M.I.A.

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hal

Dictator
Staff member
Nov 24, 1998
21,409
19
38
54
------->
www.beyondunreal.com
For the better part of this year I've been missing in action from the site. I apologize to all of you to whom I've owed a news post. Over the many years we've always been diligent in spreading the word on the many Unreal projects underway.

I'll cut to the chase: burnout and waning interest in Unreal; both on my part and that of Epic Games. I've written thousands of articles and spent countless hours on one series and even with branching out into Unreal Engine news, eventually you hit a brick wall!

Fortunately, Epic have corralled all the Unreal Engine stuff into their own site. Several other sites have picked up the slack in file hosting and niche discussion. Unreal lives on!

I'll be honest... without a spark of life from Epic, I'm doubtful that my level of dedication can do due diligence to Unreal and Unreal Tournament. Without another person to post news, it'll probably remain a little slow around here.

My heart is still with BeyondUnreal and Unreal, in general, though my gaming hours have gone to all manner of other titles: Borderlands 2, Minecraft, Killing Floor, strategy and casual games.

However, no one game has seized my attention the way Unreal did more than 15(!) years ago. I imagine a resurgence of Skaarj could do it once more for myself and many others. Until that day, BU remains in a state of limbo. I wish things were different on many fronts, but that's where things stand. I'll continue to post what I can and we welcome suggestions in the meantime.

Cheers!
 

M^uL

New Member
Nov 16, 2009
27
0
1
I totally understand. It is getting old waiting for some shred of hope from Epic. Hopefully you'll get a private message from Flak after she reads your post ;).

I guess some of us diehards will just have to accept it and move on...
 

DarkSonny

Beware!
Apr 8, 2008
298
0
16
Malaga, Spain
Im spanish, what does M.i.a means?

It's logical you adopt that respectful choice, its better leave this forum in stand by until Epic announces new ut game or unreal game ( Time will tell ...)

Thanks for your hard job mate!
 

Charon

Dancing on your grave
Jan 5, 2006
14
0
1
Zgierz, Poland
forum.unreal.pl
@up: That's the point - there are no series-related news to write about :p

Hal - you know you're the boss and that's what I'd like to thank you for.
As news of Unreal universe remain silent, it's obvious there's no way to stay fresh'n'cool...

But - due to lack of freshness - what about some kind of "legacy" posting? Like grabbing some cool old mods and show them again with active download link, just from time to time. Just an idea.
 
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Renegade Retard

Defender of the newbie
Dec 18, 2002
6,911
0
36
TX
Visit site
Hal, you rock, brotha! You stuck with it a whole lot longer than anyone else ever would have (if you recall, we had some conversations around it). Thank you for your dedication for so long. Enjoy "retirement." ;)

Hit me up on steam sometime and we'll find something to play. I still hang out from time to time with some of the old Ci guys (slag, Scumgrief, etc) and we play a variety of things. Let me know if you want to jump in something with us.
 

Kyllian

if (Driver == Bot.Pawn); bGTFO=True;
Aug 24, 2002
3,575
0
36
45.64.294
kyllian.deviantart.com
However, no one game has seized my attention the way Unreal did more than 15(!) years ago.
There's been a few games that held my interest as much as UT2003/2004 did, unfortunately those games didn't last more than a year or two because they got passed over by the gaming world and/or the communities of those games became too toxic to sustain themselves
 

dr.flay

Dr.Flay™
Sep 19, 2011
410
10
18
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Kernow, UK
yourunreal.wordpress.com
(for this purpose, read Unreal as all U engine games)

News is slower, but not dried up. I find something new nearly everytime I scan the feeds embedded at Your Unreal.
If I did not, it has not served it's purpose.
It is ever-growing as members can easily add any Unreal RSS feeds they find useful.

People and sites have spread out more over the years as Unreal fans can follow a specific mod and ignore the rest.

BuF was popular at a time people used it to host projects and downloads.
Visiting people would bring the info that became the news, thereby making others want to release news via the same site.
Cause and effect, supply and demand, catch-22.

It would be useful if active members of the Unreal community joined other Unreal sites, rather than just hangin-out where they are comfortable.

I have joined many Unreal sites that play mods I had never heard of, and dragged clan-members out of their clans, into a wider world of Unreal.
here they have found more help and resources than they thought still existed.

Times have changed, and we now have to be more proactive with posting news across many sites, and scouring twitter and facebook (where people now post instead)
It is a ball-ache, but the only way to let the community see there is still life.

