Unreal Tournament (UE4 reboot/UT4) is the upcoming ninth installment of the Unreal series and fifth installment of the Unreal Tournament series. It is currently in development for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. It was going to be the first main entry in the series since 2007's Unreal Tournament 3, being developed by Epic Games with contribution of the community.[1][2][3]
Synopsis[]
Overview[]
Unreal Tournament (UE4 reboot/UT4) is the latest (as of 2018) first-person shooter entry in the franchise. The gameplay remains the same as past entries in the franchise, but with a new movement set, closer to that of Unreal Tournament (only the wall jump from newer games is present) but with new in-game abilities such crouch-sliding and wall running replacing the multiple jumps from past entries. The weapon roster is kept intact from Unreal Tournament 3, but two new weapons are added: the Grenade Launcher (which reverts the Rocket Launcher to its UT2004 status) and the Lightning Rifle along with the Sniper Rifle.
Development history[]
The development for the game started on May 8, 2014, with a message from Steven Polge detailing how the project will be handled with the community, following the commercial failure of Unreal Tournament 3.[4] The game is titled simply Unreal Tournament but is referred to as Unreal Tournament 4 signifying the fourth generation of the Unreal Tournament series. Its development is crowdsourced and open to contribution from anyone.[5][6] Epic Games has been using forums for discussions and Twitch livestreams for regular updates.[7] The source code of the game is published on GitHub.[8][9]
Work began with a relatively small development team mainly composed of Unreal Tournament veteran players, fans, and Unreal Engine 4 developers. The game was built by the developers from scratch, using leftovers from Unreal Tournament 3 as placeholders. Anyone from the community who had knowledge of the Unreal Engine was invited to participate in the development of the game, collaborating with one another through discussion boards. All code and content was made available to Unreal Engine 4 developers on GitHub.[8][9] The development team aimed for the game to be true to its roots as a competitive FPS, with no drastic changes to the series' arena-based gameplay. Development was focused on Windows, Mac, and Linux, although it is currently not known if the game will receive a port to eighth-generation consoles. Polge stated that the project would take many months before the game would be playable by gamers, and that the game would be available to download for free. He also discussed the creation of a marketplace where developers, modders, artists, and gamers could exchange mods and content. The earnings from the marketplace would be split between the mod/content developers and Epic in order to earn revenue from the game.[4]
The game is being developed using the Unreal Engine 4. It is still in early alpha, and has been made available to the public for crowd-sourced development. Because of this, the game is currently available for free from Epic Games so that those who are willing to create content can do so or simply test the game. Due to the early nature of the game, there is a considerable amount of "placeholder" content. As a result, not all weapons or features may resemble their final developed design and are subject to change.
Since July 12, 2017, there have been no new updates. The bulk of the developer team has since transitioned to develop and maintain Fortnite Battle Royale.[10] Development of Unreal Tournament was confirmed to be halted indefinitely in December 2018, though the game remained available in its current state to play[11] until December 14, 2022, after Epic Games announced the shutdown of all their online services in order to concentrate everything on Epic's own Epic Online Services, which included the online distribution of several games as well as their master servers, plus certain games would be rendered inaccessible after January 24, 2023, which sadly included this game.[12]
Release dates[]
- Announcement: May 8, 2014
- Pre-alpha: August 12, 2014
Game content[]
Gamemodes[]
- Main article: Unreal Tournament 4 Single player
Most game modes in UT4 are fairly standard to most UT games: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Duel, Capture the Flag. and Instagib CTF. However, the game introduces two new game types: Blitz and Team Showdown. With the exception of Blitz, Capture the Flag, and Instagib CTF, the rest of the maps:
Unreal Tournament 4 Blitz maps |
---|
FR-Fort • FR-Heist • FR-Loh • FR-Meltdown |
Unreal Tournament 4 Capture the Flag maps |
---|
CTF-BigRock • CTF-Blank • CTF-Dam • CTF-Face • CTF-Pistola • CTF-Plaza • CTF-Quick • CTF-TitanPass • CTF-Volcano Marketplace maps: CTF-Polaris |
Unreal Tournament 4 Deathmatch maps |
---|
DM-ASDF • DM-BioTower • DM-Cannon • DM-Chill • DM-Deadfall • DM-DeckTest • DM-Focus • DM-NickTest1 • DM-Outpost23 • DM-Sand • DM-Solo • DM-Spacer • DM-Temple • DM-Underland Marketplace maps: DM-Backspace • DM-Batrankus • DM-Lea • DM-Salt • DM-Unsaved |
Characters[]
Weapons[]
The weapons in UT4 are standard fare to most UT games.
