What went wrong...? (Or, "why am I unhappy with UT3?")

[Angeret]

Before you read further, please note - this is not a post of shiny goodness or happy puppies. Stop now if you may feel the need to fire weapons at the merest hint of unhappy thoughts as there will be return salvos of devastating power if unwarranted attacks are made. Or I'll simply ignore you.

I've been playing UT since day one. Since the release of UT3, I still do. Why? Because it's more fun.

I pre-ordered UT3 as soon as I'd heard it was on the way, read all the releases about it, saw some fantastic things. Then the game came out and I found myself, on the whole, saying "meh, I'll go play Crysis".

The problems started right from the moment the game installed. I don't have a PhysX card so I don't need a poxy auto install of the drivers and software for it. Why do I need to reboot my system after the install completes? Dunno, didn't find out - deleted the PhysX folder from my system anyway and the game ran okay without the reboot. Someone trying to add ring0 drivers to my system, eh?

I run an AMD based system with an ATI video card, so I deleted the adverts from the movies folder as I'm sick of seeing these in games. Forced advertising has the same effect on me as rubbing my nose in s*** - it isn't going to get you anywhere except hospital. If I wanna downgrade my PC, maybe I'll take notice (I'm not a DAAMIT fanboi, just got fed up with high prices and/or **** drivers - now I'm happier with lower prices and **** drivers).

The User "interface".

The last time I saw something with this kind of User inteface it was a old rally game ported from the PlayStation 2. Oh great, thanks Cliff* - I trusted you and the rest of the guys to come up with something better and I find I spent money on a console port. Yes, I've watched the "making of" video from the Collecter's Ed that I bought. Well - up until I saw the playtesting in front of high spec PCs using only joypads. I have a Wii for fun gaming or sports, I don't expect the best (= most fun and frag-filled at the same time) PC game ever written to be nothing more than a broken-down designed-for-dummies console port, even if it was written for the PC.

Put simply, the UI is a POS that should have been left on the PS2. Most PC Users have a mouse for pointy-clicky stuff and most like to pointy-clicky with it. If you have to, give an option that can be toggled to allow the Player (or Purchaser and Wage Payer) the choice ... pointy-clicky or POS.

I also found that I had dodging on by default, but no way of turning the **** setting to OFF. I hate dodging, I can do it myself thank you very much - using the built in "helper" only ends up with me falling of ledges, jumping into gunfire (as most players can predict where you'll be if you use it) and generally quitting the game the quick way (LRS on the front of my PC so I don't have to wait for the UI to reload sometime this week).

I prefer the blue team thank you very much. Not red. Even in the old UT map "Cola Wars" - and I don't drink Pepsi (for those that know the map). Where was the setting for preference?

I tend to enjoy unbalanced teams when playing - I tend to go with at least 3 Godlikes against me in most maps and often 15:1 in some like "Cranes". (If you think I'm making this up, perhaps you'd like to play me?)

So where are these non-console port options? Are console players so **** that they can't play unbalanced teams? Incapable of choosing a preferred team?

Who came up with the two tier system for changing settings from a map? Take him/her/it outside and lock the doors. Click Settings, change Settings. There are no requirements for Players to **** around with Settings/oh yeah, Proper Settings ... unless you're a console owner with a 2 second attention span.

What's with all the logging in at the start? If I'm playing a game I don't expect to see any of the login rubbish until such times as I hit the multiplayer tab - and that's only if I'm not running a LAN game. I go local and it still says "logging in", maybe my local button is broken?

The game.

Yes, the game looks stunning. The visuals are great eye-candy, but nothing more. If anything, they make the game too, well, busy, detracting from what used to be the point of the whole thing - splattering scenery with the body parts of your opponents. It takes the fun out of the game if I have to spend time trying to figure out what the hell I'm looking at. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but c'mon - at least let me shoot some of the bloody neon & holographic signs out so they stop shining in my face.

