What we could have had...

[SchezwanBeefy]

I was looking about on Youtube and I found this video, and I actually never even knew about this project.
It was called Ultima X, another online game Origin was making based on the Ultima world but was dropped so more resources could be put into KR.
What were they thinking? This could have brought in a HUGE player base. The graphics are a million times better, and it would have probably competed VERY well with WOW if it kept some of the systems we use in game today like templates, crafting, champ spawns, and so on.
How depressing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6B63lCNL2E
(seems the youtube embedding isn't working on the forums, mods.)

 

[Sara1]

Not positive I would have the time and money to buy that game too, but it is awsome. Thanks for putting it up for us. I love the graphics. Why not have them instead of the ec? They are better, imho.

 

[Madrid]

Not bad but not what I personally want in terms of graphics for UO. I'm not a big fan of the 3D games. I've always been happy with the way UO has been set up being an isometric. It's just the graphics that need improvement. If UO has graphics similiar to what was done in Titan Quest I think it would be close to perfect.

UOKR was a step in the right direction. I don't care what anyone says. I'd still be playing if KR had been left as an option. The EC client is essentially UOKR with mostly CC graphics. The EC interface is identical to UOKR except they added a few more features.

I think KR failed because too many people are opposed to change and that without question it had stability issues early on. The UOKR Modders did a fine job fixxing many issues that should have been handled by the UO Dev Team.

I miss UO alot and would like to come back but I can't play with the **** poor graphics that are available via the CC&EC.

It be nice to see some steps taken to make the game hi-res as has been suggested by of the players. There was a thread not too long ago about that very thing with some amazing artwork that stirred up some excitement for me.

However reading that there have been layoffs and EA is cutting back on employees I'm not holding my breath that there will be any changes to improving UO Graphics in the near future but I'll keep checking back nonetheless.

 

[Uriah Heep]

dropped so more resources could be put into KR

The old memory may be hazy, but I don't think KR had anything to do with this cancellation. Not even sure KR had even been thought of at the time.
Just another cancellation made for no apparent reason by EA, same as they did with UO2.

Not sure which one it was, UO2 or UX:O, even had a launch party and then got cancelled.

What coulda been, what shoulda been, I'm just happy we still have what we have

 

[Schuyler Bain]

The old memory may be hazy, but I don't think KR had anything to do with this cancellation. Not even sure KR had even been thought of at the time.
Just another cancellation made for no apparent reason by EA, same as they did with UO2.

Not sure which one it was, UO2 or UX:O, even had a launch party and then got cancelled.

What coulda been, what shoulda been, I'm just happy we still have what we have

this

UOX was canceled long before KR ever was mentioned.

 

[kittykat]

UX:O was canceled because they moved the whole team to redwood shores (from austin) - and over 90% of the team working on it decided not to make the move
- I remember they put another person in charge of it, but at the time there diddn't seem to be any enthusiasm to finish it and it was dropped soon after the move

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I have no memory of UX:O and Kingdom Reborn being connected in any way. I remember UX:O being canceled years before Darkscribe came on, and certainly before KR.

UX:O was Ultima X: Odyssey. It was to be a separate game from UO, an online sequel to the single-player Ultima games. Instead of the Avatar ascending to Heaven (or whatever) to his eternal reward, we find out that he was dragged into a dark and tortured world.

Because there's nothing quite like a twisted Hollywood horror film ending tacked on to a beloved fantasy game saga to really bring in the subscribers.

This game would have torn people away from UO and would have tarnished the memory of the single-player games.

-Galen's player

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

UOKR was a step in the right direction. I don't care what anyone says. I'd still be playing if KR had been left as an option.

This. And really EC would be in the same situation had they not stripped out so many of KR's advances in the UI and graphics in the rebuilding. Just switch the default option for graphics to Legacy and keeping the KR artwork as a settable option for those who prefer and could run them, same with higer resolution models, kept the atlas UI they stripped from KR as well as the crafting menus and we'd be where EC should be right now.

