Upgrade graphics for the original game?

[Nafer]

Hey guys!

New here, but with one question only. I tried to go through many of the posts here in the forum, but got lost in all the threads about patches and upgrades. So sorry, if my question has already been answered 10 million times.

Here goes:

Out of nostalgia, Im playing the original Unreal single player game (yes, the actual story with the charachter going from Vortex Rikers to The Source at the end), but have always wondered if its possible to get better graphics in the game.

I have the original game disc (so, no download from the internet), but when I tried to install the 227h patch, it said that my version is too old (being the 200 version or so).

So my question is this: are there any patches/upgrades that I can install onto my pc that will upgrade the graphics when I play the game? The graphics from 1998 are a bit 'old' and 'rough' (but of course to be expected for this time). So, it wouldnt suprise me that I could somehow upgrade the graphics, so the game looks more fluent, detailed when I play the game now etc.

Also, Im only interested in upgrading the graphics in the game, so if any the upgrades that might help me out changes everything about the game, then Im not interested. Its only the graphic upgrade that Im interested in. The game play should remain the same.

Hope you can help me out!

Nafer

[Smirftsch]

Well, that what you are looking for, is the 227h patch + the textures from www.unrealtexture.com

to install it, you only need to install one of the official patches before, to version 226 for example. Then the 227h patch can be applied. It provides new renderers, new sounddrivers and some more difficulty levels (mostly for coop, but can be used for singleplayer too if wanted). The original game and gameplay is kept with the patch.
Then only apply the high res textures

[[]KAOS[]Casey]

He has to patch to 220 then 225f then 227h because I don't think the 227 installer recognizes the 220 and older packages since I don't think that Unrealshare and Unreali were split yet.

[Smirftsch]

iirc any official patch (224,225,226) can be installed on a v200, so the step to 220 shouldn't be necessary and 227h can be applied to the 226 version then (I set the minimum requirement to 226 to be on the safe side).

Guess this should find some summary in the FAQ...

[DieHard SCWS]

To Smirftsch:

Actually its a question i wanted ask for several weeks now. I always though my Unreal i install with is version 224. But a couple a weeks ago when i installed 227H i got that same message, telling me i need to update to a later version(never knew i had an older version). In my case i simply installed 226 prior to 227H.


My question would be, why not include 224, or 225, or 226 in your installer and have it silently update to either of those versions, so people dont have to go install 2 patches?


And to Nafer, welcome to the forums. You can read which version textures are best for you, as it depends on the computer system you have(CPU, Memory and videocard):  Textures


On the other hand you might wanna wait a week before you download, as there will be alot of new releases in the upcomming week. And it saves you downloading things twice. When the releases have been added to the MasterFiles ill let you also know in this thread.


Of course if you want to try them now anyway, feel free to already download them


And to make it simple, simply download patch 226Final and than run 227H over it.
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[Hellkeeper]

The patch right now weights something between 75 and 80 Mo, it already takes some time to download. It wouldn't be ridiculous to include the 7 or 8 Mo of 226, since no one wants to take the time to download something only to receive a prompt about a wrong version.

[Nafer]

Thank you very much guys,

I will go with the 226/227 combo and see what happens.

But can I just download and install the textures without the patch, or do I need the patch to run the textures?

Also, will the game crash if I happen to install the wrong textures according to my pc details? Maybe I can let you guys know my pc details and then you can guide me to the right textures. This is my pc:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-st ... 06769.html

Thank you one more time!

Nafer

[Nafer]

Oh, and just to be sure:

If I install the 227 patch and the right textures, the game will still be the same, just with better graphics, right? Cause I still want the original experience when I play the game (that is the original music, weapons, scenery, story etc).

Nafer

[[]KAOS[]Casey]

227 does not change any game content whatsoever. It only adds optional fake shadows/decals etc.

The s3tc textures will replace some textures to make some things look better

[GreatEmerald]

And no, your game won't crash if you use textures with too high resolution, it might just have lower framerates than you would like. But you can switch the textures at any time.

[DieHard SCWS]

Yeah there should be no change in gameplay at all, its just better graphics on the textures. It is however adviced to install the patches first. Because if you throw in the textures before the patch Unreal doesnt know how to handle them. And that could lead to weird looking textures and a possible chrash.


But as said above, you can go back to the normal textures at all time. The Texture website also provides the normal textures(and they also sit on your CD)

You need to run either OpenGL, D3D8 or D3D9 to be able to use the S3TC textures. All other renderers cant handle them.


And the only thing you can notice is a drop in framerates, other than that nothing happens. In general i advice to start with the High End Masterfiles. If that works, you can step up to Extreme End for testing(but keep a backup from the High End, so you dont have to redownload them twice).


If the High End makes you game slow, than go down to Low End, which can be run with almost any system. In short:

- Install patch 226
- Install patch 227
- Download and install the High End Masterfiles.
- If it runs smoothly try if it also allows Extreme End(but keep a High End backup.)


And if you switch to Extreme End, the bulk of the textures still will be High End, because not all High End packages have been turned Extreme End. This goes bit by bit over time.
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[DieHard SCWS]

As promised, the relaese for Unreal is a fact at this link: http://www.oldunreal.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/ ... 73/160#179
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[Smirftsch]

thats good news !

Sorry, I didn't see your question above at first. I set 226 as minimum to be on the safe side. For classic Unreal I could make it maybe 224, but for RTNP it needs definitely patched up first to UGold like version to apply the patch without manually changing things. To avoid even more confusion I set 226 as minimum, so everyone is having a bit more work, but less problems...

[User1800]

I don't quite get it, why would you want an upgrade to the graphics? In my opinion the graphics pretty much make the entire game, the feel and such, everything.

[Hellkeeper]

It is 13 years old. On the gaming time-scale, it's older than the dinosaurs.

[Smirftsch]

It is 13 years old. On the gaming time-scale, it's older than the dinosaurs.

I'm way older than Methusalem then...

[Pitbull]

I don't quite get it, why would you want an upgrade to the graphics? In my opinion the graphics pretty much make the entire game, the feel and such, everything.

The upgraded graphics are a choice, and to be honest quite awsome. In the end it's your choice whether to use them or not.

[DieHard SCWS]

I don't quite get it, why would you want an upgrade to the graphics? In my opinion the graphics pretty much make the entire game, the feel and such, everything.

I can fully understand that, and there are still quite a few people that prefer the original textures, and often i play with those as well. And its simple, everybody liked the game already when there were no updates. And the reason is the textures already were and still are super cool

The upgraded graphics are a choice, and to be honest quite awsome. In the end it's your choice whether to use them or not.

And i also agree with that. The first demand i trew at myself was that no matter how the high res textures would look like, they should never change the feeling, mood and atmosphere Unreal already had. So i always did my very best to really keep it the same as the original game. Basically the game is supposed to look exactly how it was, except you now really can see what is what.


Having that said, than of course the issue can be, well i like it mysterious, so everything is left to the imagination, which you may like more.....


In that case you could still try it, install them, look at the first map where you wake up in the cell blocks in Vortex Rikers, go through that level, and walk outside in the next level. That simple part of Unreal already will show the potential from the high resolution textures, without ruining any mysticism down the pipeline in the remaining levels. Thrust me on that, you can safelly do that part without ruining it for yourself.


If you like it, keep it, if you dont simply revert. As Pitbull says its always your own choice to upgrade or not And yeah, as far as i am concerned theres no discusion needed about that, original Unreal looks Über cool as well
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