Unreal Tournament 3 Running On Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Unreal Tournament 3 Running On Linux

For those Linux gamers that have been waiting almost a year to play Unreal Tournament 3, it looks like that day is finally getting close. Earlier this week Jeff Morris from Epic Games had confirmed on our forums that the UT3 Linux release will include their in-game UnrealEd Editor program...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=NjcyOQ

[marakaid]

Yeah! The nice side effects of waiting so many months are:
-retail game is cheaper,
-computers upgraded or cheaper to get.
I'm waiting to buy it!
P.D. I still want to know what Ryan means when he said that we would not believe the reason of the delay.

[Fixxer_Linux]

Yeah! The nice side effects of waiting so many months are:
-retail game is cheaper,
-computers upgraded or cheaper to get.
I'm waiting to buy it!
P.D. I still want to know what Ryan means when he said that we would not believe the reason of the delay.

Yeah, same here !
I'll just jump on a new computer and a copy of the game as soon as the linux client is out...
I would have get a Q6600 with some 8800 GT a year ago. Now, I can get a Q9550 with a HD4870 for the same price, and the hope of having within a year an open-source driver to play UT3.
:D

[Tares]

I can't believe my eyes :O Armageddon is coming :D

Now I have another reason (a very good one ;-) ) to replace my 8600GT with HD4850 :D

[Vadi]

Wewt!

Not replacing my 8600gt though... 'cause it's in my laptop. But hey, it tanks etqw at highest settings :)

[Eragon]

Not throwing away my 8 8600 GT either, because I just put it in my computer 2 weeks ago! :D

Now, when UT 3 Comes out: Bloody multiplayer carnage! Slaughter, yeah! :)

[ethana2]

"Seriously, there's no conspiracy...so stop sending me email suggesting that Microsoft is paying to block this."

That's great to hear! If only other companies would put out official statements to clarify that..

I hope google buys valve. Can you imagine if gamers could all migrate to linux with only a steam install?

[yoshi314]

P.D. I still want to know what Ryan means when he said that we would not believe the reason of the delay.because they had to make sure that there was any kind of market after the start of LHC :]

[quintesse]

Sorry, just can't get worked up over this anymore. Waaaay too late now.

[yoshi314]

i guess people who were waiting for ut3 already played it through. on other platforms.

[Gentooer]

i guess people who were waiting for ut3 already played it through. on other platforms.
nope. i won't touch the game till it's released for linux! :)

[immudium]

Some good news. Still not going to lay down a penny until I can fill the deep, lonely void of my gaming anemic hard drive with native Linux bits. But on that day, what is considered old and tiresome by the rest of the gaming world shall become new and fresh to me.

[b15hop]

"Bishop rode Raptor's rocket into oblivion."
That last picture doesn't involve me either.

My guess is that the drivers needed improving first anyway. Further more, hardware is a lot cheaper now so I'm not really phased that it's late. I will still get to play it which is more important. :)

PS: Ryan, how do we know that you were paid to put that up those screenshot teasers? :P Haha ~Jokes~

Plus how could I not miss that someone is coding a "mojoshader.c" But regardless that UT3 has lost some of it's mojo. I'm still keen on seeing it on linux. :cool:

[numasan]

Great to have a guy like Icculus!

I'll buy UT3 when the binaries are ready, but I doubt I'll play much online.. I will be using most of the time running around the levels, looking at all the content Epic's artists put into it!

Also, I love realtime OpenGL engines :D

[Svartalf]

Heh... FINALLY getting to see Linux version. Damn, I wish I knew what in the F*** it was that delayed it nearly a year.

[xav1r]

Until i see a filed called "ut3-client.tar.gz" with a file called "install-ut3.sh" on it this is little more than hot air to me.

[Svartalf]

Until i see a filed called "ut3-client.tar.gz" with a file called "install-ut3.sh" on it this is little more than hot air to me.

I didn't say it was any more than that. :D

I was just observing on wondering a "WTF took so long to get it to this hot-air stage" with my comments just now... ;)

[Dragonlord]

Also, I love realtime OpenGL engines :D
Erm... what you mean? Which OpenGL game engine is "not" real-time... except maybe a chess game :confused:

[deanjo]

Until i see a filed called "ut3-client.tar.gz" with a file called "install-ut3.sh" on it this is little more than hot air to me.


