What would revive the UT franchise?

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HedgeMaster

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May 3, 2009
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Come on, UT was never meant to be deep game. It's a classic fast-paced shooter aimed at quick skirmishes, however UT3 failed at this point as characters as not nearly as agile as they were in Ut2004.
 

Alhanalem

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Feb 21, 2002
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thats only because it doesn't include bouncing off the walls and pingponging around the arenas like a nitwit. That's what quake (live) is for. UT was never as much about fancy movement as quake was.

So I don't think that's a fair argument or complaint. The customizability is what made the first two UT games. UT3 stripped a lot of that away.
 

Sir_Brizz

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Feb 3, 2000
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Come on, UT was never meant to be deep game. It's a classic fast-paced shooter aimed at quick skirmishes, however UT3 failed at this point as characters as not nearly as agile as they were in Ut2004.
Considering the fact that UT2004 was not as popular as UT and also that almost all UT fans hated it, I'd say no.
 

xMurphyx

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Jun 2, 2008
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The classless, persistent-less nature of UT just isn't going to work these days. Most people think that classless equals depth-less, and no "levels" equals no point in playing.
Classless doesn't equal depth-less but in classbased games people feel that their performance isn't entirely their fault when they are doing bad but of course it's all their doing when they are doing good.
E.g. if I get gunned down by a mini-gun guy while I'm a totally out-gunned medic or something I feel it's not my fault. If however I snipe someone from across the map because I'm playing a sniper guy I feel like I did well in my role.
So classes make everyone feel better and more important.

Of course they do a lot more but I think the above is the most important aspect of classbased gameplay that makes it so appealing to players.

UT lacks this completely.
 
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nawrot

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Jan 23, 2008
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I know what to do. Convert UT and release it with UDK.

This, would give huge boost to UT3 and also to UDK, most wannabe devs there strive from lack of assets to use. Creating all those textures and meshes is at least as much work as building level and coding small game.
 

Molgan

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Feb 13, 2008
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Some people claim that old cars are better then new ones, some that UT is better then 2k4. If BMW launched a blinged up version of the 2002 -76 I guess it would meet the same destiny as UT3. :)

Just kidding. The genre is almost dead, Probably Epic knew it and put a minimum of effort into the game. RIP. When I feel like playing I still have the lord of all games installed.
 

Grobut

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Oct 27, 2004
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So, to revive the UT franchise you are making suggestions that exclude 80% of the potential player base :/

Excluding an 80% that has never, ever, given the UT franchise a fair shake? absolutely!

All the Xbox owners of the world are no good to you if they don't buy and play the game, and not a single UT/UC title released on the Consoles has done even remotely well, it's obviously not what Consoleros want, they want GoW and Halo, UT is barely even a curiosity to them..


The PC market has allways been UT's niche, and any step taken twords making UT more Console accessible will only hurt it in the PC market where it actually has some potential, the only problem is, Epic has consistantly failed to grasp this since UT, 2003 was origionally ment for the Xbox and it suffered for it, 2004 was a step in the right direction (PC) but was too big a departure from what made UT so good in the first place, and now we got UT3, another Console minded venture that has once again suffered for it, PC players aren't keen on it, and the Console versions once again sold poorly and are collecting dust on peoples shelves.

UT is never going to be a GoW killer for Epic, but if a genuinely good UT was made for the PC, one that is a good modding platform, is rich in features and customizability, and recaptures the feel and play of the origional without spoiling it with gimmicks, i am confident it would sell, and make Epic some money, games don't have to be top-of-the-sales-charts material to be profitable, but they sure as hell do need to be aimed at a viable market that will buy it, and the Console versions have prooven time and again that Console's aren't it for UT, the PC is where it has a real chance to move some copies and gain following, but it must be a good PC game for that to work.

The PC market is starved for good games, and that could actually be UT's chance of a revival, but it'll never happen unless Epic once again takes a chance on the PC (and i very much doubt they will).
 

Sir_Brizz

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Feb 3, 2000
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Both the UT and UC series have enjoyed reasonably good sales numbers, so none of them are really financial failures. By the numbers, Epic probably has lots of reason to continue developing the UT series.

However, at the same time, none of the UT games have been stellar long-term successes. Even the original UT at the peak of its playerbase probably never had more than 15,000 players playing concurrently.
 

Benfica

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Feb 6, 2006
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Grobut said:
Excluding an 80% that has never, ever, given the UT franchise a fair shake? absolutely!
When I mentioned 80% I wasn't talking only about consoles. The problem with excessive gore is that the game has to be rated 17+ or 18+, which excludes those younger gamers and their parents. I don't miss stuff that has nothing to do with gameplay like gore, but also animations, excessive decorations, those overly complex maps but where the playing field is small, etc...

