Gunbound

GunBound World Champion
Developer(s)	softnyx
Publisher(s)	(Global) softnyx OnGame / softnyx (?) mobius.ph AsiaSoft
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	(Global) June 2005 February 2006 / TBA
Genre(s)	Strategy
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

GunBound (Korean: 건바운드, full name – GunBound World Champion, formerly GunBound: Thor's Hammer) is a freeware, online-only computer game developed in South Korea by Softnyx.

Gameplay

GunBound is similar to the turn-based Worms game series, which is itself based on earlier two-dimensional ballistics-simulation games such as Scorched Earth (IBM PC platform). Players are assigned to opposing teams that take turns firing at their opponents with their "mobiles".

Players can choose from a variety of mobiles, ranging from a giant slug to a spider-like machine. In a turn, players can do all or none of the following:

• Move their chosen mobile a specified distance
• Choose between a weapon (shot 1, shot 2, or SS)
• Adjust the angle and power they will use to fire their shot

Turns can be skipped by pressing F8. There is also a wind meter, which affects how the shot travels, and a floating machine known as Thor. Although there is no overall time limit, a player's turn is limited to 20 seconds.

Gold, the in-game currency system, is awarded for performing well. It can be used to rent avatar items for one week or one month, or to buy them. These items boost players' statistics in one or more areas, such as attack, strength, defense, speed, but only have an effect on the "Avatar On" worlds/servers with the exception of popularity, which gives players 1% more gold per point in any world/server.

Game Types

There are four game types in GunBound, each with different playing styles and strategies.

• Solo - Each player has only one life. When everyone in a team dies, the game is over.
• Score - Each team has a set number of lives. When a player dies, that player's team loses one life, but can come back in four turns. The game ends when one team reaches zero lives or when a team has no one on the map. The number of lives is the number of total players + 1. Therefore, each player can only afford to die once, with one person dying twice.
• Tag - Each player has control of 2 mobiles and can switch between them (the second selected mobile's health will only be half full).
• Jewel - Players attack targets, known as "jewel", which give gold and points. Mobiles are invincible, and when someone is "bunged" (knocked off the map), that player loses the game(only in 1 on 1) but the player who did the bunge shot in the jewel game recieves no gold. The first team to reach or exceed 100 points wins. If everybody in 1 team is bunged before a team reaches 100 points the team that was bunged loses. Jewels are worth -5 points, 5 points, 10 points, and 25 points. It is not possible to earn negative points.

Maps

File:GunBoundGame.gif

A Score game of GunBound in play on the map Miramo Town.

Currently, there are 21 maps to choose from (including all A-Sides and B-Sides). They are listed below:

• Miramo Town (A-Side and B-Side)
• Nirvana (A-Side and B-Side)
• Metropolis (A-Side and B-Side)
• Sea of Hero (A-Side and B-Side)
• Adiumroot (A-Side and B-Side)
• Dragon (A-Side and B-Side)
• Cozy Tower (A-Side and B-Side)
• Dummy Slope (A-Side and B-Side)
• Stardust (A-Side and B-Side)
• Meta Mine (A-Side and B-Side)
• Cave/Random (Cave can only be played on, with a random chance, by selecting Random map due to its close range positioning of mobiles)

Originally, only Nirvana, Cozy Tower and Meta Mine had B-sides, but since the update of GunBound World Champion, all maps have a B-Side with the exception of Cave. Cave is one of the most dreaded maps for most players due to its four "Ignorance" disks (see Moon Disk).

Ranking

Gunbound incorporates a ranking system for distinguishing between new and veteran players. New players are not allowed on the servers for advanced players. Conversely, advanced players are not allowed in the rookie servers. This helps to keep the game fair, as new players do not usually want to play against expert players, and expert players generally dislike playing with inexperienced players. GP, or Gunbound Points are used for determining ranks. New players begin with 1000 GP, and earn more by winning games. A player's rank is displayed as a little rectangular icon next to his/her screenname. The basic ranking system up to 6900 GP is as follows:

• Little Chick - 1000 - 1099 GP
• Wood Axe - 1100 - 1199 GP
• Double Wood Axe - 1200 - 1499 GP
• Stone Axe - 1500 - 1799 GP. Players achieving the rank of Stone Axe are no longer allowed in the Rookie servers, but instead earn access to the Intermediate and Free servers.
• Double Stone Axe - 1800 - 2299 GP
• Metal Axe - 2300 - 2799 GP
• Double Metal Axe - 2800 - 3499 GP
• Silver Axe - 3500 - 4199 GP
• Double Silver Axe - 4200 - 5099 GP. Players achieving the rank of Double Silver Axe are no longer allowed in the Intermediate or Rookie servers and are restricted to the Free servers.
• Gold Axe - 5100 - 5999 GP
• Double Gold Axe - 6000 - 6899 GP

When a player earns 6900 GP, his/her ranking is no longer based on an absolute scale. The player still continues to earn GP as before, but his ranking is based on percentile ranking out of all the players of that player's country. The amount of GP required to advanced to the next level constantly changes and is different for players in different countries. Generally, it is more difficult (i.e. requires more experience and more GP) to advance in countries with more players representing. These rankings are as follows:

• Metal Battle Axe - For players in the 0th to 29th percentile range.
• Metal Battle Axe Advanced - For players in the 30th to 49th percentile range. Distinguishable from the Metal Battle Axe by a Purple Sphere in the corner of ranking icon.
• Silver Battle Axe - For players in the 50th to 69th percentile range.
• Silver Battle Axe Advanced - For players in the 70th to 79th percentile range. Distinguishable from Silver Battle Axe by a Blue Sphere in the corner of the ranking icon.
• Gold Battle Axe - For players in the 80th to 89th percentile range.
• Gold Battle Axe Advanced - For players in the 90th to 93rd percentile range. Distiguishable from Gold Battle Axe by a Red Sphere in the corner of the ranking icon.
• Violet Wand - For players in the 94th to 96th percentile range.
• Sapphire Wand - For players in the 97th to 98th percentil range.
• Ruby Red Wand - For players in the 99th to 99.8th percentile range.
• Diamond Wand - For players in the 99.9th percentile range.

The top 21 players in each country receive their own special designators to show that they are the elite of their country. Their designators are:

• Blue Dragon - For players in 21st to 6th place in GP.
• Red Dragon - For players in 5th to 2nd place in GP.
• Silver Dragon - For the point leaders of each country. This is the highest possible rank in gunbound. The current world leader in GP belongs to the United Arab Emirates, and has well over 700,000 GP.

List of Slot Items

During a Tag or Solo match, defeated players receive a slot wheel which automatically spins. If it generates three identical items, it allows them to drop these items or use them on the remaining players. The option of respinning the slot is also available. The drops fall from the very top of the screen and, unless otherwise stated are affected by wind power and direction. They are as follows:

• Dynamite - A small explosive that is affected by wind, and does about 50-80 points of damage for a direct hit and as little as 17 depending on its proximity.

• Hammer - Wind's effect on the hammer is similar to it's effect on dynamite. The hammer spins as it falls, allowing it to knock a player's angle off more than dynamite can. It does approximately the same amount of damage as dynamite.

• Lightning - Preferred by most players for its higher damage, 76-80, and because it strikes straight down, doing less land damage than either dynamite or hammer and is unaffected by wind.

• Treasure Chest - Contains a 1 slot basic random item. In previous editions it had a probability of containing gold.

• Wind Null - Sets the wind's strength to 0 when used.

• Wind Reverse - Reverses the wind's direction when used.

• Question mark Chest - This appears as a treasure chest with a question mark on top of it in the slot screen. Once deployed it can fall as any of the previously mentioned items (lighting, dynamite, hammer, treasure chest, wind null, wind change).

All items require four turns to fall or activate. A small triangle facing downwards denotes the drop point of origin and counts down from 4. Each triangle's color is the color of the corresponding player's team. (A red player's drops will be marked as red triangles, and a blue player's drops will be marked as blue triangles.)

Depending on the drop mode selected by the host, (basic or attack) gold bonuses are also available through the slots in the form of 10, 50, or 100 gold. This is only available in basic mode; attack mode allows only items.

