Should there be new mapping tool? *Poll*

[Splup]

Hello,

Most of us read about the new mapping tool (actually I think there was 2 being done) which were supposed to replace UOAM which is not being updated anymore.

Mythic said that these programs should NOT be used.

Well I'd just like to see public opinion on this.

Do you think there should be UOAM like program that is being updated?

 

[Ender]

Speedhacks and scripts and such "should NOT be used" and are more harmful than a ****ing map tool almost exactly like the one that we ALREADY HAVE and is COMPLETELY LEGAL, yet not a damn thing is done about them.

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

I believe the only people who will vote are going to be the people who have to "quit" playing if there is no uoam. So you most likely will get a skewed perspective of the "public opinion" since 90% of all votes will be for option 1.

and to Ender....there really is no stopping hackers, on the other hand I do suppose they could do something to make it "less" wide-spread. But on the other hand...when dealing with hackers it is always a group of people who do it and as long as one of them can accomplish, at the very least attaining a hack then all of them will continue to have them.

Of course, it would be highly unlikely that if you do use a new map tool that anything would be done about it. So my opinion on the matter is...they cant stop, or at least are not stopping, the hack tools, so mind as well use a uoam clone.

 

[Magdalene]

Please keep this thread generic or it will be gone.
Just sayin'

 

[Ender]

*sigh*

 

[Prince Caspian]

Hello,

Most of us read about the new mapping tool (actually I think there was 2 being done) which were supposed to replace UOAM which is not being updated anymore.

Mythic said that these programs should NOT be used.

Well I'd just like to see public opinion on this.

Do you think there should be UOAM like program that is being updated?

UOAM and UOA were both must-haves for so much of my UO career. And I always thought both were absolutely spectacular apps.

But I was always of the mindset that they existed by necessity: to make up for the fact that the in-game counterparts to the functionality were crude and unusable.

I for one was encouraged to see the features in both applications being developed in UO. EA SHOULD be trying to make such applications obsolete. When an app like UOAM or UOA takes off, it's a sign that the core game itself is not living up to our usability requirements.

 

[Gellor]

I think the ability to track players in your group(guild, party, whatever) similar to UOAM is a needed function as evidenced by people who think we need a replacement UOAM.

Whether it ends up as a third party project or an EA project to me is irrelevant. The need is there.

The fact that two people have spent all of one week making one shows that such functionality is easy to create.

I think EA's inconsistent enforcement of their own rules is ridiculous. "We don't want you to make third party apps" but we will provide you with approved hooks into our client (UOAssist API calls and LUA calls) They allow things like UORudder but say a replacement map is not allowed. Both interact with the client but a map utility only reads from the client while UORudder writes to it.

If all these non "UOPro" utilities had no use, they wouldn't exist.

If EA was halfway smart, they would let people create these useful 3rd party apps and then buy the rights to them and integrate them into UO. Odds are they could buy them for MUCH cheaper than they could do the programming themselves and end up with code that is 100% more stable.

 

[Aurelius]

Much as I admired and used Automap, I would much rather have everything it offered, and maybe more, within the core product.

I love the idea of customisable skins, letting people determine layouts, colour preferences, and what game 'feedback' is on their own screen to suit their preferences - but that should be built on a really complete core provided by the game client, not by building new tools.

Now if that's not possible for EA (although I'd need some persuading of that...), I'd say an external tool is a very useful thing to have, and would have a huge audience - but the need for it just illustrates a shortfall in the basic product that we pay for, and heaven knows, with buying the game, expansions and monthly fees, over the years it's hard to say we have not paid enough for it!

 

[Kellgory]

Most games that I've ever played that had maps usually had a map feature so that it actually brought up a map so that you could see where you were and where you needed to go. All UO has is a tiny little radar that for the most part isn't all that helpful. I believe SA has something of like that, if I can remember back to beta testing.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Option 4: Get the lost functionality from the KR map/atlas into the Enhanced client and get the rest of UOAM features that the devs deem legit into the Enhanced client map system so that the upgrades are internal and gives the Enhanced client an actual enhancement.

