Unreal Tournament - Status

[OlivusPrime]

Indeed - UT has always been a huge favourite of mine ever since I popped in the disc that (inexplicably) came with our first Windows XP computer, and while I don't think the Dreamcast port is as impressive as the one Quake III got, it still captures the fun of the original game very well.

Some of those console commands can be pretty useful - I've used the decals one a lot to help the framerate a little, and you'd be surprised at how the game runs on some levels with the bots increased beyond the usual limit. Cool to know these could be used online (but like you say, problematic when used irresponsibly!).

Booting this up again last night to test my new BIOS really made me yearn for restored online functionality again. I love Quake III but I really think UT would be the more exciting online experience, what with its greater emphasis upon team play and more dynamic maps.

[LEODCBR]

Someone from ut99.org tried to go ahead with the online functions:
https://ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1 ... ow#p133149

Unfortunately this is no farther than anyone else has gotten. Shu and I have gotten just as far as this just playing around with the PC server config and files. Bypassing the texture errors makes no difference. The PC and DC servers are fundamentally different and aren't compatible with each other.

Couple screenshots from my testing last year:
utdc.jpg

join.png

Guys, it obviously editing unreal tournament.ini, adding the gmtest parameter, replacing the name of any existing map on the PC with the same map name of DC, then the server will appear in the masterlist, oh don't forget to add same dns on both sides lol, then the image will load and the player will connect and disconnect in one second lol, as your own screenshot shows.

This can be done in few minutes and it really just playing around with files lol

The primary error in this configuration:
You use an incompatible map with PC version.
Unless you can extract the .dat map files and mount the map on PC using unrealED as expected by the DC, this entire process is useless, due to the nature of how the UT DC was programmed.
UTDC does not load the entire map files.
It's because of due DC RAM limitations.

But in DC .GDI we have two maps 100% compatible with the PC version and they are DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC.
Obviously the error you stopped are the first of many.
The map is just one of the packages and assets that you needed to run the game and these packages that are available on DC are unfortunately using .dat compression, they are not compatible with the PC side.

After reaching this point, I take UT PC source code and replace several assets and many settings and recompile several times until I was successful.
Today it is possible to connect and don't be kick in 1 sec.
Now the player is only removed after a timeout.
But the connection denied don't change on DC version.
But PC server don't show more errors, it's because all assets are found now.

Then I start to listen DC ports using wireshark, now we are deny by an IP Policy.
Some packets being classified as ICMP and different than Q3, UT version have several hashs, lots of checksums… that verify the assets on the PC server.
If something like a comma is different than DC is waiting then IP Policy deny the connection.

I sent my version server to Shuouma and he will check soon.
Even if we have success, the maximum we would have will be 2 maps online, until the original servers are found or the source code is leaked.
If anyone is interested to help, I can share the files.
Note: The DC version is called 404 but it is compatible up to version 413 on the PC side.
Peace guys.

[Sonic1994DC]

Someone from ut99.org tried to go ahead with the online functions:
https://ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1 ... ow#p133149

Unfortunately this is no farther than anyone else has gotten. Shu and I have gotten just as far as this just playing around with the PC server config and files. Bypassing the texture errors makes no difference. The PC and DC servers are fundamentally different and aren't compatible with each other.

Couple screenshots from my testing last year:
utdc.jpg

join.png

Guys, it obviously editing unreal tournament.ini, adding the gmtest parameter, replacing the name of any existing map on the PC with the same map name of DC, then the server will appear in the masterlist, oh don't forget to add same dns on both sides lol, then the image will load and the player will connect and disconnect in one second lol, as your own screenshot shows.

This can be done in few minutes and it really just playing around with files lol

The primary error in this configuration:
You use an incompatible map with PC version.
Unless you can extract the .dat map files and mount the map on PC using unrealED as expected by the DC, this entire process is useless, due to the nature of how the UT DC was programmed.
UTDC does not load the entire map files.
It's because of due DC RAM limitations.

But in DC .GDI we have two maps 100% compatible with the PC version and they are DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC.
Obviously the error you stopped are the first of many.
The map is just one of the packages and assets that you needed to run the game and these packages that are available on DC are unfortunately using .dat compression, they are not compatible with the PC side.

After reaching this point, I take UT PC source code and replace several assets and many settings and recompile several times until I was successful.
Today it is possible to connect and don't be kick in 1 sec.
Now the player is only removed after a timeout.
But the connection denied don't change on DC version.
But PC server don't show more errors, it's because all assets are found now.

Then I start to listen DC ports using wireshark, now we are deny by an IP Policy.
Some packets being classified as ICMP and different than Q3, UT version have several hashs, lots of checksums… that verify the assets on the PC server.
If something like a comma is different than DC is waiting then IP Policy deny the connection.

