[Released] The One

[Turboman.]

The One is a small/medium-sized mappack for the Oldunreal 227j patch, inspired by classic unreal community maps such as "Nali Cove", "One Day" or "Tashara’s Cove". But it utilizes oldunreal's 227j patch features such as improved stability and better graphical fidelity.

Download link for the 1.0 release is available here:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/unreal-the-o ... he-one-v10

Moddb page with additional info, screenshots and videos:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/unreal-the-one

Synopsis
Welcome to the island of K’tharia. The Nali have established a peaceful haven here, free from oppression by the Skaarj. Unfortunately the island holds a dark secret, an ancient deity has awoken and it demands a sacrifice. Unfortunate victims are drawn to the underground, never to be seen again. Unfortunately for you, you are about to become it's latest victim…






The mappack includes the following features:

• Five levels to explore, all set in different area's of the underground ruins below the island.
• Two hub maps to explore, including the island itself and the island port-town.
• Two new weapons added to the classic unreal weapon arsenal, including a crossbow grapple gun and a homing throwing-blade.
• Various new enemy types, including unique Krall classes, the War-dogs, and even malevolent Nali.
• Various NPC’s that you will meet on the way, each with their own narrative, unique quests and interactions.
• Upgraded graphical detail from the original unreal, using the new features and capabilities of the 227J patch.
• A narrative driven campaign, using character interactions, translator messages, and dream sequences to propel the plot forward, will you be able to discover the island’s dark secret and escape The One?

[Leo T_C_K]

Thanks and congrats for releasing this Turbo. I'll try it at the nearest opportunity. In fact I was also thinking of making a conversion for UT of this or just a semi-personal one for a coop server.

I suppose you'd be fine with that right? I know its meant to go with the 227 oldunreal patches, but if I make it clear its recommended to play/download the original then it should be fine I think.

[Leo T_C_K]

Unless you had a plan for a specific 469 version later down the road. I forgot if you had or not, I believe I talked to you years ago about this...

[Turboman.]

Hi Leo, no UT version is planned for this, I've considered the prospects of porting this to 226 or UT but it would seem a near impossibility without having to resort to removing a lot of things, it's a task that would be nearly impossible if you ask me, much alike to making a gameboy advance port of this mappack.

Closest thing I could do to make it 226 and UT compatible is to release the prototype version before I shifted development to 227, it's still not the same as the final version but that's something which I might consider doing if the community is interested enough in such a version.

[Leo T_C_K]

Hi Leo, no UT version is planned for this, I've considered the prospects of porting this to 226 or UT but it would seem a near impossibility without having to resort to removing a lot of things, it's a task that would be nearly impossible if you ask me, much alike to making a gameboy advance port of this mappack.

Closest thing I could do to make it 226 and UT compatible is to release the prototype version before I shifted development to 227, it's still not the same as the final version but that's something which I might consider doing if the community is interested enough in such a version.

I am interested. Well you can ask on UnrealSP.org as well or other places you posted this. Not much forum activity here though, may I suggest also asking on ut99.org. The Singleplayer section has Unreal stuff as well though they consider 227 stuff offtopic iirc, but if you tell them about this I am sure some people will get interested.

Also I am sure I could pull off the UT conversion one way or the other but as you said it would be a Lite version basically. With lots of workarounds and everything, like staticmeshes replaced with movers and regular meshes (plus hacks like xmesh) and possibly one of the custom particle engines and what not. I am sure that could be put together but it would be different.

Working on the UPSX project and others has taught me a lot of tricks used in different points and different situations, some of them no longer necessary but I could see applying some of them here. Some of the code references would need to be changed also, the magbow mechanics in particular will be tricky but it can be done still as long as its used "little differently". I have not examined this yet in details, but I can already tell you this.

[Hellkeeper]

I'm planning on playing this when I get the time, the screenshots are so sweet.

[BIr4]

Increnible.

[Leo T_C_K]

Hi Leo, no UT version is planned for this, I've considered the prospects of porting this to 226 or UT but it would seem a near impossibility without having to resort to removing a lot of things, it's a task that would be nearly impossible if you ask me, much alike to making a gameboy advance port of this mappack.

Closest thing I could do to make it 226 and UT compatible is to release the prototype version before I shifted development to 227, it's still not the same as the final version but that's something which I might consider doing if the community is interested enough in such a version.

here's some feedback already on ut99.org forums:

https://ut99.org/viewtopic.php?p=139384#p139384

[.:..:]

Here's the beginning of the map pack in a new perspective!

