Major UT3 Update Details

[Grobut]

hehe, the Danish Bastard makes an appearance at BUF. I wonder what brought that on?

Wha? i've been here for a long time


Regardless, thease fixes are a good start, and its nice to see something happening again, but there's still some unfortunate hangups left it would seem (lest they are covered by the rather uninformative term "UI improvements", but i doubt it), especially on the Instant Action front, i hope the next one will focus more on adding back options.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Tell this to guys over here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-98856_25_0.html

Aren't Tom's Hardware patrons mostly Windows users? In other words, why would they like something that comes from Unix?

And yeap, having a partition just for the system is a good way to go. Reformatting is always healthy, and when all you want is to reinstall your system, this set up is very good, as you don't lose your own files nor preferences.

I used to do this, but I never used to reinstall Windows because no matter how you lay it out, it's still a huge pain. Actually, Steam has made this much nicer (as you can just link back in your steamapps folder) but for most things you end up reinstalling them anyway to fix registry problems and such. Now I just have one large partition and that works just fine.

And I was right, UT3 really doesn't require a single byte written to C:, you can as well put all the demo files on a DVD (if they fit) or some USB key, and it will run perfectly off the disk. It automatically creates "My Games" folder for you.

The game doesn't need to install anything to the C drive, the only things it puts there are the PhysX platform drivers (which are a DRIVER and belong on the Windows drive) and the DirectX and MSVC++ 2005 runtime files (which are SYSTEM files and should be on your Windows drive). Well, it also puts your config files there, but that's only a few kb.

 

[MonsOlympus]

Itd also really help with Character models being popular again. I mean. there were hundreds of models released every year for previous versions of UT ... with UT3 there would be about 8 if not for the MSUC and even with that there are only 30 UT3 models listed on skincity. THATS PATHETIC considering again that UT3 is supposed to be mod friendly and what UT and 2k4 had with Models and voicepacks.

I dont think this is soley because of UT3 though it goes to the heart of the tools/pipelines and graphics. The detail required for a model for UT3 is 30x the time of UT2k4 so those 8 are worth 30 a piece in my eyes.

I wont disagree though, I just wouldnt weigh it up in the same manner especially as I have worked on character models in the past and in the present I know full well the difference in the amount of hours I spend. Even if the tools have improved they havent improved that much, theres more reliance on artistic talent for modelers, especially character modelers, in gaming then there ever has been in the past.

Also, what happened to polycount? That place used to be the ****!

Edit:
Also Id like to see pushing of character models from the server also, Ive said for the longest time force models should be a server side option. Force defaults shouldnt be locked like that

 

[BooGiTyBoY]

Let me guess, you thought UT2004 was the best in the series. D:

I thought UT was the best in the series and this version pales in comparison even though they were trying for the "feel" of it and failed miserably. At least it had everything this patch is supposedly "fixing" upon it's initial release and wasnt dummied down for console-humpers.

At least UT and UT2004 stayed on my HD and was played by me for longer than a year each. UT3 lasted oh... 2 months tops. Only thing that kept me playing and actually reinstalled it a while ago for a week was the HOLP map pack.


Not being pessimistic, just stating my opinion and you're all welcome to disagree with it. This is just too late in my opinion. They should have patched these fixes a few months or so after the games release, not TWO YEARS later after they were finished with their console priorities.
Game was released in 2007... it's 2009 Epic.

 

[Kantham]

HOLP.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

I thought UT was the best in the series and this version pales in comparison even though they were trying for the "feel" of it and failed miserably. At least it had everything this patch is supposedly "fixing" upon it's initial release and wasnt dummied down for console-humpers.

At least UT and UT2004 stayed on my HD and was played by me for longer than a year each. UT3 lasted oh... 2 months tops. Only thing that kept me playing and actually reinstalled it a while ago for a week was the HOLP map pack.


Not being pessimistic, just stating my opinion and you're all welcome to disagree with it. This is just too late in my opinion. They should have patched these fixes a few months or so after the games release, not TWO YEARS later after they were finished with their console priorities.
Game was released in 2007... it's 2009 Epic.

Registering my dissent

UT3 has the closest gameplay you are ever going to get in a UT sequel to UT without actually being UT. I mean, if you want exactly UT gameplay, then play UT.

 

[Wail of Suicide]

• "Weapon pickups now disappear for the player who picked it up, until it can be picked up again (now works like weapon lockers)."

This seems to counter weapon throw from being any kind of exploit. Simple, but pretty ingenious.

I agree.

