Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo to be released today! (1 Viewer)

[Jay W]

Graeme: it's probably just the master server going down - been happening a bit today since the release.
I think it's a lot of fun, the engine has certainly been souped up - the outdoor environments are very pretty and the code seems fairly mature (you would think so after all those 'leaks'). I was a long time Quake1/QW player and I never really got into Q2/3 as much because I disliked the physics model and the pace of the game. UT was good silly fun to play, without the preciseness of QW and this just takes that one step further - crazy, fast DM fragging. I like the Bombing Run game, I think it will become quite popular. Runs quite well on my aging rig as well (85/32 on the benchmark.exe in /System @ 1024 and everything maxed on a P3 1Ghz @ 1.2 / GF3 / 512 PC133 / SB Live! (no HW sound)).
Try stat fps in the console if you want to check your framerate in-game. UT2003.ini has a bunch of stuff you can play around with to tweak performance, the main thing being the ability to change the renderer from D3D to OGL - which may help in some cases if you're having problems. Additionally, look for maximum desired framerate, which is set to 60 - note with nvidia cards you may still be stuck at 60 in WinXP, use this if you want to remove that bottleneck). You can also play around with the cache settings, I up'd mine to 64 from 32 with some improvement.
Hope to play it a bit more in the coming weeks

 

[JohnE]

Well, after a couple of hours against bots, since I can't seem to get online, I'm really liking it. Yes it's faster than the UT, but since I always played a bit of UT and a bit of Q3, it dosen't feel so off to me. Graphics are damn nice, the bombrun gameplay is fun, overall I can't wait for the full game.

I'm a bit odd though, in that I still prefer pure deathmatch to team-based or objective based games. I can see where some people that have been playing team-based games the last year or so might be put off by the fast paced deathmatch. Personally I'm loving it.

 

[Graeme Clark]

You can find servers with Gamespy already. The in game browser still seems to be not working.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I really like this game. Graphics look great, runs very smooth and to think that it looks this good without the high res textures that will come with the full version. There are plenty of subtle effects that add to the 'realism' of the UT world and the weapons all seem to be pretty balanced. I really like the futuristic twist on the sniper rifle. Very cool!

I was disappointed that Assault got dropped but I think Bombing Run is going to be a very popular game. It looks very similar to Deathrow which is coming out on the Xbox. I've only played single player with bots. Haven't been online yet. This will be a must buy when it is released.

Does anyone know what the adreniline pills do? I haven't figured that out yet.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

Wouldn't you know it, my cable modem was down from 5:00PM last night until about an hour ago. I've played a bit against the bots and it plays well, but not much different than UT or Q3.

 

[Shawn C]

Awesome! Just downloaded it from a Euro site and got it in about 15 mins. Awesome. I like it alot.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Does anyone know what the adreniline pills do?

Basically the adrenaline pills allow you to pull off fighting game-style "special moves" by tapping keys in a certain order. Very cheesy if you ask me but it seems to me that's what they were going for anyway (what with the awful announcer and the double-jumps and the rather garish colors and all).

Anyway, here's what I've found so far:
SPEED: Forward, forward, forward, forward
REGENERATION: Back, back, back, back
BERSERK: Forward, forward, back, back
INVISIBLE: Strafe left, strafe left, strafe right, strafe right

There may be more, I'm not sure.

Incidentally, Epic says they'll be releasing a patch pretty soon to correct some issues with Voodoo 3 and 5 cards.

 

[Sean Moon]

Just reinstalled the original UT on my computer after my upgrade 6 months ago. Used to have Athlon 750, 32MB GeForce 2, 128 megs of RAM. Just added 256 more MB of RAM and a GeForce 3 Ti about 6 months ago so I could run Medal of Honor. UT 2003 has MAJOR issues at 640x480 on my setup, but the original UT I can run at MAX resolution with all effects turned on and get a consistent 60+ FPS.

And the game just feels more polished. Something about 2003 that just feels amateurish.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Got it from an Ausssie server in 5 minutes....played it for a good 2 hours. Honestly, it does seem like a well done Q3....sorry but I think I'll pass this one up...maybe when people start dumping it for say...$20?

 

[MikeAlletto]

My download was done saturday morning and I've played it some over the last 2 days...I've got to say I'm not impressed at all.

