Unreal Tournament 2004 Goes Gold

psyco484 writes "Unreal Tournament 2004 has gone gold, the game will be in stores on March 15th. After an impressive demo, I'm certainly looking forward to this one." There are several improvements over UT2003, but my favorite is the ability to carry dual assault rifles.

Vehicles

[wed128]

The vehicles in the Onslaught mode have to be the coolest addition ever!!!

Hardware requirements?

[NaCh0]

What are the hardware requirements?

I'm thinking about buying a new system and want to make sure UT2004 will run well.

It looks really nice...

[fidget42]

But I had a problem when I tried playing it at a resolution other than 1280x1024. I couldn't read some of the text (especially when trying to join an internet game). Another problem that UT2k3 had was the size of the maps. Even with a broadband connection, transferring a 10 MB map takes a looooooong time.

Speed Hack

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully they've fixed this bug in the gold release, and also the palette issues on the Mac (can't see blue team's text).

This is great! But not for the basic game

[ScottGant]

I can't wait now for Red Orchestra 2.0 using UT2004. Hopefully this will generate more intrest in this awesome mod.

But when I play it now, there's usually only one server with people playing on it. It's ashame because this is such a great game that tries to be more realistic. Like no floaty crosshairs, get shot with a bullet and you die...not 50 bullets while you jump around like a chicken.

It still needs work, but the guys making it are listening to the people playing it. And with ut2004 and all kinds of tanks sitting around, can't wait to see what they do with the new engine.

Mac

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

With a demo already out, it looks like MacSoft will have this out for OS X almost at the same time as the PC version. Sweet.

hope they fixed the audio cpu usage

[green pizza]

I've been playing the UT2K4 demo on both Windows and Mac (yay PowerBook) and the community chatter is right -- disabling audio results in framerates jumping anywhere from 50% - 200% faster. I hope it's a bug and not just the base requirement for UT2K4 audio!

Which versions?

[Saven Marek]

This miht be a silly question, but is this a usual case of Windows version only without specifically mentioning it is?

Or are the Mac and Linux versions also gold? The article didn't specifically mention, but when that happens I usually suspect it referring to window's only

OSX desktops, hints and gaming [slashdot.org]

Naming Conventions...

[ItMustBeEsoteric]

I must admit, while I love the various flavors of UT, I dislike the naming convention. The same problem sports games have: once a year, they will seem out of date. They're basically making themselves stay on a once a year schedule: let's be real, how many gaming companies can do that (HL2, Doom 3...deadlines go to hell). And, unless there's actual changes, I would rather not buy a new version every year just to keep up with the online play (though I know you can always play the old versions). That said, I want this game. The vehicles are great, as is the gameplay and graphics in the demo.

Re:It looks really nice...

[justMichael]

Unless they changed the server behavior they throttle map downloads.

Most places are urged to provide the maps on a standard web server.

Of course I haven't managed a UT2kx server so what do I know.

Including Linux?

[JustinXB]

Will this be including the Linux version of the game, like 2003 did? Maybe they'll be nice to us this time and put a notice on the box stating Linux version included.

Unreal

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone else but me miss the original Unreal? That game had such an awesome atmosphere, with cozy cabins, the enormous sun spire and that city in the clouds.

Re:Vehicles

[GrodinTierce]

I quite agree. While UT2004 certainly isn't the first FPS with vehicles, nor does it have the huge collection of some games (e.g. BF1942 and/or DesertCombat), its vehicles [unrealtournament.com] are well-designed, well-balanced, and so much fun, it's kind of ridiculous.

everybody interested in having more games on Linux

[dmouritsendk]

..should rush out and buy this game and then send a mail to one of these people [infogrames.com], letting them know that the fact that the game ran on Linux was one of the factors that made you deside to buy the game.

Bacially, thank them for their support of your favorite platform. And let them know you are always looking for quality game titles running linux to buy.

That won't hurt the chances of future ATARI distributed games being ported to Linux.

Re:assault rifles

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually not very.
The Bushmaster Carbon 15 [bushmaster.com] weighs only 4.3 pounds. Throw in a 30 round clip, and you're probably up to 5.

They're also .223, so the recoil is much less that you'd think. Switch it to 3 round burst, and it's not only do-able, but quite comfortable I'd imagine.

The accuracy would most likley go down quite a bit, even with a restraining strap. Likley to the point where it's not worth it, unless you're in a crowded room. :) The game probably only has the accuracy go down by 20-40% though, otherwise no one would even bother using it.

