Like most long-running series, the Unreal series is prone to last-minute cuts and early design decision scraps. Unsurprisingly, many of these ideas found their way anyway onto their respective game as game mods.
For those examples which found their way onto another games, check the Refitted For Sequel page. If a cut item later found its way as a downloadable addon, it's Staff-Created Fan Work, examples of which are located in each game's Trivia page.
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Unreal & Return to Na Pali
While the retail game seems fully featured, Unreal also went through many complete redesigns and had countless amounts of cut content.
- For reference, the Cutting Room Floor has an area dedicated to the prototype versions
and another for the full game. - The original idea for the game, according to Tim Sweeney, was to create a 3D massive multiplayer game which he described as jumping between servers using a game hub. The only remnant from this idea is the cut level "The Gateway".
- A closer look to the cover art for the retail version◊ reveals a lot of stuff that didn't made the cut for either the retail game or the Expansion Pack Return to Na Palinote : an unnamed map taking place in a villa, different skins for the Krall and Brute monsters, the Kevlar Suit room in the Vortex Rikers being circular and having an Assault Vest instead, and a different Nali Castle.
- There were some deathmatch maps which were cut from the final game in Unreal, but appeared in the betas: Eclipse (known as Sky12), Morbfanza (a mashup of Deathmatch levels Ariza, DeathFan and Morbias) and Splash Fortress (a level full of warping portals). On the single-player side of things, the levels Soledad, Morose, Nexus, Nexus End, FHub4, Cryox and Velora Cellars were eventually cut.
- There are a few fully functional monsters (including a giant squid), which appear nowhere in the final game but can be placed with the level editor or by using console commands to spawn them. Some weren't seen in the game because the places which they were in were cut to avoid making a game too long to complete, others were either replaced (like the Krall, who took the place of a centaur-like creature) or removed altogether (like the Dragon), because they disturbed the quality of the game, the team behind which had the goal to make the game live to its full potential.
- The game featured hub levels, most notably "NyLeve's Falls", which would be revisited after "Rrajigar Mine" and "Chizra".
- A gametype called "Kill the Cow" was in the works but ultimately dropped".
- The Warlord was originally going to make a cameo in "Nyleve's Falls", where he kills someone, makes a threatening gesture, and then leaves. It was removed to keep his presence a surprise.
- The original plan for the game featured only a female player character; male options were added later during development.
- Due to memory constraints, many maps had to be split: "Rrajigar Mine"/"Depths of Rrajigar", "Chizra - Nali Water God"/"The Ceremonial Chambers", "Terraniux Underground"/"Terraniux", the three ISV-Kran levels, "Spire Village"/"The Sunspire", "Gateway to Na Pali"/"Na Pali Haven", "Dasa Mountain Pass"/"Cellars at Dasa Pass" and "Skaarj Generator"/"Illumination".
- A demo was alluded to many times by various people at Epic Games during development, however the only demos that were ever released came bundled with various hardware.
- According to the localization files, the tomb mapper Elliott Cannon dedicated to his mascot Myscha in the level "Bluff Eversmoking" was going to feature another fictional dead character, with the inscription for said tomb being "High Priest Na'Then of Yurash 450-561".
- There was also a Playstation version with a completely new campaign called Rise of Jrath that was canceled and never released despite being nearly finished.
- A Nintendo 64 version was allegedly in the works, via the Disc Drive add-on, with said port being made by a smaller division of DMA Design (now Rockstar North). The port was cancelled for two primary reasons: first the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive never left Japan, and even so was a huge flop, and secondly, the division of DMA that was to handle the port went out of business just before DMA was bought out by Rockstar Games and became Rockstar North.
- A Dreamcast port was also in the works, but GT Interactive lost the funding and it was cancelled.
- The Skaarj Queen was originally meant to be flanked by two Skaarj guards protecting her during the Final Boss battle.
- The ending of the base game would've been different from what we've got. Prisoner 849 would've fled to another planet or moon, and the entirety of Return to Na Pali would have played differently or not played at all.
- The expansion Return to Na Pali originally would have featured the Skaarj and Mercenaries as playable races, with exclusive weapons, and the same level could feature different enemies/allies/goals/items depending on the playable race.
