Mark Rein On UT3

[hal]

The Guardian Unlimited rolls out an interview with Mark Rein in which Unreal Tournament 3 is the main topic of discussion. A bit on the engine:

The really interesting thing is that Unreal Engine 3 performs a lot better now than it did when we shipped Gears of War, so that gives us more headroom. We're constantly improving. At GDC this year, we going to roll out some new improvements we're making to the engine - some new graphics techniques, new capabilities - most of them are still in development. But we're constantly getting better at using the technology we have.

[toniglandyl]

about time to show us some UE4 maybe.
but I'd like to see what new things are available for UE3 which could be then used in UT3

[MonsOlympus]

Great interview I thought

[SirTahngarth]

What's the most surprising development you've seen from UT3 mod community?
They all surprise me! I don't want to pick out just one as I'll go on the forums later and find 4000 people are mad at me.

[MonsOlympus]

Im sure there are around 500 angry people now because he didnt pick just one

[Anuban]

Most revealing quote:

"It was at that point I realized they were all playing it on console. Plus, the sales of the console versions are something like ten times the sales of the PC versions."

There you have it ... the PC version is going to take a back seat for any game they develop from here on out. And note how he also said the 360 version runs wonderfully and has been up and running for a little while now.

But at least he realizes that development will ALWAYS have to be done on a PC. No editor for folks who are strictly PS3.

[Kantham]

While improving graphics, could they please put the ****ing cooking system to death. KKTHX.

[SirTahngarth]

Originally Posted by Kantham

While improving graphics, could they please put the ****ing cooking system to death. KKTHX.

It probably only exists because of the consoles.

What MR needs to realize is that they still have to build a good game for the PC or the modders aren't going to play it and thus wont make content for it. We're pretty lucky that so many people have. Now I'm enjoying UT3 but obviously something is keeping the gamers away (but not so much the modders who are so dedicated)

[BigDragon]

Q: What's the most surprising development you've seen from UT3 mod community?
A: They all surprise me! I don't want to pick out just one as I'll go on the forums later and find 4000 people are mad at me.

4000 people are going to be mad at Mark for the state of the game, not what he says in some newspaper. What world is Mark from too? Last time I checked all that was being developed were maps, characters, mutators, and a gametype or two. UT3 doesn't even support total conversions at this time. I haven't seen any evidence of larger-scale mods this time around. It seems like all the big stuff is now for Crysis. Mark could have used this time better to let everyone know definitively that the Make Something Unreal Contest for UT3 is never coming.

[«BuA»Lurker_71]

Originally Posted by SirTahngarth

Now I'm enjoying UT3 but obviously something is keeping the gamers away (but not so much the modders who are so dedicated)

If it wasn't for the dedication of the UT community as a whole, I think UT3 would've bombed... on the PC, anyway.

Originally Posted by Anuban

Most revealing quote:

"It was at that point I realized they were all playing it on console. Plus, the sales of the console versions are something like ten times the sales of the PC versions."

There you have it ... the PC version is going to take a back seat for any game they develop from here on out. And note how he also said the 360 version runs wonderfully and has been up and running for a little while now.

But at least he realizes that development will ALWAYS have to be done on a PC. No editor for folks who are strictly PS3.

I believe I made a prediction about this in another thread... let's see what happens next...

[IronMonkey]

Originally Posted by BigDragon

Mark could have used this time better to let everyone know definitively that the Make Something Unreal Contest for UT3 is never coming.

He did state in the same interview that:

Originally Posted by Mark Rein

We're going to have a big mod contest starting soon

[ShredPrince]

MS: ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG


All you need: Proper cooking parameters for the 360, and you won't be crashing anything

[Sir_Brizz]

Originally Posted by BigDragon

UT3 doesn't even support total conversions at this time.

That's a lie. Unless you also believe that Total Conversions weren't supported in any UT game except UT2004 (after a few patches).

I haven't seen any evidence of larger-scale mods this time around.

http://www.moddb.com/games/169/unreal-tournament-3/mods

[BigDragon]

Originally Posted by IronMonkey

He did state in the same interview that: We're going to have a big mod contest starting soon.

