Vehicles in Unreal Tournament 2004

There are many vehicles in Unreal Tournament 2004 available for use. These vehicles are primarily used in the Onslaught game type, although there are a few Assault maps that utilize vehicles. The vehicles consist of aircraft (the Manta, Cicada, and Raptor), and land vehicles (all others). There are also 2 space vehicles (essentially space-faring Raptors with a cosmetic overhaul), which only officially feature in one stock Assault map.

Three of the vehicle types (the SPMA, Cicada, and Paladin) are only officially available on maps from the Editor's Choice edition or Editor's Choice bonus pack, but user-edited versions of the standard maps often include some or all of these extra vehicles.

Some vehicles are in the source code of the game but not normally seen. It is also possible to create user-modified vehicles (not included in this article).

Any vehicle that happens to run into an enemy will instantly kill the subject; also any players inside a vehicle at the time it explodes (in Onslaught mode) die. However in Assault mode many of the vehicles will simply bounce the players onto foot whenever they explode. An exploding vehicle can also harm nearby infantry.

A vehicle (or stationary Energy Turret) in Onslaught belongs to the team whose node spawned it. If destroyed, it will respawn at the same node. A vehicle that has never been occupied since it spawned is "locked," and the enemy team sees a red warning circle icon on it. Once a vehicle has been used by its team (even if someone only entered and exited it), it is then unlocked. When a vehicle is left unlocked, even enemies can enter it, causing the vehicle color to change to the other team. Stealing a vehicle in UT 2004 is called "carjacking" for land vehicles (including the Manta) and "hijacking" for aircraft. It is a way to obtain vehicles that your own team's nodes do not currently have.

This section of the article provides details on each of the vehicles, its typical uses in the game, and tactical information.

Hellbender
Type: Assault Jeep Summon code: "summon Onslaught. ONSPRV"

The Hellbender is an all-purpose vehicle which can carry 3, and is most effective when fully manned. Unique among the game's vehicles, the driver does not control any weapons, and can only control the vehicle and honk the horn, which is used to order bots to enter the vehicle, signal other human players to hop on or taunt/provoke the enemy. A feature of interest for the driver is the license plate on the back, which changes from "HELLBNDR" to an 8-character representation of the driver's name - cutting out vowels and then truncating if it does not fit.

The side turret is a weapon similar to the game's Shock Rifle. The differences are that the primary/alternative fire modes are reversed, and numerous slow moving "shock cores" fired by this turret can be detonated via a chain-reaction, whereas the Shock Rifle can only detonate one shock core at a time. Such an attack is termed a "skymine combo", and is capable of massive explosive damage along its chain. This weapon is extremely effective at close range combat against infantry, as the skymines do massive damage, have a large blast radius, and can effectively wipe out and netrualize chokepoints when used properly. The weapon is also ideal at defending the vehicle from AVRiL rockets. Skymines can also defend the vehicle against most projecticle weapons such as rockets and flak shells, as a skymine will netrualize and shallow projectiles it comes in contact with. (Note that on impact both the skymine and projectile dissapear.)

The rear turret is a powerful twin beams (hitscan) which can be "charged up" to increase damage. A fully charged shot deals 200 damage. The beams also possess incredible kinetic energy, and can easily knock other vehicles around. Its alt-fire activates a variable zoom for pinpointing distant targets. It is considered by many players to be the best vehicle mounted weapon in the game.

For a single player, the Hellbender can also be useful as a mobile gun emplacement by switching between seating positions. For example, a player can drive the Hellbender to a particular position, then man the laser turret by pressing '3' using it to provide "sniper" fire, then switch back to the driver's position by pressing '1', driving closer to a battle, then pressing '2' to man the shock turret and lay down sky mines. Without someone manning the driver position, the vehicle cannot move.

(When picking up a bot, it is noted that they always assume the passenger-seat position. To move those bots to the rear turret position quickly and effectively, press 3-2-1.)

The Hellbender is featured in an official Assault level (AS-Junkyard)It is modified to have 2000 HP in the level.

The Hellbender can run over players without vehicles. It is fairly well armored, but can be easily defeated by larger vehicles.

