I was also disappointed with the Warfare results - blah, just a small revision of that freaking annoying Onslaught gametype.
Why the low UT3 adoption?
- Thread starter TehLlama
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Well, the point there is that it just got very little exposure anywhere. But on the PC it already had a boatload of people who wanted it and would buy it. On consoles they had to try to sell people on it, which they didn't. Where would you get that number from anyway? I'm pretty sure the PC version is the best seller, but I'm just guessing.
One essential problem of their marketing strategy was just talking about the game too early about features that were not locked in. You can see with Gears 2 and Shadow Complex that they didn't spill their guts until the last possible second with those. I'm sure we can easily say that they have learned their lesson there. But that doesn't change the fact that the game was just an utter failure at launch. You can't revive a game from a bad launch.
The thing is, by the time the demo is coming out, they are already planning a gold date with their publisher. They can't just back off of it.
This has happened with EVERY UT demo. UT demo came out October 1999 (or maybe late September) and there was tons of feedback. Virtually nothing changed to retail. UT2003 demo came out in September 2002 and there was tone of feedback. Virtually nothing changed to retail. UT2004 demo came out in mid February 2004 and there was tons of feedback. Virtually nothing changed to retail (as I recall, the only noticeable things that changed here were some sound effects).
So, I guess I'm not sure why people were expecting there to be an enormous amount of feedback taken and applied by the time the game came out this time. They don't have a history of doing that.
Two or three things in vehicle balance were changed. I can remember that the Manta got nerfed (timer added to jumping ablility). Cannot remember the other changes, but they were there.
And another problem is that the demo, unlike the ones in UT2004, was never updated. So people who still consider buying the game tries the demo and sees the original horrible build of it.
*pirate voice* Don't mind the rats, heh heh heh!
Please do cite the source that said PS3 version outsell the PC version 10 to 1.
Okay, 10 to 1 was a bit of an exaggeration (probably thinking of another game), probably more like 4 to 1 or 3 to 1. I found this but it's old and I know they stopped releasing numbers at some point.
Yeah, they never updated the demo. Bad call. Especially if you have such a problem with piracy like Epic does. The UT3 beta demo didn't do them any favours. Did they ever promise an updated demo at some point?
Yeah, they never updated the demo. Bad call. Especially if you have such a problem with piracy like Epic does. The UT3 beta demo didn't do them any favours. Did they ever promise an updated demo at some point?
The flaw with comparing something like the UT demo to the UT3 demo is that UT was a much more polished game, and the demo shows it. The problems that UT had in that demo were non-existent compared to what we saw in the UT3 demo. Hell I remember people playing that UT demo like it was a full game.
I was very stoked after playing the original UT demo, as were many people. After playing the UT3 demo I had a sick feeling in my stomach.
I was very stoked after playing the original UT demo, as were many people. After playing the UT3 demo I had a sick feeling in my stomach.
It was rushed to meet a deadline, which is strange considering it had probably been in development at least two years. It was painfully obvious from playing the demo that it was not ready for release. When word hit that there were almost no changes from the beta to the retail release, that was game over. UT3 was never going to recover.
Dark Pulse
Dolla, Dolla. Holla, Holla.
This is, of course, despite the fact that a beta of the first patch was out a mere week after the game came out, and that the final version hit a month after the game did.
Too slow for some people, I guess. Not to mention TF2 and COD4 being out at the same time.
Of course, that was prior to some releases
They never released real sales numbers other than saying it sold something like 1.3 million across all three platforms.
Isn't the argument that the game was rushed to meet a deadline a bit thin considering that it was delayed by six months for extra 'Polish'?
There were next to no complaints about that delay and I would have thought that a futher 3-6 month wait while causing a few moans and groans would have been a far better choice than the attempt at a Christmas money grab.
There were next to no complaints about that delay and I would have thought that a futher 3-6 month wait while causing a few moans and groans would have been a far better choice than the attempt at a Christmas money grab.
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Here's what I send to people as a private message on the Epic forums whenever someone asks a similar question about UT3:
Here's what you should know if you're new to Unreal Tournament. The original Unreal Tournament game (UT99 or UT-GOTY--game of the year edition) was fantastic and had a huge and very dedicated, fanatical fan base. Over ten thousand custom maps and mods were released for it.
Epic then released UT 2003 which proved to be a failure but fixed it up and improved it some and released a new version as UT 2004, which has proven to be a decent game though the movement and overall game play pales in comparison to the Original UT99. UT 2004's saving grace was its Onslaught (Warfare) game and Invasion-RPG games.
Sadly, Epic became infected with the consolitus virus and consolized UT3. The basic UT3 game play is decent, but everything that surrounds it is just god-awful.
The game was consolized, having a horrific user interface and server browser. Going from UT99 or UT 2004 to UT3 is like going from a Lexus to a Kia. Who wants to do that? The UT3 game play is pretty decent and UT99 clanners liked the gameplay of the Demo and were somewhat excited about it--it's just everything else that surrounds it--the (at release, the barely functional and pathetically featureless) server browser, the (consolized, clunky and slow) user interface, the lack of customization options, the awful map vote menu, the game's clumsy handling of custom content auto-downloading, etc., that's messed up and ended up killing the game.
