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Epic Chat Log

August 26, 1999
(thanks Devistater)

Session Start: Fri Aug 27 01:25:10 1999
* Logging #chatroom to: [unreal tourney #chatroom.log]
*** AV-Brian sets mode: +m
<AV-David> Let's officially begin the chat.
<AV-David> GT Interactive and Epic Games' Unreal Tournament is one of the most anticipated computer games of 1999.
<AV-David> The reasons range from Tim Sweeney's stunning 3D graphics technology to Brandon Reinhart's revolutionary user interface to the innovative deathmatch and team-based modes.
<AV-David> And did we mention AI guru Steve Polge has invested the computer-controlled opponents with such fierce intelligence, you will swear they have a pulse?
<AV-David> Add to that map designer Cliff Bleszinski's spectacularly molded environments and James Schmalz's typically gorgeous art, and this is one of the must-have 3D action titles of the year.
<AV-David> We are nothing less than thrilled to welcome members of Epic Games' Unreal Tournament team to tonight's Adrenaline Vault Developer Chat.
<AV-David> We also want to thank everyone for attending.
<AV-David> To start with, we are going to moderate the chat. This means you will not be able to type directly into the chat window. Send your questions to one of the AVault ops and we will post it for everyone to see. Be patient, as we anticipate a lot of questions.
<AV-David> Epic developers, please change your nicknames to EPIC-<alias>.
Thank you!
<AV-David> Let's begin with the members of the Unreal Tournament team introducing themselves. Just a little something on who you are and what your position is on the team.
<EPIC-Alan> I'm Alan Willard, level designer.
<EPIC-CliffyB> Cliff, I do maps and pimp the game and stuff.
<EPIC-Dave> Dave, I level design and am sound guy
<EPIC-Inoxx> i'm inoxx , level design
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> I'm James Schmalz and I do whaterver it takes to get the game done.
<AV-David> We are currently getting the Epic staff +m so be a little patient and we'll start with the questions in a moment
<EPIC-Erik> I am Erik de Neve, coder, did things like algorithmic textures and model LOD and software renderer.
<AV-Brian> <Skot> Will scorch marks and blood splatters make it into UT?
<AV-David> All right, here we go with the questions
<EPIC-Mek> I'm Jack Porter - I did the UI for UT, plus a lot of other little stuff
<EPIC-Mek> Skot- Only bullet holes I'm afriad.
<AV-David> Will a PIII be required to play UT properly?
<EPIC_Steve> Jack also wrote the demo recording code
<EPIC-Mek> steve: the *GOOD NEW* demo recording code :-)
<EPIC-Alan> No, a PIII is not ar requirement
<AV-David> <Hugo> When will we see another UT movie?
<EPIC-Mek> i wrote the bad old stuff too
<EPIC_Steve> I have a P2-400 and it works great
<EPIC-Tim> UT works good on Pentium II's, and o.k. (not great) on plain old MMX's
<EPIC-Inoxx> Unreal is working extremely well on my celeron
<EPIC-CliffyB> Mark is working on a movie but who knows if he'll have time to get it done before we ship!
<AV-Jason> <Entropy> Is there a new version of UnrealED that is being used to create UT, and if so, will it be shipped with the game upon release?
<AV-David> <arbitrage> Ask tim when the new editor will be released and what new features will be in it
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> I'm currently running UT on a Voodoo1 PII system and it's great.
<EPIC-Alan> Its the same version as was released with Unreal
<EPIC_Steve> We recently added some dynamic detail adjustment (different from the LOD code) which really improves the lowest frame rates
<AV-Brian> Anyone who changes their nick in an attempt to get voice will be banned.
<EPIC-Tim> We're creating UT with the current publically available version of UnrealEd. A C++ rewrite is also in the works, but not ready for use yet.
<AV-David> <oogna> when will UT be released?
<EPIC-Mek> <silence>
<EPIC-Mek> :-)
<EPIC-Pancho> hehe
<EPIC-CliffyB> UT will be done Soon.
<AV-David> <eVOLVE> Q from eVOLVE: How does the demo recording now work? Is it done so you can fly around, or first person perspecive like other games?
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> We are just hammering out the last few bugs.
<EPIC-Alan> Mek, that's yours
<AV-David> <PU-Mongo> can you expand on what dynamic detail adjustment is, and how it differs from model LOD?
<EPIC-Mek> eVolve: you have the option of both. You can now record a game from a netwok client in first person view and it's exactly as it looks when you recorded it. So you can make your own demos of you playing on someone elses server
<AV-Brian> <zerozombie> will UT support peer to peer networks?
<EPIC_Steve> When the frame rate drops below a predetermined threshold which you can set in the advanced options (default for fast systems is 30), dynamic detail adjustment kicks in
<AV-David> Force> Q: Will UT support DirectX 7's new features via a patch?
To what extent (if at all) do you plan to support hardware accelerated T&L?