3 positions:


 * 1 Driver
 * Primary fire: Horn
 * Alt-Fire: Horn
 * 1 Side turret gunner
 * Primary fire: Fire Sky mines
 * Alt-Fire: Fire shock beam (detonate sky mines)
 * 1 Rear turret gunner
 * Primary fire: Fire twin beams (hold button to charge)
 * Alt-Fire: Zoom

Similar fan-made modifications exist for the Hellbender, including a popular Anti-Air version. Most of these were compiled into a single fan-made Assault level completed in late 2005.

Scorpion
Type: Light Assault Buggy Summon code: "summon Onslaught. ONSRV"

The Scorpion is a lightly armored jeep, and moves at an identical speed to the Hellbender. Its primary fire is a chargeable "plasma ribbon" which wraps itself around its target before exploding. This wrapping effect makes it especially effective against Mantas and power nodes. The longer the fire button is held, the wider the bola. Because the bola will tend to adhere to anything it hits, it is sometimes preferable to fire shorter bolas rather than fully charged, longer ones.

The Alternative fire button extends specialized anti-personnel blades on either side, which instantly kill any foot-bound enemy it hits. The blades can be ineffective against skilled human opponents, who can easily evade their limited range. The blades will break off if they strike solid objects such as some pieces of terrain or other vehicles. (In technical terms, BSP brushes and Static Meshes by default break off the blades, but the actual Terrain made with the Terrain Info actor does not.)

Although the Scorpion is a one-seater, it is possible for 2 friendly players to jump on top and hitch a ride, although they are very vulnerable to enemy fire, and may get knocked off. In addition, a player on top of the Scorpion may prevent the plasma ribbon from firing as normal.

1 position:


 * Driver
 * Primary fire: Plasma ribbon (hold button to charge)
 * Alt-fire: Deploy blades

Leviathan
Type: Ultra-Heavy Assault Tank

Summon code: summon onslaughtfull.onsmobileassaultstation

The Leviathan is the slowest, but easily the most powerful standard vehicle in UT2004. Its main turret fires a continuous stream of homing rockets, which are very effective against all targets. Unlike AVRiL rockets, they continue to home in on a target without any attention from the base. The Leviathan has four energy turrets that can be individually manned to increase its defensive power against infantry and air vehicles, but are hard to aim accurately, suffer from poor visibility, and lack the zooming alt-fire that turrets of other vehicles are equipped with. Better defense can often be achieved by infantry escorting it on the ground rather than in the turrets, although the Leviathan can safely, if slowly, transport up to five players, and this in itself is a useful capacity.

When the Leviathan is stationary, the alternative fire button causes it to transform into Deployed mode. Stabilizer arms deploy, and its devastating Singularity Cannon is raised and activated. This transformation takes about 5–6 seconds, during which time the vehicle is unable to move, which is a window of opportunity for serious damage to be done to the vehicle by enemy forces. However, during the deployment transformation, the driver can still fire rockets, and the corner gunners can always use their turrets. Transforming back to the normal unpacked state is a similar process, however, you cannot fire the Leviathan's rocket launcher when transforming back into mobile mode. When deployed, the Singularity Cannon delivers incredible damage over a very long range, but has a very long cooldown rate, and projects a shining white orb at the target area (the "singularity"), making it very clear just where the cannon's impact will be. It suffers an additional weakness in that, like the other superweapons in the game, all damage from it can be avoided simply by ensuring there is a building or terrain-based obstacle between the line of sight of the player and ground zero. One tactic sometimes used in Onslaught matches is to focus the might of the Singularity Cannon directly upon a Power Node; it will do an immense amount of damage to an enemy Node and repel any opponent that makes the mistake of getting too close, but still allow teammates to claim a neutral Node or defend a friendly Node under covering fire (assuming friendly fire is off, of course).

The Leviathan is extremely difficult to destroy. While Raptors and Mantas can avoid its devastating deployed attack and sometimes its homing rockets, the Leviathan is extremely resilient, and they can seldom do enough damage on their own to bring it down from the 5000 armour points it spawns with; indeed, it often takes an entire fleet of the airborne vehicles, as well as a small platoon of dedicated AVRiL-carrying foot soldiers, to destroy the gargantuan vehicle. The corollary to this is that it is exceptionally difficult to repair the Leviathan back to full health with any number of Link Gun-wielding teammates after any notable encounter.

