Ryandor.com

Just an idea here here but ....

With all these ppl commin out of the wood work saying stuff like " I'm back an I think im gonna de-build this or that, etc etc etc"

Why can't we as a Ryandor Community bind together an build one mega shard? We all post our ideas for maps an storylines.....

we all vote on the top 4 or 5 an use those as a shard, TOGETHER with COMBINED resources.

Map0 1 map and storyline
Map 1 ?????????????
Map2 ....
map3 ...
map4 ....

They could be either be independent of each other or an extension thru moongates or by ocean travel (map edge tele)

The pool of players is shrinking yet we all continue to build away on dozens of 30 dy wonder shards....

Ideas? Comments?

Wayne

It's a good idea, but the problem is everyone here is building a shard because they all believe their idea of the end-product is better than OSI's (or another admins). I don't think it'd work for that simple reason.

I know with Tragena, I'd never tolerate an outsider coming along and changing something, or adding something. I'd never ever tolerate another world designer coming along and saying they'd rather it look like this or that.

Which is exactly why you have the team approach.

Democratic porcess.

AND IF you missed it..... I did say 4 or 5 seperate maps and storylines

I have a team of some of the best in the "business" :p

The only way we can get anything accomplished is when we ditch democracy and I say "ok, this is what we're doing".

I understand as leader of a project you occasionaly have to say "enough, this is what the deal is"

Thats fine

The whole reason an idea like mine won't work is because people say it won't work befor they even attempt it. They just throw out there stuff like .... my team is the greatest, I have the best Ideas, I dont care that I only have 20 players it MY shard an MY idea.

I think that's exactly why most shards never even get out of development, or go through development cycles that last for years.

Everyone is so fixated on their vision that they aren't willing to compromise on any aspect of it, thus making teamwork and joining forces impossible.

And really, I don't think anyone can lay claim to having "the best in the business". There are an awful lot of talented people out there, mostly working on shards that are either not finished, or not well known. Many of them reside outside the U.S. The world building piece isn't really rocket science. Some imagination and talent is needed, but finding good world builders has been the least of my concerns. Finding good developers (i.e. programmers and artists) has been a lot harder in my experience.

I think that some of the non-OSI game systems we want to use are either common, or could be shared and then tweaked to meet a shard's specific needs. For instance, things like race/class/xp systems, custom spells, magic items, quests, etc. can be easily transportable from one shard to another. My idea would be to discuss our common ground, not our differences, and then see if we can collaborate on our common ground. Shard specific stuff can still be done solo, but so much of it is not shard specific.

_________________
-= HellRazor =-
Shattered Sosaria is coming!
http://www.shatteredsosaria.com

As your friendly neighborhood overlord, I could have the final approval over you all^h^h^h I mean the designs..

erm, yeah, that's it..


Seriously, this is worth a look. I'm willing to entertain this idea.
Lets here some ideas for how this might work.

-Ryandor

Hehe, that's why I say "some of the best in the business" rather than "THE best in the business". It really is true though, my staff are talented beyond reason... and I don't take credit for any of their skills or my shard, so it's ok for me to brag about them Tragena is my background and design and imagination... but it's their talents.

Our development has lasted years, but I can only blame that on myself, not the fact that we won't compromise with another dev or dev team. Lineage II and WoW pulled me away from UO for awhile, multiple times, and Tragena came to a screeching halt when I did.

If there's people out there not attached to a specific shard/design/dream/goal, then by all means join forces and create something magical. This website of all places would be the spot to recruit such a team.

I'm in whenever I can get a free moment (which, unfortunately, isn't very often). I've been meaning to start using punt's tools for quite some time...

I think this is a good idea if not for any other reason than it gets people thinking of team effort.

There is one small issue with something HellRazor said though.


I am pretty sure that transporting scripts from one "brand" of emulator to another is next to impossible. So obviously the scripting side would leave some of us in the community out if we asren't using the emulator of choice for the project. For the most part Ryandor.com has been dedicated to graphics and MUL editing which is pretty much emulator independant. If this community effort is to include scripting then one of the first things to decide would be the emulator that would be used.

_________________
Sincerely,
Yukiko
Titus 2:13

IMHO< HR is already goin on a few assumptions

1. we will use RunUO
2. any staffers will also be using RunUO on any projects there are doing on there own.
3. so therefore any scripts created will be from/for ppl all using the same EMU in all there projects

Yes. I figured that.

I think there are a lot us that are not using RunUO though, and I am not intending or wanting this thread to become a "my emulator can beat-up your emulator" thread but, in my not-so humble opinion, one of the things that has impressed me about Ryandor and his site is that it has been pretty much emulator independant. Ofcourse with that statement I understand that RunUO and utilities specifically written for it has made world building easier. So I understand the tendency to want to use RunUO.

_________________
Sincerely,
Yukiko
Titus 2:13

Understood

I too do NOT wish this to turn into the "mine is better than yours" thread either.

THAT is neither the purpose or goal of this thread or shard concept in general. But the emulator we use will be determined by the team members that volunteer and ultimately approved by Ryandor.

Ofcourse.

