What would revive the UT franchise?

[WHIPperSNAPper]

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?

Because passing over the barrier to entry allows you to play a game that feels like you're playing a cybersport? That aspect of the game would definitely need to be marketed and also be viral. My way of helping people get over the barrier is to sell them on a single player Unreal sequel first which could come out first as a highly-publicized stand-alone game or could be a part of the UT99-2 game.

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.

Do you think Epic made a profit of of UT3? Did they even break even on it? (I have no idea, I'm just asking, but if I had to guess I would say no.)

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Because passing over the barrier to entry allows you to play a game that feels like you're playing a cybersport? That aspect of the game would definitely need to be marketed and also be viral. My way of helping people get over the barrier is to sell them on a single player Unreal sequel first which could come out first as a highly-publicized stand-alone game or could be a part of the UT99-2 game.

It's possible having a more modular game like Unreal would work. I don't know if it would or not.

However, the fact of the matter is that UT games have much higher skill plateaus than other games do. By that I mean that to feel effective in UT costs a lot more in terms of time and knowledge than other games that have lots of people playing (note that lots of clans != lots of players).

If you think about the sports that have stood the test of time IRL, you'll find that the barrier to entry is extremely low. Anyone can pick up a ball, throw it at a hoop and score occasionally. In UT (the 2kx series more so than the others, but none are without fault in this regard) you can't just pick up a gun and get kills occasionally.

Another problem is, in professional sports, the pros are "padded" from the casual players. You don't see Michael Jordan hopping into an amateur basketball game and schooling everyone and making them hate basketball, but you do see that in UT.

And the way I see it, the only way to attempt to circumvent problems like that is to simplify the rules of the game. Again, we're talking about increasing the playerbase, not increasing clan activity or making pros play the game more.

Do you think Epic made a profit of of UT3? Did they even break even on it? (I have no idea, I'm just asking, but if I had to guess I would say no.)

I'm pretty sure that Epic made plenty more money than they spent on developing UT3. Don't forget that a large portion of UT3's development time was spent with most of the team at Epic working on Gears.

 

[T2A`]

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.

So much otaku up in here. D:

It is a silly computer game. They're all silly computer games. "Cyber sports" is just a term douches use to justify their addiction ultimately meaningless game playing. Chess players are not athletes. You are not an athlete. You are a guy sitting on his ass playing a game.

But they're all just games -- UT, CoD, WoW, whatever. In one hand you have fun, addictive, easy-to-learn games that are popular. In the other you have fun (eventually), addictive (eventually), esoteric games full of elitists and pr0s who will never play anything else because they are afraid of new things.

Why would any sane person pick up UT when the Halos and CoDs of the gaming world are as fun and addictive as they are? Because some elitist says it's more worthwhile?

That's incredibly subjective and full of confirmation bias.

 

[WHIPperSNAPper]

It is a silly computer game. They're all silly computer games. "Cyber sports" is just a term douches use to justify their addiction ultimately meaningless game playing. Chess players are not athletes. You are not an athlete. You are a guy sitting on his ass playing a game.

I never said anyone was an "athlete", just a "cyber athlete" which implies sitting on one's butt and pecking at a mouse and keyboard.

I get the sense that you have absolutely no idea WTF you're talking about. Did you play in a UT99 clan? Have you ever played a UT99 capture-the-flag pug match? If not then you don't have any credibility in these regards. Those types of games--clan matches and pugs--really do feel like a cybersport. Players have positional assignments and test their skill against other players and their skill. It is intense and you need to be aware of what is going on and to make plays. It feels like what a hockey or basketball game might feel like with lots of back-and-forth action.

Why would any sane person pick up UT when the Halos and CoDs of the gaming world are as fun and addictive as they are? Because some elitist says it's more worthwhile?

I can't comment on Halo having never played it. I played the original CoD some and it didn't get its hooks into me but I didn't think it was a bad game for online multiplayer. I'm not sure it could ever have the kind of cybersport feel UT99 does. If you think Halo and CoD are such better games than UT, what are you doing hanging around a UT forum?

 

[SkaarjMaster]

I prefer the insane Unreal world to the sane real world.

 

[oldkawman]

I personally believe that the single player campaign was very poor and likely turned off many. IMO this was a big part of the problem along with the sucky demo.

If epic wanted a story behind everything it could have been done much better with a tournament type thing as the basis or background for the story. Think plots like in a Sonny Chiba or Bruce Lee movie. The odds are against you, bla bla type thing.

Then the online version of the single player would also be tournament based as well. This would be the obvious place for new players to go online to participate and learn the game if it was done in a manner to keep players interested and hungry for more.

 

[Godfrey.Payans]

Some general things would be a further improvement, like more bug reduction, and upgrading the engine and maps to use new features.

