20 years later... It's time for a vanilla server

[arkiu]

As much as i'd love a dip into the past, those days have gone.
New players just wouldn't like the "vanilla", what made it great was the fact it was new back then.
The awe at talking to somebody ingame and finding out they lived on the other side of the world.
The sense of wonder and excitement at being able to fight your 1st undead after hours training on innocent goats ect.
The Role Play also made it what was so good that after 20 years we still fondly remember it but again, those days have gone.

No, it's best to keep those things cherished memories and not destroy them by having a "midlife crisis UO shard".

Maybe I should just come to my senses and agree with what you say... but I can't help but giggle a bit at this:

"New players just wouldn't like the "vanilla"" - funny you say that because I don't think new players would even like the current UO! I was just on ATL for a bit sitting at the bank and saw someone riding a horrendous looking unicorn (WTF?!?) next to someone on a bright orange horse while another person was dressed like a multicolored glow stick you would see at a friggin EDM concert - this game has been so badly tainted beyond recognition which is why I would like to revisit the good ole days (even if it dissappoints)!

 

[arkiu]

Supposedly it was lost because the developers were moving from one office building into another, and had boxes stacked up everywhere. An intern was trying to help by removing the trash so they could focus on getting all the stuff packed up... and he accidentally thought the box with the stuff needed to make the old code was a trash box, leading to it being thrown away.

That's the stuff of legends Captain

 

[Thrakkar]

Loosing code doesn't necessarily mean, that it fell oput of someone's pocket and it is nowhere to be found anymore.

Depending on which source control they used and what branching strategy they had (if they had any at all, since it wasn't that common 20 years ago). it could simply mean, that over time the code changed without any possibility to go back. Even in 2008 i was working at a company, who was still using source safe and didn't really branch or label their release. While going back to an older version of their software was theoretically possible, it would have been a daunting task. Rather impossible, to restore all the correct versions of each code file. An there are tons of files...

And if they did, maybe the archived code was stored on a storage medium, which just wore out. Neither magnetic nor optical mediums last forever. Who knows...

 

[TheDrAJ]

Wasn't a complete copy of the code published in a magazine by mistake. Wasn't that how the free servers got started?

 

[petemage]

Wasn't a complete copy of the code published in a magazine by mistake. Wasn't that how the free servers got started?

Depends what you mean by "code". There was an UO demo, which due to its nature also had to ship an early version of the server "code" of UO. That got reversed and all that stuff and they were able to extract lots of resources from it (like the wombat scripting engine powering UO). But not like the full raw source code. Search for "uodemo 98", there is a nice wiki about it.

 

[Thrakkar]

Wasn't a complete copy of the code published in a magazine by mistake. Wasn't that how the free servers got started?

The entire code of client and server? Into a single issue of a magazine? My mistake? No, just no...
I'm not sure, how many lines of text there are in an average magazine, but it would fill several issues...

@Kyronix
Just out of curiosity, I'm pretty sure you have or can run some code metrics. How many lines of code has UO, server & both clients? Would be a nice fun fact...

 

[TheDrAJ]

The entire code of client and server? Into a single issue of a magazine? My mistake? No, just no...
I'm not sure, how many lines of text there are in an average magazine, but it would fill several issues...

@Kyronix
Just out of curiosity, I'm pretty sure you have or can run some code metrics. How many lines of code has UO, server & both clients? Would be a nice fun fact...

Yes just yes!

"
UO Demo or UODemo refers to the Ultima Online Demo released by Origin Systems Inc in 1998 on the UO:Second Age Retail CD. It was as the name hints, an offline playable demo of the Ultima Online game back then. The information in this wiki is derived from reverse engineering the demo consisting of one executable file and one data file.

The name T2A Demo is somewhat of a misnomer, as the server contained within the demo is Pre-T2A. The uodemo.exe file contains both a early UO Client, and a complete production UO server dated to mid 1998. The scripts contained within the demo are nearly complete for the server's timeframe, and even include some preliminary work on T2A era mechanics.

To install the demo you need an Ultima Online:The Second Age retail CD. Good luck has been had finding these on EBay and other auction sites."

 

[Thrakkar]

Ok, you made it sound like it was a listing printed in a magazine...
Nevertheless, even that is not a complete copy of the code. Enough to start reverse engineering, as it obviously relied on human readable scripts. But it also contains binaries, which you just can't simply read or decompile.

Btw, was that the demo, where you did slay the dragon with a glass sword at the end of it?

 

[Nexus]

Oh ok ...well to be honest why would anyone want a Vanilla server ...seems kind of boring and rinse repeat themed to me?

Honestly I think that in every MMO there may come a point where you step back and say "The game was better when........" That's what the requests like this are all about. Of course you may never reach that point before a game closes, or depending on your interests it may be fairly early in the games evolution. For myself, if there were to do a throwback I'd want it in that period between Publish 5 and 6 for example. These things really come down to individual preference.

 

[Nexus]

Have you played on Siege lately? Try it - you might be surprised.

The problem with your idea here, is while Siege has the open PvP environment, it also has all the other nonsense that was added along the way that people looking for a Vanilla or Pre-AoS server don't want as well.

 

[TheDrAJ]

But, it has the best economy since nothing can be transferred in or out. It also has some of the nicest people in the game. And skills that must be earned over time. And the shard has so many other differences (like no tram, like no recall only gate, etc etc etc) Try it - you might be surprised.

 

[arkiu]

The problem with your idea here, is while Siege has the open PvP environment, it also has all the other nonsense that was added along the way that people looking for a Vanilla or Pre-AoS server don't want as well.

Wins the thread

 

[Kyronix]

The entire code of client and server? Into a single issue of a magazine? My mistake? No, just no...
I'm not sure, how many lines of text there are in an average magazine, but it would fill several issues...

@Kyronix
Just out of curiosity, I'm pretty sure you have or can run some code metrics. How many lines of code has UO, server & both clients? Would be a nice fun fact...

There are over 6,800 scripts that run the majority of the higher level functions in game. Those scripts range in length from "just a couple lines" to thousands and thousands. This does not include the lower level functions handled in the server code or either of the client code bases...so the short answer, is a lot!

 

[Lythos-]

Wasn't a complete copy of the code published in a magazine by mistake. Wasn't that how the free servers got started?

The code was included in certain store box versions of UO for sale. It certainly made a lot of things EASY for a lot of people.

 

[Lythos-]

I would enjoy any pre AOS era server combined with the support of being an official server.

With no real updates, just the initial work of starting it and quick big fixes would be required.

 

[Cymidei]

It's mostly rosy retrospection...the great old days were great because UO was new and the player base was huge. Now the game is old and most the cool people have left. We can't relive 1997 and 1998 again in UO but the closest thing I have found to that vibe was when Lord of Ultima was first released. A lot of old UO players were there drawn by the Ultima name. Cool people were there, smart people with doctorates in engineering, eccentrics, artists, and old Pks who have since moved to Eve Online. Sadly, the novelty wore off of Lord of Ultima and it was shut down. Playing with those guys was the most fun I have had in years compared to UO. Keep trying new games, when they are fresh, that is the best way I have found to get the glory days back again.

 

[Tyrath]

It's a server with Bugs, Glitches, Holes, Lag, Blackholes, reverts, . . . Come to think of it.

LOL when are people going to realize we are living in the good old days! 20 years from now people will just be saying can we have a server pre pet revamp of 2017, things were so much better before LOL