Idea for sea dungeon

[JamezC]

A post in a recent fishing thread brought back a memory of an idea i had for this game. Why not have a dungeon that could only be reached by boat like a whirlpool in a random place, And it would move but the dungeon below would remain the same. Traveling there would be dangerous and you'd have to pay more insurance to insure stuff going out to sea.

Your ship would wreck when you got there but you could recall out.

The mobs would be sea creatures and pirates and all sorts of bosses could come into play. I've developed this idea much further but i was afraid people wouldn't like it. If anyone wants to help me flesh out the idea and get it all out on paper we could suggest it!

IF you like the idea at all let me know!
Thanks
- James

 

[Heimi]

Will there be Sea Monkeys?

 

[Fink]

I like it. Peril and Adventure and the Cave of the Unknown.

 

[Rider1000]

Ship? Whirlpool? AMBROSIA!

 

[christy1221]

I like it too

 

[JamezC]

Will there be Sea Monkeys?

I mean of course, maybe they'd be ridables

 

[sablestorm]

I like it. It could go along with the ocean champ spawn which has been proposed. One of the creatures from the old Ultima games that could be used in this are the Nixies. There were also sharks as well.

 

[Laina]

sounds great so far

 

[Mapper]

I like the idea Hope you tell us more about it!

Of course then you could bring into play a whole new selection of boats with cannons etc like people have suggested for a while. HUGE list of things that can be done with a sea expansion.

 

[Zayin666]

I cant swim... is that a problem?

Sounds like a great idea... would have a reason to actually sail again in UO.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Seafaring Expansion

 

[Phineas le Monge]

Hmm...I like it. It would get boats back in the water again! (for more than just storage). GOLDSINK having to buy a new boat each time cause you *ship wreck* at the dungeon entrance. Include felluca playset rules in certain areas for our pvp friends (similar to Abyss). Opportunity for new imbue ingredients only to be found there-how about a greater Kraken-scale suit with a new arty "Posiedon's trident" - oh yeah. That could be really AWESOME if done right. Oceanic mini-spawns and super-spawns...but do put a healer in there somewhere. I hate dying and having to spend 20 minutes finding a "far-wandering" healer. Yep, like this dungeon idea...

 

[Damien Softstep]

A post in a recent fishing thread brought back a memory of an idea i had for this game. Why not have a dungeon that could only be reached by boat like a whirlpool in a random place, And it would move but the dungeon below would remain the same. Traveling there would be dangerous and you'd have to pay more insurance to insure stuff going out to sea.

Your ship would wreck when you got there but you could recall out.

The mobs would be sea creatures and pirates and all sorts of bosses could come into play. I've developed this idea much further but i was afraid people wouldn't like it. If anyone wants to help me flesh out the idea and get it all out on paper we could suggest it!

IF you like the idea at all let me know!
Thanks
- James

Sounds like a great idea...EA will hate it...

 

[G.v.P]

Why not have a dungeon that could only be reached by boat like a whirlpool in a random place, And it would move but the dungeon below would remain the same.

The idea of a moving door hasn't happened yet in UO, I don't think. Might be interesting, but maybe better to issue some sort of system of whirlpools, like how there are a set of holes for the solen ant hole system. Or, the whirlpools could lead to Legend of Zelda.

 

[Tanivar]

A post in a recent fishing thread brought back a memory of an idea i had for this game. Why not have a dungeon that could only be reached by boat like a whirlpool in a random place, And it would move but the dungeon below would remain the same. Traveling there would be dangerous and you'd have to pay more insurance to insure stuff going out to sea.

Your ship would wreck when you got there but you could recall out.

The mobs would be sea creatures and pirates and all sorts of bosses could come into play. I've developed this idea much further but i was afraid people wouldn't like it. If anyone wants to help me flesh out the idea and get it all out on paper we could suggest it!

IF you like the idea at all let me know!
Thanks
- James

I like the sound of it. What items do you need fleshed out? I've got the time to do work on things you suggest. Question is whether my imagination is still up to it. I used to DM D&D way back when. PM me a couple of topics and I'll give them some thought for a few weeks and send what I come up with back to you to see how it fits in with whatever you already have done.

I'm tired of reading books anyway.

 

[Lord Urza]

Sweet!

 

[JamezC]

Seafaring Expansion

Thank you these are very good ideas as well. I'm like to figure out what types of monsters and npcs the game is missing. Pirates for one i think would be great.

Imagine sailing and taking over a pirate ship! and actually having to have multiple people aboard to pilot it or it would tip and sink. And having real pirate themed loot. And there could be the myths and legends like ghost pirate ships and things of that nature.

