philscomputerlab wrote:

Played Unreal on a Pentium III 1.1 GHz, Voodoo 5, Turtle Beach Aureal Vortex 2 with A3D 2.0 surround sound over headphones and W […]
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Played Unreal on a Pentium III 1.1 GHz, Voodoo 5, Turtle Beach Aureal Vortex 2 with A3D 2.0 surround sound over headphones and Windows 98 SE. This is actually the first time playing Unreal and I can see why it has such a cult status. The levels are massive, lots of treasures, good fights and gorgeous graphics.

Glad to see you're enjoying Unreal so far Phil. And if you like what you see up to this point, just wait until you get to places like the Temple of Vandora, the ISV-Kran levels (all 3 of them), The Sunspire, Bluff Eversmoking, and the Nali Castle. You're in for a real treat 😀

I'm at Terraniux and finding the game quite difficult. Not the fighting and health, but the navigation. There is lots of talk about how "easy" current games are and to a certain extend I agree, but with these old games I often have no idea where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do 🤣

But maybe it's me as I remember feeling the same in Doom when I was a kid. The levels are true mazes and take me a while to figure out a pattern or direction. The few messages you encounter are great in telling the story but also the clues are often cryptic and just confusing. I will try to keep going and hopefully I don't get lost as much any more. I really enjoyed the first few levels being more linear.

Terraniux can be very trying for first time Unreal players (I remember going around in circles for a couple of days before I finally figured out what to do next and continue to the level exit). Here's a walkthrough I found at the Liandri Archives (a very nice collection of all things Unreal), just in case you need it:

http://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Terraniux

Hopefully this will help you get your bearings back - and finish the level as well 😀

Looks like I made it quite far, I did under water in a dark tunnel, should have used the flash light 😀

I was unable to find the second upgrade for the dispersion gun. The guide just briefly mentions it but not exactly where it is.

Hmmm.... I can see why you missed the powerup Phil. The walkthrough does say where it is, it's just difficult to visualize. Let me see if these screenshots I took make it easier to find it (click on the pics to get the original size):

"Once again, enter the greenhouse and kill the Mercenary on guard. Two more Nali Healing Fruit can be found in the plant beds. Then, go to the far side of the greenhouse from the information panel. There is a short slope at the top of which is a metal door / lift controlled by a red button nearby. Don't press the button yet, instead now going to the small lifts into the inner area. Collect the box of 50 Bullets and Health Pack here then ride the lift into the antechamber above. Partake of the two clusters of 40 Tarydium Shards in this antechamber, then go through the large door into the inner room and kill any Mercenaries that attack beyond.

You will be on a crossroads of walkways with an Assault Vest in the middle. Collect the armour then look around; three exits lead into the greenhouses whilst a fourth is locked with an informative legend:

'Access Denied. Control Room authorisation must be granted to access Noork's Elbow.'

Drop on to the floor beneath the walkways then collect what you need of the Health Pack, Flare, box of 50 Bullets and can of 12 Eightballs here. Then, stand on one of the floor plates with the pink symbol on it. These plates are lifts which will take you up to another floor above.

As you reach the top, a Mercenary will attack you. Kill him then collect the Tarydim Shards he drops. Then, explore this floor to obtain various items; firstly, collect the Dispersion Pistol Powerup in the centre. Then, visit the small ofshoot chambers in turn."

These should help the next time you go through Terraniux 😀

Oh I know where this is 🤣 Thank you!

Did you just take these screen shots? You seem to really know Unreal, must be one of your favourite games 😀

I think I will drop the difficulty because I enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere more than the fights 😊

How do you play Unreal, on a modern machine with mods?

I would love to have new people to play Unreal with me. Though I'm still going through the process of consolidating my mods together and getting my custom server back up and running.

I do frequent newbiesplayground jackals coop server whenever they're not running a 227 specific map, though.

Got the upgrade, thanks JayCeeBee64!

