I have found that the Kentie Launcher seems to fix the speed issues with Unreal Gold 226. Try it here:
http://kentie.net/article/d3d10drv/

I hope GOG will release Unreal Gold v227 soon. Right now the default is just v226.

I hope so too =)

Just tried these out today to try and re-live some of that old magic. I was very impressed with the 227 patch, worked and looked amazing with the OpenGL renderer and running at 1680x1050 (other than a tiny hud).

I was also really excited to try the new texture packs. I played through the first couple levels without so I could really appreciate the changes. But when I installed them I didn't end up liking them much. The added resolution was nice, but something about the changes to the color scheme I felt were a deviation from the original. Can appreciate the work people did, but I guess just not my thing.

I also think the 227 patch is indeed really good, as well as its OpenGL renderer - great renewed effects and overall excellent look. I agree with Boilpoint about the textures though, I've played more than half of the game with them, they're great as enhanced textures but sometimes their feel seem a bit out of place, because of some colours or simply the fact that they're well, higher res. Great, but maybe a bit distracting during a first playthrough.

Still, I'm currently playing the game with the DX10 renderer and the OMP patch for good measure (better sound with this, although outdated compared to the 227). And... I actually like the game a bit more like this, as it gets its "original" feel, 3Dfx-like, as it has been coded from the start with this in mind - lots of contrasts, darker and more consistent skies - it feels like time passes from day to night, while in OpenGL I get some very clear greyish skies at times, like the arena. In DX10 or glide, it's more outlandish, and stressful as it's reddish in tone, am I missing something in the OpenGL config, I don't know, but it really seems this darker feel was the orignally intended one. It's slightly different, but really worth a look... Anyway, I think the only downside with the 227 patch and Kentie's renderer is that they don't work together, really.

This is interesting, since I thought about this but didn't try it. By OMP do you mean the 226Final? And did you try the DX9 renderer with 277? Was Kentie's significantly better than even that?

OMP stands for OldUnreal Multimedia Patch, if I'm not mistaken .You can find it on the OldUnreal website too. It's a pack of some additional renderers and audio drivers, which are outdated by the 227 ones. Still, as Kentie's renderer doesn't work with this patch, I'm relying on the OMP for better sound (in OpenAL). If you want to try this combination you should go for OMP 0.2 installer for Unreal Gold. OpenAL may give an error at start but reinstalling it or applying a more recent version should do it. Compared to the original sound driver, it's less buggy, and has nice reverb sounds.

As to the DX9 renderer, I remember having tried this one some time ago, but I quickly went to OpenGL. I don't exactly remeber why, other than the fact that OpenGL simply seemed more complete. Kentie's DX10 renderer, to me, has the advantage of looking more like the originally intended 3Dfx Glide look, while allowing for high resolutions, and Glide-like effects, as I said. DX9 and OpenGL definitely miss the point on some maps (mostly Dark Arena though). I'm currently in the last third of the game, and I'm really surprised to see the difference. Just have a look at Kentie's DX10 page, scroll down a bit and you'll find a comparison screenshot about multi-pass texturing on the sky. What you're missing in non-glide looking renderers is better day-night cycle (slightly, because of the better blended skies), and a darker alien atmosphere, so it's quite subtle a change overall. Having a dark sky also feels more coherent with the ground map too (again, Dark Arena and another village map). However, DX10 has some bugs here and there (small ones though), and I think OpenGL still looks really great, mainly when you activate all the 227 patch video options, which give a more modern look and makes you forget a bit about the odd bright skies and very reflective floors.

So... tradeoffs everywhere. I'm really enjoying the game with an "enhanced original look' with Kentie's, but OpenGL + 227 (you can skip DX9 for this one really), while it seems less faithful to the 1998 Glide look, really enhances the game. You could also simply choose Glide (gog provides nGlide for emulation), add the OMP for better sound, and play a with this. I've noticed that the Dark Arena sky is definitely changed by the 227 even in Glide, but overall, the game is great whatever the renderer and patch.

Edit: by the end of the game, Kentie's renderer was far less convincing on my PC, as I had quite a lot of "blank/black" texture bugs in the dark, foggy levels. Maybe it's just something with my PC though.
Edit 2: corrections after skipping to some key maps with OpenGL and 227.

Will the 277i work on the GOG Unreal installer v 2.0.0.6? JC.

I'm currently using the 227i patch with Unreal from this installer version, so, I'd say yes, it works!

I also just installed it, works fine. :)

Are there similar recommended patches for Unreal Tournament? The other threads on this forum all seem to be about mods, and not patches.

Nope unfortunately not the last patch for UT is version 436, there is a version 451b by UTPG but it has issues such as unrealed being broken so its best to only use it on server installs.
Apparently the people behind 227i wanted to do the equivalent for UT (v468 i think it was) but couldn't because epic apparently "didnt have the bandwidth" even though he has already signed an NDA and has access to the full source code.

GOG won't update the game Unrealgold to 227i ,until they are 100% sure there are no bugs arising from that latest patch.
They'll wait many months ,if they ever do it.


Side note::Does anyone else think that unreal texture website is annoyingly confusing to navigate around?

I did eventually get the texture files,but blimey ,they make it difficult..

Hi guys,

i just installed ut99. And i searched the web for patches..i found the 428, 436, 440, 451 and so on.. But when i tried to install them i got the error "you need at least unreal tournament version 400"..

Is threre any patch for a version 400?

thx

Version 400 is the original UT99 release. The only reason you wouldn't have at least 400 is that you are running the UTDemo. Either way the correct version you want is version 436 anything higher then that should only be used on servers.