Polygon jumped the gun on the new Unreal Tournament [Updating as more news comes out]

[Rafy]

 

"For years, we’ve wanted to reboot Unreal Tournament, but we knew we had to do it in concert with developers and the mod community, and in an environment that sets them up with the proper tools to make it happen," Polge told Polygon. "Given the recent launch of UE4, we think this is the right time to move forward." 

Epic's goal is to develop the game in public and in collaboration with players and development students who can begin their involvement with the game today in Epic's forums, where the company is ready to talk about design and more. 

"Our first development goal is to get a basic version of Unreal Tournament deathmatch up and running to provide a basis for iteration and further development," Polge said. 

"If you’re a member of the UE4 community, you can participate or just follow our progress on the live GitHub fork. You can also get started extending or modding the code as it becomes functional."

 

Epic's decision to build the game in public isn't the only change that reflects the passage of time. Unreal Tournament will be free — but not free-to-play, according to the developer. 

"Free means free — no microtransactions," he said. "Just free."

http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/8/5695404/unreal-tournament-new-2014-free-unreal-engine-4-epic-games

 

 

"Unreal Tournament won't be available for some time, but as soon as there's a playable alpha, Epic will launch it so anyone can play. Fans can also contribute feedback in Epic's forums if they aren't development-minded."

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/..._medium=social

 

 

Here’s the plan:

• We’ve created a small team of UT veterans that are beginning work on the project starting today.

• From the very first line of code, the very first art created and design decision made, development will happen in the open, as a collaboration between Epic, UT fans and UE4 developers. We’ll be using forums for discussion, and Twitch streams for regular updates.

• If you are a fan and you want to participate, create a free account and join the forum discussion.

• All code and content will be available live to UE4 developers on GitHub.

• The game will be true to its roots as a competitive FPS.

• Development will be focused on Windows, Mac and Linux.

So what’s the catch?

• It will take many months until the game is playable by gamers. This is real development from scratch.

• When the game is playable, it will be free. Not free to play, just free.

• We’ll eventually create a marketplace where developers, modders, artists and gamers can give away, buy and sell mods and content. Earnings from the marketplace will be split between the mod/content developer, and Epic. That’s how we plan to pay for the game.

A lot of this is brand new for Epic, and we don’t yet have everything figured out. Things will probably definitely go wrong from time to time, and when they do, we’ll have to work through them together. There will be a lot of tough decisions to make, and not every feature will make it into the game. But if you’re a fan of Unreal Tournament, a UE4 developer, or a future modder – or if you just want to learn how we make games – we hope you’ll join us. It’s going to be fun.

Want to get involved?

• Want more detail on the project? Read our wiki.

• Want to participate & give feedback? These forums are the place to do it. Sign up for a free account here to join Unreal Engine 4 community.

• Just interested in getting updates? Subscribe to our newsletter.

• In case you want to check out the classic Unreal Tournament games, we’ve put them on sale on Steam.

https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?4474-The-Future-of-Unreal-Tournament

 

 

It's going to be available for Windows,Linux and Mac.

 

They are also working on Oculus Rift integration and maybe Project Morpheus if I heard correctly.

 

They have been made a lot of comments about how this is open source but for now the github project page is only available to people with a UE4 sub.

 

Update 1: The original composers are back!

Both Michiel and Alex have worked together as key composers in Unreal, Unreal Tournament and the original Deus Ex

 

 

Hi!

My name is Michiel van den Bos and one of the two main composers for the original Unreal and Unreal Tournament. It's been a while and my memory's a bit foggy, but my music has been featured in classic maps like Curse][, Codex, Facing Worlds, Tempest and many others. I've been composing for games ever since, including the universally praised soundtrack for Age of Wonders 3.

I'm writing here because I was getting messages and e-mails telling me I should, due to the announcement of the new UT.

I was wondering if there is any interest in me getting involved and I'm sure I can get Alex to join in too.

If so, I'd be happy to continue a discussion here or off-forum at mikebossmusic[at]gmail.com.

Thank you for your attention and best regards,

Michiel van den Bos

 

 

Michiel,

Of course we would be thrilled to have you and Alex involved in this project! The music you guys made always invokes tremendous nostalgia for me - I'm always instantly transported back to playing UT. How are you interested in participating?

Steve

 

https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?4828-Music-%28Original-Unreal-UT-Composer%29&p=34242&viewfull=1#post34242

[ZetZet]

Developed with players, oh no, one more forever alpha game.

[Rafy]

Developed with players, oh no, one more forever alpha game.

It's going to be more like them avoiding to make something the community does not want, so they hold open discussions with the player base. Plus the github stuff is going to work by by forking the original, if Epic sees a cool piece of code they'll ask you if they can use it.

