UO used to be the Wild West. Why not embrace it fully?

Dargarath

Dargarath

Horses. Blacksmiths. Rustic buildings and campfires. Ranging across the land looking for adventure. Sound familiar? Ultima Online already contains most of the resources involved in making a Wild West themed shard. Slight tweaks and some crafty scripting could bring the west to Sosaria. Imagine, riding your horse through the plains, dodging bears and coyotes, eventually riding into the small mining town of Buford. As you hitch your horse to the post in front of the saloon, a commotion down by the bank grabs your attention. Mad Dog Jones and his gang have just robbed the Buford Bank! The sheriff and his posse are in a shoot out with the reds! You hustle down the street, breaking through the small crowd that ALWAYS gathers to watch and begin firing at the gang as well. They get away and the sheriff rides out after them. Your tempted to give chase as well, a bounty could come in handy, but the gold nuggets in your pack horse are itching to be sold, your low on ammo and you only have a days worth of supplies left. You walk back to your horse, passing the local blacksmith shop, making a mental note to have him look at your rifle later, it needs repairs. The Pine City stagecoach passes by as you step up onto the walk for the saloon, and you realize that a quick trip can get you to the railroad if needs be. On the wall of the saloon, you see a wanted poster for the McLure Clan. $50000, Dead or Alive. Once your done in Buford, maybe there IS a bounty you could go claim......

Personally, I LOVE the wild west. The rustic, desperate struggle to bring order to chaos. The gunfights and the showdowns, villains and heros. I've always wanted to play a good wild west game and the closest I came to it was Red Dead Redemption. I think UO could really bring the west alive. What do you think? Anybody interested in playing or helping to develop? I was working on a shard using player driven town development, but I kept feeling like it was still just ANOTHER UO shard. Then I came up with the idea for this. So, give me some feedback please. Is this an idiotic idea, or is anybody else interested?
 
It's not my cup of tea, but I think its a unique shard idea, and might certainly fill a niche void.

I think the art, resources and gameplay of Uo would lend itself immensely to a wild west style theme. Even so far as a post-apoc western theme similar to Fallout if you wanted to add in the tech aspect (that would be pretty sweet). Plenty of Fallout and Fallout-esque art has already been ported to UO anyway.

Either way, I think you're on to something.
 
Thanks for the input and the encouragement. I started building a test map, so far it's looking awesome! I figure I need to address the firearm issue, I can leave armor in place but design the firearm to make it almost useless..... Oh and the railroad. That one is going to be tricky....
 
Firearms can be accomplished pretty easily i think actually. Its essentially a crossbow with a different moving particle.

As for railroads - boats are told codewise to travel only on water tiles, you'd just have to mimic the boat system except telling engines to only run on rail tiles (there are a billion different rail tiles out there).
 
m309 said:
Firearms can be accomplished pretty easily i think actually. Its essentially a crossbow with a different moving particle.

As for railroads - boats are told codewise to travel only on water tiles, you'd just have to mimic the boat system except telling engines to only run on rail tiles (there are a billion different rail tiles out there).
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I know. :) I actually got kind of excited thinking about it. Imagine riding a horse next to a train barreling through the desert, you get to a point on one of the cars where you can board the train, leaving your horse behind. Now you're ready to rob! :) You can even have the trains run through tunnels. Now, I just have to see about building an animated locomotive and rail-cars.

Edit: You could even make it more functional by giving the railcars an inventory. Guilds could set up their own railways and charge other players for its use.
 
m309 said:
Firearms can be accomplished pretty easily i think actually. Its essentially a crossbow with a different moving particle.

As for railroads - boats are told codewise to travel only on water tiles, you'd just have to mimic the boat system except telling engines to only run on rail tiles (there are a billion different rail tiles out there).
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So, I checked my sources and I can't find any unbroken downloads for rail tiles.....happen to know of any?
 
