Not many people play UT3 online, are most of them playing mods?

[Cassius88]

Hey, I notice very few people play Unreal 3 online for PC, same with Xbox 360 version. I played the single player campaign and beat it on Insane on 360, I really liked it. Anyway I wanted to experience the multiplayer side of it on PC but it seems hardly anyone plays it. Just check this out.

http://www.gametracker.com/search/ut3/?sort=players&order=desc

Stats for all the Unreal 3 servers.

So where is everyone on this game? Not many play it much? Or is everyone playing mods? I noticed there are a ton of Multiplayer mods for unreal 3.

http://www.moddb.com/games/unreal-tournament-3/mods?filter=t&=Search&kw=Search+...&released=def&style=def&theme=def&type=2&sort=released-asc


So what are the top Multiplayer mods for Unreal 3 that people actually play? Like 24 or more players on one server at once. Does anyone know if a lot of people play Renegade-X? I really liked the old C&C Renegade, would be nice if people actually played the mod based on it.

[Skred]

So where is everyone on this game? Not many play it much? Or is everyone playing mods? I noticed there are a ton of Multiplayer mods for unreal 3.


Your better off giving UT2004 or UT99 a try. UT3 has had bad population issues pretty much since the demo came out.

[Killing_Joke.jW]

many moved to other games, competitive players moved to pugs instead of pubs because of the titan-only servers nowardays.

[Masaai_Warrior]

Still get a very good game most nights on WAR or TDM (In Europe at least).

Many good players are on PUGS or BTA because they can't handle the Titan mod. But there are still enough good players on the Pubs to have fun matches every day.

[Rhykker]

Just in case you don't know...

A PUG is a Pick Up Game. People meet in IRC, and when there are enough people who want to play a match, they hop onto a locked server. It's more organized than a PUB server (public), and generally has pretty-skilled to highly-skilled players.

I don't know of any mods that reached extreme popularity. The Haunted was going strong for a while, but I haven't looked back into it in months.

Although there aren't a ton of UT3 servers, there's always enough for a game. Think of it this way: you can only be connected to one server at a time, so who cares if there's 10 servers or 10,000 servers?

If you're looking to get into serious multiplayer team game types, I recommend either checking out PUGs or a clan. It's always best to play with some level of coordination.

Peace,
Rhykker

[»TheHitMan«]

Don't see why people would choose a game that makes you respawn when the round is over, or every 20 seconds. With UT3, you respawn instantly, and your weapon accuracy is always the same. But whatever, there's always at least 1 full server of a PUB game at night.

[Rhykker]

Don't see why people would choose a game that makes you respawn when the round is over, or every 20 seconds. With UT3, you respawn instantly, and your weapon accuracy is always the same.
+1

"Zero time to spectacle." You're never waiting for action. If I only have a half hour to play, I'm playing for a half hour. Not playing for 15 minutes, waiting to respawn for 5 minutes, and slowly jogging towards the action for 10 minutes.

Peace,
Rhykker

[»TheHitMan«]

Whatever though I guess more people are drawn to realism shooters that has 75% accuracy while slowly walking, versus more fast paced shooters... maybe it's more their speed, who knows.

[Moloko]

Whatever though I guess more people are drawn to realism shooters that has 75% accuracy while slowly walking, versus more fast paced shooters... maybe it's more their speed, who knows.

I don't think it's really the case that UT3's learning curve is acting as a barrier and I hope Epic don't draw such a misguided conclusion either. At a basic introductory playing level, UT3 is far more accessible already than say, for example, jumping online in the popular game of the moment- BF: BC2.

My first attempt in that game at trying to pilot an Apache; taking off , getting the sensitive pitch wrong and crashing :o is normal apparently-compare this to flying an impossible to crash Raptor in UT3 :p.

[ArtfulDodger]

Whatever though I guess more people are drawn to realism shooters that has 75% accuracy while slowly walking, versus more fast paced shooters... maybe it's more their speed, who knows.

Even though both are FPS they are completely different gametypes. I love COD4 (MW1) and I always will. It did for tactical shooters what UT99 did for tournament shooters.

