UT3 Postmortem
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So.... it was not released "when its done"
ya, that's true. I wonder if they will use that phrase in their next titles.
Or maybe there is the English version of "When its done" and Epic UT3 version of "When its done"
I think epic lost their sense of direction with UT3, and it's partially because they had to make UT accessible to consoles. Games like UT just aren't meant for consoles. They tried to go both ways at once and just went backwards instead. Design it for the pc, and implement all of the features/functionality that make it great on that platform. Or dumb it down for consoles, and call it something other than Unreal Tournament.
I think epic lost their sense of direction with UT3, and it's partially because they had to make UT accessible to consoles. Games like UT just aren't meant for consoles. They tried to go both ways at once and just went backwards instead. Design it for the pc, and implement all of the features/functionality that make it great on that platform. Or dumb it down for consoles, and call it something other than Unreal Tournament.
Even though games like UT aren't meant for consoles the guys that own only consoles are extremely pleased in playing it. There was a lot of money to be made and Epic did just that (not trying to justify but hey, if you had a chance of keeping an old market and making just as much money from a new market, wouldn't you take the chance? Especially if you could always improve both products as you go on)
Good read hey, Id have to agree with all of that. Sounds like Epic knows where the mistakes were made, mind you I thought character customization while it might not be seen as popular was a good addition.
Is it just me or does that interview say there is a ruff PC UI sitting around at Epic doing nothing?
Oh well, Ive seen alot of good mods for this game already and since custom content will take alittle longer with normals and whatnot we should be seeing that stuff in a few months through to the end of the year easy
and once again i agree with you
custom content creation (and i mean real custom) takes a whole lot longer than it did for UT2004. it's really time consuming to get all the details right what with normal maps and baking textures and stuff
since i guess there's gonna be another UT game in the future (maybe even along the lines of UT2003 turning into UT2004) it's good to see they've realized they made mistakes. really good. i just hope so much they get it right with the next Unreal Tournament.
i mean, i love UT(3) but it's sad to see that it doesn't live up to the expectations. it could have done so much better and honestly, i would have waited until summer gladly just to get the game everybody's been waiting for.
I simply don't buy the argument that epic had to make the game cross platform in order for it to be profitable. Maybe if they had concentrated on developing it for the pc and making it a better pc game, it would have sold better on the pc. Making it cross platform made the pc version much worse, and I'm not surprised by the poor pc sales.
I'm sure the console people are pleased to be playing UT3. It's a great console game. I'm afraid I don't quite share their level of glee, knowing that I spent $60 for a console-to-pc port of UT3. Don't get me wrong, either; I love consoles. But I also realize that consoles are completely different than pcs; thus, development for them should be handled differently.
Think of how UT3 would have been different if it had been pc-only:
1. Good UI/server browser
2. More of a tournament feeling, which is ruined from the single-player portion of the game (which was almost certainly developed for the consoles... a console game without a single player just isn't going to do well)
3. More content (Epic had to waste time with the console side of the development, as well as making the SP)
4. Would have delivered on promises (Conquest, linux client, etc)
5. Would have features that we've all come to expect (such as client side demo recording
)6. Far fewer bugs and problems at initial release
7. Many more players on servers (pc version)
Additionally, the gameplay may have been slightly different, especially concerning the movement (for example, I'm willing to be that ramp dodging, which was even in UT99, was left out because it would have been too complicated for a controller)
I'll still play UT3 provided that epic supports it with bonus packs and continues to patch it... but I'm extremely disappointed with it. Epic has strayed from the formula that made UT such a brilliant game in the first place (tremendous functionality/customizibility, polished UI/server browser, the "tournament" feel, etc) in an attempt to make as much money out of UT3 as possibly by making it cross platform. I still think that if it had been a better pc product it would have done well enough on the pc to justify making it pc-only.
I do share most of your arguments but we have to note that Epic thought UT3 would perform up to the PC community's expectation. I do believe that they thought UT3 sales on the PC will sky rocket and they thought to themselves "Hey, lets make a few more millions and port it to consoles" but it did not. They miscalculated. It backfired on PC sales.