- Before leaving Epic Games, Cliff Bleszinski pitched a remaster as his last request before departing the company.
Unreal Tournament
- Again, the Cutting Room Floor has an area dedicated to the prototype versions and another for the full game.
- The game itself started development as an Expansion Pack for Unreal called the "Bot Pack", until Epic Games CEO Mark Rein decided that it would fare better as a standalone game, due to the many changes to the netcode and the massive number of new maps. Hence the entire asset library of Unreal available, with the exception of the music and the maps, are all present in the files, coded and animated and perfectly functional if placed in a map or spawned through the console.
- UT wouldn't have been released when it did, hadn't id Software's own John Carmack announced Quake III: Arena and its release date, which made the development team to shift their focus upon refining and fine-tuning the multiplayer experience of Unreal. And thus, one of gaming's biggest rivalries was born.
- Gametypes:
- Maps:
- The 10 default Unreal Deathmatch maps, the Fusion Map Pack and the Special Edition exclusives were considered for the game. In the end, only Curse, Deck16 and Morbias found their way onto the final game, with Cybrosis, HealPod, Mojo and Shrapnel making it as part of the Bonus Pack 1.
- Several Assault maps originally had voiceovers explaining the objectives, with some still present in the files also indicating that the final objective for AS-Overlord is a combined version of two similar but separate objectives in an earlier version of the level.
- The map DOM-MetalDream was originally going to be an Assault level, set in daylight.
- The beta version of AS-Frigate lacked the boxes in the Cargo Bay, the Compressor objective, many weapons for the attackers, the Minigun turrets and the door above the Compressor room was opened.
- The beta version of AS-Guardia had, as the only spawn room, the first one. Also, there was no deck, but instead there was a submarine.
- The empty cave near the starting location in AS-Mazon had a Redeemer.
- Two regarding AS-Ocean Floor: there used to be a Bio Rifle, but was cut because it was too potent of a weapon for the map; the only remains from this are a single biosludge cartridge still present in the level. Also the beta version had a hidden level entry text: "Go Get Them!!" which later got changed to "Control the underwater base!" in the retail version.
- The beta version of AS-Overlord lacked the defence teleporters, with long way corridors guiding into the defence spots.
- The beta version of AS-Rook had underground cells as the starting spawn point of the attackers. There were also two objectives: destroy two pair of chains located in different rooms and then escape from the castle. It also lacked a lot of rooms.
- Too many regarding CTF-Coret: The beta version of the map had the connection between the side approach of each base and the central area's main entrance separated, so translocating between these areas wasn't possible. Also, in place of the jumppad between the overhead area and the flag base there was a ramp entrance to the defense area, and the overhead area could only be accessed by translocating onto it. There was also a hidden entry text in the beta version of the map: "Welcome to Coret Training Center". It got changed to "Welcome to Coret Facility. Enjoy your stay." in the final version. Finally, the beta version had a player count of 4-8.
- The beta version of CTF-Dreary has the flags enclosed in fields.
- Epic Games' artist Alan Willard wished for more Assault maps to be shipped with the main game, however he revealed they had to compromise because making maps for the gametype is "really hard". According to him, making one is like "making a single player map in the size of a Deathmatch map".
- According to Cliff Bleszinski, the Inoxx Pack (a bonus pack composed of maps created by CTF-Face mapper Cedric "Inoxx" Fiorentino) is composed of maps which weren't finished in time for the retail release and map ideas which Inoxx was tinkering with after the game released.
- An early version of Xan's mugshot indicates he was originally supposed to be named "Bane".
- There's also a "default" mugshot, a black and white picture of Cliff Bleszinski, that's supposed to be used for character models that don't have a defined separate mugshot, but since every character model in the released game has a defined mugshot, in the unmodified game it only shows up in an Easter Egg in DM-Codex.
- Player/Announcer lines and sounds:
- According to Cliff Bleszinski, he wanted the announcer to yell out "Nice Catch" or something like that when the players grabbed someone's gun out of the air after they fragged their enemies and their weapon went flying. The final game features a "Nice Catch!" audio line from the announcer which is unused.
