A new 3D Ultima online client is coming!

[Hellstorm]

Disclaimer, this post is just for fun discussion. I play UO currently, I have on and off since 97, and I will regardless of what client is supported.

I have heard some rumors, seen it on a few posts. Im home sick with the flu, got bored, and started wandering around the internet. Here is what I found:

Netdragons official website

NetDragon Websoft Inc.--Ultima Online--ir.netdragon.com

An Article

WarCry Network : News : Ultima Online: EA & NetDragon Set to Revive UO

This article lays out how Netdragon will have exclusive rights to the new UO, in china... So I guess they build a new client for EA, and get to use the game system and mechanics, and the 14 year UO history. In exchange EA gets a new 3D client, and they can let netdragon maintain it. IMO, There is no way this wont be see US store shelves!

EA and NetDragon to make a new Ultima Online for China | Massively

Then I started to search for youtube videos, of Netdragons work... It looks better than WOW, it already has a Gargoyle type character, I saw polar bears, jungles, Artic areas, and beatiful forests.

Gargoyles
Dungeon Keeper Online - Flight system - YouTube

Housing, cities and terrain- Watch the opening of this next video
Tell me this does not look like one of the fields we have been farming Killer pumpkins. Looks like UO farmhouses, or classic 7x7 homes. Then some elven areas, then at 2:00 it looks like bucs den, trinsic swamps, and Ice island at 2:30, and a pretty nice White wyrm at 2:40.
Dungeon Keeper Online - Human Realm - YouTube

Gameplay, It looks a little less blocky and cartoony than WOW, not too many over the top neon colors, the combat looks nice.
Dungeon Keeper Online (CN) - Game footage 1/6 - YouTube

In closing:

EA has a partner ship with Netdragon to develop some games, that is a documened FACT!

3rd Dawn, KR, and the enhanced client proved we can keep the existing gameplay, but add new graphics, that is also a FACT!

UO has outlasted many games, was groundbreaking, and there were fans of the Ultima series before that, FACT!

So.... license a known product, with an already functioning code, game mechanics, and a rich history to a company, in exchange for them updating the graphics. Use that client for profit in the US, europe, and japan. Continue to let that company to work on graphics updates, while the US team works on gameplay, expansions, and hotfixes.

Sounds like a good plan to me. I am not saying the videos I posted are the new client, but I would expect netdragon to use at least some of the terrain, and models... I think they could recreate the UO landscape tile by tile with what I have already seen.

Any Thoughts? Anyone excited at the idea? Who hates it, and prefers the classic client?

discuss

 

[Kayne]

Why oh why do we need to see the same old info posted countless other times already

 

[Hellstorm]

because I am tired of reading the UO is a sinking ship thread... So how about every one daydream about a bright future for a few minutes... If you dont want to read it or discuss it, I promise nobody will mind.

it was either this or another, rate my Sampire post!

 

[Kayne]

Hellstorm if you were tired of reading the UO is sinking simple answer is the same advice you just gave me...dont read it.

You know originality is nice discuss something we havent been over a million times already

 

[Hellstorm]

Well I havent read the posts you are referring to... I just returned to UO and stratics...

It would have been nice for you to just ignore my post, but if you prefer bumping to the top of the page, thats on you.

 

[Lord Frodo]

THIS GAME WILL ONLY BE IN CHINA. CHINA CONTROLS ALL INTERNET ACTIVITY. CHINA IS EVEN CRACKING DOWN HARDER ON PEOPLE LEAKING INFO. READ THE NEWS. YOU WILL NOT GET TO PLAY THIS. YOU WILL NOT GET TO TALK TO PEOPLE IN CHINA.

 

[Tazar]

The title is also very misleading. This is not a new UO client. This is a new game licensed for China only.

 

[RawHeadRex]

Hellstorm likes facts ... FACT !

 

[Viper09]

The title is also very misleading. This is not a new UO client. This is a new game licensed for China only.

