A few newbie questions

I can't compare it to the quake series for you, but I believe most people who ppst here would probably tell you to definitely pick up UT. I first saw UT a little over a year ago and watched two of my friends play each other in both UT and Quake 3 and I thought UT looked better and looked like it would be a bit more fun for me to get into. I love it. The gameplay is great and I have known some people who did the crossover from the Quake series and were able to pick up on how to play UT pretty well. Get the game!

Give the demo a try.

when i first played Q3, it looked like Q2 with improved graphics. i got UT, and it wasn't just the graphics (heck, i put everything on low just to squeeze that 100 fps average ), its the fast intensive gameplay, original weapons with 2 fire modes (sometimes 3, if you combine the 2), a load of mods, game modes that come with the game (assault, deathmatch, team dm, ctf, last man standing, domination) excellent netplay and performance (especially voodoo cards!).

The game is something like 20-30 bucks now so pick it up

UT is probebly one of the best FPS games out there,if you like those kind of games im sure you will like UT unless if you have some life-long grudge against epic or/and games that let you make custom mods,tcs and that kind of stuff.

the best thing about it is the ability to completely customize UT,this is the thing that keeps me playing it,learn how to do whatever your trying to learn how to do by going to one of many tutorial sites on the internet! there are many people making either maps, levels, or new skins. the graphics are great compared to quake 1/2 (i haven't tried 3) the tournament mode is probebly a good way to get ready to play multiplayer,but sp lacks a good story (some people are trying to make a mod to change that fact)it's great for a old game and there will be 2 new unreal games in at least a year

http://www.planetunreal.com/
Check the left side under "game info"

Of course you should get it. It's dead cheap now. For God's sake don't start another Q3 vs UT thread now (both have it's moments), but you will find that the weapons are much more balanced and versatile than in Q3. The pace is a bit slower, but it's more tactical. UT CTF just can't be compared to Q3 which is DM with flags.

Just try it. You won't regret it

Unreal Tournament

I used be be an avid Quake2er so I know how odd it is switching games

The main difference between Quake and UT is the weapon system. In UT, all the weapons have 2 fire modes. A good overview of the weapons is here. This duel fire feature means that there will be a weapon for every situation.

The game is more playable on a modem than Quake2/3. The gameplay is slower paced, but more tactically minded than Quake3. Overall, I think the maps are better than Quake3, and there are a lot more of them.

The top 5 gametypes you'll find online are:

Deathmatch: needs no introduction really
Team Deathmatch: exacly the same as the Quake version
Capture the Flag: Same basic idea as quake, but with a slightly different scoring system (7 points for a capture, 5 for killing the flag carrier). CTF features the translocator.
Domination: Team game. 2 (or more) teams aim to control a number of "control points" around the level (usually 3). The teams score increases at a rate proportional to how many CPs they control. Domination also includes the translocator.
Assualt: One team has to complete a series of objectives (blowing up a bridge, esacping a castle etc) in a set time, the other team attempts to stop them. When attackers complete the objective (or the timer runs out), the teams swap sides, and the defenders become the attackers. They must complete the objectives faster than the first team.

For the price (£10 in the UK), it's a very good deal. I'd agree with GnomeOfShadows, try the demo to see if you lie it. But remember that not all the weapons are covered in the demo.

UT is slower paced then Quake. That's one big difference. I remember trying the UT Demo after the Q3 demo and found UT to be sluggish. But the lousy(imo) RL in Q3 kept me from going back and I'm glad
UT weapons have two firing modes, some of them have more.
Eg the RL, you can fire single rockets, multiple upto six, or launch grenades. If that's not enuff you can fire multiple rockets in two different formations, and oh yeah it also has a homing feature if you can stay on your target long enough.
Another big difference is the inclusion of team games in UT-tho Q3 team arena was released to play catch up-but you'll find assault, team DM, CTF, Domination (standard version-GOTY Edition has more mods) out of the box. So more team oriented stuff...tho stay away from assault online(imo).
Cosmetically UT is supposed to have weaker graphics. It can't do curved surfaces but if they are'nt as good, the difference isn't that much imo. You can check out Screen shots and make up your own mind.
I'm not sure how the cheating online issue is in Q-scene but in UT it is contained. It does exist, but it's contained thx to some cool members of our community.
I would highly recommend you get the Game of The Year Edition as you won't have to DL anymore pathces and stuff to play, plus you get 3 extra mods which are pretty damn good.
If you have high speed Inet access try the demo like gnome said.
OH yeah UT is processor intensive so hopefully you have something more then a 400 celeron/k6 -2. Anything less I would get the demo first.
Hope I covered stuff that helps you out.
Edit:Ach Sele beat me by a minute....why ya lousy ....

Generally though, games under win2k run slower because of the extra services it has, but with that hardware it should run like butter.

Only problem with win2k I've heard is that UT doesn't go into full screen on some rare configurations. That only happens with all detail levels on high, when set to medium the problem seems to go away.

Btw, when you get it, stop by #team_z2 on irc.enterthegame.com and maybe we can start up a game (UT has a built-in IRC client by the way hehe)

IRC

Just to add to what SamD said, most of the regulars on these forums can be found on the #planetunreal channel in irc.enterthegame.com.

bots are much better in UT,i think that quake bots only get better with the rail gun,but UT bots get better in alot of ways:

the higher the difficulty the better they aim,move,dodge, and choose their weapons for the proper situations

What I found strange at first when playing UT is the incredible power of weapons.

In the other FPS games I've played,a fully armed and armored FC would have a very good chance,because he could take a lot of damage.

If you're fully armored in UT,you can usually still get killed in 1 shot.That makes dodging a lot more important.
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The other unique thing is the shockrifle.You fire a shock secondary fire,than blast that shot with the primary fire.
This causes an explosion with quite some range and high damage.This way you can make great prediction kills if you know someone is coming your way (because you decide when the shot detonates)
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A redeemer is a nuclear warhead that will make an inmense explosion,you can even radio-control the missile
But prefer to play with redeemer off.
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Some weapons will be able to shoot heads off (sniper rifle),which rewards your aiming skill
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UT has an announcer,and he rox imo
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-Revenant

beware the translocator. If you plan on playing ctf, learn it. Ultra improtant. So is dodging. Doublke tap your straffe keys.
learning the x-loc (translocator) and dodging very well will enable you to reach levels of skills otherwise impossible (ok, very difficult) to reach.
Those 2 things quake doesn;t have and you will have to get used to.