 

[Torin Galka]

Map Please!

I don't care if it is third party or from EA. I will use what ever is best available.

Why if two guys can build two different beta maps in a week, EA can't fix this in a single patch?

 

[Vyal]

I did mine in a day sir, about two hours I had the framework done
I was almost half tempted to add video and voice chat into it

 

[IanJames]

I don't care if it's in the program or if it's a third party tool. I just want one available that works the way it's supposed to.

 

[MiNi MaGi]

i think uoam should be offerd just like uoassist is.. if u dont want it then dont use it and stfu.. simple enough to me

 

[Splup]

Map Please!

I don't care if it is third party or from EA. I will use what ever is best available.

Why if two guys can build two different beta maps in a week, EA can't fix this in a single patch?

Yeah... Dunno if there would be some server providing issues if the prog is made by EA. Or maybe EA could provide the tool and still let people make their own servers.

 

[Black Sun]

If you had asked me this same question 5 years ago I would have answered much differently, as prior to my break from UO from '04-'07 I used UOAM all the time. When I returned it was no longer being supported and I couldn't get it to work properly, so I stopped trying and just relied on the ingame map, and if I really needed it I could always look up a map online and use that. Between the 2 I am able to find my location for 99% of the time. Now I don't really feel the need for another map besides the one in game. If a good UOAM like app were released, I might try it. But my playstyle and enjoyment are not dependent on a mapping utility.

Basically, I guess my best answer would be I really don't care if anotehr one is made or not. I can live without one.

 

[They Call Me Al]

Uoam was probably the most useful tool that mythic never produced. I think that if anything, they should atleast make our current "map" have a zoom style function and a scroll from fixed location x,y style function as well.

Now they could go as far as making a seperate tab so that the user could change the ridiculous round map into a more managable square/rectangle, and also let players add markers for points of interest. They could also put lables on towns and dungeons.. All of these things which any "normal paper map" would either have, or be able to handle.

Basically they need to get ahold of a good map maker and employ him/her to make the best in-game map ever.

 

[Gwendar-SP]

I haven't tried the new client but from KR it would seem like a seperate map is needed. With KR you had to be in party which places many limitations on the usefulness of a map:

Limited numbers
one has to meet up in game with the people you want to be on map with
I assume if the party creater loggs the group has to reform

 

[Torin Galka]

Why has there been no word on this from the DEV's? Why is such an important tool allowed to die?

 

[Kratos Aurion]

Why has there been no word on this from the DEV's? Why is such an important tool allowed to die?

I thought the KR client had an updated map that had very similar features to that of UOAM. I know I'm not going crazy because I used it during the beta stages of the KR client and it offered several of the features UOAM contained. I can't say for sure if the same has been done for the SA client though.

*EDIT* The creater of the UOAM tool said he wouldn't release the source code under any circumstances. It was even posted on his homepage I believe at one time. It's not that anyones just "letting" UOAM die, it's that the creater of UOAM its self is no longer supporting it, won't sell it and will not allow anyone to have the rights to it or update it.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

I love playing in 2D and hate the 3D look of SA, ya I called it 3D as that what it is to me. I hate being lost in the new lands, since UOAM will not work there, so I quit going there except for the puzzle room in the underworld, that is one place I can find.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

If that's how you wish to limit yourself.......

 

[MalagAste]

I love playing in 2D and hate the 3D look of SA, ya I called it 3D as that what it is to me. I hate being lost in the new lands, since UOAM will not work there, so I quit going there except for the puzzle room in the underworld, that is one place I can find.

I play the 2D client because the SA client HURTS my eyes... if I were forced to play nothing but SA I'd be limited to about 45 min of playtime a day.... because my eyes would hurt too much to play any more than that.