 

[JohnE]

I have to say I'm quite amazed at how negative this demo has been received. Not just here but pretty much all the forums I read the majority of the opinion's seem to be either outright dislike or indifference.
I like myself and look forward to the full game.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

I think that this is the danger of releasing a demo. This is not the full game and doesn't include hi-res textures. These maps are ok, but nothing groundbreaking. It feels like an upgrade not a new game.

 

[NickSo]

I got the.. ahem.. "beta" release of the demo awhile ago. Fun at first, but not much depth to it, after playing CS and the like, dethmatch shoot-em-ups arent that fun anymore.

I agree it looks great, wtih awesome textures and such, but its just the same old, same old

 

[Sean Moon]

NO...it doesnt seem like an upgrade. It seems like a step back. The DM in this doesnt have the polish or fun of the orignal UT. This one feels like they were trying to make a console game for the PC(that sounds weird I know, but it seems like they were trying to be "cool" and "hip" on this one.)
Nothing wrong with console gaming. i usually do more console gaming than anything, but this feels like an amateurish console first generation game, not something from the folks who gave us the original UT.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Unless I'm mistaken, Unreal Championship for the X-Box was first and then they decided to do UT2K3 from that. That would explain the console-ish feel somewhat. But I agree the demo is not exactly heart-soaring. The fact that the demo doesn't work with All-Seeing Eye doesn't bolster my confidence either (although Epic says this will be fixed).

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

Frankly, I don't see where all the extra power is going with UT2003. I mean, the system requirements are far higher... but why? It doesn't really LOOK that much better than UT to me.
Of course, I'm building an Athlon 2200+ with Geforce 4 next week, so maybe my opinion will change.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Regarding UT2K3's graphics, the demo is running with half-resolution textures to decrease the download size, so judgements about the engine's prowess are probably a bit premature. The full version will have (optional) 2x quality textures, which might explain why it will take up an obscene three gigabytes of your HD.

Regarding the announcer voice, CliffyB posted this on the official forums:

We're well aware of the fact that some of you guys dislike the sports announcer.

As a result of this feedback, there will be 3 options in the final game:

-No announcer voices
-Only "reward" voices (i.e. headshot, double kill, etc...)
-Full announcer (headshot, flag taken, etc...)

In the meantime, in your USER.INI file you can change:

bPlayAnnouncer=True

to

bPlayAnnouncer=False

To disable the voice.

All announcer threads from here on out will be closed.

Thanks!

Cliff

Phew........

 

[Camp]

I don't like the voices at all. I guess I've outgrown "YOU SUCK BITCH!!" Couldn't they come up with creative ways to dis me?

The maps in the demo aren't at the quality level I expected. They certainly look good but they're obviously designed to limit your view. In the original it was possible to have a rocket fight from several hundred feet away...the demo maps don't display that at all. The more they limit the field of view the faster the game 'seems'. That feels like designers designing around the limitation of the engine to me. One good thing: I see no way a camper can excel in this game. Snipers beware.

Take away the limited field of view and the game is slower than the original. The outdoor map is a good example. There are areas where your view is less limited and the game just feels bloated (& no, it's not my PC -I'm talking about the gameplay).

Character animation certainly hasn't been raised to the next generation. It's embarrassingly average.

I like the comparison to Quake III. Strategy has been removed for a more arcade-like feel. That's a bummer too because Quake is a better Quake than Unreal ever was. Unreal was cool because there was still an element of strategy. I hope the final game has a little heritage in it.

BTW, What's the largest number of players you have seen on a single server?

 

[Sean Moon]

Not all console shooters feel like console games though. Halo, GoldenEye, Timesplitters are good examples. It is just that UT2003 feels slightly amateurish. I hope the final version is GREATLY improved, otherwise I am not impressed.

 

[Camp]

Unless I'm mistaken, Unreal Championship for the X-Box was first and then they decided to do UT2K3 from that.

I don't think that's right. My memory may be off but here's how I remember it:
Before I ever heard about an Xbox version they were supposedly developing Unreal2 for PC which, at the time, was going to incorporate Unreal's story and the online play of Unreal Tourny.
Now, this version does have visual elements seen in screens of the Xbox version so I'm sure there was some influence in both directions...however, I think this was planned prior to the forthcoming Xbox title.