I plan to update the FAQ regularly as new previews and interviews are published, until U2 eventually goes gold, but I can't promise, as real life™ keeps me busy.

1.2. Disclaimer, Copyrights and Credits

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial FAQ. Nothing of what is written herein has been authorised by the makers of Unreal 2: Legend Entertainment, Epic Games or Infogrames.

This is a pre-release FAQ, i.e. Unreal 2 is still under construction. Thus anything written about it in this FAQ might be subject to change.

I am not an employee or contractor of any of the involved companies, which means I don't have any insider knowledge at all. Anything written in here that is not clearly identified as a quote from a interview with Legend, Epic or Infogrames staff is just my personal opinion and may be wrong. I wrote the FAQ based on my best knowledge and research, but like any human I make errors. If you feel that I am wrong about anything written in this FAQ, please e-mail me to TetrisL@gmx.ch and your input will be checked.

Copyrights and Trademark Info

All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Please inform me via e-mail TetrisL@gmx.ch if I should unintendedly have violated any copyrights or other rights of any individual or company in this FAQ. The matter will be checked and - if justified - the related paragraph will be corrected / modified immediately.

Credits

Big credits go to Epic Games, Legend Entertainment, Digital Extremes and Infogrames for bringing us the great Unreal game series!!!

Credits to the websites who made all the interviews and previews that I quoted from in this FAQ, names as listed with each quote.

Greetings and credits to all the nice people on the BeyondUnreal U2 forum (formerly Planet Unreal) and Infogrames' U2 forum, especially Dork, GrimStar, Wowbagger, Iceman and a few others who have contributed to the making of this FAQ.

Further greetings to my clanmates of [$FCE2] – Respawn Inc.. Hang in there, pals! Eventually we'll be playing a game together again!

1.3. About this FAQ

What is an FAQ and what is this FAQ about?

FAQ is the abbreviation of "Frequently Asked Questions". An FAQ is a compilation of answers to such frequently asked questions. In fact it should rather be called "FGA", i.e. “Frequently Given Answers”. ;)

This FAQ is about Unreal 2, a computer game currently in the making by Legend Entertainment in collaboration with Epic Games. For more detailed info see below.

How can I do a search in this FAQ?

Use the built-in search function of your browser.

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 its 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]

May I copy, distribute or mirror this FAQ?

No, except for personal use.

You may copy this FAQ in electronic or hardcopy version for your own personal use only, as long as you don't modify it in any way from the original.

You may not copy, distribute or mirror this FAQ in electronic or hardcopy version on any CD, media, magazine or website for any commercial income purpose, i.e. you charge the users more than the pure connection/distribution costs or have commercial income through advertisement banners. In any case, a written permission by the author is required. Mail to: TetrisL@gmx.ch.

Version History

Version Date Content Changes

0.1 03 Sept 01 Started work, compile list of questions

0.8 09 Sept 01 First draft, published internal for review.

1.0 10 Sept 01 First official release

1.01 11 Sept 01 Minor corrections

1.02 12 Sept 01 Increased font sizes, added info from Tim Sweeney Interview and added 2 screenshots.

1.03 16 Sept 01 Added info regarding leaked pre-alpha

1.04 21 Sept 01 Minor corrections.

1.05 28 Sept 01 Updated info on release date

1.06 04 Oct 01 Updated info on U2 on Mac

1.07 07 Oct 01 Updated info about converting UT maps to U2

1.08 08 Oct 01 Updated info about Legend team members

1.09 12 Oct 01 Updated info about motion capture animation

1.10 16 Oct 01 Updated info on Unreal Warfare

1.11 19 Oct 01 Added UW engine games ATMA and New Legend

1.12 25 Oct 01 Added info on U2 texture formats and new screenshots

1.13 28 Oct 01 Updated info about U2 co-op

1.14 31 Oct 01 Updated info about multiplayer cheat protection

1.15 14 Nov 01 Major update! Lots of new info about U2 player and weapon models and facial animation (Thanks Chris!). Info on U2 SDK added. More explanation on converting UT maps to U2. (Thanks Matthias!) Info on GMax support. Info on U2 with Windows XP. More info on (no) U2 co-op. Some details about weapons (leech gun, mindclaw) and enemies (Shian, Drakk) added. Minor addition on XMP classes.

