This page is for the 1998 first-person shooter. For the unrelated 1991 game published by Ubi Soft, see Unreal (1991).
Warnings
- The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.
- GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
General information
- Official game site (Archived)
- OldUnreal.com - A site for all classic Unreal games
- Liandri Archives - A dedicated Unreal wiki site that collects information about all the games in the series.
- Unreal SP - A forum dedicated to the Single Player element of Unreal, featuring discussions of maps, cut content, and general trivia.
- Unreal Wiki - A wiki on how to use Unreal Editor, UnrealScript and other technical aspects of Unreal Engine.
- Unreal Admin Wiki - A wiki on how to manage Unreal multiplayer servers.
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
|
Some early versions of the retail game used disc checks. |
|
|
GamersGate |
|
Unreal Gold. |
|
|
GOG.com |
|
Unreal Gold. Prepackaged with nGlide v1.02. |
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Steam |
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Unreal Gold. |
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|
- Unreal Gold includes the Return to Na Pali expansion.
- The Linux installer is available for Unreal Gold, Unreal, Return To Na Pali, they are based on Loki Software's linux port Unreal Tournament, although it treats Unreal as a mod. Requires the CD for installation. See Running native Linux version.
- The complete soundtrack is found in
<path-to-game>\Music
in UMX format. These can be converted into standard lossless audio files using a tracker player such as XMPlay or a tracker editor such as OpenMPT.
- A faithful higher quality desktop icon for Windows (and some Linux distros) can be found on the files section.
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
Unreal Mission Pack 1: Return to Na Pali |
Included with Unreal Gold. |
|
Unreal Fusion Map Pack |
Available for free. |
|
Essential improvements
In-game general settings.
Patches
Official
Unofficial
A huge patch, it adds support for modern Windows, extra renders, multiple bug fixes, and many other additions. It also includes a patch to allow Unreal to run natively on Linux, however it requires Wine or a Windows partition to get the files.
- Removes DRM from Steam version and disables GOG Galaxy integration.
- If on Mac, try Unreal Gold OS X instead.
- A list of new configuration settings can be found on the OldUnreal forums.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
- This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
- Linux version uses a separate INI file called
UnrealLinux.ini
.
Save game data location
Video settings
Template:Video settings
Graphics Quality
D3D11/High Res/Widescreen Fix for 227i and earlier
Installing the Unreal DirectX11 Renderer allows you to play the game in high-resolution, widescreen, and Direct3D 11. It is also worth noting that the DX11 renderer will work with the 227 Oldunreal Patches.
High Resolution Textures
- Use the Unreal HD Textures for high resolution environment textures. Use the High Resolution Skins for higher quality character textures.
- Do not use these server-side. Not compatible with Glide, D3D 6/7, or software renderers.
- Authentic to the original textures' artstyle, although some of the HD textures have increased saturation/are more colorful compared to the originals.
- You can choose the quality of the textures to suit your computer's capabilities.
Texture filtering
- nGlide's DirectX 9 wrapper does not use mipmapping, resulting in texture aliasing on distant textures. Force SGSSAA or use nGlide's Vulkan wrapper or the 227 patch's OpenGL or D3D9 renderer instead. These also let you force mipmapping, by setting
AutoGenerateMipmaps
and AlwaysMipmap
to true in <path-to-game>\Unreal.ini
\<path-to-game>\UnrealLinux.ini
.
- The 227 patch's OpenGL and D3D9 renderers allow you to disable bilinear filtering by setting
NoFiltering
to true in <path-to-game>\Unreal.ini
.
Input settings
In-game key map settings.
In-game general control settings.
