Over on Evil Avatar, Epic programmer Tim Sweeney made a post explaining how fast the terrain code is running, as well as what API they (Epic) are supporting for this new technology.

The terrain code shown there is running on a GeForce2 on Direct3D at about 25 fps with over 100,000 triangles in view. It's still a work in progress and not fully optimized; the feature set will be targetted at the upcoming standards set by DirectX8/X-Box/NV20.

It's 100% hardware-accelerated, and doesn't support Glide or software rendering anymore. The engine's historical 3dfx centrism is over, guys! All new tech is focused on Direct3D, and will also support OpenGL.
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He also mentions these features will not make their way into an Unreal 1 or Unreal Tournament patch.

Some folllow-up on the Unreal Technology update story from yesterday via BluesNews for you guys. Several people seem to be under the impresssion that this an entirely new technology, however that isnt exactly the case. Here is a bit from Mark Rein on the subject:

The correct name of our engine is simply the Unreal Engine.

We probably made a mistake naming the first game Unreal when we should have called it Unreal <something> like we did with UT and plan to do with our next title. We always refer to it as the Unreal Engine and not as any game-specific engine. Of course you're correct in assuming that this technology, and more, will be used in Unreal2 but we do not call it the Unreal2 engine.

These shots do not show a new engine they simply show new features recently added to the Unreal Engine. We simply think of the Unreal Engine as an ongoing technology that gets improved all the time. It's like the Corvette. The current version of the Corvette is way more technologically advanced than the original Corvette released in the 50's yet they still simply call it Corvette. That's the way we think of the Unreal Engine. [...]

Legend Entertainment level designer Grayson Edge updated his .plan file with a small update on Unreal2. No shocking new details or screenshots here (although there is a shot of the updated UnrealEditor), just a little of what he's working on.

From Unreal2 level designer Scott Dalton comes the exciting announcement of a new feature in DirectX8: DirectCrate. Even comes with hardware P&B (pushing and breaking) support. Sounds pretty amazing.

3D Game Force has an interview with Mike Verdu , who is the lead designer on Unreal 2. Besides Unreal 2, Mike talks about violence in games, his dream pc and other non-U2 related topics.

Epic has just released the latest and greatest patch for Unreal Tournament. You can grab the small 6meg patch right here from Shack. You can also have a look at all of the bug fixes included with the new version.

Version 425 is completely network compatible with all previous public releases of UT (versions 400, 402, 405b, 413, and 420). Note that with the new version, when you are connecting to a passworded server, you will see a "Connection Failed" message, and then successfully connect. The client first tries to connect without using a password, and then tries again with the password.

The Unreal Tournament version of Rocket Arena has been released again, offering hopefully a more stable release than back in March. There is a 15mb full release, and a 9mb update. There are now 10 maps to play on. Thanks avixe.

Dreamcast.IGN has gotten a confirmation that a port of UT will be making its way to the Dreamcast, contrary to what has been reported earlier and despite the denials by Epic. Thanks loony @ BluesNews

From Unreal Italia comes the news that maps created for Unreal (Tournament) will not function in Unreal 2 because of the changes in the engine. You will be able to import raw data though. The reply from Legend Entertainment's Scott Dalton is in English, but the rest of the site is Italian so you might wanna use Babelfish.

For those of you who still buy those print gaming magazines, the upcoming PCGamer should be featuring the first preview of Unreal2 being developed by Legend. Thanks Apach @ VoodooExtreme

The CPL recently announced that they are tentatively looking at using UnrealTournament for the FRAG5 tournament to be held about 16 months from now. XSI has some reactions from 20 of the top pro-gamers.

Some people may not be aware of this, but Legend Entertainment is working on the sequel to Unreal (Not Epic). The working (and mysterious) title for the sequel to Unreal is tentatively being called Unreal2. Aaron Leiby of Legend has this to say about the sequel:

Unreal2 will be the sequel to Unreal1 (not Unreal Tournament), and it will not pick up where either Unreal1 or Return to NaPali left off. As such, its primary focus will be on the single player experience. We are planning to include some multiplayer aspects which will mostly evolve out of the story.

In addition to that, it looks like the design choices have already been made as level design Matt Worch (aka that wacky German dude) states on the UT messageboards that the Unreal2 design has been done since before the release of UT. Matt continues by saying that Legend is taking the same route as 3DRealms in choosing not to reveal information about the game