- According again to Bleszinski, he wanted the announcer to yell out "Combo Reversal!" if the players managed to get their foe to accidentally shoot their Shock Rifle alt fire with their primary fire, thus blowing themselves up. Unlike "Nice catch!", there's no announcer line remaining among the game's files.
- There's an unused announcer line called "Assist!".
- There were a few cut taunts, including Xan calling you a "jackoff" and the Male Commando voice making a Fantastic Four reference.
- There was an extra death sound for male characters that was used in an early demo.
- There are several callsigns based on the US' pre-1955 phonetic alphabet which voice lines would refer to each other as. This would have been tied to another feature called "Commander", which in the final game is not used.
- Mutators:
- According again to Cliff Bleszinski, he wanted a "dodge in midair" mutator that allowed the players to jump off a ledge and double tap and move laterally in midair. This would presumably be the inspiration for the ability in Unreal Tournament 2003 to dodge off of walls.
- Bleszinski also wanted a mutator that prevented players from accruing momentum when they toss their translocator up in the air so they can keep translocating up in any given level.
- There were supposed to be Arena mutators for the Minigun and the Impact Hammer, much like the existing mutators for the Shock Rifle, Pulse Gun, Flak Cannon, Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle; later games would cut out the middleman and have a single configurable Arena mutator to pick any weapon.
- The "Jump Match" mutator began as a regular match option.
- Weapons:
- The Enforcer was supposed to reload after every twenty shots like its inspiration, the Automag from Unreal (supposedly, its spread was widened to compensate after reloads were removed).
- The Pulse Gun was originally called Pulse Blaster, it was supposed to reload after fifty shots, and had an overall gray skin rather than the released game's green, as can be seen in one of the official screenshots. The manuals for both retail v400 and Game of The Year Edition v432 keep those features in their description of the weapon.
"The pulse blaster uses clips containing 50 rounds, which must be replaced after they are emptied."- The Ripper also had a different model in earlier versions, with the gun itself appearing like a more "squashed" version of its final model, and the blades themselves just looking like giant CDs before the much more intricate sawblade model used in the final game was created.
- Single-player:
- According to the localization files, the maps DM-Phobos, DM-Gothic, DM-Zeto, DM-Peak, DM-KGalleon, DM-Conveyor, DOM-Sesmar, DOM-Cinder, DOM-Condemned, DOM-Olden and DOM-MetalDream were all considered for the demo version, and there was no CTF ladder as well. In the end only DM-Phobos and DOM-Sesmar survived of the original lineup, while being accompanied by DM-Morpheus, DM-Tempest, DM-Turbine and CTF-Coret completing the Demo lineup.
- According to the localization files, in the ladder, DM-Zeto was going to be featured in the Deathmatch ladder, while DM-Tempest was going to be featured in the Challenge Ladder. In the end, the maps were switched back, but this wasn't reflected in the files.
- According to the localization files, in the Demo ladder, the player fights Darhl twice, but his description hints that it was originally meant that he should be fought thrice. He's only absent from rung 1, where he was going to be introduced.
- Drimacus as one of the default bots in the customizable bot list and Drimacus at the end of the Deathmatch ladder are two different characters, however, the latter has the appearance the former had in the early betas.
- Ice Weasel, one of the deathmatch ladder combatants, started as a customizable bot.
- According to a post-mortem released by Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart, there were plans to have true cinematics for the Ladder mode.
- Programmer Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhardt's post-mortem mentions that the editor that shipped with the game could have contained better features if it wasn't implemented in Visual Basic.
- Epic worked on the demo until the last minute and it was going to be uploaded when hurricane Floyd hit Raleigh the day prior and Epic's offices lost power, fortunately, the demo was uploaded at the end of September 17, 1999.
- A Version 338a demo intended to test a server map change problem was accidentally released but rapidly disowned by Epic.
- According to Tim Sweeney, the reason of why UT didn't have good Open GL support is purely because of market share (at the time, DirectX was the main API used for development).
- Regarding the DE Bonus Pack: initially only the maps were available as separate downloads in December 23, 1999, with the relaunch of DE's website; the "Team Beacon", "Volatile Ammo" and "Volatile Weapon" mutators were announced and released later in January 04, 2000, but due to an error regarding the original .umod installer, were later repackaged and re-released in January 17, 2000. Eventually all of this content was solidified onto a single pack.