Vinyl Goddess from Mars, though I swear I spent more time listening to the music than actually playing the game. 🤣

philscomputerlab wrote:

Got the upgrade, thanks JayCeeBee64! […]
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Got the upgrade, thanks JayCeeBee64!

No problem Phil 😀

philscomputerlab wrote:

Did you just take these screen shots? You seem to really know Unreal, must be one of your favourite games 😀

I think I will drop the difficulty because I enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere more than the fights 😊

Yup, I took the screenshots last night (F9 key). I have played and finished Unreal a number of times since it first came out in 1998, and every time I go through it I still find new secret locations, stashes, unexplored areas, you name it. I really like how Epic made the game so open to exploration, vast, and pleasing to the eye 😊 . The screenshots were also slightly "enhanced" in IrfanView by increasing the gamma about 0.5 above normal, otherwise they're too dark to see:

These shots are from The Sunspire; you can see what a difference a slight increase in gamma makes 😎

I also enjoy taking a good look around once the fighting stops. The scenery and atmosphere are so immersive and appealing that it's hard not to do so 😊

philscomputerlab wrote:

How do you play Unreal, on a modern machine with mods?

Playing Unreal on a modern system is very straight forward. Install the game in a folder of your choice (the default should be fine), then install oldUnreal's 227i patch. This patch updates the game to take full advantage of modern video and audio hardware and fixes a number of bugs/issues that Epic didn't resolve; just make sure you download the patch that's appropriate for the version you have (original Unreal or Unreal Gold/Anthology). Once the patch is applied (and any mods you want), start the game, configure to your needs, and away you go 😁

Sutekh94 wrote:

Vinyl Goddess from Mars, though I swear I spent more time listening to the music than actually playing the game. 🤣

Same with me. In fact, I like the music from this game so much that I extracted and converted all of it to MIDI; now I enjoy listening to it on my SW60XG 😁 😎

For the YT video I increased the 3dfx Glide Gamma from 1.3 to 1.4. But for gaming I leave it at the default, it looks nice and I prefer the dark look. I guess CRT monitors did a better job at displaying the dark areas with their better black levels.

Started the game from the beginning, this time on easy difficulty, as I want to focus on the story, atmosphere and exploring without getting a hearth attack all the time 🤣.

The levels make a lot more sense when you play them for the second time.

Argh! You guys and your endless Unreal talk and screenshots and videos... I must play it again, now! 🤣

Since I've already experienced it several times on "retro" hardware, this time it's going to be the new system + oldUnreal patch approach (thanks for the link, JayCeeBee64!). I want to see what its like in 1920x1200... Now where are my Unreal GOTY CD's?

philscomputerlab wrote:

For the YT video I increased the 3dfx Glide Gamma from 1.3 to 1.4. But for gaming I leave it at the default, it looks nice and I prefer the dark look. I guess CRT monitors did a better job at displaying the dark areas with their better black levels.

On my V2 SLI setup I actually lowered the gamma down to 0.8, otherwise it's too bright. And yes, CRT monitors are much better with black levels overall (too bad my last one died quietly in its sleep back in 2010).

5u3 wrote:

Argh! You guys and your endless Unreal talk and screenshots and videos... I must play it again, now! 🤣

Since I've already experienced it several times on "retro" hardware, this time it's going to be the new system + oldUnreal patch approach (thanks for the link, JayCeeBee64!). I want to see what its like in 1920x1200... Now where are my Unreal GOTY CD's?

Do it 5u3, do it! You know you really want to 😁 🤣 !

And don't forget the high res S3TC Texture packs as well. They make Unreal look very, very nice at high resolutions 😀

Installed Unreal + RtNP on my modern machine, went through the updates (which is not really straightforward - the info is there, but it's terribly unorganized), copied the texture packs, and boy, does it look pretty! 😀

Played a bit until I came to the Rrajigar Mines - and started to notice some strange things:
When I met the first Skaarj, I was able to jump over the barrier and escape from the dark corridor where I was supposed to be trapped. This shouldn't be possible, right?
Then I couldn't enter the small passageway that leads to the blue super health item (the one you see through a grate much later in the level), and now I can't pick up some ASMD cores. Something doesn't seem quite right with the player model.

