Unreal FAQ Table of Content: 1 About this FAQ What is this FAQ about? How can I do a Search in this FAQ? Where can I download this FAQ? Abbreviations used Credits/Copyrights/Disclaimer 2 Unreal Features 2.1 The Unreal Basics What is Unreal? What is the Unreal background story? Who made Unreal? 2.2 The Full Game What features does Unreal have? Where can I find Unreal and the latest patches? Do I have to install all patches upwards from the version I have or only the latest one? Where can I find add-ons for Unreal (maps, skins, weapons) on the web? 3 Setup & Config Hardware & OS - Setup Processors What processors is Unreal compatible with? How can I make Unreal make use of the extended commands of my Intel Pentium III? Will Unreal run faster on a dual processor machine? 3.1.2 Graphic Cards 3.1.3 Sound Cards 3.1.4 Input Devices 3.1.5 Modems What modem do I need to play Unreal online? How are data transmitted over the internet? What influences the quality of my Unreal online play? How can I improve my ping and packetloss? Where can I find a good modem tweaking guide on the internet? 3.1.6 Memory How much RAM does Unreal need? How much virtual Memory? 3.1.7 Software Can Unreal be played with Windows NT? Can Unreal be played with Windows 2000? Can Unreal be played with Linux? How do I have to set up my proxy server? How should I configure my virtual memory swapfile? Can I use a voice chat program to talk to my buddy while playing Unreal? 3.1.9 Apple Macintosh 3.2 Installation and Start How do I install Unreal? Unreal crashes during or after Installation. What gives? Can I run Unreal without the CD in the drive? Can I run Unreal on more than one PC with one CD? 3.3 Basic Configuration 3.3.1 Player Setup Can I use symbols in my player nickname? Do the different classes (models) have any (dis-)advantages? Where can I get additional models/skins and how can I make my own ones? 3.3.3 Weapon Priority How can I change my weapon priority? How can I disable weapon auto-switch? Can I remove a weapon from my priority list, so that it is never auto-switched? When I use the next/previous weapon keys, Why does Unreal switch using the original order? 3.3.4 Preferences What do all the settings in the preferences do? What is a good keyboard setup? 3.4 Advanced Configuration 3.4.1 Console-Commands What is the system console? How do I enter the "advanced options" menu? Is there a list of all Unreal console commands and starting parameters? What are the Unreal cheats codes? Can I use cheats during online play? How can I repeat a command? How can I change my FOV = "Field of View"? 3.4.2 Key Binding and Aliases How do I bind a command to a key? What is an alias and how do I define one? 3.4.3 Tweak Graphics & Sound How can I check my framerate? How can I improve my framerate? I can't see any fog in Unreal. I thought there should be some. I can't see the shieldbelt glow effect. Why? 3.4.4 Tweaking Online Play How can I improve my ping / Packet Loss (from within Unreal)? 3.4.5 Server Settings 3.5 Starting / joining a match 3.5.1 Start a Singleplayer Game Why should I play singleplayer anyway? What's the difference between Botmatch and Multiplayer ? How do I customize the bots? What are the best settings to create a bot with most human behaviour?> What is the difference between the 3 game style modes? 3.5.2 Join a Multiplayer Game How do I join a multiplayer game on LAN or internet? How do I "refresh" in the Unreal browser? Sometimes the Unreal browser shows me absurd low pings. Is it a bug? Are there alternatives to the Unreal browser? How can I split my favorites into gametypes in the Unreal browser and add custom tabs? How can I run Unreal behind a firewall / proxy? I can connect to a server, but I'm flying around invisible and I can't shoot. Why? How can I disconnect from a server? Sometimes my modem receives data for several minutes after I have disconnected. Why? 3.5.3 Start a Multiplayer Game How do I start a server for playing over the internet? How many players is my server capable to handle for smooth gameplay? How do I switch maps on my server while playing? How do I kick or ban players from my server or switch maps? How do I set up a server for a LAN? Can I play over a serial cable connection or modem-to-modem? How can I join a server, that is not advertised? 4 Various 4.1 Various How can I define more than one user setup? How can I define more than one custom maplist? How can I make Unreal skip the intro? I want to back-up my savegames. In which files are they saved? How can I edit my savegames? I have to re-install Unreal and don't want to loose my settings. Which files must I back-up? How do I take a screenshot in Unreal? 4.2 Music and Sounds How can I play the Unreal music outside of Unreal? How can I extract Unreal sounds? 4.3 UnrealSpectating and Demos Why should I spectate and what is the best way to do it? Bugs in Spectating / Demos? How do I record / replay a demo? Where is it saved? Where can I find demos of top players or clans? I want to benchmark my hardware with Unreal. Where can I find a timedemo? I downloaded a demo from the web, but when I try to run it, I get an error. Why? Why can is it that when I switch to an other player's view while watching a demo, suddenly he disapears? How do I record a server-side demo? 5 Unreal Add-ons 5.1 Maps Where can I download good user-made maps on the web? How do I install downloaded maps? I have downloaded a map directly from a Unreal game server. Why is it not in my map list? I want to set up my server with user-made maps. How do I do it? I want to make my own map. How do I do it? When I start UnrealEd, I get an error message. What gives? I have made my own map. How do I add the preview snapshot? 5.2 Models / Skins What's the difference between a model (mesh) and a skin? Where can I download good skin and models on the net? How do I install downloaded skins? I want to run a custom skin on my server. What do I have to do? I played on a server lately, where everybody had the same ugly grey/green skin. A bug? I want to make my own Skin / Model. How do I do that? 5.3 Mutators & Mods What is a mutator? What is a mod? Where can I download good mods/muts on the web? How do I install and uninstall mods / mutators? 6 Gameplay 6.1 General Tips Could you please give a newbie some starting tips? How can I find secrets? 6.2 Movement What is a good controller setup? What is "cycle-strafing"? Sometimes I randomly do jumps. Is that a bug? (Dodging) I've seen bots jumping extremely high. Can I do that too? I've seen people "rise from dead". Are they cheating? I've seen people firing their weapon in the final scores screen. How do they do that? 6.3 The Game Modes 6.4 The Weapons and Items 6.5 The Bots 6.5.1 Playing against bots How does the bot AI work? What are the differences between the various bot base skills? How do I beat the bots? 7 The Unreal Online Community 7.1 Unreal forums General: Tech Support: 7.2 Unreal clans What is a clan? Should I join a clan? How can I find and join a clan? 8 Links 1 About this FAQ What is this FAQ about? It's about the 1st person action computer game "Unreal", made by Epic Games. For basic information about the game, see Unreal Features I hope you find it helpful and like it. Beginners should find tons of helpful advice and even for advanced Unreal players, there should be some Easter eggs hidden here and there. Read closely.. How can I do a Search in this FAQ? If you can't find the answer to your question through the table of content, I'd recommend searching for the keywords of your question. The FAQ site has no search option, you can easily use the built-in search feature of the program, that you use to view this FAQ, from it's top menu bar: MS Internet Explorer: [Edit]®[Find (on this page)] Netscape Browser: [Edit]®[Find in page] MS Word: [Edit]®[Find] MS WordPad: [Edit]®[Find] MS Notepad: [Search]®[Find] Where can I download this FAQ? As you read this, you obviously already have it. But maybe you only have a part of it or only a printout or only an old version or only the text version or ...... and look for the latest update fresh from where the news are. Here is where you can find it: The download includes the weapon&item guide and the keybinding&aliases guide. HTML: Download\Unreal_FAQ_html.zip Text only version: Download\Unreal_FAQ.txt Abbreviations used AFAIK As far as I know AI Artificial Intelligence Code controlling Bots aka also known as AOs Advanced Options D3D Microsoft Direct 3D Program for Video Acceleration Hardware DCC Direct Cable Connection Serial or Nullmodem Cable Connection DM Deathmatch Unreal Gamemode d/l download FAQ Frequently Asked Question FPS First Person Shooter Type of Computer Game Frames per Second Scale for Video Framerate HD(D) Harddisk(-Drive) You should know that. ;) IM(H)O In my (honest) opinion ISP Internet Service Provider LAN Local Area Network MS Microsoft Corporation OS Operating System MS-Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac-OS,... PL Packet-Loss Data loss during internet transfer U1 Unreal Credits/Copyrights/Disclaimer Special Thanks to Cleaner.CH@gmx.ch for doing a fantastic job with ©leaner's big unofficial FAQ for Unreal Tournament. This FAQ has been edited and updated it so it can be used with Unreal Big credits go to Epic Games, Digital Extremes and GT Interactive Software for bringing us this great game!!! This is an unofficial FAQ. Nothing of what is written herein has been authorized by the makers of Unreal: Epic Games, Digital Extremes or GT Interactive Software. You alone are responsible for your computer system! If following any of the suggestions in this FAQ causes your Unreal or even OS to crash, I shall not be held liable for that. You are strongly recommended to back-up your Unreal and OS system files before doing any modifications as suggested in here. Unreal copyrights and trademark by Epic Games and GT Interactive Software. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners 2 Unreal Features 2.1 The Unreal Basics What is Unreal? Unreal is a fast paced action computer game; a so-called "First person shooter" (Abbrev. FPS). This stands for an action game where you see the virtual world around you in "1st person view". You cannot see the virtual person itself that you control, as you see the virtual world around itfrom it's own view. Unreal is about fighting and killing with weapons, so it's not really a kiddies game. It required fast reactions, good orientation, prediction of human behaviour and some strategic thinking. What is the Unreal background story? Copied from http://unreal.com/index2.html: The Story of Unreal Your ship has just crashed on an unknown planet. Your best friend has just been eaten by an alien. And all you’ve got is a desire to go home. This can’t be real, you tell yourself. This can’t be real. It’s not. It’s Unreal. Unreal offers a complete world for you to roam -- a world of incredible beauty and realism with the most detailed environments ever to grace your PC screen. In one seamless flowing world, race across vast outdoor and indoor environments, enter enchanting cities, mysterious temples, glittering mines, shattered ships, and crystal clear waters. Unreal delivers this cutting-edge realism on computers using a Pentium 166 or higher. And for those of you lucky enough to have a Pentium II, MMX technology or a video accelerator, the Unreal realms will become your reality. Not that it’ll be easy: with Unreal's array of fierce new fully polygonal enemies stalking your every move, it’ll be a struggle just to survive. You’ll have some help, of course: with an arsenal of incredible new weapons at your disposal, you should at least have a fighting chance against the Skaarj and their allies. But with over 300 frames of animation apiece, and monster AI (that's Artificial Intelligence to you) from Steve ("ReaperBot") Polge, your adversaries will be smarter, meaner, and more alive than any you’ve ever faced. Which means that just when you think you've got them beat, they'll retreat, team up, and take you out later. They might even be tougher than your friends when you take them on in multiplayer mode. Of course, home-court advantage always helps, and with the Unreal Editor--Unreal’s easy to use object-oriented level editor--they’ll be fighting on levels of your own design in no time. Or you’ll be fighting on theirs. Either way, the Unreal realms are growing... Who made Unreal? Unreal has been created and programmed by Epic Games in cooperation with Digital Extremes. Distribution and Marketing is done by GT Interactive Software. 2.2 The Full Game What features does Unreal have? Unreal features excellent sound and graphic, using the optimized Unreal 3D engine, which is still the best available in today's computer games IMO, producing a very realistic image of your environment. Unreal is mainly intended for multiplayer gaming against other human players over the internet, a local network, modem-to-modem or through serial cable. But Unreal also provides you with lots of fun, if you are not connected to other humans, as Unreal has "Bots", computer-controlled opponents. These bots are quite smart and their AI makes them behave very human. On lower skill level, they are good for newbie training; on highest skill they are still a challenge even for the best Unreal players in the world. There are various game modes; in some you fight alone, while in others you play as a team. Out of the box, Unreal has a repertoire of 10 very different weapons, each of them with two different firing modes, making them 20 weapons virtually. Read chapter 6.4 for details about the weapons. Each has it's special strengthes and weaknesses. Furthermore you'll find a number of power-up items with various effects (see chapter 6.4). Unreal is made to be customized by the user community. Epic Games built in the possibility to create add-ons for Unreal, that can easily be included in Unreal: New maps, new player looks, new weapons, new game modes, new items, ... You can find lots of this stuff on the internet. Look in chapter 4 for more info, where to find these add-ons. Where can I find Unreal and the latest patches? You cannot find Unreal in retail store, you will need to find it from a second party or possibly on a E-Bay or simular site. Unreal patches can be downloaded from most of the Unreal sites listed on the links page. Download patches here: http://www.snipersparadise.net/patch.html Do I have to install all patches upwards form the version I have or only the latest one? Only the latest one. It contains all necessary files. Where can I find add-ons for Unreal (maps, skins, weapons,...) on the web? There are lots of user-made add-ons available on the internet: Maps, Weapons, Player Models and Game Modifications,.... For more info, look in the "add on" section of this FAQ, chapter 5. 3 Setup & Config 3.1 Hardware & OS - Setup 3.1.1 Processors What processors is Unreal compatible with? Unreal can be played with any PC processor type commonly used today (Intel Pentium Series, Intel Celeron, Cyrix-IBM, AMD K and Athlon). None of theses processors is known to cause any problems. How can I make Unreal make use of the extended commands of my Intel Pentium III? Unreal will automatically make use of these through DirectX, which uses the commands since version 6.0. You can disable them in the advanced options, but they are enabled by default. Will Unreal run faster on a dual processor machine? Unreal is not programmed multithreaded, which means, that Unreal will not run faster on a computer equipped with multiple processors. The only thing, that multi-processors will gain an advantage for is to run several servers /clients on the same machine, as each server / client task can be assigned to different processors. For more info about Unreal with dual processors read the Unreal Multiprocessor FAQ on www.planetunreal.com/theadminpage. 3.1.2 Graphic Cards to be added 3.1.3 Sound Cards to be added 3.1.4 Input Devices to be added 3.1.5 Modems What modem do I need to play Unreal online? Unreal should be playable with virtually any modem commonly used today. A minimum bandwidth of 56kb/s is recommended. As explained below, a better modem will improve your Unreal online play a lot! How are data transmitted over the internet? Some basic knowledge about internet data transfer, that will help you to understand problems, that may occur and slow down your online-play: If a server sends data over the internet to a receiver (client) or vice-versa, he will split these data into data packets. Each packet will be sent separately. The server will look for the fastest connection to the client at that time. The connection is usually not a direct connection, but the data-packets are handed over by a lot of transfer-servers. Each of these hand-overs is called a "hop". Usually the path of the 1st data packet defines the way, that all following packets take, so if a "traffic jam" occurs later during transmittal, the packets will not automatically be diverted to a faster way. To get an idea of the ways, that your data packets travel over the internet, I'd recommend that you download and test the trail version of NeoTrace from www.neotrace.com. What influences the quality of my Unreal online play? How good you can play Unreal online over the internet depends on your connection to the server, that you play on. The quality of this connection is determined by 3 things: 1. The bandwidth of the connection: Unreal is well playable with a connecting bandwidth of about 30 kb/s. Anything above is welcome but not really necessary. Most servers will limit the bandwidth per player to about 5kB/s = 40 kb/s anyway. So you see: What makes analogy modems inferior, is not their low bandwidth, but their digital-digital modulation, which takes some time and reduces the ping time. 2. The "ping" time. That is the time, that a data-packet needs to travel from your machine to the server and back. In Unreal online play, it is the server, who decides about the status of the map. Be aware, that the picture of the map, that you see on your screen while playing Unreal online, is not the current picture of the world, but that the picture is delayed by the ping time during transmittal. So if you fire at an opponent, you may miss him, because he moved a bit during the time, that the picture needed to be sent to you. That means, if your ping-time is too high, you will have major difficulties to hit anybody, even if you have a good aim. Ping Time [ms] <100 100 ? 200 200-300 300-400 > 400 Unreal Playability Smokin'!!! Nice! Hmmm, okay ... Bad Forget it! 3. The packet-loss rate. That is the percentage of data-packets, that get lost or corrupted during transfer. Your PL rate should be below 2%. Higher PL results in strange effects: You skip around in the level, even through walls and ceilings, as if you were ghostlike. Your player model simply doesn't move as you tell him to do; Unreal is virtually unplayable. So, with high PL, even a low-ping connection is worthless! How can I improve my ping and packetloss? The ping is influenced by three things: 1. The time for the 1st hop from your computer to your ISP is influenced mainly by your modem. Connection Type Backbone Connection Cable and xDSL modems ISDN modems Analog modems 1st Hop Time [ms] <10 20-40 30-50 100-150 Ways to improve your 1st hop time: Buy a better modem ;) or tweak your current modem. Read below about good modem tweaking guides. 