UT Single Player Mods
Feb 17, 2010 23:09:40 GMT
Post by jetv435 on Feb 17, 2010 23:09:40 GMT
This thread is for the discussion of several Unreal Tournament Singleplayer packs. Unreal Tournament actually has the ability to play single player things, with a mod called Oldskool. Once you have it, you can play single player levels made for Unreal 1 and custom mods made specifically for UT with Oldskool. There are quite a few that really deserve appreciation, and a few that are mentionable. Review and downloads for all excluding EXU2 are included at the link under custom map reviews: www.unrealsp.org/
For EXU2 information, go HERE: www.unrealsp.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1651
Also, Team Red Nemesis, the team behind Seven Bullets, has a web site with download links and further information dealing with Xidia, Seven Bullets, Seven Bullet's bonus map, Skytown Redux, and preview information on the upcoming Residual Decay. They also include information on other small projects like Dead Cell, a soon-to-be-released map worked on solely by Mister Prophet that ties in to some of the story of Residual Decay. Their website can be accessed HERE: rednemesis.beyondunreal.com/
A NOTE: Most if not all of these include Readme files and other text files with important information. Some of these even include the latest Oldskool. Make sure to follow any instructions, otherwise, these packs may not work at all.
1. EXU2: Batshit Insane takes place in Hell. Not just any Hell, though. With Waffnuffly making almost everything from concepts to level design, everything gets fucked up by extreme proportions. This is, and isn't a sequel to Waffnuffly's original EXU, which consisted of Unreal maps that were heavily modified, including ridiculously overpowered versions of Unreal's already intimidating monsters, plus some excessively overpowered weapons for you to slaughter them with. With EXU2, a lot more has been put into this, and it's story basis starts out from scratch, but it is Excessive, so it kept the series title. As said before, you're in Hell. It is told that you died and popped up here. Where is here though? Following what EXU1 did, EXU2 includes modified Unreal maps with modified weapons and modified classes of monsters. What sets in apart is Waffnuffly's deep focus into the gameplay qualities of the game. All new content and map design was focused into being, well, Batshit Insane, based around Hell, and better all around than EXU. Long story short, it succeeds, big time. The pack is still in development, but demos are being released for the public. So far, the first 15 maps are included, along with an intro and congratulation map. Several weapons, monsters, and items are included, and it's built so that the player can save in the extro map and then load into the map from the next demo release when it is finished. This is certainly up there when it comes to innovation and creativity, and the crazy gameplay and unique and amazing levels bring this one to my top five in terms of UT single player mods. Definitely check this one out; it'll be even better than you expected it to be, and that's saying something. [HELL YES, PLAY THIS SHIT]
2. The old Operation Na Pali mod. This mod is one of the things you could play and kinda enjoy. In reality, it's really only good on some gameplay and level design aspects, whereas, things like a complex story, though adequately told, could have been a bit more fine-tuned in a few ways. One of the very obvious yet laughable issues with the pack are the voice acting. Things ranging from the mispronunciation of the word skaarj to goofy sounding jokes and observations stand out in almost every major map. Another obvious aspect is the very arcade-style feel that resides throughout the pack. [OK]
3. Xidia made it's release about a month before ONP. Did this influence it's success? Probably not, seeing as how the appraisal that this pack received dealt in things like masterful level design, entertaining and challenging gameplay, and a fun, quick mission. This is also the first pack where you play as Jones, who appears and who's story is further explained in later installments such as Seven Bullets and the upcoming Residual Decay. Though many complain that this pack has unbalanced gameplay and the occasional tight spots, it remains a milestone in mod development history because of the exceptional mapping detail put into it by developers Mister Prophet and the now professional "Hourences" De Jong. Xidia Gold includes a heavily updated Xidia, dubbed as "The Incident" and a new chapter, "The Escape", where you play as the last survivor of the events directly before and during The Incident. This one includes different areas and contains more examples of Prophet's and Hourence's talent at conceptual level design, and though it doesn't improve in gameplay balance, it still looks good and explains more of the story that happened on Outpost Pheonix. The latest version needs a patch, which is included on it's review page. [YES PLAY]