Infantry can get close enough to get under the range of fire of the corner guns (although they are vulnerable to being squashed), and can do serious damage before they can be destroyed. Because of the limited visibility and accuracy of the guns, daring players dropping from flying vehicles can land on the top of the vehicle and deal damage whilst avoiding the weapons.

Stealing (carjacking) a Leviathan is a very lucrative proposition, and can easily change the tide of the match; however, an abandoned Leviathan is a rare sight in and of itself, and so hijacking one is rather unlikely.

5 positions:


 * 1 Driver
 * Primary fire (undeployed): Fire homing rockets
 * Primary fire (deployed): Fire singularity cannon
 * Alt-fire: Deploy/undeploy
 * 4 Corner Turrets
 * Primary fire: Fire turret
 * Alt-fire: Fire turret

Goliath
Type: Battle Tank Summon code: "summon Onslaught. ONSHoverTank"

The Goliath is a standard tank with a powerful 140 mm main cannon that devastates infantry, energy nodes and other vehicles alike. It has limited vertical elevation, however, which makes it vulnerable to the Raptor (although it is far from impossible to down a low-flying Raptor with the cannon, given a little practice and luck). In addition, its turret is slow-moving, taking time to position, making it difficult to draw a bead on a quick moving target. Rotating the tank itself in the same direction as the turret is a tactic often used while the Goliath is stationary to increase the turret's rotation speed, and therefore be able to line up a shot in less time.

Its 2nd position offers a zoomable machine-gun turret atop the main turret that can offset these weaknesses to a limited degree. However, the amount of damage dealt by this weapon is moderate at best, and it is also unable to point straight up, one of the preferred places to attack the Goliath, either on foot or in a Raptor. However should one be able to hit a Raptor with the main cannon an "Eagle Eye" award will be given out.

2 positions:


 * 1 Driver
 * Primary fire: Fire main cannon
 * Alt-fire: Zoom
 * 1 Machine gunner
 * Primary fire: Fire minigun
 * Alt-fire: Zoom

SPMA
Type: Long-range Artillery

The Self-Propelled Mobile Artillery, introduced in the UT2004 Editor's Choice Edition (ECE) Bonus Pack, is a powerful support vehicle that fulfills a role largely ignored by the original vehicles. It is also the fastest of all the ground vehicles. The driver has control of the main cannon. Its primary fire is a limited-range arcing shot, which is powerful but impossible to shoot over a long distance, due to a short-fused shell. The main cannon carries considerable recoil and can flip the vehicle if fired while moving.

The secondary fire is where the SPMA shows its true prowess: it fires a special shell that transforms into a stationary floating field camera when the secondary fire function is used again. Once the camera is deployed, a targeting reticle appears superimposed on the camera's view of the map, and the vehicle's driver is able to use the driving keys to aim and pinpoint distant targets. This camera is clearly visible to others and is easily destroyed. Also, if an enemy AVRiL rocket locks onto the SPMA field camera, and gets a line of sight with the SPMA itself during flight, it will automatically and immediately home in on the vehicle, rather than taking out the camera. This allows ground troopers to take out a well-concealed SPMA from great distances.

When using the camera, prior to landing, the SPMA shell breaks apart above the target area, spreading its explosive shrapnel to all below. A single well-aimed artillery shot can cripple all but the strongest of vehicles (although nimble Manta drivers can avoid it). The vehicle is often used to provide suppressing fire at a strategic point rather than being targeted at a specific enemy, hence its anagrammatic nickname - the "SPAM".

The gunner's seat fires a Shock/Sky mine turret much like the Hellbender. The vehicle handles like a much lighter Hellbender, although it is more heavily armored; its sole failing point is that the driver and passenger seats are greatly more exposed, allowing a skilful sniper a much greater chance at landing a headshot. It is surprisingly more agile, due perhaps in part to its four-wheel steering system, and noticeably faster, enabling it to scale hills and even some mountains with enough speed.

