Way back, an installer I used went wrong

[thenewkgb]

Hey. This was a time when I used Windows 10/11 a few years back. I saw an Unreal patch 227* was out and can't remember what letter, but either it was a fake patch that was a later patch to entice people in (say 227j when i was out), or simply my download was corrupted?

When I ran the patch, the installer failed to finalise and at that moment I thought, "virus".

I doubted all oldunreal patches after that.


As a side note:
I respect everyone that has put something back into Unreal for all other users to enjoy. The most complicated C++ function I ever made was testing,

Code: Select all

y = mx + c

in one of my games. I have nostalgia, that's it. Being 16, only learning games were programmed with a language like C++ to make the game work, I had my copies of HL, Q3 and UT. I was only a gamer.

It's the music hosted on YouTube. I give my respects to the Tracker crowd as well - in fact everyone that has worked with computers. I may never see that happen to me in my whole lifetime.

[Raleighyw]

I’m pretty new around here, but I’ve used Unreal a fair bit for my own projects and I’ve messed with plenty of community patches.

From what you’re describing, it sounds less like it was an intentional “fake” patch and more likely a corrupted or incomplete download — especially if it came from the OldUnreal site or one of the known mirrors. The installer failing to finalise can happen if a single file is damaged or missing, and depending on the packaging method, it might not even give a clear error message before bailing.

When I worked with Unreal projects, I learned to always check the file hash (if one is provided) or re-download from an official link before running anything, because even a hiccup during the download can make the installer act suspicious. If it had been an actual malicious build, people in the community would’ve been talking about it pretty quickly.

Do you remember where you downloaded that 227 build from? That might help figure out if it was just a bad mirror or something else entirely.

[thenewkgb]

I can't be certain where I downloaded it... But now I see UnrealEd isn't available for Linux.

[thenewkgb]

I managed to use Wine which runs both Unreal and UEd. I couldn't use the 226 update first because it needed the CD, so I used 227fWinLin.7z . I still can't run the designated Linux.bin file (without sudo?) and I'd need to read up on symlinks. I haven't tested the game much, only a few minutes in each one. Still... Unreal lives!

If you haven't seen this article,

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/cl ... ris-norden

give all three a read. I was up at 2 am reading them. The articles are about game tools like editors and exporters that help release the games on time while artists and level designers give feedback.

(you can't click on the links so you have to search the name of the guy and "classic tools" keywords to find them).

[TigerTheGreat]

First off, you are purposefully making things difficult for yourself.

1. You need a legit copy of the game. One requiring an update to 226 would come on a CD, because digital distro copies are all 226, assuming you have managed to snag one (e.g. on Steam or GOG) before they were delisted. So how is lack of CD a problem in installing the 226 patch? If you're performing software piracy, at least don't be so obvious about it.

2. Even when solely on Linux, you still have Wine, correct? Try using the Windows installer that legally downloads and autoupdates the game for you. On OldUnreal homepage, you click Unreal under Full Game Installers, and then download the unreal_gold.zip file. Then, you just use common sense when utilizing this tool to download UG and autoupdate it.

3. If it still doesn't have Linux binaries, just download the 227k_12 patch from here and help yourself to them:

https://github.com/OldUnreal/Unreal-tes ... g/v227k_12

You really aren't supposed to be on the outdated 227f, there is no good reason for it.

I don't believe UnrealEd has any Linux binary, so you're on your own fighting with Wine or Proton to make it run. It's too dependent on Windows by design to have a viable Linux port atm from what I know.

[thenewkgb]

Just to clarify, I haven't pirated the game.

I'm running UEd with Wine as I read it would need a rewrite to run on Linux. That's fair enough.

I can't run UnrealLinux.bin because it says "permission denied" as it's in home/.wine/...blah blah.

I'm not going to run sudo and / or creating a symlink in home/Documents says the same "permission denied".

[thenewkgb]

I just noticed Raleighyw created an account the same day I posted and has 1 post in total. I do use AI tools to bounce ideas off so not all of AI is bad.

[thenewkgb]

You really aren't supposed to be on the outdated 227f, there is no good reason for it.

I have one reason. It looks like 227k tries to install into Program Files(x86) which isn't the setup for unreal_gold.zip . Even the 227k Windows.zip corrupts the installation. There's a warning about ->Init() problems / Can't Find Entry. At least with 227f I could join a coop game.

well that's a bit weird because I played a coop game on the DOG server yesterday and played with 2 other people. Now it says I'm using an older version? I'll try changing the path to C:/Unreal and see if it works.

no wait, that's the Windows exe... No wait, the Linux 227k zip also crashes the program...

I did head over to the ioquake / quakeworld guys and gals and older games like Half-Life and Quake and Unreal are such patient needing games to get running :-)

Don't worry about me.

[thenewkgb]

Yeah, don't worry. I doubt I'll use Wine ever again. If I want Windows 10/11 I will buy a license and bite the bullet. If I really need older games and programs I'll do that.

[thenewkgb]

I think I've shot myself in the foot here on oldunreal. I never did fit in with any forum online, or IRC, or Discord.

History repeats itself. I guess I'm the looney of the bunch and you can all go back to your usual projects and get things done that matter.

I think I'm a nice bloke at times. Sometimes I get carried away.