4. (ONE NOTE: It is a good idea to play Skytown Redux before starting Seven Bullets, as it elaborates on the events leading directly to Seven Bullets). Seven Bullets, the sequal to Xidia, was more expected than it's father pack. Even so, it was a helluvah success, even more so in some cases than Xidia, introducing heavily balanced gameplay and tons of new areas and talent. Though Xidia veteran Mister Prophet stayed in the loop as lead for the project, several new talents were recruited in place of Hourences, who had left the team by this point. The first thing that veteran Unreal players will notice is the remixed versions of the ISVKran. Yes, we've returned to Na Pali, and there are major changes that have happened in the time between the first game and now. The Kran, for instance, has been overrun and assimilated into the Skaarj Bloodpack outpost 1J. The outpost has been hit with an electromagnetic pulse immediately before the beginning of Seven Bullets to disable many of its security and defense systems, along with many of the lights. The place is pitch black in some places, or at least poorly lit by single dim lights around the vessel. For those who have played the original, they will recognize many of the later areas displayed in the intro cutscene, such as Spire Village and the Sunspire itself. Near the end of the introduction, players are introduced to a sequence taking place on the bridge of the Kran. A ship takes out the front window, along with a Bloodpack guard, and drops the player, as Jones, into the bridge, along with ammunition and weapons, less if played on higher difficulty (one of the examples of the balancing improvements from the first installment). Essentially, the player will be trekking backwards, detouring from familiar areas to new areas designed by Prophet to sustain a feeling of unexpectedness and awe. Your mission is to recover an important data template, and all seems pretty straightforward to Jones and to the player, but is it? Newly designed areas from the original Unreal plus many newer areas are everywhere. From plot twists to entertaining weapons and enemies, gameplay and level design, the ominous being known as the scarred one and the terran pirates known as the Dead Scorpions; all compliment each other and make this pack something to certainly play. [YES PLAY]
5. Project Xenome is the most recent release out of all of these. In fact, I beta tested this before it came out. Based on the ONP codebase, Xenome mapper JazzyB really takes the cake with this one. At the moment, only Xenome: First Day has been released as part 1 of a 3 part series. Human environments never looked so believable in an Unreal campaign. Many of the earlier segments strongly resemble locals in Half-Life's Black Mesa. Later, the pack inches along with several masterfully built locations and the little things really start to count when you consider that this was rebuilt almost from scratch in a very short period of time. Though First Day doesn't have everything, it still shines brightly enough, and it makes the anticipation for parts 2 and 3 rise greatly. This is certainly a very interesting pack and it's definitely worth a peak. [PLAY]
This list is mainly for Paul if he wants a list of some of these packs. Also, if you have UT and are interested in expanding it's capabilities, these are certainly guaranteed to enhance your experience with UT.
UPCOMING PACKS:
1. Dead Cell - Team Red Nemesis (Mister Prophet)
2. Residual Decay - Team Red Nemesis
3. The Chosen One - Dead Cow Studios
4. Firestorm - Turboman and Co.
5. Project Xenome: Interloper - Jazz
6. WTF Series 2 - Shivaxi, LOL_PEANUTS
7. EXU2: Batshit Insane (Final)
For EXU2 information, go HERE: www.unrealsp.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1651
Also, Team Red Nemesis, the team behind Seven Bullets, has a web site with download links and further information dealing with Xidia, Seven Bullets, Seven Bullet's bonus map, Skytown Redux, and preview information on the upcoming Residual Decay. They also include information on other small projects like Dead Cell, a soon-to-be-released map worked on solely by Mister Prophet that ties in to some of the story of Residual Decay. Their website can be accessed HERE: rednemesis.beyondunreal.com/
A NOTE: Most if not all of these include Readme files and other text files with important information. Some of these even include the latest Oldskool. Make sure to follow any instructions, otherwise, these packs may not work at all.