Re:Linux???

[Anonymous Coward]

get thee back under thy Redmond bridge, foul Troll! Ballmer, is that you?

I dual boot Win2000 and Linux, and it plays fast on both. It plays faster with better transparency and OpenGL rendering on Linux than Doze. My Claw controller works better on Doze, however, so it is a coin toss for me.

I definitely plan to play more under Linux than Windows. I contributed to a thread on the uT2004 forums with FUD spreader n00bies like this troll, and intelligent Linux users could make good points for the uninitiated there.

I specifically PAID my money to Epic games _because_ they gave such a great Linux and Mac OS X demo. Companies who "get it" regarding Linux should be rewarded and pubblically thanked and respected. We need to broaded the community for gaming. Far too many k1dd13z believe that GNU/Linux doesn't support great games.

Thanks Epic/Atari!!

"Near-Simultaneous" Release on Mac

[TylerL82]

This move by MacSoft (although I'm sure is making them bust their asses) to bring out the Mac version ASAP is so very respectable in my opinion. I don't buy many games, but this is one where I can't wait to throw my money at its creators. Too bad MacSoft isn't taking direct preorders :(

Re:Vehicles

[AnomalyConcept]

The vehicles are well balanced and take some skill to master... I especially like the Manta, and jumping atop people. =) One of the guys in my dorm is absolutely insane at it. Unfortunately, UT isn't my type of game... it seems to ruin my Counter-Strike skills (bunny-hopping, no recoil, the entire 'aim' concept...) All in all, a fun game, and very, very addicting.

Re:Vehicles

[hype7]

and what's more, Mac and Linux versions are following right behind.

The way all games should be developed. Kudos to Epic/Atari.

-- james

voice recognition

[berkut1337]

Voice recognition is the besst feauture for me, I'm surprized it's not being mentioned more. All that you have to do is download MS speech SDK, train it and then the fun begins:

ALPHA GET OUT! the bot will exit the vehicle, or
EVERYONE DANCE!, lol

http://www.beyondunreal.com/content/articles/74_ 1. php

Re:Vehicles

[Anonymous Coward]

The beauty of the unreal engine is all 3 are developed in tangent because UT uses OGL in Linux and OGL.

Yes I know the pros of using DX as the windows based render (there are hooks in it to take advantage of DX9...but the game doesn't show it now) but with opengl having shader support, I think they should return to OGL.

Just one mans uninformed, uneducated opinion.

Does anyone remember the original Unreal Tournment

[msimm]

The dual weapons (pistols? assault rifles?) were there but it was so much more dark. It was an extreme sport setting with somewhat realistic human (future) characters. I really miss that.

Re:Does anyone remember the original Unreal Tournm

[nukem1999]

The biggest things I missed from the original were a real sniper rifle and Assault mode, both of which are back in 2k4 :D
Although they kept the "lightning gun" sniper rifle clone in the game for some maps. I guess to keep down on the campers in certain areas. It can be hard to see snipers in the foliage in certain areas (I know first hand, even with the lightning trail giving away your position, someone has to be looking to see it :D)

All in all, must of my gripes about 2k3 (which I didn't buy) are gone now, and I'm almost certainly going to buy it. I just hope they fix the lag that makes it hard to walk on an elevated platform without falling to your doom.

Re:hope they fixed the audio cpu usage

[CheshireCat]

Could it be that UT2K4 uses a separate thread for audio like UT2K3 did, and your thread library is holding you back? With good threading, this shouldn't be a problem, and has the benefit of letting the game actually *use* dual-proc systems' second proc. OTOH, if your thread library is poor (like the old linux phtreads was)...

Great Game

[(eternal_software)]

This is an excellent game. I was never a big fan of FPS but the "onslaught" mode in UT2004 has me hooked. Excellent mix of combat and strategy, the controls feel right, and the vehicles are really fun.

I still haven't played the standard "deathmatch" and "capture the flag" modes (and I am not really in a hurry to try them).

There is much more to be had here then in previous Unreal titles.

Mouse-gesture aim

[eddy]

[...] but my favorite is the ability to carry dual assault rifles.

I'm guessing this is like in every other game, you still aim them together?

I was thinking that it would be interesting to experiment with individual aim for dual-weapons. You could have 'hold RMB and move mouse to aim second gun' (would subsume looking around) and 'hold RMB and press LMB' to fire.

But it guess it would be odd to controll one weapon as "an arm" and the other like usual (that is "where you look you fire"), so then you'd have to do the same but in reverse for the "left" gun, which I'm sure few gamers would like. Maybe for an option...

