Overview
Crash/Error on first boot? Quick Fix inside!
QUICK FIX
For the people who do not want to read all or who ran into an unfixable issue.
Just dump all files from the dropbox link below in your UT2004/System folder. If you have made changes to gamesettings already, you might want to backup files before overwriting them.
[link]
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
This Quick Fix contains solution 5 from below in the guide, firewall fix and FPS being unlocked for online play.
Take note that these are my personnel settings. I play on a 16:10 screen, you should change the FOV to 106 if you play on a 16:9 screen by opening the console with tab or ` and type: fov 106. For old CRT monitors or people who play bordered on 4:3 resolutions you should change the FOV value to 90 for the best game experience.
Table of Content
Fixes for:
– Crash/Error on first launch (5 different solutions)
– CD Key issues
– Firewall issues
Tips for:
– Screenresolutions
– FOV (field of view)
– FPS unlock for online play
Thank you all for reporting issues and giving feedback on given tips and given potential fixes over time in the UT2004 forum on Steam. With all the information gathered you all contributed to this guide. As well thank you DX8 to 9 converter modders for making a stunning game work fully functional on the latest version of Windows.
FIX: Game Crash/Launch Errors (5 solutions)
Launching the game on Windows 10 or on specific Nvidia graphiccard models the Steam version of UT2004 will crash instantly.
The Steam version of UT2004 calls a D3D9 render by the .ini file which is not present anymore in the latest version of the game. UT2004 is a DX8 game. The game should fall back to D3D, but somehow it does not do that for several Nvidia models resulting in a crash.
Microsoft added DX12 to Windows 10. Windows 10 supports DX9 games and higher by full. Some full screen gamefunctions for DX8 or older games have been depreciated.
DX8 games, such as UT2004, no longer boot in exclusive full screen modus, but get forced by Windows to boot windowed without borders. Visually you will not see the difference, but the way the game is rendered, is able to call functions and is being detected by capture software it is totally different. If you make use of solution 2 below and frequently alt-tab you will notice that the taskbar is sometimes shown over your game which confirms it is not in exclusive full screen, but just a window. Thank you [link] (SteamID64 76561198025979038) for finding out what DX12 actually does differently compared to older versions of DX/Windows and reporting it in the steam forum!
To solve the issue of UT2004 crashing we simply need to work around all that is causing it and there are several options to do that which all have their own pros and cons.
(fast and simple but not recommended because playing in a window)
Step 1:
Search in the Systemut2004.ini for StartupFullscreen=True and change it into False.
Step 2:
Search in the Systemut2004.ini for [Engine.Engine] and swap the columns to how it is shown below for the lines involved:
[Engine.Engine]
RenderDevice=D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=D3D9Drv.D3D9RenderDevice
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
This will boot the game in windowed modus. Depreciated functions, such as mousecorrection, will not be available. The game will make use of the colorsystem you use in Windows. Videooptions such as Gamma, Saturation and Contrast sliders are greyed out or functional but practicly will not change your videosettings.
(fast and simple but not recommended because reported minor hitregistration issues online)
Step 1:
Search in the Systemut2004.ini for ReduceMouseLag=True and change it into false.
Step 2:
Search in the Systemut2004.ini for [Engine.Engine] and swap the columns to how it is shown below for the lines involved:
[Engine.Engine]
RenderDevice=D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=D3D9Drv.D3D9RenderDevice
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
This will boot the game in full screen but rendered as windowed modus. Depreciated functions, such as mousecorrection, will not be available. The game will make use of the colorsystem you use in Windows. Videooptions such as Gamma, Saturation and Contrast sliders are greyed out or functional but practicly will not change your videosettings.
(fast and simple with minor bugs)
Step 1:
Search in the Systemut2004.ini for [Engine.Engine] and swap the columns to how it is shown below for the lines involved:
[Engine.Engine]
;RenderDevice=D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=D3D9Drv.D3D9RenderDevice
RenderDevice=OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=Engine.NullRenderDevice
;RenderDevice=PixoDrv.PixoRenderDevice
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
This will boot the game rendered with OpenGL. There are some minor differences between OpenGL and D3D render such as lightning/colordifferences (campgrounds torches red/orange vs blue and rasters vague). Rendering the game in OpenGL will limit streaming/recording options.
(fast and simple with minor bugs)
Install a modded 64bit version of the launcher. Instructions to install and download can be found: [link]
This will boot the game in full exclusive screen in D3D9 render. Some claim this 64 bit version makes the game perform better. However I read that it also neglects to perform drawings at some point just as the OpenGL render does to increase performance. Tested on my tablet and PC I do not experience any difference in performance nor any visual difference compared to the 32 bit version. The performance boost can be different for very old machines. On alt-tabbing the game crashes however far too often for me and hitsounds do not reflect the amount of impactdamage done as this mod makes use of OpenAL audio render instead of what it normally makes use of.