Will you support D3D's T&L and OGL's T&L? Also, maybe you could briefly explain the difficulties in modifying the current T&L structure to work with these APIs.
<EPIC-Mek> zero: no, tcp/ip only. Direct Cable Connect and dialup networking is the best way to support that.
<EPIC-Tim> Yes, you can have your machine be both a client and a server at the same time. That's ok for up to 4-players, for more you should use a dedicated server.
<AV-Jason> <UFD-Thrash123> Will Unreal mods be easily portable to UT? Also, will there be any major code changes?
<EPIC_Steve> It tries to reduce the optional actors (e.g. thinks like smoke puffs) in a subtle way that you don't notice during heavy combat
<AV-Brian> <jp2010> is UT shipping with the Unreal textures for sure?
<EPIC_Steve> Dm-Morbias used to bottom out at 13 fps on my system w/ 16 bots and heavy combat, now the lowest it ever goes is 26 fps
<EPIC-Tim> Porting an Unreal mod to UT should be pretty straightforward. There have been a lot of improvements, but most of the structure is intact.
<EPIC-Inoxx> UT contain Unreal 1 textures
<AV-David> <Quedex> q1- Has been the network code rewritten since patch 224? is it now even better?
<EPIC-Alan> Yes it is
<AV-Brian> <Lanlost> What does UT offer for mod makers, still script based or is there any dll, etc?
<EPIC-Mek> lanlost: still script based. Very similar to unreal's environment.
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> UT netperformance rocks now.
<EPIC_Steve> Since 224 we added client side weapons, and significant improvement for connections with high packet loss
<EPIC-Mek> like unreal1 you can make dlls but most of the time you don't need to.
<AV-Jason> <BEE-MAN> What games are the guys at epic looking forward to playing the most? from a new tech standpoint
<EPIC-Tim> The network code has been seriously overhauled since then, both the low level stuff (my code), and Steve's work on high-level client side weapons and improved player prediction.
<EPIC-Alan> Diablo II, Deus Ex
<EPIC-Mek> bee-man: we were all blown away by how cool Halo looked when the movie came out... but it's a long way off
<EPIC-CliffyB> BEE-MAN: HALO looks r0ckful.
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> TF2 will be cool
<EPIC-Mek> deus ex looks cool
<EPIC-Inoxx> halo, DNF , Quake3, Deus EX
<AV-Brian> <hack> Fov question- in UT will you be able to create a zoom alias?
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> Yeah, HALO looks great!
<AV-David> The questions are coming fast and furious, so be patient and we will do our best to fit everyone in.
<EPIC_Steve> Wheel of Time looks beautiful
<EPIC-Pancho> DNF,Q3
<EPIC-Inoxx> SS2 and king pin (not available in france yet)
<AV-David> <superfilbert> the original game was running smooth on my 166mmx and voodoo2.will this specifications also be acceptable for UT?
<EPIC-CliffyB> I just beat System Shock 2 and it gave me wood.
<EPIC-Mek> super: the performance should be similar. if you're happy with unreal on your 166/voodoo2, you should be with UT
<AV-David> <arbitrage> are you going to include huge texture support for other 3dcards any time in the future?
<EPIC-Pancho> yes sytemshock2 is very cool
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> David - UT is a bit more memory intensive thant Unreal, but other than that you will get similar or better performance.
<AV-David> <Mi21kE> Will the ued interface be really differnent or just minor changes?
<EPIC_Steve> UT has a lot of performance improvements, but also higher poly counts and more effects - overall it about balances out
<AV-Jason> <oogna> Will there be a demo before UT comes out, and if so, what month is the demo coming out?
<EPIC-Alan> There haven't been any noticable interface changes to UnrealEd at all.
<EPIC-Mek> arbitage: the second CD will contain s3 textures
<AV-Brian> PT-willhaven> can we get some info on the ][ maps... i hear theres a curse][, morbias][, and deck16][... got a list of redone maps and what kind of stuff was added?
<EPIC-Inoxx> UED is the same with very little changes (to support the new game types)
<EPIC-Alan> One nice thing is the ability to remove a texture from the level to save on memory costs.
<EPIC-Pancho> Yes a demo will be out before UT hits the shelves
<AV-Jason> <Vito`> Is everything still on track for releasing a full Linux client with UT?
<EPIC-CliffyB> PT-willhaven: Just those 3 maps. New textures, some pathing improvements, lighting improvements, new guns, more balance, etc...
<EPIC-Tim> A 166 won't be very good for UT. You might consider it playable with the detail options turned down, but most of us don't. :)
<AV-David> <PT-Old_Grendel> Tim, I've heard your gonna drop Glide in future engines. Is this true?
<EPIC-Inoxx> Some successfull maps of unreal have been redone in UT but it'so nly 3 maps , the game contain 40+ brand new levels
<EPIC-Alan> We plan on releasing the Demo when we go gold.
