New Unreal Tournament announced, free with no microtransactions and moddable
107 replies, posted
[quote] Developer Epic Games revealed today that the multiplayer shooter's next incarnation — in development in Unreal Engine 4 for Linux, Mac and Windows PC and called simply Unreal Tournament — will be free, moddable and collaboratively developed with fans.
We spoke with senior programmer and project lead Steve Polge ahead of today's Twitch reveal to learn how Epic chose this path, what the developer thinks players want from a modern arena shooter and what "free" really means.
The next Unreal Tournament is a product of Epic's plans for Unreal Engine 4. In March 2014, the developer and software creator announced a new business model: Unreal Engine 4 is available to all for a $19 monthly subscription. Just this week, Epic released the software's development roadmap. A more affordable engine developed in public means more potential creators, a central focus of the upcoming game.
"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 will discuss design questions in the forums and Twitch streams, and Polge said that the "decision process will be inclusive and transparent. Players will be able to make their voice heard, and participate meaningfully in setting the direction of development. We will release playable alpha versions and use those to get hands-on feedback from players as well."
The Unreal Tournament series made its debut in 1999, with Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004 and 2007's Unreal Tournament 3 (pictured above) following. Epic employees began teasing the new game last week. The PC shooter ecosystem has changed since Unreal Tournament's last incarnation, but Polge believes that there's a "need" for the kind of competitive shooter that Epic can provide.
"Unreal Tournament still has a lot of passionate fans," he said. "We think there’s a real need in today’s PC FPS community for a modern competitive shooter that brings back the kind of pure, fast action, skill-based gameplay for which the series is known."
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."
When asked how Epic will earn income with a free game, Polge said that Unreal Tournament will "eventually" have a marketplace where modders can post and give away or sell their maps, mods and other content.
That is Epic's broad vision for the future of Unreal Tournament. Today's announcement constitutes the earliest stages of the upcoming game, which doesn't yet have a release date — though when it does, it'll be a product of Epic and a community of Unreal Tournament fans clamoring to play the game and completely free to anyone else who steps inside of the arena.
"While we’re in early development, all of the ongoing work will be available live to the Unreal Engine 4 development community in source code form" Polge said. "We expect it will take several months to get to a point where there’s a downloadable, playable alpha version available for gamers.
"From that point forward, it will be live, constantly updated and available to everyone." [/quote]
[url]http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/8/5695404/unreal-tournament-new-2014-free-unreal-engine-4-epic-games[/url]
New UT? But they ain't have anything :v:
Btw: This is such a shit thread. Would have done it better lol. The stream is still live with new updates like....
[B]Will it be Free 2 Play or Free? Answer: [I]FREE[/I][/B]
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Why reply" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
Unreal
The gap between the last one and the upcoming one is like 7-9 years
That engine looks pretty nice though.
I wonder if it'll be like quake live
Need screenshots
Modded content can be sold on their market place. They can also sell their own content on that market place
Free isn't free, ever. Period.
So long as vanilla players can play with vanilla only players then its fine. I have a feeling it won't be like that though
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44756253]Modded content can be sold on their market place. They can also sell their own content on that market place
Free isn't free, ever. Period.[/QUOTE]
Except that it is free, only you can buy extra content, that doesn't somehow make the game itself not free.
[QUOTE=BloodYScar;44756251]Need screenshots[/QUOTE]
Development just started today so no screenshots yet.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44756253]Modded content can be sold on their market place. They can also sell their own content on that market place
Free isn't free, ever. Period.[/QUOTE]
I like that model better than just shitty skins and maps for download and all that kinda shit.
Oh my god, I need new pants.
[QUOTE=MajorMattem;44756273]I like that model better than just shitty skins and maps for download and all that kinda shit.[/QUOTE]
It is that model though. I said modded [I]content[/I], including skins and maps and weapons
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44756282]It is that model though. I said modded [I]content[/I], including skins and maps and weapons[/QUOTE]
What is wrong with that model?
-snip-
I'm excited for a new UT, I just hope the free model isn't debilitating in some way
I think the whole buy-mods thing is going to cause some serious fragmentation in the community.
