UT2004 Tweak Guide
[Page 13] Conclusion
Replacing the UT2004 Loadup Graphic
The UT2004 loadup graphic which starts the moment you run UT2004 is relatively ugly, but can be customized quickly and easily. Just go to your \UT2004\Help directory and make a backup copy of the UT2004Logo.bmp file. You can now replace this with any picture you like, give it the name UT2004Logo.bmp (make sure it's an 8-Bit Bitmap picture though), and it will load instead each time you run UT2004. If you're really lazy like me, you can copy the InstallerLogo.bmp file in the same directory and rename it to UT2004Logo.bmp, giving a smaller, cleaner looking startup logo, and saving 200KB of RAM at the same time!
UT2004 Music
All of the UT2004 music is in Vorbis .Ogg format, and can be found under the \UT2004\Music directory. You can use a free music player like WinAmp to listen to these songs. For more details on how to extract and convert .Ogg files to other formats, see my Game Music Extraction Guide.
Benchmarking UT2004
As of the 3204 Patch, UT2004 has gained an official built-in benchmark (like the one UT2003 had). To use the benchmark, go to your \UT2004\System\ directory and run the Benchmark.exe file (double-click on it). You will be put through a series of four benchmarks, with results provided at the end of the run in a small dialog box. These results are also recorded in various sub-directories under your \UT2004\Benchmark\ directory.
Note that if you've only installed one of the more recent UT2004 patches, such as the very latest one, and haven't installed the previous patches (especially the 3204 patch) at some point then the Benchmark program may not be in your \UT2004\System\ directory. Usually, installing the latest patch applies all the changes and updates from all previous patches as well, but in this case Epic has removed the Benchmark file from the latest patches. As a solution you can either uninstall and reinstall UT2004, applying the 3204 patch first, then the latest patch. Alternatively, I recommend you use UMark to benchmark UT2004 as it is much better and doesn't require that you mess around with your existing install of UT2004.
Conclusion
Well after an exhausting 13 pages this guide comes to a close. I know some of you are wondering "Man, couldn't you have cut this thing down a bit?". Well, no, not really. I prefer to give as full a description as possible for each setting and tweak, giving the reader the information they need to make their own performance vs image quality choices. I definitely don't want to tell people to simply "turn this off" or "set that to False". I just don't write guides like that.
Anyway, I hope you found this guide useful. There will always be more tweaks and tips discovered, and more changes to UT2004 due to patches and bonus packs. So please keep coming back to TweakGuides.com for details on the impacts of these changes.
If you have any feedback on this guide please Email Me. Please remember though that I can't provide personal tech support or tweaking advice for time reasons.
Credits and Links
I've compiled this guide based on my knowledge of the Unreal Engine, which I've used in the past to write the original UT2003 Tweak Guide, and my America's Army Tweak Guide . Much of what you see here has been drawn from those earlier guides.
However in researching UT2004 I have learnt a great deal from various posts, articles and tidbits found on the following websites and forums. I urge you to check these sites out if you're a fan of UT2004:
StratosGroup UT2004 Strategy Guide
Finally, I want to extend a big thanks to all the great guys and gals on the Overclockers Australia Forums who have supported my guides, and helped me in starting up my new site.
Until next time, take care!
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