Time to play UT3 again...Soon™

[Creole Ned]

Epic has revealed the details of the fourth patch for Unreal Tournament 3 and this time they are making substantial changes to some of the less-liked parts of the game, including its frankly awful UI and server browser.

BeyondUnreal has the full patch notes (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12466) and also has a follow-up post about an upcoming "Titan Pack" (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12467) that is promised to be bigger than any previous bonus pack Epic has released. No details on the pack yet but from the statement made by Steve Polge (UT3's lead designer) it sounds like it will at the very least include one or more new gametypes (and presumably maps for them).

Could all of this salvage the relative fiasco that was UT3? I say maybe!

A few snippets from the patch notes:

UI:
• Major visual and menu flow overhaul for improved useability.
• Made the instant-action and host-game menus keep their settings.
• Scoreboard double click functionality for kicking, messages to specific players.
• Enabled gamepad stick sensitivity setting in UI.
• Improved gamepad support on PC.
• Added support for a whole mess of options on Advanced video settings page.
• Easier to click buttons by fixing cases where mouse went just past them.
• Max player counts always fit on all scoreboards.

Server Browser:
• Server Browser updates, expanded query filtering, clientside filters and a new UI option list.
• Added mutator filtering to the server browser (filter by installed mutators, mutator classes and mutator names)
• Now displays each servers IP in the server details box
• Added 'Join IP' and 'Spectate IP' buttons to the join game menu
• Added an 'Add IP' button to the favourites menu
• Modified the main menu to return to the server browser after disconnecting
• Added a new button to the midgame menu 'Add Favorite', and a new console command: AddServerToFavorites
• Updated server browser code, so that custom gametypes are properly filtered.
• Added a 'List All Game Modes' selection to the server filter menu.
• Added more information to the server browser player list.

[Circuit]

Neat. In the meantime, I wouldn't mind checking out the recent map pack they released.

[Paladin]

...and Malcom still isn't playable in multiplayer UT3.

[Creole Ned]

Hey, the Nali haven't been playable for 10 years! :P

[Paladin]

Perhaps not, but you could be a big green cigar-chomping Jackrabbit (http://skincity.beyondunreal.com/sections/show_skin.php?id=2505). You know, since JR can't be bothered.

[Creole Ned]

He should totally play the game just to use that model.

(assuming patch #4 makes the game work on his system)

[Q]

• Added 'Join IP' and 'Spectate IP' buttons to the join game menu
• Added an 'Add IP' button to the favourites menu

Crazy new features no one has ever done before!

[Creole Ned]

You can now register the retail CD key on Steam to get a Steam version of the game. This requires you to download the entire game (nearly 8GB) through Steam as it makes its own install. You can avoid most of the download by following the steps here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664290):

• install UT3 to the computer from the DVD
• start the install of UT3 on Steam but stop it after 2%
• copy the UT3 folder from Program Files (c:\program files\) (or wherever you installed it) into the Steam common folder (steam/steamapps/common)
• right-click the UT3 game folder and uncheck "Read only" and make sure it is set to do the same for all subfolders and files.
• right click on UT3 in your Steam games list and select Properties
• go to the last tab and select "Verify integrity of game cache"
• let this finish
• the install should resume, downloading only a few assorted files, not the full 8 GB
• when you first launch the game you may be prompted to update DirectX and OpenAL
• enjoy!

[Tai]

Ooo, thanks for that Ned :)

[Creole Ned]

BTW, the game still (at least for now) uses the Gamespy login but if you convert to Steam all of your settings are retained, as they're kept in folders separate from the game itself. Once the Big Patch™ is released, the Steam version will have achievements added to it.

[Creole Ned]

BeyondUnreal has two updates on the expansion and patch.

The first reveals the details of the Titan Pack (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12517), as well as a release date -- March 5th.

The second offers a few patch details as well as some screenshots (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12525) of the revised menu system.

