227f Released

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Well he just said that he always will use D3D, but he looked confused anyway, so I guess he can give OpenGL a chance...unless he will run to the skins disappear bug or something.

 

[Diehard]

Yeah he said that before, he wanted D3D.


I havnt had any time recently to check on the different renders, whats better and what not. I always used OpenGL, but with this stupid Vista i cant seem to run it very well, so i use D3D9 right now.

But yeah the for bugreports i should check all renderers as soon as possible.



Edit:

unless he will run to the skins disappear bug or something

Did you make a bugreport on that to Smirftsch ?, if not you should of course..
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[Freddie]

Hi All,

I downloaded and installed all four of the S3TC hi-end texture packs. Everything went smoothly. I tested the installation by running the first level in Unreal, and it looks great! It's working very nicely, and I expect the rest of the texture files to work just as well.

In Advanced Preferences, I set all (D3D, DX8, and DX9) options "Use S3TC" to "true." Actually, they all were already set to true by default. So, I don't know which DX is being used. I suppose I should turn off all but one of them. Since I have a DX9c graphics card, I should enable S3TC for only that one, not?

In Advanced Preferences, I set almost all of the Rendering options to true that were not already set to true by default. I did this even though I don't know what some of those options do. I've set everything to their maximum. It seems to have done no harm. I'm using the ATI Catalyst drivers for my ATI 1650 card.

I have 83 texture files in Unreal. The total hi-end S3TC download contains only 19 files. It looks as if I'll not see all the updated textures for a long time. lol

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

In Advanced Preferences, I set all (D3D, DX8, and DX9) options "Use S3TC" to "true." Actually, they all were already set to true by default.

Yeah, as i expected.

So, I don't know which DX is being used. I suppose I should turn off all but one of them. Since I have a DX9c graphics card, I should enable S3TC for only that one, not?

No theres no need for that, the S3TC setting works per renderer, leave em all at S3TC True. If you want to change the renderer, go to Drivers---> GameRenderDevice. There you can choose what renderer you wanna use.

The settings in Rendering at the bottom as said are per renderer, so if you wanna try all renderers, leave the S3TC by all of them at True and simply change from renderer in the GameRenderDevice.

I have 83 texture files in Unreal. The total hi-end S3TC download contains only 19 files. It looks as if I'll not see all the updated textures for a long time. lol

Yep, as i said not all package have been updated, but the most important packages are. And work is slow, though i am working on an update for DecayedS, and that update will be around 425 Mb. But as said, it goes slow.

But cool you like them, didnt expect anything else really
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[Freddie]

DieHard,

Thanks for all the information. It's amazing what you guys do in the Unreal world and make it available for free.

In Advanced Preferences, I took a look in Rendering Device and noted that the game set itself to DX9. I didn't have to do anything. It has a brain of its own. It's alive!

Keep up the good work and get the rest of those textures up and running. You guys are something. How do you do it? I don't know how you do it (make all that stuff available for free).

Freddie

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Settings all options to true is really bad, because some may mean something else...as even removing certain features. You should know what each setting does before turning blindly everything true.

 

[Diehard]

Keep up the good work and get the rest of those textures up and running. You guys are something. How do you do it? I don't know how you do it (make all that stuff available for free).

Well thanks,

Some day i will write a bunch of articles how to create textures, but it takes alot of patience, and frankly it costs alot of money on a yearly base. But i guess its the same thing as what Smirftsch does, its a highly advanced hobby, so its not too bad if a hobby costs a bit of money. But yeah, making those textures costs me about 1500-4000 dollars a year. (websites, and investments in equipment)

Settings all options to true is really bad, because some may mean something else...as even removing certain features. You should know what each setting does before turning blindly everything true.

Very true, but i was only referring to S3TC True, which is safe to do on all renderers. Already a few years ago, we discovered that even if you dont use the S3TC textures, it will enhance the render functions. For example, D3D(and i am talking about D3D, not D3D8 or DD3D9) can only render till 256 pixels, but with S3TC set to true, D3D can all of a sudden render up to 1024 pixels. And since you choose oné renderer, than the settings from the other renderers are ignored, you cant use them at the same time after all.


But yeah, i agree, that if you would turn on any setting in the options to True, might be a real bad thing lol. All the other settings, you need to know what your doing alright. But having all S3TC to True in the 3 renderers available wont harm.
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[Freddie]

Leo & DieHard,

OK, based on your comments, I went back to Advanced Options, and now I have only the following options set to True:

BufferClippedA...
BufferTileQuads
Coronas
DetailTextures
FullMeshRende...
GammaCorrect
HighDetailActors
MaskedTexture...
RequestHighR...
ShinySurfaces
UseAA
UseDetailAlpha
UseMultiTexture
UseS3TC
UseSSE
UseSSE2
UseTexldPool
UseTexPool
UseTrilinear
VolmetricLighti...
ZRangeHack

All other options are set to False. I didn't change any of the numeric values. I just set to True those items that sounded good, even though I don't know exactly what they do. If the options didn't sound good, I set them to False. I have no idea what the numeric values do. Knowing all that is too much to ask of a general gamer.

