Topic: Cliffy B on rebooting Unreal as an open-world style sci-fi shooter

[MysterD]

PC Gamer -> Cliffy B would like to reboot Unreal as an open-world game (like Skyrim) style sci-fi shooter.

When are we getting a return to the PC FPS glory that was Unreal?

“It seems as if you’re asking about two entirely different games. The first Unreal was more of a single player exploratory experience whereas Unreal Tournament was a multiplayer focused game with a ‘ladder’ for the single player. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

“I was quoted recently on a Fortnite panel about the first Unreal and what a reboot might look like. Having really grown into a big Bethesda fan lately (Skyrim rocked my world), I couldn’t help but wonder what a reboot of Unreal would be like if it was more ‘SciFi-Rim.’ Sure, there would be shooting involved, but exploration would almost be more important. Get back to that sense of wonder that the first game had. (Caves and castles and crashed ships are basically your dungeon instances, whereas the ‘overworld’ is less intense.) Put it on a high-end PC, and prepare yourself for amazing visuals never before seen in real time.

“As far as a new UT, it’s hard to say. Shooters and their sequels are a tricky beast. Often you wind up upsetting your core whenever you make a sequel because sometimes you change things the users didn’t want changed, or the users are so very in love with their memory of the original game that there’s nothing you can do to live up to the first game. This happened with Counter-Strike: Source, Quake 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, and heck, even Halo 2. All that said, I do personally believe that Unreal Tournament 3 suffered a bit from an identity crisis in regards to whether or not it was a PC or console game.

“So if, when? I don’t know, honestly. We’re understaffed right now for all of the projects we’ve got going on, so I can’t say if or when it may happen. I do love that IP, and I do hope to return to Na Pali some day.

So, Cliffy B wants to create an open-world sci-fi shooter w/ Unreal license.
I could get down with that - and would like to see what kind of direction they'd take it in; especially for a Triple-A title.

I'm playing an open-world sci-fi shooter game already - it's called The Precursors.
Thanks, Gamersgate!
It's pretty good, if you mod-it up right - i.e. put Russian Files GG provides you in their proper place and use Wesp's Unofficial Patch.

[MysterD]

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[Xessive]

An interesting idea. Unreal is to-date one of my favourite shooters because it was more than just a shooter, even back in 1998. It was different, relatively. Exploring its massive environments and experiencing epic moments really set it apart! I still remember the first time I saw the Titan! haha Man, freaky good times

I really hope they do the classic Unreal justice.

[scottws]

I don't care.  I'll never forget the middle finger he gave every PC gamer around the time of the original Gears of War.  I don't care about CliffyB, Unreal, or Epic Games.  He can suck it as far as I'm concerned. 

[MysterD]

An interesting idea. Unreal is to-date one of my favourite shooters because it was more than just a shooter, even back in 1998. It was different, relatively. Exploring its massive environments and experiencing epic moments really set it apart! I still remember the first time I saw the Titan! haha Man, freaky good times

I really hope they do the classic Unreal justice.

Unreal was awesome - hell yes!!!
Unreal & Quake 2 - freaking awesome stuff, back in the day.
UT series and Q3A felt like the best times of the MP days, as well. Both were epic and great.

I've been playing the hell out of The Precursors (open-world sci-fi shooter) and I could totally see Epic trying to do this kind of style of game...and taking that style of game to the next level (i.e. high production values, lots of polish, and high-quality voice-acting). To see that style of game in the Unreal universe - let me start drooling right now. I've been longing for a new Unreal game w/ a campaign of some kind - and this would be right up my alley.

Man, I really how Epic goes through with this (open-world) Unreal reboot....

[Xessive]

I don't care.  I'll never forget the middle finger he gave every PC gamer around the time of the original Gears of War.  I don't care about CliffyB, Unreal, or Epic Games.  He can suck it as far as I'm concerned. 

Yeah, CliffyB has been extremely douchey. The "too little, too late" moment everyone felt during the Fortnite announcement as a PC-exclusive really highlighted just how badly the PC fans felt; of course CliffyB's crowning turd-achievement is right after the announcement he tweeted "Fortnite is PC primary and first, but we wouldn't rule out the possibility of other platforms later." He is indeed the Kanye West of the games industry.

Nonetheless, I won't allow his douchebaggery to take away the joy I had with Unreal.

[scottws]

I can see that.  I've only ever played Unreal II, UT2004, and GoW.  I'm not nearly as impressed with their past accomplishments.

