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Dev just has a somewhat twisted sense of humor some days. I do not have an emulator. I did start ?developing? several, and have expressed the idea of creating one dozens of times, and even did a little programming and was able to let players log in to one project I started. That is as far as any UO emulator I have ?started? has gone, though.
I did work on my own version of UOX which was based off the version UOXC was based off (I forget the version number). I managed to ?fix? several hundreds bugs (or maybe thousands, for all I remember), but all of the fixes were semi-shoddy and were meant to only work (as opposed to being scalable and having a good design as well). I successfully ?ran? this server for several months (4 to 6, continuously) because I had one regular player (which was enough to keep me motivated at the time). Eventually, though, our (the one player and me) ideas about what constituted a fun world separated to the point of him quitting. The same day, I shut it down and forgot about it. You can find the source to it in the software section of my web site, although I would not recommend using it any more than I would recommend using any ?classic? version of UOX (which I would not do!).
Having said all that, I really do want to create my own emulator. The difficulty behind creating one, though, often takes my mind down the path of ?MMORPG? as apposed to just ?emulator?. You see, as you make an emulator, it does not take a stretch of imagination to consider how easy it would be to make a corresponding client as well. Most of the work (non-graphical, at least) is done by the server, after all, and getting a semi-functioning graphic engine (especially based off the many fine frameworks available) would seem very easy in comparison. That bestows upon you, as a creator, an infinitely more powerful and much more attractive opportunity since it would not be limited by any client limitations what so ever. The down side, obviously, is a complete and utter lack of artwork, no help, and having everyone laugh at you.
Unbelievably, I did manage to write some software based on the notion of making my own MiniMORPG (as I like to call them), though. First was a simple tile-based 2D game where you could log in, move around in a simple world, and shoot other people who logged in. Then along came the sequel to the first game, which was purely a text-based MUD. The MUD advanced further in capability, but grew old quickly for obvious reasons. Neither is available for download.
Then inspiration struck, and I decided I would make a 3D one. Not only that, but I weaseled my way into getting over a million dollars worth of high-quality MMORPG artwork that no other game would ever have. I also found a very good 3D rendering engine (Ogre) with the help of Punt, and was optimistic.
First, though, I decided to make a much more simple 3D game as a ?warm up? ? maybe even a series of simpler games. First was to be a 3D shooter, but I decided I did not have the artwork to support it and was not interested in making one when so many people are doing that these days (yes, I know, even more are making MMORPGs!). Instead, I would make a 3D ?shoot the aliens? game, where you pilot a little spaceship at the bottom of the screen, and shoot aliens that come from the top (slanted, a little, to show off the 3D-ness more). After all, I can model a good spaceship.
Then one disastrous day, when I was sitting down to finish my super-groovy text parser, Kathleen called. I spoke to her for a while, and then went back to programming. A little later (and I do mean ?little?), she called again. By the time I finished talking to her, it was time to eat, and by the time I finished eating, it was time for bed. Why is that so bad? That was the day when I realized that my ?real life? (which, sadly, I consider a slightly more important right now) would not allow me to do much programming for a while.
I never got the artwork I mentioned (in fact, the company started to ignore me, and I suppose that means the deal is off). It was too good to be true, you could say ? I never got my hopes up for it, anyway. That compounded by the above, lead me to my decision to close the compiler for the next few months. Kathleen will be graduating and moving in with me. Once she is living with me, and I am not spending 8+ hours a week traveling between our houses, I am hoping to pick up the compiler once more and begin where I left off.
*sigh*
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