UT3 will never be quite as special as UT99 because being the 4th title in a series makes it hard to be original and thereby have a big impact on the gaming community.

E.g. Although MW2 has sold more copies than MW1 the MP is already dying only 6months after release while people are STILL playing MW1 (now over 2years old!) online.

Personally I think the solution to this problem is to adopt a development model like "EVE Online". Work really hard to release a truly original game and if it sells well STICK WITH IT by making incremental improvements every year and make people pay for the new content.

With this approach, when you get it right, (like EPIC did with UT99) you don't have to re-invent the wheel again and again. Instead, you keep the winning formula but continually add new features (e.g. weapons/skins/maps/gametypes) while also improving the graphics so that the underlying gameplay doesn't change much.

Obviously the main problem with this approach for an FPS is that it is often difficult to add enough new content to justify charging players the same as if you instead release a whole new game. So making "sequels" and selling these probably makes more money, even if it means you change the gameplay for the worse.

[Unstoppable]

UT is getting old really and UT 3 didn't do anyone any favors with it's complicated modding process and high system requirements. Such a shame really but at least it's a decent fun game with decent offline mode.

I hope UT 4 is vastly different and brings in more players. Right now teamfortress 2 is king.

[T@F]

I just don't understand why they changed the browser and hosting in ut3.
using third party company to log in,then not able to host because the ports are not open when they are is so annoying.
thats what put me off tbh as well as logging onto one server to download 20 mins of mods.
well not 20 mins but a long time lol.

tbh there was nothing wrong with ut/ut2003/ut2004 way imo,at least it was not hard to host when ya mates wanted to come on for a bit of fun.epic should never have changed it.

If there ever was a ut4 plz epic go back to the ut2004 browser and hosting and no third party company to log in to plz.

[»TheHitMan«]

UT is getting old really and UT 3 didn't do anyone any favors with it's complicated modding process and high system requirements. Such a shame really but at least it's a decent fun game with decent offline mode.

I hope UT 4 is vastly different and brings in more players. Right now teamfortress 2 is king.

I'm sorry but UT3 does NOT have high requirements, if you think that then you're dillusional. I ran it just fine on a core 2 duo, 2 gigs or ram, Nvidia 8800 GTS. That's not that high. My friends have even lesser computers and they run it just fine. I think you need to re-think your statement there. And if UT was so complicated to mod for then why are there thousands of user made maps? LOL

[Rhykker]

I'm sorry but UT3 does NOT have high requirements, if you think that then you're dillusional. I ran it just fine on a core 2 duo, 2 gigs or ram, Nvidia 8800 GTS. That's not that high. My friends have even lesser computers and they run it just fine. I think you need to re-think your statement there. And if UT was so complicated to mod for then why are there thousands of user made maps? LOL
Well, I think he meant when the game came out, in the last quarter of 2007. Back then, it had high system requirements. Many people, including UT veterans, only got the game a year or two after release, when they were able to upgrade sufficiently.

Peace,
-Rhykker

[HideInLight]

Well, I think he meant when the game came out, in the last quarter of 2007. Back then, it had high system requirements. Many people, including UT veterans, only got the game a year or two after release, when they were able to upgrade sufficiently.

Peace,
-Rhykker

Yup, I got the 8800GT back when it was just released around the same time UT3 came out. It was considered to be main stream back then and even I had bad performance for UT3 until the Titan Pack came out and the drivers matured.

Online is not very accessable. Very few hosting companies managed to actually host server people could see and join and almost all of them had bad settings and lag issues and outdated buggy mods like CustomUT Alpha.
Can remember how long it took one of our local servers to get the game up and running. The steam clients kept crashing the server and it was found that they had to delete the steam.dll file to get it to work. Another "unique problem".
Not to mention how long it took me to figure out how to host a normal non- dedicated game over the net.
Then there was Gamespy, if you think it's bad now, back then it was way worse, even creating an online profile was a nightmare.

If you want "accessable" go take a look at HoN and WoW.
It's not about how easy or hard the game is, it's how about how easy it is to jump into the game with limited tech knowledge.

[azurescorch]

Still get a very good game most nights on WAR or TDM (In Europe at least).