[QUOTE=danharibo;44756304]What is wrong with that model?[/QUOTE]
Like I said
[quote]
So long as vanilla players can play with vanilla only players then its fine. I have a feeling it won't be like that though [/quote]
Otherwise its just another F2P game. I don't enjoy F2P games, generally. Usually there's some mechanic there to annoy you (ie unlocks take an age and a half of middle earth to get) in order to encourage you to spend money on the game.
[quote]Polge said that Unreal Tournament will "eventually" have a marketplace where modders can post and give away or sell their maps, mods and other content. [/quote]
So does this mean where were gonna be paying $20 for a single map then?
[QUOTE=TheJoker;44756340]So does this mean where were gonna be paying $20 for a single map then?[/QUOTE]
That's a bit silly. I doubt ANY modder would list their map for $20, especially since no one will buy it if it is that price.
I think this model will work pretty well if it's just for skins and character models, so people can change aesthetics but not the actual gameplay.
It would allow a lot of players to customize their characters to the fullest extent, while the modders get a bit of money for their work. I don't see much wrong with it.
[QUOTE=TheJoker;44756340]So does this mean where were gonna be paying $20 for a single map then?[/QUOTE]
Doubtful. If it's player-driven like they say, then competition will keep prices low. I'm guessing $2 a map at most is what people would be willing to pay.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44756338]Like I said
Otherwise its just another F2P game. I don't enjoy F2P games, generally. Usually there's some mechanic there to annoy you (ie unlocks take an age and a half of middle earth to get) in order to encourage you to spend money on the game.[/QUOTE]
you do realize that Epic is making a massive shift in everything from how they structure their company, how they monetize, all the way down to their relationships with consumers. they've made it effectively transparent. even the Unreal 4 Roadmap is public and they have a twitch stream i think every thursday where they talk about everything they're doing. [url]https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/sharing-the-unreal-engine-4-roadmap[/url]
it's really obvious they understand what they're doing and are making all the right choices, choices that improve the entire industry. your apprehension towards f2p is silly and poorly thought out dude
[QUOTE=TheJoker;44756340]So does this mean where were gonna be paying $20 for a single map then?[/QUOTE]
Epic aren't Suicidal.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44756338]Like I said
Otherwise its just another F2P game. I don't enjoy F2P games, generally. Usually there's some mechanic there to annoy you (ie unlocks take an age and a half of middle earth to get) in order to encourage you to spend money on the game.[/QUOTE]
"So basically the only thing that might be something you pay for are some community mods on the marketplace, other than that everything is free"
"F2P P2W BULLSHIT"
"We're not going to spend money to develop this. Go nuts community."
Honestly this is what UE4 needs. Not a flagship game for sale, but an active reason for people to buy licenses and actually [I]use [/I]the tool set.
It's a better plan than hoping a AAA studio uses UE4, and then hoping it catches on with other studios.
As long as we can get mods and maps for free. At least some of them.
Since people misunderstood my original post.
I'd rather shell out money for a standard priced game of high quality that lives up to the standards expected by an Unreal Tournament fan (the best of both U2k4 and UT99 obviously) than accept a "free" Unreal Tournament that will no doubt charge for community content at a later date (I.e. Team Fortress 2.)
This is such a cool thing to do, Epic have been awesome as hell lately.
It's called Unreal Tournament...not UT4
I just hope people don't flip out because Epic is doing a free game with a store full of user generated content.
For some reason people think it's only okay if valve does it.
One of the twitch moderators says it's also going to be DRM-free.
[QUOTE=DOG-GY;44756397]
it's really obvious they understand what they're doing and are making all the right choices, choices that improve the entire industry. your apprehension towards f2p is silly and poorly thought out dude[/QUOTE]
Unless they're having some radically different model of f2p then imo its pretty bad. I have my own opinion but you can keep rating me dumb for it. The only f2p model I've enjoyed is tf2, but I played it since launch. Every other f2p game I've played (World of Tanks (years ago), Mechwarrior, Planetside) has either been pay 2 win or a boring grindfest. Both featuring hideously overpriced items / packages. Hell even TF2's transactions are expensive.
The game needs to have something that makes users want to drop money on it. Again, this is usually in the form of pay 2 win or annoyance features. Game companies still want to make money.
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