Exclude single player and the game will be put for sale on ebay in less than an hour. Newbies, older folks, casual players, etc... can't deal with the speed or the crap they take if they don't manage to deliver the orb. I'm talking about PC gamers here.
UT is never going to be a GoW killer for Epic, but if a genuinely good UT was made for the PC, one that is a good modding platform, is rich in features and customizability, and recaptures the feel and play of the origional without spoiling it with gimmicks, i am confident it would sell,
Well, I guess that it's what exactly what they tried to do with UT3. It was supposed to be "back to roots". In fact, my theory is that what killed UT3 was that it tried to be a "PC game": dull, restrictive, serious, etc... It's just as if they were afraid to make it fun, for giggles and ****s. And then as some guys say: without Unreal and without Tournament
The PC market is starved for good games, and that could actually be UT's chance of a revival, but it'll never happen unless Epic once again takes a chance on the PC (and i very much doubt they will).
I see what you mean, but I also have an hard time to understand what has UT to do with the PC vs Consoles war. UT shouldn't have been caught in the middle of this. For me it's not relevant what revives the UT franchise as long as it works, and is made for PC too :)
 

Skillz

ut-files.com
Nov 29, 2003
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Excluding an 80% that has never, ever, given the UT franchise a fair shake? absolutely!

All the Xbox owners of the world are no good to you if they don't buy and play the game, and not a single UT/UC title released on the Consoles has done even remotely well, it's obviously not what Consoleros want, they want GoW and Halo, UT is barely even a curiosity to them..


The PC market has allways been UT's niche, and any step taken twords making UT more Console accessible will only hurt it in the PC market where it actually has some potential, the only problem is, Epic has consistantly failed to grasp this since UT, 2003 was origionally ment for the Xbox and it suffered for it, 2004 was a step in the right direction (PC) but was too big a departure from what made UT so good in the first place, and now we got UT3, another Console minded venture that has once again suffered for it, PC players aren't keen on it, and the Console versions once again sold poorly and are collecting dust on peoples shelves.

UT is never going to be a GoW killer for Epic, but if a genuinely good UT was made for the PC, one that is a good modding platform, is rich in features and customizability, and recaptures the feel and play of the origional without spoiling it with gimmicks, i am confident it would sell, and make Epic some money, games don't have to be top-of-the-sales-charts material to be profitable, but they sure as hell do need to be aimed at a viable market that will buy it, and the Console versions have prooven time and again that Console's aren't it for UT, the PC is where it has a real chance to move some copies and gain following, but it must be a good PC game for that to work.

The PC market is starved for good games, and that could actually be UT's chance of a revival, but it'll never happen unless Epic once again takes a chance on the PC (and i very much doubt they will).

Very well put.
 

WHIPperSNAPper

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Mar 22, 2003
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I don't think Epic killed it, I think it was a foregone conclusion from the very beginning. A game like UT (and, by extension, Quake 3) are doomed to failure because the barrier to entry is much higher than any other kind of game. As PC gaming has become more "mainstream", less people care about deep, strategic gameplay. They like Halo and Gears of War. Games with simpler gameplay, lower barrier to entry, easy competition.

I look back at lots of games from the late 90s and games today just don't compare to them. I think a lot of people who look back at the UT series fondly mostly do so in an "old fogey" kind of "the good old days" way.

The simple fact of the matter is that UT will never be popular again. Epic could make the ultimate, awesome, great, perfect for everyone UT game with perfect competitive options, great stats and everything everyone could ever want out of it, and it would still turn out the same way.

I have been wondering about this, too. People say that arena FPS is just dead, but could that really be true? Are young males no longer young males who would enjoy a competitive ego-boosting online multiplayer cyber-bloodsport? Has the younger generation been pussyfied?

I think that UT can be revitalized but that much of the challenge will fall on the shoulders of the marketing department. Assuming that Epic could produce a first rate, polished, bona-fide UT99-2 with the vehicluar games and that the quality of the game and its gameplay weren't an issue, they would still have to market it properly.

At this point there is no longer much of a built-in UT fanbase to work with, so they would need to start from scratch. If you look at the popular PC shooters today--CoD4 and TF2, what they both have in common is that they acquired a large fanbase from prior hit single player games, such as the campaign in the original Call of Duty and Halflife. That's also what sold people on the original Unreal Tournament. People had played the single player Unreal game and wanted more.

So, to revitalize UT I think they would need to assume that they are starting over and combine a UT99-2 with single player Unreal 3--not some silly single player version of UT--but a single player FPS adventure to be a spiritual successor to Unreal. To market it it they would need to sell the single player Unreal part and do what all of those other high selling games did--emphasize the quality of the graphics and the single player experience. Let people buy the game for that reason and learn how to play it and then they will explore the UT99-2 part of the package.
 
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Sir_Brizz

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I have been wondering about this, too. People say that arena FPS is just dead, but could that really be true? Are young males no longer young males who would enjoy a competitive ego-boosting online multiplayer cyber-bloodsport? Has the younger generation been pussyfied?
The younger generation gets their competitive kicks with Halo. So, yes, they have.

That's precisely why a strictly UT game will never be popular again. Why play a game with such a massively high barrier to entry when you can play a simplified game like Halo?
 

WHIPperSNAPper

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Leaving it alone for a while, and then taking the formula that worked and adding something new (e.g. a new gun or guns... UT has had nothing but the same set of weapons forever, and any new weapon that's introduced is built specially for a certain gametype (e.g. avril, spider mine gun)

Chess has had the same number of pieces for centuries yet people still play it. The rules of football, baseball, and basketball haven't changed much and people still play those games. If you start to view online multiplayer UT not as a silly computer game but more as a competitive cyber bloodsport, then you can start to understand why it isn't a good idea to mess with tried and proven game chemistry. People still play 5v5 clan-match style capture-the-flag UT99 to this day, btw. It's not because it's a silly computer game, it's because it feels more like a cybersport.