from epic's forums

[zeus]

SuiciSpai: Hello, I represent the Spanish Unreal Tournament community (4unrealers.com) and we would like to ask you some questions we've been wondering about the new game in the series, with a planned release date for November. Maybe you remember us from a previous interview by Sarah Romero (Moon) in May 2002, regarding UT2003.

We are going to focus especially on the classic game modes, Team DeathMatch and CTF, game modes no other game seems to be willing to take over. We've realised that within all the released information, interviews, articles, etc., there is more information regarding game modes that include vehicles. Why is this?

Dave: The game modes that include vehicles are newer to the UT franchise then DM, TDM, and CTF, and correspondingly have more new content and are easier to talk about and show off. Since people generally know what to expect from the classic gametypes we don't generally focus on them as much in press releases. This certainly doesn't mean we aren't putting a lot of energy and focus into those gametypes from the development side, though.

SS:About the way we play the game, which armours will we see in UT3? 50 and 100 as in UT200x or will the shieldbelt also come back?

Dave: The shieldbelt, vest, and thighpads are making a return for UT3 with the addition of a helmet, which gives 20 armour plus protection from headshot damage while it lasts.

SS:Will there be any change in the way anti-gravity boots are used? Will there be any interesting change regarding UTGoty?

Dave: There are Jumpboots in UT3 that have 3 charges and activate when youdouble jump, so you can do a regular jump and not waste them. They were far too much fun not to make a return!

SS:When it comes to weapons, will they be more damaging than in the latter games? The primary shot in the shock weapon went from 60 to 45
life points from UTGoty to UT2003. Will this trend be followed in the new game?

Dave: Weapon damage has indeed returned to UT99 levels for UT3.

SS:About UTGoty, as it happened somehow in UT2004, there's some fusion in "two ways to see unreal", present in Unreal Classic, UTGOTY, and UT200x in this new title, however, fervent UTGoty players are not so convinced. What will UT3 do to convince them?

Dave:The feel of the physics, speed and weapon damage feel much more similar to UT99. Players are much less floaty and are more attached to the ground. You can still wall dodge and double jump in UT3, but you can't dodge-double jump and when you land from a double jump your momentum is slightly killed. This means you'll find yourself using double jumps to reach higher spots then you could with a single jump, but you won't want to double jump much while in actual combat.

SS:What could you tell us about skins in the game? Have you taken care so that people don't need to use the unsightly brightskins made by third parties? Is there much difference (for example, in size) among skins? Summing it up, in competitions (and out of them) will it be obligatory to force models and use brightskins?

Dave:We've been working really hard to deliver Next Gen detailed characters that both look cool and are easily seen, and I think we've accomplished that with a material shader that ups in saturation and brightness the further it gets from you. That way when the player is up close and visibility is not so much of an issue, they still look very cool, but at distance, when you can't notice details anyway, they brighten up to a nicely visible level.

SS:About maps, we know that those where vehicles are used will be huge, but what about CTF and DM? Will playability be favoured, without leaving aesthetics aside, over eye-candy? How will UT3 maps be in general?

Dave:I cannot lie, UT3 maps will be much more visually beautiful then UT99 or UT2k4. We have tried hard to balance visuals with great gameplay for this installment of UT. To give you an idea of how we are doing this, all maps start as 'shells' for UT3 which basically look just like UT99 levels -- all bsp, with almost no decoration. Just gameplay. At that point we will give each map many, many hours of playtesting with much
revision until we have something the team considers as fun as possible. At that point it is handed off to the visual team who make them look beautiful, while sticking to the original layout of the shell. After that, the levels again get handed back to the gameplay experts who will fix anything gameplay related that may have inadvertently broken during the visual pass, and all levels are basically encased in blocking volumes to ensure players do get 'snagged' on uneven mesh work. During that phase, again the levels receive a large amount of testing to ensure they stay as fun as possible. We have some awesome DM, TDM, and CTF levels. I think you'll be happy.

SS:This is a slightly "polemic" subject in CTF. CTF in UTGoty keeps being played quite much, both in public servers and in competitions, even after 7 years from it's appearance. The same does not apply for CTF in UT2003/4, which never took off completely, and many people think this is partially due to the teleport. Not long ago did we learn that the UT3 teleport will be the same, or very similar, to that in UT2004. Why would you stick to this teleport when the community doesn't seem to accept it?

Dave:The translocator changes weren't the only thing that hurt UT2k3-4 ctf. The shield, adrenylin and the much greater mobility all helped to turn CTF into more of a one-man show, rather then having to rely on teammates to help you escape with a flag. These problems are all gone, creating a ctf experience more similar to UT99, regardless of the translocator charge. That said the UT3 incarnation of the translocator is again more similar to the UT99 one. Yes, there is still a charge, but it is high enough and recharges fast enough that it most cases you will never run out moving from one end of a map to the other. When it will run out is if you spend a lot of time trying (unsuccessfully) to telefrag someone, or cases similar to that.


SS:Thank you very much for your time.

Dave:Any time. Hope you love the game!

Dave Ewing
Lead Level Designer
Epic Games

[DW_Hornet]

Why on earth would you make a game that has ONS/Warfare type huge outdoor maps and have something that amounts to a stronger shock rifle. It's already 45 damage per hit, "UT99 levels" it will be set at 60.

