Will there be another patch/mega pack?

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BobTheBeheader

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wow, I read the thread title as "will there be another pedo pack?"

Anyways, my general attitude towards this is to expect the worst, hope for the best. I think patches might fix flaws, but I don't think they will add very many features that existed in previous games and that UT players have come to accept as standard features of UT games. I think some overhauls/features (such as an actual GUI that doesn't give users the willies) may require a complete revamp of major portions of the game code in order to properly implement.
 

UBerserker

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Wasn't alone about having a Canister Gun in my hands.

Heh, one thing that I remember them talking about that I kinda wish ended up in the retail version was the Canister Gun :p

There's an 5% finished CanisterGun file in UT3 if you check the folders :hmm:
 

WHIPperSNAPper

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There's nothing that needs 'fixing' in the user-interface.

Here's a short list of what's wrong with the user interface off the top of my head:

1. You shouldn't have to wait to load the main menu; a central feature that will be accessed constantly. It should pop open lightening quick (it did in UT99 and in UT 2004).

2. You shouldn't have to leave a server that you're on to access the server browser; you should be able to check the server browser within a couple seconds (you could do that easily, smoothly, and quickly in UT99 and UT 2004).

3. The user interface needs more video, audio, and other tweaking options. Compare it to the options available in UT 2004.

4. You should be able to bind taunts, commands, and other communication to individual keys. (You could do this in UT99 and UT 2004.)

5. The Mapvote menu is substandard compared to what UT 2004 had (or at least the mod that all the UT 2004 servers use).

6. UT99 and UT 2004 had built in IRC clients. UT3 should too.

I'm sure that other people could pile on to that list. Note that most of those items are not insubstantial but very important, especially items 1-4.

Did you actually play UT99 or UT 2004? Haven't you noticed a large difference between these games? UT99 and UT 2004 were designed as PC games whereas UT3 was or at least feels like a console port to PC.
 
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JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
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// Beelzebud (Satanas)
Of course there was 'an internet' when UT'99 was released/mentioned, but it sure wasn't the great big hype-machine of today.
IIRC UT'99 and Unreal still had to account for 56k modems ...

// Hedge-o-Matic
It wasn't meant to be a personal attack, but I think that this kind of endless complaining isn't doing any good for the game. It's the kind of thing that made me stop working on my own projects for UT3 as I have no interest in trying to support a community that insists on screaming 'it suxxorz' over and over.


// ---
Here's a short list of what's wrong with the user interface off the top of my head:

1. You shouldn't have to wait to load the main menu; a central feature that will be accessed constantly. It should pop open lightening quick (it did in UT99 and in UT 2004).
Get a fast pc and it will open 'lightening quick' ... ;)
Besides ... since you're supposed to be playing a game it's not that much of an issue.
And finally : the 'speed' (or lack thereof) in a user-interface is an extremely personal opinion.
I remember UT'99 which was absolutely horrible once you had more than a few skins & voicepacks installed. In fact it was the #1 reason I ended up writing my Bot-editor.

2. You shouldn't have to leave a server that you're on to access the server browser; you should be able to check the server browser within a couple seconds (you could do that easily, smoothly, and quickly in UT99 and UT 2004).

3. The user interface needs more video, audio, and other tweaking options. Compare it to the options available in UT 2004.
Why ?
80% of the options are useless to the majority of the users.
And those options also cause a ton of 'stupid' questions that even experts can't agree on.

4. You should be able to bind taunts, commands, and other communication to individual keys. (You could do this in UT99 and UT 2004.)

5. The Mapvote menu is substandard compared to what UT 2004 had (or at least the mod that all the UT 2004 servers use).
As you say ... the users created a new/better version using the features given by Epic.

6. UT99 and UT 2004 had built in IRC clients. UT3 should too.
IRC = Ancient internet for geeks.
Comrade/Live!/Myspace/etc. = modern social networking for everyone.

