NEWS Ultima Online Newsletter #2

[Stinky Pete]

If you think about it Pete, we as a group have been asking them to "update the old systems" and saying "if you can't fix the Spaghetti code, just rewrite it from scratch" What better way to test your ability to do that than by creating a one facet world and then doing a year long test of it.

Well, I hope you are right, but I just don't see it happening. I doubt they started from nothing, that would just be too much work. The best I can hope for is that doing this is giving them some insight to how the code works now. Honestly though, if it was me, I'd be using some open-source, incredibly stable, modern UO server software that already exists but can't be discussed here. Perhaps if we knew that that is what they are doing, we could talk about it.

That they showed a preview of the new seasons indicates they are still adding on what's already there rather than working on a completely new foundation.

I suspect they just had their artists do a mock-up of how they would want it to look. We really have no idea if they even have a running server yet. We sure are being led to believe that they do, but I remain skeptical.

 

[ShriNayne]

@Mene (DF) To be honest I wasn't sure if I was allowed to post screenshots of free shard stuff here, so I decided not to risk the wrath of the good Captain!

 

[Victim of Siege]

Well, I hope you are right, but I just don't see it happening. I doubt they started from nothing, that would just be too much work. The best I can hope for is that doing this is giving them some insight to how the code works now. Honestly though, if it was me, I'd be using some open-source, incredibly stable, modern UO server software that already exists but can't be discussed here. Perhaps if we knew that that is what they are doing, we could talk about it.

You're right, it's likely not what is happening but there is always the possibility.

 

[Xris]

You're right, it's likely not what is happening but there is always the possibility.

I think if they were rewriting the game they'd tell us. Lots of people have wanted this for a long time.

Sent from my SM-J337VPP using Tapatalk

 

[Victim of Siege]

I think if they were rewriting the game they'd tell us. Lots of people have wanted this for a long time.

Sent from my SM-J337VPP using Tapatalk

As I said, they may be using this as a test to see if it's feasible. I can see them not telling us because they want to know for sure how it will pan out.

 

[Lore]

New Legacy shard content is ALL shard content. When a season ends, you'll be able to bring items back to shards.

I'm really not sure why you all hate the idea so much. It's basically a seasonal reward system for your home shards. Instead of, or in addition to, EM events you have a shard that will play more controlled for a season and transfer the items off at the end.

I think it's a brilliant feature and you ol'hats just doing the ol'hat curmudgeon thing of hating change.

Sources: Ultima Online: New Legacy – Ultima Online

Q: What happens with the Shattering? Why should I spend any time on a shard that is going to ultimately reset all of my progress?
Ultima Online: New Legacy is about forging your new Britannian Legacy! While things like the economy and the game world will be reset during the Shattering, players will have an entire year to forge that legacy! In-game items and events will serve as mementos to that legacy that will be experienced by generations to come. This is your chance to write your character’s place into Britannia’s history!

Q: Will I be able to transfer to/off of the Ultima Online: New Legacy shard?
Players will not be able to transfer to the Ultima Online: New Legacy shard. At the conclusion of the Shattering characters will be able to transfer off the Ultima Online: New Legacy shard keeping all their skill, stat, and legacy progress they earned to shards with available character slots. Non-shard bound items and items earned via the Legacy System can also be transferred off.

Q: Will there be live events on the Ultima Online: New Legacy shard?
Live events will offer your avatar the ability to earn unique rewards and recognition, especially as you forge your new Britannian legacy! The global events will help tell the story and immerse you into the narrative as you follow the lifecycle of the shard from start to finish – the question then, is how will you be part of that story?

 

[Stinky Pete]

New Legacy shard content is ALL shard content. When a season ends, you'll be able to bring items back to shards.

I don't think you understand, we were discussing whether the new weather system will be implemented on all shards or only New Legacy. Opinion seems to lean towards only New Legacy will have it.

 

[Drakelord]

As for new mounts, I wish they had done the Silver Steed (23rd anniv) as a possible mount

 

[Lore]

I don't think you understand, we were discussing whether the new weather system will be implemented on all shards or only New Legacy. Opinion seems to lean towards only New Legacy will have it.

My point was, without explicitly saying it, that IMO it doesn't look like old shards are going to get much content or changes (even weather) directly. Even though the FAQ says they will still support live, it wasn't an inspiring answer. I would not look forward to weather going on live shards.

 

[Spartan]

View attachment 113132

Can you not picture that?????

Hate to rain on your parade, but consider the Phoenix and you want to give that to the artists? You're asking for trouble.

 

[Spartan]

If we're talking mounts I would be happy with a plain old armored horse that functions like an armored swampie; I never dug the Charger model. I'd love if my samp could ride an armored horse instead of the swampies.

Or perhaps the ability to armor your horse? Think on that ... horse armor that adds resists when mounted.

Ethereals would not be able to enjoy this at all.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Or perhaps the ability to armor your horse? Think on that ... horse armor that adds resists when mounted.

Ethereals would not be able to enjoy this at all.

Yeah, I s'pose that'd make more sense. A store mount probably wouldn't be the avenue we'd see armored horses.

 

[Nexus]

And why not here?

Because free shards advertising and discussion isn’t allowed here, this section is for “Official” UO.

 

[celticus]

If they were indeed working on a full rework of the server side, they would be talking about core systems like replicating housing or fighting mechanics, gardening, tmaps, vvv, etc etc. It usually takes them half a year to redo a single of those systems. That they showed a preview of the new seasons indicates they are still adding on what's already there rather than working on a completely new foundation.

Agree. But there are tools available now days that can have you avoid re-writing the entire several thousand lines of code needed to make a workable model or protocol skeleton of the server and the client. It is possible to reverse-engineer both, using their present main parts of both of these and they likely have rights to do this, since the original spaghetti is their own code. Much faster than coding line by line and making the new code work. Then the main job would be to actually make it work, and finally the tweaks, and those could take long time. People (hackers) have illegally reverse-engineered a bunch of games and other programs out there, but illegally. They can do it with their own code, legally. It would still take time but less than years as suggested. So probably they already have a prototype of the newly reverse-engineered uo, and may release it at surprising speed and call it NL, and keep tweaking it more even after release. At least the newer uo coded this way, will be with a modern language not spaghetti, and even nicer documented so it can be more comfortably modified.
Still the tweaking part looks like a pretty big task, but doable.

 

[Great DC]

Current look into their backlog!

 

[Chap]

a complete rewrite of code? Forget it.
Lets break down the current team; (taken from the latest video livestream 24th sept 2020)
You have one Designer, one Engineer, two artists, one QA and one producer.

Now exactely who of them you wanted to rewrite the code to the entire server/game? You can say "team rewrite...." but in reality its probably just one or two of those that can actually code.
Unfortunately we are talking about multiple years, even with the smart tools and programming features of today.
And you would end up with a thousand tiny small changes on how objects work or behave that is not what people are used to, and would complain.