are on. For example a frag in DM (death match) would be awarded for killing anyone else. In Team DM it would be awarded for killing an opponent on the opposite team. In CTF (Capture The Flag) it would be awarded for killing a member of the opposite team or for capturing the opponents flag. Frags are the method of keeping individual scores in Unreal Tournament 2004.
Spawn
When something enters the map. A player spawn, or a weapon spawn, or a vehicle spawn, etc. Where those things spawn is called a spawn point.
Suicide
Killing yourself. Either by jumping into something that kills you (lava, acid, off into space), by shooting yourself or getting hit by your own weapons blast, or by typing /suicide into the console.
Score
your score is the number of kills you have gotten in a given round, match, or challenge.
Single Player
Ladder
Ladder mode consists of four game types: Double domination, Capture the flag, Bombing run, and Assault. each gamemode in the ladder must be completed to unlock "the finals" at the top of the ladder.
Credits
Credits are earned in every match except bloodrites and online multiplayer matches. Your wager placed on a challenge will be doubled if you win the match. There are a few ways to earn extra credits, for example double kills, multikills, etc. will give you a small amount of credits each time you get one. certain killing sprees can earn you more credits than their smaller counterparts. For example, 1x WICKED SICK = 420 Credits. So as you can imagine it is very desirable to get as many of these credit enhancing killstreaks/ multikills.
Change Arena
Changing arenas is exactly as it sounds, the player pays a fee to have the map for that round swapped to a different preset map. You cannot choose which map it switches too other than the one preset map available to be changed to.
Challenges
During the single player game, your team may challenge or be challenged by another to a battle, either for credits or a player. If you reject a challenge you have to pay a fee.
Bloodrites
Team A pays to challenge Team B for the ownership of a Team B member. If Team A wins they get that member.
Head-to-Head
Team A challenges the leader of Team B to a one-on-one deathmatch. Each team pays a wager and the winning team gets both.
Gameplay
Killing Sprees
Awards for every 5th kill without dying
- Killing Spree - 5 kills
- Rampage - 10 kills
- Dominating - 15 kills
- Unstoppable - 20 kills
- GODLIKE - 25 kills
- WICKED SICK - 30 kills
Multiple Kills
Awards for building up chains of kills in quick succession (maybe 3-4 seconds apart or less?)
- Double Kill - 2 kills
- Multi Kill - 3 kills
- Mega Kill - 4 kills
- Ultra Kill - 5 kills
- Monster Kill - 6 kills
- Ludicrous Kill - 7 kills
- HOLY S**T - 8+ kills
Headshot
Killing by shooting someone in the head, with either the Lightning Gun or Sniper Rifle. Head shots do more damage than body shots with these weapons, and a single head shot can kill a player even with 100% health.
Flak Monkey
Score 15 frags with the Flak Cannon.
Head Hunter
Score 15 Head shots with the Classic Sniper Rifle or Lightning Gun.
Combo Whore
Score 15 frags using the Shock Rifle combo.
Rocket Scientist
Score 15 frags with the Rocket Launcher.
Team Games
Capture the Flag
This gamemode is usually played on a symmetrical map. Each team has their own base and in those bases there is a flag. The goal of this game is for one team to carry the enemy flag, to their own to score. A team can only score if their flag is present.
CTF features the translocator. A device which can launch a disc with the primary fire, and with the secondary fire, the player teleports to the disc's location. By default you can equip the translocator by pressing Q. If you press Q while having the translocator equipped, and the disc is placed somewhere, you can view the area around the disc. Translocator discs can be shot by the enemy team, which causes it to disrupt. Teleporting to a disrupted disc causes you to die. You cannot translocate and carry the flag at the same time, attempting so would cause the flag to drop at the location you originally were.
Bombing Run
Similarly to CTF, this gamemode is featured on symmetrical maps. Each base is fitted with a goal. At the center of each map you can find a ball. Walking up to the ball causes the player to pick it up, automatically equipping the ball launcher, the player holding the ball can't hold any other weapon and is fully defenseless.
The primary fire of the ball launcher is to shoot the ball. The secondary fire targets a teammate. Shooting the ball after targeting will send it straight to the targeted teammate.
The objective of this mode is to carry the ball to the enemy goal. Jumping through the goal scores 7 points, while shooting the ball scores 3.
Jumping through your own goal causes you to die, and it does not give points to the enemy, nor it reduces yours,
The translocator also appears here. After launching the ball, the translocator is drained, preventing you from launching it far and instantly get it back.
If the ball falls into an instant kill area, or it is left idle for a longer period of time, it shall reset and appear at the center of the map.