Ah yes, take a windows snapshot of UT3 in windows, apply a little Gimp magic and bang....

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c316/deanjo/ut3-riscos4.jpg

UT3 on RISCOS 4!!! ETA..... When it's done.....

[Svartalf]

Ah yes, take a windows snapshot of UT3 in windows, apply a little Gimp magic and bang....

UT3 on RISCOS 4!!! ETA..... When it's done.....

ROFLMAO!

You're BAD. :D

[me262]

Heh... FINALLY getting to see Linux version. Damn, I wish I knew what in the F*** it was that delayed it nearly a year.
Maybe you can ask him. Developer to developer. Since he says "you won't believe the reason for the delay", you're on a better level than most to actually believe it.
I'm betting it was problems with GCC 4.2/4.3 and OpenMP.

[Thetargos]

While it is good to see UT3 on both Mac and Linux, and most likely I will buy it when it is available, and when I have the money to spare, the whole attitude from Epic toward the Linux delay leaves much to be desired... However, the single fact that ti is coming, and now there's some sort of "evidence" is indeed good news (for Linux gaming at large). I no longer like very much shooter games, but I'm sure I'll get a few hours of fun with this title (I know I like the game, I've played it on the PS3 already). Hopefully Epic will keep statistics on both, in-game OS tracking and client downloads statistics.

[b15hop]

Ah yes, take a windows snapshot of UT3 in windows, apply a little Gimp magic and bang....

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c316/deanjo/ut3-riscos4.jpg

UT3 on RISCOS 4!!! ETA..... When it's done.....

LoL! :D You beat me too it! I was thinking of grabbing <random ut3 shot> and gimping it up for <insert os here>. :p

[me262]

Hopefully Epic will keep statistics on both, in-game OS tracking and client downloads statistics.
Client download statistics aren't a good way to track how many users are getting the file.

I host a podcast for a friend, and I keep archives of his episodes, including syncing them to my ipod (that's two downloads for one person right there, without going into the problems I had with my feeder re-downloading every podcast every week! (problems will arise forcing one to start the feed fresh)), coupled with the fact that most of them I have to download, repack, and reupload...

Then there's the fact that gaming mirrors will download and redistribute it themselves...

Client download statistics do not work. It may give a rough idea, but it's inherently and critically flawed.

[Svartalf]

Maybe you can ask him. Developer to developer. Since he says "you won't believe the reason for the delay", you're on a better level than most to actually believe it.

Heh... I only wish. I asked him about 5 months ago what was up. No answer.

I'm betting it was problems with GCC 4.2/4.3 and OpenMP.

Riiight. :D

[b15hop]

Svartalf:
More likely just too busy.
What do you find are the most time consuming things at LGP?

[me262]

Heh... I only wish. I asked him about 5 months ago what was up. No answer.
Although 5 months ago he didn't have those screenshots.
Beat around the bush. "Any tips to avoid the problem you had with UT3?" He can say what to avoid, without having to reveal exactly what the problem was.

Riiight. :D
Just saying, it's probably something off the wall...

[b15hop]

If everyone expects a lot they will get disappointed. To overcome this, small pieces of information are leaked out to keep interest up. While at the same time not disappointing any of those people waiting for the next best thing since gnu sliced bread.

[Thetargos]

Client download statistics aren't a good way to track how many users are getting the file.

I host a podcast for a friend, and I keep archives of his episodes, including syncing them to my ipod (that's two downloads for one person right there, without going into the problems I had with my feeder re-downloading every podcast every week! (problems will arise forcing one to start the feed fresh)), coupled with the fact that most of them I have to download, repack, and reupload...

Then there's the fact that gaming mirrors will download and redistribute it themselves...

Client download statistics do not work. It may give a rough idea, but it's inherently and critically flawed.

I was thinking more of how Fedora keeps track of "individual" users by logging anonymously the unique IPs of clients getting updates. Sure that may leave behind several "users" behind a router or firewall and make "them" appear as only one client, but sure enough is more reliable than no tracking at all.

