Uru redefined! Proposal list - add your own thoughts.

[Aloys]

Yeah, I can't judge the technical underlyings, although I agree it'd be a waste of time and energy to scrap it all and start from scratch again. Obviously it has some merit because we've used it all these years.

[Grogyan]

Just looking through the code, and judging from the additions already made for cross compatibility from other Ages like Jalak, we certainly have the talent to design a new KI GUI and subsystem.

One big change that I personally want to see is the ability to save marker games to your local drive as well as on the shard, by maybe a manual process, read and write from a text file which has the file name that is the same name as the marker game, and also the appropriate headers inside the text file.

Looking at the GUI skinning, if PyPrp supported export (and maybe import) of the GUI's, skinning isn't such of a problem now, cause theoretically you can do it now manually through the PageEditor.exe in LibPlasma

[Lontahv]

Saving marker games locally I'm pretty sure would be really easy. You'd just have to open a text file with the name of the game and write most of the marker-game info into it. Then to load you check it doesn't already have that game and then make a new game using the info in the file.

The simplest would be /savelocalmarkers markergame and /loadlocalmarkers markergame but adding a button in the GUI wouldn't be impossible either.

[Grogyan]

I dunno about that, there is a lot of interconnected code between the marker games and the vault and the KI.
It definitely can be done, just have to understand how Cyan did it with the /savecolumns and /loadcolumns for Jalak

[The stranger]

Logo:

Beyond Myst: Uru.

Yes, I know it's like Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.

No, I don't care.

Yes, I actually like it.

I think it brings the idea of: it's in the same "world" as Myst, but it's more of a spinoff, different things, "beyond myst".

But everyone want Uru, so I'm fine with that. Uru it is, I guess.

Yeesha/Bahro stuff:

It's a mess, but I never understood why people hate yeesha and the bahro so much. As you said, Uru isn't Myst. I like the "odd" theme in the game. Once everything is explainable, it's a bit dry. Some mystery isn't painful. I used to like the "only explainable things" too, but I found the yeesha and bahro stuff fine enough.

HOWEVER! I DO think there should be side choosing. Like, being autherized explorer with no yeesha content at all, or journey follower with yeesha content. Yes, journey followers have somewhat more to do (journey content auth explorers don't have. However, if an autherized wishes, he can go to a yeesha follower's version of the age and do the journey stuff. But it's still not his age, so it's much easier for the yeesha followers), but from what you are saying, it seems you won't care for less puzzles, as long as there is less focus on yeesha/bahro and more focus on d'ni!

AND! I think that even yeesha/bahro magic should be less odd. It seems that every problem in the game was solved by "let's put a portal here". I think that linking methods in the game should be limited to that: linking books, linking glyphs, linking stones, relto book and linking out of thin air (linking without touching anything).

Linking books- for yeesha followers and autherized explorers. You know... linking books.

Linking glyphs- for yeesha followers ONLY (available for autherized if a yeesha follower shares his personal age version with autherized). These are glyphs on rock and such. Touching them links you away.

Linking stones- yeesha followers ONLY (available for autherized if a yeesha follower shares his personal age version with autherized). You kow what they are.

Relto book- yeesha followers ONLY. This is actually what makes them yeesha followers (relto book owner can share his book with autherized explorer).

Linking out of nowhere- yeesha followers ONLY (available for autherized if a yeesha follower shares his personal age version with autherized). This is simply linking out of thin air, touching nothing. Like in the TPOTS tree-spiral puzzle.

I got other ideas for autherized explorers and yeesha follower, but they are not really belong here.

[sarpedon2]

Things I really want to see.

Improved Texture- Looking at the current textures in most of the ages, Uru seriously needs a massive overhaul graphically.
Increased Polygon Count- Not too much that the game would crash but enough to make it look better.
New Avatars- To show that Uru is up to date with the gaming world, I think new more detailed Avatars with more choices for customization are needed. They also bring the 'you are you' concept closer to reality.
More attention to detail- I would love to enter any room in D'ni and found relics of DRC and the D'ni. Books, ornaments, clothing, Photo.
New place to start the game- this is idea I've put foward on openuru.org. I would start the game outside these Indian Pueblo ruins. They would've belonged to the tribe that met Yeesha when she first went to the Cleft. The buildings would contain journals of Yeesha and other past Explorers who had found themselves at this place. The buildings could only accessed by ladders (like actual pueblos) that go to roofs. At the highest point of the ruins, looking out to the vast desert would be ancient telescope. If you looked through it, you'd be able to see the Cleft and upon looking away, a large platform in front and below you would open up, revealing two stair cases. At the bottom of these stairs would be a large shrine, dedicated to Yeesha and the Bahro, with pictographs around the wall. In the centre, under a huge tablet that can only be opened with a weight puzzle would be a Bahro Stone that would link to the Cleft that was left by Yeesha.
Upon arrival at the Cleft, you would notice that things are different. Some of the barbed wire had been cut around the Volcano and at the top would be a small pierce of scaffolding that would allow Explorers to safely enter the caldera. Zandi would still be sitting outside his Airstream and will give you some Exploring clothes and equipment to take. After collecting your Relto Book and page, you could then choose to either 1)go on Yeesha's journey or 2) enter the caldera and travel to D'ni through the caves.

I realize that if this idea was a reality then the appearance of scaffolding around the volcano would've have to be explained (maybe Zandi could say something) and the history of the Indian Pueblo and how they made contact with Yeesha and the Bahro.

New Avatar Movements- Holding a torch, grabbing onto edges on walls and shimmying across (ala Tomb Raider) and more realistic movements (if cyan had funding, they could put Euphoria in the game)

Very ambitious list and here is some concept art I did for a thread on uruobsession.

Avatar Movements

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Volcano

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Indian Pueblo Ruins

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Cave Exploring gear

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[Quintus]

3. Yeah, rebuild the KI but use the old design.

I couldn't agree strongly enough.

[Nalates]

Do away with lag...

OpenSimulator is a SL knock-off based on open source SL client. They have been developing ways to avoid lag. Theoretically the only limits to the number of AV's they can handle is the server side inter-network speed. So, a 1,000 AV's in an age with no lag is possible. Fiber-optic the servers and take that to a million...

GoMa Open Simulator Thread
Page 6 of OpenSimulator: The Choice for 2010

OpenSimulator is released under a BSD License, making it both open source, and commercially friendly to embed in products.

It may be possible to use their technology in Cyan's server side software.

[Lontahv]

Ick, please keep SecondLife "technology" away from Plasma.

Besides, the only reason why SecondLife can get away with hundreds of people and little lag is because there's like, 8 faces per avatar and the buildings usually are so low-poly they look like cardboard boxes. Plasma doesn't really have a network problem. The main lag problem is caused by how detailed everything is (which I really, really enjoy about Uru and SecondLife usually seems to have no appreciation for).

Increased Polygon Count- Not too much that the game would crash but enough to make it look better.

I think the game is at the crashing point (anyone notice all that lag). Most modern games use far fewer polys than Uru. Actually, I have yet to see a better 3d modeled game than Uru. Most new games just use flat faces and fake detail with normal maps (which Plasma happens to support as well).

[Chacal]

I could deal with a lot less polys for avatars (except maybe for the face). I don't care much about fancy animations either.
Let's face it, what's the most common situation? A bunch of people are standing or sitting around and chatting away.