There was also something about the old-skool music from the original UT that has been lost over the releases of each new game. Yes, it sounds very good and so well polished that some of it could easily chart if released. It sounds too polished though, the old FM stuff gave the game the feel of something rough and ready - like we were when we got playing; rough (and tough) and ready (to main, kill & destroy).

Why does almost every multiplayer game have to be run flat out? Counterstrike is played by nutjobs who run headlong into combat with no thought of personal safety and UT is no exception. The game has got faster with each release until you are almost sprinting to your death(s). If this was real you'd be dead once and once only. Maybe there should be a life limiter option to force players to get more tactical than just simply run & gun. I don't mean like LMS (where did that go), I mean a limit that could be set in any team game mode so that prima-donnas would be more inclined to team-playing instead of poncing around or getting fragged all the time.

My thoughts.

UT3 has sacrificed a lot of old-skool gameplay and feel to keep up with the console world of "more bling" and it's a shame. I might play it from time to time, but, if anything I'll be sticking it to Loque, Tamerlane and the gang in the original game.

I'm not asking for this game to look and feel like the original Unreal Tournament but is it too much to ask that the game to look like a PC game and not an eye-candy tour for the PS3?

There's more that I could say, both good & bad, about this game but I'm fed up enough as it is. I don't want to have to defend the game just because of it's lineage and I'm not happy about panning it - I paid a premium for this game and I want to play it but it's bloody hard to be nice about something that just isn't Unreal Tournament anymore. I think I'll go scan some cats now (and you can figure that bit out for yourselves

Oh yeah... two questions. Why do cut scenes cause the game to lock up on my machine and why does the game crash when exiting a map via the "Main Menu" button? The game runs fine but the UI & cut scenes don't? That's a turnabout!

Here's a few tips for those who want some control over what they're playing...

Killing unwanted movies (adverts) : go to path\UTGame\Movies and either move the files out or delete them. I only removed the Intel/nVidia ones, the others are okay.

The next two require editing of the file UTGame.cfg which is kept here : C:\Documents and Settings\your User's documents folder\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Config

To change the default team : find the section [DefaultPlayer] and change team=255 to team=1 (red to blue).

To turn off dodging : find the section [UTGame.UTPlayerController] and change bEnableDodging=true to bEnableDodging=false

Maybe there should be a running thread for "fixing" the game...

* I once had an email chat with Cliff B over a map in Unreal - how the music and imagery made you feel when first emerging from the Vortex Rikers. The moment you looked up and saw the sky, the opening bars of the music - set the tone for the game and made the whole experience worth it for me. It was his fault I got into Unreal/UT and he was happy to take the blame for it

[Nacher]

I'm having hard time to understand what you actually are complaining about? Not being able to disable dodge? No way to set your default team? Then in the end of your post you tell us how to do those exact things.

The only real complaints there seem to be the UI and "busy" graphics. Well, UI sucks, but it's going to get better and better with patches. I think that for the most part, increased player visibility counters those busy enviroments. They are only problem in a few dark DM maps.

And also, in one part you complain about UT3 going too far from the oldschool gameplay. Then you complain that UT3 is too fast and frantic. Usually oldschool gameplay, especially when talking about deathmatch games, IS considered fast and frantic. Slowing UT3 down and nerfing everything would be consolish. Making it faster and more hardcore doesn't sound like consoles to me?

[Raze.at]

I like the game. I know that there are some things that need a patch, but hey.....on PC: nothing comes finished.

I can't name any "Big Name" games wich were perfect from the start.

[Entil'Zha]

Yes, yes and yes, you're correct. It was made for PS3 first, no matter what any dev says. Is this what you wanted to hear?

It was unfinished and unpolished for a PC release. Right again.

Damage done and they will bring back a lot of good stuff through patches.

As for the design decisions... busy looking and bling, bling. That's just their decision. Call it go with the flow or whatever. This is the new s***.

It's all been done to death. Including the ini tweaks. (Different forum though)
Thanks for your opinion nonetheless.