Many good players are on PUGS or BTA because they can't handle the Titan mod. But there are still enough good players on the Pubs to have fun matches every day.

Me and plenty of others can -handle- titans fine fyi. But that doesn't mean we're going to play something we find down right unenjoyable. It's like playing a match with a dozen walking tanks spamming around. It's more annoying than anything else present in the game. Being killed in a DM with random bio not even meant for you, when you're on a killing spree with 150armor and 199hp, is far less annoying than being killed by some spastic playing as a titan.

As for me I just dislike 32player servers (cpu related fps rape)

[Punichan]

+1

"Zero time to spectacle." You're never waiting for action. If I only have a half hour to play, I'm playing for a half hour. Not playing for 15 minutes, waiting to respawn for 5 minutes, and slowly jogging towards the action for 10 minutes.

Peace,
Rhykker

This, I agreed with you all the way, this is why I think this game has "depth" where other games try to LIMIT you, UT wants to ALLOW you, movement, crazy weapons, "true cross hair" (meaning: it don't lie to you), and mad selection of powerful and diverse vehicle! no other games are willing to risk such freedom to players to "exploit". But EPIC kept all that BALANCED!!! dO NOT TAKE THESE FEATURES for granted, i think to some extends, there is very rare to see game that would allow players such freedom in game with so little complains about balance game mechanics. UT used to be my favorite game BECAUSE of that, where if i were to only able to play for 15-30 min, I WOULD PLAY 15-30 MIN! and YES, I WAS PLEASED even in this short sessions! because this game is PACKED with action, and challenging, plus, EPIC KNOWS how to make you feel good about EVERY frag you make! you will NOT be able to get that with ****ty games like CS types, in fact, I ONLY run through realism shooters ONCE, they are what I consider "Rent/Borrow" games, they have NO replay value, and as soon as you finished it, YOU FINISHED IT! THERE IS NOT MUCH IT CAN DO TO SATISFY YOUR THRUST! Modern Warfare2 have that team muti play mission mode, whitch i consider a compensation for their "HALF THE GAME" story mode. Which brings me back AGAIN to that point, Why half the game? UT3... Where is the rest?

[WedgeBob]

That's why I really liked UT 2004, was because it was more fast paced, and you got right into the action and the storyline came through. Nowadays, with UT3, I mean, it's great and all, and still have no regrets, but it can get fairly...I really can't explain it, but I know that there's too much more involved with UT3 than anyone can really explain, tbh.

[ctr2yellowbird]

IMO, 80% of the remaining player base would leave if they were forced to pay to play (other than PC upgrades and a license key hehe) regardless of the payment system.

To the OP: UT3's player base is quite small if you compare it to well... many other games lol... A good portion of the remaining players are veterans of either UT3 or the UT series. The learning curve and suboptimal implemention in almost any sense are prohibitive to new players. Gameplay is great though, and it gets better as you improve at the game. Perhaps the gameplay experience improves with a more developed sense of accomplishment...

But where/when people play... it depends on your location (NA, EU, or elsewhere). Mornings never seem good if you want to play a low ping game. Perhaps try looking around after 3PM or so. Games definitely pick up past 6PM. Also, most servers seem to run some sort of mutator, but there's only a select few who exclusively play highly customized gametypes. You will find many servers running the Titan mod--although more seasoned players don't really like it--WAR servers running the Orb Fix mod, and perhaps some DM/TDM servers running the DodgeJump mod. Since you are new, I would recommend Greed (server: Official Epic Greed #1) since players from both NA and EU frequent it usually from 8AM to Midnight in my time zone (central), but you might not like it.

When you do a server search, use: Pure Server [Any], Show Full Servers [yes], Show Empty Servers [no]. If/When you find a healthy server, make sure you Favorite it. You will need at least a reasonable connection to play this game, and you will have to download some large custom content if you want to play custom maps. Also, know that UT3's default download cache is small in proportion to the MB size of some bigger and decorated maps. If you find some custom stuff that you like, you will want to download a Cache Converter for UT3 separately and change UT3's default cache settings in the appropriate ini file. Do a forum search for both items... I suck at getting links for people.