Exactly. This is all the fact we need to know at the moment.

Mind you I say this because HD has ran this topic into the ground and further...

 

[Hellstorm]

FACT- I opened and closed my post with the following ... Disclaimer, this post is just for fun discussion. I play UO currently, I have on and off since 97, and I will regardless of what client is supported.

Any Thoughts? Anyone excited at the idea? Who hates it, and prefers the classic client?

discuss

And rex is the only poster that had something at least funny to say... FACT

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

 

[Ned888]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

May your tiny heart sing one day! Run my Ovine friend! Run like the wind and frolick!

I'd actually like to see a client like the newer games with the same perspective (Torchlight/Diablo/etc.), but you get my dead horse. I personally like the top down, wide area perspective. Let's me see what's about to bash me prior to getting jumped!

 

[Hellstorm]

I agree 100% It would be silly for EA to bring a shiny beautiful new client to the US, and highly illegal... we are not allowed to speak with China, or purchase anything from them, well... aside from electronics and textiles and just about everything else we buy.

No American would want to play a client that looked anything like the youtube videos, not with the cutting edge, award winning, enhanced client around...

Fortunately the law will permit EA from importing the 3D version of UO in from their "partners"!

Time to boot up the floppy drive, and let my RBG monitor warm up so I can play UO, Ive used the 2D client for 14 years, and will never use anything else!

If we get a new client, I may loose the rare spoon from an EM event in 1998 that I paid 18232718282 million gold for.

 

[HongKongCavalier]

because I am tired of reading the UO is a sinking ship thread... So how about every one daydream about a bright future for a few minutes... If you dont want to read it or discuss it, I promise nobody will mind.

it was either this or another, rate my Sampire post!

Well Hellstorm, at least I appreciate your post! 4 out of your 6 links were new to me, so this post was 67% new content as far as I'm concerned!

Now the important stuff: Is wrestling a good combat skill for my sampire? I was considering fencing, but leafblades are so expensive....

 

[Hellstorm]

go with macing, its 100% more expensive than wrestling, but macing weapons are 42% cheaper than swords. FACT!

 

[lucitus]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

Hehe look at other EA studios and use the frostbite 2 engine or the cryengine 3

 

[Ned888]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

Since you are in the same group of companies, can't you borrow the client for Neverwinter? Even NW2 would be fine! Just reskin it and let's boogie!

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I hear there will be a new client but it will only work with the new custom rules shard, which is just like old Fel except a bunch of different things.

-Galen's player

 

[Ned888]

I hear there will be a new client but it will only work with the new custom rules shard, which is just like old Fel except a bunch of different things.

-Galen's player

I'm a bit vague on the last time I read something that was so... vague.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I'm a bit vague on the last time I read something that was so... vague.

You say that like you don't believe random things you read on Stratics.

-Galen's player

 

[Kayne]

You say that like you don't believe random things you read on Stratics.

-Galen's player

 

[Ned888]

You say that like you don't believe random things you read on Stratics.

-Galen's player

I heard that they are working on a new coefficient which, when applied to the right angle of the hypotenuse of an Ogre will turn it red and have it poop magic items with random properties!

It's just what I heard man, but it could be true!

 

[Kayne]

I heard that they are working on a new coefficient which, when applied to the right angle of the hypotenuse of an Ogre will turn it red and have it poop magic items with random properties!

It's just what I heard man, but it could be true!

ROFL

 

[HD2300]

I hear that some people will have to get a real job in 2012.

 

[Uvtha]

You are misinterpreting the information. Netdragon is making a completely seperate game, and giving it the Ultima title. I would bet my life that it will be nothing like the Ultima Online we play now and very much like the other netdragon games. And that It will be f2p as well.