Maybe we should start a new thread for Unreal?

I've been using this DX10 render: http://kentie.net/article/d3d10drv/#installation

Works well. Just select 1920 x 1080, setup WASD and mouse buttons and it's ready to go. Will check out texture packs.

I would also like to try out the S3 Metal render at some stage. Anyone played with this on a retro PC?

5u3 wrote:

Installed Unreal + RtNP on my modern machine, went through the updates (which is not really straightforward - the info is there, […]
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Installed Unreal + RtNP on my modern machine, went through the updates (which is not really straightforward - the info is there, but it's terribly unorganized), copied the texture packs, and boy, does it look pretty! 😀

Played a bit until I came to the Rrajigar Mines - and started to notice some strange things:
When I met the first Skaarj, I was able to jump over the barrier and escape from the dark corridor where I was supposed to be trapped. This shouldn't be possible, right?
Then I couldn't enter the small passageway that leads to the blue super health item (the one you see through a grate much later in the level), and now I can't pick up some ASMD cores. Something doesn't seem quite right with the player model.

It appears your player model "grew" in size somehow (probably a game engine/rendering error). Nevertheless, I went back to Rrajigar Mine and tried to escape from that corridor by jumping; to my surprise, I did - but only if the SkaarjScout gave me a few good whacks from behind (had to enable god mode or get shredded to pieces):

I was able to get the Super Health Pack in that secret passageway:

I was also able to collect the ASMD cores by crouching:

Try to restart the Rrajigar Mine level and see if things go back to normal; if you still have the same issue 5u3, then uninstall Unreal + RtNP and reinstall/play again without the high res texture packs. If the issue persists, then try the DX10 render that Phil posted a link to (could be the oldUnreal patch is somehow incompatible with your game CD version - I'm currently using Unreal Gold 226b).

philscomputerlab wrote:

Maybe we should start a new thread for Unreal?

Sounds like a good idea 😀

I've been playing Jill of the Jungle and Keen 4 on my 486SX33 + SB Pro 2.0 + a Gravis gamepad (the original dogbone). I played both of these games as a kid so it might just be nostalgia, but they're both a lot of fun. Jill has some great weapons and those funky 90's VGA graphics - retro even on release. And Keen is a quality product - not only did the ID boys have the technical know-how, they put a lot of love into these early games. The menu system, sound blaster / joystick detection, native support for the Gravis gamepad, paddle war - the list of nice little extras goes on and on. My kids were playing it the other day and burst into giggles when Billy broke out his book because of their inactivity.

The gamepad is great too. I had more use for a joystick as a kid so didn't ever try one - I don't remember any of my friends having one either. But it's just the thing for platformers - not having to hunch over the keyboard is nice too.

JayCeeBee64 wrote:

philscomputerlab wrote:

Maybe we should start a new thread for Unreal?

Sounds like a good idea 😀

Unreal thread for playing Unreal on modern PCs: Unreal

JayCeeBee64 wrote:

It appears your player model "grew" in size somehow (probably a game engine/rendering error) [...]

Try to restart the Rrajigar Mine level and see if things go back to normal; if you still have the same issue 5u3, then uninstall Unreal + RtNP and reinstall/play again without the high res texture packs. If the issue persists, then try the DX10 render that Phil posted a link to (could be the oldUnreal patch is somehow incompatible with your game CD version - I'm currently using Unreal Gold 226b).

Thanks for looking into this - The problem was user error 😊: The 227i patch allows to change the human player model to that of a Nali (who is slightly bigger than a human), which results in the problems I encountered. Alas, changing the model back to human and restarting the level did not help, I'll have to begin a new game. Nevermind - I wanted do try out the D3D10 renderer anyways.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Are we rushin' in, or are we goin' sneaky-beaky like? 🤣