[4TX4]

Yes, yes and yes, you're correct. It was made for PS3 first, no matter what any dev says.

The game is nerfed even by console standards... There's absolutely no reason or excuse for that. They had plenty of time to make this thing, and could have simply copied all the UI/config/feature-related stuff from the previous UTs. Here is wisdom: if it ain't broke, don't try to 'fix' it... And if it actually is broke, by all means take your time fixing it. This game is a beta, plain & simple, and betas have no business going 'gold'.

[Rhyder]

the game is awesome lol I honestly don't know what your complaining about and yes I have played other UT's....honestly whats it matter about the menu, you only use the menu for mainly getting in-game or w/e, I can some some problems but I'm sure they will all be fixed

[Destini]

I think you started off pretty well then kinda droned off into some guy wanting to live in the past. I'd hate it if the game was anything more like UT99. It's not that i disliked the original but I'd rather have something new ffs... that's why I welcomed UT2004.

[Tweakd]

Lolz to the OP.

I agree with Nacher. What exactly is the problem? You want the game to be slower paced? ie more consolized? Erm no...

How about a way to select the default team, Erm... You did that? Oh...

A way to stop dodging perhaps? Errr... Wait, you did that too?...

A way to make the game look less busy? (UBER HINT! Try disable some graphical options in the inis.)

Why does almost every multiplayer game have to be run flat out? Counterstrike is played by nutjobs who run headlong into combat with no thought of personal safety and UT is no exception. The game has got faster with each release until you are almost sprinting to your death(s). If this was real you'd be dead once and once only.

Is this sarcasm? For a start if you are playing CS and not thinking then you will get shot to pieces by competent players. The exact same applies to UT3. If you consider yourself a good player then why would YOU run headfirst into combat. If you feel you are sprinting to your death then you obviously are not as good as you think. And finally, this game is called UNREAL. Why on earth did you say "If this was real you'd be dead once and once only."?

Sorry if you find this harsh but i just don't understand your angle.

[Lulzy]

Out of all the legitimate complains one could have about the game, you managed to construct the most inane and irrelevant rant.

Most of your complains boils down to "I haven't met anyone who like to play the same way I do". The rest can be broken down into categories like "it doesn't works like in original ut" (that's because ut3 has never been supposed to be a remake of original ut and was never sold as such), ludicrous complains ("I prefer playing on blue team") and beating dead horses ("the ui sucks")

But essentially I'd say you're stuck into some original ut nostalgia and don't want to move on while everyone else did.

[ChromeBallz]

The OP's problem is that the game doesn't 'feel' like UT anymore. It feels like an engine demo for the PS3, nothing more.

I can get around the graphics being rather busy, but i can't get around the idiot who decided UT should be some kind of military shooter. Whoever wrote and made the singleplayer part should be shot. This isn't UT, it's some kind of badly done science fiction war shooter.

What's wrong with the tournament style singleplayer? Whatever happened to the brilliant SP from the UT2K3 beta? Working your way up leagues in seasonal formats rather than ladders, building your team with credits and stuff like that - you know, tournament rather than war?

And why do we need to log in in order to save our *singleplayer* progress? The 'gamespy only admins our master server' excuse doesn't fly here, Epic sold out big time and we all know it.

[Angeret]

I'm having hard time to understand what you actually are complaining about? Not being able to disable dodge? No way to set your default team? Then in the end of your post you tell us how to do those exact things.

Yes - I do those things, by dint of finding and scanning through the config files by eye - why aren't they in the UI already?

The only real complaints there seem to be the UI and "busy" graphics. Well, UI sucks, but it's going to get better and better with patches. I think that for the most part, increased player visibility counters those busy enviroments. They are only problem in a few dark DM maps.

So, let me get this straight. The UI is pants and there are other issues but we need patches to make them right. Patches are usually released because of something that doesn't work right in the first place. (As enhancements are commonly known as addons) Why do we have to wait for patches to make a game work properly when past iterations of that game show that it works already. If it ain't broke, don't turn it into a console game.