2 positions:


 * 1 Driver/Artillery gunner
 * 1 Sky mine gunner

Paladin
Type: Defensive Tank

Introduced in the Editor's Choice Edition bonus pack, the Paladin is an energy tank that can be easily summed up by classifying it as a hybrid of a Goliath and an Ion Plasma Tank, with an energy shield. It is very slow moving, and has similar armor to the Goliath, but it is capable of climbing steep inclines that no other land vehicles can match.

The Paladin's primary attack fires a somewhat slow-moving energy ball from the cannon in its turret. The projectile's lack of speed and the lack of a zoom facility makes accurate long distance shooting far inferior to that of a Goliath or even Hellbender rear turret.

The unique feature of the Paladin is its ability to generate an energy shield with the secondary fire. This shield consumes no energy itself, and can be maintained indefinitely, or until it absorbs enough damage to be destroyed. It can take a great deal of direct damage (several Goliath shots) but is not as strong against large amounts of splash damage (extremely vulnerable to a Leviathan's deployed gun). The shield blocks shots, but enemies on foot or in vehicles can pass through the shield without problems. The shield extends over a fairly wide area around the direction the turret is aimed, and is quite useful at protecting friendly infantry (the vehicle only has one seat). The shield gives the driver time to take careful aim at a footman or light vehicle, lower the shield and immediately make a deadly shot.

In addition, firing the primary cannon while its shield is activated creates an energy explosion which radiates in all directions from the tank, dealing great damage to anything within its short range. This blast is powerful enough to destroy a Manta with a single hit, provided that the foolhardy Manta pilot gets close enough.

While it can fire as soon as its shield is lowered, the Paladin's primary attack consumes a lot of energy, and it cannot regenerate the shield again for several seconds after firing. Also, as its turret is very slow moving, nimble opponents can circle-strafe around the tank faster that it can aim/redirect its shield, making it an easy target to such attacks. Rotating the tank itself in the same direction as the turret will make the final turret rotation quite a bit faster.

In short, the Paladin is well-designed to defend an area from infantry and has a decent discouraging effect against lighter vehicles. A Paladin is not well suited for offensive unless it is supported by troops or other vehicles.

1 position:


 * Driver/Main Cannon/Shield

You can summon the Paladin using the cheat code (at the prompt after pressing tab or at the console after pressing ~) "summon ONSBP.ONSShockTank". ONSBP.ONSShockTank refers to the Paladin's internal name.

Manta
Type: Hovercraft

The Manta is the fastest, and also the most vulnerable of the vehicles. It does not technically fly but "hovers" across terrain just a few meters above ground level, though it is still considered an air vehicle in Vehicle CTF (air vehicles cannot carry the flag). It is capable of a "jump" manoeuvre, as well as a quick downward "dive" or "stomp" with the crouch key which gives the Manta its notoriety for "squashing" opposing infantry. Holding secondary fire continuously makes the Manta fly lower than normal, making it very deadly to enemy infantry. Entering a Manta will automatically make it do a little hop, which can be augmented by jumping, creating a much bigger jump than possible during flight. Using secondary fire just prior to jumping makes any jump go a little higher — sometimes enough to clear a wall that would normally stop you. Proper use of these unique abilities can allow a speeding manta to fly in high arcs above otherwise impassable terrain, and cover ground very rapidly. Jumping, then quickly "diving" can allow a Manta pilot to avoid AVRiL anti-vehicle rockets.

The Manta is particularly vulnerable to the primary fire of the Scorpion, as its plasma ribbons will be drawn into the Manta's fans if they are close. In most cases, the Manta is destroyed by the ribbon's damage, unless only one of the bolas are caught.

It possesses dual plasma casters which do light damage, but can effectively destroy stationary or slow moving targets. The weapon has some splash damage; if the Manta is too close to its target, it will damage itself.

Although it only has one seat, it is possible for two or more players to stand on the Manta's wings, as well on top of the cockpit. As with the Scorpion, such riders run the risk of falling off if the ride gets too bumpy. This trick works equally well with Spider Mines, which leap off and attack when they come within range of an enemy target.

It is also possible to get the Manta's wing underneath another vehicle, especially if that vehicle is not on level ground, and then jump up, causing the other vehicle to flip over (and its passengers to be ejected).

