alt.games.unreal.tournament FAQ v1.01

Up to date as of: 30 March, 2000

Objective: To cover a broad base of questions which are frequently asked by newcomers to the game and newsgroup. This document is in no way definitive, but is a good start to finding your way around.

alt.games.unreal.tournament Netiquette

As with any other newsgroup, please treat everyone with respect and treat him or her exactly as you would like to be treated. This is not to say that you cannot voice any disagreement, but you should state detail your argument as clearly and as eloquently as you can. Personal slagging matches are both unpleasant and boring.

Q: Can I talk about Unreal Tournament vs. Quake3 Arena?
A: Yes you can, but please please please don’t just shout your mouth off about “I think game A is better than game b and y’all are just a bunch of lame ass faggots for playing it”. Anyone found conducting themselves in this way would have their message headers recorded and forwarded to their ISP. A short note explaining that this newsgroup does not tolerate such behaviour will be attached, and their ISP will deal with the offender.

Q: Why shouldn’t I respond to Trolls?
A: Because it’s a response that they’re looking for. Every time you read a post that seems offensive or promotes a preposterous idea, think to yourself: “Is this for real?” Most often than not this type of message will be a Troll. Just laugh at the sad bastard who wrote the message, take a deep breath and move on to another post.

Q: Is it alright to crosspost to other newsgroups?
A: Well, there are two schools of thought on this:
School of thought No.1
No.This is considered VERY bad manners in Internet terms.

School of thought No.2
As a general rule, crossposting is frowned upon.  If you must crosspost a message, restrict it to newsgroups that cover the same subject and limit your post to two newsgroups total.  Never crosspost to newsgroups that involve completely different games.  For example, don't crosspost from alt.games.unreal.tournament to alt.games.quake3.  It's ok to occasionally crosspost from alt.games.unreal.tournament to alt.games.unreal since they address very similar games.  Just don't make a habit of it

So, go ahead and draw your own conlcusions, but don't come crying to me if someone flames you for doing it J.

Q: Can I post a binary to this Newsgroup?
A: No. There are newsgroups set up to receive binaries. There’s nothing worse than having to wait an hour for your newsgroups to download just because somebody didn’t respect others and uploaded a binary to a non-binary newsgroup. Apart from that, if you post a binary to a non-binary Newsgroup, then there is a chance that your (or someone else’s) ISP will drop it because of the offensively large bandwidth running to it. We wouldn’t want that now would we?

Q: Can I post to alt.games.unreal.tournament in HTML format?
A: No. It takes up more bandwidth than necessary. I know your messages look very pretty and all, but we’re only interested in what you have to say, not the stationary that you use to create it.

Q: D00dz, where can I d/l some l33t w4rez?
A: I tell you what. You start running and I’ll give you a 5 second start. All of the people here (or at least most of them) have bought the full version of Unreal Tournament. The only way to support the software houses and ensure that they produce yet another excellent follow up is to go out and buy a copy. Warez are copyright theft and is a serious offence. It’s just not big and it’s certainly not clever.

Q: Can I list announcements about my clan every week?
A: Not really, you should have your own clan mailing list or similar message service to do that. However, please fell more then welcome to post to the Group if you are looking for another clan to play with. In fact, newsgroups are a most excellent way to find other clans J.

Q: I think weapon ___ is a crap newbie weapon.
A: Do you now? That’s nice dear, now run along and be careful you don’t poke your eye out with it J.

Q: I used profanity and was flamed: why?
A: Because I felt like it J.

Q: What do all these NetSpeak abbreviations mean?
A: There’s absolutely loads of them. Some of the more popular ones are:

LOL – Laughing Out Loud
LMAO – Laughing My Ass Off
IRC- Internet Relay Chat
IIRC - If I Remember Correctly
AFAIK – As Far As I Know
BRB – Be Right Back
BBL – Be Back Later
IYSWIM – If You See What I Mean
TTFN – Ta Ta For Now
GG – Good Game
GL – Good Luck
HTH – Hope This Helps
TIA – Thanks In Advance
ATM - At The Moment
FYI - For Your Information
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
OTOH - On The Other Hand
BTW - By The Way

You can search for netiquette hints and information at: http://www.deja.com/home_ps.shtml

alt.games.unreal.tournament Game Specific Questions

Q: What is the latest patch release?
A: At the moment it’s 4.13. You can download it from: the downloads section. You can also get the 4.05b patch there too.

