Unreal II: XMP

[minibubba]

This demo is a single level from Unreal II XMP ("Expanded Multiplayer"). The all new XMP mode is a class-based multiplayer game where teams use vehicles, cooperation and Unreal II: The Awakening's devastating weaponry to battle it out across large-scale terrain maps. Teams fight for control of energy sources to power their war machines, deployment points to get to the front lines quickly, and ultimately, four artifacts that are required to win each match. Current owners of Unreal II: The Awakening standard edition will be able to download the XMP multiplayer mode for free on the day Unreal II: The Awakening - Special Edition is released.
-FilePlanet

*there are screenshots and thoughts of the upcomming XMP patch at PlanetUnreal

Unreal2 XMP Demo Impressions

[minibubba]

the XMP patch has been released today that will upgrade the original verion of Unreal II and give it multiplayer support. After playing the demo for the last couple of days (the XMP demo does not require that you own Unreal II) it makes the ~274 MB download worth it and revives my faith in the Unreal series :)

A special edition of Unreal II is due 'in stores' today, which will include XMP. But after calling around I discovered that it wont be available (at least here, which is a major metropolitan area) until December 11. It's listed retail price is just below $30 US.

:cheers:

edit: here's some more details about XMP from UnrealOps:

# 8 Maps Included - Garden, Rampant, Lowlands, Freefall, Alcazar, NaKoja, Sirocco, Sunset Beach
# 3 Vehicles Included
# 3 Classes Included (same as demo)
# A Community Map Pack is in progress, with atleast an additional 4 maps
# From everything I've understood, you do NOT need Unreal 2 Installed, however, you will need the Unreal 2 Play CD to install XMP.
# There is an editor included
# Linux Support is a Maybe right now, with no guarantees
# It will work with all of the localized versions of Unreal 2
# There is NO Bot support, though it is evidently being worked on by a community project
# There are no mutators included in the download

quote on the bots:

LE_Scott: No, there is no bot support. We weren't allowed enough in our budget for this project to get our AI programmer working full time on bots. It would have been a major undertaking with all of the new things in XMP, and given the resources we had to choose between dedicating our resources to making a cool new type of game, or making a game that's been done 1000 times before but which has bots...

[E^vol]

I'm sorry, but IMHO, IT SUCKS !!! LAG like you wouldn't believe, and the graphics are really getting boring !
The Unreal series is dead to me ! :thumbs do

P.S. I have a fast cable connection, and all my friends (with the same cable connection) said they had lots of lag too !

[minibubba]

maybe you just need some servers closer to home, lag hasn't bother me one bit here

I like the graphics, but to each his own :)

btw, did you play the demo or the full version? there are some crazy maps in the full XMP

[E^vol]

I played the demo ver.
Maybe a closer server might help. :shrug:
As far as the graphics are concerned, I need something new. :2cents:

[SearanoX]

God, I played this a few days ago, and I absolutely hated it! Lag, ran poorly, graphics weren't that great (and no ragdolls anymore?), and the vehicles were awful. I uninstalled it about an hour after I got it. Just couldn't understand how Epic could have released such a subpar product. Then again, this is Unreal II we're talking about, so I suppose the crappiness of it was to be expected.

[minibubba]

The official site for that XMP community bonus pack has launched. It'll contain "4-5 new Unreal II XMP maps, developed by a group of XMP beta testers, and is expected to be released sometime over the next week."

Also, mutator maven Crokx has released the XMP mutator (it "fixes" the sniper rifle), and I'm sure he'll release some more.
-planetunreal

----------------------

The Unreal 2 XMP - Community Map Pack was started during the beta test for XMP. A few of the testers got together and started tossing out ideas for a map pack with user created maps, and as a result, the CMP was created. The 'team' is hoping to continue to put out map packs in the future hoping to make the game even more of a great experience, and add in another layer to the community. Our main focus is to please the community and have fun while doing it.

Our maps page includes two shiny new screenshots of Apophis by Alex 'RaptoR' Dobie, and Xaemia by Jake 'Reeps' Speer, so go take a look!
-XMP CMP

[SearanoX]

An add-on pack already? The game hasn't even been out for a week yet. Come on. I doubt that a plethora of maps will stop the game from being sluggish, boring, tacked-on, and any other things that it souldn't be. Even with it's less-impressive netcode, Halo does everything this does, only better. Heck, it even runs better on multiplayer. I'm getting 50-60 fps on this with my Radeon 9800 Pro, 512 DDR, Pentium 4 2.5, etc., but on Halo, I'm getting 60-200 in multiplayer.

And I thought that Halo was the unoptimized one.

[minibubba]

XMP vs HALO? XMP wins hands down, but that's just my opinion. Aint it funny how games are like that? one person hates it and the next loves it. imho the graphics and gameplay is much better than halo's. not to mention it saved me a lot of money by going with XMP over Halo; a difference of $40 (U2 cost me $10 and XMP is free, while Halo is $50 atm). Really, who cares about your FPS is it's high enough not to bother your eyes; at least XMP was consistent.

: peace2:

[SearanoX]

Meh, I find Halo more enjoyable. Runs better for some reason, I like the graphic style more, and everything just seems more balanced...

I'll wait for UT2004, thank you very much. ;)

[minibubba]

-The Hard Wire@HomeLAN

[Soulburner]

I grabbed it a few days ago having no idea it even existed. It seems pretty cool, there are elements of RTCW and a lot of Tribes in it.