Just a thought.

Re:Vehicles

[Anonymous Coward]

OpenGL makes sense if you aim to do cross-platform games. Even Blizzard still uses it, and they seem to have no intention of making Linux games (even though they do Mac games).

OpenGL is a great 3D API. No complaints here.

Re:This is great! But not for the basic game

[Jaysyn]

Bingo! Stuff like ChaosUT [gamespy.com] and Unreal4Ever [planetunreal.com] are the reasons I *love* the UT franchise. The crazier the weapons the better. My absolute favorites are the proxy mines that talk smack to you while they hunt you down & the Quantum Singularity Generator (i.e. the Black Hole Gun).

Jaysyn

Re:A deeply disappointing game IMHO

[nonmaskable]

I hate "me too" posts, but...

I tried to get used to 2k3, but it's just a pretty looking, bad playing quake clone with short people players.

I still play UT on the net. Lots of great servers & good players.

Re:Vehicles

[Sigma 7]

They took out assault, fucked with the weapons, and even yanked the sniper rifle.

A sniper rifle by any other name is still a sniper rifle - even if it shoots lightning.

The lightning gun is a simple case of overcompensation - it was extremely overpowered in the first Unreal Tournament. As proof, play CTF-FacingWorlds against Godlike bots - it is no problem to enter a killing spree with 25+ kills.

In UT2003, it's much harder to do so on the same map (although it can be debated that the central Pyrmaid cuts down on available targets.) Since the firing rate is cut down, the supporting enemies of the recently killed have a chance to return fire against the sniper using almost any weapon they choose - including superweapons.

Re:Vehicles

[YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT]

What is cooler still is that this philosophy goes all the way up the corporate tree. A while ago I wrote a letter to their support department asking about Mac ports, and I didn't get a friendly, personal letter confirming the Mac and Linux ports from some guy in the trenches, I got one from Mark Rein, Epics V.P.

A company whose big-wigs take the time to answer mail, and who understand the importance of supporting minor platforms is definitely a company I enjoy giving my money too.

"Biggest thing to ever hit multiplayer?"

[death00]

"...the biggest thing to ever hit multiplayer gaming...the granddaddy of all multiplayer competition...most exciting multiplayer title ever to grace the PC." Somehow I doubt these spurious claims. I remember playing Quake III Arena and the original UT (in fact I still enjoy playing both), and those were the biggest things ever to hit multiplayer gaming. The adrenaline rush from playing at breakneck speeds against human opponents was fantastic! Initially, I had to decide which one would get my $50, and went with UT because of the different gameplay modes. I was highly disappointed with UT2003, especially since the assault mode was dropped. I'm glad to see UT2004 has assault mode back in, but I'm still looking forward to Doom III and Half-Life 2 far more than this release. Carmack: Where's my Doom III? It's been nearly a year since I asked that last!

Why is it always idsoft and Unreal?

[Awptimus Prime]

The only two games that get much coverage on /. seem to be Quake, Doom3, and Unreal(x).

Meanwhile, BF1942 and others get little coverage -- even though other titles were the ones to pioneer 64 player servers and larger maps.

The only thing I can figure is the old school FPS game with a gun that fires the EXACT same while running at a scale speed of 38mph, jumping, etc.

I remember posting the same question about Counter-Strike getting no /. press when it had like 20x the number of online players than Q3 had, at the time, and getting modded as a troll.

Personally, being a seasoned player of FPS titles since Wolf3D, I prefer games that have some level of chance when it comes to firing a perfect shot. Getting 18 consecutive headshots in MP with a sniper rifle is just lame after a while.

I also play paintball a lot, which is fairly inconsistent when it comes to accuracy. I've also got a couple of scoped rifles I enjoy doing some target practice with sometimes. Even with the bipod extended and laying prone, I can't hit consistently within a foot at 100 yards. Mind you, I have some eyesight problems.

This just makes the running and shooting perfectly thing in Unreal and Q3 just too cartoony for it to be fun.

Linux OpenAL driver

[melikamp]

I wonder if they fixed the OpenAL driver. In Demo, I was never able to enable my mike, although the sound worked perfectly.

Re:Vehicles

[kundor]

You know, it's possible to deliver a manta to the top of the comm tower on the back of the raptor...from there it can jump anywhere on the map.

...

What? We've only had one map to play on for 2 weeks, what better things do we have to do than balance a manta on a plane?!?