1.16 21 Nov 01 New tech info about particles and models. Info about localized versions. And fixed some broken links to VE.

1.17 17 Dec 01 Sorry for long time w/o update; been extremely busy with real life. Not much news though. Added info on dodging. Added an answer summary line for most questions. Added more info on system specs and importing gMax prefabs.

1.18 03 Jan 02 Info from two articles in print magazines, various new screenshots, new Izarian info, Info about Info about rumors regarding UT2, added U engine game Seraphim, added detail about artifacts in multiplayer

1.19 Added info on new U2 video

1.20 12. Apr 02 Corrected Release Date, Removed Multiplayer

Disclaimer: Since I’m a dedicated multiplayer my personal focus is on UT2003 since it was announced that U2 will be singleplayer only. You better not expect frequent updates to this FAQ. Some information you find in here may be outdated and wrong.

1.4. Abbreviations

U1 Unreal 1 = Unreal "Classic"

UT Unreal Tournament

UC Unreal Championship

U2 Unreal 2

WoT Wheel of Time

1.5. About the Author

About the Author

My nick-name is "Tetris L". The name comes from a funny Gamespy Grudge in 1999, that featured the duel "CliffyB vs. The L-shaped Tetris Block". Needless to say that I won by a big margin. ;-)

I used to go by the name of "©leaner" but dropped that name in Summer 2001.

You may know me as the author of my Unreal website or my activities as member of the UT clan [$FCE2] – Respawn Inc., my activities as admin of the Barrysworld UT CTF league or as the smartass spamming the BeyondUnreal forum and Infogrames' forum. :)

My real life name is Harm Köpke. I’m born 1971, German and a mechanical engineer working in powerplant design.

Contact

You are invited to send any comments, corrections, additional information or whatever you have to say via e-mail to TetrisL@gmx.ch. Any input will be appreciated, considered and checked and if I use any of the information that you sent me, be sure I'll give you credits.

If you have a question that you don’t find the answer for on this FAQ, do NOT email me about it. If the answer is not in here, I probably don’t know it. Post the question on one of the UT2003 forums listed in the links. On those forums the chance is much higher that there is somebody around who can help you.

2. Unreal 2 Basics

What is U2?

Unreal 2 is an action computer game, a so-called "First Person Shooter". It is the sequel of Unreal, the very successful FPS game by EpicGames from 1998.

For a more detailed description see section 4 "Gameplay".

Who are the makers of U2?

Legend Entertainment, under license of Epic Games.

U2 is being created by Legend Entertainment, in cooperation with and under license / supervision of Epic Games, the makers of U1.

Legend have worked with EpicGames before. They made the Return to NaPali expansion pack for U1 and they made Wheel of Time, a game using the Unreal engine.

Epic Games provide the core graphics and game engine for U2 and still hold all franchise rights for Unreal, thus the supervision (on the long leash ;)).

U2 will be published by Infogrames Entertainment, S.A. Infogrames own Legend and GT Interactive, who published U1 and UT.

