Thinking about getting back (kind of) in to UT
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:35 pm
Hi!
My (real) name is Kamil and I'm thinking about starting playing UT, but I have some questions about state of the game first. I'm 30, a father, work full time, run a website and work as a writer of products descriptions for friends shop in spare time, trying to learn java. So as you can see I don't have much time on my hands for videogames, however I have this "arena shooter itch" I cannot shake off.
Back in the day I have played a lot of Quakeworld online, but always only casually. I loved the game and still love it for fast paced action and great movement, but my skills are rusty and I wouldn't bunnyhop my way out of paper bag nowadays. I know people in current (small but active) community do have very high skill and it would be hard to keep up with them without regular practice. So I won't even try to get back, I know the taste of RL in to the face all too well, haha.
The reason why I like QW is not only the speed of gameplay, but even more importantly, the purity of it. The physics, the weapons, the rules and even set of maps are untouchable, sacred things. You can alter the look of the game as you wish, using console commands, custom HUD, skins, even texture packs for maps. But QW community very rarely use gameplay altering mods. To the point that nailgun, a crap gun which is worse than starting shotgun, is still left untouched.
While I like mods, I don't really like chaotic approach present in original Doom games and netQuake communities, where it feels like most of the servers are running different mods which alter the game to the point it's nowhere near original gameplay. I don't mind gameplay enhancing mods like brightskins, new modes like clan arena or instagib or quality custom maps with balanced gameplay, but when you'll throw in like 100 imbalanced weapons, some game-breaking powerups and have playlist filled with half baked glitchy maps, this is not my idea of fun.
I have played UT back in the day when it came out, but always on LAN with friends or with bots. I am familiar with basics of movement, how guns work and I think I still remember layout and spawn points on Deck 16, but not the items spawn times (never learned them in the first place). I have played with some mods/mutators like Chaos UT and Relics, liked the twist they gave but been put off by things like excessive weapons (or whatever it was called) and neo cario. Thievery was great, thought, but because it was basically a whole different game.
If you haven't fallen asleep by this point, I have some questions for you:
1. How active is UT community? Is it hard to find pub game of TDM or CTF (my favourite game modes)? I don't think I can invest time in to pickup games, as I won't have time to play regularly.
2. Do you girls and guys play mostly "clean" UT or mod the game to hell on most active servers?
3. Are there maps which are essential (apart from Deck) and played most of the time or you simply don't care after 18 years and load your servers with dozens of custom maps of varying quality?
4. Is there a place for noob like me, who most likely won't have time to play more than a hour of two per week?
5. Can I use my Unreal Anthology CD to install the game or is it better to buy on Steam/gog? Do digital releases contain any significant tweaks over original release when it comes to compatibility with Win10? I'm aware that there is a guide to proper setup of UT, I just want to know what would be the most hassle-free starting point.
6. Is physics tied to FPS in UT like in Quake games? Aka are some of jumps not possible unless you hit certain number of frames per second? In QW physics FPS used by new source ports was 77, in Q3 number was 120 I think. I'm asking because I game on 60hz TV, most of the time with gamepad in hand. Of course I plan to use K+M for UT but I'm so used to v-sync without ugly frame tearing artifacts I'll rather use v-sync which will lock frame rate down to 60hz. In many single player games I even go for 30 vsync if I cannot hit consistent 60. If running at really high frame rate is necessary nowadays, I'm sure my PC will fare just fine, with 1050Ti on board. Just wondering if settling at my screen refresh rate will put me at disavantage.
The reason for all of this is because I feel UT is a classic I've never gave a go properly and that it put more emphasis on tactics and in-combat movement (dodging) than going as fast as possible around the map and trickjumps like Quake games. This should allow me to at least have decent fun without having to build up muscle memory required to bunnyhop/strafe jumping, which takes a lot of practice - in QW there was no "hard" jump I couldn't pull off, but after 3 years break I can barely build up my speed... Also, I'm looking for a shooter from simpler times as I'm allergic to cosmetics items, hats, paid skins (I always forced player model to one which fits hitbox best tbh), lootboxes, XP progression, hero-shooters, irrelevant classes (last class based game I've liked was Wolfenstein ET), pay to win, shoehorned MOBA elements, 100 players on poorly designed map idiocy and so on. What I'm looking for is a game with solid gameplay foundation, good depth and consistency. What do you say? Is modern UT a home I'm looking for?
