Crevan on 28/5/2013 at 20:00

---

Here I am again!

We haven't been idle latley, and while Ithil has been working on in-game graphics, I've added elemental crystals and arrows to the game. Each elemental arrow has its own effect, and while water arrows aren't particularly useful against human opponents, they work wonders on fire-based creatures and can be blessed with holy water to damage the undead.

Here are a couple of in-game screenshots, starring officer Crevan of the City Watch, waking up after a booze-fueled night, not quite sure of where the heck he ended up.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/1084/crevan2.png

Still dizzy, he decides to explore the place anyway - what's a lit brazier doing in such a desolate place? Did he light it himself when he was drunk?

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2152/crevan3.png

Actually, no. The fire seems to come from an elemental crystal placed right in the brazier! Knowing how valuable that stuff is, Crev snatches it out of the flames.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/5820/crevan4.png

But of course, a fire arrow might be even more valuable on the market. So he removes the metal tip from one of his arrows, and replaces it with the crystal.

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/6208/crevan5.png

On his way back, he catches sight of something moving by the old gravestones. By the Builder! A zombie!

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2718/crevan6.png

Officer Crevan acts quickly, shooting his newly crafted fire arrow right in the vile undead's face. The zombie predictably goes boom.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8375/crevan7.png

Of course, everything has its price.

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/2258/crevan8.png


The map doesn't depict some actual location from the games themselves, I pretty much just needed a cemetery to take the screenshots in. :p
I've had to change the way some elemental arrows work, too, since Ultima Online's game system wouldn't really allow to use them as they originally were: gas arrow do "air" damage to the target and those around him, pretty much as fire arrows do "fire" damage, and moss arrows cause a sudden growth of vegetation around their target, paralyzing him/her for three to six seconds and dealing regular arrow damage. As a bonus, they leave a nice patch of moss on the ground where the target was hit, which lasts for a while.

And that's it for now! Be back soon with more updates. :)

Crevan on 28/5/2013 at 22:21

---

That's Ultima Online's engine, running on RunUO 2.3 emulator - a new pseudo-3d version of the game was released in 2009-2010, but there are no emulators that I know of that can support it right now, so we had to stick with 2d.
As primitive as it may look, UO offers a lot of freedom in custom graphics and buildings - also, being isometrical & text-based, player interactions are quite smooth: either fighting or drinking beer at the pub and doing some casual roleplaying can be easier than it is on most modern 3rd person MMORPGS.
And, last but not least, pretty much anything one can think of can actually be scripted into something actually working in-game. :)

In the next couple of days I'll start testing some "utility" glyphs for the keepers and some pagan/hammerite spells. Won't take long, hopefully.

Crevan on 29/5/2013 at 16:09

---

Yep, I always found it kinda strange that Garrett would just go around with a bunch of arrow shafts to tie his crystals on, instead of removing the broadhead tip and replacing it. I'm not so sure about going for the whole "1 crystal = 1 arrow" thing too, since arrows in UO get used up much faster than they do in Thief.
Anyway, I'm adding some glyph effects to the game right now, so the next couple of screenshots will actually feature them. ;)

Crevan on 29/5/2013 at 19:03

---

Well...yes it does. :p We're trying to be as faithful as possible to the original graphics, too, but low-polygon 3d can be a pain in the *** when it comes to actually re-adapting it and figuring out details.

Crevan on 29/5/2013 at 19:44

---

Take Thief's setting: the City, the three factions, its items (flash bombs, mines, elemental crystals...) and magic. Done? Now, put them in an Ultima Online shard and make it all playable on a (marginally) massive scale. :) UO offers a lot of freedom, so players won't necessarily have to be thieves (or Keepers), but may be able to actually get to play a Hammerite, or a Pagan, or even a commoner and a nobleman.
Subplots and quests could be either made by GMs, or individual players may be able to come up with their own. That's pretty much how things have always been on Ultima Online's RP servers, except this time the setting may be quite different.