How many shards? Features of the various shards?

[Chacal]

I must be confused with some terminology. If Deep Island uses the Offline KI, then it is an offline (not mult-player) game, right? I don't think of that as a 'shard' in the sense of a live server where players can meet in the same space. If, on the other hand, 'shard' simply means any server, then DI is like a repository from which I can download Ages, is this right?

Yes, a shard is a live server where players can meet in the same space. Deep Island ia a shard.
But a shard is made of several components, one of which is the data server, which as you said is like a repository from which you can download Ages.

When you are playing on the DI shard, your Uru client automatically downloads needed Ages from the data server. You don't use Drizzle. Extra Ages, such as fan-made Ages or those converted from other games, are made playable in the game because of special programs added to your KI (let's call this the on-line KI).

When you are playing off-line (using single-player Uru:CC or POTS), this automatic download cannot happen because there is no shard. You must manually download extra Ages from a data server using Drizzle. You can also convert Ages from other games to Uru format with Drizzle. Those Ages are made playable in the game using an off-line version of the on-line KI (called the off-line KI). You also install the off-line KI using Drizzle.

At some point, the on-line KI and off-line KI have been merged together so there is only one program to maintain, so it can be said that DI uses the off-line KI, that's what's confusing you.

[Darien]

Im wondering if their is a way to set up a Nexes with all the MOUL shards Listed so you can link from one to the next

I remember while poking around in an original ABM version of Uru that the Nexus (which you can't access through normal gameplay) had a "Caverns" button on the left hand side. I assumed at the time the intention of the button was to link from shard to shard.

[catherwood]

When you are playing on the DI shard, your Uru client automatically downloads needed Ages from the data server. You don't use Drizzle. ...
... At some point, the on-line KI and off-line KI have been merged together so there is only one program to maintain, so it can be said that DI uses the off-line KI, that's what's confusing you.

Thank you for the explanation. That covers part of what was confusing me. I was also confused by this:

To understand the differences, you need to learn a bit about the various versions of Uru:
http://www.guildofwriters.org/wiki/Uru: ... Chronicles (DI, UAM, TOC Shard)
http://www.guildofwriters.org/wiki/Myst ... :_Uru_Live (Gehn, Minkata, TLCA Shard)

When I see "Uru:CC" I think of an offline game, not the underlying engine. It was my rookie layman's mistake, but things are becoming more clear to me now. I think I need to see a massive 2-dimensional chart of features and differences across the platforms and down the shards, for example which Ages appear where and how the cones act there. Then it will become more obvious to me how many varients I want to install and visit. I'll get started on that now...

[triggerfish]

I agree! A chart of the various versions of Uru, similar to the ones I have seen explaining the different Linux Distros, would be very helpful on the wiki. Moderators, is that something you guys could add?

Thanks!

[J'Kla]

I've been considering some sort of visualization of the various shards to help explain the history as well at the moment it's a thought exercise think of that like the planning stage. At the moment it's family tree in structure fitting considering "The Great Tree"

I've plaved every stage since the admin error and If someone can fill me in on what was prior to that in a PM I'd be greatfull I would also like to list all the shards we know of from the UntilUru period I know the biggies.

Uru Obsession
The Meeting Place
Slackers
H'uru

So if you can think of any more also post to me as in a PM every so often I'll edit the list till it's definitive

If I can develop this fully I'll publish as a PDF

[janaba]

Hi, J'Kla, having such a list or documentation with up-to-date information would be a great
thing to have for the whole community, for the shards that existed as well as the ones that
are available right now in particular, thanks for being ready to take on those efforts ...

When reading your post I was immediately reminded of a very comprehensive list already
available on semplerfi's website which comprises, I believe, all shards that ever existed ...
Many links are of course dead links, but he seems to keep this mostly up-to-date and there
you'd have a good place to start ...

[J'Kla]

Thanks for the pointer

[diafero]

Thanks, Chacal, for explaining this

The name "Offline KI" has historical reasons: Originally, it brought the KI as you know it to the offline game (TPOTS has a very stripped-down KI usually that can just store and display images, not even take chat commands). That's why I called it "Offline KI". It later gained the ability to be used online, but I did not want to rename it.

