[UO Herald] Ultima Online Team Grows

[UO News]

As you might know, we are currently moving previously external lead positions into our office in Fairfax to create an even stronger team and lead Ultima Online through its 15th anniversary into the future. This change has given us a new team member, Jim Crawley the new Art Lead. Here is his introduction:
Hello one and all,
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am Jim Crawley, a veteran of the game industry having started my career in 1996, working for MicroProse software on the civilization line. Since then I have made many products over the years. I have created everything from fantasy to sci-fi, strategy to shooters, MMO’s and more. I started in the QA department but quickly moved into the art department. Since then I have created concept work, 2d art, 3D art, animations, effects, and world design. There is almost no facet of the art world I have not at least assisted with, and I help wherever I am needed. I recently came from SWTOR where I was creating the special effects for the world, ships, objects, and players. I have come back home to roost, having been a part of the Mythic family before, and I look forward to supporting the project, and the players as we move forward. Also this may surprise some of you, but you have actually already seen some of my work in game, as I assisted on past updates during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and you can feel free to see a small sample of the work I provided here http://jjcrawley.com/2D_Art_UI.html. A new site is on its way however.
Now that I've told you a little about me professionally let me tell you a little about me and my interests. I am an animal lover and since I was Texas for the last year I currently have one amazing dog, an Australian Kelpie who is very glad that I am back home. My wife and I plan on getting another dog soon; two dogs just work best for us, though we have not decided what we want yet. I have rescued many stray and stranded dogs, cats, and my personal favorite a large very old snapping turtle. I am an avid gamer! I love playing MMOs, RPGs, shooters, board games, and I am in several tabletop campaigns. I enjoy painting miniatures, photography, and sketching. See the gaming industry is the perfect career choice for me. My hobbies and my professional life are very similar. I have a personal passion for making games because I too am a gamer and I strive to make the art the best it can be in the games I help create. You see, creating art, with many of my pass times revolving around both topics, this of course makes me one of those people who actually loves their job!
I am very much looking forward to bringing all of you new game content, and working on a game that is clearly loved by its fans. Trust me, when fans love a game like you all do, it makes the work far more rewarding. Also this may surprise some of you, but you have actually already seen some of my work in game, as I assisted on past updates during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I look forward to providing great art for you all and Bonnie has been sharing the suggestions on what you like to see in the game, I'm always open to hearing what they are and hope we can work together to continue to make the game great! I look forward to supporting the project and the players as we move forward.
Jim “Onifrk” Crawley

Continue reading...

 

[Frarc]

Welcome to our "precious" game!


And don't be shy, we don't bite... often... much...

 

[lucitus]

Wonderfull there are some effects which definitvly needing your help in the Enhanced Client. The arrows, eagle strikes and lightnings are sometimes missplaced on the screen. Or a wonderfull animated firesteed again, that would make me extremly happy, maybe also another nice animted pet. Dont be shy to use the new egine they have introduced

 

[Uriah Heep]

For Jim Crawley: Welcome aboard. It's sometimes a bumpy ride, kinda like marriage, it aint always pretty, but in the end it's always fun.

For whoever wrote the Herald new feed...I'm no calculus major, but bringing one in to replace the one that left, is NOT growing the team. Here in Texas we call it treading water, or holding our own. Only in the EA circles is bringing one in as one leaves considered growth LOL

 

[Taylor]

Welcome, Onifrk, and congratulations on your appointment. We are looking forwarding to seeing your work.

Given your history at Mythic, you are probably already familiar with key UI designers in the UO fan community. These volunteers have been instrumental in making the Enhanced Client enticing and accessible. I hope that you will have an opportunity to interact with these users, as they have consistently demonstrated great skill and insight.

Once again, welcome.

 

[Kojak]

why did I immediately think Jim "Creepy" Crawley - hehe

 

[Shakkara]

Now THIS makes me more confident in the future of the EC and the quality of the artwork of UO overall.

Welcome onboard!

Just a little pointless request, I really really loved the Exodus creatures of the old 3D client, and now we have these floating torso's in their place. The old exodus overseers were amongst my favorite creature in UO, please bring them back.

I personally think all characters should be true 3D, like they used to be in the old Third Dawn client. I don't really like the characters and monsters in the Enhanced Client much.