<AV-Brian> <Greenbean> Question: Steve, you mentioned in a recent interview that you were more happy with the Unreal Tournament Bots, in what way can we expect to see differences?
<EPIC-Mek> vito: Brandon got the sound driver basically working today
<EPIC-Tim> The new UnrealEd will contain minor visual changes. The big improvements are behind the scenes: improved stability, much more verastile import/export/plugin interface.
<EPIC-Mek> vito: that was the major outstanding item. it might not be ready quite in time for the gold CD tho
<EPIC_Steve> They seem a lot more human than the Unreal I bots, and they can do a lot more different things
<AV-Brian> Devistate> question: Will Epic actively support the mod community as Valve is doing? (eg. valve has even released patches to address some mod issues)
<EPIC_Steve> They also understand more complex strategies, which is especially important for the team games
<EPIC-CliffyB> Steve's UT bots are much cooler than the Unreal1 bots, especially on the varying difficulties! Easier bots are easier, they play like newbies, and harder bots play like seasoned veterens.
<EPIC-Pancho> They (the bots) are awesome!
<EPIC-Inoxx> Av : bots are smarter , easy to configure with new abilities like camping and things like that , you can configure them in the interface , of course all the game types are supported with bots (assault , ctf , domination) you can also configure the look , faces ...
<EPIC-Tim> The next-generation engine will support multi-vendor API's only: Direct3D and OpenGL, no Glide.
<AV-David> <Preacher> have Epic got anything to do with DNF at all?
<EPIC_Steve> We have and will continue to address mod maker concerns in patches when necessary.
<AV-Brian> <Preacher> What Unreal engine games will be on show at ECTS?
<AV-Jason> <Enrage>Will unreal tourney be more costly because of the 2 cd factor? Or is that for the publisher to decide?
<EPIC-Inoxx> DNF uses the unreal engine
<EPIC-Alan> The ability to confige the bots makes a major difference, such as making them more accurate, giving them a favorite weapon, etc... it all helps the bots play better.
<EPIC_Steve> A lot of the changes made to scripts in UT was to improve the support for mod makers.
<EPIC-CliffyB> Preacher: It is up to each developer as to which Unreal engine games will be shown anywhere, not us. :)
<EPIC-Mek> enrage: i don't think the second CD will alter the price.....
cds are cheap to press
<AV-David> <Kewl_ness> I sthe player animation ging to be a smooth as the recently released TF2 movies, like the spy for example.
<AV-Brian> <[FGC]_Hiltono> You released the promo material over here in the UK about 5 months ago and told people it would be done soon, things soon went quiet and thats really been it over here. Do you thing the sucess of UT will be affected by this??
<EPIC-Tim> We've added a ton of new features to UT in support of mods (such as mutators, UI framework, tons of hooks for mods). We'll be doing more after release if there's demand from mod makers.
<AV-David> <R4> Will 3DNOW! tech. be implemented? or will UT be for the p3's owners?
<EPIC-CliffyB> [FGC]_Hiltono: Unreal did extremely well in Europe and we anticipate UT doing well also.
<EPIC-Tim> DNF is 3DRealms' gig. We're very excited about it, but haven't seen anything other than what's been released to the public.
<EPIC-Mek> fgc- i don't think so. we've really spent the time polishing ut
<AV-Jason> <Viper[LM]> Is the Epic team concerned the Q3A has had a demo out so early and is gaining so much support?
<EPIC-Tim> The price of UT will be very reasonable. The second CD adds under 30 cents to the manufacturing cost, so don't worry.
<EPIC-CliffyB> Viper[LM]: Q3 hasn't released a demo. They've released "tests."
<AV-David> <PU-Mongo> Are the improvements that one sees using s3 textures enough to use a savage4? Or would you recommend going with a tnt2 or voodoo3?
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> Any of those cards are great.
<EPIC-Tim> We already have support for 3DNow (Unreal 1 shipped with it) but the gain is only a few percentage points.
<AV-David> <MC-alien8> Have any of the Epics boys played the currently available FATBOY mod, and if so, is it close to what the fatboy mutator will be like?
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> UT kicks ass on all those cards, you won't be disappointed with any of them.
<EPIC-Inoxx> S3TC visual are extremely impressive but you won't get insane 70+ fps with that board, the image quality is clearly superior tho
<EPIC-Mek> mc-alien8 - haven't played it but it looks similar
<AV-Brian> <Antony> OK... Let's compare UT to Quake 3 and Team Fortress II... What the aspects that will make of UT the best FPS ever?
<EPIC-Pancho> The bots without a doubt
<EPIC-Mek> antony: single player
<EPIC-CliffyB> Antony: UT has the best combination of fast deathmatch and teamplay that I've yet seen. The weapons are balanced, the control is dead on, the levels have tons of variety, and the AI is top notch.
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> UT has a lot of depth and configurability and the bots rock.