2. The transfer time and bandwidth of your ISP, as well as your ISP's connection to an internet backbone. Ways to improve this: Get a better ISP. 3. The "distance" of the server from your ISP's internet connection point. "Distance" in this case is not the geographical distance. There is a certain correlation between geographical distance and transfer time, but not necessarily. The Unreal server browser shows you the ping times to each server. Always choose a server with a low ping! Before you connect, highlight the server in the list and ping it a few times to see, if the ping is stable. The packetloss is mainly a matter of the connection cabling. There is few, that you can do except leave a server, that has PL. If you have a constant high PL rate, contact your ISP and your telephone company and ask for better connection cabeling. Where can I find a good modem tweaking guide on the internet? Look in the Unreal links section of this FAQ, subsection Tweaking. 3.1.6 Memory How much RAM does Unreal need? How much virtual Memory? Unreal needs RAM, lots of RAM. In my opinion, the numbers as given in the Unreal hardware spec and readme are far too low. Acc. my experience, Unreal is virtually unplayable with less than 64 MB. With 128 MB, it runs fine, but you will still have some HD swapping. With 196 MB, it runs perfect. Unless you got tons of RAM, Unreal will need virtual memory in addition to RAM. See below in section? 3.1.8 for optimum settings for your memory swap file. 3.1.8 Software Can Unreal be played with Windows NT? Yes it can! Many of the online servers run under Windows NT OS. The only thing, that is limited, is the graphics and sound. As Windows NT does not support latest DirectX and Direct3D, you can probably only run Unreal in software rendering mode. Can Unreal be played with Windows 2000? Yes, it can. Most people who triewd report, that framerate is considerably lower than with Win98 though. Results depend very much on which hardware you have and if updated drivers are already avalable for Win2k. Can Unreal be played with Linux? Yes, over the years I have heard players tell me they are playing Unreal on Linux. At this time I have no information on how to play Unreal with Linux, so I can't say much about this. I'd be grateful, if some Linux users would send me some Linux-specific FAQs (and answers), so I can include them in this FAQ. How do I have to set up my proxy server? Please read "How can I run Unreal behind a firewall / proxy?" in chapter 3.5.2. How should I configure my virtual memory swapfile? If you can afford the harddisk space, it is recommended not to let Windows manage your virtual memory file, but to set up a permanent, defragged swapfile. This will make the access to the virtual memory faster and reduce the HD activities, which will speed up your computer not only for Unreal. Recommended size for your virtual memory is about 3 times the size of your hardware RAM. (For example, if you have 128MB RAM, choose 500MB = 500'000 kB as virtual memory size.) More will only consume HD space, but won't speed up your machine much more. To do this, do the following (in Windows 95/98): - Open [Start]®[Settings]®[Control Panel]®[System]®[Performance]®[Virtual Memory]. Change the settings to a manual config an set the swapfile size (min and max) to 0 kB. - Do a full Scandisk and Defrag of your harddisk with [Start]?[Programs]®[Accessories]®[System]®Defrag / Scandisk - When finished, open the swapfile config again and set the size (min and max) of the swapfile to the same value, as said above, about 3 times the size of your RAM. Can I use a voice chat program to talk to my buddy while playing Unreal? Yes you can. There are several programs available on the web. I haven't used any of them myself, but as I heard, they are all quite and they don't take much bandwidth. Even with a 56k modem, you should be able to have the program running in the background without much decrease in Unreal online performance. Please jump to the Unreal links section of this FAQ, subsection Tools > Online Voice Chat Programs. 3.1.9 Apple Macintosh As I don't own a Mac my self, I paid little attention to forum threads about problems related to Unreal on Mac OS. I'd be grateful, if Mac-users would e-mail me Mac-related FAQs and answers. Some links to good pages on the internet about Mac & Unreal would also be nice. 3.2 Installation and Start How do I install Unreal? This is how the Unreal installation is supposed to work, if no problem occurs: 1. Put the Unreal CD in your CD-ROM drive. The setup program should start automatically. 2. Choose, which components of Unreal you want to install. Unless you are short on HD space, a full installation is recommended. Read the instructions to decided, which parts you really need. 3. Unreal copies the files to your HD. 4. Unreal makes it's entries in the windows system files and start-menu. 5. If chosen under 2): Unreal installs DirectX 6. Installation itself is finished. 7. At first start-up, Unreal will automatically scan your hardware profile and make some automatic configuration. Unreal crashes during or after Installation. What gives? There are numerous reason, that can cause such a crash. Thus no general answer is possible. In general, before you do anything else, look on Epic's tech support page and GT's tech support page for any tips for your problem. Chances are, that other users got the same problem as you and that Epic figured out reason and solution. If the installation crashes with a read error, your CD-ROM drive may have problems reading the Unreal CD. A special type of CD is used for Unreal for copy protection reasons and some DVD and CD-RW drives are known to have problems reading this type. If you got more than one CD drive, try the other one. Copy the complete CD to your HD and install it from the HD instead of from the CD drive. If Unreal calls for a missing file or crashes with an "allocation error", one or more files may have been corrupted during file-copy. Simply try uninstalling Unreal completely and re-install. If Unreal crashes with a "General Protection Fault" or a "Out of Memory" message, you may not have enough RAM and virtual memory or Unreal conflicts with the memory use of an other program or a component driver. Shut down as many program as possible except Unreal. Make sure you have enough RAM and virtual memory as described in section 3.1.6. Defrag your HD and re-install your swapfile. An other popular reason for crashes are conflicts with your video or sound card or missing or outdated drivers. Try running Unreal in "safe mode". i.e. in software rendering mode with 3D hardware support disabled. If this works, try the other rendering modes. Try to disable as many options as possible in your advanced sound and video setup in the advanced options. Turn them back on one by one to track down the reason of the problem. Look on Epic's tech support page for updated Unreal drivers. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphic and sound hardware installed. Check your hardware manufacturer's website for latest updates. Make sure you got the latest DirectX drivers installed. The minimum version required for Unreal is DirectX 7.0 There are many more possible reasons ? Can I run Unreal without the CD in the drive? Yes you can. There are a fewl ways to do that: 1. Provided, that you did a full installation, Unreal checks the presence of the CD only once at start-up. The CD is not required later and you can take the CD out of the drive. 2. Furthermore, there are the Unreal patches available on the web, in which the CD check is disabled. For example look here. Note, that these workarounds with the CD check are illegal, if you don't have your very own legal copy of Unreal! Otherwise it's software piracy! We all like quality games and want more of them in the future, so we owe the makers of these games their money. Can I run Unreal on more than one PC with one CD? As described above, you can run Unreal without the CD in the drive, so you can take the CD out and use it to start Unreal on other machines, e.g. to have a nice LAN party . 3.3 Basic Configuration 3.3.1 Player Setup Can I use symbols in my player nickname? You can use most ASCII symbols in Unreal. Simply copy-paste them into the Unreal setup from an other text program. However, not all servers show the ASCII symbols correctly, depending on their country and keyboard settings. Do the different classes (models) have any (dis-)advantages? Unreal models have diffent sizes to them, the female models move faster and jump higher then the male models. Thus you do get an advantage from using the female model. Where can I get additional models/skins and how can I make my own ones? Look in the "add-on" section of this FAQ, chapter 5.2 3.3.3 Weapon Priority How can I change my weapon priority? The weapon priority (in which weapons are auto-switched in case you pick up a new weapon or run out of ammo for your current one) is defined in the menu: [Options] ® [Prioritize Weapons] Use the cursor key to move the weapons up and down as you like. Can I remove a weapon from my priority list, so that it is never auto-switched? No. Even if you edit your Unreal\System\User.ini file and delete the weapon in the [engine.playerpawn] section the weapon will be re-activated next time you start Unreal. When I use the next/previous weapon keys, Unreal still switches using the original order. Why? The previous/next weapon command refers to the weapon numbers as you can see them in the weapon list on the bottom of your HUD; the same as your number keys. There is (unfortunately) no command to switch up/down weapons acc. your priority. I recommend using the weapon grouping alias instead (read 3.4.2). 