UT Troubleshooting FAQ
Got a question that isn't covered here? Add it to the list (at its appropriate place) and leave the answer out. Somebody else will fill it in.
See also UT2003 Troubleshooting FAQ.
- When running UT in Windows XP, I get distorted sound. How do I solve it?
To fix the crackly sound you sometimes get in Unreal Tournament, when loading in XP, open Advanced Preferences (type preferences from console). Change:
- Audio → EffectsChannels to 8
- Audio → Latency to 60.
After that, restart the game. The problem is caused by Windows XP's harddisk prefetching algorithm, loading Unreal modules faster than the sound subsystem can initialize properly – hence it only occurs when the engine loads from system cache. This worked for me and many others. I've tried different values for Latency and EffectsChannels, the lowest trouble free latency value is 46 and you can keep the effects number to 16.
In the UnrealTournament.ini file you should have a section that looks like this:
[Galaxy.GalaxyAudioSubsystem] UseDirectSound=True UseFilter=True UseSurround=False UseStereo=True UseCDMusic=False UseDigitalMusic=False UseSpatial=False UseReverb=True Use3dHardware=True LowSoundQuality=False ReverseStereo=False Latency=46 OutputRate=22050Hz EffectsChannels=16 DopplerSpeed=9000.000000 MusicVolume=160 SoundVolume=224 AmbientFactor=0.700000
- Getting the best performance in UT, some tips (Thanks to 'Valheru')
- If you have a motherboard with a VIA chipset, get the latest VIA drivers from [here]. The installation procedure is explained here as well.
- For video card drivers, usually getting the latest version of them will give you the best performance.
- Get UT patched to version 436 if you havn't already. Also, before you do that now would be a good time to install the second CD for the high res S3TC textures. If the install bitches at you for any reason, like it wants version 400 instead of 436, just copy the folders on the second CD directly to the root of your UT folder.
- Download the OpenGL.dll [here]. Unzip it to your UnrealTournament/System folder, and overwrite the existing file that's already there. Replace the OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice section in your UnrealTournament.ini file (located in the UnrealTournament/System folder) with this :
[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice] RefreshRate=75 DetailTextures=1 UseTrilinear=1 UseS3TC=1 UseTNT=0 LODBias=0 UseMultiTexture=1 UsePalette=1 UseAlphaPalette=0 Translucency=1 VolumetricLighting=1 ShinySurfaces=1 Coronas=0 HighDetailActors=1 MaxAnisotropy=0 AlwaysMipmap=0 UsePrecache=0 SupportsLazyTextures=0
If you didn't install the second CD textures, disable the line UseS3TC textures by changing it to read : UseS3TC=0. Also, up the RefreshRate line to the max refresh rate your monitor can take at the res. you're running UT at. Don't forget to disable VSync, both in the Driver Options of the Detonator's (right click on the Desktop → preferences etc.) as well as in the UT options (in the menu once UT has started up type preferences in the system console).
A few tips: Disable Coronas, they look like ass under OpenGL and blind you as well (note that coronas are already disabled in the configuration above).
xX)(Xx: This also disables you from seeing them in UED as well
Disable that stupid screenflash stuff - everytime you get shot with the minigun you can't see shit. And don't forget to change the DeviceRenderer to OpenGL.
S3Textures FIX: this if for when you log in to servers which don't have S3TC textures installed and players seem to be skating around instead of walking around and they freeze when you kill em.
Download [this], copy it to your ut\textures-folder and run it. It should fix that particular problem.
- When i connect to a server i get package (name) version mismatch.
This error means you have a different version of a package either installed locally or loaded in memory.
First try restarting UT and connecting again, if the package was just loaded because of a previous connection to another server you will connect fine. If you get the error again it means its installed locally.
Generally you can just delete (or rename or move out of the ut folder in case you wan't to keep it for later) the package, remove any references from unrealtournament.ini and run UT again and you'll be fine.
A couple of packages deserve special mention.
DE.u: Epic shipped two different versions of this package one with GOTY and the 436 patch and the other with the digital extremes pack. However all it contains is a couple of rarely used mutators. If you really wan't those mutators then renaming the package and changing the ini settings is strongly reccomended, otherwise just nuke de.u and remove the references from the ini.
CREDITS.utx/CREDITS.umx: Epic really screwed up here, Not only are there two packages with the same name as part of the standard UT install (of which the textures one will be found first). The dedicated server shipped with an incompatible version of the texture package. This ones a little tricker to solve than most others because if you just delete the utx and umx files ut will not start.
1: delete credits.umx
2: rename credits.utx to creditx.utx
3: open entry.unr with a binary editor (i use dos edit in binary mode,backing it up first is advisable) and carefully change the first occourance of credits to creditx (yes this does break the rule about modifying default packages but in this particular case its not generally a problem).
4: launch UT and connect to the server, you should download the servers version of the credits package and enter the map. Since this workaround is not well known it may be advisable to trigger mid game voting (assuming mapvote is installed) at this point.
Anonymous: When I play a map through unrealEd it crashes out if I use dodge to much, any suggestions plz 
DJPaul: Paste the END part of your log on the ScratchPad, so we can see the error.
Felix: Does anyone know why sometimes when i make a map on UED1 and try to spawn, I die instantly (same happens 2 bots 2) My e mail is felix_omeara@yahoo.com if anyone can help.
Comments
Tarquin: Should we tell people to post questions here, or direct them to the Help Desk?
Sobiwan: If I have a question, it is related to the page I am on, so I would write it on the page. When it has been answered, it can be refactored into the page.
Xian: In case of a mismatch to 3rd party files (let's say anticheat, admin tools etc. that have the same name, yet have different versions) a lazy man's method would be to download them and restart UT. You can have 2 different files with the same name in the Cache folder, but ONLY ONE WILL BE USED. Meaning, to go to a server which has the other version you'd need to restart... Keep in mind, if the file is already uncached (renamed to its real name, instead of its GUID.uxx format, restarting won't help).
