Unreal Manifesto 2 Manifests Itself

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:26 pm

A longtime friend of ours, Dubious, has posted an update of his thoughts and rants about the state of Unreal. It is called the Unreal Manifesto and it is a very good read. I don't have to put a disclaimer on the link because if you are reading this post on this site you know all about rants Wink

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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:45 am

I read this last week. While I do agree with some points, such as friendly fire should be turned on for skilled players, a lot of it seems not all that well thought out. Such as comparing Unreal to real life military engagements. Shocked

And I doubt he or anyone outside of Legend/Atari knows exactly what happened after XMP. Either way it is sad to see a member of the Unreal community that contributed so much close down shop.

UO Noob Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 22

I agree with the FF part to a lesser degree than the brightskin part, actually.
FF is more realistic, adds some more depth, and most importantly is more fun.
However some people don't think it's fun, would rather just keep the trigger pressed, constantly firing at anything that moves conserving their brain power to the rest that makes up the game, and ultimately that's what you strife for while playing games... having fun.

The other thing however... combat is combat.
I know UT is not something "realistic" like Counter-Strike, but in general it makes sense not to glow in the dark while fighting your enemy.
Brightskins basically take away part of the game, just like turning FF off.
I think brightskins actually upset the balance a lot more than turning FF off.
They didn't not add it to the game for no reason.
Again, if people want to use brightskins, they should, as long as it stays on their own servers and doesn't infect every other public one.

That's my 2 pence worth.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:16 pm

Really...UT2K4 is a game. Games need to be balanced and part of balance is making adjustments based on user reactions. Some users including myself had a harder time locating enemies than UT so they made a change. This is a Unreal game with unreal guns, movement, & environments? Why shouldn't we have the option of running around in neon suits?

Combat is combat in real life. If you are in front of your PC then it is a game. And people don't always want realistic games.

UO Noob Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 22

I already said UT isn't supposed to be realistic, but it is supposed to be about combat.
Combat really is combat, in real life or online.
I've seen more than enough proof to say that without hesitation.
I guess chess is about combat as well, so let me change it a bit:
It's about killing other people dead using deadly weapons.
You just don't run around in neon clothing when somebody's out to kill you, and others won't either.

Wearing neon doesn't make anything more balanced.
People seeing others with neon have a completely unfair advantage over the people that don't.
If everybody has it installed, the balance doesn't change at all (unless somebody has a problem with their eyesight or something).

The official game didn't make a change... other people did.
I personally think the official skins are a bit too bright at the moment as it is.
On sunny maps some characters appear all washed out because Epic added some extra brightness to player skins to make them easier to see in darker areas.
Well, most areas aren't that bright, so it's not that bad, and I agree that playability comes before realism, and apparently this helps.

Then there's brightskins.
The 3rd bright skins are an option of course, and people should have options.
I'm just glad it isn't an official one, so it doesn't become as widespread.
It simply isn't what UT is about.
Unreal weapons and environments are, because at the end of the day they are just another way to kill, and another place to kill in.
Brightskins aren't just another way to wear.

Anyway, another "in the end" is that it's all personal.
There's probably someone that'd like to have a game where jumping in place as fast as possible kills the other player instead of shooting him/her or something strange like that.
I like games like Unreal better than those "realistic shooters" myself, as they often end up being slow and boring to me.
UT is just about right for me.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:46 pm

You are obviously a lot more passionate about this topic than I. Rather than turning this into a large scale debate I am going to agree that we disagree. Smile

Guest

I agree with Burgess on the Brightskin point - myself having been heavily involved with the OSP Q3A clan scene. IMO these are not stealth games and have no need for such a thing. Q3 and UT are (IMO) games of pure and unadulterated combat skill.

I liked the article for the most part. It was nice to find that other people view their favourite games as i do my own.

I would contest one main point. When he talks about them releasing UT2k4 and making "a shit-ton of cash this way" i feel he is wrong. While i am not an overly avid fan of the UT franchise since '99, where i am located Epic offered an exchange programme for ut2k3 and ut2k4. Basically, if you had ut2k3 you could buy ut2k4 and send it back to epic to get a refund for some of the price of ut2k3. I also think there was an option that if you had ut2k3, you could post the play disk and you would receive 2t4 for free - i think this the option my housemate took, although i never bought 2k3 but instead went straight to 2k4.