There is so much creative potential, its why i always have a pen and paper on me.

I'll pm you Tanivar when i get everything typed out. I'd like to hear everyone's ideas though so it wouldn't just be fun for me!

Thank you
- James

 

[Tanivar]

I'll pm you Tanivar when i get everything typed out. I'd like to hear everyone's ideas though so it wouldn't just be fun for me!

Just send me a rough outline of your dungeon layout to start so I can let my imagination wander through the dank eerie corridors a while, wondering what is waiting for me in each shadow. Stubbling lost & alone in the dark with no idea of whats waiting for a snack should do wonders for my paranioa.

 

[Warsong of LS]

put the ridable seahorses in that never made it from Mondains' Legacy, the art work is already there.

 

[Jynxx]

Ship? Whirlpool? AMBROSIA!

Geeze, this brings back a flood of memories from Ultima III: Exodus and my Commodore 64...

 

[MalagAste]

I've loved this idea from the first time I saw it... and your right it's just what UO is missing! A good sea adventure..... but first they would have to "fix" water... I wish they would make some you could wade into.... swimming in UO that would be awesome.

Kinda a dream I have like actually being able to lay down on the bed .... and sit on the ground.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

It is a sad fact that there's so much potential in UO which hasn't been slightly tapped in the past 12 years. Monster, animal and NPC AI are a joke, and it would take a skilled programmer a week to totally revolutionize it and turn boring landscape and old dungeons into a place of unpredictable adventure.

I have no idea why the game developers constantly keep adding new land and new dungeons, which basically is the same old with a different look, instead of improving what is already there.

 

[Trebr Drab]

It is a sad fact that there's so much potential in UO which hasn't been slightly tapped in the past 12 years. Monster, animal and NPC AI are a joke, and it would take a skilled programmer a week to totally revolutionize it and turn boring landscape and old dungeons into a place of unpredictable adventure.

I have no idea why the game developers constantly keep adding new land and new dungeons, which basically is the same old with a different look, instead of improving what is already there.

Agree with this sentiment and all the ideas here.
Ship canons would be fantastic, Hawkeye.

JamezC, this whirlpool, I like the idea of it being in random locations. Makes it harder to find and not a simply "go here" thing, and makes the dungeon more special. But time could be a problem for players who want to go there but don't have that much time to search for it, then play in it. So I'd suggest that the entrance where players land be a safe area where they can also log out in. In fact, maybe there could be 8 of these and you land in a random one of them, you and all your companions on the same ship. That would make two ships full of friends land in two different locations, could be a fun thing.

The pirates, should they be undead?
You could have magically breathable water inside this place, and thus have fishes, sharks, octopi, and the like.
Random sunken treasures.

 

[Tanivar]

And then have certain treasure spots be 'protected' by that breathable water magic being blocked. You can't get to it within a few minutes, OOOoooOOOooo.

Question would be whether to just have the water be breathable due to some magic quality, or have getting whatever magic does it be something you have to get first, and perhap have to carry more of or find in the dungeon. Maybe you have to kill & skin some creature for some organ you have to wear in the talisman paperdoll position or simply eat every so often. The need to restore a limited ability to breath would add to the sense of danger.

And any half intelligent opponet of those who wander in here where they don't belong may have figured out that grabbing the gills of the wereshark off the players outfit and backing away lets them win the fight when the player character runs out of air as he struggles to reach the wereshark & get the gills back or unpack another gill and hope he can hold his breath until it starts to work. After all, he's using up a lot of air fighting.

Certainly will leave characters, even the uber-gear ones, in a bind.

 

[Frarc]

Do we need to do a waterbreathing quest first?

 

[JamezC]

These are great ideas I hadn't though of breathable water areas or anything, a quest for thay would seem appropriate , multiple levels where it would be harder to breath would be cool.

Maybe having 13 treasures that were needed to summon the champ or something like that.

And I like the idea of pirates and undead pirates and maybe even ratmen or lizardmen pirates?

Keep the ideas rollin this is great I'm writing everything down

Thank you!
-Jamezc

 

[Trebr Drab]

These are great ideas I hadn't though of breathable water areas or anything, a quest for thay would seem appropriate , multiple levels where it would be harder to breath would be cool.

Maybe having 13 treasures that were needed to summon the champ or something like that.

And I like the idea of pirates and undead pirates and maybe even ratmen or lizardmen pirates?

Keep the ideas rollin this is great I'm writing everything down

Thank you!
-Jamezc

Lizard men swimming would fit really well. The dungeon could have zones of control between baddies. Ratmen would be ok, not as good IMO.
You could have upper rooms with air in, where these kinds of critters could have their lairs. They'd also serve the players if there was a timing on the ability to breath water.

