Jeff Morris Interview

[ShredPrince]

UC2 only got one patch and it only fixed about 5% of the problems with that game.

True, but I'd say it was little more than 5%, but grant you not 100%. They did however fix a HUGE gameplay issue. The light characters in an unpatched UC2 are not much faster than a medium. There was no true benfit to using most lights, except for Selket. She was somehow "faster". It turned out that we were right, and she was indeed faster, and the patch made all lights as fast as Selket. If they did'nt do that, the game would be seriously broken. There is a major exploit still intact that I myself reported to Epic prior to patch 1. I still don't know why they did'nt fix it. If it was more well known, it'd be gamebreaking.

The main issue was "lagging out" as it was dubbed. You'd be connected after racking up about 20 kills, all of a sudden you cannot shoot, or attack/defend at all, yet you can get killed. Cuased alot of unfinshed matches, and frustration on XB1.

I must point out I have not seen this happen at all that I can recall on 360. It's weird, but although technically "emulated" it works way better than on orignal Xbox for the most part. I'd expect that morally, but I understand it's some sort of emulation...

I must note I've gone back to UC2 lately, and alot of new player are playing it, and its doing really well, all things considered. Most XBL1 titles are ghost towns, but this game has NEW players. It's great. So much fun with people who play wiht a little pride, and don't cheapen the game. Very fun.


rant...sorry.

 

[Unregistered]

That's a bad formula, since you need people to play the game period. The last two games haven't been good for getting people interested in playing (-1 to 40 in a DM for example).

Why bother to get people interesting in playing, if the price it that the game is ruined?

 

[EXE-973]

To you and the other whiners around here:
1. The demo gave a great view on how things where going to be. So either you didn't play the demo (in wich case it is your own fault and you should hit yourself) or you did play it and you didn't like it, but you decided to buy it anyway (wich is even more stupid).
2. This is a forum for people who like playing UT(3), and who wish to read op on the lastest community news. If you don't like playing UT(3) then what are you still doing here? Moreover, people like me who hope to find something useful in these threads are getting tired of your ongoing whining. We are not interested about the fact you hate the latest installment (because you explained 12million times now) and your only irritating people.

If you really think someone here is actually still interested, why don't you put it on your blog or something.

Or you could ignore the posts you don't care for and continue to allow folks to say what they want to say. Nothing says you have to read every post.

 

[fuegerstef]

This is a news post about UT3...

This is a news post about a Jeff Morris interview.



But the real problem is:

Have you ever really loved a woman for years and had a great time with her and expected great years to come... ...and then she left you? All forgotten in a second?

 

[Unregistered]

IMO, a big problem of UT3 is the fact that the majority of potential PC players (like players of the previous versions) just don't own the necessary hardware yet to even run the game, let alone to run it smoothly and create new custom contents which is necessary for this game to be enjoyable. By the time these people own the necessary hardware to play next-gen games, UT3 might have become outdated.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

IMO, a big problem of UT3 is the fact that the majority of potential PC players (like players of the previous versions) just don't own the necessary hardware yet to even run the game, let alone to run it smoothly and create new custom contents which is necessary for this game to be enjoyable. By the time these people own the necessary hardware to play next-gen games, UT3 might have become outdated.

That really is a very good point. Remember that in a game like Crysis, 23fps isn't a huge deal. In UT3 23fps can break your experience and make it impossible for you to compete at all.

 

[gregori]

That really is a very good point. Remember that in a game like Crysis, 23fps isn't a huge deal. In UT3 23fps can break your experience and make it impossible for you to compete at all.

This is a good point, but I wouldn't run with it too far.

Crysis still outsold UT3 by a factor of 2 despite its steep requirements. Those people have machines that can probably run UT3 pretty decently, faster than Crysis. I think people would even be okay with 23fps, despite it being frustrating. I did with UT2k4.

UT3 launch has a combination of problems that have made its launch difficult.

The Orange box is doing fantastically on the PC, and its pretty low system requirements are a huge factor in that.

Maybe it would be wise of Epic to find a way to make this game run on much lower end machines and increase the graphics on higher end machines, Perhaps in UT3.5

 

[Sir_Brizz]

I'm certainly not trying to blame it entirely on that, but it certainly is a factor.

 

[gregori]

You're totally right, it's a certainly a factor.

I wonder how lo-poly they could possibly make UT3?

If sometype of super low graphics version of it could be made more people could easily play it. Perhaps they could even make it look cell-shaded so it doesn't look too much like a blurry mess. All the character and weapons models would be replaced with special lo poly versions. The materials could be done as single textures without any shaders.

Character and weapon models don't have to be very complex at all in UT since collision is done with cylinders and weapons don't collide. Most of the stuff that makes the actual gameplay wouldn't really be affected by lowering the graphics.

 

[EXE-973]

You're totally right, it's a certainly a factor.

I wonder how lo-poly they could possibly make UT3?

If sometype of super low graphics version of it could be made more people could easily play it. Perhaps they could even make it look cell-shaded so it doesn't look too much like a blurry mess. All the character and weapons models would be replaced with special lo poly versions. The materials could be done as single textures without any shaders.

Character and weapon models don't have to be very complex at all in UT since collision is done with cylinders and weapons don't collide. Most of the stuff that makes the actual gameplay wouldn't really be affected by lowering the graphics.

LOL you mean more like UT?

 

[gregori]

Not exactly. Probably more like UT2kx level graphics.

They also could be done cell shaded, which would look awesome.

Whatever it takes to make this run on a greater range of machines basically.
I got this idea from mostly from Half Life. Later, Hi-Definition Models Pack was released for the game.