After that it probably becomes a matter of identifying the different types of gamer and doing something to appeal to each type. For competitive players some functionality to support an actual tournament might be useful, or some sort of casual pick-up type of game where money is involved, like playing cards in a bar.

More bots online might make a difference for players who currently prefer to be offline. For example I know if I go online that I'll be the worst of any group of human players, but if there are bots then I might get some kills. It would also reduce do-nothing time on servers waiting for humans to join.

Having more co-op modes might also help. Maybe having one long campaign is not such a good idea since it's just maps and bots. Perhaps small sets of maps should be grouped together into mini-campaigns, and linked to achievements and stats.

Some sort of performance reward for playing a lot might encourage people to stick with the game, and differentiate between old-timers and new players.

 

[ambershee]

I get the feeling the original aim at Epic was to kind of make a sequel to both Unreal and Unreal Tournament in one shoot - but when things were getting drastically behind schedule, the singleplayer story mode was what took the heavy cut.

 

[Interbellum]

PC gaming is dead. (Other than crap like WoW)

So nothing will revive it.

PC gaming can be revived, or at least become a stong niche market, if developers start focusing on its unique strengths instead of using it as a dumping ground for crappy console ports. PC games have certain advantages consoles will never have: no holds barred content and mod support. Let the stupid console kids have their shallow, castrated, sterilized, infantilized, standardized hamburger games. PC games can be rude, politically incorrect, thought provoking, extremely brutal, (semi-)pornographic etc., and (unrestricted) 3rd party content can keep them fresh for years. So what if stores won't sell them, or you can't show your ads on tv; this is the age of the internet. Of digital distribution, Youtube, and viral marketing. Make something really cool and different, and people will play it. Push the limit hard, emphasize that consoles are for pussies and idiots -- real men play PC! All we need is a few indie developers with vision and balls.

And even if PC Gaming wasn't basically dead, no one plays good awesome fast paced shooters these days; it takes too much skill for kids now to get interested.

Well, then make a game that can be customized to fit any gameplay style and skill level, from relatively slow paced tactical to bouncing-off-the-walls, glow-in-the-dark competitive. Want soldiers using real world weapons? Check! Want futuristic warriors using sci-fi weapons? Check! Want naked chicks and mutant sheep using Medieval weaponry? Check that too! Mix & match, and create your own custom experience -- now THAT is (PC) gaming!

 

[SkaarjMaster]

I know if I go online that I'll be the worst of any group of human players

Sounds like me too.

 

[Bi()ha2arD]

Youtube

No, not really. Youtube is a bunch of fags who block stuff if you don't life in the US...

 

[JohnDoe641]

No, not really. Youtube is a bunch of fags who block stuff if you don't life in the US...

wat

 

[Tom10320]

I think some lore would give Unreal some newfound depth and meaning. What I see with Unreal games is that they're great gameplay and graphics wise, but there's no backstory with them. You're just expected to go with the flow.

 

[Arcturus]

dumping ground for crappy console ports.

PC games have certain advantages consoles will never have: no holds barred content and mod support.

Let the stupid console kids have their shallow, castrated, sterilized, infantilized, standardized hamburger games.

emphasize that consoles are for pussies

Did games consoles kill your dog or something?

 

[UBerserker]

^I never waste time reading Interbellum's posts but, wow, that's some terrible complaining about consoles.
Just get the hell over it and drink a cup of tea, man.

 

[Bi()ha2arD]

wat

"This video is not available in your country due to copyrigth restrictions"

"Video was removed"

you know, the usual deal.

 

[Interbellum]

Did games consoles kill your dog or something?

Um, no, they just killed the UT franchise and PC gaming.

^I never waste time reading Interbellum's posts

Your loss.

but, wow, that's some terrible complaining about consoles.
Just get the hell over it and drink a cup of tea, man.

Consoles basically killed the custom, moddable FPS gaming experience (you know, the thing that made the UT series so cool and special). How the hell can you all be so goddamn indifferent about that??

No I won't get ****ing over it. Ever since the rise of the consoles gaming has been going backwards, not forwards. Instead of games with more and better mod support & customization options we get nerfed cookie cutter garbage with the replay value of a condom. The emperor is buck naked.

 

[UBerserker]

How the hell can you all be so goddamn indifferent about that??

Maybe because I have protection against PC elitism virus or something, which is as bad as the console ones; I don't need mods if the game's retail contents are good enough. I also really love many consoles games so bye bye

 

[Raynor.Z]

Interbellum has some truth in his talk - consoles have influenced today's PC games and not in the best way regardless that many people just try to ignore that fact.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Consoles haven't really influenced them,. If you go back to 1998 you'll find just as many editor-less PC games as you do now.

Unless you mean the SNES ruined PC gaming.