If you want a true social/active community then IRC is worthless as it lacks the community-features such as friendlists required.
Besides ... you've got Comrade/Gamespy-community-tool.
That you hate the options you've been given (because it is 'Gamespy') has nothing to do with the fact that the options are available.

I'm sure that other people could pile on to that list. Note that most of those items are not insubstantial but very important, especially items 1-4.

Did you actually play UT99 or UT 2004? Haven't you noticed a large difference between these games? UT99 and UT 2004 were designed as PC games whereas UT3 was or at least feels like a console port to PC.
I've noticed a large difference ... and (IMHO) things have been improved significantly.
I just wished that they'd made better use of all the community-features they'd been given by opting for the Gamespy-license.
 

Hedge-o-Matic

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Back to the original topic, I think patches and bonus packs are completely different things, and so I think of them in different ways.

Unlike some, I don't see a lot of flaws in the gameplay of UT3. Once I'm in-game, the play seems fine, without any major irritants. Sure, there's the occasional graphical glitch, and a few map-related flaws, but there are people who notice the most amazing things, and they have composed far longer lists than I'd ever be able to do. So patches aren't of major concern to me, because I have so few issues with gameplay.

Large features, like a new UI, are a whole different story. Not sure where you'd implement those, though I guess you'd have to do it in a patch, as well.

Bonus packs are a different story.

Clearly, we need more "official" maps, since community efforts are almost universally ignored, and far, far fewer people are willing to take the time to make something few will ever play. This negative feedback loop makes official content even more important.

CTF really needs a boost. As awesome as this game is again, I see the server levels dwindling day by day. An infusion of 6-10 new maps would really add fuel to the CTF furnace. Likewise for VCTF. Is it just me, or are most servers running Suspense 24/7? It's the 2k4 demo all over again, and I don't understand it.

Warfare needs a huge dose of official content, too. With all the potential of the gametype, it was clear that the community was expected to pick up the ball and run with it, and that isn't happening. But we need more Warfare maps, without a doubt.

Other new content would be welcome, but new maps are the important thing, to me, and only official bonus pack content will get online, it seems.
 

JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
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I doubt you'd see a large-scale revision of the UI at this stage. That simply is not a very effective use of resources as only a few will profit from the changes while the majority will still find reasons to complain (GUI-design = 50% art/50% black magic, you can't argue with art or magic).

More maps are definitely possible, but even Epic has limited resources for that aspect and they've said it takes at least a month to properly finish&test a single map.

As for people still playing the same map over and over ... I think the answer is simple : people are scared of 'new' things.
That hasn't changed and it won't change unless mankind evolves (which ain't happening too soon given how hostile the community has become to change).
 

UndeadRoadkill

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I like the gameplay just fine, but when I play offline with mods, I look for a different kind of experience. I want some immersion and atmosphere. When I got UT3, I was kinda hoping it would have the options and open-endedness to remake the offline play in the same manner that I had been doing with the previous titles. The same basic framework, but with better graphics, it doesn't matter what the stock game is like if you're going to pile on the mutators, how could you go wrong, right? After running it though, I found they hadn't bothered to give us as much freedom.

I know the common knee-jerk retort to "the UI sucks" is "you're supposed to be playing, not going through the UI you idiot lol." But I can't save my mutator or map lists, or choose what bots are on what team in any simple way. So the UI sucks so much, it kinda forces me to spend extra time mucking around with it if I want it to play the way I want.

With UT3, it seemed like they said, "alright boys, we got the gameplay down, we can stop there. Just enough time to wrap it up in plastic, and send it out the door!" I'll go play a game online for the gameplay when I'm in the mood, but I like offline a lot, and UT3 is just not cutting it there. This may have as much to do with the lack of interesting custom content, but the game itself is more restrictive. It disappoints me because I've been having fun with customized UT games for years, and now it's looking like there may never be a game like that again.
 

FuLLBLeeD

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To compare the launch of UT3 to any previous UT is to ignore the hugely different circumstances that dominate right now.