There's a really easy way to know that the game wont be getting a fully 3d client. The world is not designed for it, and it would look ridiculous in 3d. There is no depth in the UO world design (Im talking about the world that you run around in, the map, the ground the tress, rocks, and items) so it would be like Wolfenstine: UO. Not to mention that its also tile based, which would add more difficulty and cannot be removed/altered easily, if at all.

The game as it is just cannot have that kind of client and look good. It would need to have a whole new world design with a 3d client in mind, with peaks, vallys, deep winding dungeons towering trees... that sort of thing.

That said, I fully support the concept of a UO2 but it would have to be one that evolves from UO, not just a random asian style f2p mmo with some virtues tossed in.

Also the whole "UO is super old and that means something" sentiment is really not a real thing. Most modern mmo-ers have never even heard of UO. The longevity cache is pretty much just an illusion of focus that the long time UO players have.

I think we should just accept UO for the (great) niche product that it is, or move on to UO2. Trying to make UO something it isn't will just not fly, and we've wasted YEARS trying to make it seem modern and relevant with all the clients that could have used making new content.

 

[Luka Melehan]

There's a really easy way to know that the game wont be getting a fully 3d client. The world is not designed for it, and it would look ridiculous in 3d. There is no depth in the UO world design (Im talking about the world that you run around in, the map, the ground the tress, rocks, and items) .

It would be a huge undertaking to make our UO into a 3D game. It would have to be remade from the ground up. While UO artists do use 3D programs to make some of the art for objects and buildings, they then take a 2D picture of it at the required angle, tweak the resolution etc. We only ever get to see that one angle. EA would have to start from scratch and use landscaping software and recreate all the areas and dungeons and 3D modeling programs...well basically make a new game, in every way. It is possible. But given the choice to either completely remake UO, and make something new, they will most likely go with something new. The only way it would likely happen is if a bunch of fans got together, learned blender, Grome and/or Unity and recreated UOs isometric world into 3D happiness. And that wouldn't even touch the programing aspect of it. I am fascinated with the idea, though, which is why I chose to do a 3D fort for that recent art contest.

 

[Uvtha]

It would be a huge undertaking to make our UO into a 3D game. It would have to be remade from the ground up. While UO artists do use 3D programs to make some of the art for objects and buildings, they then take a 2D picture of it at the required angle, tweak the resolution etc. We only ever get to see that one angle. EA would have to start from scratch and use landscaping software and recreate all the areas and dungeons and 3D modeling programs...well basically make a new game, in every way. It is possible. But given the choice to either completely remake UO, and make something new, they will most likely go with something new. The only way it would likely happen is if a bunch of fans got together, learned blender, Grome and/or Unity and recreated UOs isometric world into 3D happiness. And that wouldn't even touch the programing aspect of it. I am fascinated with the idea, though, which is why I chose to do a 3D fort for that recent art contest.

I mean I know its POSSIBLE... but that's one heck of an undertaking in both time and price tag. I just don't see why they would invest so much unless it was a fully new game.

 

[Zosimus]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

I love the GW engine. To me the best graphics game made.

Have you seen the art in GW2?

I am not sure if its the same engine as the original GW but I do like the reasoning behind their new stylized art so it wont look outdated after being on the market for years.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Grimm you are now knee deep in... by mentioning the jewel that guildwars is for a medieval graphic affectionado...

Especially since we've been comparing UO with Blizzard in the last months, lol, some very ironic parallels at that.

May your tiny heart sing one day! Run my Ovine friend! Run like the wind and frolick!

But think about it guys, uo is 3-d... its not just true 3-d and I doubt an API to translate would be that hard to find, it would just not be "true" 3-D.

 

[G.v.P]

Fact: No new information on this client in over 2 years. Makes you wonder...

As for a 3D version of UO, that would make me tiny heart sing. I'd love to use the Guild Wars engine. Ok, I'd take just about any engine at this point. ;-)

-Grimm

Before the 3D client maybe fix arcane circle circle graphics in UO? Hm? ;PPP

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Well, Guild Wars has stunning environments, I didn't actually enjoy playing the game, but I loved running around in the world.

