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Preview of Unreal Tournament 2
An Anonymous Coward writes: "Looks like we can finally have a glance at the Unreal Tournament 2 screenshots and a nice preview. Wow, games these days are just too real (but you wont hear me complain!). Enjoy!"
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Will there be a Linux version?
Hail to the king, baby!
I hope they hold a naming competition too!
I really hate Dan Patrick.
They're apparently including vehicles this time around, Tribes 2 style.
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
It all looks and sounds very impressive, but one of my reasons for liking the original was it ran on machines that quake3 really didnt run too well on.
Sounds damm funky but I bet it doesnt play very well over a modem
I hope they truly mean low end hardware, and not a Duron 1ghz and a Geforce 2
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
Yet another FPS game based on it's predecessor's engine. Just like the car industry - nearl no innovation.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
The February issue of PC Gamer has UT2 as its cover story. The website hasn't been updated yet, but the magazine's already hit bookstores.
Here's a mirror.
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
I wonder how many revisions to the same engine they can continue to make their (crappy) games on. The engine itself in UT is certainly showing its age and strain.
Their vaunted modifiability with "UnrealScript" aside, UnrealEd, their primary editing utility, even uses VB... sheesh.
Personally I'll just wait for Kreed and Doom.
Let's see. Unreal was supposed to be released shortly after Quake, but ended up beeing about two years late. Is there any real reason to expect that the Unreal 2 engine will slip any less?
Try out fish, the friendly interactive shell.
The sniper rifle has been replaced by an "instant hit lightning gun" which does the same thing. Oh man that sucks I always liked the sniper rifle, I thought it was a nice touch compared to all the sci-fi weapons. Besides which "I sniped that bitch between the eyes" has a nicer ring to it than "I insta-lightninged the sucker".
;-)
The article says that it makes the snip^H^H^H^H intant-hit-lightning-gunner more visible, I suppose this is some justification because we all know sniping is lame
He who defends everything, defends nothing. -- Fredrick The Great
I personally really enjoyed Unreal and Unreal Tournament. Both ran well on low end machines. Both run great on high end machines.
It's my understanding that the new games all have a totally redone scripting engine.
Does anyone know for sure?
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Another game on the 'to buy' list for next year...
Ah, the trolls hate me. My sense of self-worth is thusly reaffirmed; I must be doing something worthwhile after all. =)
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
What would be really cool to see would be programmers actually constructing arenas out of real models or something and getting images from them for their game. Also, doing the same with the guns and the people. That would be awesome and probably wouldn't be as hard on a system.
My other sig is an import.
I apologize if this is post isnt exactly on topic,
but I started thinking when I saw the pictures of UT2 who good they really were becoming
and while its extremely obvious, This is real interaction between people in a space that is as "real" as it can be made while still keeping it fun.
Yes I know people normally dont go around shooting at each other and wearing armour
but as UT2 gets more and more 'real' looking, is this what
the internet is going to look like in the future. I am rather surprised that i havent seen UT mods where people can upload an avatar skin, that is specif for them, and have a area that is just a lounge. I help but thinking about Neal Stephenson's Metaverse and what it would look like and I keep thinking that it might look like UT2. The tech is there, now it really needes to be expanded.
I know that many will point out to things like Ultima Online and the like, and I agree with you, but I think UT2 may (just graphically I mean) represent some version of what the future internet may look like.
Anyway, sorry for rambling,
have a nice day
Sigs are dangerous coy things
Those screen shots look good...but not great.
Personally, I won't be impressed until 3D environments are detailed enough that all of the game's sound effects are generated in real-time by the physics engine.
"Leave the strategizing to those of us with planet-sized brains." -Tycho
Will they have an updated level editor to go with this? That's the only real thrill I get out of these games anymore, and the editor that came with UT, well, it's okay but it's much lacking in some features (stability, portability (file format-wise, robustness). A few more primitives would be nice; groups for actors would be nice (correct me if UED2 already has this), selections would be nice (real selections, not that shift-click cruft). A manual would be really nice. And an in-editor screenshot maker!