So an update for everyone. I have a personal friend of mine who is a graphic artist, working on new artwork for the railroad. I sent her a picture of one of the galleons as a guide for the overall look and feel of the game art and she is going to design the images and animations to fit the new train. Drilikath is looking at the code to see about using a form of the ship scripts to create a walkable, inventory holding, locomotive and railcar script. I've been tweaking the maps for different looks, trying to re-create the feel of the American southwest, I may try to design some custom land tiles that have more of a "painted desert" look to them. Right now, buttes with the grey rock color look somewhat out of place, however I have achieved some pretty realistic landscape using sand and rock with various brushes to create blown sand ridges. Does anyone know of any static replacements for true cacti? I would also like to find some more desert themed animals, (e.g. Iguanas, rattlesnakes, coyotes) I have the resources, friends and knowledge to make most of this stuff myself, but I would like to use as much community generated content as possible, for two reasons. 1. This is a great community, lots of people have put quality, labor intensive, love into creations for their own use and have willingly shared them. I would like to showcase their efforts and give credit. 2. Its a lot easier. :) The less time I use making/coordinating new content, the more time I have to work on getting this project up and running, and the sooner anyone who wants to, can play it. The firearms script has been frustrating, apparently someone on the old RUNUO website had made one, (unsure of quality) but I can't seem to find it. I will probably just have to see about making a new one unless someone happens to have a copy of the old script. I would like to take this opportunity to get some feedback if you will indulge me.

1. Should the locomotives require a fuel source (logs/coal) to move?

2. How would you feel if commodity deeds were used to trade commodities like normal but instead of being used at a bank, they held a "charge" that could be deducted from its total at a warehouse? (example: You cut a large amount of logs and transport them to the warehouse and "store" them. Then based on the inventory of the warehouse you can generate a deed. You then sell that deed to another player who then goes back to the warehouse and can claim the logs, one at a time if need be. They then load the logs onto a train and ship them to another town, where they are unloaded and sold/used. Transporting the logs will ALWAYS require actually holding the logs and NOT the deed in an inventory, this is to facilitate the use of the railroad for more than passenger use and slow down the gathering of resources.)

3. Would a realistic hunger/thirst/exposure countdown be too tedious? You could die of thirst, hunger or cold. Heat just adds a modifier to the thirst countdown. Clothes, food, fire and water would refresh/slow down the countdowns. (makes camping , cooking and water sources important again.)

4. Would you be interested in a stock exchange? You could purchase shares of a player formed "company" (probably using the guild system) that would then rise or fall in value depending on the basic stock formulas. The money from purchase would be available to the company chairman to use. Companies can be railroads, logging companies, mining companies etc. The cost of doing business on a massive scale is going to be a LARGE gold sink.
 
1. Yes. wood or coal can work. Maybe make it to where wood doesn't make it go as fast as using coal.

2.Great idea.

3. Don't let hunge/thirst kill you, make it have "debuffs" on the player.

4. stock exchange is a neat idea and would be interesting to see in action.


And keep up the work, can't wait to play if you go live.
 
IanE said:
1. Yes. wood or coal can work. Maybe make it to where wood doesn't make it go as fast as using coal.

2.Great idea.

3. Don't let hunge/thirst kill you, make it have "debuffs" on the player.

4. stock exchange is a neat idea and would be interesting to see in action.


And keep up the work, can't wait to play if you go live.
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Thanks, if I can get this up and running and have enough interest in it to make it worthwhile paying for hosting, it will definitely go live. I'll keep you in mind for a playtester if you want.

Instead of killing the player, what if movement speed was seriously decreased and/or strength dropped to like 10?
 
3. You could force the "bow" animation to simulate the player bending over and catching his/her breath because of being so starved/thirsty along with an overhead *gasps for breath, rubbing his dry lips*. Add in a temporary pm.Frozen while the animations play off.
 
m309 said:
3. You could force the "bow" animation to simulate the player bending over and catching his/her breath because of being so starved/thirsty along with an overhead *gasps for breath, rubbing his dry lips*. Add in a temporary pm.Frozen while the animations play off.
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That would slow them down without necessarily making them lose everything. I like it. I wanted to make the penalty for hunger and thirst worse than normal but not necessarily tragic. Although getting caught by an aggro like that could be baaaaad..........
 
I was also thinking about changing magic into tech. The spellbook could be used as a technical manual or textbook. Any thoughts, ideas? I was thinking something kind of steampunkish. How about this for a swap out.

Magery = Science (spells would be changed to reflect science related tasks)

Evaluating Intelligence = Surveying (Allows the determination of an area's ore, resource content)

Imbuing = The same but change the cosmetic side to reflect tech instead of magic

Meditation = The same.