UX:O was canceled because they moved the whole team to redwood shores (from austin) - and over 90% of the team working on it decided not to make the move

And this. KR had nothing to do with UX:O being cancelled... it was (much in the same way that screwed over KR) moving the entire dev team and losing a good portion in the process.

As it was, while I liked some of the gameplay concepts they were working on from UX:O and thought it would have been an amazing game conceptually. I though the graphics and character models in particular were too "Disney" for my tastes.

 

[Fink]

There's nothing terribly dazzling in that, even for the day, but then it's just the world with no gameplay, mobiles or animation.

 

[Assia Penryn]

Ah, memories. I remember going to the SF conference for that and loving it. I wish they had pushed it through.

 

[Brucie Kibbutz]

Maybe I'm the only one who wasn't interested in another bug ridden EA produced game with understaffing.

If EA's name is on it, I don't want it, they got me hooked here but they won't hook me elsewhere.

 

[deadite]

If the time and money spent on UO2, UO:3D, UX:O, KR and at least one other unannounced secret project had all been funneled into improving the original UO... I can't even imagine what kind of awesome client we'd be playing now. EA is good at wasting effort it seems.

I came back recently and have been using the EC exclusively. Once I got past the new interface, learned how to create macros and played around with it for a while... I actually have a hard time picturing myself using the CC anymore. And I was a beta tester and LONG time player of the CC.

I definitely hope they keep improving the EC. It deserves the effort.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

And I'm the loony saying that they do it on purpose. Knowing exactly why hurts...

 

[Aurelius]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W537UU_Xj24&NR=1 is worth watching as well...

 

[Petra Fyde]

[youtube]Q6B63lCNL2E[/youtube]

you tube embedding works for me. You know that you only put the bit after the = sign between the 'youtube' tags? so:[youtube]Q6B63lCNL2E[/etc]

 

[shanshu]

Hehe....I remember when they were going to make carpet available back in 2001.

And the bad circle. Anyone?

How about dancing characters?

 

[SchezwanBeefy]

I have no memory of UX:O and Kingdom Reborn being connected in any way. I remember UX:O being canceled years before Darkscribe came on, and certainly before KR.

UX:O was Ultima X: Odyssey. It was to be a separate game from UO, an online sequel to the single-player Ultima games. Instead of the Avatar ascending to Heaven (or whatever) to his eternal reward, we find out that he was dragged into a dark and tortured world.
r

Sorry about that, I read it as that it was discontinued because they wanted to put more effort into the online client and for some reason I connected it with KR (I guess it just feels like KR was introduced back in 2004, not 2007... wow). When I watched the San Francisco gathering video, it sounded like they were going to make it an online client and not a single player one, but I guess I got that one wrong.
Also Petra, sorry about the link! I was in fact trying to put the whole link in there together.

 

[Trebr Drab]

I was looking about on Youtube and I found this video, and I actually never even knew about this project.
It was called Ultima X, another online game Origin was making based on the Ultima world but was dropped so more resources could be put into KR.
What were they thinking? This could have brought in a HUGE player base. The graphics are a million times better, and it would have probably competed VERY well with WOW if it kept some of the systems we use in game today like templates, crafting, champ spawns, and so on.
How depressing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6B63lCNL2E
(seems the youtube embedding isn't working on the forums, mods.)

I liked the music, it had the right feel. The world looked interesting. But without knowing what was included in the game play, how can we say anything about it? If it played like WoW, I wouldn't be interested. If it played like UO, that of course would be fantastic. If it played like UO minus the item grind (to the current extent), and added lots of Ultima mystery in the game play through discovery (screw quests), that would be a dream come true.

 

[Madrid]

I liked the music, it had the right feel.

The Music is by Basil Poledouris from the John Milius film Conan the Barbarian which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the greatest movies and soundtracks ever in my opinion...

Atlantean Sword is the name of the track. It's the 4th song on the soundtrack.

I'm actually suprised more movies haven't used some of the tracks from the original Conan the Barbarian movie but I definitely found it interesting to see someone who was apart of the UO Team recognize the greatness of Basil Poledouris and incorporate it into UO while trying to market the latest concept.