[b15hop]

I was thinking more of how Fedora keeps track of "individual" users by logging anonymously the unique IPs of clients getting updates. Sure that may leave behind several "users" behind a router or firewall and make "them" appear as only one client, but sure enough is more reliable than no tracking at all.

The game might want you to register a user account ala steam?

[me262]

CD-Key authenticity check. Simplest way.
You can pack the client data in there as well.

Tracking unique IPs getting an update is better, but remember this program is spread through who knows how many mirrors. It's basically unrealistic (pun not intended) numbers because at that point it spreads to others there, and can't be tracked well.

If the new updater is BitTorrent based, then perhaps...

[Forge]

The game might want you to register a user account ala steam?

Already does that, at least on Win32.

[Dagwood]

I might pick it up now. This game is only $10 at gogamer today and tomorrow.

[D0pamine]

http://www.ryanbreheny.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut3.png

no gimp or trickery - just wine :P

[xav1r]

http://www.ryanbreheny.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut3.png

no gimp or trickery - just wine :P

Maybe that's what Ryan is using! :D:D

[deanjo]

http://www.ryanbreheny.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut3.png

no gimp or trickery - just wine :P


Heh, that screenshot looks a lot better then the screenshot Ryan put up. Ryan's looks like it's running pretty low res with lots of jaggies. Software renderer perhaps.

[Tares]

Heh, that screenshot looks a lot better then the screenshot Ryan put up. Ryan's looks like it's running pretty low res with lots of jaggies. Software renderer perhaps.

So true... but for debugging purpouses it's enough ;-)

Anyway I hope my new HD4850 will run UT3 on 8.10 drivers if they'll ubuntu 8.10 ;o

[numasan]

Erm... what you mean? Which OpenGL game engine is "not" real-time... except maybe a chess game :confused:

I'm sorry. It's just that working in a 3D application*, you can't have both the details and speed like in a game. So when I try a "next-gen" engine, I'm positive about the look and speed ("real-time"), compared to what I'm used to in the workspace. Of course OpenGL is all about real-time graphics.

*Things have changed the last few years of course, with shaders in the viewport and links to external engines. Being a convert to Blender, I'm very excited by the progress made by Yo Frankie!

[Dragonlord]

I do not want to derail this thread but somehow I'm still struggling to understand what you are trying to get at. So you say Blender is no real-time? Since this would astonish me ( since I model all game models there in real-time... except sculpting which is blowing slow :D ). Or do you refer to so called "sandbox editing" which shows a WYSIWYG of the game world with or without game logic enabled? Since the later one would make sense to me. That's not often done :D

[numasan]

It was a bad choice of word. Blender et al. is real-time 3D, yes. It is easier now to work "WYSIWYG" in 3D games, with artist friendly tools (like the editor for 'Rage'), but not usually in conventional 3D-tools (not build for speed). The Apricot build of Blender helps a lot with tying the two closer, I'm sure.

Hope that makes sense.

[Dragonlord]

I guess so. Never used the Apricot build. I'm used to my dev-build :D ( although I still manage to learn new things about Blender from time to time although using it for quite some time now ).

[marakaid]

First official forum thread about Linux client that is not closed by WarTourist or another administrator:
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=623755

[Svartalf]

First official forum thread about Linux client that is not closed by WarTourist or another administrator:
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=623755

Moreover, note his remarks... Interesting...

[Chris]

Heh, that screenshot looks a lot better then the screenshot Ryan put up. Ryan's looks like it's running pretty low res with lots of jaggies. Software renderer perhaps.
UT3 has an option to "scale up" a low-res render (so it would render at, say, 512x384, then scale up to 1024x768).. I guess its so it allows the game to ease up on the GPU from complex pixel shaders. At least in the demo, the default was a 50% scaling.

[Dragonlord]

Uhm... what use is this please? On CRTs upscalign is for free. And even on TFTs upscaling by integer factors is done by the TFT integrated interpolation unit. So why upscaling on the graphic card wasting previous fill-rate ( since you have to fill in addition to the game rendered screen also the full screen ) if you have a TFT with integrated interpolation unit doing this for free?