Yeah, sounds just like "lots of cool stuff coming for this game".

Originally Posted by Sir_Brizz

That's a lie. Unless you also believe that Total Conversions weren't supported in any UT game except UT2004 (after a few patches).

It can't be a lie when it comes straight from Epic themselves. One of their employees stated TC's weren't implemented yet on the UT3mods mailing list. Ask an Epic employee yourself. The support for a TC is just not there yet in UT3.

[nELsOn]

Originally Posted by Anuban

There you have it ... the PC version is going to take a back seat for any game they develop from here on out.

but that's not only true for epic games. it's pretty much every developer nowadays. games on consoles just sell better. that's a trend that actually was getting obvious years ago. it's kinda sad but that's the way it is.
and in some way i can even understand. from a (console) gamer's point of view: you don't have to upgrade, you don't have to spend time trying to get the game to run on your system, you don't need to check which hardware works well with whatever other hardware, usually a new console is cheaper than a new computer (not taking a brand new hd tv set into account...).
and since most gamers don't seem to have any interest in modding or mapping and the like they don't need the game on their pc's.

personally, i still prefer pc gaming cause it offers a lot more than just gaming especially concerning my need to be creative and to adjust the respective games to my liking as much as i can and i do want to know about hardware and stuff. and i'm glad it seems there's still enough people around who think the same way so we still get titles on pc (although imo there are some timed exclusive console versions that really should have been on pc first...) but overall this really is a kind of worrying development

[Sir_Brizz]

Originally Posted by BigDragon

It can't be a lie when it comes straight from Epic themselves. One of their employees stated TC's weren't implemented yet on the UT3mods mailing list. Ask an Epic employee yourself. The support for a TC is just not there yet in UT3.

Define TC.

For example, download and watch this video:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/10205/vegetoids/downloads

And then try to tell me that is not a TC.

TCs in the traditional sense are completely supported. TCs in the UT2004 -mod switch or Half-Life Mod menu are not supported at this time, but those aren't required to create a TC.

[{Ogre}Spin]

Indeed, there was no -mod switch in UT1 or UT2003, but we still managed to produce total conversions. It is perfectly possible to create a UT3 TC using EXACTLY the same techniques we had to use in the older engine versions, just not in the 'mod friendly' way that ut2004 offered.

I'm a modder of some years experience and can honestly say that complaints that ut3 is somehow less moddable than previous iterations is utter nonsense. There are limitations on what you can do with modding for PS3 sure, but that is down to console hardware/software limitations and does NOT affect modding for PC.

As for the 2 statements that "all the big stuff is coming for crysis" and that there will be no MSUC, do you have any evidence to support these claims? The contest has been constantly talked up since way before ut3 release and was still being discussed in this interview yesterday so I'd have to say that its a blatant lie that it's not coming.

[IronMonkey]

Originally Posted by BigDragon

Yeah, sounds just like "lots of cool stuff coming for this game".

"lots of cool stuff" is vague and fluffy but "We're going to have a big mod contest starting soon" is rather more specific (for some value of "big" & "soon" )

There is no law of nature that says that Epic have to run a contest.

I think MR has stated an intention to run one but I don't think they are obliged to do so. If they decide in the end not to run a contest, I don't see that anyone could feel "cheated", disappointed perhaps but not cheated.

[R.Flagg]

Originally Posted by {Ogre}Spin

I'm a modder of some years experience and can honestly say that complaints that ut3 is somehow less moddable than previous iterations is utter nonsense.

That is to say, I disagree.

[MonsOlympus]

At some point, I'd like to work with the creators of some of the professional quality mods to help take them to the next level and work with us to build a marketplace where they can make some money off their content.

I actually liked the sound of this bit, so contest or not I think this could be more important. Now ofcoarse you shouldnt get into modding specifically for making money, if the chance for you to do so arises, I dont think anyone would think less of you for following that path. Modding is good experience and Im glad Epic realizes this and hasnt forgot where some of them came from. Not only could this be a chance to make money, to work closer with Epic in itself would be reward enough, well for me I know it would be