The Legend Team in Detail (acc. FGN Online, updated with info given by Legend's Grant Roberts):

Project Director: Michael Verdu

Tech Lead: Mark Poesch (also programming)

Art Director: Paul Mock

Programmers: Mike Fox (AI), Chris Hargrove (Systems Programming), Aaron Leiby (Systems Programming), Sam Brown

Level Designers: Scott Dalton, Grayson Edge, James Parkman, Matthias Worch

Art Staff: Hugh Riley (Lead Animator), Kevin "Rorshach" Johnstone (Skins) Dawid Michalczyk (Texture Art), Anthony Pereira (Concept Art & Design), Marc Tetreault (Texture Art), Joel Walden (3D Art), Robert Wisnewski (3D Models), Fabrizio Bianchi (Texture Art), John Sheffield (3D Models)

Production/Testing Staff: Craig Lafferty (Associate Producer & Tester), Grant Roberts (Associate Producer & Tester)

Music Composition: Jeremy Soule (Contractor), Chance Thomas (Contractor)

Sound Effects: Eric Heberling (Contractor)

For details on the persons, see the Legend Team Details.

Furthermore there is certainly the Team at EpicGames (Cliff Bleszinski, Tim Sweeney & Co.).

When will U2 be released?

Q4 2002.

The official FAQ says:

Q. When will Unreal II be released?

A. Unreal II is scheduled for release in the second half of 2002.

An official press release: http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?show=333

And, "Unreal II," sequel to the blockbuster hit "Unreal," will bring single-player story-based action to new heights when it ships this fall in time for the holiday season.

A bit more specific: http://www.gamefaction.com/news/101722691822897.shtml

Unreal Episode 2 November 2002

I thought U2 was supposed to be out much earlier! Why was the release postponed?

See question “Why was Multiplayer dropped from U2?”

Will U2 be released as localised translated versions in non-English countries?

Most likely yes.

Legend's Matthias Worch commented in this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum:

Wheel of Time was completely localised for Germany, France, Italy and Spain, so the same might happen for Unreal 2. There's no real plans for locatization yet, though, we're still busy with the English version.

Considering that UT also had localised voice packs for some countries, I consider it more than likely that local versions will be released. Especially since a good understanding or spoken and written text is much more important in a story-driven singleplayer game than in a multiplayer game like UT. The very least is subtitles.

Since when is U2 in the making?

Since end of 1999.

Only ½ year after the release of U1 it was announced in an interview (Oct 98) and a press release (Dec 98) that Legend would be doing U2 for Epic.

However, as Scott Dalton explained in this thread on Infogrames U2 forum:

Legend Entertainment was working on Wheel of Time at the time, and we didn't begin on Unreal 2 until after WoT had shipped and we were off of doing additional support for it. That was about a year after this press release was issued.

This is in line with what Legend's Mike Verdu stated in this interview on Gameplex.ch , published 23 June 2001:

Q: When did the development of Unreal 2 begin?

A: Unreal II has been in development for about a year and a half.

Is U2 the same as UT2?

There are lots of different games in the Unreal universe meanwhile. Make sure not to mix them up:

Unreal (Unreal 1, Unreal Classic) is the first game in the series, focused on singleplayer, co-created by EpicGames and DigitalExtremes for PC, released in March 1998. An expansion pack "Return to NaPali" was released later, made by Legend Entertainment under License from Epic.

Unreal Tournament is based on U1, using much of its techniques, weapons and characters, but it is focused on online multiplayer gaming. It was also co/created by EpicGames and DigitalExtremes; released December 1999 for PC and later for Apple Mac, Sony PlayStation and the Dreamcast Console.

Unreal 2 is the sequel to U1 currently in the making by Legend Entertainment. It is scheduled to be released Q4 2002. It is strickly a singleplayer game.

Unreal Tournament 2003 is the sequel to UT(1) currently in the making by DigitalExtremes. It is scheduled to be released in late June 2002. It is based on UT and is a multiplayer game, for online and offline play.

Unreal Championship is the “sister game” of UT2003 also made by DigitalExtremes. It shares much of the game content and technology, but is made exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox console. It is scheduled to be released together with the broadband online gaming service of the Xbox, expected in early 2003.

Unreal Warfare is the game currently in the making by EpicGames themselves, expected for late 2003. Nothing is officially known about it except the title. If you want to read more about it, check the Unofficial Unreal Warfare FAQ. It’s mostly rumors though. :)

Will there be a sequel game for UT, i.e. UT2?