I too long (decades ago) gave up console games and I do wish Epic had concentrated on a PC version only.
I am happy with UT3 even though lots of features are missing, and I take heart in knowing that patches are on the way.
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& a very scary vague impression that the next unreal tournament game will only have a VERY GOOD user interface
I wonder what CliffyB is thinking now after saying what he did and now to have Jeff and Mike come out and say basically the exact opposite ... These folks don't always seem like they are on the same page, not sure what that says about their development philosophy and strategy but it can't be all good.
I'm glad they are not trying to deny the shoddy UI. What are the chances they will try and fix it? A complete overhaul would be awesome!
just the user interface of ut2k4 would be awesome,
With all due respect... why? Does it really matter? They used to say things like "when it's done", "bread and butter", "mods this and mods that".... and where did that get us?
As far as I'm concerned, they can talk till their faces are blue and that doesn't change a thing. Time will tell where they stand, thru their actions. If for example, the patches stop coming... then we'll know. This game certainly is not done being patched yet, let's see what they do.
I actually find it very silly. I'd rather have more variety in characters themselves, then just new sunglasses. And much, much more functionality with them.
Oh well, Ive seen alot of good mods for this game already and since custom content will take alittle longer with normals and whatnot we should be seeing that stuff in a few months through to the end of the year easy
On this I sorta unhappily disagree. There have not been "a lot of good mods" for this game already. There have been a number of small mutators. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to belittle those, but there is a difference.
Same deal with maps. What we've mostly seen is small DM maps, and remakes. Remakes galore. There are very few, a couple maybe, actual new custom maps for Warfare for example.
I just think you're being a bit over-optimistic about new content coming down the pike. In the last week alone, I've talked to 2 or 3 different mappers about their concerns that this game (and it's userbase) just isn't worth taking the time to map for. It's something I'm worried about, because I just can't keep playing a game w/o custom maps.
I hope you're right, but it might take more than wishful thinking to get it done.
Okay, so the perceived failure of UT3 is my fault.Gamespot said:
All joking aside, this is a good thing that Epic admits their mistakes, especially after all the brouhaha during the beta demo time frame and after the full release. I'll say this much, Epic has been consistently working on patches. Heck, look at how many builds were done between the demo and full release, not to mention all the patch versions that have been tested prior to their individual releases.
My opinion is that UT3 has the potential to be a great game. It lacks some polish. Epic is providing that polish, even though it might take a while longer than expected or desired. As for the game's sales figures and player counts, all I have to say there is that anyone who has tried the game in any capacity and has walked away because of a few not so great features such as a less than optimal UI or browser are going to miss out on that great game.
Granted, i too have lost just about all faith in what Epic has to say, too many broken promises, too many very unfortunate remarks, too little positive action taken.
But we do need to know what was actually said before we can start jumping to conclusions based on what was said, if you catch my drift.
that's a point. i think there's gonna be another UT to sort of repair what's gone wrong so far. but on the other hand another gamer might also turn out completely wrong. i wouldn't like to see that
so like i said i hope they've learned from this.
BUT UT3's only been around a couple months so there's still much they can do about it imo. some more patching, a bonus pack or two... that should help UT3.
apart from that, a completely fresh PC mp franchise from epic would be nice as well. holds a lot of possibilities to try new ideas, think completely out of the box (even though it would definitely be compared to UT over and over again - or maybe gears since UT was brought to us by the creator's of gears
...). the question is whether they'd even think of creating a new pc franchise now that they're having all this success on the 360.
Too many broken promises? What promises? While I can agree with you on the unfortunate remarks, the too little positive action may be more of an opinion, but will I relent on that. But really, what broken promises? When did Epic make a solemn vow or promise? Yes, I'm asking for exact quotes you can find from Epic. Sorry, but some things that are called out like that have to be challenged. Frankly, I have never seen or heard the words "I promise" or "we promise" uttered by an Epic employee in regards to UT3 (aka UT2007). But then again, my memory isn't what it used to be, lol.