Welp because of a bunch of annoying things going on in my personal life - that I won't bore you folks with here - I decided to spend some money on myself, and upgrade my system to something more respectable, a 1Ghz Athlon with a GeForce2 card So, now seeing I've got a system that can run Unreal Tournament without bogging down, or excessive choppiness, due to it's crappy OpenGL code, I decided to check out this Unreal Fortress thing. A few of the regulars in the PF forums were talking about it, and I'm open to new experiences. Well, let me tell you, after downloading, installing and doing the RTFM thing yesterday, and playing it all morning - I'm ready to make a few observations. And yes, I am keeping in mind that this IS only a Beta version, and it will (hopefully) get better. And yes, I know that it's NOT intended to be a direct port, either. Read on.

Also, keep in mind I've got a LOT of experience in the various TF-like mods out there. I've at least checked out and given each of these ones a fair chance: QWTF, TFC/TF1.5, Weapons Factory for Quake2, MegaTF for QW, Deadlode for QW, Deadlode2 beta for Quake2, Q3F. The utter nonsense of Weapons Factory scarred me so badly, I doubt I'll check out WFA - I don't want to waste my time when a far superior equivalent mod for that engine is available. Anyhow, on to my comments.

It comes in umod form, with a nice installer. Good stuff, no problems there. All the classes can get their keys bound from a setup menu - nice touch, but there's no info if different class can use the same key for different purposes. My biggest gripe with UT has been it's HOSTILE scripting. I can script QW, HL and Q3 - but Unreal - forget it! Damnit Jim, I'm a Network Admin, not a code monkey. :P
You MUST remember to bind the menus to keys you can recall - or as a newbie you will be lost as all hell. UT has a nice integrated game browser - I've always used it over Gamespy when I play UT anyhow. Found a server and hopped on - no probs. Figured out how to join team and choose class - doing good.
On the battlefield - hooooo-boy. Time for Tot to show his displeasure. Once again, I will stress I KNOW THIS IS ONLY A BETA!!
Trying to differentiate classes is a task in itself. "what is that enemy coming at me, anyhow?" It seems they just re-skinned 3 different player models - and I'll be damned if I can tell the difference much.
Weapons models - uhm......WTF? Did thet get some kindegarteners to do some of this stuff. The Rocket Launcher isn't a bad model, per se - it's just the stupidest-looking thing I've seen in a long time. It's a polygonal box - for lack of a better term - that the end opens like flower petals to disgorge a rocket when you fire. Ugh. The SMG looks really good, but this burst mode of fire SUCKS. It absolutely blows. I need a full-auto setting for sentry removal, damnit. The HWGuy's AssCannon....is.....repulsive. It looks like one of those basic tutorial for a 3-d modeling program. The flamer for the Pyro - looks like a coupla pieces of plumbing stuck together. SGuns are REALLY ugly right now, but not as bad as WF2's "egg on a tripod with gun barrels sticking out" when I gave up on it. I didn't try the spy, because of the next thing I'll discuss.

STABILITY! This thing crashes more than Windows on moody hardware. I lost count after 24 times, that I got a "connection problem" indication, rejoined the server to see everyone else doing the same, asking "what happened?". Granted, that was on the BarrysWorld server. The Official UnF test server seems more stable. But not much more.
The last thing I want to bitch about - it the maps. UT has the ability to make AMAZING maps. However, the mappers forgot one factor - it has to be FUN to PLAY! Instead, they went for these enormous maps which take most classes forever to get to the enemy base. UNF-Tuskan is one of the worse offenders, and UNF-Rock is Dead also. UNF-Well, fortunately, is a good sized map to enjoy playing.

Tot's Report Card for: Unreal Fortress, available Beta version as of 7Jan2001

Stability is a joke - this thing crashes as much as a bumper cars ride in an amusement park. Player mdls are merely reskinned default ones, and nigh impossible to differentiate classes from the distance. Weapon mdls are a mixed bag, some very good, some horrendous. Most of the maps are too damned big to make an enjoyable playing experience - someone hit the mappers over the head with a stick for me, please? Binding keys is easy at a beginner level, due to the menu that allows you to set it, but advanced scripting requires you to deal with the overly user-hostile Unrealscript.
UnF team - I like the potential I can see in this mod. UT is an EXCELLENT engine, with superior mapping capabilities that only recently id added to their Q3 engine. I'm looking forward to seeing future releases of this mod, more stable ones with new mdls/skins. I applaud your work on what cannot be an easy platform to deal with, and wish you continued success with this.

In the end, I cannot recommend this mod YET, if you're looking for a fun gaming experience. If you enjoy being a beta tester guinea pig - this might be for you.

Sunday, 07 January 2001 1500Z
Happy New Year... -Teatime

Hey, better late than never :-)

So what will this year bring us? As much as gaming is concerned I hope that Valve will finally release TF2 (yeah, I do believe it will happen after all). Personally I'm looking forward to TF2. I expect a game which will combine the more realistic approach towards weapons and physics like CS with a more forgiving damage system and the complexity of the class system of TFC. This could be an interesting and exciting kind of game, though I expect it to be drastically different from TFC.

This is one thing people should realize. From all I have heard about TF2 (and I know just as much as everybody else) it will not lift the known concept of TF to its next level, but rather create a variant to TF on more realistic terms. I expect a lot of people who love TF in its various forms (whether it's TFC, Q3F, UnF or whatever) to dislike what TF2 will be like. I expect those mods to lead their own lives separated from TF2. In a way I fear TF2 will probably attract the CS-playing crowd a lot more than the TF-community, at least in the long run (and I hope time will prove me wrong).

But besides all these, the release of TF2 will have difficulties to create a homogenous community, and at least the initial phase will immensely test our patience and our persistence, as everybody will give this game a try which will include every moron and retard on this planet. TF2 will be braindead-central for a while. Actually the smart thing would be to wait two or three months before starting to play TF2 (but then again nobody ever accused me of being smart before, so why start now)

Which elegantly leads to the next prognosis for this year. Every time I thought things couldn't get any worse community-wise I was proven wrong. As much as I understand Valve/Sierra to release new versions of HL to keep cash flowing and as much as I welcome new players in general it prevented the TFC community from consolidating itself, to reach a general level of skill and experience and to reach a point where the chaff has separated from the wheat. Instead the community has experienced wave after wave of new players (which also means the related amount of lamers and morons) and a lot of turmoil created by the changes brought by TF1.5 and the resulting loss of good players and clans, which just stressed the presence of the lamers. And somehow it doesn't look as if things would get better any time soon :-(

Of course it is a reasonable assumption that the release of TF2 will eventually achieve exactly the cleansing and consolidation of the TFC community which circumstances has prevented so far. At least one glimpse of hope on the horizon.

And as a general prospect - with or without TF2 - I expect honor and sportsmanship to become more and more alien terms for a gaming community which increasingly defines its values with personal glory and success, disregarding any respect and consideration for their fellow players.

Well, like the Chinese say: Shall you live in interesting times ... ;-)