[Leo T_C_K]

Here's the beginning of the map pack in a new perspective!

Absolute peak greatness LOL. My favorite mod really.

This should be now the canon trailer. "Hang in there, hang in there"

I assume glitchreal still is compatible with 227J?

[BIr4]

While playing I noticed something. I don't know if it's something to point out, but I think it's fixable. By the way great job.

[Leo T_C_K]

While playing I noticed something. I don't know if it's something to point out, but I think it's fixable. By the way great job.

It is fixable. But given how complex the map is, I'm not surprised it slipped by, besides maybe turbo isn't aware now that this might be easier to fix now with yrex's bsp tool. But there are still methods outside of that how to fix it/get around it.

normally the problem is that classically this requires/required a full rebuild to get fixed and it might introduce another issue somewhere else where it is not spotted. However, now that is not entirely true anymore because of the tool i mentioned or alternative tricks.

[Gamesharder]

A little late to the party, but I just finished it today.
I gotta say, absolutely incredible from gameplay standards to the maps... to like everything. Really enjoyed it.
It really felt like an open-world Unreal giving how massive the maps are. Peak mapping right there.
Right after it was released I started playing and got stuck fairly early :,D but then I came back to it months later, and somehow the closed paths were open lol and was being able to proceed.
The ending was great too, really hard. And there were a few times I got jumpscared from... certain entites

Overall, very nice job.
Thank you for your pack!

[Hellkeeper]

Currently playing it. I'm still at the beginning, but this is incredible.
Edit: amazing. Unreal feels like an amateur mod to this.

[Leo T_C_K]

Honestly, I feel like this should have gotten bigger coverage. The cutscenes seem one of the most if not most outstanding ones in any pack so far.
I think calling it a small/medium size mappack is underselling it. It feels like an expansion pack on its own. The only reason I didn't comment on this is because I didn't get a chance to properly playing and I halted my ut conversion thing way before when Turboman said he might release the older/different compatible version.

But there were some videos covering this since and I got a more proper look too.

But yea...here I feel like the opposite of what happened with firestorm initially. Too little hype as opposed to too much hype with firestorm (and especially early versions I guess would have disappointed players if they got too hyped up). Its like Turboman doesn't know the right balance of advertising his work, either undermining something enormous (like this feels to be) or overhyping what was essentially rtnp 2.0 in a way. Its just so odd to me.

I also like the fact that more abstract things are explored here similar to Unreal PSX and it feels like an expansion on many of those ideas but done in such a brilliant execution here.

This thing might have started as a small pack, but it certainly isn't a small pack anymore and is comparable to something that for example quake 2 received "officially" like the rise of the machine or how it was called, with that remaster. Okay perhaps still less long, but it just makes up for it like other people said already.

This is basically the proper "anniversary" new expansion pack kind of thing, just shame its only for 227j and not all people can enjoy it thanks to that, especially people on older machines, but it is what it is.

There still doesn't seem to be a full playthrough video and it seems to be difficult to search for as well. Is "The One" a forbidden word on youtube or what?

[Hellkeeper]

I finished this late at night, yesterday. What a ride. I agree with Gamesharder, it feels like an open-world game. The hubs are huge, the dungeons are immense, everything is both minutely detailed yet grand and expansive at the same time, each corner is full of life and secrets... For an Unreal mod, it's simply the best environment I have ever seen. Music, sound, light, architecture, it was just about perfect.

The story was incredibly confusing and felt like it wasn't told in the right order though, I often had no idea what to look for or where to go, which is often the case when you're so free, but I also had no idea what I was trying to achieve and didn't get what the ending was about. It's a shame because all the means to make it clear were there, talking NPCs, cutscenes, etc. However, the gigantic hubs (both the island and the port town) were so cool I found myself drawn to it and I kept exploring just for the sake of enjoying the scenery and finding new corners of the maps to explore, new people to talk to, new temples to explore. For someone like me who always loved the Chizra and Vandora temples, this was amazing. The dream sequences were incredibly powerfull too, especially towards the end when "stuff" began to appear in dreamland. There are definitely entire games which could be made from this concept.