<AV-David> <Kakaroto> will the bots be able to learn user created levels, or will it be like unreal where you had to put in nav points?
<EPIC-Inoxx> bots still use Nav points
<AV-David> <oogna> What are your guys favorite weapon in UT?
<EPIC-Alan> Enhanced Shock Rifle
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> The Shock Rifle
<EPIC-Pancho> Redeemer
<EPIC-CliffyB> oogna: FLAK CANNON and ROCKET LAUNCHER baby
<EPIC-Pancho> hehe
<EPIC-CliffyB> Anyone who says Shock Rifle is a wanker!
<EPIC-Inoxx> i love the biorifle
<AV-Brian> Sole> you developed UT to be an online game. What about gamers in old europe who hasn't a decent connection? Which connection do you think will make the game playable?
<EPIC-Alan> That's cause you get yer ass kicked with it.
<EPIC-Dave> IMPACT HAMMER!!!
<EPIC-Mek> we have a single-player ladder with bots playing dm and team games (both on yourt team and the enemy team), progressing through a series of more difficult levels.
<AV-Jason> <Preacher> Will there be a dedicated server release for server admins? And if so, will it be released prior to the game, like Valve did with their ˝life server
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> It isn't an online game.
<EPIC-Mek> it is a full single player, and not a "practice with bots" arrangement
<EPIC_Steve> UT wasn't developed as an online game. Its a single player game with a great multiplayer capability.
<AV-David> <Antony> Technologically, Unreal is of an unbeatable complexity at the moment and many people think that Tim Sweeney is the "second great genious" of the industry after John Carmack. What do you think about this?
<EPIC-Pancho> It's not made for just the online community..
<EPIC-CliffyB> EPIC_Steve: WORD!
<EPIC-Alan> yes, we want to stress that... It is NOT an online-onle game.
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> It's equally split between single player and multiplayer, but we definately spent more time on the single player aspect.
<EPIC-Inoxx> the game is designed with both MP and SP in mind , on the internet , 28.8 is the minimum for a playable game
<EPIC-Tim> We'll be setting up some "early access" program for server admins very shortly before UT hits the shelves, but we don't have any details yet (please don't email us about it till we announce something)
<EPIC-Mek> preacher: we're going to do a server program but the details aren't fully decided yet
<AV-Brian> <Vito`> For Tim, will there be dynamic array support in UnrealScript in UT?
<EPIC-CliffyB> Antony: I think Tim is a smart assed mofo who wears l33t socks and works his ass off.
<EPIC-Mek> vito: i wish!
<AV-Jason> <some> are you planning on adding/changing anything after UT comes out for a period, or just move immediately to the next project?
<AV-Brian> Pianist> for Tim: Why didn't you add support for more than one weapon poly to facilitate dual enforcers on 3rd person playermodels?
<EPIC-Tim> 28.8K is fine for UT gameplay.
<EPIC-Tim> UnrealScript won't support dynamic arrays in the UT timeframe...next engine will have lots of cool new datatypes though.
<EPIC-Mek> pianist: we will have a full attachement system for the next engine, but not for UT.
<AV-Brian> <UFD-Thrash123> With the Linux UT, if it doesnt make it on the CD, how exactly will UT get running on linux? will it be a downloadable patch, etc etc.
<EPIC-Mek> ufd: yes it'll be a downloadable patch/installer, if it doesn't make it onto cd2.
<AV-David> <quitedown> How does the network code in UT on modem play compared to network code in quake3 modem play? Is it better?
<EPIC-Mek> the linux server will be available from day 1
<EPIC-Tim> The weapon polygon support isn't extensible because we never had time to really focus on it. In the future, we're moving to Erik's new skeletal code, which will support arbitrary attachments to bones, and solve all those problems.
<AV-Brian> <Postal> Tim, what new technologies do you definitely want in the next-generation Epic engine?
<EPIC-Inoxx> i'm sure he wants terrain :)
<EPIC-Mek> WE ALL WANT TERRAIN :-)
<AV-Jason> <Entropy> I heard that the next release of the Unreal Engine will do away with BSP... will this be incoporated into UT or is it for future games yet to be created?
<AV-David> Please hold off onsubmitting new questions for a few minutes.
I'll indicate when we have cleared our current queue.
<EPIC-Tim> I don't want to go hyping the next engine's features yet, I think hyping one unreleased product at a time is enough. :-)
<AV-David> I actually agree with that approach
<AV-David> <Voltaic> I was speaking with Mark Adams about a mac version of UnrealEd the other day... Does the C++ version have any potential for portability?
<AV-Brian> <Andrew> Is model importing for UT the same as Unreal, or has it changed since then?
<EPIC-Mek> andrew: the same as unreal 1
<AV-David> <Quedex> we heard of a Playstation2 Unreal version, what about UT? would be possible to create a network game between PC and Console?
<EPIC-Tim> The UT engine is BSP-based.