3.3.4 Preferences What do all the settings in the preferences do? There is a good guide through all the settings to be made in the preferences menu on Sniper's Paradise Unreal Tips & Tweaks webpage. http://www.snipersparadise/unrealtipsandtweaks.html Please read it to get familiar with all the settings in the preferences. What is a good keyboard setup? Please read chapter 6.2, "What is a good controller setup?" 3.4 Advanced Configuration 3.4.1 Console-Commands What is the system console? The console is a little window, that is used to enter commands and to see Unreal's system messages. You bring it up by choosing [System Console] by hitting the [~] tilde key. You can also use the simple console command line by hitting the [Tab] key. Here you can only enter commands, but not read the system messages. How do I enter the "advanced options" menu? Bring up the console (see above) and type "preferences" (without the ") and the advanced options window will pop up. I'd recommend to switch Unreal to windowed mode before, so you can leave both windows permanently open and can see the effect of your changes instantly. For users, who work with the AOs frequently, I recommend to bind a key to: ENDFULLSCREEN | PREFERENCES Is there a list of all Unreal console commands and starting parameters? A list of Unreal starting parameters, console commands and cheatcodes can be found on Sniper's Paradise: unreal.epicgames.com/utconsole.html What are the Unreal cheats codes? Bring up the console by hitting the [~]or [Tab] key. Now type to activate the cheat codes. Now type any of the following: god , makes you invulnerable 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 (type to exit fly or ghost 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 (Tomb-Raider style) behindview 0 , default view addbots [#] , add a number [#] of bots to the level summon [item] make an item appear (see list below) List of Unreal item names: Dispersionpistol, Automag, Stinger, Asmd, Eightball, Flakcannon, Razorjack, Gesbiorifle, Rifle, Minigun, Defaultammo, Clip, StingerAmmo, ASMDAmmo, RocketCan,FlakBox, Flakshellammo, RazorAmmo, Sludge, RifleAmmo, Rifleround, ShellBox summon [opponentname] - bring on an Unreal 1 opponent List of Unreal opponent names: warlord, titan, stone titan, squid, slith, skaarj, skaarjwarrior, skaarjscout, skaarjlord, skaarjberserker, skaarjassassin, iceskaarj, skaarjtrooper, skaarjsniper, skaarjofficer, skaarjinfantry, skaarjgunner, queen, pupae, nali, nalipriest, mercenary, mercenaryelite, manta, giantmanta, cavemanta, krall, lesserkrall, krallelite, gasbag, giantgasbag, fly, devilfish, cow, babycow, tentacle, brute, lesserbrute, behemoth, bots, skaarjplayerbot, humanbot, malebot, maletwobot, malethreebot, maleonebot, femalebot, femaletwobot, femaleonebot, nalirabit, horsefly, blobelt, biterfish, bird1, parentblob, horseflyswarm, deadbodyswarm, biterfishschool Can I use cheats during online play? Only if the server admin has it enabled. And certainly 99% don't do that. Imagine the mess, that it would cause, if cheating was able online. It would ruin the fun of the game for anyone. So, before you accuse someone of cheating, better test yourself, if cheats are enabled. Most probably they aren't. Some players are just damn good. I've been accused cheating myself and I'm not even a top player. And even if you saw, that you hit him directly with 5 rockets and he still lives, think of the fact, that in an online game what you see client side may not be what the server has seen. And the server is the ?referee?, that decides about dead or alive. How can I repeat a command? In the console, hit the cursor up key to repeat the last command. The same works with text messages using the SAY command? ([T] key) or TEAMSAY ([R] key) command. How can I change my FOV = "Field of View"? The field of view is about equal to the angle of view. By default, it is set to 90. Values <90 mean, that you play with constant zoom; values >90 mean you play with constant "fish-eye" effect. To change your FOV, us the console command: FOV , e.g. FOV 110 FOV change has to be enabled by the server admin online. By default it is disabled and few admins allow it, because it can be used for cheating. 3.4.2 Key Binding and Aliases How do I bind a command to a key? For a detailed description how to bind a command to a key and all related problems, please check the Keybinding & Aliases Guide. What is an alias and how do I define one? An alias is a pre-defined sequence of commands assigned to a name for faster execution. Aliases can be bind to keys as a single command or be used in other aliases. For a detailed description how to define an alias and all related problems, please check the Keybinding & Aliases Guide. 3.4.3 Tweak Graphics & Sound How can I check my framerate? Type "timedemo" from the Unreal console. On the top left side of the screen, you will now see your current FPS count in "Frames per second" and an average over the last second. An other way is to type "STAT FPS" in the console. You will now see some statistics on the bottom of the screen. Among them is the frame timein milliseconds. To get the FPS, divide 1000 by the frame time. For example, with a frame time of 20 ms, your FPS would be 50. How can I improve my framerate? There are numerous tweaking guides available on the web how to optimize Unreal's graphic and sound performance on your system. Check the "Tweaking" section in the Unreal links. I can't see any fog in Unreal. I thought there should be some. By default "volumetric lighting" is turned off in the [Options] [Preferences] [Video] menu, as it is a popular reason for problems with the graphic card and can reduce the framerate considerably. But it?s a cool effect and so you should try enabeling it. If it runs without problems, keep it enabled! I can't see the shieldbelt glow effect. Why? To maintain the "minimum desired framerate" in the [Options] [Preferences] [Video] menu, Unreal may have turned off "shiny surfaces" in the [Advanced Options] [Rendering] menu. This will disable the shieldbelt effect. 3.4.4 Tweaking Online Play How can I improve my ping / Packet Loss (from within Unreal)? The only setting that you can make from within Unreal is the network speed in the [Options] [Preference] [Network] menu. You can also enter a value directly in the AOs [Networking] [TCP/IP Network Play] [Maxclientrate]. (All other networking settings in the AOs are server side settings!! There is no benefit from messing with them!) That maxclienttrate is the maximum amount of data that you request servers to send to you in byte/s. If the amount of data, that the server sends, is higher than your connection capacity, this will result in packetloss and lag. So you should not set this too high! Take your typical connection speed in byte/s, subtract about 20% reserve and divide it by 8. E.g. for a 56k modem, usually connecting at about 45kbit/s, a good value for maxclientrate would be 45.000 * 0.8 / 8 = 45.000 / 10 = 4500. Note: Most server have the connection rate limited also from the server side to about 5000byte/s to save bandwidth and not to give LPB's too much advantage, so even if your connection allows for more, don't wonder if you don't recieve more. 3.4.5 Server Settings For the basic setup of a server, see chapter 3.5.3, "Start a Multiplayer Game". For more detailed questions about server config, please refer to the sites listed in the "server administration" section of the Unreal links 3.5 Starting / joining a match 3.5.1 Start a Singleplayer Game Why should I play singleplayer anyway? For sure, online play is much more fun. But for two reasons you should still play against bots: - For Training Bots are excellent for training your aiming and dodging skills. A botmatch is also good to learn a map and test strategies and tricks. A player, who knows nothing about the game and jumps right into an online server can ruin the fun for all other players on the server, especially in teamgames. So please, before you go online the 1st time, play the in the singleplayer and train to a minimum level. I'd say: When you can beat "experienced" bot, you are ready. How do I customize the bots? In a Botmatch game you have the Configure Bots menu in the Game Option Menu ® Here you set their skill and number. You can configure the bots individually by using the Configure Individual Bots menu. What are the best settings to create a bot with most human behaviour? The most important thing for this IMO about it is to set the aiming skill to minimum and enable jumpy behaviour. General: - Basic skill = about adept ...masterful - Accuracy = minimum - Alertness = middle - Strafing = middle - Jumpy behaviour = enabled Type 1: The Dogfighter - Skill adjust = -1 - Favorite weapon = Flak or RL - Camping = minimum - Combat style = aggressive Type 2: The Camper/Sniper - Skill adjust = 0 - Favorite weapon = Sniper rifle - Camping = maximum - Combat style = avoidant What is the difference between the 3 game style modes? - Classic is the base version. - Hardcore has increased weapon damage (150%) and increased game speed. You can also jump higher than in classic. - Turbo is Hardcore with much increased gamespeed. 