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Massive Unreal 2K3 Mod Contest Launched
code-e255 writes "Epic Games, the developers of Unreal Tournament 2003, and nVidia have announced a huge UT2K3 modification contest called 'Make Something Unreal'. This competition will reward the truly great modders out there, and will hopefully encourage more people to mod for UT2K3." Word is that "..entries can be made in 13 categories, including 'Best Mod,' 'Best Character,' 'Best Use of 3D Sound,' 'Best Real-Time Non-Interactive Movie (also known as Machinima),' and more", and prizes include over $1,000,000 in total, with first prize $50,000 and a $350,000-value commercial Unreal Engine license.
I plan on making a Slashdot mod based off of Slashdot Reloaded. All of the agent Smiths will be rendered in ASCII.
MOD Ideas:
Hillary Rosen: The MP3 Hunter
"Executive by day, mercenary by night. If music is downloaded, she knows about it, and justice will be hers. Warning: This game include copious amounts of lawyers, therefore it may not be suitable for young children."
and of course:
Lee Carvallo's Extreme Putting Challenge!
Battle your friends in this knock-down, drag-out putting competion. It's in your face! In your mind! It's EXTREME!!
In the spirit of the contest and to play to the sponsors, Iâ(TM)m going for a mod that artificially boosts the displayed FPS when running on an nVidia card.
C:\Program Files\Sierra\HalfLife2> rename hl.exe ut2k3.exe
Wow, a software company that actively encourages the users to actively tinker with their product, with the understanding that this will only increase the popularity of their game. While this trend has been developing lately in the game world, this definitely takes it a huge step forward! Bravo!
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Kill SCO execs for fun and profit.
Yes I know it's for the original unreal tournament, but I bet an interested soul could start a project to port it to UT2k3. ;)
The money is nice and stuff, but with the economy the way it is right now, how about making first prize A JOB???
Back in the days of Doom, I did systems administration work for a Dutch architect firm. I know I certainly thought of using the Doom engine to convert electronic drawings of a building to a complete Walk-Through Interactive Experience (tm).
Unfortunately, as all Dutch architect firms balanced the tight rope between going bankrupt and surviving that time, there was no money/time available for developing mods for that sort of thing.
I certainly hope that some beautiful projects will see the light of day that would otherwise, if it wasn't for this prize-money, never be realised.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
Because you could make a cool game with the licensed engine and make a ton of money.
Epic is really a great company. This is just another one of the great things that Epic does for the community. They've done a contest like this before for their last game, for example.
:)
:) Everyone I met there was awesome, friendly, helpful, talented and extremely knowledgable. I have the utmost respect for Epic as a company, and they have my undying loyalty and admiration for being such awesome and generous people.
Another great example of how much the support the mod community occurred a year ago this month. Last June, they flew in 35 modders and amateur game developers (including myself) from all over the world to visit their offices in Raleigh, North Carolina, to see the new game engine. They paid for everyone's airfare from places as far as Germany and Canada, paid all of our travel expenses, put us in a hotel, drove us to and fro, paid us back for the cab ride from the airport, etc etc etc. The only money of my own that I spent the entire time was for food at the connecting flight's airport.
They brought us all in to look at the then-unreleased Unreal Warfare engine. They gave us a huge lunch, catered from a local deli with all fresh deli meats and cheeses and everything, and TONS of soft drinks in a refrigerator, and let us eat and chill out in their break room where they have every console known to man on a giant wide-screen TV. We played that for a while, and then we all got to wander around the office and meet everyone that worked there and see where the games we modified were made, and the people that made them. For someone that's been playing their games ever since Jill of the Jungle and Brix, it was a really amazing experience.
After that, we got down to business, to the real purpose for our being there. They gave us a day-long seminar showing us everything the engine can do and how the tools work to do it, answered questions, gave great examples, and impressed us heavily the entire day. They covered every single aspect of the engine, explained everything in full and showed us everything that the public hadn't yet seen. We were all astounded.
