kAoS

Oceania.com;
http://oceaniaut.com/index.php?category ... cleid=1610

By ZerO*KooL
Published: Sunday, December 16, 2007

Firstly, I'd like to send out my sympathy to sinx and his MapMixer project that Epic have simply made redundant! I know sinx is deeply regretful to all of his MapMixer followers for not being able to develop a V3, however the decision has been taken out of his hands.  FYI. MapMixer was a group winner (Best Tool) in the Make Something Unreal Contest hosted by Nvidia/Epic back in UT2004

I have some bad news. At this current point in time, MapMixer for UT3 is not possible. I have spent a great deal of my personal time investigating and starting to develop MapMixer v3 for UT3. I eventually got to a point where I was confronted with the fact that two important features are missing from the current (patched) game.

Specifically:

[1] The Object Class function ClearConfig() and StaticClearConfig() have been removed. Epic have a note in the source code to say that they need to re-implement them but presently these functions are not supported.

[2] There is no generic support for Multi-column Listers, which play an integral role in the UI for MapMixer. Epic have used these types of lists in UT3, however their underlying mechanisms are heavily natively (ie c++) coded and cannot be used in a generic way from UScript. They have support for single column lists that can be used in a generic way, however multi-column lists are locked in via their underlying native coding for their DataStore Classes that implement the UIListElementProvider and UIListElementCellProvider functionality.

It appears Epic's support for the mod community has slipped and there is no doubt in my mind that UT3 is an unfinished game. This is a PR disaster and it saddens me that at this present time I cannot continue my development of MapMixer. This is due to a lack of support for both me and the mod community from Epic.

Both as a gamer and a modder, I am very disappointed and I can unfortunately say without hesitation that their vision for the game has narrowed considerably. I actually quite enjoy the core gameplay experience but I feel that their execution of the content in the game has focused around dollars. Their decision to ship the game with a poor UI, as well as their decision to force Gamespy upon us is perhaps not just an accident. It is very clear to all of us that their focus is now on the console platforms, in an attempt to make more money. There have been some very big sacrifices made to the game so it can be released for all platforms almost simultaneously. Rather than develop a UI separately for both major platforms, they chose to minimise the functionality of the interface so it can be used with a game controller. I think it is safe to say that the PC gamer fan base, that put Epic in the position they are now, is being shafted in favour of *new* market opportunities. I personally have no problem with them breaking out into the console market - if it makes them more money then that's a good thing, but should the PC market be sidelined because of it? Let me make one thing clear, I hold no malice towards Epic, I'm just very saddened to see what has resulted, particularly when, prior to the game's release, I was constantly saying that I had faith in Epic. I have indeed now lost some respect for Epic.

After all this I must emphasise that I still have a commitment to develop MapMixer for UT3 but until the above items are addressed, it will not be possible. The only thing we can do as a community is let them know how important the PC Market is and put pressure on Epic to bring back these features that are missing.

Source: http://mapmixer.oceaniaut.com/

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I disagree with his reference that the game was released unfinished. I thought so too, but turns out it's NOT an unfished game for the Ps3. Just go to the Epic forums and count the 'Game won't run' threaths for the PC version in contrast to the Ps3 version.

I also diagree with his point of letting Epic know how important the PC market is. Unfortunatly the proof is in the pudding. The whole reason we have this fiasco is because the PC market is NOT important to them anymore. Just look at software sales figures for the past 2 years and every single time the money is on the consoles.

Finally I'm not so fucking forgiving. Or have joos forgotten we spendt nearly 300 bucks getting ready for Ut3?  Ladder/Tourney system,  hosting accounts, not to mention ALL the fucking work I put into upgrading 4 websites and writting new systems for them. In the end for what, we acted based on the lies they feed us. Were the fools for believing them...... yeah dat may be the case... but I be fucked if I'm getting over this one anytime soon. Even thou I'm posting Ut3 related stuff on a daily basis.

Anyways, it is a sad day for Ut3 fans.... Rypel has told me more or less the same about the new engine. We used Map-Mixer on our Ut2oo4 server for a while, but I took it off, because it conflicted with some weird arse mod I found... lol... I forget now... long time ago...

Here's a bit of 'history' for Acer, the kAoS LAN party we had over at Rages house, I used Map-Mixer to organise/run the Server for the LAN. So it has some sort of nostalgic value for us.....  even that must die.....

lol.....




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I posted this reply for sinx, man he must be pissed off, fark..

Cheer up sinx, you're not the only one who's pissed off, check this fellow out, he's really got the shits with Epic and has taken matters into his own hands....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zgfh7kc27M8



I made that a few days ago, because enought is enought. Too many lies and money spent on those lies.

Anyway I posted it over on the Epic forums, it got deleted in record time. Personally I dun see anything offensive on their. Guess now they lost their sense of humor too...

We used to run Map-Mixer on our UT2oo4 server for a while and I was looking foward to working with it again on our Ut3 server, but now we have neither!

Let's hope someone sees the light and this mess get's sorted. But I think it might not be, because the money is in the console market, by a massive margin and that speaks louder then any forum post or petitions of any sort.

Some of you might be right and the community will take it and make it the game it should be. But without needed functions in place, that seems like the long hard road to no were.

Take a look at the clientside demorec functions and you will find 'missing' stuff in there too. Bugged out and worse then the Ut2oo4 demorec features, in fact it's noted in the code, how they basically just 'ported' over the Ut2oo4 demorec system into Ut3. Obviously it din't work and they can't fix it or cbf fxing it or at least telling us about it, so they just turned it off with BETA Patch 1.

Rypel from Rypelcam tells me it's back on in the final patch, but it has not been fixed, it's still bugged out and unstable. There's only so much he can do, like sinx, if Epic don't fix their engine and implement the things needed for a community to thrive on and carry the game foward.

It's interesting to note, how this game is unfinished for the PC, but it's finished for the Ps3. Just go to the Epic forums and count the 'Game won't run' threaths for the PC version in contrast to the Ps3 version.

There's a fork coming up on the road..... go left to happy dreammy console land or go right to PC HELL!



Ps; My forums name tag is doing the Ut3 and iz no working..... should just read.. gammo..... I need a patch.. quick....