I posted a thread on their forums to the effect that they were using UT3 more as a tech demo than as a game they felt passionately about as an end product. The thread was deleted by the gestapo, of course, since, according to their forum rules, we the consumers have no place discussing or speculating about their business practices. About two months later, a transcript of some event Mark Rein was at showed him saying exactly what I was saying. So: Epic does "Games" that are designed as demonstrations of what their latest engine can do, so as to attract licensees. Once the tech demo is out, companies don't see a profit in supporting the end-user of that demo. Everything Epic has done with Ut3, from the haphazard beta-demo, to the half-baked UI, shows that their focus has shifted away from us, the players.

UT was their golden release, the product that put them firmly in the throne occupied by Id for so long. to develop for that game was easy, since they were having as much fun with it as we were. 2k4 was a positive experience because it redeemed the stumble of 2k3. But UT3 has clearly been a different sort of product launch for them.

A two-year hype-cycle hurt them, building community anticipation far in excess of what the game was going to deliver. While Epic admits they screwed this up, patting themselves on the back for years about things that were not going to end up in the game, there doesn't seem to be much indication they realize how damaging UT3 has been to their fanbase. Most of what was promised in the game was quietly dropped, which isn't a good policy when the features were so loudly proclaimed, and every aspect of the game unrelated to actual in-game time was a terrible rush-job. The lack of things that were standard in every Unreal game for the last ten years made people wonder if the hundreds of man-hours worth of demo footage and tech levels couldn't have been used in actual game development.

When it finally arrived, the demo clearly caused a disappointing reaction from the community, far lower than what they anticipated, based on their pre-release press statements. Judging by their public comments post-release, and the hard-core message control they've instituted onto their forums, they aren't happy with the full game either. Now, saddled with a multi-platform launch staggered across almost a full year, Epic will have little time to devote to any one platform's flaws, much less considering new content.

Lastly, their "postmortem" breakdown of UT3 read more like an autopsy. They knew the community had branded UT3 damaged goods, and it sounded to me as if Epic had washed its hands of the title. Disappointment on the scale this game surely caused for Epic and their fans won't make them want to do more with it. We'll get a patch or two more, and then Epic hopes we'll begin salivating over the Gears 2 hype-cycle, and forget UT3.

Maybe I'm wrong, but Epic isn't a game development company anymore. They make an engine and tech demos, and unless you've got a license, they aren't listening to you.

This. I can't say anything better.
 

Anuban

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Apr 4, 2005
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i sure hope there will be... theres been little to no modding done for UT3 as it stands (compared to previous UT games)


:lol::lol: What's funny is when I said this Jeff immediately disagreed and cited all the maps that have been made even though most is if then are first time levels or levels where the framerate is so bad and/or gameplay is so lacking you can't really qualify them as playable UT3 levels. And now it is even weeks later after I said that and even more content is available ... a lot of stuff but mainly DM maps. In terms of models we have mainly EE and Davision to thank ... with a couple of models by MacTom and one by Slaughter. Alcor has a great model coming ... Samus!!! I have been testing it and man it is really fantastic. He even has FPV arms for it. There are a crap load of mutators and several gametypes (all beta even four months later which kinda sucks but still better than nothing).

Maybe I'm wrong, but Epic isn't a game development company anymore. They make an engine and tech demos, and unless you've got a license, they aren't listening to you.

Yeah I kinda think you are mistaken on this part man. I don't consider Gears of War a tech demo and UT3 is more or less the same thing it has always been ... if it wasn't a tech demo before its not one now no matter how "screwed up" you might think it is.

After running it though, I found they hadn't bothered to give us as much freedom.

I know the common knee-jerk retort to "the UI sucks" is "you're supposed to be playing, not going through the UI you idiot lol." But I can't save my mutator or map lists, or choose what bots are on what team in any simple way. So the UI sucks so much, it kinda forces me to spend extra time mucking around with it if I want it to play the way I want.