Template:Input settings
Audio settings
Template:Audio settings
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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French |
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|
German |
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Italian |
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Russian |
|
|
|
Added with Oldunreal's 227 Patch |
Spanish |
|
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|
Polish |
|
|
|
Only with Oldunreal 227i |
VR support
3D modes |
State |
Notes |
vorpX |
| G3D User created game profile, requires patch 227i, see vorpx forum profile introduction. |
Network
Multiplayer types
- All official maps are designed for at most 16 players. However, dedicated servers can be set externally to have the max player limit at 32
Connection types
Ports
Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
TCP |
7777 |
UDP |
7777 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
- This is the default port used. It can be changed externally by the user
Issues fixed
Game crashes with a General Protection Fault upon start-up
Add Unreal.exe to your DEP exceptions list[citation needed]
|
Game does not launch on Windows 10
Mandatory ASLR prevents game from running
|
- Open Windows Defender
- In App & browser control, open Exploit protection settings
- In Program settings, add an exception for Unreal.exe
- Disable "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR) in addition to DEP"
|
GUI scaling issues
Use nGlide (Glide only)
|
- nGlide lets the user set a separate rendering resolution for 3D elements, while 2D elements are upscaled from the application-reported resolution.
- Doesn't natively support widescreen.
|
Restore 3D sound
Use OpenAL Soft[1]
|
- Download and install the OldUnreal 227 Patch.
- Download the ALAudio for Unreal 227i mod, and copy all of its contents (not the folder) to
<path-to-game>\System .
- Open
Unreal.ini and search for [ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem] . Replace everything under that section with the new settings at the bottom of the post here. Replace UseHRTF=Autodetect with UseHRTF=Enable .
- Follow the instructions on this guide. Make sure to use OpenAL Soft 1.18.2 instead of later versions to create the
.mhr files. During step 11, set the Period Count to 2.
- OpenAL Soft 1.20.0 or higher crashes on startup.
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
Not included with original release. 6 was added in via Patch v216. 7 was added via Patch v226 and replaced Direct3D 6 support. To add in Direct3D 8 and 9 support, the OldUnreal 227 Patch is required. For Direct3D 11 support, see D3D11/High Res/Widescreen Fix for 227i and earlier. |
OpenGL |
1.2, 2.0 |
Since patch v216. OldUnreal 227 Patch adds OpenGL 2.0 support. |
Glide |
2.4 |
|
Software renderer |
|
|
Executable | PPC | 16-bit |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows | | |
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macOS (OS X) | | | |
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Linux | | | |
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Mac OS (Classic) | | | |
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Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Audio |
Galaxy Audio, FMOD, OpenAL |
The OldUnreal 227 Patch is required for FMOD and OpenAL. FMOD is used for music, while OpenAL for sound effects. |
Interface |
SDL |
SDL is for Linux only. It uses the V1 series. |
Multiplayer |
GameSpy |
Not used with OldUnreal 227 Patch.[citation needed] |
Mods
Various modifications, custom content such as characters, maps, plugins, and total-conversion mods can be downloaded and installed for Unreal. Like every game in the Unreal franchise, there's a ton of mods floating around the web on fansites like Oldunreal.
Maps
Maps are custom levels that are created using mod tools or editors.
- Unreal User Maps is a website hosted by Oldunreal. They host not only maps but the tools you'll need to make them.
Console commands
A complete list of console commands are listed here.
Running native Linux version
The fastest way possible to run the game on Linux natively is to use one of the Lutris scripts along with Arch Fix one, which fixes the audio issue and for open source GPU drivers it sets the Mesa compatibility to 1999. The script uses OldUnreal's Linux build which can be acquired only by installing the patch through Wine, but in Lutris case it is not necessary as it's included in their repository.
However, as the description notes, you must change the FMODDevices
to 27 in [ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
section in UnrealLinux.ini (Located in System folder) when you change the settings in-game. If the music does not work, get the 32-bit esound package (Sometimes it can be called esd) from the package manager or download one, run esd in Terminal once, then change FMODOutput
to ESD in the same section.
The FAQ for playing Unreal 227 on Linux is on the OldUnreal Wiki.
System requirements
Windows | Mac OS (Classic) | macOS (OS X) | Linux |
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
95 |
98 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 166 MHz
| Intel Pentium II 266 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
16 MB |
128 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
100 MB |
630 MB |
Video card (GPU) |
2 MB of VRAM DirectX 5 compatible
| 3dfx Voodoo 2 12 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible |
Mac OS |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
7.6 |
9.2.2 |
Processor (CPU) |
PowerPC 603e | |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
| |
Other |
2x CD-ROM drive | |
Notes
References