<EPIC-Tim> The new C++ UnrealEd is still heavily based on Windows, so it would be a bitch to port. Editor portability is something we're really considering for the next project.
<AV-David> <simong> are there any plans to support the bump mapping of the G400 card?
<AV-Brian> <jp2010> how long until your next engine comes out?
<AV-David> Please hold off onsubmitting new questions for a few minutes.
I'll indicate when we have cleared our current queue.
<AV-Jason> <PT-Old_Grendel> How does the chainsaw play? I've heard you had to use a mutator to use it.
<EPIC-Tim> G400 bump mapping: it's cool, but we're not doing anything with it in the UT timeframe. We might in the future, but that approach will eventually be superceded by other approaches.
<EPIC-JamesSchmalz> Grendel, yes, its a mutator option.
<EPIC-Mek> pt-old_grendel: level designers can place chainsaws in their maps
<EPIC-Pancho> yeah, you'll use it through a mutator
<AV-David> <arbitrage> will ducking change your collision radius noticed in unreal ducking was just visual
<EPIC-Mek> but we've decided not to
<AV-Brian> <PT-willhaven> what do you guys want to do in terms of node/poly counts in the next engine?
<EPIC-Mek> so to use the chainsaw you just configure your mutators
<EPIC-Alan> The chainsaw replaces the impact hammer as the melee weapon.
<EPIC-Alan> node/poly: oh, about a million :)
<AV-Brian> <eVOLVE> Are there gonna be lots more game modes than those mentioned? Perhaps just for botmatch, or online games... How about things like 'Tag' where one person is 'it' and has to kill someone to pass it on... you get points for every 10 secs you avoid being 'it'. (Just an idea)
<EPIC-Pancho> hehehe
<EPIC-Alan> that's what we WANT to do.
<EPIC_Steve> Ducking affects your profile for getting shot, but not your collision box for colliding with geometry
<AV-David> <|SOD|relentless> Is the UT Aninmation more realistic? ex: they don't skate(slide) like in Unreal
<EPIC-Mek> evolve: Deathmatch, domination, ctf, assault, last man standing, team dm, instagib dm are the gametypes we will ship with.
<EPIC_Steve> We have strafing animations in UT, which improves the look of running a lot
<AV-Jason> <Coren> what kind of copy protection is included in UT?
<EPIC-Alan> As well as a running in reverse anim, which helps too.
<EPIC-Mek> there are some other mini-gametypes available by using mutators.... something like what you mentioned could be implemented pretty easily by a modmaker
<AV-Brian> <Skot> Will a full decal implementation make into UT via a patch?
<EPIC-Alan> Then there are combinations of mutators which can completely change the way a game is played.
<EPIC-CliffyB> Skot: Doubt it.
<AV-David> <MC-alien8> Tim - the question you've heard a thousand times....
Is 226 close?
<EPIC-Alan> Such as Stealth and Insta-Gib CTF.
<EPIC-Mek> skot: full decals is something we want to get into the engine. it's a possibility.
<AV-Jason> <S0undwave> Question: Are the bots intelligent enough to pilot the Redeemer projectile?
<EPIC-Pancho> Steve?
<AV-Brian> BoBVila> Will the harder UT bots do things like jump erratically down corridors unlike Unreal?
<EPIC-CliffyB> BoBVila: You can set them to have jumpy behaviour and they'll jump like crazy players if you want. :)
<EPIC-Pancho> You can set their 'jumpy' behaviour...
<EPIC-Mek> bobvilla: yes! One of the (many) things you can do is enable jumpy behavior
<EPIC-Alan> Which makes them VERY hard to hit!
<EPIC-Tim> We're focusing on finishing UT right now. There will be another Unreal 1 patch (227 or whatever) but I don't have a date.
<AV-Brian> <superfilbert> if there is any,what are the specifications you had to leave out in UT, and which of them would you like to include most in future projects?
<AV-David> <Mas> is there a mutator that changes the game into a "Matrix" sort of style, that is, slow motion, low gravity, etc?
<EPIC-Alan> LowGrav.
<EPIC-Tim> Still investigation copy protection & cd check issues.
<EPIC-CliffyB> You can adjust the speed to if you want.
<EPIC-Mek> there is a screen to configure the individual bots' properties
<EPIC-Alan> You can also set the game speed in the server setup.
<AV-Jason> <Mi21kE> Will the bots be able to be used in sp ex. part of your team they act against the enemy?
<EPIC-Alan> Yes
<AV-David> <PU-Mongo> would erik's skeletal animation system be given as an addon to mod authors after UT is released? or would it be reserveed exclusively for the next engine?
<AV-Brian> <Pain_Supplier> Will UT be released for Dreamcast?
<EPIC-Dave> Mas: there is actually a map calle "DM-Morpeus"
<EPIC-Mek> mas: you can use the gamespeed and lowgrav mutators to setup a matrix gametype, but we have a lowgrav map called morpheus
<EPIC-Alan> The team games are all set up like that, where you become part of a team.