With UT3, it seemed like they said, "alright boys, we got the gameplay down, we can stop there. Just enough time to wrap it up in plastic, and send it out the door!" I'll go play a game online for the gameplay when I'm in the mood, but I like offline a lot, and UT3 is just not cutting it there. This may have as much to do with the lack of interesting custom content, but the game itself is more restrictive. It disappoints me because I've been having fun with customized UT games for years, and now it's looking like there may never be a game like that again.

As a person who is also an offline player for the most part I have to agree with you on this point. I just wish they wouldn't have screwed up that part of the interface.
 
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UnrealGrrl

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Jun 16, 2000
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:lol::lol: What's funny is when I said this Jeff immediately disagreed and cited all the maps that have been made even though most is if then are first time levels or levels where the framerate is so bad and/or gameplay is so lacking you can't really qualify them as playable UT3 levels. And now it is even weeks later after I said that and even more content is available ... a lot of stuff but mainly DM maps. In terms of models we have mainly EE and Davision to thank ... with a couple of models by MacTom and one by Slaughter. Alcor has a great model coming ... Samus!!! I have been testing it and man it is really fantastic. He even has FPV arms for it. There are a crap load of mutators and several gametypes (all beta even four months later which kinda sucks but still better than nothing).

im sad to haveta stand by my original statement...

check this - theres 400 posts in the "Full Releases" forum oover at Epic forums. take away the posts in there that arent about a release at all (and theres quite a few) and thats 300 something releases? now for some other games that might even seem like alot, but not for UT its not. Theres too many things that were left out or just dont work. sure i understand requirements are a lil bit higher, but any serious modder (whos an adult with a job) can afford the tools... thats not the problem, the problem is, that a side effect of the game not being done yet is that modders for the most part cant create the same way they could in previous UTs and that really sucks...
Yes, Maps and Models will be (and are being) created and alot of them are and will be really cool, but Im not thinking we're going to see much more than that and a few mutators unless Epic gets things in order with UT3...
and dont get me started on no custom voices :eek:
 
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Hedge-o-Matic

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...any serious modder (whos an adult with a job) can afford the tools... thats not the problem

Could it be that that is the problem? That UT's fanbase is now ten years older, and fewer of us can spare the time? Lots of us have gotten married since Ut99, and many have kids. Maybe the mod situation isn't all Epic's fault. They've built some pretty sweet tools for UT3 (Kismet anyone? Materials editor?) but maybe the fanbase is just involved with real life, and doesn't have as much time.
 

Slainchild

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Could it be that that is the problem? That UT's fanbase is now ten years older, and fewer of us can spare the time? Lots of us have gotten married since Ut99, and many have kids. Maybe the mod situation isn't all Epic's fault. They've built some pretty sweet tools for UT3 (Kismet anyone? Materials editor?) but maybe the fanbase is just involved with real life, and doesn't have as much time.

Add to this the fact that UT3 hasn't really brought many new players to the game...
 

Sir_Brizz

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Even if it has, creating new content for UT3 is 100x harder than it was in previous UTs for a plethora of reasons. The most major of which, imo, is that to create something that looks like it belongs in the game takes a lot more time than it has in the past.

The thing is, there are probably thousands of levels being created for the game. But we're only getting a few of them from the people that have the time to create something this quickly. HOLP, for example, came out quickly because the maps don't look like they belong in the game (and arguably don't play like they do either, in many cases). But other maps like the map pack today took several months. I bet those maps have been in process since UT3 came out, and those are made by people who make maps as a full time job.
 

T@F

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But other maps like the map pack today took several months. I bet those maps have been in process since UT3 came out, and those are made by people who make maps as a full time job.

wtf several months,now i am laughing.
they allready had the backbone layout,all they did was re texture them,noway would that take several months,prob weeks.

if you look hard enough on them you will see a lot of mistakes,textures not lining up,meshes going though wall,heck just look at the the top of one of Morbias lifts,you will see a tentacle sicking out of the lift shaft ffs.

noway imo did these take them several months to make,even an avg mapper would do it in a few weeks if he already had the lay out(backbone)handed to him.
 
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