Yes, it is called Unreal Tournament 2003.

For details about UT2003 see The unofficial UT2003 FAQ.

Will there be an open beta test for U2?

As far as I know Epic have never done an open beta test for any game before, so it is most unlikely that there will be an open beta for U2.

Epic's FAQ says about it:

Q: Can I be a beta tester for your next game?

A: Our publisher handles testing and quality assurance and they do not accept outside testers.

However there is a chance for a demo before the release of the full game, like Epic successfully did with the UT demo, released almost 3 month before full game. -> See next question!

Will there be a demo for U2? Before or after release of the full game?

Most likely yes. But it is unknown when.

Legend's Mike Verdu stated in this Q&A on UnrealCenter, published on August 30, 2001:

Q. And what the world wants to know, Will Legend release a Demo version of U2 as Epic did with UT before the launch of the game, after the launch or not at all?

A: Mike’s Answer: That’s partially up to Epic and Infogrames - I don’t have an answer for you yet. Ask us again when we get closer to the release window :)

A bit more promising his answer in this Q&A on Unreality, published on August 23, 2001:

Q: Will there be a demo-version?

A: This is up to Epic and Infogrames. I'm currently assuming that we're going to release a demo - but not until near the release of the whole game.

I've heard about a leaked beta version of U2. Where can I download it?

Yes, it is true that a version of U2 was leaked mid Sept 2001, however ...

It is not a beta. It is not even an alpha. It is a very early pre-alpha built that was used for a presentation for the press at the E3 game fair. This pre-alpha is far away from the full game experience. It is more a tech demo than a playable game. It has only some few maps, weapons and enemies. The enemies have no AI and no animations, they just stand there and you can't interact with them. You can run around and you can shoot them, but they won't fight back and when you kill them they will just disappear. There is no menu, all game control must be done through console or editing the INI. Also ... many features of the engine were not yet implemented in this built, for example dynamic shadows and most of the particle effects.

I won't post a download link here. Also do not mail or icq me about it. This leaked pre-alpha is stolen property and strictly speaking distributing it is warez and illegal. If you want it, find it yourself.

Do yourself a favour and don't spoil the full game experience for you. Try to be strong and resist the temptation. Chances are that if you download it you'll be disappointed because not all the features are implemented. Also it is not yet optimized for performance yet and might run slow, even on fast machines. Wait until U2 has reached a stage at which the makers are happy with it and consider it ready to be shown.

Where can I find good descriptions and screenshots for U2?

See section Links.

Where can I find videos for U2?

No U2 gameplay footage has been published by now. But there are a few tech demo videos around that show the capabilities of the Unreal engine:

FilePlanet Epic's Official Tech Demo (ß this rox!)

Computec Different version of the Tech Demo (More facial and mo-cap animation scenes)

Gamespot GDC Tech Demos

Multiplayer.it UW engine tech demo (à direct link)

German magazine PC Games published a video from a press event at Legend's office, showing interviews with Mike Verdu and Matthias Worch (both in German!). You can download the video from Tiscali.cz or WorthPlaying. Warning, the video is 30 MB and half of is are Interviews in German! Note that the Legend guys made some important comments and explanations in this thread on INA and this thread on BU. If you wonder about certain starnge vidual effects in the video, definetly read the two threads.

Furthermore there are two UC videos around. It's not directly U2, but you get impression of the engine capabilities.

FilePlanet Official UC Trailer

Spelletjesgarnaal E3 UC footage (ß this rox!)

When can we expect more screenshots and a video?

At the E3 Expo 2002

http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=5340

Mark Rein – [...]After the January publicity we put a gag order on all the Unreal games to allow the developers uninterrupted time to bust their buns and the marketplace time for a breather and it really paid off nicely. Between now and the two releases Jay Wilbur and myself will pick up the majority of the PR duties so the teams can concentrate on delivering the products with the least amount of distractions. I don't think the people out there realize how much effort it takes and how exhausting it can be to feed the hungry press.