Or is this just wishful thinking?
Minimum Requirements
Windows XXP
5 Geoforce Cards
4 1.4Ghz processors
3 French Hens
2 Turtle soundcards
and <pinky_in_cheek>1 Billion MB of Ram</pinky_in_mouth>
This
This is the only thing that worries me, personally, because frankly I suck. Maybe it's age, maybe it's the lack of patience to go check out the ultra-elite message boards where I can get the key bindings to use all these weird-ass dodges and double-secret jumps. Maybe it's the tendonitis which slows down my trigger finger.
I can be competitive, but it's taken a year to get there, and when people are dominating I'm just not good enough.
I hope there is still a place for me, the aging crappy FPS gamer. I'm the one who messes up your team by not playing well enough. I'm the one who accidentally fires at you when you're on the ledge, knocking you off and killing you. I'm the one who runs while firing the rocket launcher, forgetting that I'm about to run past a pole where my rocket will just blow me up, blow me up damn good. I don't want to be the lame one, it just happens.
You elite players need people like me in order to climb the ladder. Every army needs its cannon fodder. But if there are too many dodge keys to remember, no chance of being even the slightest bit effective doing anything, I'll just have to pass and you elites are only going to be left killing yourselves.
the Quake 3 engine. Maybe they decided to license the Quake 3 engine for UT2. :)
First person shooters have something holding them back from being ultra-realistic and that is the bubble that surrounds the player. The degree of seperation between the player and the world. What am I talking about? Take a look at this screenshot. Notice how the gun is JUST to the right of the player's eye whilst the clown is very seperate. The clown can never interact with that gun and can never come between the player and the end of the gun. In my opinion, as the graphics get more and more realistic this is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in getting the player immersed in the game. The gun example is just an example, what I am trying to say is that the player is very seperated from the environment in first person shooters and that is becoming a major problem. Notice also how the player can never see their own feet.
Think this is a small issue? Well, imagine a game where the player COULD see their feet and enemies COULD come inbetween the player, the player's gun and the player's feet. Right now, first person shooters make the player feel like a gun floating in mid-air and shooting at things in the environment. DOOM didn't quite do that, it used view-bobbing and other techniques to prevent that feel. A newish game that has the same level of immersion is Medal Of Honour. Whilst I don't think you can see your feet in that or enemies can interact largely with the player, the player still gets immersed by things like view bobbing, realistic sounds and other activity keeping the player occupied.
Forget graphics, NOW is the time for immersion!
maybe now they can use this new engine for the duke nukem 4. it would look really sweet then;)
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
As an avid UT fan from the beginning, I am extremely excited about getting my hands on the new UT2. I do know that they have stripped the shock rifle out of it because it is too powerful, mainly when using the combo. However, they have replaced it with a plasma shotgun that allows for the same thing, but in moderation, and its not as powerful.
It also looks like epic is going away from the indoors tournament look and feel of UT. There are a few custom outdoor UT maps, but not many, and most of them are not sanctioned by the big ladders.
Like UT did to the gaming industry a few years back, I think that UT2 and U2 will do now. I also think that no games will be able to come close to it (in the same genre) for a few years.
-Vic
The problem with FPS's is that it gets so damned repetitive. Run around, grab items, shoot a near-endless supply of enemies. Except for quality of graphics, how are today's FPS's different than Doom?
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
If you think that Unreal Tournament 2 is "too real", you really need to get your ass outside and look at the world more often.
I say that we start the Coalition of Sucky UT2 Players.
This way we could have strength in numbers...
Hmm, actually that might be a bad thing. Could you imagine a line of use coming down towards the enemy firing rockets in front of us? We would probably kill more of ourselves than then enemy would. The enemy would see people flying all over the place and (s)he would not be doing anything.
It would would be so much worse on a level with a pit in it. Could you imagine us trying to use the teleporter? We would try to look really good by using it, but we would probably end up teleporting ourselves into the pit.