Q: How do I disable that annoying fly-by intro?
A: Easy Peasy. Just go into the /unrealtournament/system/ folder and open up the unrealtournament.ini file. In 6^th line from the top (roughly), replace this line:
"LocalMap=CityIntro.unr"
With the following line:
"LocalMap=UT-Logo-Map.unr."

Q: How can I show my frame rate?
A: You can do this two ways:
Press the apostrophe (‘) key to show the console and then type in: “timedemo 1” (without the quotes). Press escape to close the console and you’ll notice your average frame rate and your frame rate for the last second are now displayed over on the right hand side of your screen. To turn it off again, open the console and type “Timdemo 0”.
On the Unreal Tournament desktop, select the “Tools” Menu and then the “TimeDemo Statistics” option. Perform the same task to turn it back off.

Q: How do I run/record a demo?
A: To start recording a demo, go into the console and type: “demorec dem1”. This will allow you to record a demo that will stop automatically when the level ends. However, to manually stop the demo, type: “stopdemo”. To watch the demo you have just recorded, type: “demoplay demo1”. Please note that all recorded demos are placed automatically in the UnrealTournament/System folder.

Q: Are there any standard demos I can use for benchmarking?
A: There are many demos available now, but the most popular one appears to be the Killer Demo. All of them are available at the files Section.

Q: How do I take a screenshot?
A: In the game it’s already set up to F9, although you can change this (see setting up binds later in this document). Your screen is saved in the UnrealTournament/System folder and is called shotxxx.bmp

Q: How do other players do those flips?
A: What they’re actually doing is “dodging”. Tapping twice quickly on the forwards key does this. The player doesn’t actually see him/herself flipping from their point of view, but that’s how the other players see it. As opposed to popular opinion, tapping twice quickly on either the left or right strafe key twice quickly does NOT perform this function.

Q: I was playing online, and everyone was either fat or skinny. Is this a bug?
A: No. This is a mutator (variation of the standard game) where a person becomes fatter with the more kills they get, and skinnier the more they are killed.This does not affect how easy tey are to hit - the 'collison radius' is still exactly the same size - all it affects is how easy you are to see (it is a lot harder not to see a hugely fat guy, where as a skinny guy may not be noticed as much).

Q: How can I bind keys in UT?
A: This is a little more tricky, but fairly straight forward if you know your advanced options. Obviously you can set up your weapons selector binds in the preferences menu, but If you’d like to bind the “N” key to perform a jump while saying “You Like that?” then you’d have to perform the following:

1. Bring up the console and type in “preferences”.
2. Choose “Advanced” and then “Raw Key Bindings”. A list will then appear showing you which keys are bound to which action.
3. Scroll down to the “N” key part, click on it and type the following into the box that appears: “speech 3 1 0 | jump”. You’ll notice that the speech part is defined by a number code. I will try to provide a list of codes and what they mean ASAP.

Hopefully this will give you and idea of how to go about setting up binds.

Q: How can I beat Xan?
A: Everyone has their own ways of doing it, but really the best way to beat any other player is to learn the map and then set out to control all of the resources. This means finding all the secret spots and then grabbing all of the hidden items. Keep doing this, even though you might not need another shield belt – because it stops the other player(s) from getting to it J. Obviously you have to be able to time it, so setting up a standard route is a good thing. Last hint is to have a favourite weapon and then practice like hell with it.

Q: How can I cheat in the single player Game?
A: Best place to check for walkthroughs/cheats is at http://www.planetunreal.com which is a rich source for ALL UT needs. Some of the commands are:

iamtheone - activate cheat codes below
god - makes you invulnerable
loaded - gives you every weapon
allammo - loads every weapon you have with max ammo
ghost - go anywhere inside or outside the map
fly - now you can fly
walk - default mode
killall [class] - kills every enemy in a certain [class]
playersonly - freeze time, type it again to cancel
behindview 1 - view your player from behind
behindview 0 - default view
open [mapname] - open a map of your choosing at any time
addbots [#] - add a number [#] of bots to the level
summon [item] - make an item appear (see list below)
summon unreali.[itemname] - make an [itemname] appear (see list below)
summon unreali.[opponentname] - bring on an opponent [opponentname] (see list below)

Q: I simply cannot beat Xan. How can I use his skin/voice?
A: Rubbish. Just go back and keep trying, you wimp J.

Q: How and where should I download maps and models?
A: Nali City at Planet Unreal

Another place worth mentioning is: http://www.btinternet.com/~nexusltd/UT/home_frames.htm and you can get skins there too.

