> a strategy-less map

I only really played ut2k4 not 99, but in the 2k4 Face map there was a "ledge" (I don't know the term, like a stray polygon edge or something) out of sight on one side where you could fake like you had fallen off, land on the ledge, wait a couple seconds and then crouch or do whatever it was that made you drop the flag.

The game would show the message "so and so dropped the flag" which IIRC was the same message it shows when you die while holding the flag, and to most people it seems like you fell into the void and died, but you're actually just hanging out on the ledge.

There wasn't a way back up from the ledge, so you can't do this to shake people chasing you and then go score, but if you do this while you're ahead, the other team can't score until they get their flag back...

okay that's not really "strategy", it's super cheap.

Once you do get past it, though, there are some options. Including climbing the tower from the outside with the translocator.

Oh yes totally. But getting to the enemy side was the fun part. Also, how cool was that the translocator could be used as a weapon.

I liked getting to the other side of that map by telepunting - drop the translocator disk at your feet, smack it with the impact hammer just right, and you could send it flying ridiculous distances. You could easily send it the opposite tower in Facing Worlds if your aim was good.

I didn’t even know that’s a thing you could do! Might have to reinstall the game and give this a try.

Camp out in the upper chamber, wait for Redeemer to spawn, grab it and nuke 'em all. Great for taking out snipers posted on the opposing tower who are preventing your guys from crossing.

Fuck, CTF-Face was a vibe.

UT99 was the first real FPS experience I had. My friend invited me to a LAN party (also first time), and the whole thing was mind blowing.

People all over the house shouting and laughing.

I have a distinct memory of someone attempting what you just described, but my friend just happened to be ready and he sniped the redeemer right as it was shot. Big explosion and nothing left of the player but a scorch mark on the building. I laughed myself to tears. Good times.

I'd be so down to set up a lan again to play UT99. I still have a copy ready to go I bought on GOG ages ago.

It's a terrible map by almost every metric...

... except fun.

But guess what metric matters most?

Fun… and with a killer soundtrack: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eEcPakW42JU

Enjoy the memories.

I was going to say this. It's not a well-balanced map gameplay-wise, but the grand scale of it back in the day was very awe-inspiring.

I think most UT99 maps were balanced for chaos. Different types of chaos depending on the mode and the map. But they were genuinely all great. I don't remember hating any map in particular.

That’s kind of what I miss about classic shooters. No rankings, no matchmaking — just random jank in service of pure pubbie fun. Don’t like the map? No worries, we’ll cycle to a new one in a few minutes. (Or hop on over to a different server.) Versus CS just being endless rounds of perfectly balanced de_dust2 these days. “Competitive,” sure, but freakin’ boring!

It really was all geared towards having fun. And the fact that all the weapons were available on the maps rather than being pre selected made the game so easy to play.

There was no wasting time figuring out what style of play you wanted to go for. You just picked a game mode and went for it.

And as you said, maps were changing very quickly depending on how the game mode was set up.

Plus, so many exploding bodies