Unreal is 14 Years Old Today!

14 years ago today, many of us made our way home with an amazing prize, the video game Unreal. We played the game for hours, making our way thorough Vortex Rikers and into the beautiful world of Na Pali.

Some of us jumped in fear and had to turn on the lights when the vicious enemy, the Skaarj, first came into view. It’s hard to believe 14 years have passed.

What is your favorite moment from the last 14 years of Unreal? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Birthday, Unreal.

Tags: Cliff Bleszinski, epic games, Skaarj, Unreal, Vortex Rikers

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Epic 20th, Featured, Inside Epic, Unreal Tournament. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

MadeinSpain

My favorite moment will be when ill play New Unreal whit New Unreal Engine 4, will be?
DxTrEm3Fx

Love UT 99 and UT2k4. This was a life style for me and the UT community. Making maps, killing noobs and having fun with your clan mates. We miss this more than anything.
- Ctrl-s
  
  Loved UT99 and mapping / mod community, clans. Shock Rifle / Strangelove / Piston Jumping / One of THE funnest CTF games to date.
The Postal Dude

My favorite moment was when Postal 2 came out using the Unreal Engine. Never before has a game so simple brought so much fun!
Barr26

I remember very clearly buying this on the day it came out. The big moment for me was stepping outside the wrecked ship for the first time and staring in awe at the moving sky, the waterfall, the wildlife…..it was the first time we’d ever truly seen a living world. Epic Megagames raised the bar with this one.
- Anonymous
  
  I remember too! I remember staring at the box while I waited in line because it was so cool. What an incredibly fun game.
Mr.Pupae

Playing the game and discovering all kind of cool locations, Vortex Rikers chrashed ship, The Temple of Chirza, The Dark Arena and its Titans, However my favorite thing is that afther 14 years the game still rocks these days. (the S3TC high resolution texturepacks, the unofficial 227 patches.) People still play this game co-op online, Is there any game that has a longer record then being played online 14 years later?
Manglebanglebong

I miss those days like hell… having a bunch of good clanmates, friends… not all this bs with voice just good ol keybinds and no spawnraping oh man…. even met my true love there with whom i was for 10 years together…. unreal has such a warm spot in my heart.
Cade Skor

I’ll always remember the first time I saw the Redeemer in action. One of those rare “That just gave me the chills” moments.
http://www.facebook.com/marscaleb Caleb Child

“Headshot!”

(Classic UT)
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WCKE3RH2YVADX6JXWEXVMFXSKI Bob A

UT 99 servers are still running kids, and its still a blast to play!!
(MAD)DeadAgain, {eXe}DeadAgain, Hellion(ASS)
Attilian88

UT99…Everything about it. MOMOMOMOMOMOSTER KILL KILL Kill kill….The Redeemer, Facing Worlds. Everything about that game.
Metalholic55

i played every Unreal game!
pBOOST

The moment I installed the Unreal 1 game. With its beautiful dark cover and walked into the world of Unreal. And a company that gives you the engine that was used to make the game with. Oh dont forget the EdFix though
http://twitter.com/Jaycob619 Jacob Evans

Servers still up?
- Anonymous
  
  Yep, master server and about 20-30 servers are running:
  - Anonymous
    
    Michael is correct.
Kushal Yeole

Happy Birthday Unreal, you have change the standard of gaming industry god bless you…………..(:
http://twitter.com/Nukkus Matt Davidson

For me it would be the first time I played the original Unreal, and emerged from the smoking wreck of the Vortex Rikers, and seeing the surreal landscape spread out before me.
Anonymous

Quite a few memorable moments with this one.

- Hiding behind some rock in amphitheater with the titan at the Temple of Vandora which managed to cover me from his stones he threw. Some stray boulder hit me in the end.

- Running around rocks at Ny Leve falls with the Brutes. Last time I starterted the game after a few years break. Of course it was Unreal difficulty. I came out of Vortex, triggered one Brute, killed him. Triggered another and started running around the rock at the entrance to the mine making him follow me. When I was close to making a full circle I finally turned around just to catch a rocket from 3rd brute right into the face. I was so surprised by that guy I yelped. Can’t remember another game in the last 5-7 years that could do that to me.

Lure the sitting Titan in the Velora Pass onto the drawbridge and drop him into lava – I always try to do that when possible. I remeber when I dropped the bridge with a titan down, and crawled to the edge to watch it die in lava. Unfortunately titan had quite enough health to pull off the stomp attack which launched me into the air and made me fall down in lava.