Unreal Tournament 3 placeholders[]
Many weapons were simply borrowed from Unreal Tournament 3 before they got unique models, sounds, etc. Some weapons are still placeholders from Unreal Tournament 3, some have since received new models, some were added after release and some have never had Unreal Tournament 3 placeholders.
Weapons which retain their Unreal Tournament 3 placeholders[]
Weapons which are no longer Unreal Tournament 3 placeholders[]
Weapons which were added after release[]
Weapons which have been in the game since release but were never Unreal Tournament 3 placeholders[]
Items[]
The following items have been confirmed for the game:
Mutators[]
- Main article: Mutator
|
|
Soundtrack[]
- Main article: Music#Unreal Tournament 4
The following tracks have been confirmed. Some of them are just placeholders, while others have been created (or remixed) solely for the game.[13]
Title & Author(s) | Duration | Used in |
---|---|---|
"Unreal Tournament Menu" by Fabian Joosten (Music_UTMuenu_New01.uasset) |
03:43 | Main menu |
"Go Down(*)" by Alexander Brandon (Music_GoDown.uasset) |
03:00 | DM-DeckTest |
"Foregone Destruction(*)" by Michiel van den Bos (Music_ForegoneDestruction.uasset) |
04:11 | CTF-Face, CTF-Volcano |
"Black Hole Sunscreen" by Michiel van den Bos (Music_BlackHoleSunscreen.uasset) |
05:09 | DM-Spacer, DM-Unsaved |
"Mekalopolis 2015" by Rom Di Prisco (Music_Mekalopolis2015.uasset) |
04:06 | DM-Outpost23 |
"Heavy" by Rom Di Prisco (Music_HeavyMix.uasset) |
03:25 | DM-Backspace, DM-BioTower |
"Dissolution" by Shaad Alaka (Music_Dissolution.uasset) |
02:41 | CTF-Quick, DM-ASDF |
"Chasing Voids" by Timothy Seals (Music_ChasingVoids.uasset) |
04:49 | CTF-BigRock, DM-Batrankus |
"Brumal Battle" by John Maximilian Repka (BrumalBattle_Max.uasset) |
05:26 | CTF-TitanPass, DM-Chill, DM-Underland |
"District Theta" by John Maximilian Repka (Music_DistrictTheta.uasset) |
03:45 | DM-Solo |
"Dark Contemplation" by John Maximilian Repka (DM-Salt_DarkContemplation_Mix03-Loopable.uasset) |
03:37 | DM-Salt |
"DM-Lea" by Fabian Joosten (Lea_Music_By_Nonemm.uasset) |
02:50 | DM-Lea |
"Icarus" by John Maximilian Repka (Icarus_CTF-Pistola.uasset) |
03:34 | CTF-Pistola |
"Flux" by Shaad Alaka (Flux_Remastered.uasset) |
02:57 | CTF-Polaris |
"Stealth" by Unknown artist (Music_Stealth.uasset) |
01:11 | FR-Fort |
"Frag Center Intro" by Unknown artist (Music_FragCenterIntro.uasset) |
00:06 | Pre-battle |
"Have An Unreal Halloween" by John Maximilian Repka (Music_HaveAnUnrealHalloween.uasset) |
03:23 | Seasonal events, CTF-SpookyFace |
- (*) Indicates UT99 track (not new/updated). All other tracks are new.