To install and use the maps:

Copy the map to your Maps directory inside your Unreal Tournament directory. Maps may also include custom textures, sound effects or other files. Files with different extensions go to different folders like this:

*.unr --> Maps
*.umx --> Music
*.uax --> Sounds
*.utx --> Textures
*.u --> System

If you want to keep UT's original files and downloaded files separate, finda section in unrealtournament.ini that defines some paths where to search the files (Paths=xxx). Create a directory or multiple directories where tostore downloaded maps and other files, for example "Maps_Custom" in your UT dir, and under it "System", "Maps", "Textures", "Sounds" and "Music". Then add the following lines to your unrealtournament.ini:

Paths=../Maps_Custom/System/*.u
Paths=../Maps_Custom/Maps/*.unr
Paths=../Maps_Custom/Textures/*.utx
Paths=../Maps_Custom/Sounds/*.uax
Paths=../Maps_Custom/Music/*.umx

You can now copy all newly downloaded files into these dirs, and UT will find them there.

Q: Where do I get new voice packs and how do I use them?
A:New voice packs can be found at:

http://members.xoom.com/roshin/
http://www.unreality.org/painfuldetail/

This is the correct way to install new voicepacks. I will use the Duke Nukem voicepack as an example.

1. The Duke Nukem voicepack consists of two separate files, Dpackage.int and Dpackage.u.  Place Dpackage.int and Dpackage.u in the Unreal Tournament system folder, ie in C:\UnrealTournament\System.

2. Locate UnrealTournament.ini in the system folder and open it by doubleclicking on it. Scroll down a bit until you find a section that looks like this:

[Engine.GameEngine]

In that section, look for the ServerPackages:

ServerPackages=SGirlSkins
ServerPackages=BossSkins
ServerPackages=Botpack

Then add this line to the list:

serverpackages=Dpackage

Save and exit.

3. The next time you start Unreal Tournament, this voicepack will appear in the list of available voices when you configure the bots.

Q: How do I create my own voice packs?"
A: Visit: http://www.unreality.org/painfuldetail/

Q: How do I use new mutators?
A:Just Double-Click on the "x.umod" file and it will automatically install. The mutator will then be accessible via the game setup menu as normal. Failing that then just drag the .umod over the setup.exe icon in your unreal tournament folder and voila!

Q: The infiltrator mutator fucked up UT. How do I fix it?
A:go to the UT/system folder and paste this to it:

[Engine.PlayerPawn]
WeaponPriority[0]=Translocator
WeaponPriority[1]=ChainSaw
WeaponPriority[2]=ImpactHammer
WeaponPriority[3]=enforcer
WeaponPriority[4]=doubleenforcer
WeaponPriority[5]=ShockRifle
WeaponPriority[6]=ut_biorifle
WeaponPriority[7]=PulseGun
WeaponPriority[8]=SniperRifle
WeaponPriority[9]=ripper
WeaponPriority[10]=minigun2
WeaponPriority[11]=UT_FlakCannon
WeaponPriority[12]=UT_Eightball
WeaponPriority[13]=WarheadLauncher
WeaponPriority[14]=None
WeaponPriority[15]=None
WeaponPriority[16]=None
WeaponPriority[17]=None
WeaponPriority[18]=None
WeaponPriority[19]=None

and delete this

WeaponPriority[0]=ChainSaw
WeaponPriority[1]=INFIL_UTGrenade
WeaponPriority[2]=ImpactHammer
WeaponPriority[3]=INFIL_UTM9
WeaponPriority[4]=Translocator
WeaponPriority[5]=enforcer
WeaponPriority[6]=INFIL_UTM16
WeaponPriority[7]=INFIL_UTMP5
WeaponPriority[8]=SuperShockRifle
WeaponPriority[9]=doubleenforcer
WeaponPriority[10]=INFIL_UTRobar
WeaponPriority[11]=INFIL_UTAT4Launcher
WeaponPriority[12]=ut_biorifle
WeaponPriority[13]=PulseGun
WeaponPriority[14]=ShockRifle
WeaponPriority[15]=SniperRifle
WeaponPriority[16]=ripper
WeaponPriority[17]=minigun2
WeaponPriority[18]=UT_FlakCannon
WeaponPriority[19]=WarheadLauncher

u can also find this in the defuser file in the system folder

Q: What kind of graphics cards work well with UT?
A: Any card built with the capacity for 3D acceleration is ideally the best card to use. The engine in UT was designed with the voodoo line of cards in mind, so you get less hassle using that particular card with the GLide drivers in mind. I use the Matrox G400 max and D3D drivers with no trouble, but many members of the newsgroup have reported difficulties with that set-up. The Nvidia/GeForce cards are potentially the most powerful cards on the market to date, but UT and the 4.05b patch still offer very little support for them.