Anyway thanks for sticking in there Hal.
A trickle of news here is worth 10x the tide of off-topic at Unrealplayground.
I have said it before, and I'll say it again;
We have to pick up the slack wherever possible.
Send Hal links of any new projects you find (or old projects finally completed).
Hal only has 1 pair of eyes, but we can all filter some good stuff his way.
"Lay your tribute at the feet of the Dictator"

Here's a little preview of something I've been working on. It's not news, but it should be another useful tool for Unreal gamers, modders and admin.
https://www.google.co.uk/cse/publicurl?cx=014975069291148177181:5noft130e7y
Unreal only results (and nothing from some University in Utah!)

Though if you want current news, the Epic master-server has not been working for a few days.
It is under investigation after Flak got them to reboot and it still did not work.
You will only have noticed if you look in your log file, as the gamespy master server is still working.
 

Renegade Retard

Defender of the newbie
Dec 18, 2002
6,911
0
36
TX
Visit site
I have said it before, and I'll say it again;
We have to pick up the slack wherever possible.
Send Hal links of any new projects you find (or old projects finally completed).
Hal only has 1 pair of eyes, but we can all filter some good stuff his way.
"Lay your tribute at the feet of the Dictator"

I think you might want to re-read hal's post, my friend. ;)
 

dr.flay

Dr.Flay™
Sep 19, 2011
410
10
18
53
Kernow, UK
yourunreal.wordpress.com
Yeah I know, but it's part of the catch-22.
A lack of interest and burnout, does not mean Hal would not like to know if there is any good stuff going on.
That way Hal can continue to be less active, but still be "in-the-know".

Just throw the old-dog a few juicy bones, and there will always be something worth popping back to the forum for ;)
 

dinwitty

DeRegistered User
Nov 10, 1999
860
1
18
midwest,USA
www.qtm.net
Theres a lot of games on the Unreal engine but that doesnt make the games Unreal.

There's still plenty of players on Unreal/UT, UT99 even, map makers, modders doing things.
I've always said EPIC needs to make their key game on their new engine, they should make that Unreal 3, and do it right. I would combine it with a UT4, like Unreal came with MP, do it again.

They've hinted theyve ignored unreal, but how do you ignore it when the engine is called UNREAL engine.

Have you seen my RTNP to Unreal, RTNP: Search: Prelude?
 

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
83
48
I have to echo what hal is saying. Combined with lots of other factors, the site just hasn't gotten the attention it needs. That being said, BU is not going anywhere as long as I have a say in it. Which means it is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

As far as Unreal Engine game reviews, I get many UE games and I am happy to throw together some thoughts if there is interest. If you have recommendations for games you would like to see reviewed, just make a post somewhere or email us. We will try to review it for you. Otherwise, I think the site is going to remain slow until we get a new, relevant, fresh game from Epic.
 

Manticore

Official BUF Angel of Death (also Birthdays)
Staff member
Nov 5, 2003
6,374
230
63
Optimum Trajectory-Circus of Values
My heart is still with BeyondUnreal and Unreal, in general, though my gaming hours have gone to all manner of other titles: Borderlands 2, Minecraft, Killing Floor, strategy and casual games.
Good to see you.

I agree. The Unreal franchise turned the tide (at least after Doom) but now I play a lot of other titles. The interesting things is a lot of the are UE games and they always look the goods.

Epic seems to have no interest in creating new games now; just new engine tech.

:rockon:
 

Crotale

_________________________ _______________
Jan 20, 2008
2,535
12
38
Anywhere But Here
hal, It's good hearing from you.

It really does pain me to know that Epic isn't expressing any interest whatsoever in a new Unreal-based game. I do wish they would remove the restrictions on using UDK to create a new Unreal or UT game. At least let a mod team take the opportunity to build something new in that universe. If it doesn't sell, then Epic isn't out anything. If it is successful, then Epic and all the rest of us can only win. The UT4 discussion thread over on the Epic Forums has shown interest is there for a new UT at least, so there's that.
 

Nines

With Rage Alive
Oct 12, 2004
2,159
0
36
35
Sweden
It's been years since I was a regular here, but BU is actually still the startpage in my browser... :B

Anyway, I spent some of the best years of my life(so far) here and it gave me many traum... uhh... jolly good memories! I look forward to coming back if or when a new Unreal title shows up. UT4 FragBU would be awesome.