I sent my version server to Shuouma and he will check soon.
Even if we have success, the maximum we would have will be 2 maps online, until the original servers are found or the source code is leaked.
If anyone is interested to help, I can share the files.
Note: The DC version is called 404 but it is compatible up to version 413 on the PC side.
Peace guys.

This is great news. I hope I can start playing this game online soon. It would be a great game to bring back online as it will add more variety to the Dreamcast online games and there will be more the one shooter playable online. I'm rooting for ya guys!

[Xiden]

Someone from ut99.org tried to go ahead with the online functions:
https://ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1 ... ow#p133149

Unfortunately this is no farther than anyone else has gotten. Shu and I have gotten just as far as this just playing around with the PC server config and files. Bypassing the texture errors makes no difference. The PC and DC servers are fundamentally different and aren't compatible with each other.

Couple screenshots from my testing last year:
utdc.jpg

join.png

Guys, it obviously editing unreal tournament.ini, adding the gmtest parameter, replacing the name of any existing map on the PC with the same map name of DC, then the server will appear in the masterlist, oh don't forget to add same dns on both sides lol, then the image will load and the player will connect and disconnect in one second lol, as your own screenshot shows.

This can be done in few minutes and it really just playing around with files lol

The primary error in this configuration:
You use an incompatible map with PC version.
Unless you can extract the .dat map files and mount the map on PC using unrealED as expected by the DC, this entire process is useless, due to the nature of how the UT DC was programmed.
UTDC does not load the entire map files.
It's because of due DC RAM limitations.

But in DC .GDI we have two maps 100% compatible with the PC version and they are DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC.
Obviously the error you stopped are the first of many.
The map is just one of the packages and assets that you needed to run the game and these packages that are available on DC are unfortunately using .dat compression, they are not compatible with the PC side.

After reaching this point, I take UT PC source code and replace several assets and many settings and recompile several times until I was successful.
Today it is possible to connect and don't be kick in 1 sec.
Now the player is only removed after a timeout.
But the connection denied don't change on DC version.
But PC server don't show more errors, it's because all assets are found now.

Then I start to listen DC ports using wireshark, now we are deny by an IP Policy.
Some packets being classified as ICMP and different than Q3, UT version have several hashs, lots of checksums… that verify the assets on the PC server.
If something like a comma is different than DC is waiting then IP Policy deny the connection.

I sent my version server to Shuouma and he will check soon.
Even if we have success, the maximum we would have will be 2 maps online, until the original servers are found or the source code is leaked.
If anyone is interested to help, I can share the files.
Note: The DC version is called 404 but it is compatible up to version 413 on the PC side.
Peace guys.

Unless I misunderstood something, what makes DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC compatible with the PC version, is it just the size of the maps in general?

[LEODCBR]

Unfortunately this is no farther than anyone else has gotten. Shu and I have gotten just as far as this just playing around with the PC server config and files. Bypassing the texture errors makes no difference. The PC and DC servers are fundamentally different and aren't compatible with each other.

Couple screenshots from my testing last year:
utdc.jpg

join.png

Guys, it obviously editing unreal tournament.ini, adding the gmtest parameter, replacing the name of any existing map on the PC with the same map name of DC, then the server will appear in the masterlist, oh don't forget to add same dns on both sides lol, then the image will load and the player will connect and disconnect in one second lol, as your own screenshot shows.

This can be done in few minutes and it really just playing around with files lol

The primary error in this configuration:
You use an incompatible map with PC version.
Unless you can extract the .dat map files and mount the map on PC using unrealED as expected by the DC, this entire process is useless, due to the nature of how the UT DC was programmed.
UTDC does not load the entire map files.
It's because of due DC RAM limitations.

But in DC .GDI we have two maps 100% compatible with the PC version and they are DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC.
Obviously the error you stopped are the first of many.
The map is just one of the packages and assets that you needed to run the game and these packages that are available on DC are unfortunately using .dat compression, they are not compatible with the PC side.

After reaching this point, I take UT PC source code and replace several assets and many settings and recompile several times until I was successful.
Today it is possible to connect and don't be kick in 1 sec.
Now the player is only removed after a timeout.
But the connection denied don't change on DC version.
But PC server don't show more errors, it's because all assets are found now.

Then I start to listen DC ports using wireshark, now we are deny by an IP Policy.
Some packets being classified as ICMP and different than Q3, UT version have several hashs, lots of checksums… that verify the assets on the PC server.
If something like a comma is different than DC is waiting then IP Policy deny the connection.

I sent my version server to Shuouma and he will check soon.
Even if we have success, the maximum we would have will be 2 maps online, until the original servers are found or the source code is leaked.
If anyone is interested to help, I can share the files.
Note: The DC version is called 404 but it is compatible up to version 413 on the PC side.
Peace guys.

Unless I misunderstood something, what makes DM-BARRICADE-DC AND DOM-HOOD-DC compatible with the PC version, is it just the size of the maps in general?