Spawn Point
Assault
Assault is a team game mode, where one team has to complete a series of objectives within a time frame, while the other team needs to prevent them. If in the first round, the attacker team finishes all objectives within 5 minutes, then the roles get swapped for the second round, and the attacker team now has to finish those objectives within less than 5 minutes. However if in the first round, the allocated time expires before the attackers finish the objectives, then on the second round the attackers just need to finish the first objective which was not completed on the previous round by the enemy team and they win the round.
However if they finish the same amount of objectives, but neither team finished all of them, then it is a draw game.
Objective
There are different type of objectives, such as destroying something, triggering a lever, reach an area, carry object from point a to point b etc. In some maps, there are optional objectives, which are not mandatory, but might be helpful to the attacker team.
Reinforcements
This is the respawn system in assault games. This is to give attackers a chance to achieve objectives after killing the defender team, and for defenders to be able to gather resources(weapons, ammo, hp). By default, the reinforcement timer counts back from 7 repeatedly since the start of the game. If the player dies while the timer states 4, then they need 4 seconds to respawn, if it states 0, the player can respawn immediately.
Spawn Point
As the attacker team proceeds through the objectives, the spawn points for both teams move, this is so that both teams spawn closer to the next objectives and are able to plan accordingly.
Trophy
You get different trophies for different achievements that you complete. There is a trophy for how many objectives you have completed, how many vehicles you have destroyed, etc.
Vehicles
Some assault maps feature different vehicles, some of them are centered around said vehicle, such as Junkyard, Glacier, etc. In RobotFactory, the attacker team have goliaths at their disposal, if the attacker teams destroy the goliaths, the announcer will say "Vehicle destroyed", same applies in Junkyard if the Hellbender is destroyed. Exception comes in Glacier, where if the Ion tank is destroyed, then the announcer shall say "Ion tank destroyed". The only defense vehicle which gets announced when is destroyed, is the Ion cannon. Most maps also feature turrets, stationary vehicles usually assigned to the defense team. Some of these such as the Link turret, these turrets can be controlled remotely through consoles found at a distance from said turrets. If not controlled by a player, they are controlled by their own AI.
Onslaught
Power Node
In the onslaught game type there are power nodes placed and connected throughout the map. The goal is to capture power nodes leading into the enemy base. when a line of power nodes has been captured that links one teams power core to the other teams power core the enemy power cores shield will be disabled and the attacking team may then start destroying the enemies power core. If the attacking team should lose a power node then the link will be broken and the shield will reactivate and the attacking team will not be able to destroy the enemies power core until enough power nodes have been captured to disable the enemies shield again. You can only damage a power node once you have captured another power node that is linked to it.
Power Core
Each team starts with a power core in their base. the objective is for one team to destroy the other teams power core while still defending their own power core. this can sometimes be difficult with the power nodes spread out over the map. the key to protecting your power core is to not let any of the power nodes closest to the defending teams base fall to enemies.
Vehicle Awards
These don't contribute to the score of the player:
- Top Gun: shoot down a Raptor with your Raptor using secondary fire.
- Eagle Eye: shoot down a Raptor with the Goliath tank's cannon.
- Wrecker: destroy at least 3 vehicles in assault mode.
- Fender Bender: bump into an enemy Scorpion or Hellbender with a Scorpion or a Hellbender.
- Daredevil: perform a big jump with a ground wheeled vehicle(scorpion, hellbender, goliath, etc)(Manta does not count).
Deathmatch Variants
Bottom Feeder
In the Mutant game type, the player at the bottom of the scoreboard is named the Bottom Feeder, the Bottom Feeder can also kill other players and not only the Mutant. Also, sometimes a player is named a Bottom Feeder if they wait in the shadows and pick off anyone who is badly hurt or, again, at the bottom of the scoreboard.
Mutant
Used in the Mutant game type, the player who scores the first kill respawns as the mutant, having 150 hit points, 150 armor, neigh invisibility, faster movement, and increased firing speed. The health of the mutant drops constantly, but it is recharged with each kill. If someone kills the mutant, the person who fires the killing shot becomes the mutant themselves, and his score is adjusted to (mutants score + previous score)/2, if the former is bigger. The mutant scores 5 points for killing the bottom feeder. All non-mutant players see the position of the mutant on a radar screen.
Camper
A person who stays in one spot for whatever reason. A person who stays at the opponents spawn points and kills them as they enter the map would be a spawn camper. A person who guards his or her own base/flag/power core would be a camper. Also a person who stays in one place and uses sniper weapons to kill their enemies would also be called a camper. Generally used as a term of derision, although in most cases it is simply a matter of good defense. The opposite of camping would be "Strafing" or "Running & Gunning".
Invasion Wave
In Invasion, this is a wave of aliens that attacks the group. The waves, at default, get progressively harder, and there are 16 waves. In an Instant Action invasion, there are only 2 computer controlled players to help.