3.5.2 Join a Multiplayer Game How do I join a multiplayer game on LAN or internet? If you are connected to the internet: Choose [Multiplayer] [Join Game]. This will bring up the Unreal Server Browser, aka as the "Ubrowser". It will start with the "Favorite" Tab, where you can add your favorite server to the list. Switch to the Tab of the gametype, that you would like to play. Unreal will now connect to the Masterserver(s) and "query" a list of all registered servers currently running a Unreal game on the internet. When it received the list, it will automatically start "pinging" all servers and sort the list of servers acc. to their ping. The fastest servers are on top. You can click a server to see the detailed server information and a list of connected players. Look for a server with a good ping, that is not full ("at capacity"). Doubleclick on the server to join the game. If you want to connect to a LAN server: Choose [Multiplayer] [Join Game]. This will bring up the Ubrowser, then choose the ?LAN? tab. It will list all servers, that it can find on your LAN. Choose a server and connect just as explained above. How do I "refresh" in the Unreal browser? Press the right mouse button to bring up the mouse menu. It offers you 3 important things: Info (used to pull up service information.) Add to Favorites (Adds the server to your Favorite Server tabl.) Refresh Servers (Refreshes all severs on your UBrowser.) Sometimes the Unreal browser shows me absurd low pings. Is it a bug? Yes it is. Just re-ping all servers and they will show you the real ping. How can I split my favorites into gametypes in the Unreal browser and add custom tabs? Got a large favorites list and lost overview? Would you like to split up your favorites into gametypes and have a separate Tab for each in the Ubrowser? Here is how to do it: Making a back-up copy of your Unreal\system\unreal.ini file is strongly recommended, before you Start!!! 1) Edit your Unreal\system\unreal.ini and add to the [UBrowser.UBrowserConsole] section: ServerListNames[8]=UBrowserFavAll 2) Furthermore add to the same section one line as the following for any gametype, that you would like to have a Tab for in the Ubrowser (replace FavTeamGame by FavDeathMatch, ...). ServerListNames[9]=UBrowserFavTeamGame 3) Add this section to your unreal.ini: [UBrowserFavAll] ListFactories[0]=UBrowser.UBrowserFavoritesFact bHidden=True bFallbackFactories=True 4) Add one section as the following for any gametype, that you've defined above in 2): [UBrowserFavTeamGame] ListFactories[0]=UBrowser.UBrowserSubsetFact,SupersetTag=UBrowserFavAll,GameType=TeamGame For the other gametypes, change the "Gametype=TeamGame" and put in the Gametype Name: DeathMatch, Assault, Infiltration or Serpentine 5) Edit your Unreal\system\ubrowser.int file and add one line like the following for every section, that you have defined in 2): UBrowserFavTeamGame=TeamGame Favorites These are the names, that appear on the Tabs in the Ubrowser. You can choose the names as whatever you want. I would recommend to choose them as short as possible and also to shorten all other names, so the Tabs need less space in the Ubrowser. The tabs appear in the Ubrowser numbered from left to right. Done! Note that the lists will only show servers, when you're online, as Ubrowser filters out all servers, that didn't echo the ping. How can I run Unreal behind a firewall / proxy? Yes, it is generally possible, but Unreal and the proxy have to be configured to match: In your Unreal\System\Unreal.ini, you?ll find the following entry: [UBrowser.UBrowserHTTPClient] ProxyServerAddress= ProxyServerPort= Put in your proxy's IP address and port. This is all you can do from within Unreal. But in most cases, it?s the proxy?s settings, that cause the problem, not Unreal?s. These depend very much on the used firewall / proxy program. Contact your SysAdmin to change the setting of that program as follows: General (posted by [NBK}Beavis on PU forums): Unreal uses UDP at the transport level instead of TCP. So your firewall must be configured to pass the UDP port numbers that Unreal uses. The other problem with a firewall is that if it is set up for NATing, and you get a dynamic IP address on the internet side, it is possible for it to change during a game and that may screw you up. Sygate (posted by GPF on PU forums): To get your Sygate to work, you'll have to do a couple of things: Open and edit the Apprule.cfg file on the gateway. That is where you open specific ports that Unreal uses to talk to the internet. Port 7777 will need to be opened for sure, and I'd suggest you open both TCP and UDP. Run Unreal as a server on a different machine than your gateway. This modification won't help you if you try to run Unreal on the gateway computer. AtGuard (posted by Tanqueray_Boy and Schizoid_Man on PU forums) Turn on interactive learning mode in the AtGuard settings. It will put up a dialog box everytime Unreal wants to talk to the net. Tell AtGuard to let Unreal do anything it wants, and you won't have any problems. If you've done that, then look at what protocols & applications etc. you've currently got blocked, and permit them one at a time until you find the one that's stopping Unreal working. I'd be grateful, if users of other firewall/proxy systems would write me how to configure that system correctly. I can connect to a server, but I'm flying around invisible and I can't shoot. Why? Most probably you have ?Play as spectator? checked in your player setup. How can I disconnect from a server? There is no command in Unreal to disconnect from the server. you will have to close down unreal, join another server or start your own server. 3.5.3 Start a Multiplayer Game How do I start a server for playing over the internet? I'll only explain the basics here. There are various other ways to launch and configure the server. For details please refer to the sites listed under the "Running a Server" section of the Unreal links. For a quick and easy start: Choose [Multiplayer] [Start Game]. Set up the game exactly like a botmatch except pay attention to the following setting: In the "Multiplayer" menu: Select Game Select the type of game you want to play In the "Multiplayer" menu: Select Map Select the map you want to play In the "Configure Game" menu: Max Players The maximum number of players that can connect to the server (see below) Frag Limit Number of frags it takes for the game to be over, server switches to new map. Time Limit Time it takes for the map to switch if the number of frags in the game has not been reached. Weapon Stay Setting this to true forces the weapon to always be available for pickup, once you have the weapon you can't pick it up again, you will only be able to pick up the weapons ammo. In the "Configure Bots" menu: Configure Individual Bots This menu allows you to configure up to 15 bots. Number of Bots Set's the number of bots to spawn in the server. Bots in Multiplayer This allows bots to spawn in the game when set to true. To set up the server you will need to go to advance options. To do this you will need to choose the "Options" menu then the "Advanced Options" menu in Unreal or type "Preferences" from the command prompt in either Unreal or Unreal Gold.: In the "Advanced Option" menu: Choose [Netwoking] [Public Server Information]: Admin Email Admin Name (your nick) MOTD Message of the day (shown for a short moment, when a player joins the server) Region If you would like to set the your Server Region. Here's the list: 0 No Region Specified (default, use any) 1 Southeast US 2 Western US 3 Midwest US 4 Northwest US, West Canada 5 Northeast US, East Canada 6 United Kingdom 7 Continental Europe 8 Central Asia, Middle East 9 Southeast Asia, Pacific 10 Africa 11 Australia, NZ, Pacific 12 Central, South America Server Name Show MOTD Set this to true to broadcast the "Message of the Day" when a player joins the server Choose [Netwoking] [Server Beacon]: Advertise server Set DoBeacon to true to list your sever. Important! This setting will make your server be listed on the MasterServer. If the server is not advertised, only players, who know your IP address or have your server defined as a favorite, will be able to join. Webserver Port No. Choose [Netwoking] [Map List]: Map List This is where you add the maps that will be played on your server. Choose [Netwoking] [Game Settings]: Admin Password Whoever knows this password can use the admin console commands. No Cheating Set this to true unless you want cheating to be allowed on your server. Game Password Password for players, who want to join. Set password, if you only want to play with friends in private or if your playing a macth with other clans. Max Spectators Spectators take some bandwidth, so don't set this too high. Some players do not like to be spectated so that somebody can see their tricks. Unfortunately there is no indication, that you're being spectated. So maybe set MaxSpectators to zero. Once you have completed these settings you are now ready to start your server. Close down Advanced Options: and go back to [Multiplayer] [Start Game]. From here you will be able to choose how you would like to start your game or run your server. [StartGame]/[Launch Dedicated Server] menu Important! If you choose "Start Game", you will run a "Listen Server", i.e. you play on the server yourself and the server