I've been absent from all gaming communities for heavy personal reasons, and I'm still not ready yet to return. However I don't think my personal life is really relevant, so let's go directly to what happened in the Unrealverse these last months.
New Unreal Tournament patch: v469c (+SDK!)[]
First the good news! After more than a year of development and bugfixing, on October 30th, the OldUnreal patch for version 469c has been released to the public! As you may expect, it contains quiiiiiiiiite a lot of changes, which you can read here. Here's the Readme with everything you need to know about this version.
And finally, the most important thing, here're the links for the patch itself. It comes in Linux (x86 and x64), MacOS, Windows 7/8/10/11, Windows XP/Vista (for these two, if you have problems when using OpenGL, try installing the relevant WinDrv hotfix) and it even includes a Source Development Kit for modders!
The (really) sad news[]
Well... personally these news sadden me, but I'd be lying if I said that caught me off-guard. It was just a matter of time before it happened, really.
I'm talking of course about Epic Games's decision, on December 14th., to retire the Unreal Franchise (among other games) from Steam and GOG, effectively rendering the franchise as Abandonware, as outside of used copies, pre-existing copies, or even new copies sold at auction sites, it's quite impossible to acquire any of the Unreal games legally. The decision also involves the permanent death (because, without any kind of euphemisms, that's really what it is) of Unreal Tournament 4, as after January 24, 2023 it'll no longer be accessible to play in the Epic Games Store.
I'm just hoping the cool guys at OldUnreal can still be allowed to maintain the patches for Unreal and Unreal Tournament. They did an awesome job with them.
On the plus side, Unreal Tournament 3 will become free to play in the actual, literal sense, with announced crossplay between the Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store versions. This version doesn't seem yet to be ready to D/L, though it already has a confirmed name Unreal Tournament 3 X. It remains to be seen, however, if it's the full game with the campaign or if it's a "starter version". Even though I'm not really a fan of the campaign (that atrocious voice acting puts me off), I personally hope it's the former!
Welp, that's all. Happy new year!