After a while, we all go to try out the latest build of UT2K3 over the LAN. I got to play for probably half an hour and had a blast. I'm pretty sure everyone got a chance.
At the end of it, everyone walked away with a free GeForce 4 Ti 42/44/4600, an ATI Radeon 8500 (the best on the market at the time), or an Audigy. Once they handed all of that out, they took us all to see Minority Report.
The next day, we all flew back home. The day UT2K3 was released, we all had a copy in the mail FedExed (where available) to us at our doorstep, waiting for each of us in the morning.
That whole trip still ranks as one of the coolest and most exciting things that has ever happened to me.
A million bucks is nothing compared to the revenue generated by "The Next Counter-Strike" which is exactly what Epic is trying to create with this.
Ultimately, the developer of such a mod should be fairly compensated based on the popularity and ultimately, the sales, of their mod, not a one-time payout.
It's funny and sad that game developers are literally begging the community to create their next big hit for them.
On the other hand, a million dollars is a lot of money, and the poor CS developer probably got manipulated out of ever making that much money when he sold CS to Valve.
So hey, go make your mod and give it away to Epic!
# Erik
I can provide voice. Mine's pretty deep and orgasmic. lol. Let me know if you're interested!
People still play this game a lot?
UT2K3 has always felt quite deathmatch-oriented (as opposed to team deathmatch, CTF, etc.) which makes for great fun for about ten minutes. I know there is a vocal minority who could play nothing but DM for hours on end, and more power to them. But for most other people, deathmatch is a dated concept, once you get over the novelty of playing against real, live people from all over the 'Net. Once that's done, I like the advanced tactical and strategic possibilities available with more team-oriented combat.
I think UT2K3 is also a bit underwhelming because many of the maps prioritize beauty and uniqueness over gameflow. I don't want the map itself to be the focus. Sometimes it's like trying to frag in a 3D Escher painting. I this is largely why BF1942 is more compelling. Familiarity with the environment creates faster immersion.
Also, UT2K3 doesn't significantly improve upon the rock-solid gameplay of its predessesor, and even took away a very popular and unique multiplayer mode (although you can add it with a 3rd-party mod). I understand a recent patch even included specific instructions for making gameplay more like the previous installment.
Oh well. I hope they push an envelope or two with UT2k4. Because it's looking like Sierra will have DoD, Team Fortress and Counter-Strike running on the Source engine come spring 2004. That will be Uber. Everyone's filling their piggy banks for these, plus Doom3, Deus Ex 2, and a few other high-profile, long-awaited titles. I just don't see how UT2k4 will create a viable niche.
According to the contest page: "All costs, taxes, fees and expenses associated with entry into this Contest and any prizes received shall be the sole responsibility of the entrants and winners." The federal income tax alone on the $350,000 Unreal Engine commercial license would, according to the latest IRS tables, be $103,832.
Each submission must be the property of and an original work of the entrant. Submissions must be available for free public download and playable with the retail version of Unreal Tournament 2003 (patched to the 2225 update) for Phase I and Phase II. For Phase III, and for grand prize consideration, mods must be playable in Unreal Tournament 2004.
While the modders aren't giving up their mods to Epic, it's still the same thing: Epic makes you give it away to increase revenue of the retail product.
Never lose sight of the reasons company do things, lest ye look at what they do with distorted eyes. Some things are a win-win for companies and the communities, and this may very well be on of those things. But remember that they don't care if it's a win-win, and most companies will do anything for a buck.
# Erik
Translation: "Well, dangit...we're just all out of ideas on this whole first-person shooter thing, and we've fired a bunch of creative help... Let's collect materi...ah...throw a contest!"
Honestly, how about a mod for that female character in the single-player release, so she doesn't look like she was beaten with an Ugly Stick? And seriously, leather is SO first version.
Please help metamoderate.
The best mod out there is promode for Quake3--fixes all the bugs and crap that was put in there to keep the newbies happy. The difference between promode and vanilla quake 3 (and UT) is like the difference between professional baseball and T-ball.
But don't take my word for it, try it yourself: Try it yourself
Remain calm! All is well!
