.like Dae said either $300,000, or we stfu or we stfu already and make it in DX SDK
I also said
You don't need to pay anything for non-commerical use of Unreal Engine 2.0. <...>
This means someone could make a standalone game on Unreal Engine for
FREE, which would work w/o UT04. Unless, of course, you gonna sell the game - then you have to buy a license.
You may also use U3 engine, but distribute the game as a mod to e.g. UT 07.
But I think a DX3 could easily be made which is true to DX and a great SP mission, better than Steve Tack's Zodiac or Carone's Hotel Carone, a big project like 2027...and every mapper in the community could have a chance... it could be a way to attract new DX players...
The gameplay time of 2027 is smaller than gameplay time of the original game, and 2027 has been in development for 4 years or so.
In order to create a decent game you need a team of top-notch specialists who are over 20 years old, and a very talented manager (again, over 22 years at least) who'd devote all his free time to the project during 3-4 years at minimum.
Even making a mod is a very hard thing and those who think not haven't tried making a singleplayer mod. Usually people who managed at least once to make a convo, script, map say such things, but in order to develop the whole, it needs more than just that.
Almost all DX mods were made or are still in development by a single person (Hotel Carone, Burden of 80, Zodiac, Counterfeit, 2027, Rebirth, Skyward + many more). Teams rarely succeed because different people have different views on the subject and the fact that they'll be able to implement their views is what generally motivates them. In our case the story has to be written by professional writers to avoid banalities, boredom and conversion of the game to a shooter; and the rest of components should be thought over on early stages of development. The developers won't motivated enough by just doing a routine job of converting words into 3D game. Unless, of course, we're talking about cubic maps with a story line of Counter Strike.