As for 3D, the EC is actually a true 3D game in every technical respect. Just not from an aesthic point of view.

-Grimm

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Oh dear. I hope you aren't referring to the perspective thing... ;-)

-Grimm

 

[Zosimus]

Well, Guild Wars has stunning environments, I didn't actually enjoy playing the game, but I loved running around in the world.

As for 3D, the EC is actually a true 3D game in every technical respect. Just not from an aesthic point of view.

-Grimm

Here ya go Grimm

GW video of some waterfalls

[youtube]sBTKsjGuJh4&feature=related[/youtube]


The one below is GW2

[youtube]JY4uZ31uFH0&feature=fvsr[/youtube]

So seeing both videos....could UO ever use such an engine?


Guild Wars 2 uses a heavily modified version of the proprietary game engine developed for Guild Wars by ArenaNet. The modifications to the engine include real-time 3D environments,[1] enhanced graphics and animations[7] and the use of the Havok physics system.[1] The developers say the engine now does justice to the game's critically acclaimed[8] concept art, and that concept art will be integrated into the way the story is told to the player

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Well exactly...

it's 3-d... just fixed perspective.

So now they can start thinking about adding trajectories to potions and arrows, in 3-d and make things a bit more realistic and interesting.

I'm sorry if this has been answered before, but is the EC higher resolution in the sense that its graphically more complex or can you actually see further in front of you ?

 

[G.v.P]

Oh dear. I hope you aren't referring to the perspective thing... ;-)

-Grimm

Yes sirrr ;P

But my #1 pet peeve remains how Gargoyles can't walk in-game diagonal across "seats" without a player movement sync error between the client and the server.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

This has been discussed GVP... and we ended up with the conclusion that the perspective is correct, that instead the original art is slightly skewed possibly to enhance the "melding" of objects and ground.

So since it's the scientific answer : yes its supposed to be perfectly round since UO is isometric 45... or was it 33 ?

G.v.p. I suggest you fly over the seats... lol.

 

[G.v.P]

This has been discussed GVP... and we ended up with the conclusion that the perspective is correct, that instead the original art is slightly skewed possibly to enhance the "melding" of objects and ground.

So since it's the scientific answer : yes its supposed to be perfectly round since UO is isometric 45... or was it 33 ?

G.v.p. I suggest you fly over the seats... lol.

That would make sense to me if it were bird's eye 45...but I need sleep and will work on flying. Peter Pan or something. Never, never flat circle.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

hehe

 

[Cirno]

I haven't had nearly enough coffee to be technical, but; Oblique projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm curious what hurdles stand in the way of a singing Grimm-heart (I don't believe for a moment that it's tiny).

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Oh yea, that's what I'm talking about. But the only way we'd be able to do something like that is to start over from scratch, I mean everything new- this would mean that most likely all the players would have to start over as well.

-Grimm

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Lol! I'll post a little document I put together on UO perspective sometime. It explains why circles need to be perfectly round- and why sometimes they shouldn't be!

- Grimm

 

[Kayne]

Great to see your input Grimm. Also like that we get to find out a little more about you and UO's technical side.

Any hints on what else we have coming up?

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

I haven't had nearly enough coffee to be technical, but; Oblique projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm curious what hurdles stand in the way of a singing Grimm-heart (I don't believe for a moment that it's tiny).

Hehe, well speaking in terms of UO, the hurdles boil down to time and resources. Not enough of either, but ain't that always the case?

-Grimm

 

[Ludes]

Oh yea, that's what I'm talking about. But the only way we'd be able to do something like that is to start over from scratch, I mean everything new- this would mean that most likely all the players would have to start over as well.

-Grimm

If we could get Ultima an engine like that I would start over in a heartbeat. I started from scratch once before, and I've never been the type to admit ANYTHING is "too hard".