1 position:


 * Pilot
 * Primary fire: Fire plasma casters
 * Alt-fire: Slam

You can summon the Manta using the cheat code (at the prompt after pressing tab or at the console after pressing ~) "summon Onslaught. ONSHoverBike".

Raptor
Type: Airfighter

The Raptor is an aircraft well suited to take out other flying craft, such as Mantas, Cicadas or other Raptors. It has a fairly fast top speed, but is slow to accelerate, elevate and descend, and has very minimal cornering ability making it hard to steer, which makes it vulnerable to infantry AVRiL rockets. An adept Raptor pilot, however, should even be able to evade AVRiL rockets with relative ease. The Raptor's status as the only airborne attack craft in the original game, as well as the fact that no anti-air ground vehicles are included, means that the Raptor is well suited to attack any other vehicle in the game, particularly the deadly Leviathan. Although it may take time, a decent Raptor pilot should be able to destroy a deployed Leviathan unaided, while sustaining no damage to the Raptor itself.

The Raptor possesses a Plasma cannon similar to, but much more powerful than that of the Manta. The plasma cannon takes on the team color of its pilot. Its secondary attack launches a rocket that automatically homes in on Mantas, other Raptors, and Cicadas, and does light damage. These rockets are not nearly as agile as the Leviathan's homing rockets, or indeed AVRiL fire, and skilled opponents can dodge/evade them. The rockets do 150 damage each, meaning it takes 2 rockets to destroy a Raptor or Manta, and 4 to destroy a Cicada provided direct hits.

1 position:


 * Pilot
 * Primary fire: Fire plasma projector
 * Alt-fire: Fire air-to-air missile

You can summon the Raptor using the cheat code (at the prompt after pressing tab or at the console after pressing ~) "summon Onslaught. ONSAttackCraft".

Cicada
Type: Ground Assault Aircraft/Light Interdictor

Summon code: "summon OnslaughtBP.ONSDualAttackCraft"

The Cicada is an air vehicle that, while quite ineffective against other air vehicles, is superb at devastating enemy ground forces and energy nodes with volleys of missiles, anti-AVRiL flares, and a rapid firing laser turret for distant and hardened targets.

The pilot is tasked with control of the vehicle itself (which is quite different from the Raptor, as the Cicada is much slower, and lacks as much horizontal control but is much more agile in climbing and diving) and the side-mounted missile batteries. The pilot's primary fire causes a continuous barrage of missiles to fly towards the target in a wide semi-random pattern. Secondary fire utilizes a laser designator to lock on to the fixed position indicated by the targeting cross-hair, and begins loading up to 16 missiles, as long as the trigger is pressed. Once the pilot lets go of the trigger, or the maximum amount of missiles is loaded (indicated on the cross-hair or in the bottom-right corner of the HUD), all loaded missiles will be fired in a devastating volley. These missiles will home in on the point designated by the pilot, causing great damage. It is useful to note that between locking and launching, the Cicada can safely duck behind an obstacle for cover. Aiming the craft in the right direction can help the missiles arc over or around such obstacles that would otherwise cause the missiles to crash. It is also worth noting at any time while loading missiles, the pilot may hold down primary fire to pause the loading process, making it possible to fly around a targeted area indefinitely while fully armed.

The gunner position is vital to the defense and use of the vehicle. The gunner's primary attack triggers an accurate, powerful, rapid-firing laser from the bottom turret, and the secondary attack launches a flare that will lure any AVRiL missiles locked onto the vehicle. The gunner's targeting camera clearly identifies the location of inbound AVRiLs, aiding in properly timing the flare launch. A constant stream of these flares can effectively render AVRiL fire in the surrounding area useless, allowing friendly vehicles safe passage. This ability makes the Cicada a makeshift interdictor.

It is worth noting that the Cicada will continue to hover in place if the driver switches seats, or if the driver bails out while the gunner is still on board. An empty Cicada will fall to the ground.