But all of this is pretty low priority. I think the first priority is to transfer the current enviornment art to vector graphics, so they look pretty on all resolutions.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Hello and welcome
There's a couple of items on that image that I don't remember seeing. I think I'll have to go on a tour of Ter Mur looking for them

 

[Lady Storm]

Welcome aboard.....
oh and a small reminder, Mesanna does bite if you stat to give out secrets.....

 

[O'Brien]

Also this may surprise some of you, but you have actually already seen some of my work in game, as I assisted on past updates during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and you can feel free to see a small sample of the work I provided here.

Also this may surprise some of you, but you have actually already seen some of my work in game, as I assisted on past updates during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

 

[Tina Small]

oh and a small reminder, Mesanna does bite if you stat to give out secrets.....

What an odd thing to say.

 

[Nimuaq]

As you might know, we are currently moving previously external lead positions into our office in Fairfax to create an even stronger team and lead Ultima Online through its 15th anniversary into the future.

We have already lost 6 developers since 2011, so replacing TheGrimmOmen's old position is not exactly "growing" in my opinion. I also doubt that moving external lead positions to Fairfax at the expense of losing long time dedicated developers is the right way to "create an even stronger team".

Having said that, I'm really glad that Onifrk is not a stranger to Ultima Online and also worked on some of the artwork of the Stygian Abyss expansion. The stealable version of the book of truth is one of my favorite item graphics in the game (I have several already) and none of the item artwork created by him looks out of place, they have the unique feel of the older artwork which is really great news. I think it would have been even greater if we had both TheGrimmOmen and Onifrk working on Ultima Online artwork, now that would be creating an even stronger team.

There's a couple of items on that image that I don't remember seeing.

Maybe they are the reward of the missing percolem quest "A Valorous Deed" ( which "probably" requires trophy items like stygian dragon head, claw of the slasher, primeval lich dust, horn of abyssal infernal and medusa blood; basically the five foes of the Gargoyle race). I hope they do spawn in the game, I can use the bust and the fourth statue from the top left .

 

[Magdalene]

Welcome Onifrk,

Good to see some new devs still go by the tradition and have proper gaming names...

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Ultima Online Team Grows

When all of the lost members of the Dev team have been replaced, thus bringing the number up to more than late 2010's roster, then you can say it is growing. Until then, quit with the transparent propaganda.

oh and a small reminder, Mesanna does bite if you stat to give out secrets.....

What an odd thing to say.

It's funny because it's true? Or should funny be replaced with sad... Hmm.

 

[startle]

Welcome aboard, Onifrk ! I must say that your Gargoyle Statues are some of my favorite UO art, and have always loved the look of the Pumpkins....
One question: Did the 2 below make it into the game?

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

One question: Did the 2 below make it into the game?

They both have.

The right statue is an uber rare drop from Medusa. The left statue can be seen in a few places, but I don't think players can get them (unless it is an Abyss stealable I haven't pinched myself yet)

 

[Tjalle]

Welcome Jim.

 

[BeaIank]

Welcome aboard, Onifrk.

 

[Aurelius]

The left statue can be seen in a few places, but I don't think players can get them (unless it is an Abyss stealable I haven't pinched myself yet)

I wish it was, been looking for that one as a deco item for a while now.... the other one that I didn't recognise though is the fourth along in the image at
2D Art/UI - I rarely visit the abyss so it's quite possible it's part of the fixtures there.

 

[MalagAste]

Never seen those tall pumpkins either.

 

[Painted Elves]

I Reeaaallly would like to have the one on the left....but I like them both a great deal.

 

[MalagAste]

The one on the left almost reminds me of the batpeople from the movie Beast Master I think it was.

 

[Woodsman]

Welcome aboard.....
oh and a small reminder, Mesanna does bite if you stat to give out secrets.....

Because keeping secrets about all aspects of UO has done wonders for growing the player population over the past year.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Because keeping secrets about all aspects of UO has done wonders for growing the player population over the past year.

Remember, UO players are like mushrooms. Kept in the dark and fed manure.

 

[LordDrago]

Welcome to the team.

 

[Driven Insane]

EA math, gotta love it.

 

[MalagAste]

In the last year we've lost what 9+ DEV's and we get 1 and that's growth??????