<EPIC-Mek> which Dave made. it rocks
<EPIC-Alan> You can order your teammates to assist you, defend, attack, and other things.
<AV-David> <UTFAN2000> Volumetric grass: in or out?
<EPIC-Inoxx> in ... a few years
<AV-David> <[Shizo]> to anyone: how big (kb-size) is an average map in UT and does UT take as long to load as Unreal?
<EPIC-Pancho> UTFAN2000: out for now
<AV-David> <Kakaroto> will there be an option to play mp3 files in UT?
<AV-Brian> <Dawk> are there any plans of adding multiprocessor support to UT?
<EPIC-Mek> we have volumetric grass, but it's outside the office, and not in the game.
<EPIC-CliffyB> OK I gotta boogie. seeya!
<AV-David> hahaha!
<EPIC-Alan> about 2.5 meg
<EPIC-Tim> Our volumetric grass algorithms are still being debugged :-)
<AV-Jason> <PT-Old_Grendel> Do the light coronas still shine through the walls like in Unreal?
<EPIC-Mek> kakaroto: there are licensing issues with releasing commercial products with mp3 support apparently. galaxy (our sound library) has support for mp3s in an upcoming version.
<EPIC-Tim> Coronas don't shine thru walls, but they do show through models.
<EPIC-Inoxx> coronas don't shine thru walls , just characters
<AV-Jason> <Burpfish> Is the Dopefish going to appear in UT or be mention about? Come on Cliff just add him in somewhere.
<EPIC-Mek> but like it might not be possible to release it due to the licensing issues
<AV-Brian> <Antony> When you see a good competing 3D Shooters (like Quake II and Half Life) do you aim at making something more or something different? In other words, are you for evolution or for innovation in this genre?
<EPIC-Pancho> <Antony> a nice balance between the two
<AV-David> <R4> Will you be able to play MP3's in UT?
<EPIC-Mek> r4: read up, i replied tot his
<EPIC-Alan> Its a mix of both evolution and innovation. We can hardly say we're not influenced by what we see, especially competing products.
<AV-David> all right, if you have any more questions, send them in. Chat will last 15 more minutes
<AV-Brian> <Coren> what kind of copy protection will be included with UT?
<EPIC-Tim> No MP3 playing. We'd like to do this, but the company that owns the MP3 patents would require $$$ for each copy that is sold.
<AV-David> <R4> Will you be able to play MP3's in UT?
<EPIC-Mek> coren: still being investegated (see aove)
<AV-Jason> <Hugo> Will we see a UT BeOS port? please! :)
<EPIC-Alan> Brandon is looking into a BeOS port.
<EPIC-Alan> No word on it yet.
<AV-Jason> <oogna> What is your favorite level in UT?
<EPIC-Alan> DM-Liandri
<EPIC-Mek> hugo: brandon has purchased some be books and wears a beos tshirt. But it's still to be decided.
<AV-David> <Pain_Supplier> Will UT be released for Dreamcast?
<EPIC-Pancho> DM-Tutorial
<EPIC-Alan> heheheh
<EPIC-Inoxx> hard to tell , i'd say DM Hyperblast
<EPIC-Mek> dm-zeto
<EPIC-Pancho> haha right on Inoxx we rock
<EPIC-Alan> Personally, I'm fond of UT-Logo-map
<EPIC-Pancho> hahaha
<AV-Brian> <Haqsau> please ask if you will be able to bind keys for the bot commands
<EPIC-Mek> lol@alan
<EPIC-Mek> haqsau: yes you can
<EPIC-Pancho> Yes you can bind them
<AV-Jason> <LiteningZAP> What Unreal 1 DM levels will be included in UT?
<EPIC-Alan> Yes, you will be able to use the speech binder to bind all bot commands to keys.
<AV-Brian> <Hoodlums> hi, could u ask if there is gonna be direct play modem to modem?
<EPIC-Mek> hoodlums: tcp/ip only... dialup networking / dialup server are your best bet
<AV-David> Everyone: The answer to "When will the demo be out" and "When will the game be out iS "When it is finished." :)
<EPIC-Alan> Deck16][, Curse][, and Morbias][
<EPIC-Inoxx> there are 3 levels that are new versions of the unreal levels : morbias, curse and deck16
<AV-Brian> Skot> Hasn't Legend already implemented decals?
<EPIC-Pancho> I was wondering if I should type that out...
<AV-David> <ken> have you changed the joystick support in UT (does it still work w/ SpaceOrbs?)
<EPIC_Steve> We added some new menu options for joysticks to make it easier to configure them to work like you want.
<EPIC-Mek> ken: we've changed the way some of the bindings work to the joystick axes... added more options.
<AV-Jason> <Pain_Supplier> Will UT be released for Dreamcast?
<EPIC-Mek> pain: probably not.
