Urban Terror News

Official news channel

The winter season is with us, and it is time for an update on the team as well as the first instalment of the long awaited Q&A feedback.




Recently we welcomed two additional members to the team!

We're delighted to welcome Clear into the team. A talented programmer and previous FS member who is in the process of completing a Computer Engineering degree. Clearskies has joined our team to help develop, improve and add to our core gameplay programming, and is currently hard at work refining our movement system.

In addition, give a warm UrT welcome to our new Sound Designer, JHyde. Jack recently completed an MSc in Sound Design, and has incredible experience creating interactive soundscapes, experimental ambience and working in post production. Jack is working on the in-game map audio, currently focused on creating a new soundscape for the beloved map Orbital.




While the Development Team have been working away behind the scenes, bringing Urban Terror 5 ever closer to public release, and the community members on the QA Team have been busy bug reporting and providing valuable gameplay feedback, we have taken the time to review over eighty questions submitted by the community to our Q&A posts; the original intention was to select a few good questions to answer, however, it was difficult to choose just a few, so the team have provided answers to almost all of them; we will post these in batches over the coming months, starting with the first set below, keep an eye on the News Board for the next set in a few weeks!

Thank you for your patience, we hope you find these answers informative...

What have you accomplished in the past year?
In the past year we have progressed from having a working backbone of the game with a few characters, weapons and two or three of work-in-progress maps being tested by the developers, to having a QA Team of approximately thirty community members, a more robust and reliable game, more developed characters and weapons, and seven almost complete maps; in fact, so many things! Because of (or thanks to?) the COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year, we've been able to dedicate a lot more time to the game than usual. We are currently preparing our 15th private alpha release, with each one being comprised of several dozens of bug fixes and improvements, as well as many changes thanks to the testers' feedback. The use of Steam and continuous build and deployment really helped us speed up the development of the game.

Will crouching mid-air continue to increase accuracy?
With regard to Urban Terror 4 movement bugs that became quirks of gameplay, and whether those quirks will be reproduced; Our policy so far has been that we only reimplement bugs as features if they are either: required to recreate the feeling of Urban Terror, for Jump map compatibility, or because it is fun by itself and does not cause other negative effects. This particular quirk doesn't really fall into those groups.

Will it have a spectacle UI; stream ; OVERLAY; function for see every player?
There will be a basic spectator UI and over time we will build on it.

Will you provide a tutorial or a video for newbie? Like how to move, simple mechanic?
There will very likely be a few “how to get started videos”, we also have a Jump tutorial map almost finished.

Will we implement matchmaking, ladder rank, division rank, etc?
Regarding Matchmaking, leagues, rankings and alike; it is too early in the development of the game to make any firm decisions on these supporting features, so it is not possible to say what will or will not be available at release or at a later date, however, some discussion has started and we have a team member looking at options; the picture will be clearer as we head into the next year, and as that happens, community feedback will add to the decision process regarding the finer details of what the supporting services will include.

Mouse input, will that be different or the same?
All mouse input is raw and uses identical settings to Quake. Mouse acceleration is not yet implemented but probably will be at some point, and at the very least provide a Quake compatibility mode.

Will "funstuff" feature in the game? if so, how will it be accessible?
We like funstuffs! There are some crazy ones out there. We'll probably start fresh and gradually add more to the game, and surely get a user friendly in-game User Interface. Adding community-submitted content is not out of the question.

Will there be knife throwing?
Knife throwing is a feature we are planning to include.

Will the Bleeding system be the same?
The bleeding system will be pretty much the same as the current system.

Will we be able to choose what protection we want to use?
The idea of choosing what protection to use (Kevlar, leg protection + helmet protection + arms protection) has been a thought but no real discussion. Right now we’re sticking with helmet and Kevlar.

What new features are there compared to UrT 4?
We've hinted some new features in the past months, especially on the official UrT Discord where we post a lot of WIP screenshots and videos. Among them, vaulting, wall running, piercing bullets, jump mode ghosts, loadouts and more…

Will there be an option to lower the graphics effects so people with less powerful PCs can enjoy the game?
There will be several graphics settings, from Low to Ultra, as well as the range of screen resolutions, both of which will make a big difference in terms of FPS and map effects. We're trying to optimize for low-end hardware, but that low end might not reach the 20 years old Q3A levels.

Will there be an Anti-Cheat system?
Initially we will be using Valve's Anti-Cheat (VAC) solution; players caught by VAC will have their Steam accounts banned by Valve. We have also just added 'IP Blocking'.

Will the game have things to purchase?
Having things to purchase in-game like player skins and weapons skins is absolutely something that we'd like to do eventually, but it is very far down our list of priorities for the game!

What vision/plan for the future does Frozen Sand have for Urban Terror?
Regarding a vision the developers have for Urban Terror; Since we are a team of volunteers that frequently changes, there is no single unifying vision. We all love the gameplay of Urban Terror. We love how accessible it is for new players, but we also love how deep and rewarding its competitive side is. There is not a single "right" way to play Urban Terror, and we'll continuously refine and improve every aspect of it so that no matter what part of it appeals most to you, you can always have a good time.

Will you play your game?
You betcha we will be playing the game, we're already enjoying playing it every day. :)

You can find the original question threads here;
> Forums
> Reddit

Stay tuned for the next set of answers in the coming weeks!

Wishing you all well, Team FS.