Of course it could be that we would only end up proliferating our suckiness, but at least we would have a support group (and why not, there is a support group for everything these days.)
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
Damn. Alien Male B? Go all the way and give us Jar-Jar.
Oh please not another UT! I have enough trouble getting my work done as is!
Can you say LAN Party???
...All I can say is that my life is pretty strange...
It looks nice, but does it really look that much different that Halo now? I haven't played halo outside the stores since it's the only thing on x-box that remotely is interesting to me, so I wont buy one, but it looks alot like I see in what I have seen of Halo. Even the graphical quality looks the same.
Does UT2 do per pixel environments like doom 3 will I guess (don't know much about this technology to be honest). I saw a demo where doom 3 had lights above a fan and the shadows from that sweeping over some boxes, very cool. Doom 3 images (the crappy ones that are all that is out) look much more realistc that this. UT2 looks very good, but it's always had this kinda anim look to it.
I've always prefered UT when it comes to good First Person Shooters.
I'm really hoping for Mac and Linux versions of this game. I don't use Windows.
Ciryon
One thing that interest me in all this UT2 / Quake 3 / Doom 3 stuff is the way in which these systems have achieved 3d immersion on the net.
I mean look at web3d.org (vrml) and how poorly it has done, now look at the game engines. Let's take the recently GPL released Quake 2. I saw it's out now for Mac OS X, windows obviously and linux I am sure now or soon. Plus you can run it in a window, not full screen if you wish. Now take that and develope a means to assign URL's like
quake2://w3d.nowhere.com/index.bsp to a slip gate that can pass this to the engine. Get a good 2D canvas in it to render text and images to view pages and perhaps a consol. The ideas go on and on.
It's a cross platform GPL'd 3d networked environment....
With the 4.20 patch of UT over two years ago, they released a new version of Unreal Ed that was re-written in c++.
It was not nearly as buggy as the VB version, but it still had way too big of a dependency on microsoft APIs to make a port a reality.
If you don't mind the rebooting, or are a windows user anyway, then it is still worth checking out.
Do any of these fps games have the
equivalent of say a Nuke?
When playing Heavy Gear 2,(essentially the only game I got), I always think that planting
a nuke and then fleeing the Mach Wave would
be a neat "realistic" touch. Or say being
informed that an ICBM was on the way and
having to "duck and cover" and shutdown
systems to avoid the EMP.
Imagine a multiplayer GTA3, with say 1000 people... based on a real city not liberty.
That would rock ass, drive/walk/fight like quake or CStrike but also do it in real maps and against PC too.
It would only be a matter of time before some lamer decided to burst into the lounge with a rocket launcher and frag everyone.
It is looking great even though I'd prefer more screenshots than edited images, but I guess it's too early.
Maybe with the q3 release plan it's will be delivered together with the ATI 8500DV card that I ordered.
But I would not be surpriced if it got delayed. With Q3 as a target they have room for delays and will still be able to be on the x-mas lists for santa.
I'm hugely waiting for a game that will fill the hole between RTS and FPS. I think it probably would need to be MMO also, since you would need a lot more units to do what I'm implying, but I can't wait for a game where you will be able to be a general in an army as well as as canon fodder, and when you die, you know that you have been useful for something for your team, if only for numbers.
This kind of MMOSFPS (folloming, guy? Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy First-Person Shooter) would probably have to be somewhat less fast-paced than most FPS (think Tribes 2, or even a bit slower), the chain of command would be actually on the field and would have to be protected from opponents, and there would be a rating system, allowing the chain of command to know the skill level of every soldier (and the game to even teams). That way, you'd be given commands adapted to you (Yeah, I know, that could be cleaning the crap), and no one could criticize you for your lack of ability, only too happy to have one more soldier (this would require an extremely balanced rating system, I know).
Of course, You'd also need to judge separately the tactics level (How, that sounds like a difficult game to make, now, eh?) of a guy, so that he can be given command of a group of sharpshooters even if he can't hit a cow, and so on.....