I am not sure who does your math but in my eyes that's not growth.

 

[Flutter]

EA math, gotta love it.

Maybe it's growing by weight. Maybe the new guy weighs more than Grimm.

 

[Frarc]

Welcome aboard, Onifrk ! I must say that your Gargoyle Statues are some of my favorite UO art, and have always loved the look of the Pumpkins....
One question: Did the 2 below make it into the game?

The Gargoyle statue is part of our towns banner:

Can't say that i seen that 3rd big pumpkin....

 

[Woodsman]

In the last year we've lost what 9+ DEV's and we get 1 and that's growth??????

I am not sure who does your math but in my eyes that's not growth.

They did get a designer earlier this year. So they lost the lead world builder, lead engineer, and lead artist, but they have a new lead artist and ?

 

[Taylor]

The "growth" point has been identified in nearly a quarter of replies. The message, I think, can be safely assumed "transmitted."

 

[Flutter]

The Gargoyle statue is part of our towns banner:

Can't say that i seen that 3rd big pumpkin....

Do you have so many houses? I applied for a town banner. We had 12 houses. We were "told" were were only allowed so many items on the space. This space looks very "cluttered" with items. We were told there was a maximum as well.
Sorry to take the thread off topic. I'm just a little... surprised.

 

[Woodsman]

The "growth" point has been identified in nearly a quarter of replies. The message, I think, can be safely assumed "transmitted."

When you have a small team to begin with, and with so many having left or been laid off, it's pretty darn important to hear about replacements, if any, because the size of the team does dictate the future of the game. It also tells us what EA thinks of the game.

 

[Gospel]

God some of you guys are intolerable. Which part of a welcome thread gave you the idea that it would be a good time to post personal requests? Do you think he's just wandering around the office looking for something to do?

Secondly, for all you math geniuses shooting your mouths off, here's a little brain buster for you;
If UO currently has 20 devs employed, an they hire 1 more, HOW MANY DOES THAT EQUAL? In no part of the post does it say "UO now has more developers than at any other point in history." Feel free to leave your cynicism and sarcastic attitudes at the door.

With these kid of threads as a welcome to UO, it's a wonder anyone will take the job, and not much of a surprise that no one wants to keep it.

 

[Pinco]

A welcome seems useless since he was around for quite a bit, better a congratulation for the promotion

Anyway in my point of view a 2D artist will never bring 3D in the game, so the EC is now doomed to stay as it is

 

[Woodsman]

God some of you guys are intolerable. Which part of a welcome thread gave you the idea that it would be a good time to post personal requests? Do you think he's just wandering around the office looking for something to do?

Secondly, for all you math geniuses shooting your mouths off, here's a little brain buster for you;
If UO currently has 20 devs employed, an they hire 1 more, HOW MANY DOES THAT EQUAL? In no part of the post does it say "UO now has more developers than at any other point in history." Feel free to leave your cynicism and sarcastic attitudes at the door.

With these kid of threads as a welcome to UO, it's a wonder anyone will take the job, and not much of a surprise that no one wants to keep it.

I'm glad as hell they brought in an art lead, because with all of the layoffs, I doubt they have 20 people left, not counting contract work and GMs, and not bringing in a new art person would be a disaster.

I'll post something positive in my next post.

 

[Woodsman]

Onifrk, since you are coming in at a time the team is probably heavy into the high resolution graphics upgrade for the Enhanced Client, what's your impression of what you've seen so far, and just how excited should we be?

 

[Spiritless]

hihi

Cool site, some nice effects and art there.

 

[O'Brien]

God some of you guys are intolerable. Which part of a welcome thread gave you the idea that it would be a good time to post personal requests? Do you think he's just wandering around the office looking for something to do?

I look forward to providing great art for you all and Bonnie has been sharing the suggestions on what you like to see in the game, I'm always open to hearing what they are and hope we can work together to continue to make the game great! I look forward to supporting the project and the players as we move forward.

Secondly, for all you math geniuses shooting your mouths off, here's a little brain buster for you;
If UO currently has 20 devs employed, an they hire 1 more, HOW MANY DOES THAT EQUAL? In no part of the post does it say "UO now has more developers than at any other point in history." Feel free to leave your cynicism and sarcastic attitudes at the door.

