UT3 is DEAD..

[L3adcannon]

I`ll be turning my graphics down anyway to get an edge over people who don`t. All the bs effects, glow, post processing, blur, etc are pointless if you can`t see nothing. That includes shadows, can`t see a damn thing in some places with them enabled.

[Battl3fr0nt]

Yeah I know what you mean but it really is very clear the only time it will get like that is on really dark map's (not much of them) when everyone is running and jumping like crazy (pretty much all the time)..

[Spodeboy]

I think the graphics looks awesome. It's not as drab as BF2142, but that's just the theme of the game. Yeah, I think there will be a lot more people playing online after the New Year. As for myself, I haven't played online because I wanted to get proficient with the game before going online. I guess I don't want to look like a noob! This game will last a whole lot longer than BF2142 since user created content is encouraged and so it won't be boring for a long time....just as soon as the map makers figure out how to make those maps.

[SirSie]

My copy hasn't even arrived in the post yet, it can't be dead before its even played.

[Bronx19]

I cant agree more at the moment. This game may not be dead, but it looks that way now. I get 38 and 39 servers for death match and team death match respectively. The most popular game type, warfare, has 41 servers. Of these, about 5% of servers are populated, and less with any decent numbers. Not only that, I can no longer connect to any server, I continue to get 'connection failed'. They need to sort this out, before it remains dead.

[Stronin]

No, I understand what hes saying about the graphics, granted the vehicles look amazing, i quite love what they've done with them, but everything else is...simply not what i expected.

After viewing literally hundreds of gamespot screens, it feels like ingame is just....not as good, like somehow they photoshoped the screen shots (untrue of course, but it's just the vibe i get).

It's hard to explain. I have everything maxed out, so...theres no reason the detail should be different, and yet, it just isn't the same as i imagined from the previews somehow. I've also played with those post processing options, frankly i turn them to minimum levels, game looks horrid with them on high.

Also as some have pointed out on other forums... what happened to maps that were supposed to be "4 times as large as UT2k4?" None of the maps really seem very big frankly, certainly not 4 times the size of the old ut.

I also am experiencing the same lack of server coverage some of you have mentioned.

*shrug* i don't know, I just don't feel the strong urge to play it, thats something i got with the older versions, and with any game i would consider "well designed." I just don't get that with UT3, i don't know what it is.

:salute:

[Killerus]

man people are just impossible to please these days. The game is soo much fun and looks awesome. I have no idea why people are complaining so much about this game. The gameplay is solid. They already addressed a bunch of issues with patch 1.1 and they are currently working on another.

Who cares if the screenshots don't look exactly like the game maxed out. They are pretty damn close with maybe the exception of the characters. Besides every game i have ever played, the high res pre release pics always look different or better than the actual in game shots after the game is released. Big freaking deal.

[[Expletive Deleted]]

I run the game maxxed out at 1600x1200, it looks a lot like the promo screen shots. It's beautiful. The kicker is, I can also play it on my nasty, nasty laptop that has a GF 6150. It looks like crap on the laptop, but that's expected.

[ShadowX8001]

Don't forget that I don't think many people have great rigs to run it. I know almost all my friends have crappy computers.

[[Expletive Deleted]]

My point is, you don't need a monster rig to play it. My laptop with a 1.8 Ghz proc, 1.5 Gb RAM, and a GForce 6150 can play it. The UT guys have always made sure their games run on a wide range of systems.

[DarQraven]

There are three real reasons for the low player numbers in UT3.

1) There were some mistakes made at launch. Like the decision to release at the same time as THREE high-profile, super-hyped-up PC FPS games. I mean .. what the hell! Also, there WERE some bugs in there that WERE quite annoying, and it's obvious this game was also made for consoles. Some stupid design decisions. Still, nothing that can't be fixed through a patch, since the gameplay is VERY good. And I mean that.

2) The steep learning curve. The people you see playing UT3 regularly now are generally the hardened veterans from previous UT titles or Quake. Some of these guys are insane. They'll headshot you from halfway across the map in midjump and spawnkill you again before they've landed.
When a game doesn't really have a singleplayer to speak of, having to face opponents like these is a daunting task for many players, and will easily put them off.
Especially when there are other games out there that are far easier like CoD4 and TF2, people will easily quit this game and call everyone playing it nolifing cheaters
The best way to describe UT3 is: Easy to learn, difficult to master.
Most people playing now have already mastered And there's your problem...

3) The hardware requirements. For an action-packed intense game like UT3, having low frame rates or high ping equals losing ...badly.
No one likes to lose, and as such, you're gonna want a rig that plays the game smoothly. Not many people have one.

Overall I think things will improve. Epic/Midway seem to have admitted their mistakes in recent interviews and are slowly but steadily picking up the slack.

Now we as a community need to get things going!
Due to low player counts, the way to go here is either IRC or Xfire. Invite people!
I'm not usually an advocate of piracy, but here I'm willing to make an exception.
The next LAN you attend or whenever you go over to a gaming friend, introduce them to UT3 by installing your copy/a 'less legal' copy and playing with/against them.
Be sure to not absolutely r*pe them since that tends to take the fun out of it.
Instead, show them some of the awesome things this game offers, like the shock combo (still one of the most original and versatile weapons I've seen in a game to date), the hoverboards, the amazing vehicles, the beatiful graphics, the speed, etc..
Of course, make sure you *do* tell them to buy the game, because we all know pirates go to hell for all eternity^^

edit: About the promo screen characters...the models are still there and there are ways to enable them, it just isn't enabled out of the box, for performance reasons. It is possible that Epic will really unlock them in a later patch when people's systems have caught up, since the models are still there, they're just being downgraded by the game.