 

[Torin Galka]

I thought the KR client had an updated map that had very similar features to that of UOAM. I know I'm not going crazy because I used it during the beta stages of the KR client and it offered several of the features UOAM contained. I can't say for sure if the same has been done for the SA client though.

*EDIT* The creater of the UOAM tool said he wouldn't release the source code under any circumstances. It was even posted on his homepage I believe at one time. It's not that anyones just "letting" UOAM die, it's that the creater of UOAM its self is no longer supporting it, won't sell it and will not allow anyone to have the rights to it or update it.

I guess I was being a bit dramatic as I know UOAM is no longer supported by its creator. I was more referring to the DEV's in inability to create their own working version and their stance on not allowing (approving) a replacement tool. My main issue with all this is now there are at least two alternatives out there that won't be approved and can't be spoken of here in these forums. So now we are left with another (illegal) tool that some will use, causing yet another imbalance between the haves and have-nots.

 

[UOKaiser]

I guess I was being a bit dramatic as I know UOAM is no longer supported by its creator. I was more referring to the DEV's in inability to create their own working version and their stance on not allowing (approving) a replacement tool. My main issue with all this is now there are at least two alternatives out there that won't be approved and can't be spoken of here in these forums. So now we are left with another (illegal) tool that some will use, causing yet another imbalance between the haves and have-nots.

Not completly true. They will or maybe one of them might end up on the tool section of stratics. They don't need to be "approved" by dev to be useful. As long they dont break the modifying packet thing they probably be allowed in the community.
EA will never ever approve anything again ever it doesn't matter if it's a button on your screen that does the same thing as the easy button from staples. The uopro program is discontinue indefinetly. I am glad people will still make useful things like this still for us.

 

[Maximus Neximus]

I guess I was being a bit dramatic as I know UOAM is no longer supported by its creator. I was more referring to the DEV's in inability to create their own working version and their stance on not allowing (approving) a replacement tool. My main issue with all this is now there are at least two alternatives out there that won't be approved and can't be spoken of here in these forums. So now we are left with another (illegal) tool that some will use, causing yet another imbalance between the haves and have-nots.

UO Rudder and Wedding (i think) are not approved yet people use them with no issues.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

I thought the KR client had an updated map that had very similar features to that of UOAM.

KR DID have quite a few of the same functions as UOAM, but many of those were since stripped out when they "updated" to the SA map. The ability to place a waypoint by coordinate entry (note: I was asked about this and double checked and you can change the coords, but not as easily as in KR due to lack of ability to tab between fields) and the ability to customize that waypoint by a wide set of icons of various types and sizes was stripped out in the process of putting in the "legacy" map dds files (seperate files that should NOT have caused the other to be stripped out) and the ability to see player houses on the minimap.

Granted the two items put in are nice, however one was covered in KR mods and the other I don't think has really been worth losing the FUNCTIONALITY we had in the KR map.

Thus far, the ONLY advancement towards a UOAM style map in SA is the player created "atlas resize" mod.

Yet another inexplicable step BACKWARDS from KR to SA.

 

[Gilmour]

sorry for bringing this up again, but just wanted to give my input.

first of all, does anyone have the skills to make such a program in a mannor it would be legal?

and also its really nice tool for uo this uoam, unfortunetly it stopped updating now the maps.. still useable tho on supported facets but can no longer be updated when maps change.

the linking ability is what im mainly after in a mapping tool, not so much the mapping it self although it is indeed usefull to be able to find this exact tile where the treasure chest is so not running around the complete screen trying to find it.

also it is quite usefull for seeing where you are in the world when you are sailing. and similar stuff.

best case for me, would not be a complete new tool, but that belxan (thats his name isnt it? the uoam creator?) released the source, perhaps not to open but to someone with the skills to keep it updated, keeping the basics while supporting new content. however unsure if he would be willing to do so.. or even if someone would be able to understand his code and make it supportable. (know first hand how ppl write code different ways from PHP coding)

Just my input,

Greets
Gil