My only real problem was the difficulty. I consider myself an adept player and I have played games much harder than Unreal, but the fact you can do things in somehow random order and cannot easily foresee when things are going to get tensed meant I found myself stuck and forced to cheat my way into two key moments:

► Show Spoiler

The battle against the two wardogs near the town gate, when I was out of ammo and low on health, which made it impossible to fight, while the beasts are so quick I had no possibility to just run away

and the ending because you go through a series of locked arenas where serious opposition is provided. Each of these fights is extremely challenging, but the fact you go from one to the other with barely any rest and with just a handful of supplies between had me stuck and I ended using god mod to see the end. There should have been a full resupply of both health and armour between each and the most you got was a bit of armour OR health and some ammo.

► Show Spoiler

The fight against severl bots above an endless chasm was a chore and these guys can jump back up from the void when I'm working my ass off to stay on the platform, keep moving, get ammo, fight and get to the health pickup. Very one-sided fight and then, without any pause to catch my breath, fight an armoured spaceship with small weapons and no new supply. Bleh.

Appart from this balancing issue, it's almost flawless. Many details had me amazed at the attention put to every single aspect of the game, it was a joy from beginning to end. Although I wonder if some things, which felt weird, didn't turn out to be bugs like

► Show Spoiler

the fact my dispersion pistol reverted to level 1 after I first got into the large pyramid. I had been finding powerups on a regular basis, then lost the DP in a dream - I think - and came back out with it back to level 1. After this point I found maybe 2 powerups and finished the game with a weakly DP I only used to break pottery and crates.

The port town is one of my favourite Nali cities, even though we've all seen many takes on this kind of towns over the years in Unreal. It's probably the best made and one of the best ambiance. I'd rate it just below Illhaven's, but at this point, Illhaven is almost my home and I acknowledge I'm biased. Walking the streets and visiting everyone's house in The One, I kept thinking back to my own [url=http://hellkeeper.net/images/map/pics/piraeus/piraeus2.jpg]DmPiraeus[/url] and noticing my little town was like a child's attempt compared to it.
So yeah, great job Turboman, 9/10, this might be the very best thing I've played in the last 5 years.

[Leo T_C_K]

The port town is one of my favourite Nali cities, even though we've all seen many takes on this kind of towns over the years in Unreal. It's probably the best made and one of the best ambiance. I'd rate it just below Illhaven's, but at this point, Illhaven is almost my home and I acknowledge I'm biased. Walking the streets and visiting everyone's house in The One, I kept thinking back to my own [url=http://hellkeeper.net/images/map/pics/piraeus/piraeus2.jpg]DmPiraeus[/url] and noticing my little town was like a child's attempt compared to it.
So yeah, great job Turboman, 9/10, this might be the very best thing I've played in the last 5 years.

Its funny you mention Illhaven. I mean I have nostalgia for the map(s) myself..though the first map was not even made for Unreal originally but for Quake and also appeared as part of that Quake TC that Kew worked on. The one that was called Fantasy Quake (not future versus fantasy that's a different mod) and was essentially like a heretic/hexen like tc for Quake.
Its decent but knowing it was made for Quake originally makes it weird, though he did remake it from scratch essentially. And then he even managed to sneak it into Heretic II lmao. I mean the first map is largely based on Illhaven still. Kew just couldn't let it go. He even made a version for wheel of time (and not a bad version, it has areas not present in the Unreal version), a game he worked on professionaly. I wonder why he didn't work on Unreal II though, instead they hired Grayson Edge and also Geoff Field a little later, though he ended up leaving and his levels got cut. But Geoff reportedly worked on some of the cut non-techy levels so that's also something Kew could have done well...oh well. Then again when the game switched from BSP geometry to meshes, that's something Kew wouldn't work with and didn't hence why he quit doing levels professionaly as it became increasingly more required. I believe he told me this when I spoke to him around 2012. But then again he didn't have to necesarily make that as meshes and could have had someone else do them while he does the basic geometry and architecture which he was good at.

[Reborn]

Strange. As far as I can see, the two final cutscenes were supposed to show messages related to player choice.
But they don't displayed...
Is this a bug or a feature?