2 positions:


 * 1 Pilot
 * Primary fire: Fire missiles
 * Alt-fire: Lock on, charge missiles
 * 1 Gunner
 * Primary fire: Fire laser
 * Alt-fire: Fire flares

Ion Plasma Tank
Type: Battle Tank Summon code: "summon OnslaughtFull. ONSHoverTank_IonPlasma"

Found only in AS-Glacier in the official releases (although can be summoned elsewhere via a console code), this is a tank with a massive ion-blast weapon which takes very little time to recharge proportional to its power. The Ion Tank fires a laser beam and "paints" the target before obliterating it with the main cannon. It also has a secondary machine-gun turret identical to the Goliath, as well as another weapon which repels nearby projectiles and enemies. It has very thick armor and takes some time to destroy. It is quite powerful against other vehicles, but suffers from relatively slow speed.

2 positions:


 * 1 Driver
 * Primary fire: Fire ion cannon
 * Alt-fire: Repel
 * 1 Machine gunner
 * Primary fire: Fire minigun
 * Alt-fire: Zoom

Bulldog
Type: ? Summon code: Summon Vehicles.Bulldog

The Bulldog doesn't feature as a functional vehicle in UT2004, as it was actually made for Unreal Tournament 2003, although it doesn't feature there either. The vehicle is not fully coded like other standard vehicles, so when used, the level author has to set its operational characteristics, if any.

The vehicle only has place for 1 driver that can shoot rockets towards the sky from its unmovable turret. These rockets will automatically lock onto enemies on foot if they are in sight.

However a few user-made maps were available which used the vehicle - at the time a unique and much discussed feature of the Unreal series, and obviously a precursor to the vehicles in Unreal Tournament 2004. It still exists in the code for Unreal Tournament 2004 but no examples of any player controllable Bulldog vehicles being used by level creators in the latest game are known, as the official vehicles provide a superior alternative, due to superior coding resulting in much less resource intensive end results.

The map AS-Convoy features the Thundercrash team attacking an enemy convoy with an assortment of Bulldogs (accompanying a much larger, similarly military themed attack vehicle) with or without trailers to transport troops (spawn points) as well as the objective, the Nexus Missiles. One of the Bulldogs can be jumped on and used as a shortcut towards the goal.

A 'wrecked' and non-functional Bulldog chassis can be seen in some of the Junkyard levels of Unreal Tournament 2004, providing perhaps some ironic comment on the superiority of the new vehicles. A picture of the Bulldog is also one of the team logos used on the flags in CTF games and other team-related objects.

1 Position:


 * 1 Driver
 * Primary fire: Fire homing missiles
 * Alt-fire: ?

TC-1200
Type: Easter egg Summon code: "summon OnslaughtFull. ONSGenericSD" (must have cheats enabled)

The TC-1200 or Toilet Car is a vehicle that does not appear in the normal game. By using the console in single player mode a player can make the car appear. Additionally, several mapmakers have included the vehicle in custom assault maps, mostly the "racing maps" which involve large numbers of players in vehicles competing against each other. It moves in a similar way to the Scorpion but is slightly slower, has a far better turning rate and is better at climbing. It has no weapons, but some entertaining toilet-like sounds. The game refers to the vehicle as TC-1200 but for obvious reasons it is invariably referred to as the Toilet Car.

The vehicle is a fully-specified vehicle, unlike most of the other non-standard vehicles which do not appear in official levels. It is animated and, when destroyed, explodes convincingly. Unlike the Bulldog or the Dragonfly it seems likely not to be a bit of left-over code but a deliberately-created Easter egg, with the typical humorous nature of such artifacts.

One Position:


 * Toilet seat

Dragonfly/Phoenix Bomber
Type: ? Summon code: "summon OnslaughtFull. ONSBomber"

The Dragonfly is used in custom maps. The code for making a controllable Phoenix Bomber (the aircraft that the Target Painter summons) was unfinished but left in the game. It can be summoned with "summon OnslaughtFull. ONSBomber". Moving the mouse up will pitch the vehicle down and vice-versa. Moving the mouse left will tilt the plane the same way. To turn, you must tilt the plane, then pitch the plane up (from the first person view), and then tilt back horizontal. While you cannot drop bombs as the bomber summoned by the target painter does, you can fire rockets in whatever direction the plane is pointing. However, you must be going straight at the target to hit it i.e. you are an easy target yourself. 1 Position:


 * Pilot
 * Primary fire: Fire rockets
 * Alt-fire:?

Ioncannon
Type: Turret

Summon code:"summon ut2k4.asturret_ioncannon"