1 Information
OpenUA (UA:Source) is a clean-room open-source engine re-implementation project of the original Urban Assault game engine.
2 Overview
OpenUA (also known as 'UA_Source') is a reverse engineering/re-implementation project started by user Zidane. The project originally had a public development & discussion thread on Stoudson Corporation forums. The main objective is to reconstruct the original UA engine and (re-)implement certain features and updates via modern, platform-independent technology that are better compatible with modern computer hardware and different operating systems.
Currently, OpenUA is fully playable in the single-player mode. Although there are some technical differences between the original UA engine, these are usually trivial. Nowadays, using OpenUA instead the original game is recommended as a reliable way to resolve most problems that occur on modern systems and hardware. OpenUA now also supports a primitive multiplayer functionality and many other new features as well, although they are still in development.
Since many parts of the code have been reconstructed, refactored, or improvised from the original game's algorithms, UA_Source may contain new types of bugs of its own, and the gameplay experience may not be strictly identical to the original UA in all aspects. However, OpenUA also offers various advanced and improved performance and settings on modern systems and hardware, as well as fixing a few bugs that were present in the original game engine.
3 Objectives
3.1 Implemented
- Rewrite the game engine, make it portable and modulable.
- Rectify the AI Helicopter Bug.
- Replace D3D/DDraw/DInput/DSound with SDL2/OpenGL/OpenAL.
- Add support for Metropolis Dawn expansion and its functions.
- Implement new language files support, replace language.dll with text format files.
- Implement music player (replace CD-based music player).
- Implement video player.
- Implement in-game Situation Analyzer function.
- Add native Windowed mode support.
- Add custom shaders functionality.
- Other miscellaneous improvements.
- Implement basic and primitive multiplayer functionality (unfinished and unstable).
3.2 Not implemented
- New fully functional and stable multiplayer engine.
4 New OpenUA Configuration Parameters
As a part of development, many new configuration parameters that are exclusive to OpenUA were implemented.
The options are listed below and can be added into the NUCLEUS.ini file which is located in the main folder of UA:
tune.weapon_radius = off
gfx.blending = 0
gfx.solidfont = off
gfx.vsync = 1
gfx.maxfps = 60
gfx.newsky = on
gfx.skydistance = 3000
gfx.skylength = 500
gfx.vbo = yes
gfx.color_effects = 0
; gfx.color_eff_pwr[0] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[1] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[2] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[3] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[4] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[5] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[6] = 100
gfx.color_eff_pwr[7] = 100
particles.limit = 5000
menu.windowed = offThese parameters are fully integral parts of the new OpenUA functionality, and some of them are considered imperative for running the game on OpenUA smoothly.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to add these new options into NUCLEUS.ini file of the OpenUA directory. If key parameters are missing it may adversely affect the OpenUA performance, or even result in a glitch.
5 FAQ
5.1 Running the Urban Assault on OpenUA
Manual installation instructions will be covered here in future.
For now, downloading and using OpenUA Standalone Package is recommended (see Downloads below).
More to come...
5.2 Running the Metropolis Dawn expansion pack on OpenUA
Manual installation instructions will be covered here in future.
For now, downloading and using OpenUA Standalone Package is recommended (see Downloads below).
More to come...
5.3 Running the Urban Assault Trial (Demo) on OpenUA
Manual installation instructions will be covered here in future.
For now, downloading and using OpenUA Standalone Package (Demo) is recommended (see Downloads below).
More to come...
6 Downloads
The core OpenUA build releases are available on the main GitHub repository. The downloads section here will cover the frequently recommended files.
6.1 Downloading the OpenUA Standalone Package (Highly recommended for most users)
OpenUA Standalone Package - Full Game
(NOTE: OpenUA Standalone Package is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for normal users who want a quick and stable way to play the game on modern hardware without further workarounds. This is a full standalone game package with the original game data (Urban Assault + Metropolis Dawn expansion pack) contents that requires no installation process, with the latest stable UA:Source files as well as other necessary configurations setup applied inside already. Please use 'UA_Source.exe' (not 'UA.exe' or 'Ua_xp.exe'!) and its variants to launch the game in the OpenUA engine.
If you are new in the community, and have problems determining which game files to download and/or had already experienced technical issues with the original UA files on your machines, then download and use this package. Also when using this package, please check the 'Package Description' Readme file first! Everything you need to know about the package is properly explained in there. This package now also contains the authentic and official German, French, and Japanese localisation files of Urban Assault. However, the in-game movie files in this package are only available in English version because they take up a large portion of the total game size.)
The OpenUA Standalone Package is now also available for the Trial (Demo) version of the game.
OpenUA Standalone Package - Trial Version
(NOTE: This is the trial version of the game that has been configured to be played on OpenUA in a similar manner to the above main standalone package. Again, pleased check the 'Package Description' Readme file inside!)
6.2 Downloading and compiling from the GitHub repository source (For advanced users; not generally recommended)
More to come in future. For now, check the compilation instructions available on the GitHub page. Note that you will also require the original game data as well as additional configuration files to play the game with this method.
7 Technical Support
OpenUA is a distinct software from the original UA game engine with numerous technical differences at low-level algorithms, and therefore it requires different methods of troubleshooting than the original UA.
Bug reports are always welcome, especially with proper context and details provided together. The multiplayer layer of OpenUA in particular is unfinished and numerous issues were reported so far.
For now, if you have further questions or encountering issues, please open a support ticket on the forums for a direct assistance, or visit Discord for more help.
8 Single-player
OpenUA fully supports the single-player functionality of the original game, and it can be practically used as an authentic alternative to the original engine. The bug occurrences are minimal, although latest builds that have not been play tested yet may contain some new glitches.
9 Multiplayer
OpenUA supports the basic multiplayer functionality of the original game, and the development is not yet finished. There are still some bugs and glitches in it and more play-testing and bug reports are necessary to further improve it. However, it is generally considered playable for the most part.
One major difference between the original UA and OpenUA multiplayer interface at the moment is the connection method to the host computer. In the original UA, when prompted to connect to the host computer via Microsoft DirectPlay layer, a new window where the player can type an IP address will appear. In OpenUA, currently there is no separate window to type an IP address, instead the game will automatically detect the IP address that is currently saved at clipboard.