9-9-99
Has it already been 25 years?! Happy 25th to the SEGA Dreamcast!
I had so many great times with the Dreamcast but today I felt like going over one of my most-played games at the time: Unreal Tournament.
I started this game on PC when the demo dropped but I waited for the DC release to get into the full game as my PC barely ran the demo.
I would mostly stick with Capture the Flag as I preferred goofing off by running around and jumping on everything which was easier to do while everyone else was distracted with flags! Due to my desire to run around mindlessly, I would tend to be the one to swing in to sweep the flag from the other base, or at least distract the other team so a teammate can grab it.
I eventually learned about commands you could type into the in-game console and used those to setup key binds that the DC interface didn't mention. For example, the game had a voice/taunt menu you could open by holding a key down. I learned each one could be triggered by a console command as well. So I would bind keys on my keyboard to my most used voice messages.
The problem is the DC version does not save to memory when you bind keys using the console commands. Thus they would be erased at the end of each match. Due to this, I memorized around 7 of them and would speed type them as I waited for each match to begin! That way I would have a key to switch to 3rd person view (which I preferred over first person) along with a few of my favorite voice lines.
I met so many cool people through the DC UT. I used a dinky CRT set on a shelf in my closet and had a keyboard and mouse laid out on 2 folding tables next to my bed. I could barely read the in-game text so I typed in all caps and responded using the in-game voice commands when suitable.
Eventually I would switch to the PC version and get into more game types such as Monster Hunt and Strangelove CTF.
Also with Monster Hunt, I would begin my coding hobby by fiddling with Unreal Script and the Unreal Editor. I'd meet even more cool people through the PC version!