So UO hires one guy to replace another guy who just left, and calls it growth, and you don't see how that might be objectionable?

With these kid of threads as a welcome to UO, it's a wonder anyone will take the job, and not much of a surprise that no one wants to keep it.

It's no wonder. Let me remind you that UO development isn't volunteer work. They are paid by EA, who is paid by the playerbase, so whether they stick around or not isn't our problem. This is the kind of customer feedback you will get in any business that fails to produce quality. It really isn't that hard to understand, is it?

 

[WarderDragon]

God some of you guys are intolerable. Which part of a welcome thread gave you the idea that it would be a good time to post personal requests? Do you think he's just wandering around the office looking for something to do?

Yup.

Centerfold of Minax would be awesome. Perhaps in a pillow fight with the Empress of Zento. Get to it.

(P.S. Welcome to UO.)

 

[O'Brien]

I look forward to providing great art for you all and Bonnie has been sharing the suggestions on what you like to see in the game, I'm always open to hearing what they are and hope we can work together to continue to make the game great! I look forward to supporting the project and the players as we move forward.

Mr. Crawley,

Judging from the new content in the game over the last 6 months, Bonnie doesn't have the slightest idea on what I'd like to see in the game, so please don't let her speak for me. Please just fix the stuff we've got before moving on to new stuff. Thanks.

O'Brien

 

[Pinco]

Mr. Crawley,

Judging from the new content in the game over the last 6 months, Bonnie doesn't have the slightest idea on what I'd like to see in the game, so please don't let her speak for me. Please just fix the stuff we've got before moving on to new stuff. Thanks.

O'Brien

and that's the story of UO: forward and forget. I don't think it will never change...

 

[Frarc]

Do you have so many houses? I applied for a town banner. We had 12 houses. We were "told" were were only allowed so many items on the space. This space looks very "cluttered" with items. We were told there was a maximum as well.
Sorry to take the thread off topic. I'm just a little... surprised.

This is how the banner looked first.

But we found that a bit empty.
When we had our celebration when the banner was placed we talked with the EM and ask if he could add a few items.
He did ( And he always talk to Mesanna when we ask stuff) but all items that been added around the banner are donations from friends and citizens.
It made the banner look better then it was first.

We have about 23-25 houses.
But we still welcome more and new citizens , there is still plenty of room.

 

[Joey Porter]

Welcome.

Glad to see they quickly acted and filled the position. I like the look of your art as well.

I hope you find it as important to stop by and chat as Grim did.

 

[Lady Storm]

Well Tina I base my point on the fact at every "dev" online vdeo of the past Mesanna is hushing and getting ready to swat those who are giving up secrets.... point being she likes a tight ship without loose lips. I am not happy we are loosing Grim but I dont hold grudge on this gentilman in any way, as he does not run the way UO/ Mythic is done. Now if the recient news on the stock market about EA is any indication changes are in the works. Only time will tell if it will effect the game any.

 

[startle]

The Gargoyle statue is part of our towns banner:

....

So where did that statue come from?

 

[Woodsman]

Well Tina I base my point on the fact at every "dev" online vdeo of the past Mesanna is hushing and getting ready to swat those who are giving up secrets.... point being she likes a tight ship without loose lips.

She may like secrets, but the players and MMORPG industry at large doesn't. I can't go a week without emails from MMORPGs I've played in the past, where they are discussing upcoming plans in order to interest me.

And it works.

 

[Joey Porter]

She may like secrets, but the players and MMORPG industry at large doesn't. I can't go a week without emails from MMORPGs I've played in the past, where they are discussing upcoming plans in order to interest me.

And it works.

Same here, I am constantly getting emails from F2P RPG's and browser games offering me an incentive to come back. That cannot be hard to do or costly. Simple email to anyone who has ever registered with a link to the free download and maybe throw them a bone of some free gold and items if they get a 30 day game code.

Easy.

 

[Frarc]

So where did that statue come from?

Its part of the banner design, the person who had the idea for the banner must have used insideUO to see it.

 

[MalagAste]

Its part of the banner design, the person who had the idea for the banner must have used insideUO to see it.

Yes not sure how we are supposed to be able to make banners anymore to propose since Inside UO no longer functions. Kinda makes it impossible for people to submit a banner proposal.