If I understood catherwood properly, he is speaking about a chart comparing the different versions of Uru, not all the Shards. The latter would be a bit too much, I think . Speaking of versions, we have client engines: Uru Live/ABM, UntilUru, TPOTS/CC and MOUL. And we have servers: Uru Live, UntilUru, Alcugs, MOUL, dirtsand, MOSS. All engines except for MOUL support both an offline and an online mode. The UntilUru server can talk (only) with the UntilUru client, while Alcugs can talk with UntilUru and TPOTS/CC clients. The newer servers MOUL, dirtsand, MOSS can only talk with MOUL clients. Most existing fan ages are for the TPOTS/CC engine (and they therefore work offline and online, if you are using an Alcugs Shard). The client engines all have a slightly different file format, but converting between the old ones (everything except MOUL) is easy - except of course for features like swim regions, which the UntilUru and the ABM/Uru Live engine do not support. Converting from the MOUL engine format to the TPOTS/CC format is possible using Drizzle, but there might be problems - it's quite stable by now though. We do not have a converter from any format to the MOUL format.
Deep Island, UAM, TOC (CC) all use the TPOTS/CC client and the Alcugs server.
Gehn uses the MOUL client (well, it's the slightly modified GoW fork of the CWE, where CWE is just the open-source name for the MOUL client engine... but they are so similar, I don't want to confuse you even more ). Minkata, TLCA, TOC (MOUL) also use the MOUL client, but I don't know which server they use - I assume it is MOSS.

I remember while poking around in an original ABM version of Uru that the Nexus (which you can't access through normal gameplay) had a "Caverns" button on the left hand side. I assumed at the time the intention of the button was to link from shard to shard.

I think I remember some leftovers in the code for this, and IIRC this was just to link to some other places in the cavern, or some other caverns of the D'ni. Uru never had support for a "live Shard switch" (nor any hints going into that direction).

[catherwood]

If I understood catherwood properly, he is speaking about a chart comparing the different versions of Uru, not all the Shards.

(psst, i'm a 'she'.)
My personal interest is not in a complete history of all shards, nor the umpteen versions of Uru, but a quick starter for someone dipping a toe into the world today based on MOULa as the official standard. To me, this means only the most stable and current shards and installations (and clients and servers and bears, oh my!) As for comparisons, I was thinking for example how Gehn is hosting a fan-made age now while Minkata is not, but they are both the closest in "flavor" to the official MOULa space -- and each has its own list of outstanding bugs which differ. I read somewhere that TOC (The Open Cave) also has some extras in avatar clothing, but I have not yet visited that shard for myself.

The table linked below was a start, but even those are not the most current details. The Lost City of Atlantis appears to be lost...
http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... Shard_List

Personal Disclaimer: I have downloaded less than a dozen fan-made ages using Drizzle to explore on my own offline, and I have had issues with stability on a few of them. The instructions for installing yet another version of software intimidates me enough that I choose not to explore Deep Island at this time. I am also assuming that anything which I could explore via DI is also available thru the Offline KI. I look forward to seeing more Ages ported to Gehn and other shards, and that is where I expect to see a chart become useful in the future to list where to go to visit a particular new Age.

[diafero]

(psst, i'm a 'she'.)

sorry for that

My personal interest is not in a complete history of all shards, nor the umpteen versions of Uru, but a quick starter for someone dipping a toe into the world today based on MOULa as the official standard. To me, this means only the most stable and current shards and installations (and clients and servers and bears, oh my!) As for comparisons, I was thinking for example how Gehn is hosting a fan-made age now while Minkata is not, but they are both the closest in "flavor" to the official MOULa space -- and each has its own list of outstanding bugs which differ. I read somewhere that TOC (The Open Cave) also has some extras in avatar clothing, but I have not yet visited that shard for myself.

The MOUL-side of things is (currently) much less confused than the one using the old engines, because it can be used it custom shards for a much shorter time. So this certainly simplifies it a lot . However, you will also miss a lot, since most ages have not been ported. Some prefer the more IC-style KI from MOUL, some the Offline KI which offers a lot more features, but most of them break the IC immersion (/fogcolor is a lot of fun, though! ).
By the way, the server software Alcugs used by DI is also open-source, as is the Python code of the Offline KI. So something like "CWE Shard list" would be a more correct title for the page.

I have downloaded less than a dozen fan-made ages using Drizzle to explore on my own offline, and I have had issues with stability on a few of them. The instructions for installing yet another version of software intimidates me enough that I choose not to explore Deep Island at this time. I am also assuming that anything which I could explore via DI is also available thru the Offline KI. I look forward to seeing more Ages ported to Gehn and other shards, and that is where I expect to see a chart become useful in the future to list where to go to visit a particular new Age.

That's your decision of course . However, I should add that installing DI is easier than installing everything yourself for the offline game, because I did all the hard work of preparing the dataserver and so on - after installing the DI patcher, there is nothing you need to do, and you will get all the latest ages and updates with no effort. You are right that all the content from DI is also available offline, there's just one thing missing - others exploring the ages with you