[Chris]

Lower resolutions on LCDs is awful (it often blurs badly, or even worse, may just be centered and not scaled). CRT upscaling is much better, true. However, that doesn't help for a) windowed modes, or b) systems where the target rendering resolution isn't available as a graphics mode. How many systems do you know that can display 720x450, half my current LCD native res? Mine doesn't. I was lucky to get a working 512x384 (half 1024x768) on most CRTs I had.

Plus, the game lets you pick almost any percentage for a speed vs. sharpness tradeoff.

[Dragonlord]

Yeah, but it doesn't really help much. Only a good machine helps to make it run well. And... render resolution not available as graphic mode... that ain't working. To upscale to a resolution it has to be supported. You can render off-screen into any resolution you want to but once it gets on-screen it has to match a graphic mode ( if fullscreen ) or the window size. I somehow don't get the problem.

And about interpolation... graphic cards do box-filtering. That's similar to what TFTs do in their interpolation units ( interpolate between 4 nearest pixels ). Some TFTs are better at this, some less. In the end though it's not much worse than what the graphic card would do so... again... why doing it then in the first place wasting fill-rate ( which could be spend for a higher resolution instead )?

[Chris]

And... render resolution not available as graphic mode... that ain't working. To upscale to a resolution it has to be supported. You can render off-screen into any resolution you want to but once it gets on-screen it has to match a graphic mode ( if fullscreen ) or the window size.
Exactly. So how could you render at 512x384 if you can't set a 512x384 mode? Or if you wanted a window the same size as 1024x768, but rendered at 512x384?

In the end though it's not much worse than what the graphic card would do so... again... why doing it then in the first place wasting fill-rate ( which could be spend for a higher resolution instead )?
UE3 is a rather advanced engine, no doubt using rather complex shaders. No matter how fast the GPU is, long shaders still take a more time to compute than a simple stretch blit. It makes it so it doesn't have to run those complex pixel shaders as often (1/4th less often at half the res), and instead substitutes them for a (faster) glBlitFramebufferEXT call. They can even stretch it using nearest filtering, so you get the hard edges you'd normally have on a CRT (which personally I actually prefer), instead of the blurring you'd have from an LCD.

[Dragonlord]

And you do not need this strange resolution of yours. TFTs are not required to use all pixels on their display. If the TFT is smart the screen is stretched to fill the available pixels best without too much quality loss. I did for example play UT3 in 800x600 on a 1680x1050 monitor and it looked good. And this had been not a factor two scaling. That said box-filtering is not required to be of an exact integer multiple to work reasonably well.

EDIT: I overlooked you mentioning glBlitFramebufferEXT. That's a bit a different story since that's an accelerated blit. In that case the speed bit is a bit different ( edited out text above ).

[Chris]

And you do not need this strange resolution of yours. TFTs are not required to use all pixels on their display. If the TFT is smart the screen is stretched to fill the available pixels best without too much quality loss.
But that still only applies for known fullscreen modes. If you want a bigger windowed resolution, you either need to increase the rendered resolution, or render offscreen at whatever resolution and stretch to the window. And if you want a resolution that your card and/or monitor doesn't support, you either must use the next bigger or smaller, or set a mode that's bigger, then render offscreen and stretch.

Also don't forget, the game allows you to pick any size above 50%, IIRC. So that's a significant amount of personal control over selecting the speed of the game, versus visual quality (some people might not be as bothered by 20FPS as others, while others might need to turn it all the way down and hope to get 20FPS).. Both without having to sacrifice physical window size, or worry if the mode is supported for fullscreen.

[Dragonlord]

I still don't get the problem with the resolution. Why do you need to switch to a larger resolution? Or rather said... what gain is there from something weird like let's say 520x370 or something like that?

[Chris]

Why do you need to switch to a larger resolution? Or rather said... what gain is there from something weird like let's say 520x370 or something like that?
For windowed, because the resolution you render to is normally proportionate to the physical size of the window. So if you needed to render to something weird like 520x370 to get an accepetable framerate, how would you handle that? In windowed mode, you'd end up with a tiny window. In fullscreen mode, you'd probably have to drop to 320x240 or go up to 640x480. In both cases, if the game's HUD or text isn't designed for such low resolution, you're SOL (notice in those pics that the text and HUD is still sharp.. it's just the scene that's lower res).