is only running as long as you are on it. You can use the admin commands directly from the console w/o the ?admin? prefix. If you choose "Launch Dedicated Server", the server will run alone, without you on it. When you start a dedicated server, the graphic "surface" of Unreal will be shut down and all you will see, is a little symbol for the server on the MS-Windows task-bar. You can open the console from here to see, what is going on on the sever. Note that you can still join the server just like any other client and leave it at any time. To do this, you have to launch Unreal a second time. How many players is my server capable to handle for smooth gameplay? This is much more a matter of your internet connection bandwidth that the power of your CPU The simple rule: At least 28k bandwidth per player! By QAPete from www.planetunreal.com: "Let's say, for this example, you have a 768/384 KB/sec DSL line. What I suggest you do is divide your outgoing bandwidth by 28.8 KB/sec, then multiply that result by .9. Based on your bandwidth alone, you should be able to comfortably run a dedicated (not listen) server for 12 people. Going with a higher max players is only going to slow down performance for all players. There's another important issue here - CPU speed. From the old scientific method of trial and error, plus my experiences with my own and other people's servers, you should be able to stick with the max users using the formula above if you are running a Celeron (or P2) 300 mhz or better for most maps. Anything slower, and you run the risk of slowdowns based on your processor. I'd also set the Game Engine cache to 40 mb or 1/2 of your total RAM, whichever is higher. This will reduce swapping to the drive, which will completely destroy your server performance." How do I switch maps on my server while playing? See next question right below. How do I kick or ban players from my server or switch maps? To do this, you have to use the server admin console commands. There are some important differences, if you run a listen or a dedicated server: On a listen server, you are the admin automatically and permanently. On a dedicated server, you can join the server as a normal player or admin, to join as admin you will need to type the admin password before you join the server. There are a few ways depending on what version of Unreal you are using. The first example can be used by Unreal but has to be used by Unreal Gold version users, open up the Unreal browser and type in the open box the IP of the server you want to join followed by ?password=add password here For Example, if your admin password was "Unreal" and your IP was 70.154.245.12, then we would type: 70.154.245.12?password=Unreal This example only works for Unreal and not Unreal Gold Go to {Multiplayer] [Player Setup] and add your password there. These are the admin console commands, copied from http://unreal.epicgames.com/console.htm: (To enter an admin command on a dedicated server, you always have to type "ADMIN" before the command. On a listen server you can leave out the "ADMIN".) ADMIN SERVERTRAVEL Switch to a new map, e.g. "ADMIN SERVERTRAVEL DMAriza" How do I set up a server for a LAN? Set up the LAN and make sure you have TCP/IP installed as one of you network protocols in the Windows [Start] ®[Settings] ® [Control Panel] ®[Network] menu. Now one of you has to run a server on his machine exactly as described above for the internet. The server should now appear on the Ubrowser of the other machines under the [LAN Server] Tab. Choose [Multiplayer] ® [Join Game]. Can I play over a serial cable connection or modem-to-modem? Yes you can. You "only" have to establish a TCP/IP protocol connection between the two machines. Read how to install a TCP/IP connection: You do that by installing the built-in support from the MS Windows setup. Read here how to do that: for Modem-Modem dial up: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q154/7/29.asp To check, that the connection is working, try a little chat program, for example WinChat by Microsoft. It will also help you to communicate while setting up Unreal. When the connection is established, one machine can start a server just as described above and the other player can join it. How can I join a server, that is not advertised? To do this, you have to know the exact IP address and port to connect. Enter these in the [Multiplayer] [Open] box. If the server is up and running and you have a connection to it, you will connect. 4 Various 4.1 Various How can I define more than one user setup? There is an error on Epic's Unreal console command page http://unreal.epicgames.com/console.htm: The command line parameter to start Unreal with an other ini than the default one is not "user=" but "userini="! For example, if I want to start Unreal with my personal INI file "Cleaner.ini", which must be located in the Unreal\system folder, I'd have to use: Unreal.exe userini=cleaner.ini Careful, the filename is case-sensitive! I'd recommend writing a little batch file for each user and put them all in the Unreal\system folder and have shortcuts on your desktop. How can I define more than one custom maplist? Per default Unreal has only one custom map list per gametype. How can I make Unreal skip the intro? To skip the intro completely, edit your Unreal\System\Unreal.ini file and right on top, in the [URL] section, ? replace: LocalMap=Unreal.unr with: LocalMap=Entry.unr You still have to hit [Esc] to make the Unreal menu come up, but it's a lot faster now. You can use any map here you like. I use the SP3Lobby map so I can choose my skin and go into the server without too much effort I want to back-up my savegames. In which files are they saved? They are not saved to a separate file. All information on your status is saved to your Unreal\System\User.ini file in the section [UnrealMenu.SlotWindow]. If you want to backup your savegames, just back-up your user.ini or copy the a.m. section to a separate file. I have to re-install Unreal and don't want to loose my settings. Which files must I back-up? All your user-made settings are saved to 2 files: 1) Unreal\System\Unreal.ini 2) Unreal\System\User.ini. These are the files, that you need to back-up, if you want to keep your setting. Furthermore, if you have downloaded any user-made add-ons from the web, back-up the relevant subdirectory too. How do I take a screenshot in Unreal? In the default keyboard setup, a screenshot is taken by pressing F9. The screenshot is saved to the Unreal\system directory as shot####.bmp file. The screenshots are quite dark, so if you want to use them on a website or so, you'll usually have to lighten them up with the help of any imaging program. 4.2 Music and Sounds How can I play the Unreal music outside of Unreal? You can open the Unreal Editor and export the music to a format, that is readable by "normal" players. For example, the popular Winamp can play the .IT format There are several programs called "rippers" available, that can convert the UMX files into other, readable formats. And finally, there are two players, that can play the UMX format directly: UMX player and Modplug Look in the "Unreal Utilities Tools" section of the Download section, for links to the above mentioned tools. How can I extract Unreal sounds? There are two ways to do it: Start UnrealEd (the editor which comes with Unreal) and on the right side, in the 'object browser' window, choose 'sounds' instead of 'textures'. Now look for the sound you want and choose 'export' from the menu to get a wavfile. Use the UCC. (Thx Scheif|PuF for the tip.) Enter this in a windows command line: Ucc batchexport sound wav All sounds in the UAX file will be extracted to the target path. 4.3 Unreal Spectating and Demos Why should I spectate and what is the best way to do it? Well, I spectate very often and I find it very relaxing ... better than TV. And I can say that I learned a lot from spectating top players. I actively look for them on servers and when I find one, I'll peek and try to learn some tricks from him. What is important is always to spectate in 1st person view. To do this, type BEHINDVIEW 1 in the console. When you use that a lot, bind a key to it (or even better: BEHINDVIEW 0 | ONRELEASE BEHINDVIEW 1). Bugs in Spectating / Demos? There are a number of very annoying bugs, that you will notice, when you spectate a lot: - While spectating or watching a demo, the armor value is often not shown correctly. It appears as zero, even when the player has armor. - When you spectate in 1st person view and the player is killed with a headshot, your view will be tilted to the angle of the head laying on the ground. This tilt is not reset, when the player respawns or even when you switch to an other player. All you can do is switch back to 3rd person view. - When you spectate in 1st person view and the player you spectate has his weapon hand set to 'hidden', the weapon will not be shown correctly to the spectator, but on the top of the screen, blocking the view. Solution: Set your weapon hand to 'hidden' yourself while spectating. - When you spectate in 1st person view and the player you spectate picks up shieldbelt, you'll see the shiledbelt effect over your screen in 1st person view. There's nothing you can do about it. How do I record / replay a demo? Where is it saved? Recording and replaying demos is done with Console-Commands (see chapter 3.4.1): Start demo recording: Demorec Stop demo recording: Stopdemo The demos are saved in the Unreal\system directory with file extension