[Creole Ned]

Patch 2.0 and Titan Pack released! (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12558)

Story clipped from BeyondUnreal:

Epic Games has released, for the PC, a patch to bring Unreal Tournament 3 up to version 2.0 alongside it's hotly anticipated Titan Pack. You'll want to apply the patch first and then the pack. Get those right here:

• UT3 Patch 2.0 (309 MB)
• UT3 Titan Pack (916 MB)

For full details on what's in the pack, check out our Titan Pack Reveal. In a nutshell you get:

• 16 new maps + 3 bonus pack 1 maps
• Titan mutator
• Greed and Betrayal gametypes
• Stinger Turret, Eradicator Cannon Artillery and the Stealthbender vehicle
• X-Ray Field and Link Station Deployables
• Slow-Field power-up (pickup version of the deployable of the same name)
• Two new characters: Nova (Liandri) and Kana (Ronin)
• 57 Steam Achievements
• Major enhancements, incuding AI, network performance, menu and UI, better mod support
• Client-side demo recording, updated server browser, new maplist system, mid-game mutator and gametype voting functionality

Both of these will be required for a UT3 Smackdown (coming Soon™)

Steam version is set to go live around 10 a.m. PST.

[Postal]

Steam now has achievements? That interesting. So when are we playing?

[Creole Ned]

Soon™!

(Probably next weekend, not this weekend. The patch and pack are a combined 1.2 GB download, which is not trivial. I also need to re-install the game on my server box and find out how well it runs under the Windows 7 beta).

[Tai]

Steam now has achievements? That interesting. So when are we playing?

I suspect you mean UT3 now has achievements... :p I did notice that my steam client says 2.1 days left under the 'Gifts' column on the UT3 row. I guess I could gift the demo or something?

[Creole Ned]

The game is free for everyone for the weekend, that's probably why it shows as a gift.

I still had a Friend request pending from, I suspect, November 2007, so I accepted. It was from Tai. :o

[Tai]

Amazing! :)

[Creole Ned]

Also, the patch lets you easily turn off bloom and depth of field from the Video settings. Doing so makes the game look brighter, cleaner and sharper.

[Creole Ned]

I will have the server up this Sunday around the usual Smackdown time (6 p.m. PDT, although it will likely be up a bit earlier than that). Come play UT3 with the shiny new patch and Titan Pack!

[jackrabbit]

this actually works through steam for me.

[Creole Ned]

Reminder for tomorrow: The patch and Titan Pack are a combined 1.2 GB (that would be GIGA). Do not pull an Arm and start downloading 10 minutes before playtime because you'll still be downloading long after we have wrapped things up. :nod:

[Postal]

Should we hook it up to steam or does it matter? Mine is patched and ready but not hooked to steam.

[Circuit]

Shouldn't matter so long as you're patched up. Steam is only if you want the achievements, really. And if you like starting your games through Steam, of course.

[Creole Ned]

Download these models to see fancy skeletons and rats!

http://skincity.beyondunreal.com/?section=models&action=show_infos&id=696
http://skincity.beyondunreal.com/?section=models&action=show_infos&id=694

[Creole Ned]

Thanks to the three who showed up (Pal, Q, Postal) and boo to all the pooheads who didn't!

While I agree that vanilla DM is a bit bland, I would like to try again, perhaps filling out teams with bots and trying some of the other modes -- even Greed and Betrayal. I'll also do some work on the server to reduce voting time, take out maps that are the same old "industrial grunge" look and generally nip and tuck so things are a bit smoother.

[Tai]

As I told Postal, I pulled an Arm. Then I played a game with the wife til 10. Then I fell asleep. Glad Q is back on the internet though, he's so MIA these days.

[Q]

I'm MIA because my stupid work blocks IM :(.

[Tai]

Well, we're in irc all night too...

[Creole Ned]

...and Malcom still isn't playable in multiplayer UT3.
There is now a player-made Malcolm (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12590) for UT3.