[qwertywarrior]

"Free means free — no microtransactions," he said. "Just free."

 

 

This is AWESOME

moddable etc just free they are basically giving it away !!!

 

wohoooooooooooo

[ZetZet]

It's going to be more like them avoiding to make something the community does not want, so they hold open discussions with the player base. Plus the github stuff is going to work by by forking the original, if Unreal sees a cool piece of code they'll ask you if they can use it.

Just upgrade the last UT and then add on top of it after you do that.  :lol:

 

-snip-

 

They want to show off their fancy engine so that devs use it more  :lol:

[qwertywarrior]

Just upgrade the last UT and then add on top of it after you do that.  :lol:

 

 

They want to show off their fancy engine so that devs use it more  :lol:

yeah i noticed that its basically publicity

 

i really hope its fully fledged like the old UT games ( vehicles etc )

 

im soo happy for this

[Rafy]

i will be updading the OP as more info comes out, so keep an eye out.

[Askew]

So the next UT is an engine showcase?

 

Works for me, especially if it gets lots of players and takes on Quake Live.

 

After the amount of games that licence/use previous iterations of UT engine it can only help to polish it as much as possible by getting more users and input, I believe it will profit them in the long run.

[One Who Craves Souls]

This is waaay too good! Can't wait till some crazy dev use the UT99 maps with UE4!

[brownninja97]

Whatever happened to making money, its nice thats there is no transations but i want them to make money even if its only cosmetic stuff i would like for them to actually make some money in return.

[WiiManic]

Such an interesting way to "pay for the game" by purchasing user created content.

 

Really can't wait for this game, UT99 and UT2004 are two of my all time favourite games, will be so much fun to get back into it again.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Sweet, maybe we'll finally have a good arena shooter again. And with the UT veterans in the mix it wont be another UT3 which was a quite pretty game but ultimately failed to be a good arena shooter. Hoping for Rankin and Deck 16 on the map list, Face will obviously be there.

[Doobeedoo]

Finally, 'bout time! I expected it alongside UE4. I'm also so excited about free and mods not to mention devs with players.

Check my thread

https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?4631-Mandatory-expectations-amp-ideas

[Guest Kloaked]

Plot twist: it's on UPlay only.

[Legion]

Finally a reason for me to show my face around the epic forums again.

[YeroJero]

"PC exclusive" I can FEEL the peasant's tears

[Misanthrope]

Epic? Doing a PC centric game? A proper Unreal Tournament? With mod support as it's revenue stream? What the actual fuck it's like I woke up in the year 2000

[One Who Craves Souls]

Epic? Doing a PC centric game? A proper Unreal Tournament? With mod support as it's revenue stream? What the actual fuck it's like I woke up in the year 2000

I can't express how accurate that is.

[Cobalt]

I don't know if I deserved to be burned alive for this, but DOTA 2 was the first thing that popped into my head while reading the article

Except for those damn treasure keys, ¬_¬

I really like this business idea, not only it creates a large userbase at the beginning, cause  'ya know, it's free, but it also creates a quite strong community if the only way to make revenue is to push your players to do something, not to buy something, the user is truly the end, not the medium.

 

GG Epic, GG

[VulsaviiK]

So UT is an engine showcase?

 

Fixed

 

 

Epic? Doing a PC centric game? A proper Unreal Tournament? With mod support as it's revenue stream? What the actual fuck it's like I woke up in the year 2000

 

2004 to be precise

 

I'm excited for this, I reckon this will be the shooter to play, not that hunk of shit that UT3 was. Oddly enough UT3 had one thing over 2004 for me, and that's facing worlds. I'd be keen to see that map again

[Cpt.Doom]

I'm booting up Ye' old Dreamcast as we speak. I almost forgot how good the old Unreal Tournament games were. UT 1999 is truly a thing of beauty. Now only if I could find me UT 2004 disk.

[One Who Craves Souls]

I'm booting up Ye' old Dreamcast as we speak. I almost forgot how good the old Unreal Tournament games were. UT 1999 is truly a thing of beauty. Now only if I could find me UT 2004 disk.

I still have a UT 2004 disc hahaha

 

Well I still have a lot of discs, main reason I need an optical drive

 

I'm not old!

[Rafy]

the original composers are back for UT4!

[One Who Craves Souls]

the original composers are back for UT4!

Loved the UT99 soundtrack.

[Silent_Xaxal]

Just upgrade the last UT and then add on top of it after you do that.  :lol:

 

 

They want to show off their fancy engine so that devs use it more  :lol:

 

Well, what's wrong with good, actually beneficial publicity?

 

I'm all for this. Especially if it means we can have good old, rocket jumping, murder with your pick-up of choice action again.