First Unreal Tournament 2007 Preview

[Evil Avatar]

Gamespot checks in with the first online preview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/unrealtournament2007/preview_6123872.html) of Epic's next-gen online shooter, Unreal Tournament 2007. (2006 is so yesterday.)

This time around, the game will be powered by the very same graphically impressive technology we've seen bits and pieces of at this year's and last year's Game Developers Conference in March. The engine will have support for advanced special effects, including high dynamic range lighting and bump offset mapping--which is an advanced form of lighting that can make a completely flat surface appear to have protruding features, like a brick wall built from jagged, uneven stones--and an all-new physics engine powered by Ageia's Novodex technology. "We've never been able to do an avalanche in-game before," says Epic president Mike Capps, referring to both the simulated mountain avalanche in this year's GDC demo and to the sorts of effects you'll see in the game.

Capps explains that beyond the graphics, UT 2007 will also feature improved gameplay, based on feedback from the fans and from Epic's own goals. According to Capps, the studio is "trying to make sure that UT 2007 is a mix of UT 2004 and [the original Unreal Tournament from 1999]," while maintaining the series' focus on multiplayer competition. "We want to own the deathmatch space." Competitive play is a key element in the series' success, so Epic definitely plans to keep head-to-head competition around in the form of deathmatch, team deathmatch, and one-on-one duels, as well as capture the flag. But what about the other modes? "Domination is currently not on the table," was Capps' answer. We'll probably have to bid domination (or "double domination" as it was more recently known) a fond farewell, since it was apparently the least popular multiplayer mode by far.
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/ut2007_small.jpg (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/unrealtournament2007/preview_6123872.html)

Domination was my favorite Unreal Tournament gameplay mode, it was all I ever played. Double Domination sucked the sweat off of dogs balls.

[dr_qwandry]

i'm still with the guy's on the other UT2K7 info.
bring on the skinny men XD

[Smithersnz]

I hated all form's of Domination. But in saying that, i hate CTF as well, mostly because it seems every server i join has 12 year olds who don't seem to follow a game plan, other than all leaving the base and running round randomly.

Bring on Super Onslaught!!! (Or whatever it's called)

[Varsity]

Gamespot checks in with the first online preview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/unrealtournament2007/preview_6123872.html) of Epic's next-gen online shooter, Unreal Tournament 2007.
Except 1up's, natch.

[abso]

For some reason all the people that actually know how to play ctf stopped playing any of the ut games. It's a bitch and a half just to get a good game of ig ctf these days. Most of the time it's whiny little kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

[Rommel]

It would have had to been a big dog to properly create the amount of dog ball sweat for dounble domination to be accurately described.

[protojack]

Once I started to grow tired of plain Deathmatch in UT, I switched over to Domination and became hooked. I understand why they took it out, I remember seeing the same 10 people over and over again every time I played. I hoped they would bring it back, reading this now is a big disappointment.

I'll still buy UT2007 and play the hell out of it, but i'm still sad.

[Evil Avatar]

For some reason all the people that actually know how to play ctf stopped playing any of the ut games. It's a bitch and a half just to get a good game of ig ctf these days. Most of the time it's whiny little kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

I refuse to play UT CTF because of the teleporter. Teleporter hopping ruined the game and Epic refused to fix it.

[Morratut]

The graphics look pretty sweet. I know of a few UT players who didn't like UT2003 or UT2004. According to them it lost it's hardcore personal feel when you kill someone :D

[ElectricMonk]

the graphics do look pretty sweet but it's pretty noticible how the single-plane sprite explosion looks crap compared to the rest of the game. they need some sort of volumetric explosion renderer or something.

[Qoz]

I agree. The teleporter was lame. It should have som kinda cooldown to avoid people popping over the screen. It's cool to have the ability to get far and around but it was too much.

I also like what they said about UT99. That game was just pure deathmatch gold.
They COMPLETELY thrashed all that was good about it in UT2003.
Sluggish gameplay, fat marines, stupid weapons, nerfed shocker. And the re-done UT99 maps were at total disaster.
They should bring back the large scale indoor maps - UT99 had so many perfect ones. I hope they don't make the same cramped-get-stuck-maps from UT2003.
In UT99 you were fragile, but had so much control and speed (dodge etc.) that skill determined the winner. Alot of strategy was involved in 1v1's too. Especially with the shockrifle.. please make it kill like old times. You had to stand still for 2sec to make combo, so it wasn't imbalanced. You often got hit by snipers, but a good user could predict where people came and shock away. Very good stuff.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

I have a feeling I'm going to be sick of hearing about this game by the time it's released.

[Evil Avatar]

I have a feeling I'm going to be sick of hearing about this game by the time it's released.

They dropped Domination, so I'm already sick of hearing about it.

[Mason]

Double domination + weapon pickups = suck

I wrote a nice little mutator that replaces all pickups with an experience system, and it actually made DD fairly fun. When you aren't constantly faced with the stupid choice of either rushing the point with an AR or screwing your team by grabbing weapons, it isn't that bad of a game mode.

I really hope they clean things up a bit for UE3, and offer better public documentation. Epic likes making a big show of their community support, but then keeps the "good" documentation for UE licensees (to the point of actually taking away documentation that was previously public). That's crap, and is completely pointless. The "value added" of licensing the UE is the ability to make money off of what you create, and that's all it needs to be. Keeping most of the engine documentation private only discourages mod teams, something no amount of cash prizes can really make up for in the long run.

[Kyle Jones]

For me, good ol' deathmatch made me happy. Assault was good times too. Also, for a small LAN with people who aren't so good at the FPS, a good game of invasion really makes them happy.

[Shifteh]

As with the original poster, I hated Double Domination. That was, by far, the worst game-type I've ever played.

[dr_wily]

"I refuse to play UT CTF because of the teleporter. Teleporter hopping ruined the game and Epic refused to fix it."

im the opposite. i cant play anything anymore without wanting one. Too damn impatient to walk around :)