You gain not having to run complex pixel shaders as often (196,608 times for a full scene in 512x384, versus 786,432 times in 1024x768; not counting overdraw or any other offscreen rendering). And if you're running on something like a GF6 (which is fully DX9/SM3 capable), or even a GF7 or lowend GF8, removing that extra processing could be the difference between a playable framerate, and a bad gaming experience.

[marakaid]

Do you think is too late for the game in terms of skill required? I mean, Windows players will have nearly one year of experience more than me, that's a bad side effect of waiting many months!
I started playing ETQW 2 or 3 months after buying it in October 2007, and the first weeks were not nice, too much learning curve.

[D0pamine]

Do you think is too late for the game in terms of skill required? I mean, Windows players will have nearly one year of experience more than me, that's a bad side effect of waiting many months!
I started playing ETQW 2 or 3 months after buying it in October 2007, and the first weeks were not nice, too much learning curve.

thats a good point...neh i'll prawn them

[Dragonlord]

For windowed, because the resolution you render to is normally proportionate to the physical size of the window. So if you needed to render to something weird like 520x370 to get an accepetable framerate, how would you handle that? In windowed mode, you'd end up with a tiny window. In fullscreen mode, you'd probably have to drop to 320x240 or go up to 640x480. In both cases, if the game's HUD or text isn't designed for such low resolution, you're SOL (notice in those pics that the text and HUD is still sharp.. it's just the scene that's lower res).

You gain not having to run complex pixel shaders as often (196,608 times for a full scene in 512x384, versus 786,432 times in 1024x768; not counting overdraw or any other offscreen rendering). And if you're running on something like a GF6 (which is fully DX9/SM3 capable), or even a GF7 or lowend GF8, removing that extra processing could be the difference between a playable framerate, and a bad gaming experience.
I guess I see where you are coming from. I'm still though a bit astonished this does the trick in such low resolutions. I could understand if we talked here about something like 1280x1050 or even 1680x1050 I run on my system ( where fill-rate really does explode ) but at this resolution range I somehow would expect the blit to not have too much influence. At last I played UT3 on a 6600GT with 600x800 resolution ( upscaled on TFT with 1680x1050 ) with acceptable framerate and this is the smallest resolution the game offered me.

[Darknight]

Mac version of UT3 spotted on play.com
Honestly I don't know when it appeared, maybe it's old news, but I think it's significant.

[Svartalf]

Mac version of UT3 spotted on play.com
Honestly I don't know when it appeared, maybe it's old news, but I think it's significant.

Not present for the MacOS lineup over on play.com as of 10:14 CST on 09-27-08. So, it's not as significant as you implied, sorry.

[Darknight]

Not present for the MacOS lineup over on play.com as of 10:14 CST on 09-27-08. So, it's not as significant as you implied, sorry.

It's under pc games, but tagged (mac) and the description talks about mac.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5333801/Unreal-Tournament-III/Product.html

[Svartalf]

It's under pc games, but tagged (mac) and the description talks about mac.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5333801/Unreal-Tournament-III/Product.html


This item is not currently available to order. Enter your email address, click the ‘Notify me’ button and we’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available to pre-order.


It's not any different than the Amazon entry for the same, unfortunately.

Unless it's offered for sale, it means little. :D

[xav1r]

Im currently taking pre-orders for UT3 for linux, factory sealed DVD boxes with the cdkey inside, I'll start selling them on Oct 1st. from my website www.ut3linux.com only send 10$ to the specified address in the site, worldwide shipping available, all orders ship from my HQ store in Nigeria. :)

[xav1r]

First official forum thread about Linux client that is not closed by WarTourist or another administrator:
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=623755

btw, that thread was just closed down today. :p:p:p

[Svartalf]

