Ultima Offline eXperiment 3 v0.99.6 Unleashed!

Xuri · Oct 14, 2023

What's UOX3?
UOX3 is the literal grandfather of Ultima Online server emulation and has been around for over 25 years, and we've just released v0.99.6!

Why not just use [insert another popular UO Emulator]?
UOX3 represents an alternative to some of the more complex UO emulators out there, and much effort has been put in to make it as easy as possible to get started. With the help of extensive and up-to-date documentation, features that assist fresh admins to get their shards up and running in a matter of minutes, and with the support of a friendly and helpful community, our aim is that anyone who wants should be able to run their own UO shard - offline or online - without requiring a degree in programming!

What are UOX3's selling points?

...64-bit cross platform support across Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD, with feature-parity across all supported platforms
...JavaScript-based scripting engine that's both easy to learn, powerful and fast enough to do almost anything you put your mind to
...Dynamic reloading of scripts and definition files - almost every aspect of UOX3 can be reloaded on the fly. Want to iterate on that custom gump? Make your changes, reload the specific script you're working on and test the gump again in just a few seconds
...Custom object tags - permanent or temporary - can be added to any game object via scripts, GM commands or definition files. Store custom ints, strings and booleans per object without having to customize the core of UOX3
...Special focus on features and systems from the LBR (Pub15/Pre-AoS) era of UO, while at the same time laying the ground work for admins to incorporate features from other eras into their shard to form their own unique vision of what UO could be like
...Instancing system allows scripters to let players co-exist in the same virtual space, in the same map, at the same coordinates - without seeing or being able to interact with one another. Potential use-cases: Instanced dungeons/caves, housing zones, shared static houses, personalized quest-areas, etc.
...Multi-Language Support. UOX3 comes with a custom dictionary system that allows for sending script and system messages to connected clients in the client's default language, or to specify a default language for the server which is used for all connected clients regardless of their language settings. Languages currently supported by server (translation quality may vary): English (Default), Czech, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish
...Extensive, up-to-date and easy to navigate documentation for both core UOX3 features and JS Scripting Engine For a more complete list of features, check out the Feature Highlights-section of the UOX3 Documentation.

For a more complete list of features, check out the Feature Highlights-section of the UOX3 Documentation.

So what's new specifically in UOX3 0.99.6?
The latest release of UOX3 contains a number of improvements, like...

...Adaptive Performance System that dynamically adjusts how often NPC AI/movement is checked as shard performance drops/climbs
...Performance improvements for out-of-combat NPC pathfinding
...Performance improvements to world loading speed (~20% faster)
...Performance improvements to world save speed (~50% faster)
...Performance improvements to networking for shards running on Windows
...Improved server stability (all known server crashes fixed, all known client crashes/freezes addressed)
...Numerous gameplay fixes for player houses, item lockdowns, player vendors, guilds, pets, spellcasting, NPC combat animations, runebooks, crafting skills, fishing, and other skill-related scripts
...Mini-revamp of boats to address issues with boat movement, docking, placement and plank interaction
...Mini-revamp of notoriety flagging, now with aggressor tracking, permagrey tracking, stealing flags, etc. on a per-target basis
...Complete revamp of Stealing and Snooping skills, which have both been moved from hard code to script
...Moved Mining and Taste ID skills to scripts, and removed hardcoded versions
...Added misc new gameplay features: Young Player System, NPC Guilds, tribal paint, taxidermy kits/trophies, potion kegs, hair dyes, savage spears, bolas, small bulk order deeds
...Added script-based "Trammel" PvP ruleset which can restrict certain player-to-player interactions in non-Felucca facets (customizable per facet, with override options per region)
...Added worldtemplates with decorations for Trammel and Ilshenar facets
...Added region spawners for NPCs and monsters in Trammel and Ilshenar facets
...Added new NPC AI types: AI_CASTER and AI_EVIL_CASTER - both of which make the NPC try to stay at range to cast spells rather than engage in melee combat, and AI_ANIMAL_SCARED - which make the NPCs try to stay away from players
...Added optional ability for pets, hirelings and/or NPCs in general to gain stats and skills from combat
...Added option for keyless interactions with locked doors in player houses, with INI options to give shard admins greater control of how this and safe logouts in houses are handled
...Added INI option that determines whether spellcasting can be done while moving
...Added numerous other new INI options that expand on the shard admin's ability to customize rules for combat, maker's mark, what details that show alongside names of players and NPCs over their heads, in tooltips and in paperdolls, max weight capacity of player backpacks and bankboxes, global restock multiplier, and more!
...Revamped default region spawn setup to offer more extensive NPC spawns across Felucca and Trammel facets with associated dungeons
...Help menu re-implemented and re-invented in JS, with option to let players teleport to safety if stuck
...Improved player support tools; GM/Counselor pages can now be made and answered asynchronously
...UOX3 now tracks which DFN section an NPC or Item was added from, and in which era of UO such objects were originally added to the game
...Added numerous new Events, Functions, Methods and Properties to UOX3's JS scripting engine
...Additional cleanup of codebase and compile-warnings, with a push for standardization of code style and naming conventions in both code and default scripts
...Added support for compiling and running UOX3 on FreeBSD, in addition to the existing platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac)
...Adopted CMake as default build system for Linux/FreeBSD, and as an alternative to VS/XCode projects for Windows/macOS The full list is too long to go into here, but if you head on over to uox3.org you can check out the full update notes with more details!

If you're interested in trying out an Ultima Online emulator with soul, or if you're looking for a project where you can still make your mark as a contributor of code or scripts, check out the Ultima Offline eXperiment 3 at https://www.uox3.org, visit our GitHub pages or come hang out with us on Discord!

Cork · Dec 6, 2023

Glad to see you guys are still around.

Ultima Offline eXperiment 3 v0.99.6 Unleashed!

Xuri

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Cork

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