Q: What’s the second CD for?
A: That’s an extra textures pack designed for S3 Savage graphics cards. It’s not recommended that you install this CD unless you have a S3.

Q: How do I use these extra textures with an S3 card?
A: Thomas McGuire has covered this in detail at: http://www.3dspotlight.net/tweaks/ut/ut-tweak-4.shtml

Q: Can I use the extra textures with a non-S3 card?
A: No.

Q: Why is UT so slow on my old computer?
A: The minimum spec for a PC wishing to use UT is:

P200MMX
32 MB RAM (64Mb really would be better)
100 MB HD space
PCI Local Bus Video Card
Win 95/98/NT
CD-ROM drive
Win 95-compatible sound card
TCP/IP (for Internet play)

Q: Where can I find performance Tweaks?
A: There’s an excellent UT tweak guide by Thomas McGuire (one of the newsgroup members) at: http://www.3dspotlight.net/tweaks/ut/index.shtml. You’ll find help on everything from graphics cards to modems there. There’s also a site dedicated to unique performance tweaks for the 4.05b patch at: http://unreal.epicgames.com/utperf.htm.

Q: Should I use a joystick with UT?
A: The best combination for any First Person Shoot-em-up game always will be a mouse and keyboard. It’s the cheapest option too. However, some people are perverts and will try to tell you otherwise ;)

Q: Where can I find UnrealEd?
A: It's on the 2nd CD of Unreal Tournament along with the S3 extra textures.

Q: UnrealEd has destroyed my brain. Where can I get help on using it?
A: alt.games.unreal.ed is a newsgroup dedicated to said software. Remember to check if they have a FAQ before posting too J.

Q: Are all those awesome online players cheating?
A: When you first come online to play UT, almost everyone looks awesome. I’m afraid to say that these people are NOT cheating, and that it’s going to take a little practice for you to get to that level. I know it can be a bit soul destroying, but if you remember that it’s just a game and play for fun, then you’ll quickly find your name rising on those final scoreboards. All FPS games have a steep learning curve, but there’s nothing more rewarding than sticking with it and eventually winning your first online level.

Practice with the bots and allow their skill level to be automatically adjusted to suit your playing ability. What you will find is that you seldom win a level this way until you can eventually play and win at the “Godlike” setting. This is good because the UT bots are continually “pushing” you, and you’re gaining skill without even knowing it.

It's worth noting though, that you might join a server and everything looks and feels just plain wierd. This isn't anyone cheating either - It's a mutator in effect, and man, they CAN be funky.

Please also bear in mind that the subject of cheating has become a very sensitive subject in alt.games.unreal.tournament. It seems there may be some sore losers out there, and most of the people are getting sick of their complaints and accusations. Remember this: How would you like it when you finally won your first level and some one accused you of cheating? It would pretty much take the sharp edge off of your pride, huh? All I’m saying is think hard about accusing someone of cheating

You can also try Gamespot’s UT Strategy Guide at: http://www.gamespot.com/guides/ut_gg/index.html

Q: I suck Hard. Where can I find cheats for multiplayer?
A: Don’t even try. Cheating can completely ruin everyone’s fun, and it’s not even your own skill that’s getting you those kills. Just practice! It won’t be long until you’re pitting in a tough fight. Besides, there basically aren't any cheats for UT clients. That might reduce a player's temptation to suspect cheating

Q: What key do I press to display the scores screen?
A: Press F1 J.

Q: What’s the deal with that huge blue explosion with the Shock Rifle?
A: That’s the combination shot. It’s when you fire a secondary shot to create the slow moving ball and then shoot at it with the primary fire. Boom!

Q: How do I use the Chainsaw?
A: Use the chainsaw as you would a sword. The primary fire thrusts it and the secondary fire swings it in a slash type motion. Engarde!

Q: I have seen pictures of the chainsaw, how do I get it?
A: It can be found in some third party levels, or can replace your impact hammer by using the chainsaw mutator.

Q: How do people jump so high with the Impact Hammer?
A: That an Impact Hammer jump – funnily enough. To get a lot of lift, what you do is charge up the impact hammer by pressing and holding the primary fire. Then run forwards and just before you jump look down so that your eye level is roughly at 45 degrees. Press the jump key and a split second later let go of the primary fire button. FWOOSH!!!! You’ll take some damage but you’ll be like rocket man/woman J.

That's fine if you really need a lot of lift, but for lesser jumps try pressing the alt fire as you look down and jump. You know the damage amp on the crate in Turbine? Alt fire gets you up there with ease and hurts a lot less.