UT3 was released as a stillborn. If you're brand new to the UT series, I suggest you buy UT 2004. Lots of folks still play that. To get a sense of what got the series going in the first place, I suggest getting the Original Unreal Tournament (UT99 or UT-GOTY). UT99 had the best game play of all three versions.
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Here's what happened with UT3... Basically, the PC version of the game ended up feeling consolized and the game was released as a buggy beta when it needed much more polishing.
When the beta demo was released last year in October a number of hardcore UT99 fans who'd rejected the UT 2004 floaty-dodgy hitscan style liked the UT3 game play and were enthusiastic about it. However, when they found out that the retail release of UT3 = buggy beta demo they lost interest.
When UT3 was released the server browser barely worked and you couldn't even add Favorites! Basically, the game had been consolized--the user interface was clunky and slow and you have to wait to load the main menu. (Why the **** should anyone have to wait to load the main menu? It should pop up instantaneously when summoned.)
The list of what's wrong with UT3 is very long, but to sum it up--the game was consolized. The user interface was horrific and the server browser was featureless and non-fuctional and the game offered few customization options. Going from UT 2004 or UT99 to UT3 is like going from a loaded Lexus to a stripped down Kia. Also, the way content is organized in the folders is an abomination.
The UT3 game play itself isn't too bad and the player movement feels very good, which is why it's such a shame that the consolization of everything that surrounds the game play resulted in the game's being a stillborn. For people who want to play UT I recommend playing UT99 CTF pug matches, which are still going strong or just playing UT 2004 Onslaught. I guess UT3 Warfare might be viable and I can always seem to find at least one populated server online and of course they'll always be a few populated servers for DM, but overall I have more fun playing UT 2004's Onslaught game.
Hopefully Epic will take the avalanche of criticism it received for UT3 to heart and release a real, bona fide UT99-2 designed for the PC and made to feel like a polished PC game. It would be great if UT3 could get the UT 2003 ----> UT 2004 treatment.
Epic then released UT 2003 which proved to be a failure but fixed it up and improved it some and released a new version as UT 2004, which has proven to be a decent game though the movement and overall game play pales in comparison to the Original UT99. UT 2004's saving grace was its Onslaught (Warfare) game and Invasion-RPG games.
Sadly, Epic became infected with the consolitus virus and consolized UT3. The basic UT3 game play is decent, but everything that surrounds it is just god-awful.
The game was consolized, having a horrific user interface and server browser. Going from UT99 or UT 2004 to UT3 is like going from a Lexus to a Kia. Who wants to do that? The UT3 game play is pretty decent and UT99 clanners liked the gameplay of the Demo and were somewhat excited about it--it's just everything else that surrounds it--the (at release, the barely functional and pathetically featureless) server browser, the (consolized, clunky and slow) user interface, the lack of customization options, the awful map vote menu, the game's clumsy handling of custom content auto-downloading, etc., that's messed up and ended up killing the game.
UT3 was released as a stillborn. If you're brand new to the UT series, I suggest you buy UT 2004. Lots of folks still play that. To get a sense of what got the series going in the first place, I suggest getting the Original Unreal Tournament (UT99 or UT-GOTY). UT99 had the best game play of all three versions.
------------------
Here's what happened with UT3... Basically, the PC version of the game ended up feeling consolized and the game was released as a buggy beta when it needed much more polishing.
When the beta demo was released last year in October a number of hardcore UT99 fans who'd rejected the UT 2004 floaty-dodgy hitscan style liked the UT3 game play and were enthusiastic about it. However, when they found out that the retail release of UT3 = buggy beta demo they lost interest.
When UT3 was released the server browser barely worked and you couldn't even add Favorites! Basically, the game had been consolized--the user interface was clunky and slow and you have to wait to load the main menu. (Why the **** should anyone have to wait to load the main menu? It should pop up instantaneously when summoned.)
The list of what's wrong with UT3 is very long, but to sum it up--the game was consolized. The user interface was horrific and the server browser was featureless and non-fuctional and the game offered few customization options. Going from UT 2004 or UT99 to UT3 is like going from a loaded Lexus to a stripped down Kia. Also, the way content is organized in the folders is an abomination.
The UT3 game play itself isn't too bad and the player movement feels very good, which is why it's such a shame that the consolization of everything that surrounds the game play resulted in the game's being a stillborn. For people who want to play UT I recommend playing UT99 CTF pug matches, which are still going strong or just playing UT 2004 Onslaught. I guess UT3 Warfare might be viable and I can always seem to find at least one populated server online and of course they'll always be a few populated servers for DM, but overall I have more fun playing UT 2004's Onslaught game.
Hopefully Epic will take the avalanche of criticism it received for UT3 to heart and release a real, bona fide UT99-2 designed for the PC and made to feel like a polished PC game. It would be great if UT3 could get the UT 2003 ----> UT 2004 treatment.
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Frankly, the game was "targeted" at a spring 2006 release along with Gears of War. I don't think it's being thin to say that it wasn't done when they released it, though.
Don't post much anymore (though I still play). I think its not that anything in UT3 is really as bad as people say, its just that in one respect or another (according to preference) we've all experienced some things done better in the earlier games. In other words, we are completely jaded.
Also, this style of game appears to be the hula hoop going out of style at the moment.
Also, this style of game appears to be the hula hoop going out of style at the moment.