Hi folks,
I don’t really know where to start with this thread,… I’m an old-school, UT99 mapper, (who sometimes needed help, in all honesty), I have a 5yr old rig, I’m on a very low income, I’ve got no experience with ANY of the new editors, (I only know the UT99 editor), I’m not out to make any money from this, (I’d have no idea how and have no personal connections to help me even if I did anyway), and to top it all off, I’m so nervous about all of the aforementioned things and my ability to get back into map-making; will there be any use for my maps? Who’ll be playing them? What servers are there likely to be? What level of interest will there likely be in the main UT2015 game? Can my current rig cope with the new editor? What help is there available for when I need real-time help? Will I be forced to upgrade my PC/rig before I get the editor? From what I gather thus far, the UT2015 game is free for those wishing to play it, how will my maps get distributed? What resources are available for the editor’s content? There are so many more questions, I can’t think of them all now, so this list isn’t exhaustive by any means:
So many questions, so few answers:
- I’ve read the recommended PC spec to run the new content; my rig is 5yrs old, and I THINK it’s JUST about ok, except the graphics card, (it’s a Sapphire ATI Radeon Toxic HD5850 1Gb, it’s a bit less than the recommended spec’d card, what level of graphics quality will I get with my card?). Should I still save the money needed for an upgrade to adequately run the editor/game or should I pay the monthly fee anyway and hope for the best?
- Could any of my maps I make with this new UT4 engine be included in any content distributed by Epic? Or am I not understanding the distribution facts correctly?
- What level of mapping craftsmanship would any maps I make need to be at before they’d be accepted for possible distribution?
- Is there a widely active, localised mapper’s community chat-room?
- How well is this game likely to be received by the general public upon its official release? Does anyone think or know if this game’s going to be popular AND widely populated with gamers? To be honest, as much as this saddens me to say, I can’t help but think this UE4 game’s going to suffer because there are far too many games out there, too few gamers spread over too many platforms, thus too few gamers to be interested in yet ANOTHER first person shooter. I can’t imagine this new game will ever be as widely populated as UT99 was when it was at the height of its popularity - but I do sincerely hope I am proven wrong!
- Where are the old-school mappers now? Are there any who’re doing maps for this new engine, if so, where can they be found?
I stopped making maps for UT99 in about 2011/'12,… but since then I’ve not played any UT, (not any Unreal Tournament game; instead I’ve played Battlefield Bad Company 2, on n off and there’s about as much comradery and social connection/interaction in that as there is in an old, Victorian cemetery - it’s soulless; just rampant shooting and no chat or laughs or, “Great shot!”, or, “Got any new maps, R3p?”, etc), and I’ve made no maps since then, so I’ve lost touch with the old UT99 servers, mappers, gamers etc.
In short, I’m out of touch, incredibly lonely, suicidally bored and very keen to be doing something creative and productive again with a fun, lively, creative, interested, devoted, skilled, passionate gaming/mapping crowd as in the early days of UT99. I’m keen to get back designing maps, (with the new editor if possible), but also, I want to see if my design skills would make me an employable entity in the gaming industry some time soon down the line; I’m in my 40s now, I’m still unemployed, I’ve got bundles of spare time but I’m not getting any younger; time for me is running out. I want to be creative again - and busy.
Please, any help would be massively appreciated, thank you.