My (real) name is Kamil and I'm thinking about starting playing UT, but I have some questions about state of the game first. I'm 30, a father, work full time, run a website and work as a writer of products descriptions for friends shop in spare time, trying to learn java. So as you can see I don't have much time on my hands for videogames, however I have this "arena shooter itch" I cannot shake off.
Back in the day I have played a lot of Quakeworld online, but always only casually. I loved the game and still love it for fast paced action and great movement, but my skills are rusty and I wouldn't bunnyhop my way out of paper bag nowadays. I know people in current (small but active) community do have very high skill and it would be hard to keep up with them without regular practice. So I won't even try to get back, I know the taste of RL in to the face all too well, haha.
The reason why I like QW is not only the speed of gameplay, but even more importantly, the purity of it. The physics, the weapons, the rules and even set of maps are untouchable, sacred things. You can alter the look of the game as you wish, using console commands, custom HUD, skins, even texture packs for maps. But QW community very rarely use gameplay altering mods. To the point that nailgun, a crap gun which is worse than starting shotgun, is still left untouched.
While I like mods, I don't really like chaotic approach present in original Doom games and netQuake communities, where it feels like most of the servers are running different mods which alter the game to the point it's nowhere near original gameplay. I don't mind gameplay enhancing mods like brightskins, new modes like clan arena or instagib or quality custom maps with balanced gameplay, but when you'll throw in like 100 imbalanced weapons, some game-breaking powerups and have playlist filled with half baked glitchy maps, this is not my idea of fun.
I have played UT back in the day when it came out, but always on LAN with friends or with bots. I am familiar with basics of movement, how guns work and I think I still remember layout and spawn points on Deck 16, but not the items spawn times (never learned them in the first place). I have played with some mods/mutators like Chaos UT and Relics, liked the twist they gave but been put off by things like excessive weapons (or whatever it was called) and neo cario. Thievery was great, thought, but because it was basically a whole different game.
If you haven't fallen asleep by this point, I have some questions for you:
1. How active is UT community? Is it hard to find pub game of TDM or CTF (my favourite game modes)? I don't think I can invest time in to pickup games, as I won't have time to play regularly.
2. Do you girls and guys play mostly "clean" UT or mod the game to hell on most active servers?
3. Are there maps which are essential (apart from Deck) and played most of the time or you simply don't care after 18 years and load your servers with dozens of custom maps of varying quality?
4. Is there a place for noob like me, who most likely won't have time to play more than a hour of two per week?
5. Can I use my Unreal Anthology CD to install the game or is it better to buy on Steam/gog? Do digital releases contain any significant tweaks over original release when it comes to compatibility with Win10? I'm aware that there is a guide to proper setup of UT, I just want to know what would be the most hassle-free starting point.
6. Is physics tied to FPS in UT like in Quake games? Aka are some of jumps not possible unless you hit certain number of frames per second? In QW physics FPS used by new source ports was 77, in Q3 number was 120 I think. I'm asking because I game on 60hz TV, most of the time with gamepad in hand. Of course I plan to use K+M for UT but I'm so used to v-sync without ugly frame tearing artifacts I'll rather use v-sync which will lock frame rate down to 60hz. In many single player games I even go for 30 vsync if I cannot hit consistent 60. If running at really high frame rate is necessary nowadays, I'm sure my PC will fare just fine, with 1050Ti on board. Just wondering if settling at my screen refresh rate will put me at disavantage.
The reason for all of this is because I feel UT is a classic I've never gave a go properly and that it put more emphasis on tactics and in-combat movement (dodging) than going as fast as possible around the map and trickjumps like Quake games. This should allow me to at least have decent fun without having to build up muscle memory required to bunnyhop/strafe jumping, which takes a lot of practice - in QW there was no "hard" jump I couldn't pull off, but after 3 years break I can barely build up my speed... Also, I'm looking for a shooter from simpler times as I'm allergic to cosmetics items, hats, paid skins (I always forced player model to one which fits hitbox best tbh), lootboxes, XP progression, hero-shooters, irrelevant classes (last class based game I've liked was Wolfenstein ET), pay to win, shoehorned MOBA elements, 100 players on poorly designed map idiocy and so on. What I'm looking for is a game with solid gameplay foundation, good depth and consistency. What do you say? Is modern UT a home I'm looking for?