An Observation Of Unreal

It's been a while since I got this game. Early autumn 1999 and played it on a mediocre computer. The performance was slow and choppy, and I died quite a few times. But kept going on untill ceremonial chambers. Later in 2000 I got a better rig, and completed the game with mucho gusto.

I've played Unreal to death, first in sp and botmatches (didn't really like the unreal bots though), then through Oldskool online in a long, long series of coop games. Oldskool is a mod for UT, which lets you play the Unreal maps in sp/coop sessions. A must have.

There was even a coop optmised version of Unreal called DKUnreal. Added some monsters to some maps (sometimes quite a lot, with the emphasis on krall). And some people boosted the difficulty on the add-on "Return to napali" calling it Ut-lity.
Think this was made by boomboy (japanese gamer iic). There was a specific mutator, which let you add monsters in waves, darkmatch etc. (some pre-invasion gamemode.)

The Skaarj are actually quite predictable. One you get to know their dodge pattern, it's real easy picking them off. Especially with the asmd.
Krall are fun targets for headshots. The real annoying bastard had to be the mercenary. Well, especially the elite merc. Oh, and those Titan boulders were quite random hits as well. At times.

Have fun completing Unreal. There's one level in particular which might take some time to complete. Most people hated it ( I guess) but I was among those who loved it.

Oh yes, once you get to know the game a bit do this:
Open the editor and look at the pawn list. Most of these things can be summoned in game, and you can mess around with the monster's properties. Just be creative. A main advantages of these old games. Start at any random level from scratch, no problem. Make it your own little game by summoning tons of stuff etc., one of Unreal's biggest charms imo.

I got the first unreal in 2003 after playing UT, UT2003 and UC but before UT2004. It remains a very good SP game. The landscape and the sprawling outdoors remain impressive despite their blocky BSP and the diversity of nice little villages, narrow ship corridors and amazing structures (sunspire, haven) give it a specific charm I think Half-Life or other SP games of that time never quite managed to catch.

You may know about it already but I suggest you go to http://oldunreal.com/ and grab the patch 227. It gives the game new renderers, fixes about every single bug, makes it stable, provide a new improved UnrealEd (an enhanced UT one), new actors, and a couple of new maps Deathmatch maps for multiplayer.

Played Unreal in '98 at res 320x240. Good times.

Game was and is beyond awesome. The atmosphere, I almost can feel the humidity of
NaPali.

I miss this type of game. Not looking much for the fast paced shooter element, but for the exploration and adventure element.

Why such games aren't being made anymore? Just why?

I run a server you can find in the coop tab. If you are in the mood to explore those wonderful old maps it is a pretty good way to do it. You spawn with a remote control that opens doors and moves elevators (and shows you where hidden ones are too) as well as a portal gun to access places you can see but not reach. The sniper rifle is way overpowered you have too so you can clear enemies if you desire.

It's not my intention to run a popular server (too much headache) but I did want to have a place where people can go to just enjoy the maps and safely look wherever they want. There are hidden places all over, it's so cool to find them

Psychomorph said:

Why such games aren't being made anymore? Just why?

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I have often found myself wondering the same thing, but I also have to understand the situation. We were truly on the frontlines of many great things back in those days. Computers weren't as passe as they are today and we didn't take them for granted. Most people who were into gaming back then were also into tweaking out their systems to get those few frames that would make Unreal playable. Computers and gaming were both in their infancy and we were all there, being impressed like no other generation.

So I think a few factors went into Unreal being what it was to us. It is still a great game, but to most of the newer generation, it is a bit of a fossil. They might appreciate its historical value, but not its aesthetic and cultural worth.

I am tied to Unreal as much for nostalgia and keeping some of my best gaming and computing memories alive as much as for the game proper. Its part of getting older too; I want to hold on to these kinds of things. We are lucky to have a still-thriving community full of like-minded people to share our aging passions with.

Additionally, we can be thankful that the Unreal series has enjoyed a long life and games are still being made today, both Unreal-based titles and of course Unreal Engine. Thus, we aren't so much just holding on to irrelevant ideas, but embracing the legacy of something that continues to be a dominant force in gaming.

