We hear a lot of stuff about our favorite game.
This is the place to confront all complaints. If you disagree, quote the relevant parts here and reply to any form of statements. If we keep ignoring and censoring we will just provoke flamers and trolls into believing that whatever they say are inconvenient truths that can't be dealt with in any thoughtful way.
Sorry, but you want a healthy discussion and yet you just placed up there 2 options, being one "UT3 rocks" and "I suck", instead of "UT3 rocks", "UT3 is so so" and "UT3 sucks" for example. Yet, you want a good discussion with such poll? LOL
Still, I will make my point of view based on what I played, and my little experiments regarding mapping (not coding because mapping showed me all).
[*] Graphics are better than in any other popular arena shooter.
That's a matter of opinion to say it honestly. Personally I prefer much more the UT1 graphics in general over UT3. Imo UT1 graphics are clean and can look very good, yet simple and perhaps more realistic, while in UT3 I really got my eyes hurt. Also, UT99 looks and feels better than UT2004, but I won't lie: I also like a lot UT2004, but still UT1 is the one which fullfills trully my visual, gameplay and modding requirements, and like me, there are many others with this opinion, and I am not an old skooler like many that prefer UT1.
UT3 went overboard on graphics (too many details where simpler things would look much better, and also it became even less realistic). Also, I won't lie on this one: the effects are indeed much better since they are used more efectivelly visually and not much like fireworks like in UT2004 for example, and I liked a few gameplay/visual elements, as well the vehicles. But the players/bots, maps and the overall postprocessing effects make the game look like sh*t imho, they really hurt anyone's eyes. Those graphics are nice to make movies and such, but for a damn fast action fps game it just is too hurtfull. Also, personally I was expecting much more of this engine at environment physics level (which they advertised so damn much but they didn't aplly in their own game for some reason, and the ones that were there were buggy or simply didn't work at all).
Also, the gore now is really really lame imo. UT99 has a really good visual gore (it really looks good when you blow someone up there), the same doesn't happen that way in UT2004 (I mean, you can rip only a few body parts and only on certain special conditions, so where's the UT gore feel on that?), and UT3 tried to bring that up again, but the gore seems just like very old meat and ready to give to the dogs, and when they look like meat (since most of the time it doesn't look even like meat), so where's the visual enhancement on that?
[*] All the features are there and the UI works better than in any previous game. This is also where a lot of contradicting complaints start to pop up. There is a Friends list In-Game, a Favorite Servers list and a Server Browser. If you want to host a tournament, just get a server and a homepage.
About this one I will only say this: they added features breaking simple tasks as saving properlly and having more control over some basic graphic settings.
Ok, now some broken basic stuff is fixed, but still UT2004 gave many more options to tweak the graphics, while in UT3 is very damn limited and you can't tweak it properlly from a simple player's view side.
Basically on each step they made forward, they made 3 steps back, and if you consider that "better than previous games", well then I really don't understand that.
[*] All the popular gametypes are in the game. You can't play Bombing Run, Domination, Double Domination, Assault or Conquest in any other competitive game. There are mods bringing back Domination and Bombing Run being made as we speak.
Like if they had any choice? I mean, DM, CTF, VCTF, TDM and ONS are very popular, so they just basically they kept them.
But let's see what's wrong in this:
- They missed also a relative popular gametype: Assault;
- Their "DM Duel" is badly done. I have much more fun having a duel with the Chaos UT2 in UT2004, and it was a real duel, while in UT3 duel they just made the basic 1on1 match with you in one TEAM and the other in the other TEAM. I mean, teams (red/blue) exactly called like that in a simple DM DUEL? Man, I think that's really lame from the coders to make it like that, since it clearlly wasn't worked out, rather it was just "take this code from team matches, this one from normal DM, complile and... hurrah, we have duel!", then you ask "where's the proper rank system, and they answer: "wut?".
- Then personally I believe they screwed Onslaught (that is now WarFare in UT3). Although I really liked the core effects and the node effects (those metal things covering them up and they destroying them up when your were attacking them, really, really nice), as well the fact you have to build the Leviathan in certain maps rather than conquer a node to have it, the rest of the gameplay became seriouslly complex and boring relative to the original ONS from UT2004.
And while you could have a decent ONS match with some players, with WAR you have really to have as many players you can to play it, but maybe that was Epic's point in doing that way.
- The rest of the gametypes have just the same rules they had in the previous games, just with the current game HUD updated, so the "rules > gameplay" factor doesn't change, only the visuals, feel and speed of the game in general is what leads to different gameplay styles in each game of the series. And as for me UT1 beats every one, since you never got the same fullfilling feeling when making an head shot in UT2004 or UT3, it was never the same thing (so another missing gameplay key in UT3).
[*] UT3 is not consolized in any way, as if it's a bad thing by itself. We are still playing with keyboard and mouse on our custom designed PCs. There is a console and you can type commands and send text messages.
Considering the lack of settings you can apply on the game, something that only happens with low level games and some console games, I think they were thinking on making a console/PC hybrid game. They added the text messages because they simply had no choice. Where they had a choice, they just took out what was "unnecessary", like many settings that could lead to a better performance in certain systems. They just wanted you to have the max hardware possible to play the game, player hardware settings that they don't have to worry about in consoles.
[*] Godlike bots are very good sparing partners. With some practice you will be able to beat them. That will make you a very good player. Learning how to beat human opponents from all over the world is what UT3 is all about.
About that I can't say much, but a game is about fun. Personally I have much more fun defeating human players than godlike bots to get better. Also, I only get better by playing against players, because bots will never have the human factor players have, which I can take advantage at as a player as well. So beating godlike bots just improve your aim and dodging, but in games like CTF, a player with almost perfect aim and dodge can't beat 2 players from the opposite team with a good team work (and I saw this many times in CTF), something that he can with bots (since they don't have the human factor and ideas to actually come up with strategies).
[*] There are a lot of high quality custom made content, you won't even have the time to try it all. If you need to download anything before a game, most servers can provide that for you, on demand.
Perhaps, but although there's is custom content made, actually making it in this engine is painfull and way more complicated to do, and I wouln't be surprised if this sudden new content would stop for a bit once the contest ends.
Stop hurting yourself with destructive thinking, everything you need is right here. If you can't figure it out by yourself, ask around. Just get everybody to start playing.
If you think you have a valid reason for not playing, guess what, this thread is here for you...
Before I tried the game, I heard many negative stuff about the game, but I gave it a try, and guess what: I didn't like it either and I saw many flaws.
From PC FPS player point of iew, the game lacks settings, speed and gameplay factor, and visually it went way overboard for an FPS game.
From a mapper point of view, their editor simply sucks (while in the last versions of the editor you had the textures, actors, meshes divided, you have now a soup of them, and to see one type, you have to uncheck the rest of the stuff to see, then the "cooking" system and such, make your map testing even more painfull, while in the last versions of UT, if you wanted your work organized, it would just take a simple ini tweak and a new folder).
From a coding point of view: I didn't even dare to try, since if mapping which was the simpler thing to do is such a pain, then I imagine the scripting.
I quit my little experiments in the same day I started them, so for me this game really failed.
But opinions are always opinions, and I prefer UT2004 and UT1 over this game, and with my opinion are many other players and modders which tried this game correctly in the best way possible, and you can't do anything about it, althought Epic could and failed on that request.