<EPIC-Erik> AS-OceanFloor :-)
<AV-Brian> <ShOtgun> For the people who don't know anything about UT yet (like me): What is a mutator.
<EPIC-Alan> A mutator changes the rules.
<AV-Jason> <TRElvis> Are we likely to see a simultaneous release of UT in the UK/Europe and the US?
<EPIC-Mek> shotgun: a mutator is a mini-mod. it's a way for modmakers to do cool things with gameplay.
<EPIC-Alan> There are quite a few.
<AV-Brian> Lanlost> Now when I heard it focused more on single player that scared me. But man when you guys mentioned how you could set like jumpyness etc, it sounds fun. Would that be a good way to practice for multiplayer?
<EPIC-Tim> We expect a simultaneous Europe + North American release and GT plans to do that.
<AV-David> <|SOD|relentless> How many Models, Skins will ship in UT?
<EPIC-Mek> trelvis: yes, likely. french, italian and spanish versions will be installable from the same cd
<AV-Jason> <PT-Old_Grendel> How much space will UT take up (for full installation)? I need to know how much room to empty. :)
<AV-David> Chat will last ten more minutes
<EPIC-Inoxx> there are a lot of skin combination , most probably you'll never have 2 times the same character in the level when you play
<EPIC-Alan> Lanlost: DEFINATELY! The bots can be configured to play as well as a person... Depending on your preference of opponents, you'll be able to set bots up to be as hard or as easy as you wish.
<AV-David> <quitedown> how will the model in UT compare to models in unreal. Will they be bigger in size, because the models in unreal dm are really small. also how many different models will there be also will we be able to scan pics of people and put them on the model
<EPIC-Mek> www.planetunreal.com/modcentral/features/mutators.shtml - for info on mutators
<EPIC-Tim> About 600 megs for the full installation, plus another 300 megs if you install the S3TC textures!
<AV-Brian> <Onslaught> How many new weapons will be added?
<EPIC-Mek> quite: much bulkier, and higher res skins too
<EPIC-Pancho> lanlost: Practising against the bots will make you a better player for sure..
<EPIC-Alan> All the weapons have been changed, but the Pulse Gun, Impact Hammer, and Chainsaw are the new ones.
<AV-Jason> <Final-Reality> what will the levels mostly be like? will there be a lot of large outdoor levels (like tribes) or will there be indoor levels like uhh, any Q2 engine-based game?
<AV-David> <Blitz[SW]> do you plan to release the C++ headers and lib files for UT, too?
<AV-Brian> <Sole> Ok. Best way to play is keyb+mouse. But what about a FFeedback support in this genre of games? What do you think about it? FF sticks can add a lot in fun, imho.
<EPIC-Inoxx> models are a lot better , bigger bodies and more muscles , armor , looks a lot better than the slim unreal characters
<EPIC-Dave> and the Redeemer is new too
<EPIC-Alan> We've got a pretty good mix of levels, though most of them are interior levels.
<EPIC-Erik> Not that there's anything wrong with slim characters :-)
<EPIC-Alan> CTF-Lavagiant is a VERY outdoorsy map.
<EPIC-Mek> blitz: yes
<AV-David> PLease hold your questions. We have more than enough for the remainder of the chat. :)
<EPIC-Pancho> Erik: hahahaha
<AV-Brian> <Enrage> Will console commands be listed in the manual?
<EPIC-Alan> Whoops, sorry Dave, you're right!
<EPIC-Mek> sole: steve wants me to add support for force feedback....
<AV-David> <Final-Reality> what will the levels mostly be like? will there be a lot of large outdoor levels (like tribes) or will there be indoor levels like uhh, any Q2 engine-based game?
<EPIC-Mek> sole: maybe in the future
<EPIC-Tim> We'll release the C++ headers for UT
<AV-Brian> <QAPete> In Unreal, one must create a script in order to have online coop levels start again from the beginning. Is this so also with UT?
<EPIC_Steve> Even the weapons that aren't totally new have significantly evolved from their Unreal I ancestor
<AV-Jason> <Entropy> When UT is released, will the prepurchased copies be sent first, or will shipments go out to the retail locations first?
<EPIC-Tim> Console commands are on http://unreal.epicgames.com/console.htm and won't be in the manual.
<AV-David> <BEG> Can level designers place bots in their levels and have them do things like follow patrol points/be friendly and show you hidden areas to make more traditional type Sp levels, or is the AI set up so the bots only act as Dm opponents/teammates?
<EPIC-Alan> QAPete, we've got an option to not have the map change after a game has ended.
<AV-David> Chat will last five minutes
<EPIC-Erik> I plan to add support for the new force-feedback mouse, so you can play my new map: DM-Tug-Of-War. :-P
<AV-Brian> <[FGC]_Hiltono> Does the ever growing piracy scene worry you guys at all?? How do you see the games industry changing in future to combat this problem, and what problems does it pose for you now with UT??