Nope, this files are perfect Pc version , you can run them on UT PC version / unrealED, format and extension also compatible to host, nothing related to size.

[pcwzrd13]

@LEODCBR Maps and textures should make no difference as unlike the PC version of the game, the Dreamcast doesn't download these from the server. As long as the map name is correct on the server so that the Dreamcast can find the corresponding map on the DC disc, it will show up correctly on the Dreamcast side. Just add "-DC" to the end of any of the map names on PC for it to show up correctly on Dreamcast. As for textures, if one isn't found on the disc, it will just load default textures instead.

Regarding DM-BARRICADE-DC.unr AND DOM-HOOD-DC.unr, these files are likely leftovers on the Dreamcast GD from the PC version from the porting process. The Dreamcast version won't load these (the Dreamcast will freeze if you try and load one with the OPEN command).

Regarding the IP Policy, this is a setting in the unrealtournament.ini file that filters IP address of clients. This is set to "All" by default which should allow any clients to connect, regardless of IP. This setting wouldn't reject clients based on any other criteria.

[LEODCBR]

@LEODCBR Maps and textures should make no difference as unlike the PC version of the game, the Dreamcast doesn't download these from the server. As long as the map name is correct on the server so that the Dreamcast can find the corresponding map on the DC disc, it will show up correctly on the Dreamcast side. Just add "-DC" to the end of any of the map names on PC for it to show up correctly on Dreamcast. As for textures, if one isn't found on the disc, it will just load default textures instead.

Reply:
You can try to run any map changing the name, but it's just a trick for fun with the servers.
Ya obviously Dreamcast don't will download anything, but he have lots of checks to connect.
The maps have lots of functions inside the game, like update pos.
Did you try run .unr alone after turn off hashmaphash inside.bin?
Same for textures Dreamcast need to find all textures to get GUID acceptance from the PC side like all clients.
Did you read UCC docs about user acceptance?

Regarding DM-BARRICADE-DC.unr AND DOM-HOOD-DC.unr, these files are likely leftovers on the Dreamcast GD from the PC version from the porting process. The Dreamcast version won't load these (the Dreamcast will freeze if you try and load one with the OPEN command).

Reply:
Nah you are wrong, this files can run properly just changing some few things inside GDI, work on DC or PC, just change all map hash's and delete .dat for DC side and apply unrealed packets for new maps and try to run the maps.
Did you?

Regarding the IP Policy, this is a setting in the unrealtournament.ini file that filters IP address of clients. This is set to "All" by default which should allow any clients to connect, regardless of IP. This setting wouldn't reject clients based on any other criteria.

Reply:
Unreal tournament IP policy that you told is just a basic filter for IPS.
It's * for default on both side, then it can accept any IP and work properly on PC and DC side.

But inside binaries some files checksums are classified with IP Policy too, they can accept or Deny if he found any difference in all assets.
Did you hear DC packets on Wireshark?
What's packets did you analysis?

Try to run my server recompiled and tell me if it's change.
If I remember you just got connected for 1 sec right?
Did you teleport for Eos? Did you discovery why this happen?
You can compare packets with your previously version, this can help to progress.
My server update is available on my Wix blog. Dreamcastonline.wix.com/dcbr
I hope you can help us then we can progress together.
Ty dude and peace.

[SMiTH]

LEODCBR, start a thread and post all findings for ut dc there.
the op was about the hope of recovering ut dc server data from a hdd.
that dream died.

a new thread is needed.
others can share info, ideas, previous server tests, etc..
i know of a few server tests others have done.

imo a ut dc server would become the most popular dc online game.
pso nope.

[korni]

LEODCBR: I had a quick look at your notes at your server release.
Am I right in thinking that it's possible to adapt the other maps based on the two maps which are mentioned? There is a package on the net that is a fan recreation of the exclusive console maps for the PC release (they are not 1:1 copies) I guess it's not impossible if someone is good enough at editing Unreal Maps and understand how they are works.

I absolutely support Smith's idea, however it would be good to have a wiki to aggregate all the findings.
http://dreamcast.wikidot.com/unreal-tournament

[LEODCBR]

Ya I think if all community work together we can find a way to bring UT online back.
Maybe find old HDD can be the best way yet.
Unreal is not easily engine to fix and we have big differences inside DC version.
Almost impossible to fix without source code.

We already have lots of games online and some people plays regularly.
I can remember pso v1 and V2, quake III V1 and V2, alien front, 4x4, Daytona, driving strikers, maximum pool, monaco, starlancer, pod speedzone, toy racer, worms and etc.

Maybe on future Flycast get support for visual concepts games like ooga booga, NBA, NFL etc.
If this happen we will have more players too.

But we have great and famous games yet offline like Unreal tournament, bomber man, speed devil's, outrigger this games can easily bring lots of players to play online again. :]