Hope you figure this out.

[Rhykker]

That's why I really liked UT 2004, was because it was more fast paced

Hm I find UT3 is faster-paced than UT2k4. In 2k4, there was a lot of shield-gun shenanigans. Taking damage? Pull out that shield gun and run away. It was all long-range hitscan, pull out shield gun, run for health, repeat. Sure, you could move faster due to dodge jump, but moving faster does not equal faster gameplay.

Peace,
-Rhykker

[azurescorch]

Hm I find UT3 is faster-paced than UT2k4. In 2k4, there was a lot of shield-gun shenanigans. Taking damage? Pull out that shield gun and run away. It was all long-range hitscan, pull out shield gun, run for health, repeat. Sure, you could move faster due to dodge jump, but moving faster does not equal faster gameplay.

Peace,
-Rhykker

^this.

I played a bit of ut04 years ago. I reinstalled it and played some more and seriously didn't find it that enjoyable. Game play was slower (maybe due to maps being a lot bigger). Running pace seemed slower and the dodge jump, while fast, was very "floaty".

[coolcat22]

2k4 is notting i really dont like that game
ut99 rule ut3 is comeing close so ut3 wins
for me

[NovaZzZ]

I played over 3 or 4 thousand hours of 2k4 over the years. After playing UT3, I find 2k4 to be quite boring.

UT3>2k4

[leox001]

I would gladly join the servers if I could connect to them...

[T-6000]

I think one of the reasons why not many people are playing Unreal Tournament 3 is because, once you get to the meat and bones of the game it's really the same Unreal Tournament game. I like the UT series and I liked UT3 alot, but it still retains most of the same gameplay and gameplay modes from the first Unreal Tournament. I have spoken with some people about UT3, both online and in real life, and those that told me they weren't into UT3 was because for them it was the same UT game they had always played in the past. After Buying UT3 I had my brother play through it, and after an hour he said "This is the same UT game I've been playing for years". Ever since them I never saw him touch it again. As I said, I liked UT3 and I've even played the past UT games ever since the first UT game. But after the first week of getting UT3 and playing it I found myself burnt out of it and I couldn't bring myself to play it much. Downloading a whole bunch of user made maps, mods, and even the Titan pack helped bring me back to the game. If the next Unreal Tournament games does come along I hope it has some new items, gameplay modes, and even weapons. Otherwise, I don't think I could bring myself to get the next UT title.

[Benfica]

I think one of the reasons why not many people are playing Unreal Tournament 3 is because, once you get to the meat and bones of the game it's really the same Unreal Tournament game. I like the UT series and I liked UT3 alot, but it still retains most of the same gameplay and gameplay modes from the first Unreal Tournament. I have spoken with some people about UT3, both online and in real life, and those that told me they weren't into UT3 was because for them it was the same UT game they had always played in the past. After Buying UT3 I had my brother play through it, and after an hour he said "This is the same UT game I've been playing for years". Ever since them I never saw him touch it again. As I said, I liked UT3 and I've even played the past UT games ever since the first UT game. But after the first week of getting UT3 and playing it I found myself burnt out of it and I couldn't bring myself to play it much. Downloading a whole bunch of user made maps, mods, and even the Titan pack helped bring me back to the game. If the next Unreal Tournament games does come along I hope it has some new items, gameplay modes, and even weapons. Otherwise, I don't think I could bring myself to get the next UT title.
I'm with you here, it's just that Epic sometimes gets flamed for innovating, even for trying. I'd love to see new weapons, new movement tactics, whatever. I just want a fun, unrestricted and skillful game, it doesn't matter. Then what you say about being burnt out, I kinda see it the same way, but not the series as a whole. Heh, in the last few days I've ranted somewhat about one of Epic's games but I don't forget I'm playing another :)

[Sourpuss]

T-6000,

Did you just get tired of Unreal Tournament? What if a real UT99-2 were released and it had 10,000 players online at once and there was a thriving and active clan scene like in the good old days? Would you not want to play it?