DEM. Start demo replay: Demoplay The parameters for Demoplay are: ?noframecap, noframecap plays the demo back as fast as possible. This option is assumed if timedemo 1 is enabled. ?timebased, timebased gives a smoother playback if the playback machine is significantly slower than the recording machine. ?3rdperson, 3rdperson lets you fly around a first person demo as a spectator. ?loop, loop makes the demo run endless For example: demoplay mydemo?3rdperson?timebased In 3rd person view you can switch from player to player by hitting the fire button. (Problem: See below) In any mode you can use the BEHINDVIEW console command to switch view. Where can I find demos of top players or clans? The number 1 spot on the web for demos is clearly www.cached.net. I want to benchmark my hardware with Unreal. Where can I find a timedemo? I heard, that timedemos do not really "do the job", if you want to benchmark your system. It seems, that the FPS values in demo replay mode are not comparable with the FPS in real playing mode. This makes benchmarking with a demo pointless. The same problem strikes for the into movie. Nevertheless, there are several timedemos out. I downloaded a demo from the web, but when I try to run it, I get an error. Why? Thanks for Ultron from the GT forum for posting this good explanation: Find your Unreal.log file in your Unreal\System folder. Open it with a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad. It'll tell you what caused the crash. Do a search for the word CRITICAL and the first line you see is usually where the problem is. Here are typical sources of that problem: Your version of Unreal is different from the version the demo was recorded in. The demo was recorded using a S4 card. A mod, skin or mutator was installed that added a ServerPackages line to the Unreal.ini of the person who recorded the demo. You don't one or more of those ServerPackage lines in your Unreal.ini which means you didn't install all of the things that were installed on the recording computer. A mutator is being used in the demo that you do not have. A map is being playing in the demo that you do not have. What I advocate to ANYONE that records a demo for mass consumption, is to temporarily remove any ServerPackage lines in your Unreal.ini before you record. Also don't use uncommon mutators. Prefer stock mutators and skins. When posting your demo, list what version number the demo was recorded with. List any 3rd party maps, mutators, mods or skins that were used. If possible offer those links to your website. Why can is it that when I switch to an other player's view while watching a demo, suddenly he disapears? When you record a client side demo, to keep the amount of data down, Unreal will track only the action within a certain range around the client (line of sight plus a bit more). So if you switch to an other player, simular to spectator mode, you can see his action only if he is within that range around the recording client. When the player leaves the range, he will disappear. If you want to be able to switch to any player, you have to use a server side demo (see below). How do I record a server-side demo? If you want to be able to switch to any player during watching a demo, you have to use a server side demo, recorded and saved locally on the server. Server side demos are about 3-5 times as big as nomal demos for the same time! To start recording a server side demo from remote, you have to be logged in as admin and then use the console command admin demorec The file will be saved on the server machine, so you need somebody who has direct access to the local machine to send you the file, if you don't have FTP access to it yourself. 5 Unreal Add-ons 5.1 Maps Where can I download good user-made maps on the web? There are many sites available on the web (but only a few good ones). Look for maps at the sites listed in the Links section. How do I install downloaded maps? A map usually comes as a ZIP archive, containing one or more files: The map file itself and sometimes additional textures, sounds or music. Simply extract the files to their folder, acc to their extension: UNR ® Unreal\maps UTX ® Unreal\textures UAX ® Unreal\sounds UMX ® Unreal\music I have downloaded a map directly from a Unreal game server. Why is it not in my map list? Maps as well as skins, mutators, textures, etc... that you download directly from a game server, are saved into your Unreal\cache folder. Maps in this folder do not appear in your maplists and they are deleted after the time expires, defined in your PurgeCacheDays found in the Advanced section of Advanced Options. If you want to keep these files and be able to play them, you have to recover them from the cache. The filenames in the cache are "encrypted" and all files have extension uxx, so you can't easily recognize, which file is what. For detailed information in how to convert these files go to the helpful information page and read how to convert the files found in your Unreal\System\cache folder. Rename the files and move them to their respective folder. Place the files in the correct folder by using the file-extension guide listed above. I want to set up my server with user-made maps. How do I do it? Just add the maps to the map list found in "Advanced Options". I want to make my own map. How do I do it? To make your own map, you use the tool UnrealEd, that comes free with the Unreal game. Its in your Unreal\system directory and you can start it through your windows [Start] menu. UnrealEd is a very powerful program, but not too easy to use, especially the advanced features, so it will take you some time to learn it. Look in the "Editing" section of the Unreal links, for websites, where you can find tutorials on how to use UnrealEd and forums, where you can ask for help on specific problems. When I start UnrealEd, I get an error message. What gives? If you get an error message, you need to get this fixing file and run it. http://SnipersParadise.Net/SP/UnrealEdFix4.exe I have made my own map. How do I add the preview snapshot? Unreal Editing Tip: Level Preview Snapshots for Unreal Maps. Here's how to place a preview screenshot of your level in the map. This preview will be visible when your map is selected in Unreal. Your preview screenshot must be a 256 x 256 pixel, 256 color .PCX or .BMP file. In UnrealEd select Textures in the Browser window and then click the Import button to import your preview screenshot. A file dialog will pop up. Browse to the location where your preview is stored and select it, then click the OK button. The Import Texture dialog will pop up. In the "Name:" field enter "screenshot" and in the "Package:" field enter "MyLevel". Uncheck the "Generate MipMaps" option and then click the OK Button. After UnrealEd works for a moment you should see the "MyLevel" package displayed in the browser with your preview screenshot shown in the browser texture window. 5.2 Models / Skins What's the difference between a model (mesh) and a skin? The "model" or "mesh" is the shape of the body, the "skin" is just the look of the surface. Each model in Unreal usually comes with various skins. Where can I download good skin and models on the net? There are several good sites available on the web. Look in the Links section of this FAQ to find links on "Skins/Models". How do I install downloaded skins? A downloaded skin will usually come as a ZIP archive. Unzip it and you will have two files per skin: An INT file and a UTX file. Copy the INT file to your Unreal\system directory and the UTX file to the Unreal\textures directory. If you only want to use the skin as a client, that's all you have to do. Unreal will detect the skins automatically. If you run a server and want to enable the players on that server to use a custom skin, read below. I want to run a custom skin on my server. What do I have to do? Install the skin as described above. Now edit your Unreal\System\Unreal.ini and add the skin to the [Engine.GameEngine] section: [Engine.GameEngine] ServerPackages= The same can be done through the [Game Engine] section in the advanced options. I want to make my own Skin / Model . How do I do that? There are several tutorials available for that on the web. Look in the Unreal links section of this FAQ, to finds links on making skins. 5.3 Mutators & Mods What is a mutator? What is a mod? Mutators/Mods are little add-on programs, that do a change of the game. That change can be virtually anything: From small things like changing a weapon to complete changing of the rules or even changes in the Unreal user interface. There is no difference between mutators and mods by definition. It's just that mutators usually do a minor change while a mod is a complete re-design of the game. Where can I download good mods/muts on the web? Look in the download section for "Mutator" downloads. How do I install and uninstall mods / mutators? If the mod/mutator has the file extension UMOD. To install the mutator, just double-click on the mutator file and it will auto-start an installation program. When asked for the directory to install, choose your Unreal base directory Unreal, not the Unreal\system directory. After you have installed the umod, you can activate the mod by the console command. To uninstall, you have to remove the files manually. 