[Quemaqua]

I'm not that impressed either. They're a pretty decent developer. Good games, but nothing like... holy cow. I played the first Unreal. It was... good. It did some unique things for the time, but was still a fairly average FPS. I'd say that statement sums up most of Epic's stuff... sort of barring GoW, which had some cool stuff going on but ultimately still didn't live up to its full potential.

I will say, however, that Unreal Tournament 3 was super amazingly awesome and it's really a shame it didn't get more love. It was a really complete package, and though I will always always be a Quake man, I really thought UT3 didn't get half the love it deserved.

[idolminds]

Yeah I quite enjoyed UT3. Shame how that shook out.

Open world scifi Skyrim? Yeah I'd be down with that.

[Quemaqua]

It should be noted I would also quite be down with that.

[Pugnate]

I don't care.  I'll never forget the middle finger he gave every PC gamer around the time of the original Gears of War.  I don't care about CliffyB, Unreal, or Epic Games.  He can suck it as far as I'm concerned. 

And he will do it again when consoles are more profitable.

Openworld Skyrim style Unreal sounds brilliant!

UT was a fantastic game and blew away Quake.

[scottws]

Won't bother me if he does it again.  I've already written his entire company off.

[idolminds]

UT was a fantastic game and blew away Quake.

Thems fightin' words.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I'd argue that. Quake never had a real competitor in my view until it basically just stepped down of its own accord. UT3 is close, though. Whatever it lacks in pitch-perfect gameplay it makes up for it shitloads of modes and maps, personality, and general prettiness.

But yeah, once there was Quakeworld, there was no real competition, and Quake 3 killed UT because it was just so much tighter (even if a little smaller in scope).

[Pugnate]

Thems fightin' words.

[MysterD]

And he will do it again when consoles are more profitable.

Openworld Skyrim style Unreal sounds brilliant!

UT was a fantastic game and blew away Quake.

I don't know how anybody could go wrong w/ picking either Q3A or UT series. [shrug]
Both rocked.
Even Q4's MP felt A LOT like Q3A.

I will say, however, that Unreal Tournament 3 was super amazingly awesome and it's really a shame it didn't get more love. It was a really complete package, and though I will always always be a Quake man, I really thought UT3 didn't get half the love it deserved.

Agreed 100% on UT3.

[scottws]

I'm an outlier here.  I obviously never played the original UT.  I did play Quake, but only the free shareware episode.  I don't even think I had access to the Internet when Quake came out, and doing anything with dial-up other than getting on Prodigy was completely foreign to me.

By the time I got Internet, I had a N64 and Goldeneye.

[Xessive]

I'm an outlier here.  I obviously never played the original UT.  I did play Quake, but only the free shareware episode.  I don't even think I had access to the Internet when Quake came out, and doing anything with dial-up other than getting on Prodigy was completely foreign to me.

By the time I got Internet, I had a N64 and Goldeneye.

By the time I got internet we were playing Quake 2 on dial-up. When Unreal Tournament came out it stole the show! That game had me hooked! It kicked the snot out of any other shooter at the time, including Quake 3.

Back then the Unreal engine started showing its superiority by looking great and running better on lower spec systems than any Quake-engine game. I still remember my old Intel Celeron 400MHz, 128MB RAM, 3dfx Voodoo3 16MB running UT beautifully but struggling with Quake 3 at the same resolution. Later when I upgraded to a Voodoo5 64MB UT looked even better with FSAA and Quake 3 ran a little better. That was when I started to take notice that hardware matters but software optimization is just as important.

The Unreal engine looked sharp and made things look pristine; the texture detail looked phenomenal at the time! I've been a fan of the Unreal engine ever since and I loved seeing titles being developed in it.

[W7RE]

I felt pretty even about UT and Q3. Q3 had the snappier and more precise feel, and an aesthetic I preferred slightly over UT. UT seemed like it had more to offer in all other areas though. Since I didn't play that much online, mostly just bot matches and 1 on 1 vs my brother, I let him decide which to get. We couldn't afford many games at the time, and bought one copy to share between us. Of course later I endd up getting Q3, but still never played much online.

That's actually something I don't hear a lot of people say though, that they typically play against bots when they don't have friends to play with. I really don't like many competitive games online. People get bitchy and angry over the dumbest things, are low-lifes in general, and have likely spent thousands of hours more than me practicing this ONE game, where I've spread myself thin by playing others too and can't compete. I did get really into the competitive multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, but they both started to leave a bad taste in my mouth after a while. Lately I stick mostly to cooperative stuff with people I know.