[»TheHitMan«]

T-6000,

Did you just get tired of Unreal Tournament? What if a real UT99-2 were released and it had 10,000 players online at once and there was a thriving and active clan scene like in the good old days? Would you not want to play it?
That's what UT3 shoulda been... just UT with better graphics. Same everything, imo. But the problem is there are those that didn't play the original and started with UT2004 and liked the leap-frog gameplay. Then UT3 came out and they hated the non-leap-frog gameplay because it was more like the original style. Just a theory.

[T-6000]

T-6000,

Did you just get tired of Unreal Tournament? What if a real UT99-2 were released and it had 10,000 players online at once and there was a thriving and active clan scene like in the good old days? Would you not want to play it?

I suppose I did. I played the original UT alot when it first came out, same with UT2003 and then UT2004. I played them alot, but shortly before UT3 came out I found myself playing them less and less. I was starting to get burnt out playing the series, and when UT3 came along I picked it up. I thought that maybe it'd feel fresh enough to keep playing it frequently. I liked the graphics, and I really liked the feel of the weapons. The gameplay was still as great as ever. But even with solid gold gameplay, I found myself getting burned out after sticking with the same gameplay formula for nearly 8 years. For me, it really felt like the same UT game that I played back when it was released.

UT3 was a good UT game and I enjoyed it, but I would have liked some new features such as new gameplay modes, weapons, and items. It was great they they introduced Necris vehicles, they felt very different, exotic, and...errr....alien. But other than that, it more or less has the same gameplay modes and same weapons. I am thankful for such a large and dedicated MOD community that released a large portion of user made maps, weapons, and MODs that helped keep my interest in UT3. The Titan pack and Steam achievements helped bring me back for a little while, too. I still play UT3 but rarely anymore.

[chrisfam]

When I just logged onto UT3, there were only 6 servers showing players in deathmatch with only 1-3 players each. Pathetic. I guess UT is dead. I don't think there is any chance Epic will make UT4 based on the unpopularity of UT3. It will be a waste of money and very risky. Maybe someday there will be UT2004HD after Gears of War 10, like Croteam did for the Serious Sam series.

[»TheHitMan«]

Yeah well alot of them play offline because online is very difficult for them and a hard learning curve, getting their butts kicked by pros all the time. Besides that there are daily pugs in mIRC with some good games. UT isn't really "dead", I wish people would stop saying that.

[Rhykker]

People have been saying UT3 is dead since early 2008.

We're 2010 now. Guess what? We're still here.

[HideInLight]

People have been saying UT3 is dead since early 2008.

We're 2010 now. Guess what? We're still here.

Were like flowers on a grave...

[T-6000]

When I just logged onto UT3, there were only 6 servers showing players in deathmatch with only 1-3 players each. Pathetic. I guess UT is dead. I don't think there is any chance Epic will make UT4 based on the unpopularity of UT3. It will be a waste of money and very risky. Maybe someday there will be UT2004HD after Gears of War 10, like Croteam did for the Serious Sam series.

Epic did state that they would be shelving the UT series for awhile, so it may be a few years before we see another UT title. If they do make a 4th UT title, I just hope they don't leave out Onslaught (IMHO one of their biggest mistakes for UT3), and the Skaarj are in there somewhere.

[»TheHitMan«]

And look at the downloads that the UT3 demo gets, and look at the number of views on some of the user maps & mods section on some threads. Just because it doesn't have a humongous online player base, doesn't mean people don't play it. I don't care how "dead" it may seem online, I will continue to make quality maps for a long time to come.

[I_LIVE]

I played over 3 or 4 thousand hours of 2k4 over the years. After playing UT3, I find 2k4 to be quite boring.

UT3>2k4

oohh man, lol.

over 4,000 hours? I don't believe that. MORE BS RIGHT THERE. This guy is full of lies!

[Benfica]

I tried other games, demos and free weekends. I made an effort to like them. A very strong one.

I failed miserably. The more I try other games, the more I see that UT is the most creative shooter out there. The other producers had 10 years to catch up, they can have 10 more :p

[»TheHitMan«]

I tried other games, demos and free weekends. I made an effort to like them. A very strong one.