I've done quite a bit of UnrealScript coding, and have been disapointed with the documentation provided. If they had added a 'Most Comprehensive Tutorial' catagory, it could have done a lot to get people making future mods. I think a lot of GPL projects could benifit from this aproach also. If IBM spent 1% of the money they spent on linux on linux docs, it would really help linux spread longterm.
"A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
I suggest combining the UT engine with existing software:
UT2003 Word: you're weapons are literally A-Z
UT2003 Outlook: shoot the incoming virii and worms, penile erection mails act as a quad-damage
UT2003 Nethack: their's potential here...
UT2003 Emacs: M-x frag
UT2003 SCO: to consider this would be a thought crime
Who evaluated that engine? I have a million dollars in prizes in my pants.
I survived the Dick Cheney Presidency 7 to 9 AM 7-21-07
One truly awesome Stargate SG1 mod for UT2003. :) Imagine using
I think it would rock if someone could write
code that would take you automatically from
one server to another online by passing through
a gate in the game. Imagine g'oud versus SG1 team
multiplayer where you gate out of one firefight with
your team right into another one (on a new server).
Imagine the fun of forgetting to plug in the
numbers and getting telefragged on the IRIS back
at your clan's command center.
IRIS codes to allow people to get on your clan
server. So so much could be done with this idea.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
(To answer my own question: probably.)
I think points should be awarded for cheat resistance. Cheating is ruining on-line gaming.
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
I think this is a big publicity stunt on the part of Epic. (Well duh.) What I mean is that UT2003 hasn't drawn the fan base that Half-life enjoys, despite HL being 4 years old now. (Ancient by game standards.) Now Epic is faced with the upcoming release of HL2 which is expected to blow all the other FPS clear out of the water. Plus, Valve has announced that the SDK for HL2 will be released ahead of the game to give mod authors a change to get ready for the big release in September. Furthermore, Valve has been known to take the better mods under their wing and make commercial games out of them, with the mod authors getting payed for their effort. I think Epic is about to get left in the dust, and I think they know it.
When all else fails, run.
Hmm, if nVidia is sponsoring this contest, is there a category for Best Driver "Optimization"? I've found that if I turn all scene rendering off, and have it output pure black, I can get an amazing framerates! I've even modified the drivers so it will only do this when you're benchmarking ... sure to be an invaluable mod.
Groove Salad -- a nicely chilled plate of ambient grooves and beats.
Regarding documentation, check out the Unreal Developer Network for a huge amount of documentation.
Also, the 3D Buzz team has created many excellent training videos covering many aspects of the Unreal tech, from programming to content creation.
>> Ultimately, the developer of such a mod should be fairly compensated based on the popularity and ultimately, the sales, of their mod, not a one-time payout.
The mod developer keeps complete ownership of his work. The contest doesn't take that away.
For example, if you enter an early version of your mod in the contest, you could later create a retail game based on it and pursue a publishing deal. The Tactical Ops mod for the original Unreal Tournament went this route and was published in retail by Atari.
Regarding tax issues, one should definitely consult a tax attourney upon making the finals for the grand prize. My understanding (IANAL) is that, if we gave you a $350K cash prize, that would be revenue for your mod team's corporation or small business. If you then spent that $350K on an Unreal engine license with the intent of using it commercially (which is the only reason one would want such a license), you would then incur a $350K expense, leaving a net tax liability of zero. So a direct award of an engine license is not necessarily a taxable event.
...described here. They can be used as gates to different parts of the level(like the common-or-garden usage), or to another server(using the unreal:// url pattern).
In contrary to the other posts in the thread, the functionality is in both UT and UT2k3. It's just that nobody really goes to the trouble of setting them up.
Incidentally, there is an SG1-flavored UT2k3 mod in development, Atlantis.
--
Epic has told me personally that they have no interest in porting their editing tools to the mac. Since it looks like Halo will be actively supporting a modding community, and is more likely to have cross-platform tools, I personally will probably spend my future modding efforts there.
woof