Epic Launches UT Facebook Page

[NeoNite]

That should be on mythbusters......

 

[JohnDoe641]

UT games are boring and dead. RIP

They need to make something original that doesn't depend on chest high walls or ox armor men, and no, I'm also not talking about tower defense zombie games either. They missed the zombie boat by four years.

 

[moonflyer]

1) It's almost impossible to make a bug free game. The important thing is to release the demo early and polish as much as you can. And keep patch the game after the release. I am not judging UT3 but compare how they did for ut2k3 with an ut2k4, you know what I mean

2) As EPIC always say they are a small company, I think we need to understand when they put a lot effort in Gears and UE3 it was unlikely UT3 got as much attention as previous UT. It was a good choice for EPIC as you can see how successful both UE3 and Gears are. And these things happen! So relax guys, a great game needs great design, enough manpower, enough project time and enough budget, all things have to come together at the same time. It's really very difficult.

3) But that does not mean UT3 was OK or we can ignore the wrong things have been done.

4) UT has its PC root but that doesn't mean it can't be done right for consoles. It just means UT's original characteristic is more feasible for PC and when port to a console, UT should be entirely REDESIGNED!!! And the PC version should remains PC-oriented. Unfortunately that didn't happen in UT3 project. The console version of UT3 looks just like a simple port from the PC version. And we can imagine in order to save time and workload, they had to design the menu systems and some other features like that. They wanted one set of design for 3 different consoles. And the result was big awkward.

5) They forgot how cool UT99 was, and replaced that cool and awesome style and atmosphere with super detailed polygons and NORMAL MAPS! Yup new engine features like normal maps, post process are always welcome but don't use UT simply as an engine demo to showcase how a modern space bulky marine shooter can be. UT was supposed to be very unique, very stylish, very neat yet sexy and along with gimmick and surreal, all these piece together UNREAL. But UT3, it looks like a colorful Gears in which a player can carry more than 4 weapons and be able to jump. The most UT-ish things in this game are only the music, weapons and basic movements.

6) So is that possible to make a new UT right? Of course. Here is my idea what they can do to make it possible:
- A new art director who knows what original UT feels like or get back the original one
- The console versions need another team to focus on. Choose designers wisely for the PC team.
- Don't treat UT as an engine demo. UDK is already there. So forget about how much normal maps or displacement maps or details or realtime reflection you need to add to this game. Try as much as possible to bring back the unique atmosphere and style from the original one. Try something neat and simple so that they are easy to make but still very cool. Try more SFX than polygon details (as least don't dump meshes everywhere to make the game super detailed so that they can look like another BF3 or Crysis).
- Save time from making super detailed visual stuff and put more effort into cool and brand new gameplay elements, and design the most straightforward and user-friendly interface as you can
- Every map has its unique settings and themes. Don't bother to design stuff like "they are all located in the same planet and have consistent style". UT is not Halo, not Crysis. The arenas in UT should be set up in different planets or even different universes. Just bing us something we can't imagine and when we see it our minds will get blown away. That's the value of this title. I am sure there are plenty of cool ideas can be done and so far we don't see other shooters have tried.
- Story or no story, that's no big deal as long as the gameplay is solid and very cool and fun.
- Weapons, movements, game modes, as long as they are fun and cool, don't worry too much about the balance, as it always has problems and needs to be tuned after the game is released. We play ut for fun, plz don't try to mimic another quake (like what ut2k3,4 did)
- Don't think too much about competitive gameplay in the first place. If a game is cool and fun, it can always to be modified to a more balanced version so that those esport fans can be happy. So let's focus on fun first which itself includes basic balance already.

 

[Kyllian]

Uber Entertainment is a "small company"
I think their staff is maybe 23 people

As for the bits about 2k4 being hitscan dominated due to the floatyness. I rarely had a problem beating the crap out of people with RL/Flak and I've seen videos of pro players landing midair RL/Flak/Bio

 

[DarkSonny]

I agreed with moonflyer

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Uber Entertainment is a "small company"
I think their staff is maybe 23 people

As for the bits about 2k4 being hitscan dominated due to the floatyness. I rarely had a problem beating the crap out of people with RL/Flak and I've seen videos of pro players landing midair RL/Flak/Bio

That happened all the time, of course. But the point is that the only way to continuously be successful in the game is to know Ltg/Shock. The other skills are only randomly, if ever, useful and they won't get you to win. I've never seen someone use only RL/Flak in 2k4 and even be in the top 3.

 

[Arnox]

That happened all the time, of course. But the point is that the only way to continuously be successful in the game is to know Ltg/Shock. The other skills are only randomly, if ever, useful and they won't get you to win. I've never seen someone use only RL/Flak in 2k4 and even be in the top 3.