I failed miserably. The more I try other games, the more I see that UT is the most creative shooter out there. The other producers had 10 years to catch up, they can have 10 more :p
Amen to that brotha! The only game that's really hooked me is Mass effect 2 but I enjoy hopping on a UT3 server, and becoming a titan. There is no other game out there that has a great in-game editor that allows thousands of possibilities.

[Benfica]

I've been playing the mw2 cheap-ass weekedn and what I get is a bunch of guys defending defeat. I'm talking about newbies and top players alike here, we were behind with just a control point (or even none) and they are scared to go out there and lose 1 of their precious infinite lives :rolleyes: There were games where I capture more points or defuse or whatever, than I get kills. Pew-pew chicken out omg mommy I'm scared to die, this is what you get on today's multiplayer shooters. ANY complain I had about any UT end here!

* deletes the 11GB game cache *

[»TheHitMan«]

I guess people have more fun waiting a wholle round to respawn, ruining the insides of their PC's with cigarette ash while they wait to respawn. Or mess up their keybords with snacks or whatever. Or games like where you have to wait 30 seconds to respawn once you die after 10 seconds, what fun is that really? No thanks, give me UT any day! There's a video out there where a bunch of geeks prefer the no spawn time over the other generic war shooters.

[WedgeBob]

I think more people are like me, playing UT3 with bots, that's probably another reason why the online community may be down to critical levels.

[I_LIVE]

I think more people are like me, playing UT3 with bots, that's probably another reason why the online community may be down to critical levels.

Start playing with people!! :D

[»TheHitMan«]

Yeah well sometimes the night crowd in epic's greed server can be mean :(

[TourianTourist]

Start playing with people!! :D
He's right. While I used to play a lot with bots in UT and UT2004 (just didn't have a good internet connection back then), I wouldn't want to do so in UT3. Especially if you're playing Warfare there are so much things you can't do with bots. Like for example using a flying vehicle to transport an orb carrier for an instant offensive strike. Warfare isn't much fun with bots.

[oldkawman1]

oohh man, lol.

over 4,000 hours? I don't believe that. MORE BS RIGHT THERE. This guy is full of lies!

Your the idiot! I know a couple players with 4000 or more hours of UT2K4 play time. Do the math and refrain from calling others a liar. It just makes you look bad.

You can find players with the most games and hours on the stats page;
http://ut2004stats.epicgames.com/index.php?stats=players

There are very likely many players with 2,000 hours or more of UT3 as well. Many players I know have been playing since day one. Many players also have at least 3-4 different player nics to use for different game types or maybe when they are not sober or just want to play to test different strats or for whatever other reason. So you need to add up the totals of each of their nics.

[I_LIVE]

Your the idiot!


Why are you so hostile to me?

FYI...

It's you're*

[Rhykker]

Why are you so hostile to me?

FYI...

It's you're*

Why is he being hostile towards you?

You, some newb to the forums, jump in here and openly accuse NovaZzZ of being a liar and bullshooter. You reap what you sow, mate.

Peace,
-Rhykker

[I_LIVE]

Why is he being hostile towards you?

You, some newb to the forums, jump in here and openly accuse NovaZzZ of being a liar and bullshooter. You reap what you sow, mate.

Peace,
-Rhykker

lolwut????

He is full of BS.

[cdiddy]

lolwut????

He is full of BS.

no u r wrong. u r a noob to the forums and should not insult a veteran who clearly knows much more than u. i know plenty with over 2000 hours in ut3.

[I_LIVE]

no u r wrong. u r a noob to the forums and should not insult a veteran who clearly knows much more than u. i know plenty with over 2000 hours in ut3.

I may be new to the forums but i am NOT new to the UT series.

Looks like my little comment made you people unhappy.

[Sourpuss]

I think more people are like me, playing UT3 with bots, that's probably another reason why the online community may be down to critical levels.

I suspect that a great many players would prefer to just not play at all if they couldn't play against real human competition. It's just much more satisfying to know that you're beating down other people.

[HaTaX]

That and the fact that the bot AI is a real PITA. Hitscan freaks on higher levels and at one step below they run in a straight line shooting...

It's much more gratifying on many levels for myself when there's a nice large group of people in a match. :)