Q: I’m often confused while playing Assault online. What should I do?
A: Check out http://www.planetunreal.com/game/utpreview/assault.shtml and then practive by playing offline for a while until you get the hang of it. It’s one of the most addictive variations for UT ATM.

Q: I was carrying the flag during a CTF game, but when I got back to base I no longer had it. Why?
A: Don't use the translocator. If you use it, you'll leave the flag behind. Epic made it work that way to avoid the Quake 2 grapple-monkey syndrome. Getting a flag back home should involve some work and some risk, not just a couple of teleports.

Q: How does that “Auto Balance” function work with Bots?
A: In team games, auto balance forces bots onto teams as needed to ensure both teams are evenly matched as humans enter and leave the game. Don't get this confused with Force Team Balance which forces humans onto one or the other team when they join to ensure equal teams.

Q: How does that “Auto Adjust Skill” function work with bots?
A: In single players games it automatically adjusts it's skill depending on how well you're doing. This ensures that your games aren't ALL walkovers :)

Q: How do I find an online Server?
A: Easy. First, you want to make sure you’re connected to the internet and then fire up UT. The go to the “Multiplayer” menu and select “Find internet games” This will bring up a new window that has tabs across the top to categorise al the different variations of the game. Just click in the tab that appeals to you most and wait for the “finder” to stop listing all the games (there’s a little percentage marker at the bottom of the screen to show you it’s progress). Once you find a decent game, just click on it and press return.

You can also add servers to the "favourites" tab by right clicking on that server and selecting "add to favourites". The that means you can ping all your favourite servers without having to wait an age for UT to ping them ALL.

Q: What is ping?
A: Ping is the time in milliseconds for your PC to send a “packet” of information to a server and then for your PC to receive an “acknowledgement”. Obviously you want this number to be as low as you can get. UT is very playable with a ping of 200, but some computers start to “stutter” at a ping of 350 and up.

Q: What are GameSpy and Ping tool?
A: Most FPS games previous to UT didn’t have a built in online games finder, so people used these programs to do the job. Both of these programs are perfectly useable with UT and now it’s just down to a matter of personal preference. It’s worth noting that GameSpy requires a fee to allow you to use all of it’s features  but is still probably the favourite. You can use it perfectly without paying for it, but if you want all of it's features, then you have to pay.

Ping tool recently went freeware, so you get to use all of it’s features without paying. It must be noted though that for some reason the latest release often freezes up and crashes on some people’s PC’s, including mine (grrr).

Also, don't forget Kali. It's been around longer than either GS or PT and has about 250,000 owners. $20 dollars - lifetime upgrades. Same as GS. Faster than GS. http://www.kali.net

You can download GameSpy from http://www.gamespy3d.com/ and Ping Tool from: http://www.pingtool.com

Q: How can I reduce lag?
A: There’s an excellent modem guide by Thomas McGuire at: http://www.3dspotlight.net/tweaks/modem/index.shtml

Q: Why aren’t my games showing up in ngStats/ngWorldStats?
A: There was a bug in the first release of ngStats/ngWorldStats and a patch can be downloaded from: http://www.unrealkingdom.com/download_patches.html#ngworldstats.

Q: Can I loop Demos?
A: Not at the moment. However, rumour has it that this will be enabled in the next patch.

Q: UT keeps crashing. Where can I go for help?
A: Either by phone on: 01923 209145, by email at: gtisup@clientlogic.co.uk or by post at:

GT Interactive Support Centre
PO Box 651
Watford
WD2 4YN
United kingdom

Some international helplines are:

United States and Canada: (642) 398-3074
France: +33 1 41 06 59 96 cyberhl@aol.com
Belgium: +33 1 41 06 59 96 helpdesk@homesoft.nl
Netherlands: FAX: +31 23 5530131 helpdesk@homesoft.nl
Germany: 01805 / 25 43 91 15.00 h - 20.00 h gtinteractive@maxupport.de

Q: I’m going to reinstall UT. What files should I save?
A: The user.ini file though from the unrealtournament\system folder

Q: Where can I find more info on running a server?
A: Check out Planet Unreal’s section at: http://www.planetunreal.com/TheAdminPage/

Q: What other Online resources are available for UT?
A: Planet Unreal - http://www.planetunreal.com
Unreal Tournament for UK and Ireland http://www.utsystem.co.uk/content/index.shtml
Unreal Tournanment - http://www.unrealtournament.com/
The Developium - http://www.developium.com - has a huge list of loads of resource sites for all the major FPS games.