Originally called UTEngine, Surreal Engine is a community-made attempt to reimplement enough of the original Unreal Engine to get games like the original Unreal Tournament (99) working.
An interesting project that's been around for quite some time now, but it does appear to be progressing nicely. It can currently detect certain versions of Unreal Tournament, Unreal Gold, Deus Ex and Klingon Honor Guard. Although they say currently only Unreal Tournament v436 is in a "relatively playable state".
From the GitHub page:
The engine can load and render the maps. The Unrealscript VM is almost feature complete - only arrays and network conditional execution are not implemented yet.
It will attempt to load all level actors and initialize the map. However, while the menus and the HUD will appear, there are still many native functions not implemented yet. It is also quite possible some events aren't firing as they should. You will therefore see exceptions shown if you interact with them and that is where the project is at.
Picture credit: Surreal Engine team.
There's also OldUnreal which patches up the original Unreal Tournament, but it's not open source as it uses the original from Epic whereas Surreal Engine is open source under the zlib license.
It's worth noting that Epic Games don't support their classic games in any way now, they even entirely removed a whole bunch of them like Unreal Tournament from all storefronts. Not even keeping them to their own store, just killing them off. Oh and don't expect Fortnite to run on Linux / Steam Deck any time soon.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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16 comments
The name of this project really made me smile - "Surreal Engine" is just such a great name. 
10 Likes, Who?
Still disappointed Epic removed the UT games for no real reason
Would you say it was an unreal reason?
12 Likes, Who?
Ooooh, interesting!
Good thing I still have Unreal Gold, Unreal 2, and Unreal Tournament on my GOG.com account. Seeing this makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to play Rune on this engine.
And speaking of Rune, the developers announced a new game in the series years ago, but it seems like nothing has come of it.
Good thing I still have Unreal Gold, Unreal 2, and Unreal Tournament on my GOG.com account. Seeing this makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to play Rune on this engine.
And speaking of Rune, the developers announced a new game in the series years ago, but it seems like nothing has come of it.
6 Likes, Who?
ThatSpoonyBard Jan 23
Ooooh, interesting!
Good thing I still have Unreal Gold, Unreal 2, and Unreal Tournament on my GOG.com account. Seeing this makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to play Rune on this engine.
And speaking of Rune, the developers announced a new game in the series years ago, but it seems like nothing has come of it.
So, Rune II was released. But it has also been delisted. Not sure what happened, but it seems that no one really enjoyed this version.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/821290/RUNE_II_Decapitation_Edition/
3 Likes, Who?
Though I managed to run Rune on modern distros, I would love to have Rune AND Deus Ex implementations. That would be the most anticipated engine reimplantation project!
4 Likes, Who?
There is a nice selection of games that runs on Unreal Engine 1. There will be excellent news when/if Surreal manage to run some of them.
4 Likes, Who?
wvstolzing Jan 23
Though I managed to run Rune on modern distros, I would love to have Rune AND Deus Ex implementations. That would be the most anticipated engine reimplantation project!
Absolutely; it would obviate the need for Kent's Launcher over wine.
0 Likes
legluondunet Jan 23
"It's worth noting that Epic Games don't support their classic games in any way now, they even entirely removed a whole bunch of them like Unreal Tournament from all storefronts. Not even keeping them to their own store, just killing them off. Oh and don't expect Fortnite to run on Linux / Steam Deck any time soon."
The worst online game store, please do not give your money to this store, do not accept their free games...Epic does not deserve any attention from Linux community...
Recently I would buy "Alan Wake remake" and "Alan Wake 2" on Steam --> Not possible, Epic exclusive
I liked to play Rocket League on Steam --> game is now Epic exclusive
I would like to buy old Unreal games like Unreal, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004 --> no more available anywhere, like explained in article, they put off this games from Steam, GOG etc...and they are also not available on their Epic store. You want to play this games again: buy an old CD on EBAY or (censored idea).
And don't forget this tweet from his founder:
https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/964284402741149698
As a Linux gamer I buy my games firstly in Steam because if I can play AAA games today on my computer, it's largely thanks to Valve, they deserve my support. I buy games on GOG too. But never on EPIC until their founders show support for Linux platform.
Last edited by legluondunet on 23 January 2024 at 4:58 pm UTC
The worst online game store, please do not give your money to this store, do not accept their free games...Epic does not deserve any attention from Linux community...