_________________
Sincerely,
Yukiko
Titus 2:13

Even some things across emulators could be done.

For instance the exact scripting of an idea may be different, but some of the methods used might be the same.

Example: A custom spell that displays a certain effect. The code that displays the effect can be transportable with some re-writes between one emulator and another.

Example 2: Some systems need to be totally thought out and put down on paper first. Sometimes this is the real challenge, not the actual coding. Working systems and game mechanics that are mapped out can be transported between emulators even tho the coding will differ.

But yeah, anyone not using the same emulator that the shard would be coded in might not get the full benefit. Then again, it could be a good way for someone to learn the ropes on a new emulator without having to actually put up a shard of their own.

_________________
-= HellRazor =-
Shattered Sosaria is coming!
http://www.shatteredsosaria.com

haven't shown any updates in awhile but it represents hundreds of hours of work. The terrain .bmp is 100% pixel by pixel perfect and done, although there is definately room for dungeons from others to be added. Terrain is done for most of the complex areas, ie the areas around the main city nestled in the mountains are all terraced and the island about the lower right desert island has the spires done. Has mountains done roughly so I could get that "ah my map is walkable at last" high but could really use help from some one more skilled at altittude than i.

I'd like to offer this map, all the files and revisions that go along with it. Interested guys?

_________________
contact via aim ashestodust

Looks pretty sweet from here.

Is this a Dragon bitmap?

_________________
-= HellRazor =-
Shattered Sosaria is coming!
http://www.shatteredsosaria.com

It does look very good....

Any way to get the files so we can load'm up? I'd like HR, Ryandor and Myself to walk it? Or even just use CED to get a better feel of the details.

Thanks for the offer.....
Pallando

the map was started in mod 9, converted to 11, converted to UOL, and i think as it stands the latest revision is setup for punt's map gen. Some one just needs to pick a bmp-mul that they have transitions set up well for and use that.

Its pixel by pixel perfect, no stray pixels whatsoever.

my email is heretorock@gmail.com, my aim is ashestodust... If some one sets up a tcp i'll send it over, and on a side note such a project will need a server anyhow to swap files around.

_________________
contact via aim ashestodust

If you would need someone as an artist for custom graphics and statics (gumps may be worth my time too), just call me.

_________________
"Be calm and silent, as Darkness care not of passions and lies. Be patient and cold, as Darkness exists out of borders of time and emotions. Just be yourself, as You are in the Darkness and Darkness is inside of you."
-Dark Ones Doctrine, 2001y (c)-

if i could get 1 person to run the server somewhere and one person to help a little with the map, then I dont see why we can't do this? it would take 3 people all but a week to get something running with my map.

Anyone want to contribute? I'd like to do this.

_________________
contact via aim ashestodust

This idea has seemed to have drifted off into vapor.

Hellrazor started his own massive project and I'm doing freelance map work for several shards. Ryan was working on a map outline, but it never came my way so we could get it into hard production.

Not a chance. To build a good map you must invest tens of thousands person-hours into that. And you want to recruit such people from group, where nobody was able to make even one good map? Where people are doing dosens of maps, but totally without quallity? And most of their statics sux? Everybody here is starting new and new projects, new and new maps, but never finish anything. How can you make a shard with this?
I am really sorry to say that, but this is what i see. How many good map builders is here? 2?

Then you need good programmers and people, who will come with good ruleset of shard. And people, who will make custom animations, items....Again lots of research and thousands of hours of work.

To build good shard you must have good people willing to work hard for 1-2 years to open it. They must have ideas (working ideas, no shit) and they must be able to work more then few weeks, not to dissapear after some time.
Today is not possible to find such people in bigger ammounts, internet community changed a lot. Quality of people is many time lower, then it was few years ago, you can see it even on players, who are not even able to read one sentence and understand it.

And i really know, what i am speaking about. I really doubt, that today would be possible to make other shard in quality of Endor. There is not enough of good people to do that. Even if i take my current Endor team, it would be no chance to do that again. The best people are already gone and recruiting them from players brings one good person from 100.

_________________
Endor Team leader, visit our web site:
http://www.endor.cz/index-en.php

It's true. The times are changing. Finding people willing to devote the time and energy required for such a project is becoming very hard. I serve as an excellent example. I barely have time to keep up with the forums here, let alone work on a map, as is shown by how long it takes for me to reply.

As sad as it may be, it's a fact that, at least for me, UO is in the past and I'll most likely not get heavily involved like I was years ago. That being said, I will never shut down this forum or site. This will always be here as long as I have control over it.

I'm sure a few of you have noticed the HL site here as well, which is my other mapping project. Both suffer from lack of updates and progress. I'd love to devote more time to both, but it's just not realistic due to family and job.

I thought I might have one more big project, but it's just not feasible for me at this point.

-Ryandor

I'm totaly out of the picture anymore. I was, as I said befor, doin alot of freelance work on maps for several places, one being Grimmwold. But due to the BS way I was constantly being treated I stopped workin on others ppl shards. An, as the same as the rest of you, my home life is so full, as I get older, that I have given up on UO freeshards altogether.