Let's Get Ready to Rumble!
This is how things will go to get you connected:
- Download UT2K4
- Install UT2K4 from the download
- Extract all of the extra files into your install
- Create a shortcut to directly connect to the server
Download
You can get an archive of UT2K4 at Archive.org that is fully updated, patched, and ready to play, with lots of extras added on. It is the recommended download by the UT2K4 Master Server team. Here's a link to the torrent file if that is how you prefer to download it, or instead a direct link to the zip-file instead. If you choose to directly download the zip-file, you may want to use a download manager, as it's over 3.6GB in size.
Install
Extract the downloaded zip file (preferably with 7zip) to somewhere, and then move the UT2004 folder to C:\UT2004 (the default install location). You'll need to edit the file UT2004.reg and add your CD key (replace the x-x-x-x with the CD key), save the file, and finally double-click the registry file to add the settings. If you don't have a CD key, there are a few included in the readme as well as one in UT2004.reg, or you can generate one here. Finally, run UT2004.exe (found in the C:\UT2004\System directory). The 64-bit binary (ut2004-win64.exe) performs better but has a few issues (such as an FPS cap on modern Windows, multipass texture rendering, alt-tab memory leak, etc.).
Extract
Still working on this.
Shortcut
Finally, you'll want to drag a shortcut of the game binary of your choice, being either C:\UT2004\System\ut2004.exe (the 32-bit binary) or C:\UT2004\System\UT2004-win64.exe (the 64-bit binary) to your desktop and change the shortcut's target properties to add ut2004.barsoom.cc:7777 after the binary (so, for the 32-bit target, it would read C:\UT2004\System\ut2004.exe ut2004.barsoom.cc:7777).
Server Information
Server Name: Barsoom's UT2004 Server
Server Link: ut2004.barsoom.cc:7777