Map oneendgame1:

► Show Spoiler

[onemessagehudtrigger1]
Text="Our story is over, let us reflect on the choices we made during our adventure"
[onemessagehudtrigger0]
Text="This concludes all the nali encounters, other then that there were also survivors present on the island."
[onemessagehudtrigger5]
Text="You mercilessly killed the escaped woman, she was relieved to see you, little did she knew you were worse."
[onemessagehudtrigger3]
Text="You let the cartographer die, perhaps you arrived too late or you acted too reckless?"
[onemessagehudtrigger24]
Text="The cartographer was rescued, he managed to return to town safely where he took residence in the cartographer's house."
[onemessagehudtrigger23]
Text="You aided the monk in finding the buried treasures, he returned to the monastary and aided in the rebuilding efforts."
[onemessagehudtrigger21]
Text="You freed and re-united the children with their mother, they returned safely to the family home in the port town."
[onemessagehudtrigger18]
Text="The missing children were not re-united with their mother, perhaps you didn't notice, or you didn't care?"
[onemessagehudtrigger15]
Text="The monk wanted to help you out, he has hidden stashes of goods for you, but you neglected his presence."
[onemessagehudtrigger14]
Text="The cartographer was in need of rescue, but you never crossed his path and or ignored his pleas for help."
[onemessagehudtrigger6]
Text="The children were innocent and frightened. They did not deserve what happened to them!"
[onemessagehudtrigger4]
Text="You killed the monk or left him to die, he could have aided you. Now why would you have done that?"
[onemessagehudtrigger8]
Text="Diesel took refuge at the Stilt Town, desperately hoping for someone like you to come along, but you never did."
[onemessagehudtrigger9]
Text="Aral waited at the cliffsite overlook campsite for anyone to assist her. Too bad you never crossed her path."
[onemessagehudtrigger10]
Text="Blaine took refuge at the abandoned beachside cabin. She waited for days for anyone to pass by, but you never did."
[onemessagehudtrigger11]
Text="Juan waited for you after escaping the monastary. You didn't even acknowledge his presence when you escaped that place."
[onemessagehudtrigger12]
Text="All in all you performed terrible. It is not the demons we should fear, it is those we thought we could trust."
[onemessagehudtrigger25]
Text="Diesel almost gave up hope until you showed up and re-united him with the rest of the survivors at the port town."
[onemessagehudtrigger28]
Text="Aral was glad to see you, afterwards she managed to reach the other's at the port town."
[onemessagehudtrigger29]
Text="Blaine was relieved for you to show up, she went to port town immediately to re-unite with the others."
[onemessagehudtrigger30]
Text="Juan was glad you made it out of the monastary. He went to the port town afterwards to meet up with the rest."
[onemessagehudtrigger32]
Text="All in all you performed quite good, you didn't resolve all of the aforementioned encounters, but you seemed to have a generally good intent."
[onemessagehudtrigger22]
Text="The escaped woman was rescued from the cold ruins of the underground. You rescued her upon which she returned to town and re-opened the herbalist shop."
[onemessagehudtrigger20]
Text="You brought the nali waiting outside of town the bad news of his wife's demise, at least he got re-united with his brother, they both re-opened the shop across the herbalist"
[onemessagehudtrigger7]
Text="The nali waiting outside of town requested you to find his wife and brother, he could have still been re-united with his siblings. Now they are dead, perhaps you were reckless?"
[onemessagehudtrigger17]
Text="The escaped woman took refuge in the cold ruined passages of the underground. She waited for anyone to come along to rescue her. But no-one ever did."
[onemessagehudtrigger19]
Text="The nali waiting outside of town requested you find his wife and brother, you managed to find neither, and their fate remains unknown."
[onemessagehudtrigger26]
Text="This concludes all the possible encounters with the survivors."
[onemessagehudtrigger35]
Text="This concludes our adventure, there is only one thing left to do. Turn around and go into the light..."

Map oneendgame2:

► Show Spoiler

[onemessagehudtrigger40]
Text="Jezebel: Look, there's someone over here!"

[onemessagehudtrigger1]
"Magellan: Looks like another victim of last night's storm. Poor soul, there's nothing we can do for him..."

[onemessagehudtrigger41]
Text="Magellan: Looks like another victim of last night's storm. Poor soul, there's nothing we can do for her..."

[onemessagehudtrigger2]
Text="Jezebel: Shame, I would have loved to hear his story, i cannot imagine what he must have been through..."

[onemessagehudtrigger42]
"Jezebel: Shame, I would have loved to hear her story, i cannot imagine what she must have been through..."

[onemessagehudtrigger3]
Text="Magellan: He's at a better place now. We must give him a funeral and pay our respects!"

[onemessagehudtrigger0]
"Magellan: She's at a better place now. We must give her a funeral and pay our respects!"

[onemessagehudtrigger44]
Text="Jezebel: Farewell stranger, for dust you are and to dust you will return."

[onemessagehudtrigger5]
Text="Magellan: Let's go back to town, we wouldn't want to miss out on our farewell party."