Im currently taking pre-orders for UT3 for linux, factory sealed DVD boxes with the cdkey inside, I'll start selling them on Oct 1st. from my website www.ut3linux.com only send 10$ to the specified address in the site, worldwide shipping available, all orders ship from my HQ store in Nigeria. :)

Now, now... Be nice... :D

[Svartalf]

btw, that thread was just closed down today. :p:p:p

THAT, mainly, is due to it getting superfluous and nothing but a flamefest. Not because it's not happening. :D As to when, perhaps it'll be out right after DNF... ;)

[xav1r]

As to when, perhaps it'll be out right after DNF... ;)

Hhehehe, you saying that right after the post where you tell me to be nice. :D :D :D

[me262]

You mean we have in-game screenshots of DNF, and it's coming out soon?
Hell really has frozen over, and it's only 3 days into fall!
(FYI, There is in fact a Hell, MI. I have been there.).

[Svartalf]

Hhehehe, you saying that right after the post where you tell me to be nice. :D :D :D

Heh... DNF MIGHT just come to mean something other than Did Not Finish... After all, the rumblings are, unless something else stupid impedes it, it comes out sometime next year (Seriously...). ;)

[Svartalf]

You mean we have in-game screenshots of DNF, and it's coming out soon?
Hell really has frozen over, and it's only 3 days into fall!
(FYI, There is in fact a Hell, MI. I have been there.).

ROFLMAO! I guess that would have been life in Hell... ;)

[marakaid]

WarTourist? Where are you?
Are you sure Epic is not waiting to end the Something Unreal contest before releasing linux client? It's on Phase 2!
I think Icculus' Mac&Linux screenshots were only teasing us, as if we would not notice that the game is approaching first anniversary.
I'm smelling some GOTY version.

[xav1r]

WarTourist? Where are you?
Are you sure Epic is not waiting to end the Something Unreal contest before releasing linux client? It's on Phase 2!
I think Icculus' Mac&Linux screenshots were only teasing us, as if we would not notice that the game is approaching first anniversary.
I'm smelling some GOTY version.

Maybe they like to tease us. Like they get off with that. :) Or maybe they are planning on shipping the linux client on the DVD for UT4: GOTY edition. ;);)

[me262]

Maybe they like to tease us. Like they get off with that. :) Or maybe they are planning on shipping the linux client on the DVD for UT4: GOTY edition. ;);)
UT4? That's still 6 years away from a Linux version!
:D

[marakaid]

I will not buy the game if client is not available before 1st anniversary, too much waiting.

[RobbieAB]

Waiting for what? UT3 hasn't been released yet... ;)

[Setlec]

Are you sure Epic is not waiting to end the Something Unreal contest before releasing linux client? It's on Phase 2!
I think Icculus' Mac&Linux screenshots were only teasing us, as if we would not notice that the game is approaching first anniversary.
I'm smelling some GOTY version.

hmmm maybe yes maybe not, i'm gona sell my ut3 copy tomorow this game is good but extremely boring after 4 hours playing, I enjoy much more on ET:QW than on this game. First and last game from epics that I buyed/played.

[marakaid]

I'm a bit irritated with the UT3 situation, because:
-some years ago I bought UT2003
-waited few months to upgrade computer for playing in better condition
-when I upgraded my computer, I discovered that the game had been a "flop", bugs, few mods and maps, small community not like UT99, and that Epic launched UT2004 weeks after that, making me feel like an idiot.

This UT3 fiasco looks like repeating UT2003/2004 one.
I bought my copy of ETQW nearly one year ago, have upgraded my computer two times since that and still I can't get good performance in several Linux distributions I've been trying.
If there is some linux client UT3 available someday, I fear it is a bug collection like Creative Xfi linux driver.

[Setlec]

err... have you read the topic's posts? there is no release linux client for UT 3 'til now. This UT3 fiasco looks like repeating UT2003/2004 one. it's a complete fiasco

other thing about ET:QW i run it really good, if you are having issues it's most explained by how your game is configured. each distrib has its own proprieties.... you have to config it for best performance. and keep on distrib that you like. i test various distribs too i use phoronix to test the distribs it helps alot and their work are really good. i have my favorite distrib for my usuall use (gaming + mail & etc...).

Cheers