6 Gameplay 6.1 General Tips Could you please give a newbie some starting tips? Look in the "Unreal tweak guide " for some good tweaks and tips for gameplay. Here are some basic advices from myself: A. Choose a good controller setup as described below! B. Learn the maps! I couldn't say that often enough. Jump into a map you don't know well and you'll loose. When you start playing Unreal, concentrate on a few maps. Learn their structure, learn where the items are, figure out the best defense and offense strategies, ...When you know them well, extend your maplist, till you know them all to the last detail. C. Practice your moving and aiming skills! Keep moving. Nothing is easier to hit than a stand-still target. Learn to "cycle-strafe". This means: Sidestep to one direction while turning to the other. This way, you can keep your aim on your opponent while dodging his shoots. Jumping is much easier that dodging, but also very effective to make you harder to hit. D. Go for power-ups! One of the most common mistakes among beginners is to underestimate the power of power-ups, especially armor/shieldbelt. Without them, even a good player won't survive very long. The shieldbelt virtually more than doubles your health! It's even better than the megahealth. Go for it very often. But don't camp it. E. Choose the right weapon for the situation! As explained in the weapon section, every weapon has a range, where it's most effective. While you run through the map, always try to switch to the best weapon for the environment. How can I find secrets? There are two effective ways: 1. Activate the ghost cheat and fly around the map. In ghost mode, you can fly through walls and get a good overview, how the map is structured. You will easily see secret doors, hidden rooms and items. After you have found a secret, you will usually easily figure out, how to get there. 2. The bots know most secrets. Start the map in team game mode with only you and one bot on your team (no opposite team). Give your teammate bot a "freelance" command and spectate him by pressing the "teamview" key. He will now start running around the map, collecting items until he is fully equipped. During this, he will usually also go to the secret places. 6.2 Movement What is a good controller setup? Some people play with trackball or joystick or keyboard only and get very good with it, but the bulk of players finds a combination of mouse and keyboard the most effective and precise controller combination. If you use that combination, I'd recommend to put the turning movement on the mouse and the transversal movement (back/forward/strafe) on keys. By default, the keys are the cursor keys, but (as a right-handed person) I'd recommend to choose it to some keys on the left side of the key, as those are easier to reach and you got lots of other keys around, that you can bind to various functions. AWSD or SEDF are very common keys for transversal movement. Bind the weapon keys, jump, walk, crouch and other keys, that you use regularly, to nearby keys of you choice. I recommend not to use the strafe-modifier key, that converts turning into strafing. Even if you have used it for other FPS before, get rid of it and switch to 'real' strafing. You will not regret it. It will be one step back, but two steps forward after you've got used to it. Cycle-strafing will be a lot easier. What is "cycle-strafing"? This means strafing to one direction and at the same time turn to the other direction. This way it is possible to dodge your opponents fire, but at the same time keep your crosshair on him. Cylce-strafing is a basic requirement, if you want to become a good player, so this is one thing, that you should practice as a beginner: Find a big room where you have space to move and that has an object in the middle (if there is non, you may simply drop a weapon there). Now just cycle-starfe around the object and try to keep your crosshair on it as exacty as possible. If you can do that well, use a moving object. Start a game with one novice bot and don't kill him. Just cycle strafe around him. As he is slower than you and runs out of ammo fast, you should be able to cycle-strafe around him forever without being killed. You just need space to move. Sometimes I randomly do jumps. Is that a bug? (Dodging) No, it's not a bug; it's intention. It's called "dodging" and you do it by double-tapping one of the transversal movement keys (forward/back/strafe-left/strafe-right). Dodging is quite difficult to do and I know only few players, that use it effectively. But when used right, it is very effective to avoid fire. If you find dodging annoying, you can disable it in the menu [Options] [Options Menu] [Dodging]. AFAIK, there is no way to define an alias for dodging. If you want to make dodging a little easier, you can edit your Unreal\System\User.ini and in the [Engine.PlayerPawn] section, increase the DodgeClickTime to a maximum of 0.3 seconds. Values above 0.3 are ignored and reset to 0.3. I've seen bots jumping extremely high. Can I do that too? Yes you can. The bot was probably using jumpboots. See chapter the Weapon & Item Guide for details. I've seen people "rise from dead". Are they cheating? No, it's called "Feign Death" and you can do it too. By default, it is the [F] key. While feigning death, you can't shoot and you are very vulnerable, but you can look around. Getting up takes some time, but you may manage to surprise somebody with it or lay a trap or avoid being shot while typing. Note, that people feigning death are quite easy to recognize, as they don't have gibs laying around them. Also they will block your path if you try to walk or run over them. I've seen people firing their weapon in the final scores screen. How do they do that? Hold down the fire button and switch weapon. The new weapon will automatically fire. Just permanently hold down fire. 6.3 The Game Modes Virtually any of the Unreal websites listed in the Unreal links section of this FAQ has an introduction into the Unreal gamemodes and their basic rules. 6.4 TheWeapons and Items Please refer to the Unreal Weapons and Pickups for all questions about Unreal's weapons and Items. 6.5 The Bots 6.5.1 Playing against bots How does the bot AI work? If you'd like to know more about the bots AI, read this page from Epic: http://unreal.epicgames.com/AI.htm There is one thing I recommend, if you want to understand the bot behaviour a bit better: Spectate a botmatch and while spectating a bot (preferably in 1st person view with the BEHINDVIEW console command) use the VERBOSE console command. You will now see, what the bot "thinks", i.e. what it's AI instructions are. Quite interesting. What are the differences between the various bot base skills? Copied from http://unreal.epicgames.com/UT_AI.htm : Unreal has 8 AI skill levels, along with a continuous range of intermediate skill levels. Skill levels 0 to 3 are called "novice" skills, because bots at these skill levels move more slowly than players and their weapons do less damage than player weapons. Bots with skill levels between 4 and 7 move at the same speed as players and their weapons do the same amount of damage. Lower skill bots turn more slowly, and take longer to acquire an opponent. They also have worse peripheral vision. Higher skill bots have better aim, and do a better job of leading opponents. Higher skill bots are also better able to strafe, or to move toward an objective while firing at an enemy at the same time. Low skill bots move much more slowly when strafing. Higher skill bots are less disoriented when hit, and tend to fire their weapons faster (although never faster than players can). High skill (non-novice) bots also understand the special moves with weapons, including the ASMD combo move and the sniper rifle headshot. How do I beat the bots? Use their weaknesses and avoid their strengthes: Strength: - Their godlike aiming and their good dodging skills. - Their timing of items respawning. - They see you everywhere, even in the darkest shadow or invisible. Weakness: - They are very predictable. 7 The Unreal Online Community 7.1 Unreal forums Almost each of the Unreal sites mentioned in the Unreal links has a discussion forum. Just look through them. General: Planet Unreal's forum: www.planetunreal.com/forums 7.2 Unreal clans What is a clan? Clans are the "clubs" of computer gaming. A group of people, who decided to join and play the game together. They will identify their membership by carrying a "clantag" in their nickname. A clan will usually have regular training sessions to improve their teamplay and play matches against other clan. Many clans play in organized leagues. Should I join a clan? A matter of taste. Many clans are a nice bunch of people and it's real fun to play with them as well as against them. Do you play a lot and enjoy playing in an organized team? Enjoy talking about the game and sharing your tricks as well as learn tricks from others? Then try it and decide for yourself. How can I find and join a clan? Finding a clan is easy. Look for players with clansigns on the game servers, that you usually play on. If you get along well with them, ask them if they are recruiting and ask for their e-mail, ICQ or clan website. If you are good, maybe they even ask you. For other clanlists and leagues see the Unreal links page. Most clans have a website, where you can find information about the clan and how to join. Some clans will ask you for a try-out before they allow you to join, to check, if you "fit" into the clan with your skill and attitude. I'd recommend choosing a clan, that has about your skill level or slightly above. You won't have much fun, if the others are miles ahead or behind you. 8 Links For a list of Unreal related links please visit the Unreal links page.