Prizes, avatar items, GP and gold

During game play prizes of gold and GP are awarded. Awards are given for giving a large amount of damage (either in a full game or in a single turn), destroying or bunging (making a player fall off a map) an opponent, shooting with a high angle and, of course, winning a game Players on the losing side are allowed to keep the GP and gold they earned during the game.

Avatar items enhance:

• defense - the amount of damage prevented
• attack - the amount of damage dealt
• life - the amount of health/"HP" a player has (when it's gone, the player dies)
• bunge - the amount of land that is destroyed by a shot
• delay(orange) - the amount of time taken away from one's normal delay
• item delay(blue) - the amount of time taken away from the delay that is added to players after using an item
• shield - the healing speed and capacity of a shield (only Mage, A.Sate, Lightning and JD have shields, so it's a pointless stat to have unless using these bots)
• popularity - the % of extra gold players are awarded (1 point = 1%)

The maximum number of points in any one category is 50. It is also possible to have negative points.

To earn items faster, a player can pay Softnyx with real-world money. This is called "cash." Using cash is sometimes looked down upon by a few players, since the items were not earned by the skill of the player. Although most items can be rented with cash or gold, some items are gold only or cash only. Gold-only items are usually the most powerful items with the best upgrades. One notable exception to this rule is the cash-only phoenix and its blue-flamed brother, which are very powerful items. Cash only is also used for the power-user card, a temporary status that makes a player earn gold and GP faster (+10% gold and +20% GP) and enhances the status of the games he hosts to attract more players. The power-user card also gives a host unlimited number of kicks in the game room instead of 5 and prevents him from losing gold or GP in penalties such as damaging a teammate.

GP is the point system that determines ranking. Penalties of a loss of GP and gold are given for plays that help the opposing side. However, the penalty for damage to a player on one's own team is not given if the damage is less than 50 (out of the ~1000 damage it takes destroy average mobiles with no avatar to help them last longer) or if a player gives any damage to the opposing side during the same turn.

In some game zones avatar bonuses do not apply, except for the star (popularity) stat. These Zones are known as "Avatar Off" zones. Many people play there with a combination of avatars that give players 50+ popularity. These are called "money suits" but they are not official sets. They are relatively cheap and help players earn gold faster than in normal gameplay.

Delay

This number in the delay chart/list at the bottom left hand corner determines the turn order. Delay is determined by 4 factors:

• The first is the base delay of the mobile itself.
• This is then added to the delay of the shot type selected.
• This is then combined with the added delay of any items that are selected to be fired.
• All of this is then added to how much time a player took to fire their shot.

In a player's turn, the timer is set for 20 seconds (failing to complete the shot within 20 seconds results in forfeiture of turn, which can also be done without adding any extra delay through a "skip turn" button) when a player's turn starts and measures in increments of .01. Delay that is added to the shot due to time is calculated at +10 delay per second for all bots (except Turtle, which has +12 delay per second). Equipping avatars that affect either the delay stat or the item delay stat also influence the turn delay. As with most statistics, however, it only applies to Avatar On servers.

It is important to note that while the "Turn List" chart on the bottom left shows your delay, it does not show the other player(s)'s delay directly. Rather, it shows their delay relative to yours. So if you had 900 delay and another player's delay was 0, it would mean that they also had 900 delay.

Delay is a considerably important factor when playing GunBound, as skillful management of delay will allow a player to take turns faster than his or her opponent.

Shooting Modes

Slice and Dragshot are the two different modes of controlling shot power.

• Slice - The default setting and is operated by holding the spacebar and releasing it to reach the desired power. It is the most common amongst beginners, as it is easy to control and use. On the other hand, it can take a great deal of time to gain much power, thus increasing the delay for that shot.

• Dragshot - The most common choice among "pros" and shotgunners because it allows the player to move the power bar selector back and forth with the mouse. This can increase speed (minimizing delay) players can make pixel wide adjustments. However, the longer the user drags, the more the power bar jumps around randomly, thus reducing accuracy. It is also preferred due to the fact that the power bar can be reset simply by dragging it back to 0 power (where in slice if one's powerbar goes over the desired point there is no way to reduce it).

• Sniper Mode - One of the shooting styles in GunBound: Thor's Hammer. Sniper mode utilizes the space key just as in the slice shot, but the bar travels at a faster speed. The point of this shot was that if the power was close enough to the power of the last shot, it would automatically increase/decrease the power to match. This option was later removed due to inaccuracy and a bug where the power just changed randomly.