(advanced with potential performance decrease if not set up correctly)
I used this solution as QUICK FIX and altered it’s ini. To however manually install all the required files and apply changes to files see: [link] for detailed instructions.
This will boot the game in full exclusive screen being rendered as D3D9. All depreciated functions are functional. You will find no bugs other than those that are in the original game. This converter adds by default videooptions that can decrease the performance of the game significantly. Those options have been turned off in the .ini I use as posted under the QUICK FIX.
Some people get performance issues with the editor upon using this converter. They seem to get it fixed by replacing the D3D9 file that comes with the converter for the one from:
[link]
FIX: Invalid CD Key
Make sure you have file writing rights in the location where you install UT2004. If you do not have administration rights on your computer, install the game anywhere but C:Program Files. Un-install the game and upon downloading the game again from Steam, change the installationpath to for example C:UT2004.
If you already have file writing rights and still run into a CD-key issue:
1. Re-install the 3369 patch and check if the game will run
[link]
2. If not running already perform the following steps:
Exit Steam
Go to the Start menu > Run > type in “regedit” > select OK
Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREUnreal TechnologyInstalled AppsUT2004
On 64-bit versions of Windows, the location is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeUnreal TechnologyInstalled AppsUT2004
Write down the Data contents for the CDKey entry. Right-click on CDKey and select Delete.
Close the Registry Editor
Delete UT2004.ini
Navigate to …steamappscommonunreal tournament 2004System (default location C:Program FilesSteam)
Find and make a back-up of the file UT2004.ini. Delete UT2004.ini. (Note: if you have been having trouble getting the game to run, this file may not exist).
Verify your GCF Cache files
Start Steam.
Navigate to your My Games tab, right-click on the game and select Properties > Local files tab > “Verify integrity of game cache…”
Wait until the process is finished.
Run the game.
FIX: Firewall issues
With decent anti-virus / firewall software you should not have to make changes at all, but in case you do run in a firewall error, check this guide: [link]
Any virtual machine, including running android emulators can still trigger to block UT from internet access despite having done all in the above guide.
When you host a server from your home and your friends cannot connect to the server, it is probably because traffic gets blocked by your router. If this is the case, your server will show up in the serverbrowser with N/A as ping. As well you will not be able to connect to the webadmin if you enabled it.
To solve: forward the ports that UT2004 uses through the firewall. The following guide should help and covers most routers on the market: [link]
Thank you [link] for posting your comment about port forwarding on the steam forum.
Tips
UT2004 was made in a time when everybody had CRT screens and played on screenresolutions of 4:3 like 800×600 or 1600×1200 when you had a beast of a PC. Nowadays we all make use of different screensizes or multi-monitor setups.
You can change the screenresolution to anything you like. Be aware that the video output can cause a black screen if you put in a resolution that your screen does not support.
To change your resolution in the game, open the console by pressing TAB or ` and type for example ‘setres 1920×1080’.
You can also change the screenresolution in the SystemUT2004.ini file when you are not running the game.
Search for FullscreenViewportX=1920 and FullscreenViewportY=1080 and change the values to anything you wish.
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
Do not forget to change your FOV if you change your screenresolution to a different aspect ratio.
Newer games automaticly apply FOV changes when you change the resolution, but UT2004 does not. If you play with a 16:9 screen resolution and play with a 4:3 FOV, then you will likely find your mouse input not matching with what happens on the screen. The mousemovement gets visually accelerated.
Some people toy around with any kind of FOV, but the native for most common aspectratios are:
4:3 screen = 90
16:9 screens = 106.26
16:10 screens = 100.39
If you have a different setup you can caluclate the fov at: [link]
To change your FOV in the game, open the console by pressing TAB or ` and type for example ‘fov 100.39’. Note: it changes the next time you spawn. Try FOV 180 for funny effect.
You can also change the FOV in the SystemUser.ini file when you are not running the game.
Search for DesiredFOV=100.39 and DefaultFOV=100.39 and put in your desired values.
If you cannot find the location where you have UT installed. Right click on the game in your library on Steam. Go properties, local files, browse local files.
What many people are not aware of is that online games have by default the FPS capped at 90 FPS. This can cause visual lag. To unlock the FPS you should follow this guide:
[link]
In addition some servers are setup that they limit the FPS of the user even when the FPS at users end has been unlocked.
To check if a server is still locking your FPS to around 90, open the console by pressing TAB or ` and type ‘stat fps’.
If so, open the console again and type ‘netspeed 12500’. You should see your FPS increase instantly.
Instead of manually typing things each time in the console to unlock your FPS you can bind a key to apply it. Open the console and type: set L netspeed 12500. Each time you press L the FPS will get unlocked. You can ofcourse choose any key you wish to bind it.