Any comments? Your guidance is valued.

Regarding all the work you guys do in making these enhancements, I can appreciate the time and effort involved in doing all that work. I've never done programming for pay, but I have taken some programming courses in an academic setting. I remember working half the night on the next day's assignment only to have the program crash when run for the first time. Then the debugging started. I still wake up at 3 a.m. screaming. Just kidding. I really don't do that.

I still don't know how you guys do it.

Freddie

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Well these options which you changed to true do no real harm at all, if this is the list, so you can keep it that way.

 

[Diehard]

And i dont have comment at all

Its simple, i am always way to buzy with the textures and the sites, that i hardly can find time doing anything else, so most options i can only guess what they do, let alone that i can give advise on them.


So my answer is like this:

Well these options which you changed to true do no real harm at all, if this is the list, so you can keep it that way.

What he says
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[Freddie]

Anyone,

I've encountered my first problem while playing Unreal227f. I don't understand whether this problem is a bug, a configuration setting or something else. So, here is the issue for your comments and guidance:

Basically, the in-game save function isn't working. Here is what happens. When I try to Load a game save point, I get the following error message:

Failed Launching URL
Can't Find File'...\Save\Save#.USA

The name of the Save point is listed, so that I can select it.

Then when I press Esc, I can't return to the previous screen. The game locks up on the above screen. I have to close the game and restart to continue.

I've tried several save points (after restarting the game) and I always get the same error message as indicated. I have several game save points listed in the Load Game screen.

What should I do?

Freddie

 

[Hyper]

Anyone,

I've encountered my first problem while playing Unreal227f. I don't understand whether this problem is a bug, a configuration setting or something else. So, here is the issue for your comments and guidance:

Basically, the in-game save function isn't working. Here is what happens. When I try to Load a game save point, I get the following error message:

Failed Launching URL
Can't Find File'...\Save\Save#.USA

The name of the Save point is listed, so that I can select it.

Then when I press Esc, I can't return to the previous screen. The game locks up on the above screen. I have to close the game and restart to continue.

I've tried several save points (after restarting the game) and I always get the same error message as indicated. I have several game save points listed in the Load Game screen.

What should I do?

Freddie

Are these old save games made with a pre-227 Unreal?
Does saving and loading work if you start a new game, save it and load that save game?

 

[Freddie]

Hyper,

These are saved games made post 227f install. Saving and loading does not work at any time. That is, starting a new game, saving, and then loading that saved game gives me that above indicated message.

Before installing Patch 227f, I copied my previous Unreal installation (Unreal folder) to a new folder named Unreal227. Recently, I then installed the Patch 227f to that new folder, in case 227f caused a problem with my old Unreal installation.

Some time ago (several months), my saved game points in the old Unreal folder stopped working properly. That is, when I selected a saved game of a certain date, a game saved at a different date would load instead. For example, if I saved a game of 1 May, and then tried to load it 2 May, I sometimes got a game saved the previous April. This was a problem that wouldn't go away.

Because of that problem, I deleted (using Windows Explorer) all saved game points in the Save folder. This corrected the problem of the proper saved game not loading. That is, after removing all the saved games in the Save folder, the proper saved game would load when selected. However, after removing the saved game points from the Save folder, my saved games never again appeared in the Save folder.

I don't know where the save game points were saved after removing them from the Save folder. All I know is that the games saved would always load and work properly after I removed the points from the Save folder. Note that these events took place is in the Unreal installation prior to 227f.

I mention this only because removing those save game points (in the old Unreal installation) may be the root cause of my current issue. Since I copied that old installation to the new folder (Unreal227) I also copied the former Save folder that had the problem with not loading saves properly. I don't know this for sure, however.

To test whether 227f is causing this issue, I just finished installing the original Unreal on another computer I have running WinXP. I then installed Patch 227f on that other computer running XP and tested the Save function. It worked properly. The problem is with my other installation running on Windows Vista. So, there must be something wrong with my installation on Vista. I'm thinking it may have something to do with removing all the save game points before installing 227f and before copying Unreal (with the save points deleted) to the new Unreal227 folder.

I don't know whether there is a fix for this problem. Comments?

Freddie

 

[Hyper]

Hm I don't know then. I have 227f here, I can save and load it just fine...

If you want do do some testing/troubleshooting: Get your Unreal CD and make a fresh install, then patch it to 227f. Don't use old .ini or.int files. Just install and patch it. This should work as far as I know.

 

[Freddie]

Hyper & All,

I think I fixed the problem with the Save function not working in my Vista computer. Here is how I did it:

In my other computer (with WinXP), I saved a game point and copied the save (Save0.usa) from the Save folder to a CD. I then uninstalled the Unreal installation in my Vista computer.