And also, in one part you complain about UT3 going too far from the oldschool gameplay. Then you complain that UT3 is too fast and frantic. Usually oldschool gameplay, especially when talking about deathmatch games, IS considered fast and frantic. Slowing UT3 down and nerfing everything would be consolish. Making it faster and more hardcore doesn't sound like consoles to me?

The difference between old-skool and this is that in old-skool you killed, stopped & bragged, danced around while risking getting nailed and moved on. In UT3 you shoot whilst running, keep on running, never stop running until either a frag/time limit is reached or you are dead - and then you respawn running and wash rinse repeat. Hardcore does not mean simply ramping speed up so that running at 30mph is the norm.

At a LANparty playing UT I would expect to hear people shouting something along the lines of "Take that you fsker" and that almost carries true with the reactions of the bots in the game - here in UT3 I get no feeling from or for the bots or the gameplay.

As my wife said - the game has no soul. Nothing, nada. I just had more fun in UT-Hyperblast {Team Game, 3 bots red, me blue, GOTY weapons, translocater} than I have so far had in UT3 under any settings with any variations.

@Destini - wanting something new does not mean it has to be nothing but "never mind the gameplay - look at my polygon count". Take the weapons for example. For the most part they're the same as UT99, except that if they were real you'd need to be able to lift and carry a tank's weight of hardware instead of a large steamer trunk. So something new is the same weapons but massive bling hanging off 'em? Also, look at the armour the guys are toting. Same s*** just bigger and far heavier looking. I can't suspend disbelief enough to consider that I, a combat vet of some very nasty CTF matches would be able to take enough drugs to carry what seems to be 300lb of body jewellery.

I'm not saying this game is borked, nor am I saying it is s***, I just wonder why a great idea was consolised and then half-arsed dumped back to the PC, thereby needing patches to make it work properly.

FPS is all about having a great time - turning this into a driveby shooter (run-fire-run-fire) makes it just another run of the mill game, not part of the best game series (from Unreal onwards) ever made. If Epic puts the feeling, the soul, back into it then I'll ignore the shoddy UI and play on. Otherwise it might as well be a chromed up version of Daikatana with extra spinners.

NOTE: I've passed on other games entirely because of this consolisation process that seems so popular in the industry lately. One game got un-pre-ordered because part of it's content was a built in button-mashing speed section. Had sod all to do with playing a FPS but the console fans were too busy flaming the dissenters to see that. I say nuts to the consoles, we PC players are the hardcore and need our games to work like PC games - not this "games for windows" rubbish that M$ are slowly 360ing the PC with.

The only thing I'd like to see that is comparable on the different platforms is that PC/Xbox/PS? players can play the same multiplayer games together. Not for any sense of camaraderie mind you - just so the mouse & keyboard league can exterminate the joypad users wholesale.

(I've been writing and previewing this post long enough to read new posts coming through. @Chromeballz' first para sums things up nicely. Adds a few things I hadn't had time to get onto in the later text. Pretty game, not really a First Person Shooter anymore. I'll give this a few more runs and if it starts to leave a bad taste it gets uninstalled and shelved. Nice one Epic. £35 that I could've put into my new quad-core fund; at least the hardback piccy book is interesting.)

[Contra]

Out of all the legitimate complains one could have about the game, you managed to construct the most inane and irrelevant rant.

Most of your complains boils down to "I haven't met anyone who like to play the same way I do". The rest can be broken down into categories like "it doesn't works like in original ut" (that's because ut3 has never been supposed to be a remake of original ut and was never sold as such), ludicrous complains ("I prefer playing on blue team") and beating dead horses ("the ui sucks")

But essentially I'd say you're stuck into some original ut nostalgia and don't want to move on while everyone else did.

Thread over.

[4TX4]

ludicrous complains ("I prefer playing on blue team")

What's so 'ludicrous' about wanting to be able to switch teams like you could in the previous UTs? UT3 should have more options, not less.