[Postal]

I would be up for some us vs bots nights.

[Paladin]

There is now a player-made Malcolm (http://www.beyondunreal.com/view_story.php?id=12590) for UT3.

Thanks Ned. I'll grab it sometime when I get a chance and feel like messing with a .rar file.

[samuelk]

Thanks to the three who showed up (Pal, Q, Postal) and boo to all the pooheads who didn't!

While I agree that vanilla DM is a bit bland, I would like to try again, perhaps filling out teams with bots and trying some of the other modes -- even Greed and Betrayal. I'll also do some work on the server to reduce voting time, take out maps that are the same old "industrial grunge" look and generally nip and tuck so things are a bit smoother.

I was in DC on vacation, so I couldn't play. :(

[Tai]

I was in DC on vacation, so I couldn't play. :(

Did you enjoy the shitty rainy weekend?

[Creole Ned]

I don't think people go to DC in March to surf and tan.

[Circuit]

Exactly. They go for the shitty, rainy weather. Just like the brochure says.

[Tai]

And the green fountains.

[samuelk]

Did you enjoy the shitty rainy weekend?

Well, we were in DC only Wednesday through Friday. We were in Baltimore Saturday through Monday, where it was only slightly less shitty and rainy.

Friday in DC was overcast, so we took the opportunity to go to the Holocaust Museum. Fitting weather.

[Creole Ned]

Anyhoo, we'll do this again this Sunday.

I have the webadmin working now, have reduced the timer on map voting (and can override it with admin, anyway) and I'm putting together several map cycles using the new gametypes. Bots will be used to flesh out teams for the bigger games. I'm aiming for an hour of shootery fun but it will not be vanilla DM.

[Paladin]

A few maps that might get away from the techno theme:

DM-CBP3-Decay 5-8 players (CBP3: Vol 2)
DM-CBP3-Solar 2-8 players (CBP3: Vol 2)
DM-CBP3-IronMaiden2 (CBP3: Vol 1)
DM-CBP3-HongKong (CBP3: Vol 1)
DM-CBP3-Salvation (CBP3: Vol 1)
DM-CBP3-Endura (CBP3: Vol 1)

Links to images: CBP Vol 1 (http://cbp.beyondunreal.com/content/1) & CBP3 Vol 2 (http://cbp.beyondunreal.com/content/2)

Decay looks like a good bet to me, just based on looks.

[Reaver]

I see UT3 Black for 11.99 on steam. Is this game worth getting at this point?

[Circuit]

The singleplayer's worth $11.99, at the very least. Well, great if you aren't looking for a compelling story. The bots are good, though, so it's nearly as fun as playing with real people.

[Reaver]

Ok, just bought UT3 and Burnout Paradise for PC.

[Paladin]

Anything going on tonight?

[Creole Ned]

Yeah, I'll have the server up in awhile, see who shows. No CBP maps, though -- not yet, anyway.

[samuelk]

I'll be there.

[Reaver]

What tiem is this happening?

[Creole Ned]

It wrapped up shortly after you posted. :P

(usually 6 p.m. Pacific)

[Tai]

I was asleep by 9 eastern... :walker:

[Creole Ned]

Thanks to those who showed for round 2. It's pretty clear that the UI improvements to the game (and its admin) were minimal. The seemingly arbitrary way the game remembers/forgets settings is extremely annoying when adminning a server. Yeah, I could run with a mile-long command line if I had one very specific group of settings to use that never changed, but bleah.

Also, they managed to make Greed -- one of my favorite gametypes ever -- and somehow make it worse.

On the other hand, Warfare (once orbs are removed) feels very much like classic Onslaught and the wacky vehicles (especially the Necris ones) made it quite fun to play. I might be interested in trying that again or even Vehicle CTF.

P.S. Sam was on fire!

[Circuit]

We should try one match where nobody communicates except using the in game text-to-speech.