[Smirftsch]

I think something went wrong in both the attempts with wine and the Linux installations, so we need to check step by step what's going on.
I'd say the Linux version should be the first way to go.
So please, what did you try already?

Normally installing the game from here: https://www.oldunreal.com/downloads/unr ... nstallers/

Edit: To go a bit more into depth- after installing the game with the installer using wine, you can download the latest beta files, including the Linux versions here: https://github.com/OldUnreal/Unreal-tes ... g/v227k_12
The only thing you need to do then is to extract the tar.bz2 file into the Unreal folder.

Should already do the trick nowadays. Please report any problems you encounter with that

[thenewkgb]

Sure. Give me a day or two or three and I'll run through each step. I can see myself formatting a few times. I liked formatting back with Windows XP. My dad laughed at me for formatting every month.

Edit: I was following the Wiki and I reread it, and only if you have a CD copy or Steam version (I think) then run Epic's patch first. That was my mistake.

[thenewkgb]

What are you thoughts on Linux? It occurs to me just before installing Wine, that I just need to cough up the money for Windows 11 and everything will be hunky-dory. I gave Linux a go for 6 or so months and I'm not cut out for it. There was even the Linux phone I looked at, but I'm terribly lost with Linux.

If I returned here after installing Windows, maybe that will help? The confusion I'm on about is at the Linux board post "messy mouse input".

I have a week to go before I get paid so a bit more time to think what I want with my computer and hobbies. Back in 2000 I was looking at Unreal and Half-Life. I never really got into Quake 3. Enemy Territory and Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the closest I got to "cool" - but never thought to mod them. In the year 2006 I came off work sick. I never had any time to mod a 90s game.

Is there any reason you lean towards Unreal? or maybe Unreal Tournament? Why not work on Valve's stuff or Id's?

If I had to pick, I'd choose a single player mod.

[Smirftsch]

For me Linux is my favorite, there is nearly nothing it can't do, but there is no coercion to use things you don't need or want.
You are not spied on (while wasting your own CPU and bandwidth for that), you don't need to create any account in order to use the system, it doesn't make dozens of calls into the internet only when you open your start menu. Don't want to go any deeper, I think you get the point.

Nowadays gaming on Linux causes way less trouble than it was only a few years ago, many things work plain out of the box when using Lutris or on the commercial side maybe Steam.
I can't say I miss much compared to Windows and on the other hand I have a lot of benefits. Sure, in the beginning it's still some work to get used to it and that can be quite annoying, but for me it was worth it.

But! Not everything is working (the same) in Linux and depending on your needs it may be even no option for you- there are still differences in Software, in support, how things work and not every game does work yet and some never will.
In the end you have to decide for yourself based on your needs, for me it is the right choice, but that doesn't mean it must be for you.

And why Unreal?
Well, it's a bit like a beautiful woman, it was my first real love when it comes to this genre
I had and have a lot of fun in and with this game, a lot of friends.
There are many different mods with lots of (funny) ideas, hundreds of maps, textures, music - so much stuff made with so much love for detail and with passion, and last but not least, a nice and friendly community- in short - I'm home.

[thenewkgb]

Thank you for your answers. Maybe some others who browse the site can also add what they want. I'm sure I reread your post each day!

I'm not entirely sure what the state of the Unreal Gold set up is, but I was about to install 227i as it's stable. I also see a few servers still use 'i' for on-line games. That's when the two installers (unreal gold and classic) got a little confusing. I guess Classic is the old guns and Linux support (only)? I don't see any other options. The 227i gold 7z tried to install into C:/UnrealGold... So I assume I change the name? My folder is C:/Unreal.

Also how come the gold.zip installer has version k already installed?

Also full screen mode was a buggy :-) Just to add injury. I may need to use window mode or try another driver. I didn't run any patch to see if the game worked and what servers people were using.

[thenewkgb]

I'm just being dumb and ignorant, but... Some notes:

=====

The Wiki front page has a link to 227k but only has information on the 'j' patch. Both j and k.

The Wiki for 'j' does say "The installer may not always find the correct path to your Unreal installation, so make sure to correct it manually." so I guess it applies to k?

The main page of oldunreal links to the newest k_12 patch so I don't see any confusion there

The oldunreal link to downloads has a (stable) 'i' patch, an (experimental) 'j' patch and a (WIP beta test) 'k' patch. It says I need to contact Smirftsch to get my hands on the k patch when we can grab it on GitHub. Stable seems the sensible choice but I'm directed to the k_12 patch immediately.

=====

Perhaps the site and Wiki are a whole different workload altogether? What with coding, answering questions and testing being done simultaneously? Don't tell me Smirftsch is doing everything (!)?

[thenewkgb]

By the way, I'm a proud licensee of a valid Windows 11 OS now.

[thenewkgb]

I think the thread can move on now. I've made sure I have a better OS that was designed for Unreal and I haven't exactly told you my crusade I'm undertaking (to be fair, with paranoid schizophrenia anything is possible - it's just nothing ever gets done) so I haven't planned any maps or mods. I'm just another visitor who will end up doing nothing in Unreal, just playing an old game for fun.

I wanted Unreal and UT to run, and with Windows installed I skip all the perils of Linux.

I suppose I go download Unity or something and bug their forums :-)