So, I don't think I can look at modern titles with the same clear lens and as a result, can't speak for how some games might be kindling the same feelings for a new generation of gamers. I hope games are still 'doing it' for young people as they did for us, but we were indeed part of a special time, when hardware was born alongside the games, giving us a deeper, more profound recollection of the 90's.

this reminds me that I've never actually played the original Unreal.
UT is one of my all-time favorite games and more or less the biggest reason why PC gaming is a hobby of mine, but I don't know anything about what came before.

Jacks:Revenge said:

UT is one of my all-time favorite games and more or less the biggest reason why PC gaming is a hobby of mine, but I don't know anything about what came before.

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Arguably the best mapping is in the Unreal singleplayer/coop maps. UT devolved to box arenas very quickly and few have anything approaching the complexity (and beauty) of the premier levels in Unreal. You should do yourself a favor and play some on a quiet Sunday. You'll be surprised at the depth and complexity in the Unreal engine that UT never really uses to it's potential.

NeoNite said:

There was even a coop optmised version of Unreal called DKUnreal. Added some monsters to some maps (sometimes quite a lot, with the emphasis on krall). And some people boosted the difficulty on the add-on "Return to napali" calling it Ut-lity.
Think this was made by boomboy (japanese gamer iic). There was a specific mutator, which let you add monsters in waves, darkmatch etc. (some pre-invasion gamemode.)

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This was on 3's server I think. Not sure if it's still online but the IP was unreal://86.30.232.7:7777

In passing, here's some info I and others typed up on running co-op servers.

http://wiki.unrealadmin.org/Running_a_co-op_server_(UT)

Indeed. 3 ran a coop/monsterhunt server for many years (together with Cardiologist).
I think.. the last time I played there.. must've been a couple of years. It's no longer there.
I really enjoyed playing there. Good times. 3 did an excellent job running that server with card, setting it up to the hardest (but fair and not ridiculous) settings. Well balanced teamplay (no cheating crap going on). We played many third party maps/campaigns as well. In the later days it was mainly Zephon iirc. Once again, good thing there was this mod called "Oldskool". Playing Unreal in UT was just a memorable experience.

Speaking of 3 does anyone have contact with him now? He dropped away while I was sick and has been totally gone since. I've tried to email him but get no answer. I'd love to grab his files, he had so much unique stuff. I'd also like to know he's alright too. I never read anything about him quitting, it was just like he went -poof-.

If you guys that have never played Unreal go spend a little time I can assure you that it won't be long before you go "So THAT'S where <blank> comes from!" *So* much stuff was cut and pasted into UT maps that you've seen a bunch of times and now you can see where it originated.

AlteredForms said:

. I guess they played a lot of D&D in their younger days.

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As a lark I grabbed a pdf archive of Dragon magazine as well as a bunch of early campaigns I found on PirateBay a couple of months ago. Big mistake. I'm losing entire evenings to rereading old issues and the DM notes on the dungeons. Some of that old artwork and lore surely inspired Unreal. It's cut from the same piece of cloth when you compare them now.

not so unusual

AlteredForms said:

63 year old man died about a month ago. Was quite surprising to see a man of that age playing this game, then again he must have enjoyed it immensely.

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a lot of the folks i know that love the game still are in their late 50's & 60's; I'm 43.

I played ut99 first, didn't even try Unreal1 until like 2006 or so.. but i didn't much like it.

a hunting I will go...

gopostal said:

Speaking of 3 does anyone have contact with him now?

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Slow day at work, only found this so far:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/v.smith19/index2.htm
According to BU's "CO-OP:Remember that" archive, that site belongs to 3.

said archive:
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/archive/index.php/t-158765.html

evilgrins said:

Slow day at work, only found this so far:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/v.smith19/index2.htm
According to BU's "CO-OP:Remember that" archive, that site belongs to 3.

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Definitely remember that site. It's probably where I first got Dark Knight's Unreal from. I'm thinking that Cardiologist was the guy that programmed/fixed some of the server mutators.

AlteredForms said:

I once had a sealed copy of the Dragon Magazine Archive and it was a nice set to own. The illustrations and alien worlds were something Epic definitely took influence from. As ID Software did with Lovecraft and D&D with Quake.

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After finishing unreal that will be just the start. As you most likely saw, there's several community-made campaigns which you can also play offline .