GunBound Mobiles and Attacks

Main article: List of GunBound Mobiles and Attacks

In GunBound, there are 14 old mobiles, 2 new mobiles, and 2 special mobiles. They are grouped into three categories: Machine, Shield, and Creature.

• Machine-type Mobiles:
  • Aduka
  • Armor Mobile
  • BigFoot
  • Kalsiddon
  • Knight
  • NakMachine
  • Raon Launcher
• Shield-type Mobiles:
  • A. Sate
  • J.D.
  • Lightning
  • Mage
• Creature-type Mobiles:
  • Boomer
  • Dragon
  • Grub
  • Ice
  • J. Frog
  • Trico
  • Turtle

Items

Prior to each game, powerups can be selected and equipped, with up to six basic items, or three large items. These items offer a variety of benefits to the user, such as "Dual", which allows players to fire two shots in one turn. Items also add extra delay to the user's shot as a price for using the item, this is commonly mistaken by new players to be a gold cost due to the fact that the delay added is labeled on the item in the bottom right hand corner (hence many new players, mistakenly, bring all "bloods" which have no delay cost, but instead require a health penalty). In solo and tag games, players can gain new one-slot items by grabbing treasure chests dropped by defeated players.

Name	Slots	Delay	Effect
Blood	1	0	User loses 8% of remaining health; next attack 33% more powerful
Bunge shot	1	50	Next attack does 25% greater land damage (destruction of the land near the shot)
Change Wind	1	150	Changes wind speed/direction to opposite of the current direction
Dual	2	600	Selected weapon fires twice in one turn
Dual+	2	250	After selected weapon is fired, the other non-SS weapon fires also
Energy up 1	1	100	Regain some health, creature types gain an additional 5%
Energy up 2	2	300	Recover 25% of maximum health, creature types gain an additional 5%
Power up	1	150	Next attack 33% more powerful
Team Teleport	2	50	Switch places with the teammate with the lowest health; ends current turn
Teleport	2	100	Shoots a projectile that teleports players to its landing spot; ends current turn
Thunderbolt	2	100	A thunderbolt, or multiple thunderbolts (depending on number of projectiles in the selected shot) hits where the next attack lands

Moon Disk

The Moon Disk, located in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen (Or bottom right in new layout for World Championship released in November of 2005), is a series of icons known as "satellites" that affect the gameplay. Here is a list of the satellites in the Moon Disk:

• Force - On the Moon Disk, Force looks like a sun. In the game, it looks like a sunbeam. Shots that go through the Force have their attack power increased. The amount of attack power increase is directly proportional to the amount of time the shot stays in the sunbeam. Turtle, however, has an exception. When using it's SS shot, it must have split first. If left in giant ball form it will not retain the properties of Force.
• Hurricane (also known as Tornado) - On the Moon Disk, Hurricane looks like a hurricane. In the game, it looks like a tornado (hence the moniker Tornado). Shots that pass through the hurricane are wrapped around it a varying amount depending on angle, then continue on their normal trajectory. If the shot is ascending as it enters, it will travel farther, and if it is descending, it will fall shorter, usually by two angles. However, if a player stands in the tornado and fire with a high enough angle, it will continue up and be 'lost' somewhere.
• Electricity - On the Moon Disk, Electricity looks like an electric orb. In the game, it looks like a lightning beam. Electricity basically adds a less damaging version of Lightning's first shot to shots that pass through it.
• Wind - On the Moon Disk, Wind looks like a comet. When this icon comes up, both the wind speed and direction change once, staying the same until the next time Wind comes up in the Moon Disk.
• Land - On the Moon Disk, Land looks like a piece of ice. Supposedly, this satellite is supposed to increase the land damage by 15%, but has never been seen on any map in Gunbound.
• Protection - On the Moon Disk, Protection looks like a crescent moon. For anybody who has a turn when Protection comes up, that player gets a small increase in energy for each turn under the Protection. Bionic mobiles get twice the effect of other mobiles.
• Eclipse - On the Moon Disk, Eclipse appears as a black disk. Eclipse has three main traits: 1) It causes Item Lock, meaning all players lose access to their items. There is no exception to this rule. 2) It causes shield mobiles to stop regenerating their shields. 3) It decreases the recharge time of player's SS.
• Thor - On the Moon Disk, Thor looks like a smaller version of the actual Thor satellite in the game. When this satellite is activated, Thor shoots out a laser in addition to the normal shots (except for Aduka shot 2 and SS, which both utilize the Thor laser). The more damage Thor causes, the higher the "level" Thor becomes. Higher Thor levels mean that, for each laser shot from Thor, more damage is caused.