Recently I would buy "Alan Wake remake" and "Alan Wake 2" on Steam --> Not possible, Epic exclusive
I liked to play Rocket League on Steam --> game is now Epic exclusive
I would like to buy old Unreal games like Unreal, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004 --> no more available anywhere, like explained in article, they put off this games from Steam, GOG etc...and they are also not available on their Epic store. You want to play this games again: buy an old CD on EBAY or (censored idea).
And don't forget this tweet from his founder:
https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/964284402741149698
As a Linux gamer I buy my games firstly in Steam because if I can play AAA games today on my computer, it's largely thanks to Valve, they deserve my support. I buy games on GOG too. But never on EPIC until their founders show support for Linux platform.
Last edited by legluondunet on 23 January 2024 at 4:58 pm UTC
10 Likes, Who?
"It's worth noting that Epic Games don't support their classic games in any way now, they even entirely removed a whole bunch of them like Unreal Tournament from all storefronts. Not even keeping them to their own store, just killing them off. Oh and don't expect Fortnite to run on Linux / Steam Deck any time soon."Epic funded Alan Wake 2 and the remaster, I think, so it does make sense for them to leverage the investment. And it's a cool thing they funded - as opposed to a lot of what they've been doing or saying.
The worst online game store, please do not give your money to this store, do not accept their free games...Epic does not deserve any attention from Linux community...
Recently I would buy "Alan Wake remake" and "Alan Wake 2" on Steam --> Not possible, Epic exclusive
I liked to play Rocket League on Steam --> game is now Epic exclusive
I would like to buy old Unreal games like Unreal, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004 --> no more available anywhere, like explained in article, they put off this games from Steam, GOG etc...and they are also not available on their Epic store. You want to play this game again: buy an old CD on EBAY or (censored idea).
And don't forget this tweet from his founder:
https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/964284402741149698
As a Linux gamer I buy my games firstly in Steam because if I can play AAA games today on my computer, it's largely thanks to Valve, they deserve my support. I buy games on GOG too. But never on EPIC until their founders show support for Linux platform.
That tweet, though - oof.
2 Likes, Who?
Ooooh, interesting!
Good thing I still have Unreal Gold, Unreal 2, and Unreal Tournament on my GOG.com account. Seeing this makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to play Rune on this engine.
And speaking of Rune, the developers announced a new game in the series years ago, but it seems like nothing has come of it.
(I'm not the main dev/repo owner, but a contributor to the project)
I got a PR open for detecting Rune Classic, but currently the engine just crashes lol.
Also, Unreal Gold support had some improvements very recently: formerly only the castle flyby would work, now it is possible to load and play deathmatch maps too! The same limitations with UT apply though, and single player maps crash atm.
3 Likes, Who?
Funnily, I was thinking in replay the UT99 a few days ago. I never had luck on OldUnreal, it just runs a bit weird, however WINE makes a good job here. I'll try Surreal later.
[EDIT]
From the README:
So the playable state is without bots, I think that it still need some time in the oven.
Last edited by fagnerln on 23 January 2024 at 11:30 pm UTC
[EDIT]
From the README:
From the list above, only Unreal Tournament v436 is in a relatively playable state. Running any other game (and UT versions) can and will result in crashes. Unreal Gold v226 also runs but is significantly more buggy compared to UT (only the intro map really works)
Unreal Tournament v436
The game launches, menu options will work and botmatches can be played, however the bots won't have any AI, and some maps will have some functionality missing (like DM-Morpheus will not have the "X leading the match" screens work).
So the playable state is without bots, I think that it still need some time in the oven.
Last edited by fagnerln on 23 January 2024 at 11:30 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Funnily, I was thinking in replay the UT99 a few days ago.That would have been about the time my little one got to play UT99 for the very first time.
0 Likes
I never had luck on OldUnreal, it just runs a bit weird, however WINE makes a good job here.
As weird as it sounds, Linux native files of the OldUnreal need to be installed via Wine. Most Linux libs are in Help folder. You can put them in System folder one by one with trial error method until it finally launches.
2 Likes, Who?
That sounds like one of those things that as you say I can do, but will not, instead playing some other game or doing something completely different with my time.I never had luck on OldUnreal, it just runs a bit weird, however WINE makes a good job here.
As weird as it sounds, Linux native files of the OldUnreal need to be installed via Wine. Most Linux libs are in Help folder. You can put them in System folder one by one with trial error method until it finally launches.
0 Likes
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