HomeLAN - What are Epics's plans for GDC and E3?

Mark Rein – […] At E3 Infogrames will be showing UT2, Unreal2 and Unreal Championship publically in a BIG way. It's going to be a lot of fun and I think people will be blown away by how good these games will be. [...]

Who made the music for U2?

Infogrames' Matt Powers said in this interview on PC Game Central, published 3 Sept 2001:

We have two of the best composers in the business working on music.

According FGN Online these two composers are:

1. Jeremy Soule, known for his music in many other games. Check this interview.

2. Chance Thomas

3. Tech

3.1. General Tech

What are the system requirements?

The official FAQ says:

Q. What will be the recommended system requirements to play the game?

A. Unreal II will look stunning on high-end systems, but you should be able to play the game just fine on a P2/450 with a first generation GeForce card.

Legend's Mike Verdu stated in this Q&A on Unreality, published on August 23, 2001:

Q: What are the system requirements looking like at this point?

A: Right now we're developing a game that will be playable on a PIII-500 with any hardware accelerator card that supports T&L (e.g. GeForce I, 2, 3, ATI Radeon, etc.). The game will look fantastic on a high end system, but should be playable on a good mid-range machine. We are still evaluating how to support lower end systems with TNT2 and Voodoo3/4 class cards... Infogrames will make a final determination later this year.

However, Confucius says: "Never believe the official minimum requirements as stated on the box!" ;) If I were you I wouldn't even try running U2 on a P3-500, unless you're satisfied with a framerate of less than 20. This is just my personal opinion, but I expect the minimum system to run U2 at a decent framerate (>30) at a decent resolution (800x600) to be at least a 1GHz CPU with 256 MB RAM and a GeForce2 or equal video card. Anything less will be frustrating.

In general, anybody who gives you detailed system specs or framerates is just guessing and anybody who asks for them is asking a "stupid" question. Legend's Matthias Worch put it nicely in this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum:

Sorry, you won't get any FPS numbers from anybody until we're much closer to shipping. I know that people keep asking, and I know that it's important to everybody who wants to upgrade soon, but there's simply no way to give accurate numbers until we've stabilized the build. Things still change on a daily basis, and there's still some important code updates forthcoming that we have to integrate or optimize.

You can be certain, though that I'd be bitching at my boss every day if my current work computer (P3/1GHz with a GeForce2) wasn't able to run the build in a playable fashion - couldn't get any work done that way. ;)

As for playing U2 on non T&L cards Legend's Chris Hargrove explained in this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum:

If you don't have a card that supports T&L, we will not make any promises at this point that the game will be playable. Everything we're doing tech-wise assumes that T&L is present. This isn't just an assumption of our own technology, it's also an assumption of the Unreal Warfare engine itself. If your card doesn't have T&L, you might be able to run the game, but probably not as well as you might like.

Regarding cards using "software T&L", he added:

In terms of the argument about how fast CPUs are these days, yes they're fast... but we expect T&L because the CPU is still going to be very busy doing *other things*. If the CPU gets bogged down doing transformation and lighting calculations that otherwise can be offloaded to the video card (and that's a lot of calculations, given our high poly count), it can be a *big* drain on performance.

To anybody interested in playing U2 on non-T&L-cards I strongly recommend reading this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum. Excellent info from the U2 dev team. I interpret that as: U2 will have a software T&L option, but Legend do not make any promises regarding performance if this is used.

What is more important for U2: A fast CPU or a fast video card?

Mark Poesch stated in this Q&A on UnrealCenter, published on August 30, 2001:

Q: DarkBis has a question for you bout the Engine itself, will the Engine be more sensitive to CPU Speed than your Graphics GPU?