When two or more of the same satellite appear in a row, the sunbeam, tornado, or the lightning beam from the previous instance(s) of Force, Hurricane, or Electricity will stay until a different satellite comes up on the Moon Disk.

Sudden Death

Sudden Death mode activates after a set number of turns. Each type of Sudden Death has a special effect on shots. In all three variations of Sudden Death, items are deactivated when the sudden death period begins.

• Big Bomb Death - Shots destroy more ground; Super Shots are disabled.
• Double Death - Shots are fired twice; Super Shots are disabled. (like dual item being used at all times)
• Special Shot Death - Special Shots can be used every turn. Usually, a person can only take a SS once every 4 turns
• No Death - Sudden Death doesn't activate at all for the duration of the game.

In all of the Sudden Deaths, except for "No Death", the music changes from whatever it originally was to a more dramatic tune.

Security

Gunbound within the past has been heavily targeted with scam artists due to their lust of avatar ever since its beginning in late 2003. Softnyx has received numerous complaints regarding scam sites and lost avatar. In response, Softnyx has improved the security system by using the effective functions as shown:

Account IP Security

• HIGH - The first three numbers of the IP address are checked. (xx.xx.xx.##)
• MEDIUM - The first two numbers of the IP address are checked. (xx.xx.##.##) [inactive]
• LOW - The first number of the IP address are checked. (xx.##.##.##) [inactive]
• NONE - Any IP address logged into the account is not checked and the user is now unprotected from external logins.

The main controversy behind the new IP security function is that dial-up users constantly retrieve dynamic IP addresses, which leaves them to the "NONE" security level. Softnyx has also realized that security selections LOW to MEDIUM are often ignored, and that they were removed.

Avatar Hacking Prevention Measures

• Ever since Gunbound: World Champion has released after the predecessor, Thors Hammer, Softnyx has a new restriction on players whom may or may not receive avatar based on their rank. Any player below a metal axe ranking are prohibited from gifting avatar and are only allowed to receive, while those above the metal axe rank may gift and receive at the same time.

Mail Q&A Function

• Softnyx has a modified Mail Q&A that allows users to report any missing items that have been hacked from an external user. This is effective only when an IP address used to login and hack the avatar differs from the default user's.

Game ID Registration

• Softnyx now requires all players to have a Game ID, which is similar to a "nickname" preventing other users from obtaining their Login ID.

Password Cloak

• When the user types away its password, it will be automatically concealed by the game and will inform the user to change it again.

List of slang/shorthand commonly used on GunBound

Gunbound uses much of the same slang as the rest of the internet (see List of Internet slang). There are some, though that are rarely used elsewhere:

• Aimbot = A program created for use in aiming at opponents with perfect, or near perfect, accuracy. However, with the introduction of the nProtect Hacking Prevent System, it has become very difficult, if not impossible, to find an aimbot that functions. Most of the programs found on the internet are not "bypassed," but usually the ones that players must purchase function until nProtect "patches" new aimbots.
• Bar (ie. 1 bar, 2 bar, 3 bar) = The power bar in Gunbound has 3 marks inside it called 'bars', they are used to help teammates distinguish shots. For example, someone might tell their teammate "Angle 87, 2 bar", this would mean shooting 87 degrees at 2 bar power. Decimals are also used for precision.
• Botter = A user using automated programs to win in a one-on-one game. Usually consists of a player versus a new account that automatically walks off the map, then restarts the game. This is considered foul play and counter measures have been instituted by Softnyx in the form of reduced Gold and GP awards in one-on-one matches. This is different from aimbotting where a person actually has to work to hit.
• Bunge = The action of destroying the land from under an opponent, thereby defeating them. Presumably used due to a mistranslation of bungee by Softnyx.
• eBay wand = Wands are some of the highest ranked players on Gunbound. If they are poor players, it seems like the screenname was bought off of eBay.
• Haircut/Headshot = When a players' shot "slices" the top of another person, but doesn't actually hit (the player's "body" will not register as a hit, only the mobile itself does.)
• Nado = Tornado/hurricane.
• SS/55 = Special shot, yellow button on "GunBound: Thor's Hammer" and red button on "GunBound", it can be used every four shots by the player, and will recharge twice as fast during "item locks". Frequently and incorrectly called 55 as the other two buttons are numbers, and the letters "SS" look like a "55" as well.
• KS = kill steal (killing an opponent one's teammate had already been attacking extensively)
• Thor = Thor's Hammer, the metallic satellite floating in the sky that sends lasers to give extra damage.
• True angle = A player mobiles' "true angle" is referred to as the darker shade of green when aiming their shots. Hitting one's opponent outside the true angle reduces damage by 1.5x.
• Speedbot = A player that uses a botting program called "Speedbot" made by Moose. Speedbot utilizes the "I.Death hack" and thus very effective at gaining GP. Speedbot is not allowed in Gunbound and if the player is caught will result in a ban from Gunbound.
• TK/TKer = Team Killer or Teamate Killer, a player who attacks his own teammates. He tries to lose money and GP. TKs in Gunbound are equivalent to the PKs (Player Killers) in other massive multiplayer online role-playing games -MMORPG-.
• Pro = Someone who is extremely good at aiming or shooting.
• Noob/Newb= A nasty word to say to starters or not very good players.Not recommended for players to say to each other.
• Hacker= A player who uses programs that automatically do something for him/her/it(like Aimbot). Illegal in Gunbound. Stay away from hackers.
• SG= "Shotgun." A type of shot very effective at close range. It involves the shooter aiming directly at a nearby enemy and shooting at full power. This causes the shot to travel in a nearly straight line as opposed to a parabolic arc.
• DK= "Double Kill." Killing two opponents with one shot. Very rare occurence, owing to need for the two players to be in very close proximity to each other and both close enough to death to be killed by one shot or on a small enough piece of land that can be destroyed with one shot. Because of the difficulty of achieving a double kill, large gold and GP bonuses are given for players who get a Double Kill. In addition, a message appears in the message window of every game on the server announcing the name and Room Number of the player who just made a Double Kill.

• NS or VNS = "Nice Shot" or "Very Nice Shot." A quick way for players to congratulate each other on a good shot.

Filter

GunBound has a rudimentary profanity filter, filtering a few English swear-words. Screennames are filtered by the Gunbound website at registration, to prevent the use of profanities in a username, although+ there have been cases of people circumventing the name filter. In chat, players will use misspellings and replacement characters, such as "\", which is displayed as "₩" in-game, or extra spaces to get around the filter for in game chat. The words "Jesus" and "tai" were also banned before, but have now been allowed.

Events

In GunBound at certain times, Softnyx runs events, like Easter Event or Christmas Event. While the events are on the Softnyx website will show what things are happening because of the event. For the Easter 2006 event there were three "episodes":

• Episode 1: More Cash for everyone that uses Cash Charge while the event is on, plus prizes of gold and special, limited edition avatars.
• Episode 2: A spot the difference challenge, where you had to find the 7 differences between 2 Softnyx pictures within 200 seconds for all 5 levels. The prizes improved with the more levels you bet in a row.
• Episode 3: Half price avatars for a limited time only.

GunBound Events are opportunities for GunBound users to be rewarded by Softnyx and gives the newer players a chance to earn gold.

External links

• softnyx USA - softnyx' Official U.S. Site.
• softnyx – softnyx' Official Corporate Site.
• GunBound - Links for global and local GunBound.
• Bunge Holes Guild - Bunge Holes Guild and Fansite
• Gunbound Guild League Headquarters - Largest fansite and league for GunBound.
• GunboundCorner - Gunbound Merchandise Reseller
• Gunbound TopSites - Gunbound Top Sites
• Gunbound Austria - Gunbound Fansite Austria
• softnyx.be - Gunbound and Rakion Image Resource.