This. Unless you were a pro, it would get too hard to hit someone with anything as everyone's literally bouncing off the walls at over 9000 MPH. It didn't help either that some of the guns felt weak compared to their UT versions which made the whole thing frustrating all around for newcomers. Once you moved up in skill though, it would get pretty fun.

 

[JohnDoe641]

That happened all the time, of course. But the point is that the only way to continuously be successful in the game is to know Ltg/Shock. The other skills are only randomly, if ever, useful and they won't get you to win. I've never seen someone use only RL/Flak in 2k4 and even be in the top 3.

This is the one time where I may have to disagree with you, Poop. RL and flak were very effective in close range and rockets were effective at medium range. I used to use rockets and flak almost as much at shock taping and ltg at FragBU and there were times where I'd only use rox/flak for stats padding and I was usually in the top 2 or 3 in DM/TDM. Then again the skill level at FragBU wasn't as high as where I played for pugs/scrims so that does factor in but the point is that rox/flak weren't useless and were very effective in certain circumstances. Would I use them a lot in a scrim? Probably not, I'd rather take out an opponent from afar with pew pew since it's more efficient that way, but if I had rox/flak I'd feel confident that I could get a few kills with them without much trouble and I always switch to them at close range.

Actually, now that I remember some of the TDM matches I've had in ladder play in 2k3/2k4, I used rox and flak quite a bit and pdX won most of those. Plus once someone was in the air doing a dodge jump they were committed to land in a certain spot and it was easy to predict where they were landing. So just fire and watch them land on your rocket!

Then again I prefer rockets to snipers, so maybe I'm just odd.

Remember these kills I made? All rockets baby:

This one was either on Purgatory of Resurrection's TDM server.

At FragBU.

Also at FragBU.

Dumb demorec ruins rocket kills because it looks like they don't hit them or the rockets go through the player. That last gif was two hits even though it looks like it's just one and the first shot missed but it didn't. :c

 

[ambershee]

I mostly stuck to bio, rockets and flak in 2k4, because I preferred to spend my time out of line-of-sight and mostly played 1v1 or larger team games where it matters less.

Does make for protracted games though, which I think frustrated a lot of people I played against.

Also, for the record I've killed JD in UT3 before with a non-trace weapon alright, it was the redeemer.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

This is the one time where I may have to disagree with you, Poop. RL and flak were very effective in close range and rockets were effective at medium range. I used to use rockets and flak almost as much at shock taping and ltg at FragBU and there were times where I'd only use rox/flak for stats padding and I was usually in the top 2 or 3 in DM/TDM.

Well, keep in mind two things...

1) I don't think RL/Flak are completely useless, even in 2k4. But it's not a skill you try to tell someone new to the game is totally required to be good at 2k4 because I knew at least a dozen top 2k4 players "back in the day" (I'm old...) that wouldn't even USE RL/Flak ever because it took too much time to switch to/away from them.

2) If you're playing in a competitive game, you're only going to use RL/Flak randomly when you happen upon someone at close range. In general, you are going to hang on to Ltg/Shock and try to pick people off at long range as much as possible.

My point is primarily that to be considered "good" at UT2004, you only need to learn aim with Ltg/Shock. Of course other skills are useful, but those are the only ones that are going to get you at the upper end of the skill bracket in the game.

Actually, now that I remember some of the TDM matches I've had in ladder play in 2k3/2k4, I used rox and flak quite a bit and pdX won most of those. Plus once someone was in the air doing a dodge jump they were committed to land in a certain spot and it was easy to predict where they were landing. So just fire and watch them land on your rocket!

Or let them slip into your line of sight and *HEADSHOT*

Then again I prefer rockets to snipers, so maybe I'm just odd.

And I quite literally agree with this and there is nothing wrong with it, but it IS one of the things that bugs me about 2k4. At least in 2k3 with the 0 weapon switch time you could bounce someone with a rocket and headshot with the lightning.

 

[W4RP1G]

Is everyone living under a rock? There are loads of arena shooters out there, and new ones coming out.

Nexuiz came out a couple of months ago, as an example. Monday Night Combat came out on Steam last year and is getting a free-to-play sequel later this year.

Arena shooters still exist. They're just not Quake or UT anymore.

MNC is not in the same vein as an arena FPS. I'm not talking about the 3rd person perspective, I'm talking about the gameplay. It's a shooter that happens to be fought in an arena, it's not an Arena FPS. It should not be in the same category as Quake, UT, and Nexuiz. If you want to hand the name "arena shooter" over to MNC, I could not care less, but don't sell it as a substitute for Quake UT style games.

And speaking of Nexuiz, it's cool that someone has made a new Arena FPS, but 1 game with 2 game modes and less than a dozen maps isn't something I would consider to be "loads" of game coming out.

 

[ambershee]

Monday Night Combat is an arena shooter. It's not Quake or UT, it has it's own flavour, but it's exactly an arena shooter and nothing else.

