ULM alternative?

[ardent red]

Is there an alternative method to ULM for adding ages to Uru? I've managed to get Uru to run in OS X through Crossover, but ULM refuses to work (even after installing Mono). I don't mind if the method requires manual editing of files rather than through a program- in fact, it's probably best to do it that way.

[Nadnerb]

I think if you can get ULM installed, you don't have to run the executable itself to use it's method of adding books to the shelf. It seems that the python that gets embedded into the game during the install reads the book definition file which can be edited manually.

In fact, you can probably just get the UruLibraryManager.pak file from someone, stick it in your Python directory, and then add the ULMLinkBook.inf file with the appropriate definitions and it should work for adding the links.. then you'd have to download the age data files manually for each age you wanted to add..

[Chacal]

Sure, just manually edit ULMLinkBook.inf in your Uru folder.
Make sure you have UruLibraryManager.pak in your python folder.

Here's a sample ULMLinkBook.inf file in case you don't have one.
For *$%*/* sake, why aren't txt attachments allowed on this board?

Note: there are two full newlines between each line, meaning 0D 0A 0D 0A.

Show Spoiler

Code: Select all

[Book 0]
link:Pahts,Pahts,LinkInPointDefault,Pahts,,(default)

[Book 1]
link:Andy_Nexus,Andy_Nexus,LinkInPointDefault,,,

[Book 2]
link:Toroolbah,Toroolbah,LinkInPointDefault,,,

[Book 3]
link:trebivdil,trebivdil,LinkInPointDefault,trebivdil,,(default)

[Book 4]
link:Tahgira,Tahgira,LinkInPointDefault,Tahgira,,(default)

[Book 5]
link:EderLicinius,EderLicinius,LinkInPointDefault,EderLicinius,,(default)

[Book 6]
link:TunnelDemo3,TunnelDemo3,LinkInPointDefault,,,

EDIT: I hate you, Nadnerb.

[ddb174]

Yes, there's a few. The original one was UruAgeManager, which should work in WINE since Borland generated binaries seem to work well there for me. Moul offline also has one, which is just a text file you can edit to control what Age certain keys will link to. Nowadays, though, I don't use either of those, but instead use the KI-offline which is a modification to Pots that lists all the fan Ages in the Nexus and allows you to link through there, as well as other changes. (You still have to decompress the Age files into the Uru folder manually though.) If the main author of that would like to post a link here, that would be cool

On that note, the author and I have managed to get dynamically loaded linking book images working with that, so the Nexus and Relto bookshelf show the fan-Age linking panels. And we've had some success getting the flybys working directly inside of the books as well. (Used for both Myst5 and Relto.)

In retrospect, I believe the model of having an external program handle downloading and management of Ages is a mistake. A better model would have been to have an integrated Python module(s) that finds and lists present Ages in some integrated manner as the KI-offline does. Each Age should have been packaged as a .zip file, and either downloaded and decompressed manually or via some 3rd party program that does *not* itself integrate with Uru. And though it doesn't matter much these days, it should probably have been minimal and doled out both functionality (such as fly-mode) and trapped events to well-separated modules.

[ardent red]

Thanks guys, it works! Success! Now I just have to get some ages (or make some ).

I need KI online! It'd be great if you could get the author to post here, it sounds like a useful tool! That nexus project sounds interesting- are you planning on releasing your work anytime?

[diafero]

It seems I can no longer hide that project of mine . It also feels ready for a release, so I will just collect everything I need, update all of the files and then I can upload it somewhere. I guess adding the link here on the Wiki would be the right place?
The offline KI also contains the changed Nexus, as well as flymode and the Jalak GUI (which of course you can only use if you have the converted MOUL ages). It is not compatible with the ULM though - you can no longer use ULM to add books if you installed it. And you can only use it to link to ages which it "knows", to manually add new, you have to edit a configuration file.

[diafero]

Here it is http://home.arcor.de/diafero/offlineki
Please let me know what you think of it and if everything works for you!

[Justintime9]

That's awesome! I love actually being able to see the linking panel image on player created ages! Can we do that with ages we add manually? The nexus is great! Only a few suggestions, When I started URU, and got to relto, the up arrow of the arrow keys didn't do anything. the down, left and right ones worked fine, but I couldn't move forward with the arrow keys. I had to go forward with the mouse. Also, how will we know if there's a new age available, if ULM doesn't work with it, and if we do have the files, how will we get it to appear? Going into the ULM file and adding it manually could get rather annoying... Also, how will we explore ages we're working on?
perhaps ages we add manually could appear under private links, in the nexus?

On a side note, I don't know how possible it would be, but it would be amazing if we could somehow make ULM automatic, so that when new ages are available, they are downloaded when the game is loading, like in MOUL. This way, we would link in to relto, go to the nexus to see if there were any new ages, and if there was, linking to it. It would be much more intriguing, than downloading it on ULM, and already knowing there's going to be a new book when you link in.

[Lontahv]

AFAIK downloading this is breaking the law big-time.

Distribution of altered and un-altered Cyan content (from UU) is not a gray area at Cyan legal. This is not like us making fan ages.

This is more than just "your work" you're distributing. I am not sure about the admins here, but I do not approve of the this. This is not just a hack, this is just as bad as the Drizzle-MOUL-torrent.

[GPNMilano]

AFAIK downloading this is breaking the law big-time.

Distribution of altered and un-altered Cyan content (from UU) is not a gray area at Cyan legal. This is not like us making fan ages.

This is more than just "your work" you're distributing. I am not sure about the admins here, but I do not approve of the this. This is not just a hack, this is just as bad as the Drizzle-MOUL-torrent.

Lontahv, I would agree. If you couldn't just do a search in google for Until Uru and download the patch, and simply update your CC install to an Until Uru file and retrieve these same files that way. But you can. A patch for CC still exists, a patch for CC to MOUL did not, which was why i disapprove of the torrent that was distributed, but not with this. If the patch wasn't still available I'd agree. But it is, so I respectfully disagree.