Playing off titans against gasbags, kraals and skaarj always was fun. Sneaking up on unsuspecting skaarj (Velora Pass) or kraals playing dice (Harobed village), oh that was fun. Trying to save nali here and there, finding secrets, trying to make sure the ghost nali on Bluff Eversmoking is not scared of you.
PromiserofDeath2

Please make a HD Remake of Unreal 1.
Kevin

My son use to sit on my lap as i played Unreal,I loved getting close to the canyon’s stare down into them,and feel his legs squeezing so tight and then he would to freak out. He’s twelve now and kick’s my butt.
http://twitter.com/bleah3 Red Dotter

UT99 was my life back in the day
- Anonymous
  
  Same
  - PhaYZe
    
    me to, loved the custom city maps that were out there with the fast traveling teleporters.
DK2007

…when I held the Unreal Tournament 3 Limited Edition with 3DBuzz video tutorials in my hands.
Corvo

my favorite memories where when epic made PC games.
Eds_jr

I remember my father playing this game in 1999. 12 years after I played it, and now, 14 years ago, it’s still a great game…
Dragan Okan

UT 2004. oh my gosh, those were the days of gaming. :’)
Pancakedude44

UNREAL IS A BOSS COMPANY NOT AS GOOD AS EPIC BUT STILL BOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- http://twitter.com/LeeRobertsVA Lee Roberts
  
  Umm…Unreal is an Intellectual Property. Epic is the company that made it.
Anonymous

as Patrick replied I am stunned that any body able to earn $7263 in 1 month on the internet. did you read this webpage http://www.CashMany.com
http://twitter.com/leandroilhabela Leandro Barbosa

New UT at new generation?? I hope yes. I will pray for this.
IzayoiKagemaru

14 Years… Feels like I was just playing it for the first time yesterday.
I believe Unreal to be the game that aged best of them all, it still makes jaws drop and the gameplay is superb even by today’s standards..
Qq

I’m playing UT99 and 2K4 to celebrate!
Sly.

My favorite moment… I had plenty of them!
For one, there was the very beginning, just waking up in the ship, hearing the calm yet terrifying woman-voice saying “Prisoner 849 escaping” when leaving the cell, the first time when you step out of the wreck of the Vortex Rikers prison vessel and see the huge environment, the cliffs, the Ny Leve’s fall, the lake – and on top of the cliff the ship you just left looking offplace in the natural environment, like an intruder from space in a medieval world. Then there was the first violent encounter with the Skaarj in the Rrajigar Mines, the lights turning off one by one, then suddenly you noticed you’re trapped, the alarm goes on, red lights flashing, the Skaarj is jumping at you and trying to slice you. Gives me goosebumps when just thinking of it!
The ISV-Kran levels were simply stunning as well, probably one of the scariest parts of the game, which reminds me of the Sunspire. Its spaghetti-corridor-layout was confusing the heck out of me, but I didn’t care how long I stayed in there, even if I thought the dark corridors were quite scary at times. The music was simply BEAUTIFUL!
Another one of my favorite moments was when I confronted the Stone Titan at Velora Pass, sitting on its throne, then the earth started quaking, the torches suddenly lit and you saw purple flames, the epic battle music played and you just thought “This… is awesome”.
And I had that feeling on many many more moments in the game because it is an awesome game! I could go on until tomorrow. I’m sorry to say this, but I can’t just pick one favorite, I pick the whole game. It’s that one big moment of “WOW” which starts at the very beginning of the game and ends after steering the missile of UMS-Bodega Bay against itself and escaping Na Pali… probably for the last time.

I hope, one day there will be Unreal 3 continuing the story of Prisoner 849 that will have this survival feeling to it, mixed with this claustrophobic indoor level design.

Happy Birthday, Unreal once again and thank you Epic for this great gift!
- Anonymous
  
  What a great post, you brought back a lot of memories!
  - Sly.
    
    Thanks Flak!
    In fact, if it wasn’t for Epic and Unreal my life wouldn’t be the same, I was influenced by this game like by no other I think. I’ve always had fun creating custom content for some games but the Unreal Editor was the best thing to happen to me, so many possibilities! Then, when I signed up at the forum, my life changed yet again. Now I can’t even imagine how it would if I didn’t sign up. I got to know so many nice people – and all that was triggered by Unreal. It’s odd how fast time passes, the 10th birthday of Unreal feels like yesterday.
Sasowow

ut2k4 best fps game ever, it is 8 years old and there are still competitions and fun, and is fuckin awesome, there’s nothing as good as it in the newest fps.

Now we want something like ut2k4 but new, to take all the community back unite! Let’s go with another chapter with all the skill of that game! Do it please!

sincerely, your players
JeroKiller17

I still remember when I bought my Unreal 1, it was and still are one of my favorites games of all, with a great story and great world to explore, no one only Deathmatch game like all the Unreal Torunament games.
[KWS] xzqtioner

I’m still playing UT99 and have yet to find a replacement. I am a member of the Killerwatt sniper clan- [KWS] and we still have weekly 5v5 matches on Fraggednation ladders.
- Anonymous
  
  I remember playing with you guys I was in VA then NBS.
Re4force

Favorite
game is UT99 an just love the Unreal and UT-series, have played them all and still
plays them in LAN..and so many hours spend on creating own maps and just having
fun.