How does that sound?
I don't have much to add.
I would assume that it wouldn't.
UT and UT2 are both multi player centered. Much like Q3 is. Doom3 is however single player oriented. In a SP games you can put in more neat graphics, but in a MP game that can be very annoying.
I think U2 would be a better comparison to D3.
One of the screenshots shows various angles of a vehicle of some kind. Will those be included as well, a la Tribes and Halo?
Dyolf Knip
You can still see polygon outlines. Textures are still flaky at best. Lighting is still very unconvincing. I'm sorry, but games are not beginning to look "a little too real". On the contrary, they've still got a long way to go before they show even promise of looking photographic. All game engines out there currently provide essentially the same level of performance in terms of visual quality. Yes, I understand some game engines have advantages over others, but it all comes down to how they are used and the design of the game. Let me explain.
Game developers have traditionally pushed the envelope in terms of what hardware is needed to run the game. UT:2 doesn't appear to be doing that. They should not be afraid to use extremely high-res textures and let loose on the model complexity with much abandon. This may sound foolish, but also note that this is how the industry has traditionally worked. Popular and powerful software demands hardware makers to up the ante on performance. Think RAM and disk space would be as cheap as it is without Windows9x entering the fray?
Elements of the game's design also affect realism. It seems to be that on one hand, UT:2 is struggling to look extremely real, but at the same time, incorporates elements that undo any progress they made. I'm not talking about cheesy weapons or circus clown fighters. The environments - the structures and landscapes - just do not lend themselves to being believable. This is also in terms of detail, or lack thereof. There's no excess where there needs to be! Hardware will catch up. Go ahead, waste CPU cycles... people will buy a 2000THz Athlon Mustang XPXA 2015 Turbocharged.....
Why bother.
Dunno, I've seen both ends of the spectrum. My own cat is very docile in the bath; I can put him in the tub and he'll stay ther. He's still got some claws but he never uses them in the tub. Another cat I've tried to bathe was completely uncontrollable. I ended up having to toss her into a shower stall and just point the shower head at her since she'd have torn me to shreds if I was anywhere nearby.
Dyolf Knip
Anybody know if they plan to release a Linux version? I probably won't be playing if they don't.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
I've seen many posts about the argument over the new sniper rifle replacement. What I don't understand is why does it need to be replaced? Can't we have the original weapons + new weapons? Why does one have to replace the other, in other words...more,more,more choices. I've never heard any complaints about too many styles of weapons to choose from.
Yes but every time I try to see it your way, I get a headache.
I remember reading PlanetUnreal a while back and they posted the specs required for Unreal II (and I assume Unreal Tournament 2). They were likely preliminary guesses, but they serve as a good indicator of the direction the developers are going.
The idea was that you could actually run the newest generation of Unreal games on slower hardware than Unreal Tournament. Yes, slower. I think it actually spec'd a Pentium 233, but I can't recall exactly.
Apparently the new engine does exactly what the Kyro cards do. It only draws what is necessary, thus allowing older hardware to still play the game. I don't know how this will affect Kyro cards where they have a price-performance advantage.
I also remember reading about how Unreal was going to use ATI's TruForm (I think) technology to change expressions and the like on models. So that would be one advantages of having a brand new high end graphics card...
Any word on one?
The reason we play so much Unreal in the office is 'cos there are PC, Linux and mac versions - everyone gets to play.
"The sniper rifle has been replaced by an instant-hit lightning gun that has the same function but is more visible when you use it so that it gives the others the chance to find out more easily where it came from (if he missed!). "
Hmm, guess I won't be playing this game.
Honestly, these graphics are SO 1998! Maybe I'm spoiled by the PS2, but you'd think with all the GeForce 3 power they have at their disposal, they'd use some curved surfaces in the levels. The maps (especially the Egypt one in the screenshots) look like they were drawn by a six-year old with a demo version of 3D Studio that was limited to 100 polygons.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
It looks like its taking a lost from Q3A. Take a look at this gun. Look a little like the railgun to you? It sure does to me.