Mysticism = Biology (spells would be changed to reflect biology related tasks [output of wool, cotton, fishing, cattle])

Spellweaving = University Contacts (can be used after completing the University Quest)

SpiritSpeak = Foreign Languages. (This is a tricky subject. It's natural that having Cowboys, you would have Indians. Being 1/8th Cherokee [My Great Grandmother was full blooded] I'm aware that the potential for racial and ethnic stereotyping can be rampant in a situation such as this. I intend to TACTFULLY alter the racial types from Gargoyle to Native, Human to Settler, and to remove elf. Native race will be set to one side of the spirit speak variable constantly, Settler to the other side, the Foreign Language skill would allow you to speak with the opposite race. As for ghosts, I have to look at the script in detail but it may be possible to just keep it as "oOoOoOo" permanently.

Any thoughts?
 
I would love to take part in the testing of this server if you move forward with it, I would help you make it also if I had the time and more C# knowledge.

I like m309's idea of simulating the "Bow" animation. And if someone goes out with out being feed it should be their problem, You wouldn't go out in the wilderness to slay Orcs and Dragons without eating a hearty meal would you?

As for the changing of skills, that would be very cool to make use of some useless skills.
 
IanE said:
I would love to take part in the testing of this server if you move forward with it, I would help you make it also if I had the time and more C# knowledge.

I like m309's idea of simulating the "Bow" animation. And if someone goes out with out being feed it should be their problem, You wouldn't go out in the wilderness to slay Orcs and Dragons without eating a hearty meal would you?

As for the changing of skills, that would be very cool to make use of some useless skills.
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Consider it done. Play testing can be some of the most important aspects of developing a shard. I really want to bring the wild west feel to UO. I think taking some of the lesser used and magical skills and changing them to reflect life on the frontier a little better is going to make this a completely new game. New strategies, methods and points of focus should shake the same done to death characters and play styles up a bit.
 
SWEET!!! I can't wait.

Yeah I agree, we need a little something different, I wanted to make a Fallout style version...I just don't have the time and complete know how.
 
IanE said:
SWEET!!! I can't wait.

Yeah I agree, we need a little something different, I wanted to make a Fallout style version...I just don't have the time and complete know how.
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A Fallout mod would be pretty easy. Magic can be converted to tech, and with the firearms mod, most of the heavy lifting would be done. Find some different creatures to use as mutants would be pretty easy, ogre's are a close match for Super Mutants, poison can be used for radiation, just add in a rad counter to the script, tied to playermobile.cs. I think it would be mostly just replacing art and making some tweaks to the code.
 
modscreenshot.JPG UPDATE: I have mastered UO Fiddler. I have also learned to use custom music. I have to ship a copy of the MP3 to the client, but that will be well worth it. :) I'm getting more and more excited about this.....

EDIT: The login loop music is the theme from The Good The Bad, The Ugly......
 
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The biggest obstacle is getting a working railroad. Drilikath has been working very hard to get a script going, (its exceedingly nuanced to get it to look and feel right) but I'm confident that when he is done it is going to be a FANTASTIC script. Players will be able to build the railroad network and build/purchase trains. To keep it from being a choatic mess of rail lines, the cost to build is going to be fairly high. Companies (Guilds) are really going to be the only ones who can afford to build a working railroad. The amount of work that will go into it is going to insure that it is functional. The railroad comes to UO! Gunfights, Train Robberies, Jail Breaks and Showdowns at High Noon! Plus a whole slew of frontier economy, logging, mining, town building. I can't wait either. :)
 
sorry its been awhile since you've heard anything from me my computer got a virus and I've lost almost everything I'm not giving upis it going to take me a little while to get back to where I was
 
m309 said:
It's not my cup of tea, but I think its a unique shard idea, and might certainly fill a niche void.

I think the art, resources and gameplay of Uo would lend itself immensely to a wild west style theme. Even so far as a post-apoc western theme similar to Fallout if you wanted to add in the tech aspect (that would be pretty sweet). Plenty of Fallout and Fallout-esque art has already been ported to UO anyway.

Either way, I think you're on to something.
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Fallout immediately came to my mind as well. I'd be interested in the purely western theme as well though. Nice idea.
 
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