1. EXU2: Batshit Insane takes place in Hell. Not just any Hell, though. With Waffnuffly making almost everything from concepts to level design, everything gets fucked up by extreme proportions. This is, and isn't a sequel to Waffnuffly's original EXU, which consisted of Unreal maps that were heavily modified, including ridiculously overpowered versions of Unreal's already intimidating monsters, plus some excessively overpowered weapons for you to slaughter them with. With EXU2, a lot more has been put into this, and it's story basis starts out from scratch, but it is Excessive, so it kept the series title. As said before, you're in Hell. It is told that you died and popped up here. Where is here though? Following what EXU1 did, EXU2 includes modified Unreal maps with modified weapons and modified classes of monsters. What sets in apart is Waffnuffly's deep focus into the gameplay qualities of the game. All new content and map design was focused into being, well, Batshit Insane, based around Hell, and better all around than EXU. Long story short, it succeeds, big time. The pack is still in development, but demos are being released for the public. So far, the first 15 maps are included, along with an intro and congratulation map. Several weapons, monsters, and items are included, and it's built so that the player can save in the extro map and then load into the map from the next demo release when it is finished. This is certainly up there when it comes to innovation and creativity, and the crazy gameplay and unique and amazing levels bring this one to my top five in terms of UT single player mods. Definitely check this one out; it'll be even better than you expected it to be, and that's saying something. [HELL YES, PLAY THIS SHIT]
2. The old Operation Na Pali mod. This mod is one of the things you could play and kinda enjoy. In reality, it's really only good on some gameplay and level design aspects, whereas, things like a complex story, though adequately told, could have been a bit more fine-tuned in a few ways. One of the very obvious yet laughable issues with the pack are the voice acting. Things ranging from the mispronunciation of the word skaarj to goofy sounding jokes and observations stand out in almost every major map. Another obvious aspect is the very arcade-style feel that resides throughout the pack. [OK]
3. Xidia made it's release about a month before ONP. Did this influence it's success? Probably not, seeing as how the appraisal that this pack received dealt in things like masterful level design, entertaining and challenging gameplay, and a fun, quick mission. This is also the first pack where you play as Jones, who appears and who's story is further explained in later installments such as Seven Bullets and the upcoming Residual Decay. Though many complain that this pack has unbalanced gameplay and the occasional tight spots, it remains a milestone in mod development history because of the exceptional mapping detail put into it by developers Mister Prophet and the now professional "Hourences" De Jong. Xidia Gold includes a heavily updated Xidia, dubbed as "The Incident" and a new chapter, "The Escape", where you play as the last survivor of the events directly before and during The Incident. This one includes different areas and contains more examples of Prophet's and Hourence's talent at conceptual level design, and though it doesn't improve in gameplay balance, it still looks good and explains more of the story that happened on Outpost Pheonix. The latest version needs a patch, which is included on it's review page. [YES PLAY]
4. (ONE NOTE: It is a good idea to play Skytown Redux before starting Seven Bullets, as it elaborates on the events leading directly to Seven Bullets). Seven Bullets, the sequal to Xidia, was more expected than it's father pack. Even so, it was a helluvah success, even more so in some cases than Xidia, introducing heavily balanced gameplay and tons of new areas and talent. Though Xidia veteran Mister Prophet stayed in the loop as lead for the project, several new talents were recruited in place of Hourences, who had left the team by this point. The first thing that veteran Unreal players will notice is the remixed versions of the ISVKran. Yes, we've returned to Na Pali, and there are major changes that have happened in the time between the first game and now. The Kran, for instance, has been overrun and assimilated into the Skaarj Bloodpack outpost 1J. The outpost has been hit with an electromagnetic pulse immediately before the beginning of Seven Bullets to disable many of its security and defense systems, along with many of the lights. The place is pitch black in some places, or at least poorly lit by single dim lights around the vessel. For those who have played the original, they will recognize many of the later areas displayed in the intro cutscene, such as Spire Village and the Sunspire itself. Near the end of the introduction, players are introduced to a sequence taking place on the bridge of the Kran. A ship takes out the front window, along with a Bloodpack guard, and drops the player, as Jones, into the bridge, along with ammunition and weapons, less if played on higher difficulty (one of the examples of the balancing improvements from the first installment). Essentially, the player will be trekking backwards, detouring from familiar areas to new areas designed by Prophet to sustain a feeling of unexpectedness and awe. Your mission is to recover an important data template, and all seems pretty straightforward to Jones and to the player, but is it? Newly designed areas from the original Unreal plus many newer areas are everywhere. From plot twists to entertaining weapons and enemies, gameplay and level design, the ominous being known as the scarred one and the terran pirates known as the Dead Scorpions; all compliment each other and make this pack something to certainly play. [YES PLAY]
5. Project Xenome is the most recent release out of all of these. In fact, I beta tested this before it came out. Based on the ONP codebase, Xenome mapper JazzyB really takes the cake with this one. At the moment, only Xenome: First Day has been released as part 1 of a 3 part series. Human environments never looked so believable in an Unreal campaign. Many of the earlier segments strongly resemble locals in Half-Life's Black Mesa. Later, the pack inches along with several masterfully built locations and the little things really start to count when you consider that this was rebuilt almost from scratch in a very short period of time. Though First Day doesn't have everything, it still shines brightly enough, and it makes the anticipation for parts 2 and 3 rise greatly. This is certainly a very interesting pack and it's definitely worth a peak. [PLAY]
This list is mainly for Paul if he wants a list of some of these packs. Also, if you have UT and are interested in expanding it's capabilities, these are certainly guaranteed to enhance your experience with UT.
UPCOMING PACKS:
1. Dead Cell - Team Red Nemesis (Mister Prophet)
2. Residual Decay - Team Red Nemesis
3. The Chosen One - Dead Cow Studios
4. Firestorm - Turboman and Co.
5. Project Xenome: Interloper - Jazz
6. WTF Series 2 - Shivaxi, LOL_PEANUTS
7. EXU2: Batshit Insane (Final)