- Console versions:
- The PC version's maps DM-Conveyor, DM-Gothic, DM-Peak and DOM-Leadworks were considered for both console versions, but were nixed.
- CTF-Command was considered for the Playstation 2 version.
- The development team not receiving the Internet documentation from Sony's behalf is the only reason why the PS2 version of UT didn't had online multiplayer.
- There was also consideration for updates to be downloaded onto the Playstation 2's memory cards by connecting the PC to the PS2 via USB port, as well as support for custom user content.
- Local multiplayer in the PS2 was meant to support 4-player split-screen play.
- Secret Level got to develop the Dreamcast version of UT after refusal from many other development houses.
- Memory concerns and framerate issues prevented many levels from appearing in the Dreamcast version.
- The initial idea was to release the Dreamcast version of UT without any kind of Internet support.
- Assault was dropped from the DC version months prior to its release. Initially, Domination was also dropped, but its support was restored weeks before release.
- The Dreamcast version's original release date was set to the end of 2000, but it got delayed so the team could work on optimizing the game for 8 players, as well as adding more features such as the return of Domination and Team Deathmatch.
- Every model not called "Male Soldier" was cut from the Dreamcast version. The four final bosses even use repurposed Male Soldier skins.
- DM-Gutter by Mike Bastien, a map created for the console versions, was cut because the map had a lot of vertical gameplay, something that didn't suit well with the console version.
- Before "semi-amicably" leaving Epic Games, James Green pitched the official inclusion of Advanced Model Support into a patch, as well as raising the class limit which would have allowed better mods to come in the future.
- The Unreal Tournament Preservation Group (UTPG) was the first group of community members who began developing community patches for the game, releasing patches for versions 440 and 451, the latter being an infamous patch that broke the Level Editor. A third patch for version 468 was in the works when the group went AWOL and their page was taken down. This is why the OldUnreal team's patch has the version number 469.
Unreal II: The Awakening
Near the time of its final release, the latest version before going gold weighed nearly 8GB due to all the featured content (at a time when even the biggest mainstream releases only hit around 2 or 3 gigs). However half of the game was cut in order to reduce the size of the game.
(at a time when even the biggest mainstream releases only hit around 2 or 3 gigs). However half of the game was cut in order to reduce the size of the game.- For reference, there's a page on the Cutting Room Floor.
- A fully functional multiplayer mode, which had 5 modes, the 4 classic ones and a brand-new one called XMP, were considered, but later dumped in favor of Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Championship, as these games made a multiplayer component for this one redundant.
- One early preview blurb seen in magazine promised features such as dynamic conversations, Humanoid Abomination enemies called the N (of which only three existed in the universe, though they would teleport away when sufficiently injured), Eldritch Abomination enemies called Striders (which were able to join and turn into new forms of enemies), and jellyfish like alien race called the Shian (with concept artwork). None of the stuff appears in the game, and while files pointing to Shian exists in the game files, opening it reveals nothing.
- It also would have included at least 6 new weapons, among them a Grappling-Hook Pistol.
Unreal Championship
- Massive multiplayer battles which involved giant maps and up-to-64-player matches were promised.
- The HUD messages for the betas were taken almost verbatim from those of Tournament. The final HUD was a complete overhaul, with no similarities to Tournament being found.
- The T.A.G. Rifle uses the same model as a previous, unnamed weapon, from the betas, which just shot energy bullets.
- The Assault Rifle was a stronger weapon.
- Many maps ended up being cut or totally different than the beta versions:
- Screenshots present among the game's assets reveal that the future 2003 and 2004 maps BR-Skyline, BR-SlaughterHouse, CTF-December, CTF-TwinTombs, DM-Phobos2, DM-TokaraForest, DOM-Core and DOM-OutRigger were considered for the game, but were eventually dropped because they were too big memory-wise, or their layout clashed with console play.
- CTF-Lethargic is the only map from the betas (which aren't test maps or retail/bonus pack maps with changed names) which didn't made the cut for either 2003, Championship or 2004.