Cell Factor: Pychokinetic Wars, Team Fortress 2 (FTP last year), Shootmania (upcoming), Brink, Shattered Horizon. Not all of them are typical arena FPS but they are similar - Cell Factor and Shootmania are both stereotypical arena shooters. That's a short list, but they're all commercial and recent.

 

[W4RP1G]

Monday Night Combat is an arena shooter. It's not Quake or UT, it has it's own flavour, but it's exactly an arena shooter and nothing else.

Cell Factor: Pychokinetic Wars, Team Fortress 2 (FTP last year), Shootmania (upcoming), Brink, Shattered Horizon. Not all of them are typical arena FPS but they are similar - Cell Factor and Shootmania are both stereotypical arena shooters. That's a short list, but they're all commercial and recent.

Yes, and they are all adequate substitutes for Quake and UT, just as CoD would be an adequate substitute for Counterstrike

You know what I meant right? You told me there are plenty of games coming out for a UT fan, but you were mistaken. Or are you just trying to prove a point based on a technicality? You could take what I said to a hyper-literal degree if you wish, or you can use basic reasoning to see that I wasn't talking about every FPS ever made that takes place in an arena. Whatever the case, I'm not going to bother reading your rebuttle because you've lost all credibility to me.

 

[LivingPuppet]

Well, keep in mind two things...

1) I don't think RL/Flak are completely useless, even in 2k4. But it's not a skill you try to tell someone new to the game is totally required to be good at 2k4 because I knew at least a dozen top 2k4 players "back in the day" (I'm old...) that wouldn't even USE RL/Flak ever because it took too much time to switch to/away from them.

2) If you're playing in a competitive game, you're only going to use RL/Flak randomly when you happen upon someone at close range. In general, you are going to hang on to Ltg/Shock and try to pick people off at long range as much as possible.

My point is primarily that to be considered "good" at UT2004, you only need to learn aim with Ltg/Shock. Of course other skills are useful, but those are the only ones that are going to get you at the upper end of the skill bracket in the game.

The usefulness of RL, Flak or any other non-hitscan fire in 2k4 is also relative to ping. If you're going up against some pro who's got a low or lanlike ping and yours is significantly higher then it's pretty much spam away and pray or hope you can catch them off guard in a situation. If they are using it on you, they have a better chance of hitting you directly since you have less time to dodge due to your higher ping, especially at close range or around corners.

 

[silentlykiller]

its not like there is a othere game as fun and neat skills like ut serie s
still have hope epic will make a new ut
and listen too the ut lovers some day xd

 

[shoptroll]

And speaking of Nexuiz, it's cool that someone has made a new Arena FPS, but 1 game with 2 game modes and less than a dozen maps isn't something I would consider to be "loads" of game coming out.

It's not that new. Nexuiz was originally an open-source FPS that another team is making in CryEngine 3. It's also a bit intriguing although I think the timing is really ripe for a new UT game to hit as long as it follows the suggestions Brizz outline and fully supports the new Steam Workshop features that Valve is pushing with TF2, Skyrim, Portal 2 and Gettysberg.

And I'm not sure about MNC being labeled as an Arena Shooter. Super MNC is very very much in the MOBA vein and you can't approach that game with the same set of skills / thinking you bring to a game like UT, Quake or even TF2. It's a completely different beast.

 

[rattyocaster]

In my opinion, if they want to make another UT game, start with the original and work from there, including the sleeker more attractive models rather than the dustbins we've become accustomed to in later games.
Also, the weapons, imagine The Ripper with current gen physics or a flak cannon with the old school grenades and spread. Lest we forget the UT Eightball rocket launcher, capable of filling a corridor with smoke and death. I'm sorry if these weapons annoy the "hardcore" among you, but they were sure as hell fun!

 

[DarkSonny]

... Lest we forget the UT Eightball rocket launcher, capable of filling a corridor with smoke and death. I'm sorry if these weapons annoy the "hardcore" among you, but they were sure as hell fun!

That weapon makes ut as is it, as for Rl if they got rid the ripper in currents series ut was not ut because the ripper gave a unreal feelin ( includin the spammin that were created only for fun not to make championship for pro

Let it stay as is it.

 

[LivingPuppet]

With regards to Warfare, I think it's way better than ONS was in 2k4. Plus it pretty much addressed the biggest issue ONS games had, and that is the lack of comebacks.

I never enjoyed ONS that much, but the wheeled vehicles in UT3 handle like sh*t compared to 2k4 though. Vehicles like the Hellbender and Scorp used to have more traction or grip when driven.

 

[Arnox]

The biggest problem I had with ONS was simply transportation. You just simply HAD to have a vehicle to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time since the maps were so ginormous. I'm really glad they fixed that issue in Warfare.