I've had years of fun making the House of Ludes wealthy and I'd have years of fun doing it all over again as well.

 

[Malee]

I personally like the top down, wide area perspective.

Just wanted to say I agree. UO is just about the only game I can play these days. (Not that I want to play any other.) That other view where you can look in circles makes me motion sick - no joke. Change what you will, but please never change my view.

 

[Ludes]

Just wanted to say I agree. UO is just about the only game I can play these days. (Not that I want to play any other.) That other view where you can look in circles makes me motion sick - no joke. Change what you will, but please never change my view.

Wow.. I feel for ya.. you must be sick all the time since that's how your eyes work.
You've never seen the top of your head without a mirror.. You can't see behind you without looking in that direction.

Sorry, not flaming ya Malee.. Just a pet peeve. I give my kids crap as well when they play Need for Speed floating 12 feet in the air above their car and 20 feet behind it. I absolutely refuse to race them unless they sit in the car and drive it from the drivers seat.

 

[Luka Melehan]

Lol! I'll post a little document I put together on UO perspective sometime. It explains why circles need to be perfectly round- and why sometimes they shouldn't be!

- Grimm

Oh please do, this issue is a huge pet peeve of mine!

That said, I love all your input! :bowdown:

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

You can use this page for additional reading if you’d like:
Graphical projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UO follows more closely to the Oblique projection method. You can see this in its most simple form in the floor tiles. Looking at the floor tiles, they look like a square tile that has been turned 45 degrees on the up axis (I use “UP” axis because Z and Y axis have both been used to define “UP”, so I use “UP” so that everyone can understand). Even though it's turned, it looks like you are looking straight down on it. All top surfaces that are parallel to the ground should mimic this in order to be true to the perspective. This means that if you have a circular fountain, the top of the fountain would be a perfect circle. I show this principle in the Red and Yellow Circles in the fountain picture below. You can see that by drawing a perfect circle, I can connect all four corners of the tile as well all edges with the yellow circle.

The problem is this: sometimes looking at things from this perspective isn't as aesthetically pleasing as if you "smudge" things a bit. If you look at the Green and Pink circles I’ve drawn, you can see that not only do they not follow the perspective as defined by the floor tiles, they don’t even follow the perspective of each other! The basin at the top is skewed more than the bottom basin. So this object doesn’t even adhere to its own perspective!

I still don’t think of this in terms of “right” and “wrong”. In game art, you’re always fighting the balance between aesthetics and technical accuracy. When you are creating artwork all in a 2D editor (photoshop, for example), it’s a lot easier to smudge the perspective because you don’t have to deal with other surfaces warping to compensate for you skewing the perspective a bit. With 3D, when we skew a surface, the other surfaces connected to it start reacting in ways that we don’t want, and that can get very tricky indeed.

What’s interesting is that the characters and environments in the Legacy UO do not use the same perspective, and we changed that slightly in UOKR so that they were a little closer to each other. In the Legacy client, the camera perspective on the environment art is about 45 degrees, give or take, but the players and creatures is closer to 20 or 30 degrees since you get a slightly more “head-on” look at the characters than you do the environment tiles.

 

[Hera - Siege]

I personally like the top down, wide area perspective.

Just wanted to say I agree. UO is just about the only game I can play these days. (Not that I want to play any other.) That other view where you can look in circles makes me motion sick - no joke. Change what you will, but please never change my view.

This.

Some of the basic UO functions are fairly dependent on the isometric viewpoint. I couldn't imagine attempting to bard two creatures in a WoW type view. As it is now you can easily target/etc.

As someone said, NWN graphics would be really nice, but part of the reason I still enjoy UO is the different game view. If you want a view like WoW, EQ, Lineage, etc, just go play those games.

 

[Luka Melehan]

isometric...that is the word I was trying to remember. I bet it would be interesting to see what some of these 3D graphics we love, out of the UO perspective.