Hello!? Radar Still Doesn't Work!

Unreal 2004 was an impressive update. It added Onslaught, the most popular game-mode in recent memory. It also added Invasion and Mutant, and brought back Assault with plenty of improvements. Tons of new maps and new characters, what more could you ask for? How about if they fixed the fucking radar?

Here's your radar during Capture-the-Flag. A circle with two dots. The dot in your color points to your flag, and the other points at your opponent's flag. Seems obvious enough. Too bad it doesn't work.

See, the thing is - the dots don't actually point at the flags, they point at where the flags would be, if nobody was stealing them. This is utterly pointless. If your enemy has stolen your flag, you need to know exactly where he is, not where your flag used to be. Likewise, if your teammate has the enemy flag, you might want to go find and support him, but too bad your radar is pointing at an empty flag-hole. The net result of all this is that players on both teams can go and lurk with each others' flags, leaving you no option but to play Hide-and-go-Seek with your opponents.

The other gametypes like Invasion and Mutant have it slightly better. In these modes, the colored dot actually does track your target, proving that Epic knows how to accomplish this. Yet still, it's an incredible pain in the ass. The problem is that the radar is 2D, while the map is 3D. If your target is above or below you, you have no way of knowing, leaving you to wander around cluelessly. The more vertically-inclined the map, the bigger problem this is, resulting in you running smack into solid walls because you're trying to follow the radar. Frankly, it sucks.

But it's not like this is an unsolvable problem. Flight and Space simulator games have been dealing with it for years now, and have come up with some workable solutions. Here's the radar from Wing Commander. It works the same as Unreal's, but replaces the dots with lines that point up or down - the taller the line, the higher above/below you the target is. This works rather well. So not only does Wing Commander have a better radar, it also got a Freddie Prinze movie. I don't see Freddie Prinze starring in Unreal: The Movie. Maybe if you got your radar fixed, Epic Megagames, it might not be too late.

An even more modern example of how not to give yourself a headache is the Rainbow Six series. How about an actual 3D map of the level to guide you around? Yes, it's possible, and it works perfectly, as seen here from Raven Shield. Even better, bunny-hopping doesn't even work in this game, making it the best 3D shooter of all time.

Imagine that, being able to find people when you need to, and no more cruising right into brick walls. It's almost too much to hope for. Maybe by Unreal 2006, Epic might actually do something about it. And, just in case they do, I have plenty of other things to complain about.