How about this character model. Looks like Klesk to me.
Oh, and here's Uriel.
Well, to be honest, I'd have to say that I'll likely buy this game. I used to hate UT (I called it Uniral Orniment), but I must say that UT2 looks very impressive. Especially the levels.
- For creating what looks like a kick-ass single-player game. Online gaming is great but until everyone has a T1 in the living room...
- For creating a game with weapons that don't look like they came out of Star Wars. They look like they came out ouf Aliens.
- If the big-map capability is good, for creating a game that is not claustrophobic and feels more like Delta Force 2.
I played Unreal and UT to death. Unlike Q3A, I felt that I got my money's worth. I'm definitely going to spring for this one as soon as it hits the shelves.
Yay!
I can imagine our support group:
(I stand up) "Hi, I'm ndogg."
(everyone) "Hi ndogg."
(me again) "Well, it started out for me like it did for many of you. I sat down for what I thought would be a fun session of UT2, logged into the server, and before I knew it, I was already dead. I got upset and tried again, thinking that the enemy killed me. After respawning, I saw some guy in front of me and tried to shoot him with my rocket launcher. I got so excited that I ended up shooting the wall next to me." (sob, sob )-;
(people getting up to hug me) "It's alright, we understand. Hey, I got an idea, let's all play UT2 and kick our own asses some more!"
(everyone lights up, with eyes wide) "YEAH!"
(we all run to the computers and load UT2)
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
A lot of people are.. 'So what, Doom is coming out within a year' and 'Q3 is better' etc etc. I guess some people don't realize why UT is a special game.
It's the simple customizations you can do. While Quake 3 is a lot of fun to play, the interface is quite rigid, and there are few options to adjust how the game plays.. unless you want to download giant mod packs of course.
With UT, you have 'mutators'. There's lots built into the game.. things like 'Insta-Gib' (a single shot = death style mode).. 'Rocket Arena' (rocker launchers only), and so on. You can customize every game you play in this way.
Not only that, but you have more modes of play. Now just CTF and deathmatch.. but a 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein' style Assault mode where you have to complete objectives.. a 'Domination' mode where you have to hold several checkpoints.. and even a 'Last Man Standing' mode where the only goal is to die as few times as possible.
It's the way you can constantly refine the games to your own style that makes UT fun.
Another great feature is that you can change the game speed! You can run as low as 50%, or as high as 200%. I always play UT at 120% because then it matches the speed of Q3.. as UT is generally a slower game action-wise.
So.. UT is great because Epic understands that simple tweaking and customization options means you can get far more out of the game!
mogorific carpentry experiments
Okay, i'm willing to bet cash that UT 2 will be out before DNF..
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Umm, the leaked tech demo - a playable version of certain levels - has been out for months. And you're getting excited about a few measly screenshots?
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
the installer for the older version?
Um.. yes it did require the vb runtime dlls
I'm sure that you were intending to be sarcastic, but I'll take it as a you being an idiot instead of a troll since you didn't seem to understand what you just replied to.
I'll try to break it down into small words so you don't get confused this time.
Unread Ed 1.0 was part of UT until 4.20
At that time Unreal Ed 2.0 was released and part of the 4.20 patch.
Unreal Ed 1.0 was written in VB, and Unreal Ed 2.0 was written in c++. Not exactly rocket science.
Trust me, the single player version isn't worth worth waiting and isn't worth paying for. Just 10 or 12 hours of bland, generic fps. Good graphics through most of it, but nothing really memorable in terms of gameplay or story. And their fantasy style enemies suck hard (half the game - about 4 hours worth - was fighting zombies instead of nazis. And don't even get me started on those stupid electric torsos.)
Is there going to be a Linux version available the same time as the Windows release? If I could get UT2 and Single-Player Return to Castle Wolfenstein in Linux it'd be two less things to reboot for.
