New UT3 Bonus 'Titan Pack' Revealed

[Dark Pulse]

Are you saying that they're going to release another patch/bonus pack after the one that they're working on right now?

The expansion that was hyped up since last fall is basically split into two parts:

• This patch, containing the bugfixes that many feel the game sorely needs
• The "Titan Pack", which will basically contain all the new content. Presumably maps, characters, maybe a gametype or two, etc.

That's conjecture on the second part, of course; we have no real idea what is in the Titan Pack.

 

[IronMonkey]

LG][ had an issue with the skybox due to UT2003 -> UT2004 engine changes

Whilst I never saw the above explanation at the time (I am not doubting that it is so!), unrecoverable (within the budget, I assume) BSP errors were definitely cited at the time of UT2004's release as being the reason for the omission of LG][.

Of course, I can't find any reference in Google...

 

[Hedge-o-Matic]

Considering their post-mortem was a lot lamentation about how they announced features such as "Conquest" way too early I'm inclined to agree with you

I agree. I hope Epic learned a lot about the expectations game from their UT3 experience. I just can't shake the feeling that their sky-high claims during development damaged them after release. Sure, the game had it's problems, but it wasn't that bad, I didn't think. But the issues that were there were egregious enough to make me wonder about how much time they spent pursuing pipe dreams, forcing them to rush in the later stages.

That said, the new content released by Epic has always been pretty game-changing. Think of the ECE for 2k4 as the best example of this. 2k4 without the ECE vehicles just seems strange, now, and I expect something similar for UT3, though I can't think of what might do the trick for UT3, given its low popularity.

I really hope that by "new gametypes" they mean actual new ideas, not retreads of ideas that the community could have done but didn't, chose to do and which received no online support. There's not a single gametype from the older games that we need to see an "official" version of, including my very favorite, Domination.

This is a perfect opportunity for them to field-test new gameplay: a solid base game, an active (if small) community, and a genuine need to redeem a major franchise. I hope Epic takes this chance, and gives us something the world hasn't seen implemented a dozen times before.

 

[Gothik]

Whilst I never saw the above explanation at the time (I am not doubting that it is so!), unrecoverable (within the budget, I assume) BSP errors were definitely cited at the time of UT2004's release as being the reason for the omission of LG][.

Of course, I can't find any reference in Google...

And yet a community mapper fixed the problems and released the map for use with 2004. I don't know whether all the problems were actually fixed or not, but the map had no visible problems to me when I played it.

I don't know why it wasn't officially fixed and released. Maybe they just couldn't be arsed.

 

[MonsOlympus]

I really hope that by "new gametypes" they mean actual new ideas, not retreads of ideas that the community could have done but didn't, chose to do and which received no online support. There's not a single gametype from the older games that we need to see an "official" version of, including my very favorite, Domination.

Yeah have to agree here, this is one of the things I didnt like about the maps bonuspack way back when they did morbias yet there was atleast 1 other decent remake available at the time.

I really hope it contains stuff the community hasnt done also, as you say, new content and not just retreads

 

[ne_skaju]

I liked CTF-Magma more than CTF-LavaGiant][

 

[Sirius]

I liked CTF-Magma more than CTF-LavaGiant][

Word.

Magma is still one of my all time favorites.

 

[IronMonkey]

And yet a community mapper fixed the problems and released the map for use with 2004...Maybe they just couldn't be arsed.

I think the key phrase is,

within the budget

 

[FuLLBLeeD]

So what are they going to do to get new players? Is this going to be advertised on Steam, because that would help a lot.

 

[shoptroll]

So what are they going to do to get new players? Is this going to be advertised on Steam, because that would help a lot.

The BU post made the rounds on the internet yesterday. Was picked up by PU, Destructoid, Blue's, Wired Blogs, maybe others.

I would imagine they'd push out a new demo with a link to the Steam store page for the game before you quit out like they've done in previous demos.

A new retail release is certainly possible but depending on timeframe, they'd probably wait until MSUC is over and push it out as "UT3 Gold Edition" with the top mods included on a bonus disc.

 

[JaFO]

So what are they going to do to get new players? Is this going to be advertised on Steam, because that would help a lot.

I suppose the fact that the patch also adds 'achievements' for the Steam-version already could be seen as 'advertising' ...
// ---


'Titan pack' ... I wonder if it'll be just one huge maps with a few UE3 Titans in it ...

The real question :
Does 'Titanpack' = 'Expansion' ... or is it not ?

 

[Dark Pulse]

'Titan pack' ... I wonder if it'll be just one huge maps with a few UE3 Titans in it ...

My theory: It might be the name of a new vehicle. The Necris side does have less vehicles than the Axon side... thing is "Titan" would probably be a name I'd associate with the Axon side.

Still, there is one or two vehicles that the Necris side has no real compliment for.