- Other maps cut from Championship and present in the betas were BR-Asteroid, BR-Kroenik, BR/DOM-Osiris (no relation to the map released for 2003 and 2004), BR-Outpost, CTF-Glotrees, CTF-TombOfRassul, DM-Bane (possible prototype for DM-Antalus), DM-Bore, DM-Nexus (no relation with the UC2 map), BR/DOM-Sand-Storm (whose design seems to indicate that it's an early version of BR-Anubis) and DOM-Toronto.
- Crossplay with the PC version (2003) was considered but eventually dropped, since there were too many things to bear in mind to make it a possibility.
- According to one of the developers, the Ripper got taken out because it was a spammy weapon which had a high ratio of luck-based kills.
- DM-Inferno was going to be a retail map for Championship, as seen on the trailers, but work on it couldn't be finished, so instead it was released in the Bonus Pack.
Unreal Tournament 2003
- The Cutting Room Floor has a page dedicated to the game.
- The demo was going to be shipped with a different map lineup: BR-Endagra (BR-Bifrost in the full release), CTF-Chrome, DM-Antalus, DM-Curse3 and DOM-Suntemple. The presence of both Endagra and Suntemple is important because it was going to give a glimpse of the working Ion Painter/Ion Cannon. The final map lineup of the demo was BR-Anubis, CTF-Citadel, DM-Antalus and DM-Asbestos, with CTF-Orbital2 being added in a posterior version, with no Ion Cannon in sight.
- Like in Championship, the Ion Painter model is repurposed from a cut weapon which shot energy bullets.
- Many maps ended up being cut or totally different than the beta versions:
- BR-DE-ElecFields and CTF-DE-LavaGiant2 weren't finished before the launch of 2003. These maps were launched eventually in the DE Bonus Packs, and, the former is even one of the retail maps of 2004.
- BR-SlaughterHouse started as a CTF map.
- DM-Compressed had two big pumps in the center of each circular room. This version made the cut for Championship, but not for 2003 or 2004.
- DM-Molten, from, Championship, was considered for this game.
- There was consideration for "survival guides" in 2003. Championship features a version of them.
- Full-loadout spawns where players would start with all weapons except superweapons and XMP-like recharging stations for health/ammo/armor were also mentioned in earlier interviews, back when the game was known as Unreal Tournament 2.
- One piece of early UT2 artwork◊ shows a character who didn't made it to any Unreal game. The character in question looks a lot like Street Fighter Alpha's Rainbow Mika.
Unreal Tournament 2004
- Many maps ended up being cut or totally different than the beta versions:
- CTF-DE-LavaGiant2 from 2003's DE Bonus Pack couldn't be included in 2004 or any later release due to a rebuild problem, though this being Unreal, a fan eventually fixed the map and ported it over himself.
- Some promotional videos and screenshots for 2004 showed two extra maps for that game which didn't make the cut: ONS-Rise and ONS-Thor.
- Other maps which were removed from development were CTF-DuneBridge, ONS-AlienWorlds and ONS-Layn.
- The Phoenix, the flying bomber which is called by the Target Painter, was going to be a flying vehicle, but was made redundant with the Cicada, Avril, and, oh, your rocket launcher.
- According to the E3 trailer, Onslaught was going to feature adrenaline pickups and combos. It was dropped for the final version. This being an Unreal game, it eventually got added via a mutator.
- The map AS-MZ-HighRise, one of the five winners of the Best Assault Map category in the MSUC, was going to get added to the Bonus Pack 2, but didn't made the cut.
- According to an early preview, there was going to be a full-fledged team of Necris, returning from Tournament. All that remains from it are two separated player characters (Thannis and Kragoth) from the ECE Bonus Pack.
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
- This game started as Unreal Tournament 2005, due to Atari wanting an Unreal Tournament game with FIFA-esque regularity, in order to emphasize the "sport" part of the franchise. Then, the title changed and it became an Xbox exclusive game.
- Also, it was going to be the first game using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, but it was changed early in the dev cycle to use the Unreal Engine 2X and be an Xbox exclusive.
- Xan Kriegor was going to be playable, with a feet-less concept. This feature alone cut him out of the game, as the dev team couldn't find a solution to the concept which clashed with the gameplay.