"games these days are just too real"
Almost.. unreal!...
:)
UT actually has a so-called nuke (named the Redeemer) but the only 'redeeming' feature is that it has a bigger explosion than, say, a rocket or grenade. The explosion is nowhere near nuke sized (not even tactical nuke) and it has no EMP/radiation/other side effects.
But hey, UT is not a 'realistic' sim in any case.
first of all, that post earlier about unreal looking "too real" made me laugh, it actually couldn't really be much farther from it. second, they should have provided more screen shots, and x'd the bs drawings/pictures. The graphics in this screen shots do not excite me, personally, i dont like q3 or UT and now possibly UT2. I find different first person games that are based on more realistic situations with real world materials much more exciting then playing with made up crappy weapons in some fantasy land. Even the UT "more realistic" mods don't even look that great, actually, all the models pretty much look the same to me. and wut are the requirements again? this just doesn't seem to be worth it.
I have yet to see anything displayed on my PS2 that is any better (or even close, really) to what my Radeon can do.
Hell, it's not even any more impressive than my Dreamcast.
The copper bosses killed you, Joe. 'I never died', said he.
They exist, they are fun to play and they "Fuggin Suck".
But they play because its fun.
I am not the Sniper type. I am the HURT ME type...I tend to run full assault most of the time.
The thought of no sniper rifle is so ridiculous though. The return to Castle Wolfenstien has some form of spot ability to it. Everytime you shoot you see the tracer. However if you are in a good spot, tracer or not you have some ability to not reveal your exact location.
I have noticed if you have 2 good snipers, they will have fun copeting against each other:
Sniper A: shoots and kills Sniper B. Then has a few pot shots at other B team players. Sniper B respawns and hits Sniper A. Then pot shots a few A players. Also each shot causes a meter on the left of your screen to reset...thus making your gun more shaky...the longer you are steady and don't move the easier to aim. Thus you cannot rapid fire snipe.
This makes them a hassle at best yet still allowing other players to have some fun. They are trying to copy the Quake RAIL it sounds like to me which is a mistake...Unreal, and Tourney will lose alot without it.
Last comment...Assuming UT2 allows for mods, I will be a player. Hopefully somoone will create a sniper rifle, as well as the BEST UT mod out there now is CROTCH SHOT!!!! If you have never played CROTCH SHOT MODE you are missing out...Nothing like being the CROTCH DOMINATOR!!! In essence you have a VERY small area of your crotch that is the same as a snipe to the head...only you heart CROTCH SHOT instead. Any gun can land the hit bit its really a small area so its not to dominating.
Razzious Domini
I could be a GREAT KARMA WHORE if I could just shed the few morals I have left.
Bombing run: A bomb will spawn in the middle of this mode's many maps. It is your team's goal to pick this up and deliver it to your opponent team's base, where it will detonate and award your team with a point. Your opposing team is trying to do the same thing, so watch out! An interesting twist to this game type is that you will be able to easily pass the bomb back and forth with your teammates to make the action even more fast and furious.
Back when Heat.net was around this mod was exclusive for heat.net and quake 1, it was a shame because you could only play it on heat because the idea was excellent.
A huge nuke would spawn in the center of the map with a 3 minute timer, each team had a base symbol, much like a flag station, and if the bomb radius destroyed your station, the other team scored a point. The cool thing was that when you had the bomb (it was huge) it covered nearly half of the screen, making viewing difficult and realistic. But if you had the bomb in the last 10 seconds of the timer, you could override the timer and detionate it yourself in a move called "jihad". The bomb would also explode if it took enough direct rocket hits.
playing with 3 or four teams was awesome, the gameplay was basically, Steal the bacon, hide or find the bacon (depending on if your team recovered the bomb), and then drop the bacon and run like hell..
I like the idea of being able to hand off the bomb to teammates. It's going to be a ultracool rugby / football / tackle the man with the ball
type of thing.
Big ups to the people on the team that get this mode back into a current game.
DjBattery