Before uninstalling it, I copied all the files (Maps, Textures, Sound, etc.) to another location. I did this to keep from having to reinstall about 40 custom maps and all the related files that go with those custom maps.

I then reinstalled Unreal from the Unreal CD. I then installed the Save0.usa (from the WinXP computer) that I had copied previously, and also I then copied back all the Maps, Textures, Sound, etc. files I had saved before uninstalling Unreal.

The problem in copying all those files back to Unreal is that you have to choose which files you want to copy back, because Windows will say that some of the files already exist. This issue isn't a problem with Maps, Sounds, etc., but when it comes to the System files, I had a problem in knowing which files to copy back to the new Unreal installation. I think my problem with Save was that one (or more) System files contained information that was causing the problem.

Anyway, I did the best I could and completed copying all the files back to Unreal. I then installed Patch 227f. I then launched Unreal and saved a game early on in the first Map. It worked! I could close Unreal, relaunch and load that one saved point. However, when I saved another game point, it didn't work. Only the first game point could be reloaded.

Even so, that small success (one save point working) gave me the idea that the Save0.usa I had installed earlier from the WinXP machine must be the reason that I could save and reload one save point. So, I then installed eight other saves (Save1.usa thru Save8.usa) in the Save folder. I then reinstalled Patch 227f. That Patch somehow fixes the save problem when you have the proper number of saves (Save0.use thru Save8.usa) located in the Save folder.

I now can save game points and reload them to my heart's content. Go figure. I think the original problem was cause by hundreds of saves I had made over a long period of time. Apparently, toooo many saves corrupts the system somehow. Remember, I deleted all the save points in the Save folder because I couldn't save and reload the proper save point. See my previous post for additional details in this regard.

I hate it when this happens. Sorry for the two long posts. I know that this can cause reading comprehension issues. What can you do? This was a complicated problem.

Freddie

 

[Freddie]

All,

I spoke too soon in my above comments. I posted what I thought was a solution to the save issue after the first three save points were working properly. I should have waited until I tested all the save points. That is, after testing all those Save0.USA items found in the Save folder.

Though the first three save points were working properly when I posted my comments, the following save points didn't work at all. That is, starting with the fourth save point I was back to where I was before.

I even uninstalled Unreal from Control Panel and then reinstalled it. I still had the save issue after doing that. I have no idea what is causing this problem. Also, I must have damaged my Unread CD from handling it so much during my many problem solving steps. The CD no longer works. I think I must have scratched it somehow. I've ordered a replacement from eBay. I should have it in a few days. I'll keep on working on this problem. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Freddie

 

[Freddie]

All,

I received my replacement Unreal system CD today from eBay. I manually removed everything from the Unreal System folder and from the Save folder, rebooted and then reinstalled Unreal.

Everything seems to working now. I've installed the S3TC textures and Unreal really looks good. I'm running OpenGL. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

Cool you got a new Unreal, but is it Unreal or Unreal Gold, cause Unreal is pretty rare.

But did you also fixed your save problem?
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[Freddie]

Hi Diehard,

I found several old Unreal (original) system CDs on eBay. I just went to eBay and did a search using the term "Unreal." I had my pick of used CDs, and some new CDs still sealed in original case with wrapper still intact.

I bought a new CD in original case with wrapper intact for $1 plus shipping of $3.70. That was the lowest price on eBay. Another new CD in original wrapper was about $30, if I remember correctly. The prices ranged widely, so one can take the pick of the litter.

I can confirm that I received a new CD in original case with wrapper intact. Go figure.

Yes, this time I think I have fixed the Save problem. originally, I tried reinstalling over the existing program, but that didn't correct the "save" issue. Then, I uninstalled Unreal using the Add/Remove app in Control Panel, but that move left some files in the Unreal folder. I then reinstalled over whatever was left there. I suppose one (or more) of those files contained the information that caused the "save" problem, so the reinstall didn't over write and correct the issue. After that move, my original Unreal CD went bad, or at least Windows wouldn't recognize it when I put it in the CD-ROM drive. I concluded I must have scratched it from handling it so much. So, I bought another CD.

This time before reinstalling Unreal, I manually deleted all files in the Unreal System folder. That move seems to have done the trick. I've saved game points several times successfully since then, and also I've saved over previous saves and reloaded those second saves with success. Also, now the Save folder contains entries. When the save function wasn't working, no entries were made in the Save folder.

I've also had this save problem with UT. After several years of game play and likely hundreds of saves, something goes wrong with this function. I explained this problem and exactly how it manifests itself in my previous post above. I have no idea what causes this issue. The problem still exists in my UT game. If you have any ideas of how to fix this, I'd like to hear it.

Thanks for listening,

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

Well thats cool to hear your issues are resolved.

And true, i forgot about the jewel case versions, those are around alright. Its the Retail Boxed version thats pretty rare these days.
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