Credits[]
Trivia[]
- Unreal Tournament (UE4 reboot/UT4) seems to have a faster-paced gameplay speed, compared to other UT games.
- The ballistics of the Flak Cannon have changed, now tweaked for a greater range and damage. The players might need some time getting used to the new mecha.
- Though there are only a few character models, possibly due to the game itself being in development, the player character can be customized with various cosmetic accessories.
- Assault, Bombing Run and Warfare were set to return before the halt.[14][15]
- Vehicles were also under consideration, if the sole presence of a "Vehicles" subforum in the old UT4 forums is any indication.[16]
- Among the last UT4 data files there are data for robot characters and even leftover assets for Ronin, Malcolm and Damian and Necroth of the Necris Black Legion. And every single map that the game ever had but cannot be selectable in the menu can be found in a folder called OnHold, including some that never saw the light of the day.
- The YouTube channel Chaos named it the ninth best dead FPS of all time.
External links and references[]
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie (July 25, 2014). "New Unreal Tournament in development, and it'll be absolutely free". Gamespot. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ↑ Dyer, Mitch (May 8, 2014). "Epic Games Reveals Free, Crowdsourced Unreal Tournament". IGN Entertainment. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie (May 8, 2014). "New Unreal Tournament in development, and it'll be absolutely free". CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Polge, Steve (May 8, 2014). "The Future of Unreal Tournament Begins Today". Epic Games. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ↑ Villapaz, Luke (May 8, 2014). "'Unreal Tournament' 2014 Details: Epic Games To Release 'UT' For Free, Development To Be Open To Input From Developers And Gamers". IBT Media. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ↑ Maiberg, Emanuel (May 8, 2014). "New Unreal Tournament game will be free, developed by Epic and UT community". Future US. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ↑ Mlot, Stephanie (May 9, 2014). "Epic Games Crowdsources Free Unreal Tournament Revival". IGN Entertainment. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Getting Started With Unreal Tournament". Epic Games. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Unreal Engine 4 on GitHub". Unreal Engine.
- ↑ Davenport, James (March 22, 2018). "Fortnite Battle Royale was developed in just two months, wasn't originally free-to-play". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ Makuch, Eddie (December 4, 2018). "Amid Fortnite's Success, New Unreal Tournament Stops Development At Epic Games". GameSpot. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
- ↑ "Epic is turning off online services and servers for some older games". Epic Games (December 14, 2022). Retrieved December 25, 2022.
- ↑ Brown, Jim (January 12, 2016). "Unreal Tournament Soundtrack". Epic Games Forums. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ↑ "Unreal Tournament Programming - Trello". Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ↑ "Official UT Gametypes Design". Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ↑ "UT Vehicle Discussion". Retrieved Aug 8, 2024.
- "Unreal Tournament Official Website". Epic Games. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- "Unreal Tournament Official Forums". Epic Games. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- "Unreal Tournament (upcoming video game)". Wikipedia. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- "Unreal Tournament 4". TVTropes. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- Grayson, Nathan (May 16, 2014). "Interview: How Will Unreal Tournament 2014 Work? Can It". Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- Chalk, Andy (August 7, 2014). "Unreal Tournament's CTF mode tweaked for better e-sports presentation". Future US. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
- Karmali, Luke (May 12, 2014). "Original Unreal Tournament composers on board for reboot". IGN Entertainment. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
See also[]
Unreal (series) |
---|
Unreal series: Unreal • Return to Na Pali • Unreal II |
Tournament series: Unreal Tournament • UT2003 • UT2004 • UT3 • UT4 |
Championship series: Unreal Championship - Unreal Championship 2 |
Books: Unreal: Hard Crash - Unreal: Prophet's Power - Escape to Na Pali: A Journey to the Unreal |