A: Mark’s Answer: Both are important still. Much of the setup for the rendering system is CPU based -- so a fast (1GHz+) CPU is still worth having. But, the big difference is that the new engine will be much better able to take advantage of the GPU. Instead of being able to render a maximum of 800 world polys and 4000 mesh polys, we're able to push 10s of thousands of polys, and the distinction between "world" and "mesh" has been radically reduced.

What platforms will U2 be released for? (PC, Linux, Mac, Consoles?)

Initial launch will be PC only, other platforms might follow later (time unknown).

The official FAQ says:

Q. For what platforms is Unreal II being developed?

A. At this time, the PC is the only announced platform.

There have been lots of speculations and rumors about U2 being ported to PlayStation, Max, Xbox, ... but those are all unconfirmed:

Regarding rumors that U2 will be ported to Mac Mike Verdu said in this interview on InsideMacGames back in September 2000 (1 year back from now!):

Still can't talk more about Unreal II Mac plans yet. I know that there is great enthusiasm in the Mac community for the Unreal and UT ports. I can also say that I am hoping that we'll be able to get a partner (like Westlake) to do a Mac conversion of Unreal II. The final decision will be made with the involvement of Epic and Infogrames - and we're still a long way off with U2, so concrete plans probably won't be made until early next year at the earliest.

About ½ year back Legend's Grant Roberts said on Infogrames U2 forum (Thread already deleted, so I can't link to it.), when asked about U2 on Mac:

If there will be U2 for Mac, it will not be made by us. ["us" being Legend Ent.]

New hope for the Mac fans comes from a post by Legend's Matthias Worch in this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum, dated 4 Oct 2001:

I don't think anybody said that there'd never be a Mac version of Unreal 2. Right now we have to concentrate on finishing the PC version first, when that is done a Mac might happen very well happen, but I think that's mostly up to Epic and Infogrames.

Rumors that U2 will be ported to PS conflict with Epic's Mark Rein's statement in this interview on FGN Online.

"That would be impossible," stated Rein. "Unreal 2 could not run on PlayStation 2."

Rumors that U2 will be ported to Xbox are also unconfirmed. On one hand it makes sense, as the Xbox is based on PC technology and technically it will be relatively easy to port U2 to Xbox. The U engine has support for the Xbox included from built 739 upwards. On the other hand it does not make sense, as Epic already cover the Xbox market with a product from the Unreal series: UC. They wouldn't wanna compete with their own product, would they? Personally I guess Epic/Infogrames will wait for about ½ year after release of UC and U2 to see how well the two games sell and how well the Xbox sells overall. Then they'll decide about the Xbox port of U2 (as well as the UC port for PC).

Which versions of MS Windows does U2 support?

Any.

Since U2 communicates with hardware mostly through DirectX, basically all Windows versions are supported, as long as they have DirectX 8 or higher.

Legend's Matthias Worch commented on this in this thread on Infogrames' U2 forum:

Games couldn't care less about the underlying OS, so WinXP itself won't make any difference. What games DO care about (and U2 is no exception) is the drivers that are used to adress the hardware. And those drivers are provided by the hardware manufacturers, not us

If the WinXP drivers for your 3D card/soundcard are better than their Win9x/2K counterparts the game will run faster. But the speed differences should be marginal - definitely not enough to justify spending a lot of money on XP...

What rendering system will U2 use? (D3D, OpenGL, Glide, ...?)

Initial launch will be Direct3D only. OpenGL might follow later.

Legend's Mike Verdu stated in this Q&A on Unreality, published on August 23, 2001:

Q: What api is U2 going to have native or optimized support in? both Opengl and Direct3D?

A: Direct3D.

And that probably means D3D only. Too bad, as this will make it hard to port the game to Linux. :( But read more below; there is hope!

Epic's Tim Sweeney explained why, in VoodooExtreme's "Ask Tim Sweeney":

Q: Being a Linux and free software supporter I