Re:Vehicles

[Geccoman]

To add to your comment, I've found that the comeback is usually swift and painful for the other team. Every single time I'm able to take back those close nodes, we KILL the other team very quickly.

original UT

[luckyguesser]

...but my favorite is the ability to carry dual assault rifles.

That's one good reason why I like the original UT better than either 2k3 or 2k4. Others include the ability to boost the game speed up to... something like 200%, and older but much much less graphic-intensive graphics engine. My computer will theoretically run 2k3 and 4 just fine, but I still like the original's gameplay much better.

Re:Unreal

[DigitalHammer]

After 6 years, I still play the original Unreal. (The later Unreal games never really appealed to me :/.) In fact, there's still a sizable community playing multiplayer mods made for it, such as Infiltration and Serpentine. Check out these sites for more info about Unreal 1's veteran community--there's still much fun to be had there: www.oldunreal.com -- A site dedicated to various unofficial patches and a massive collection of U1 maps. www.riot-girl.net/forum -- A homegrown server with a neat serverside mod called "EnhancedDM". Admin'ed by one of the U1 community's few remaining female members, she's a longtime Unreal mapmaker/player known as "Salleydeth_deWicked". I highly recommend playing at this server--its got a familial, cozy atmosphere that most other servers ive played at seem to lack. http://newunreal.com/ --A site that contains various links to the older unreal 1 clans and other server op's sites. http://www.aozclan.com/pn/index.php --Home to one of the Infiltration mod's oldest clans. If you ever get a chance to fire up Unreal 1, stop by our communities servers, because sometimes you'll find goodies in the oldies. ;)

Re:Vehicles

[CaptnMArk]

I have noticed this too.

Re:everybody interested in having more games on Li

[TheCoop1984]

Do you know roughly what % of retail copies run on linux then?

Re:Vehicles

[MrLizardo]

You can get far enough up to make for a good sniping position, but no not up to the redeemer. I have seen a video where someone shot a redeemer at the side of the center tower then got in a manta, hopped it up to the side of the tower and used the redeemer like you'd use a rocket jump to get the rest of the way up. Far from practical. :)

-Mr Lizardo

Re:Vehicles

[biglig2]

Yes, there's the truck with a big gun in back with a different name to the truck with a big gun in back in Halo, the floaty thing that leaves trails with a different name to the floaty thing that leaves trails in Halo, the tank with a different name to the tank in Halo, and of course the zippy hovercraft you run people over in with a different name to the zippy hovercraft you run people over in in Halo.

Mind you, the dune buggy with a flickknife on the door is new.

(BTW I do like the Onslaught Demo myself a lot, except for the buggers at round start who drive off in the Warthog, sorry Hellblazer, without waiting for a crew)

Re:Vehicles

[RickL]

I rather liked the ripper. It wasn't terribly useful, and as you say, just as easy to kill teammates: friendly-fire friendly. I thought it was funny. I like my weapons to be funny.

What I really miss from the original UT is the secondary fire from the rocket launcher. Rather than rockets, it would launch grenades. These were really handy for firing around a corner. As much as I liked the number of rockets you could fire in the original UT, I agree that it was too powerful.

I hated the pulse guns in the original and UT2K3 (well, they are called link guns now). In UT2K4 Onslaught, they are actually useful.

Now for the superweapons. The redeemer is, as always loads of fun. Portable nukes...fun for the entire family. In UT2K3, the Ion Painter was interesting, but wasn't on enough maps for me to really play with it. I would like to see a 3rd superweapon. Perhaps not an instakill. I think a fairly quick-acting biological or chemical weapon would be interesting. Fire a canister, and watch your enemies die as their health slowly drains away. It should take something like 20-30 seconds, and then dissolve to skeletons then to vapor.

Re:Vehicles

[ShadowBlasko]

Agreed, with one exception.

*2* people take the Manta to node 3, at least. That way less of your crew has to walk. Just slam it down when you get in, and let them jump on the wings.

I've carried 4 on it, thats the most so far.

OTOH, one thing that annoys me is when people jump out of badly damaged vehicles up by the tank node, and jump in the tank, letting the manta or other vehicle coast into the bushes. As long as it is damaged, and not dead, it will *not* re-spawn back "wherever" you took it from for another player on your team. That leaves people walking, and less effective.

Then again, on the other other hand, it is an effective way to gain mobile superiority against your enemy. Hijack thier damaged vehicles, find a hiding place, and leave them there. There are some good ones.

(damn, I suddenly feel like I should not have said that)