When you mentioned areas where it would be harder to breath, it reminded me of an idea someone posted quite some time ago. A passage that you had to get through while holding your breath. Someone mentioned this general idea earlier here, I think. Things like that could make for nice gauntlet runs.

 

[Fink]

Much like their four-legged brethren, Ratmen typically avoid water but are excellent swimmers none the less.

 

[JamezC]

You could have upper rooms with air in.

I think somebody above said it would be nice to have somewhere to log out because casual gamers wouldn't get to utilize the dungeon as readily if it was moving like i hope. So having the initial floor have air makes sense. Also i liked the idea of crashing your boat into the whirlpool, so there would have have to be somewhere to "land" i guess.

On that note this dungeon could be really difficult and your crashed boat could be access to a temporary bank box esque kinda thing. Just a thought.

Different levels where you'd have to have the equipment or hold your breath sounds fun.

I like the idea of having the lower levels really hurting your armor to swim in too because it would crush them or something.

These are all just ideas please let me know what you think.
The comment about casual players was very useful because that sort of thing went right over my head when i was thinking of the idea initially.

Thank you!
- james

 

[RD Gumbie]

They should just flood a town that noone uses like Nujelm and have it there. Manuver through the buildings and stuff.

 

[Tanivar]

I'm thinking something more along the lines of an underground natural cave complex mixed in with some mined tunnels and town areas.
An expanded & complex version of a flooded Wind would be a good example.

Actually with the trend of messed up towns like Haven, Yew & Magincia, planning it out to be a ruined island town that sinks in another cataclysm might improve its chanes of getting added to the gameworld. So much came up around Fire Isle. Perhaps somwhere else settles underwater and opens another underworld. Say the Isle east of Buc's Den sinks down into a reef that opens a hole to ancient pirate caves and other holes open off & on underwater that cause the whirlpools as cave areas under the ocean fill. Pehaps a new player race lives down there and is magically trying to save their land from drowning and seal the holes flooding their land until the next one opens. Mermaids & Mermen who can switch from legs to fishtail anyone?

 

[georgemarvin2001]

I like the idea. There have been several events where the leftover land/water area was just left there. There is one secret area in particular that I can think of right off the top of my head, where the few players who know about it go to mine (usually several valorite veins in there) and train skills in privacy. It's massive, has a large water area, and hundreds of treasure chests already in it. All the chests are empty, but they could be reset as working treasure chests, and the entrance could easily be moved to the ocean. The Devs should all know where I'm talking about.

The idea of a shipwreck, where everybody has to buy a new ship every time they go in the dungeon wouldn't be bad. It wouldn't be a huge gold sink, though. I don't like the idea of making insurance higher in the dungeon; making variable systems like that is just asking for trouble.

Also, I would like it to be made so that you can't recall out; you have to go through the whole dungeon to get out. In order to do that, the harder spawns would have to be optional, so that even the younger players could join in. If you wandered into a shipwreck, you might meet a spawn of hydras guarding a chest, or if you went into an inviting room with a chest in it, the door would lock and you would be accosted by a dozen pirates. But if you just did the minimum, you could escape with your skin attached, even if you weren't a 6x legendary.

 

[Lorddog]

Seafaring Expansion

looking over your website i had a memory recall of a Broadsides we use to play when I was a kid

 

[Jasonleebeck]

Can I fight Poseidon and Davey Jones?

 

[GreyPawn]

5-6 years ago, before I became a Community Manager, I dabbled a bit in design and threw this old thing together.

Ultima Online: Legend of the Siren

Not quite as fleshed out as Cap'n Skurvypants, but could probably build the damned thing with a month and command line access.

 

[JamezC]

5-6 years ago, before I became a Community Manager, I dabbled a bit in design and threw this old thing together.

Ultima Online: Legend of the Siren

Not quite as fleshed out as Cap'n Skurvypants, but could probably build the damned thing with a month and command line access.

Brilliant!
Can i use some of this in my notes?
I'm fleshing out an entire thing because i have too much time and too little to do right now.

Thank you!
- James

 

[Lady Laurel]

Ive been dreaming of an underwater dungeon for the past 9 or so years

 

[JamezC]

Ive been dreaming of an underwater dungeon for the past 9 or so years

I cant stop thinking about these things, makes me want to start a free player run server and try them out, but i have not the slightest idea as to how to do it. I've drawn out layouts of a supposed dungeon.

Anyone have any ideas what an underwater race or mob should be named?
Or does anybody have a good idea for what a big boss would be in the deepest area?

Thank you
- James