The negative sides:

-"Weapon Stay" as a concept does not make any sense under this paradigm. In fact, assuming they want to present this idea as the replacement for "Weapon Stay" behavior, it's more logical to remove "Weapon Stay" entirely from the lexicon and make an option for "Weapon Go/Leave/Gone/Whatever" [the expected behavior in competitive 1v1/TDM]. Classifying this behavior under Weapon Stay is completely nonintuitive from a player perspective (since, essentially, its entire purpose is to create an illusion that hides what's really going on from the player).

-On most situations in most maps, I [as an occasional mapper] don't care if people can replenish up to base ammo for their weapons. In fact, I consider this desired behavior, since otherwise they're forced to hang around the weapon pickup waiting for ammo/weapon respawns. With weapon stay you can toss a near-empty weapon, pick up a fresh copy and move on. Only in very rare circumstances [the Avril in the Avril nest in Suspense] is this behavior really degenerate. And even then, it's totally controllable by not placing weapons in their ideal positions of use.

In short, I like this as an option, but only as. I really hope this is not another case of Epic deciding that some kind of quasi-competitive understanding of game balance should override how people have been playing UT games [for fun] for the past 10 years.

 

[heyqule]

Tell this to guys over here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-98856_25_0.html

There is a phyx dll in UT3's binary folder...

 

[MonsOlympus]

Yeah theres a few physics layers there!

 

[Sir_Brizz]

There is a phyx dll in UT3's binary folder...

Ironically, the game does not start with that one missing. People are so thick, all the physics in UT3 is on the PhysX platform, including things as simple as ragdoll.

 

[MonsOlympus]

What about the darkwalker leg anims?

Edit:

-On most situations in most maps, I [as an occasional mapper] don't care if people can replenish up to base ammo for their weapons. In fact, I consider this desired behavior, since otherwise they're forced to hang around the weapon pickup waiting for ammo/weapon respawns. With weapon stay you can toss a near-empty weapon, pick up a fresh copy and move on. Only in very rare circumstances [the Avril in the Avril nest in Suspense] is this behavior really degenerate. And even then, it's totally controllable by not placing weapons in their ideal positions of use.

You are talking about ammo chargers not weapon pickups right?

 

[Sir_Brizz]

FYI guys, Epic is calling this patch v2.0, not v1.4.

 

[Bishop F Gantry]

So will we get any classic weapons in the patch, something like that would indicate to me Epic heading in the right direction.

Dispersion pistol +uppgrades, AutoMag, Ripper, Assault rifle, CAR, Lightning. 1 Weapon from each Unreal title would be a nice idea like from Unreal, Unreal2, UT, UT2k3, Ut2k4.

 

[Raynor.Z]

FYI guys, Epic is calling this patch v2.0, not v1.4.

Interesting to know. This patch will bring some major changes and just calling it 1.4 won't emphasize its importance.

 

[rAt.8^].bAg]

I thought UT was the best in the series and this version pales in comparison even though they were trying for the "feel" of it and failed miserably. At least it had everything this patch is supposedly "fixing" upon it's initial release and wasnt dummied down for console-humpers.

At least UT and UT2004 stayed on my HD and was played by me for longer than a year each. UT3 lasted oh... 2 months tops. Only thing that kept me playing and actually reinstalled it a while ago for a week was the HOLP map pack.


Not being pessimistic, just stating my opinion and you're all welcome to disagree with it. This is just too late in my opinion. They should have patched these fixes a few months or so after the games release, not TWO YEARS later after they were finished with their console priorities.
Game was released in 2007... it's 2009 Epic.

You're not allowed to say anything like that around here, lest you be considered suxx0rz aNd labeled a "whiner". Watch out for the bandwagons rolling by...

 

[shoptroll]

So will we get any classic weapons in the patch, something like that would indicate to me Epic heading in the right direction.

Dispersion pistol +uppgrades, AutoMag, Ripper, Assault rifle, CAR, Lightning. 1 Weapon from each Unreal title would be a nice idea like from Unreal, Unreal2, UT, UT2k3, Ut2k4.

What would the benefit of doing that be? Also, that seems more like something for a bonus pack anyways.

 

[dirtyharry]

OK, now that we have a name (2.0), any chance we can get a tentative release timetable ?

 

[evilmrfrank]

Not being pessimistic, just stating my opinion and you're all welcome to disagree with it. This is just too late in my opinion. They should have patched these fixes a few months or so after the games release, not TWO YEARS later after they were finished with their console priorities.
Game was released in 2007... it's 2009 Epic.

There is a lot more work than 2 months worth put into that patch, especially considering thats coming along with a giant expansion. And it hasn't taken them 2 years to make this patch, its been what 4-6 months since the last patch was released?

 

[shoptroll]

OK, now that we have a name (2.0), any chance we can get a tentative release timetable ?

My guess is that it rhymes with "who creaks"?

 

[dirtyharry]

thanks troll, would be nice....