<EPIC_Steve> <Beg> the bots aren't designed for that. BUT - UT will ship with all the Unreal I creatures included. You can make cool single player maps with UT.
<AV-Jason> <killerb> Has any of the current mods or maps had any influence on the U.T
<EPIC-Inoxx> piracy always existed and will always exist as long as the goverments don't try to fight seriously
<EPIC-Mek> hiltono: it's depressing to see how easily people manage to warez games these days.
<AV-Brian> <[FGC]_Attica> Question:Will it be possible to make player models to be used in the game, like the Homer Simpson one, skelton, and president???
<AV-David> <quitedown> How does the network code in UT on modem play compared to network code in quake3 modem play? Is it better?
<EPIC-Mek> Like CDs prevented piracy before people had CD burners, the same is likely for the first generation of DVD games - before DVD recordables are readily available
<AV-Jason> <EPIC-NotCliffyB> Is the blast radius of the ASMD combo reduced in UT?
<EPIC-Tim> Piracy sucks for game developers, but hopefully if we make a cool enough game they'll go out any buy it even if they already downloaded a warez copy.
<AV-David> <Marcinko> I want you guys to know how much fun it would be for us 28.8ers to have the ability to play modem to modem!
<AV-Brian> <Creeker> "Will UnrealEd be released with UT?"
<EPIC-Mek> quitedown: it's certainly comparable. we have played a lot of quake 3 to make sure our netplay really is up to scratch.
<EPIC-Inoxx> yes
<AV-David> <Pain_Supplier> Can a mapper make Unreal1 type single player maps in UT?
<EPIC_Steve> Yes, the ASMD combo radius/damage is lower than Unreal I. We spent a lot of time tweaking and balancing all the weapons.
<EPIC-Alan> UnrealEd will be on the second CD
<EPIC-Tim> UnrealEd will ship with UT, but it's the exact same version as is available on our web site.
<EPIC_Steve> But the combo is still very powerful in the right hands :)
<AV-Brian> <Dawk> will it be possible to play with customized crosshairs in UT? I wanted that in Unreal
<EPIC-Mek> but not too powerful :-)
<EPIC-Alan> There are more crosshairs in UT than there were in Unreal.
<EPIC-Mek> dawk: i'll make sure you can point to your own in an ini file setting.
<AV-Brian> <PU-Mongo> can you elaborate a bit on the adaptive ai thats present in the hardest UT bots? how it works, etc?
<EPIC-Tim> UT and Q3 modem play is comparable. Steve was doing some comparative testing. The differences are really design decisions (whether to simulate client weapon pickups, for example) rather than the situation with the initial Unreal, where
*** AV-Brian changes topic to "The Unreal Tournament Chat!"
<EPIC-Tim> UT supports Unreal 1 style single player mods and maps.
<EPIC-Alan> Nice chatting with everyone.
<AV-Brian> <PT-willhaven> what do you guys think of a mutator that changes the sounds? i want a redeemer that quacks like a duck :)
<EPIC_Steve> You can set up the bots do adjust their skill based on how well you are playing.
<AV-David> All right. We had promised a surprise at the end of the chat, and although I am loath to report it is NOT the demo, as has been widely anticipated, we are going to give away two copies of the game when it is released.
<EPIC-Inoxx> the Ai is really better for beginners, a person who has never touched a FPS can start and play the game and have fun , the novice skill will attract a lot of people that were not interested in FPS before because of the difficulty
<EPIC-Pancho> hahahaha now that's an idea..
<EPIC_Steve> I'm playing around with using genetic algorithms to have bots evolve their strategies as they play against you (probably in a patch, and for practice mode only).
<AV-David> Actually, I meant to let everyone know that the chat was coming to an end, adn that we are going to let the Epic guys get back to developing the game. :) We want to thank everyong who attended. And we will onmoderate so anyone who wants to stay and chat can.
<EPIC-Dave> Molo: hahahah, yes, we are all sexy bastards here ;)
<EPIC-Pancho> Thanks for chatting!!
<EPIC-Mek> thanks guys
<EPIC-Alan> 'Bye everyone.
<AV-David> All right. We had promised a surprise at the end of the chat, and although I am loath to report it is NOT the demo, as has been widely anticipated, we are going to give away two copies of the game when it is released.
<EPIC-Dave> see ya
<AV-Brian> Thanks to all the Epic crew and all of our readers for attending tonight!
<AV-David> My e-mail is david@avault.com. The first and fifth e-mail I receive with the correct answer to this Epic trivia question win copies of the game from the Adrenaline Vault. You can only participate if you are in the U.S.
<AV-David> Here is the question:
<AV-David> What popular shareware developer and publisher did Tim Sweeney pitch his first game, ZZT to, before starting Epic to publish it on his own?
<EPIC-Erik> Bye everyone, take care.
<EPIC-Inoxx> geeze
<EPIC-Inoxx> what's the answer ?
<EPIC-Inoxx> i won't win the game :-(