I also thought they were going to make it more "n00b friendly", This isn't a step in that direction.

[d2frob]

wooooot shocktastic

[kaeolian]

best learn not to get shot then lol will teach noobs how to move quickly lol.

[DW_ACY]

Holy crap I better work on my movement !!!! :gib:

[DW_Snaggle]

Oh great! So they're making it harder (again) to combat shock-whores & hitscan-freaks? Looks like one less item on the Xmas list. :hmph:

Snaggle.

[DW_WailofSuicide]

My interpretation of that statement was, "Yes, weapon damage has been increased in general" not, "Yes, the Shock primary does 60 damage now."

Besides, UT1's Shock Rifle fired something like every 1.1 seconds. A 30% increase in damage with a 50% decrease in firing speed isn't bad, particularly when it reduces Shocktaping.

[WHIPperSNAPper]

Oh great! So they're making it harder (again) to combat shock-whores & hitscan-freaks? Looks like one less item on the Xmas list. :hmph:

Like Wail said, the rate of fire will be decreased, perhaps returning it to the slower UT99 levels.

Having played both UT99 and UT2004, I think UT2004 is more hitscan dependent because of the floaty-dodgy movements and the shock rifle's rate of fire. Because of the dodgy movements, the best way to hit someone is with a hitscan weapon. In contrast, it's harder to hit with the flak because your target is dodging away.

Also, in UT99, the secondary shock ball moved faster, allowing you to hit your shock combos faster. The shock combo was less about spam and hitscan and more about prediction. But in UT 2004 the shock ball moves so slowly that your target may have dodged out of the way before you can get your combo off. This decreases the utility of the shock rifle and increases the reasons to use hitscan weapons.

Note that in UT99 the shock rifle was the primary weapon of skilled players and the main attack was the shock combo, though primary and ball spam were also used. (The other weapons were used as well, heavily, but they were more situational; the shock rifle was the all-purpose default weapon of choice.)

I think the hitscan aspects of UT 2004 are concealed in Onslaught because much of the fragging is done in vehicles and...quite frankly...many of the Onslaught players that I've seen on the public servers aren't real good on-foot regular weapons fraggers. Of course, it isn't an issue in Invasion since you fight monsters. However, on the occasions when I've visited CTF and Bombing Run servers, it's all hitscan. With the high shock rifle rate of fire and the floatiness, hitscan seems like the fastest way to kill.

Another factor might be the size of the maps. UT99 maps were much tighter so flak was more effective. Also, the minigun and secondary pulse rifle (aka, secondary link or flaming green penis) were also much more powerful, providing an alternative to hitscan weapons.

I'm encouraged by this interview. Perhaps UT3 will be the long awaited UT99-2 -- what all the UT99 players wanted before the disappointing UT 2003 caused them to abandon the franchise in disgust.

[WHIPperSNAPper]

Oh great! So they're making it harder (again) to combat shock-whores & hitscan-freaks? Looks like one less item on the Xmas list. :hmph:

Like Wail said, the rate of fire will be decreased, perhaps returning it to the slower UT99 levels.

Having played both UT99 and UT2004, I think UT2004 is more hitscan dependent because of the floaty-dodgy movements and the shock rifle's rate of fire. Because of the dodgy movements, the best way to hit someone is with a hitscan weapon. In contrast, it's harder to hit with the flak because your target is dodging away.

Also, in UT99, the secondary shock ball moved faster, allowing you to hit your shock combos faster. The shock combo was less about spam and hitscan and more about prediction. But in UT 2004 the shock ball moves so slowly that your target may have dodged out of the way or changed directions before you can get your combo off. This decreases the utility of the shock rifle and increases the reasons to use hitscan weapons.

Note that in UT99 the shock rifle was the primary weapon of skilled players and the main attack was the shock combo, though primary and ball spam were also used. (The other weapons were used as well, heavily, but they were more situational; the shock rifle was the all-purpose default weapon of choice.)

I think the hitscan aspects of UT 2004 are concealed in Onslaught because much of the fragging is done in vehicles and...quite frankly...many of the Onslaught players that I've seen on the public servers aren't real good on-foot regular weapons fraggers. Of course, it isn't an issue in Invasion since you fight monsters. However, on the occasions when I've visited CTF and Bombing Run servers, it's all hitscan. With the high shock rifle rate of fire and the floatiness, hitscan seems like the fastest way to kill.

Another factor might be the size of the maps. UT99 maps were much tighter so flak was more effective. Also, the minigun and secondary pulse rifle (aka, secondary link or flaming green penis) were also much more powerful, providing an alternative to hitscan weapons.

I'm encouraged by this interview. Perhaps UT3 will be the long awaited UT99-2 -- what all the UT99 players wanted before the disappointing UT 2003 caused them to abandon the franchise in disgust.

[DW_WailofSuicide]

I'd prefer that they not "nerf" the Shock Rifle anyway -- I don't feel like the Shock Rifle is particularly overpowered, I'd rather have most of the other weapons beefed up. Either way, let's face it, the Shock Rifle is UT's signature weapon, and if it's a little too versatile I don't mind so much. I just want the other weapons to have enough of an edge that they're always useful in the appropriate situation.