What is RPG?

UT2004 RPG is a mutator for Unreal Tournament 2004. It is created by Mysterial. It adds some RPG (Role Playing Game) elements, such as gaining levels, magic weapons, artifacts and the possibility to buy special abilities.

With RPG every player has a level (you start at level 1). You get "experience points" for things like killing other players and building nodes. If you get enough experience you go to the next level. You keep your level between games. A table of how much experience is needed for each level can be found here. For each new level you get 6 "stat points" (for example if you reach level 10 you will have a total of 54 stat points, if you reach level 100 you will have a total of 594 stat points). You can use those stat points to buy all kinds of special abilities.

Magic weapons?

When you get a weapon there is a certain chance it will be a magic weapon. Positive magic will make the weapon more useful, negative magic will make the weapon less useful. There are certain artifacts (e.g. the magic weapon maker) and abilities (e.g. denial and loaded weapons) which will allow you to get some limited control over this. More documentation on magic weapons can be found here (please note this server is using a slightly different version).

Artifacts?

There are two ways you can get artifacts. You can pick them up and you get some with the "loaded artifacts" and the "loaded medic" abilities. If you have multiple artifacts you can use the [ and the ] keys to select one. You can use the U key the activate the artifact you are currently holding. All artifacts use adrenaline, so you have to collect sufficient adrenaline to be able to use them. More documentation on artifacts can be found here (please note this server is using a different version).

Abilities?

When you have gained a few levels you can buy abilities with the stat points you collected. You need to press the L key to go to the RPG configuration screen for this. There are a lot of abilities and some of them exclude or require each other. So this can be confusing. For most abilities there is a small bit of info explaining how it works. If you make mistakes or change your mind, you can use the rebuild button to respend you stat points at the cost of some experience points. You can also go to the test server (instant level 200) and experiment. On the homepage you can find a list of players. If you click on a player name you can see what abilities they have bought. Also you can use the forum to ask for help.

Where do I begin?

When you are just starting to play RPG it can be confusing. There are some things which are good to know for starters. First of all you get a huge bonus for killing someone with a much higher level than yourself. If you are not strong (yet) you can use vehicles or the instagib super shock rifle (available on the BarnWar and SpaceJox maps) to gain some levels quickly. The higher the level the harder it gets, but usually new players are able to reach level 50 in just a few hours.

What abilities you should buy is highly dependent on your personal skills, style and preference. However it might be useful to know that the health, weapon speed and damage bonus abilities are the most popular.

And what about that green explosion?

The "green explosion" you will see a lot here is called the Ultima. It is the most powerful ability and therefore it is also quite expensive. You first need 80 damage bonus to be able to buy it and then it costs 50 stat points to get one. If you really hate the Ultima explosions you can buy the Anti Ultima ability which will make you immune to them.

How can I become an admin?

At the moment there are enough admins, so there are no vacancies. If a new admin is needed this will be posted on the forum so everyone can apply. In the meantime it helps to be a good member of the community (respect the rules, be active and positive in the forum) to increase your chances if there is a vacancy.

Can I set up my own (local) server?

You will need some understanding of Unreal for that, but everything you need to do this is already in your Unreal cache. Some useful information on setting it all up can be found here. If you just want to try things, you can also visit the instant level 200 TEST server at ut2004://u3.onsrpg.com.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please visit the forum.