I've finally got the whole thing with ServUO and rather ancient (but existing) tool set up to work the way I want it. There is a lot of great tools out there which on the other hand aren't developed anymore. So it was a bit a pain to allow me to use a High Seas client with all the bells and whistles up to 7.0.23.1 (the last version prior switching to the uop file format which makes customizing the server with art etc much harder) and is able to connect to ServUO and have a flexible, customizable GM tool - while running it on Windows 8.1.
In case someone else is interested:
What you need ...
1. ServUO 54 version from the Repo on top.
2. Client 7.0.23.1 from https://code.google.com/p/download-client/downloads/list
3. a) Client decryptor to remove the decryption (or you can't connect to a ServUO server) https://www.servuo.com/archive/client-decryptor.387/
3. b) UOSteam 1.5 works too, it has all that extra cheat-like functionality though, might not be a good idea to give that to players upfront ... and it is tiny on my screen, somehow always causes UO to resize ... (except in UO client full screen mode but then you use only part of your screen) https://www.servuo.com/archive/uo-steam.440/
4. a) Accomplice scriptable GM tool, needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows XP Pack 3, the linked version isn't customized yet for ServUO but for another emulator so only some buttons works but changing the scripts is easy https://www.servuo.com/archive/accomplice-scriptable-gm-tool.441/
4. b) Pandora's box 3.0.0.5 works too, not customizable like Accomplice but made to run with ServUO mostly https://www.servuo.com/archive/pandoras-box-3-download.121/
5. Centred+ server/client package 7.0.0.8 to modify/build your map, decorate it (just static parts of course, the final "movable" decoration is done in the 7.0.23.1 client with ServUO) http://dev.uoquint.ru/projects/centred/files
6. Mulpatcher from Varan Dar for any other client file modification/customization https://www.servuo.com/archive/varan-dars-mulpatcher.388/
7. UO Fiddler with UOP file support (allows you to look at all the art and export it, so you can import it into your mul-file based installation for the future if you like to) https://www.servuo.com/archive/uofiddler-with-uop-support.189/
8. Mul2UOP converter - not so sure if that really works, never tried it, but potentially that allows you to switch to newer clients which are UOP based ... of course that means the whole encryption problem comes up again, you have to find a tool which can decrypt these and they are usually no longer updated ... https://www.servuo.com/archive/legacymulconverter-v4-uop-packer-unpacker.147/
The next step is to compile the ServUO server for your system (this is for example explained here https://www.servuo.com/threads/quick-how-to-get-the-source-and-compile.125/ and here https://www.servuo.com/threads/servuo-for-beginners-git-github-and-you.1088/ . After that step you need to point the ServUO server towards your Ultima Mul files. This is done by going into the scripts/Misc/DataPath.cs file with a text editor (Notepad++ works well and is for free) or Visual Studio from Microsoft (available for free for a limited trial period).
If you want to use Centred+ for map/statics editing you should make two folders, one for Centred+ (it needs exclusive access to the files) which contains only the files it needs: art.mul, artidx.mul, hues.mul, tiledata.mul, animdata.mul, texmaps.mul, texidx.mul, light.mul and lightidx.mul. Every time you change the files through Centred+ you have to then copy then over to your client/ ServUO server installation folder!
In case someone else is interested:
What you need ...
1. ServUO 54 version from the Repo on top.
2. Client 7.0.23.1 from https://code.google.com/p/download-client/downloads/list
3. a) Client decryptor to remove the decryption (or you can't connect to a ServUO server) https://www.servuo.com/archive/client-decryptor.387/
3. b) UOSteam 1.5 works too, it has all that extra cheat-like functionality though, might not be a good idea to give that to players upfront ... and it is tiny on my screen, somehow always causes UO to resize ... (except in UO client full screen mode but then you use only part of your screen) https://www.servuo.com/archive/uo-steam.440/
4. a) Accomplice scriptable GM tool, needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows XP Pack 3, the linked version isn't customized yet for ServUO but for another emulator so only some buttons works but changing the scripts is easy https://www.servuo.com/archive/accomplice-scriptable-gm-tool.441/
4. b) Pandora's box 3.0.0.5 works too, not customizable like Accomplice but made to run with ServUO mostly https://www.servuo.com/archive/pandoras-box-3-download.121/
5. Centred+ server/client package 7.0.0.8 to modify/build your map, decorate it (just static parts of course, the final "movable" decoration is done in the 7.0.23.1 client with ServUO) http://dev.uoquint.ru/projects/centred/files
6. Mulpatcher from Varan Dar for any other client file modification/customization https://www.servuo.com/archive/varan-dars-mulpatcher.388/
7. UO Fiddler with UOP file support (allows you to look at all the art and export it, so you can import it into your mul-file based installation for the future if you like to) https://www.servuo.com/archive/uofiddler-with-uop-support.189/
8. Mul2UOP converter - not so sure if that really works, never tried it, but potentially that allows you to switch to newer clients which are UOP based ... of course that means the whole encryption problem comes up again, you have to find a tool which can decrypt these and they are usually no longer updated ... https://www.servuo.com/archive/legacymulconverter-v4-uop-packer-unpacker.147/
The next step is to compile the ServUO server for your system (this is for example explained here https://www.servuo.com/threads/quick-how-to-get-the-source-and-compile.125/ and here https://www.servuo.com/threads/servuo-for-beginners-git-github-and-you.1088/ . After that step you need to point the ServUO server towards your Ultima Mul files. This is done by going into the scripts/Misc/DataPath.cs file with a text editor (Notepad++ works well and is for free) or Visual Studio from Microsoft (available for free for a limited trial period).
If you want to use Centred+ for map/statics editing you should make two folders, one for Centred+ (it needs exclusive access to the files) which contains only the files it needs: art.mul, artidx.mul, hues.mul, tiledata.mul, animdata.mul, texmaps.mul, texidx.mul, light.mul and lightidx.mul. Every time you change the files through Centred+ you have to then copy then over to your client/ ServUO server installation folder!
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