 

[dub]

Posts on Epic's forums prove, most people like the gameplay but don't play for other reasons.

A cynic might say that those who did post that they didn't like the game play were banned or had their posts deleted therefore it's clear that most post on the Epic boards regarding that matter will seem to be positive ;P

 

[dal11]

That really is a very good point. Remember that in a game like Crysis, 23fps isn't a huge deal. In UT3 23fps can break your experience and make it impossible for you to compete at all.

I can tell you this IS the reason I don't play online.It does not have anything to do with the game at all, I tried to but with my hardware I can't get a decent frame rate to make it playable.
I plan on upgrading but we're talking about some money here. When I do get the new parts then yes I will be playing online, as I do enjoy the game.
I think these new games coming out have hit a threshold in what can be playable and what can't with older hardware.
I bought UT3 knowing it would play rough, I commend epic on how well it does play on my system...off line. Online is a whole other beast.

 

[Deapblade]

I can tell you this IS the reason I don't play online.It does not have anything to do with the game at all, I tried to but with my hardware I can't get a decent frame rate to make it playable.
I plan on upgrading but we're talking about some money here. When I do get the new parts then yes I will be playing online, as I do enjoy the game.
I think these new games coming out have hit a threshold in what can be playable and what can't with older hardware.
I bought UT3 knowing it would play rough, I commend epic on how well it does play on my system...off line. Online is a whole other beast.

I wonder if you have a slow internet connection. I don't notice any difference on my machine in on or offline.

 

[Nirvelli]

I own UT3, but don't play at all because my laptop can't handle it, and my desktop is at home.
And I didn't play at all over break because the only maps that run good on my desktop are the HOLP-Pack maps.
I still am quite puzzled though, how UT3 on my computer both looks AND runs worse than UT2k4 does.

 

[kafros]

People on this forum don't agree with me, which is not surprising, because people have rarely agreed with me here. The rest of the world agrees quite wholeheartedly as shown by the number of people playing. UT3 is the new Q4.

On this one I will agree with you. I am not enjoying the game as much as I remember enjoying myself being a noob in UT2004. I can't say exactly why, but it cannot keep me for a 2-3hour play marathon, nor is in the top list of things to fire up when I boot my PC.

It seems I am not the only one. Local UT community is ignoring it (even though all old-timers bought the game + a new PC to play at > 80fps), clan server is either in crash mode or empty, and when I get around joining a pub I end up in an overcrowded high pinging spamfest :-(

I really try to like the game, but then again I should not be trying to liking a game. It defeats the purpose of fun I guess.

 

[DocB]

IMO, a big problem of UT3 is the fact that the majority of potential PC players (like players of the previous versions) just don't own the necessary hardware yet to even run the game, let alone to run it smoothly and create new custom contents which is necessary for this game to be enjoyable. By the time these people own the necessary hardware to play next-gen games, UT3 might have become outdated.

Doesn't necessarily hold up. My rig is AMD 2.2 GHz, 1 GIG RAM and a ATI (before AMD) x850 AGP card. With some ini diving I've been able to get decent FPS without the game looking like total squat. Yes you have to know or figure out what to change in the ini so it may not be for the plug and play crowed. You do have to make some compromises but you can still get a good experience. Now if I could only get the grid to show up in UEd I'd be a really happy man.

 

[LooseCannon]

Thanks for the news linky.

The changes to movement have made the gameplay more accessible to noobs, imo. Just the initial stages of learning 'wtf' is this game about. Unfortunately, the menu system and server administration issues have made the game more INaccessible to everyone.

... Have you ever really loved a woman for years and had a great time with her and expected great years to come... ...and then she left you? All forgotten in a second?

That's for the self-help section of BuF surely!

A cynic might say that those who did post that they didn't like the game play were banned or had their posts deleted therefore it's clear that most post on the Epic boards regarding that matter will seem to be positive ;P

He lives! Hi dub.

UT3 has created a lot of cynics....

I own UT3, but don't play at all because my laptop can't handle it, and my desktop is at home.
And I didn't play at all over break because the only maps that run good on my desktop are the HOLP-Pack maps.
I still am quite puzzled though, how UT3 on my computer both looks AND runs worse than UT2k4 does.

UT3 is a demanding bit of code. My old PC ran UT2k4 at near max settings, but only ran UT3 at about 20fps in a window the size of a postage stamp. It's a big performance jump.

Warfare looks great and plays quite well on a beasty PC,,, imo.

 

[fuegerstef]

That's for the self-help section of BuF surely!

I meant it as metaphor... ...where the girl is the UT franchise.

 

[T2A`]

I really try to like the game, but then again I should not be trying to liking a game. It defeats the purpose of fun I guess.

Sounds like a fair assessment. You shouldn't have to put effort into liking a game because that'll only lead to frustration. I, too, haven't had any fun with UT3 compared to UT2004. To me UT3 feels more like a hack-job UT2004 mutator that changes the movement and weapon properties than it feels like the original UT. But since BU has become decidedly pro-UT3 and anti-UT2004, it feels like I have to like UT3. Theoretically I should, since on paper it removes UT2004's flaws, but in practice I haven't had any fun with it. Even 1v1s, which sound great in theory due to the lack of the shield gun, have been no more interesting and fast than they were in UT2004. I mean, I just played a UT2004 1v1 last night and the only thing I found complaint-worthy was the shield gun. I've never been one to use it much, but it seems there are many players who rely on it heavily, and such players really stand out in a 1v1 vs. other gametypes.