I just wonder how many countless times I have played Deck16 against bots and trie
to get 30 frags as fast you that you can; I think the record is around 24 seconds.
Tiggrrrr

Yay Happy Belated, and many more!!!! Been my fav since the very beginning.
Billjacksonn

Me ready for Unreal 3, with honest cash in hand. Down with torrent raping of good games by great devs! Blez, seriously man. You know us hardcores are jonesing for it.
Tenma San

Thank you UT my love! UT2k4 absolutely best FPS ever. we’ll play forever but ^^ we also waiting UT4 :Q____
Pete

Getting to the top of the spire, saving, and jumping off. *weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
Fabian-Paraguay

Grande Epic, crearon la mejor serie de juegos que pueda existir,Unreal,UT99,UT2K4 & UT3..lo mejor!!! Felicidades by: LuNaTiC
William

I’m 54 and have been gaming since the 70′s. I’ve gone through many home built computers and games from a-z. The breakthrough was Unreal 1 on my Voodoo 3 card. OMG my son was 10 and couldn’t believe the graphics from the castle fly by to the game play. Those were the days playing war Birds on line and Fighter Ace up to the crazy launch of WW2OL,,,,,,,,,,,, what a ride
UnrealForever

Heartily, today that’s Unreal’s Birthday, I find myself most grateful and honored that I got the chance to post my comment on this board.

It’s been 14 years since a truly EPIC video game came to this world, a game with a life of its own.
- ORIGINAL 100% Game-Atmosphere and Story-line
- Magnificent Level design
- Intense arcade-style Game play, insane A.I.
- Extraordinary graphics
- Glorious Soundtrack

Unreal was never simply a game. It is still considered by many as one of the most beautiful experiences a gamer can have, as it bears the advantage of capturing the player and immersing them into its cut-edge world. And the music… a masterpiece…

Until this very day I listen often to Unreal’s soundtrack, and every time I do so I am reminded of the recent games’ standard state, and how they should follow Unreal’s example, but regrettably they don’t. Games full with cutscenes, helping tips and crap like that. The more they try to impress, the more they fail.

And I keep asking to myself: Why there is no continuation to this scenario? Where have all the skilled developers gone? What happened to the game industry? Should we just lose every hope and stick to the old games?

Regardless, this post is about Unreal’s birthday and Unreal only. So..

~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNREAL ~~~ you will stay forever in our hearts
http://profile.yahoo.com/TFICLUG354NLVQ62Q6B57EQDBQ Joel

My first experience with the UNREAL Engine was also my first with the Xbox 360, my friend had just bought Gears of War and I will never forget chainsawing my first wretch! The first of millions!
Kylon

make a remake of unreal 2004 on xbox and ps3, and i would surely play it, ever since i played unreal 2004 which was awhile back, in 2003-4 i think, i loved it, jumping around headshotting people, awsome, and i got it again many times just becuase i missed it, but i want it on my console, i would play it everyday if that was the case, ohhh i don’t remember my gamertag back when i used to play in my prime, but i am still a great sniper, and i always loved shock rifles and snipers, because i have a very deadly sharpshooting eyei was also in a clan too, i’m probably all but forgotten now though, is 2004′s servers still up, if it is i would play you great players again, and win ofcourse
http://twitter.com/richieeexd Richard Nazarian

Please make UT4 like UT99, there are still 1000+ players playing that game nuff said
Timon Blacker

The most impressive and shocked was… the first falling into the hyper-space in HyperBlast ^_^ Oh, it was painfull
Tornao

We played UT in my computer classes in college after we got all of our work completed. Our teacher was one of the best LOL.
Post Mortem

Go for Unreal Tournament 4 It would be nice if the gameplay goes in direction of Unreal Tournament 2004. It was really nice to use all the jump types and hardly train the movement. Unreal Tournament 2004 is the best FPS you ever brought out!
jeremweb

UT99 for all secret rooms for the Rocket and the Ripper weapons.
Unreal The Awakening, excellente.UT2004 for wall Dodge & dodge+jump Instagib Mod & adrenaline (usefull on TAM).>> easy to start a dedicated server and this administration (for ut99 too)UT3 for vehicles and Titan, these graphics and impressive sounds !
shadowdemon

Battlefield 3 kicks ass
loggylog.jon

Just reinstalled this classic from the original disc that came bundled with my voodoo 2 card in 1998, having not played for years, it runs superb fully maxed on todays hardware, its aww-inspiring and still scares me when the skarrj ambush me occasionally.
You know they remaster old music, they should remaster this but keep the music and gameplay exactly as it is, just update the gui, textures and models. Dont forget the autosave/load – f6/f7 if you do fire it up again cos if you die you restart the level !!.
Zman52

Where can I find instructions on how to create a game map for Unreal Gold? I know the editor comes with the game but am a little lost on how to create a game.

Posted by Flak May 22, 2012 Last Updated May 23, 2012

60 Comments

Unreal is 14 Years Old Today!

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