- According to another developer, a vehicle-based gametype was created, with even specialized maps, but they clashed with the core mechanics of the game, so it didn't made the cut for the game.
- Remakes and adaptations of DmElsinore, DM-Conveyor and DM-Aqua_Mortis were being developed before being scrapped.
- Scion Studios was creating maps for the game before pulling off. There were nearly 30 maps that got cut.
- Among the map files themselves, there were references to cut items such as "large" versions of the Explosive Ammo and Energy Ammo items, "Large" and "Super" Armor items, and a "Shield Booster".
- There were plans to introduce a non-Liandri "Tech" style for the maps.
- Domination (or its Unreal Engine 2 counterpart Double Domination) and a racing gametype called Death Race were considered for the game. Each had one map done for them, at least, called Momentum and Industry, respectively.
- Among the final game's files, there are some assets pointing to a Capture the Flag map called CTF-MetalStorm, which was never released in any form.
Unreal Tournament 3
- There were going to be massive multiplayer battles which involved giant maps, multiple objectives, side missions, and up to 64 players. This mode was going to be called Conquest, an RTS game inside of an FPS, and it was replaced by Warfare, a modernized version of Onslaught.
- Malcolm was going to be playable at some point.
- In a 2005 interview with Mike Capps, he told that players could command bots by voice and they will report back current situation. It never made into retail in that form.
- The teams Juggernauts, Nakhti and a team called "Jakob's team" were considered for the game.
- Earlier previews showed that the "Canister Gun" was planned to be ported over from UC2 as a Grenade Launcher/Mine Layer/Bio Rifle hybrid, but then they realized it was going to be super complicated implementing 2 different possible ammo types simultaneously on the same gun.
- Some maps featured on pre-release screenshots never made into final game or were heavily altered:
- One of the earliest known public demos was played on a map named DM-E3City. It featured Malcolm blasting his way through streets and completing objectives.
- WAR-OnyxCoast was originally going to be much larger and featured interactive objects like destroyable terrain, seen from the UT2007 trailer.
- WAR-ColdHarbor and CTF-SearchLight not only were going to be included in the retail version, but were also meant to be part of the campaign (possibly in chapters 4 and 5, respectively). They didn't made the cut, though the former appeared as a console-exclusive map for the Xbox 360 version, the later was released with the Bonus Pack 1, and both were included in the Titan Pack.
- CTF-FacingWorlds was meant to be shipped with the retail game, but couldn't be finished in time. It, however, was later released with the Bonus Pack 1.
- DM-CarbonFire had a ramp leading from Shock Rifle up to the catwalk, no pit with UDamage and Berserk, and a different skybox.
- In the UT2007 trailer it was shown that Orb carriers could get the Orb itself onto vehicles. In the final game, entering into a vehicle while carrying the Orb will force you to drop it.
- Due to their presence in the default map lists (with some nasty consequences), the maps DM-Hardcore and DM-Revenant were meant to be shipped with the game, but ultimately cut. They never made it for either base game or Downloadable Content.
Unreal Tournament 4
- Many maps were dumped from the early pre-Alphas, them being (as of the August 2017 pre-alpha) Flag Run/Blitz's maps Blackstone and HighRoad; Capture the Flag maps CrashSite (the first asymmetrical CTF map made for the game) Lance and Mine; and Deathmatch maps Column, Kapow, MorbiasTest, Overlord, RGB, Sand, SidCastle and Vortex.
- Vehicles were also under consideration, if the presence of a "Vehicles" development subforum is anything to go by.
- Liandri Robots were also going to be included very late into development, but by the time they could have appeared, Epic dedicated all of its resources into Fortnite Battle Royale and halted development on UT4.
Other
- Unreal Tournament II was a real work, until lots of changes in gameplay (including the addition of the Bombing Run gamemode) led Epic to decide that it'd be a sports-themed game with yearly releases, and thus became UT2003, UT2004 , UT2005 and UT2007. There was no UT2006, though, because Epic was working on Gears of War at the time.
- There was a cancelled project called Unreal Warfare, which became Gears of War, according to Word of God. The name was used again to refer to a new gamemode for Unreal Tournament III, which ended up being basically Onslaught's power-cores-and-nodes with Assault-style mini-objectives added.
