IMPORTANT- This is a public beta of Unreal Mac. While we hope it fixes many bugs, it has not been through the normal full testing procedures so there may be problems with it. There were over 5000 changes to the code since the last beta patch release, so it is very likely some new problems may have been introduced. Some outstanding bugs reported in previous versions of Unreal Mac may still exist, the main goal for this first beta of 1.0.2 is to get the new 219 networking code up and running. If bugs from previous Unreal's still exist, report them to the email address below.
Instructions
BEFORE INSTALLING THIS PATCH, MAKE COPIES OF YOUR UNREAL APPLICATION AND UNREAL "SYSTEM" FOLDER! If you have more problems with 1.0.2b1 than you did with the previous version of Unreal Mac, go back to the saved copy.
To update Unreal (version 1.0 or 1.01b1), first run the "Unreal 1.0.2b1 Updater" application and select your Unreal application. Your old Unreal application will be moved to the trash. Then you need to copy all of the files from the 'Put contents in Unreal "System"' folder into the "System" folder in your Unreal folder. Replace all duplicates.
Report problems with 1.0.2b1 to: unrealbeta@westlakeinteractive.com. This address is not for tech support, but for reporting bugs. You may not receive a reply to your mail.
NOTE: Memory allocation has changed in this version of Unreal, you may find better results if your Unreal application partition size is set to 80,000K or more (instead of the original 72,000K).
A copy of UnrealFinder (a 3rd party shareware utility) is included with this archive, it is not supported by Westlake or MacSoft, check its read me files for more information on registering and using it.
Bugs Fixed
1.0.2b1 Fixes
Updated code to version 219, now compatible with PC 219 servers.
Stability of network games should be much better.
You can now drag files of any type onto the Unreal application (you may need to rebuild your desktop if this doesn't show up immediately). If the file ends in .unr, it will be loaded as a map and the file type & creator will be set to the correct types (so you can just double click it the next time).
A new option "LightModify" is now available in the Advanced Options dialog under 3Dfx Glide and Rave. This value allows you to increase the game's brightness beyond the normal settings. When it is set to 0, the game plays as normal. Setting it to 1.0 will make all the lighting 100% brighter. 0.5 will make it 50% brighter, etc. You must quit the game after changing this option to have it take effect.
Some crashes in the Advanced Options dialog have been fixed.
New memory manager (HeapManager, see copyright below) should provide more stability on large levels.
Important Notes
1. Unreal 219 is NOT network-compatible with previous versions of Unreal. You can only connect to servers and other players running Unreal 218 or later!
2. Quality network play totally depends on Unreal knowing how much bandwidth is available on your Internet connection. There are two ways to set your bandwidth:
A. In the "Join Game" menu, select "28K Internet", "56K Internet" or "LAN".
B. At any time during gameplay, use the NETSPEED command. For example, for a 28.8K connection:
* Press TAB to bring up the console
* Type the following: NETSPEED 2600
* Press ENTER
Our testing has found the following NETSPEED settings ideal:
Modem Speed Excellent ISP Good ISP Poor quality ISP
28.8K NETSPEED 2600 NETSPEED 2400 NETSPEED 2100
33.6K NETSPEED 3000 NETSPEED 2800 NETSPEED 2400
56.6K+ NETSPEED 3500 NETSPEED 3000 NETSPEED 2600
If you see any of the following symptoms happen repeatedly while playing Internet Unreal, you should lower your NETSPEED setting:
A. You experience delays of 1 second or more between when you press the FIRE button and you see your shot fire.
B. The message "Bandwidth Saturated, Lower Your Net Speed" appears.
C. You appear to "teleport" around haphazardly, rather than move smoothly through the level.
D. Your PING time (displayed in STAT NET) starts increasing, or becomes unreasonably large.
The following PING times can be expected:
* Modem connection: 200-350.
* ISDN or cable modem connection: 100-200.
* T1 connection (not saturated): 50-150.
* LAN: 30-80.
Some modem connections are considerably worse. Add 100-200 msec if server is in another country.
You tend to get 30% best ping times at night than day, because the Internet is less saturated then.
3. While playing Internet Unreal, press TAB, type "STAT NET", and press ENTER to bring up network statistics. You can use these statistics to diagnose problems with your connection:
PING: Lag caused by Internet connection, in milliseconds. Lower=Better.
CHANNELS: Number of actors the server is sending you.
UNORDERED: Number of out-of-order packets received. If this
number is not zero, you likely have a bad Internet connection.
PACKET LOSS: Percentage of packets lost. The lower the number,
the better your connection. If this number is frequently
above 10%, try lowering your NETSPEED.
PACKETS/SEC: Number of packets sent and received.
BUNCHES/SEC: Number of actor updates sent and received.
BYTES/SEC: Number of bytes sent and received.
NETSPEED: Your current NETSPEED setting.
4. For gameplay to perform acceptably, administrators running dedicated Unreal servers need to use the following settings in Advanced Options / Networking / TCPIP Network Play / MaxTicksPerSecond:
For Internet servers: 15 to 25
For LAN servers: 25 to 35
The higher the number, the more frequently the server updates the game world--resulting in smoother gameplay, but also more network traffic.
5. While this version should improve Internet play, we have more work to do in this area before it's perfect. There will be several more patches.
1.0.1b1 Fixes
Internet play against Unreal PC servers that are running version 217 should work now. Not all of the 217 code changes from the PC have been integrated into the Mac yet, but enough to make the network games work better.
AppleTalk games should no longer pause the server every 4 seconds while playing a game.
RAVE detection on machines with multiple monitors should now work correctly.
The "O" key now can be bound to functions in the keyboard config screens.
A bug that caused the game to crash when certain death animations were seen (beheading mostly) in 3Dfx mode is fixed.
A new variable has been added to the Unreal.ini file for cable modem users. If your cable mode loses its connection after a few minutes of playing, add an "OSTime=xxxx" variable to the "MacDrv.MacClient" section of the Unreal.ini and set xxxx to a number other than zero. This number is the amount of ticks (1/60ths of a second) between calls to the OS to give it some time to do periodic tasks. Setting it to 3600 (once a minute) would probably work for most cable modems, although you can try longer or shorter times.
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