Alternatively, it could be "Titan Pack" simply because it's a lot of content. That'd also fit well with what Steve Polge said, in that it'd have more content than any previous expansion pack Epic ever put out.

 

[urPackage]

More great news from the Epic front!

I hope they do the conquest gametype, also invasion, assault and domination.

 

[MeepZero]

Ok, so we have a generic "what" about the goings on, next up is the "when"

When is this going to hit the tubes?

 

[shoptroll]

Alternatively, it could be "Titan Pack" simply because it's a lot of content. That'd also fit well with what Steve Polge said, in that it'd have more content than any previous expansion pack Epic ever put out.

I'd say this is most likely the case. In general, Epic names their Bonus Packs. UT had the "DE" and "Inoxx" packs which were themed around the developers for those packs. UT2003 had a "DE" pack. UT2004 had the "Mega" pack. GoW2 has the "Flashback" and "Combustible" packs. GoW had the "Hidden Fronts" pack. Granted we still get stale names like "Bonus Pack 1" on occassion, but it seems like that's more the exception to the rule.

When is this going to hit the tubes?

Two weeks.



... In all seriousness, I expect patch by the end of February. Bonus Pack maybe in March?

 

[Plumb_Drumb]

I'd say this is most likely the case. In general, Epic names their Bonus Packs. UT had the "DE" and "Inoxx" packs which were themed around the developers for those packs. UT2003 had a "DE" pack. UT2004 had the "Mega" pack. GoW2 has the "Flashback" and "Combustible" packs. GoW had the "Hidden Fronts" pack. Granted we still get stale names like "Bonus Pack 1" on occassion, but it seems like that's more the exception to the rule.



Two weeks.



... In all seriousness, I expect patch by the end of February. Bonus Pack maybe in March?

The rule is you name it what you want to name it.
________
VAPORIZER REVIEW

 

[StreetPreacher]

@MeepZero: At this point, I'd settle for when information on pack contents will hit the tubes.

@hal: Don't take my earlier comments too seriously. I wasn't saying you're doing a disservice by posting it, just ranting about the trend (on all gaming sites really) to post news stories saying "This just in! News coming ... sometime." :-/

By all means, you should post anything that you think would interest the masses.

Re: LavaGiant for 2K4 - For those interested, I've got a map called CTF-LavaGiant-Classic-v3 by SpoonDog, and it seems to be a very faithful reproduction. You can get it here.

 

[shoptroll]

Re: LavaGiant for 2K4 - For those interested, I've got a map called CTF-LavaGiant-Classic-v3 by SpoonDog, and it seems to be a very faithful reproduction. You can get it here.

Yup. That was a really good conversion

 

[IronMonkey]

LavaGiant BSP issues:

A few eagle-eyed fans spotted this in one of the UT2004 retail screenshots, however it's now been confirmed by Epic designer 'Hanzz' in this Atari forums thread -- UT2004 shipped without Digital Extremes Bonus Pack map CTF-DE-LavaGiant2 due to BSP issues (damn you, UnrealEd Goblin!!).

No, we didn't forget to include Lavagiant2. Lavagiant2 had a myriad of bsp problems/errors that killed players when they happened upon them. Some of which were right in the player footpaths. It was deliberate.​

Hal's reason for the omission is not inconsistent with the above - both can be true.

 

[KillerSkaarj]

Please Epic, please please please PLEASE PLEASE INCLUDE THE SKAARJ IN THIS PACK. I feel sad and empty inside playing as the Krall. I also want to see what the Skaarj will look like in this game. Everyone remember what the old Krall looked like? Now look at them. Imagine what Epic could do with the Skaarj. I hope they look like the ones from UT2004 and before and not the ones from UC2. Those Skaarj don't even look like Skaarj! But that's another story.

More great news from the Epic front!

I hope they do the conquest gametype, also invasion, assault and domination.

No, Epic should not add Domination. Why? Well, because someone already did! I believe it was one of the "Best Gametype" winners, or at least one of the Runner-Ups. As for Invasion and Assault, YES PLEASE. I hope Epic remodels the Invasion creatures instead of porting the old models and sounds directly from Unreal 1.

You know what? This is a little off topic, but if Epic DID bring back Assault from the start, then the Campaign mode would've actually felt like a real Campaign mode. Maybe 3 or 4 DM games thrown in as well, y'know, to symbolize small skirmishes. Imagine an Assault map that's based on invading an Izanagi base, but instead of you doing the invading, you're defending it from the Necris. Instead of making up stupid things like "FLaGs" and with capturing them to keep the enemy with "Respawning", it would've been you and your team raiding a base, disabling shields, blowing doors up, destroying generators, that kind of thing. Would've been infinitely better. Of course, I haven't played Campaign myself, but seeing as how it's just TDM, CTF and Warfare maps all in a line, I don't really have any desire to play it.