Savage Empire Remake Thread

[Tsetra]

I know it's not worth much, but myself and I'm sure plenty of others are looking forward to this. I wish I had the time to help out, but I'm wrapped up in projects of my own (namingly Morrowind)

[Scythifuge]

Another UPDATE:

I've been working on the Avatar's house a lot the past few days, with tweaking of Eodon stuff here and there. I want to finish the Avatar's house and possibly post a screenshot or two. I will place the circle of stones nearby the house. Rafkin's lab should be easy since it will look the same on Earth as in Eodon, but with walls and two doors (with the one to the museum-proper locked, unless I get really ambitious!).

I was trying to recreate the entertainment center from the Ultima VI intro, but it would look too massive, so I will have to scale it down. I'm hoping to have many interactive items, such as turning the tv on and having three frames of alternating blue colors to indicate that it is on. The bathroom sink has 16 frames so that it can be filled and drained. The bathtub is being a pain though! I have random items like a toaster, with the idea that the player can use a bread knife on a loaf, and use a slice of bread on the toaster to create toast ( sprites all drawn!). I have some items that need testing, like pieces for a possible book shelf. I also drew a desk phone and a wall phone, inner walls, carpets and floor tiles, a couple of books, and some other stuff....

[Petrell]

You seem to be making nice progress. Just don't overdo it with detail as you will have to make usecode for all that to work. Also if you put too much detail in the intro and rest of the game has less functions you may end up making false expectations about rest of the game (like some games where first 1/3-2/3 are good/great but devs ran out of steam/ideas/time and end game is pure rubbish).

Keep it up and your grand children may well be able to play it yet .

[Scythifuge]

Thank you for your reply, Petrell!

The detail I am planning for the beginning of the game is also planned for the rest of the game, such as harvesting and drying bamboo before use, extra quests, turning healing plants into "potions" in Rafkin's lab, etc. I don't know much about usecode yet, but I'm assuming that some of these interactions are simple to implement. I'm trying to go for the Ultima VI-VII spirit!

The planned intro is actually simple. The Avatar's house and yard will be on a separate map, allowing the player to explore the house and play around with stuff, have the dream, and phone a cab to "teleport" to the lab, which will be on another map. From there the player can have dialogue with Rafkin and Jimmy, and then hopefully a cutscene can be scripted that shows Rafkin setting up the experiment on the moonstone (basically how npc's place plates and food in Ultima VII), following with the lab being transported, possibly in a similar way to the ship arriving in the beginning of S.I...

[Wizardry Dragon]

The introduction cutscene you are looking for can easily be done in UCC script {} blocks, it would just require fiddling to get the positions, etc. right.

Theres some examples of this in TFL, and the Keyring Mod.

An example from Keyring (phorum will probably massacre the formatting):

Code: Select all

script item
{	//cast spells: freeze party (Vas An Por), create magical barrier around
	//Laurianna (Vas Ort Sanct Grav) and move party around (Vas In Por):
	nohalt;					continue;				sfx 110;
	face north;				say "@Vas An Por@";			actor frame standing;
	wait 1;					actor frame cast_up;			wait 1;
	next frame;				wait 1;					previous frame;
	sfx 108;				say "@Vas Ort Sanct Grav@";		wait 2;
	next frame;				wait 2;					previous frame;
	wait 2;					next frame;				wait 2;
	previous frame;				sfx SOUND_TELEPORT;			say "@Vas In Por@";

	//Actually teleport the party:
	call zaurielTeleportPartyAround;

	//Long casting ritual:
	wait 2;					actor frame raise_2h;			wait 2;
	next frame;				wait 2;					next frame;
	wait 3;

	//Make more spell effects:
	call zaurielRitualCutscene, SPRITE_EFFECTS_ZAURIEL;

	//Cast the dragon form spell (Rel An-Quas Ailem In BAL-ZEN)
	actor frame standing;			say "@Rel An-Quas...@";			actor frame cast_up;
	wait 2;					sfx 66;					wait 2;
	next frame;				wait 2;					previous frame;
	wait 2;					say "@...Ailem In BAL-ZEN@";wait 2;

	//Actually shapeshift Zauriel:
	call zaurielRitualCutscene, DRAGON_SHAPESHIFT;

	//Finish the ritual:
	next frame;				sfx 64;					wait 2;
	previous frame;				wait 2;					next frame;
	wait 2;					face west;				wait 2;

	//Say last words and wait a bit:
	call zaurielRitualCutscene, PARTING_REMARKS;			wait 2;

	//Begin combat:
	call zaurielRitualCutscene, BEGIN_ZAURIEL_COMBAT;}

[edit by Marzo: fixed formatting]

Cheers, Wizardry Dragon
Lead Designer, Ultima VII: The Feudal Lands

[Scythifuge]

Wow Wizardry Dragon, thanks! Looking at this script and some other sample scripts posted by forum members, I can almost see what is going on, but I have virtually no programming/scripting experience. That is why I'm hoping that those who do, decide to come aboard the S.E. Remake. Though I would love to learn how to understand and write these scripts!

I think about it a lot. Many little scripts will be needed, such as ones to turn lamps/braziers/torches on and off, make campfires to cook meat, etc.

But for now, I'm the only one working on the project, and am currently only creating art assets and concepts, and conducting historical research. After I finish the Avatar's place and the museum lab, I'm going back to work on Eodon by finishing up terrain assets, and then focus on one village at a time, with of course the random object...

[Wizardry Dragon]

I am doing a _ton_ of usecode work for TFL, and as you may imagine, Marzo has done a ton of similar work for Keyring. If you have questions about usecode, feel free to ask either of us.

In fact, I'd have to dig it out, but I do believe I wrote the first UCC documentation out there

On the topic of documentation, however, you will be able to find the TFL code in the SF repository and it has several examples, and a good bit of it is documented with NaturalDocs on the TFL website, which you can find at: http://www.thefeudallands.ca/srcdocs/in ... index.html

Soon it will be updated to include documentation of the UCC intrinsics.

A couple specific points:

A) Light sources being on/off - I presume you mean lit during night and off during day. It is in the NPC usecode to light certain light sources during night, it would just at worst have to be adapted for new shapes. I believe (Marzo can confirm/deny) that anything in the light source shape will be lit by NPCs if it is too "dark" in their current location.

B) Making campfires cook meat would be a little trickier, however it is certainly doable. I suggest looking at how the sword blanks getting heated by a forge works, in Alun Bestor's Quests & Interactions modification.

(BTW, if you want a website for the remake I can set you up with something on my server similar to U7TFL's stuff. I don't mind )

Cheers, Wizardry Dragon
Lead Designer, Ultima VII: The Feudal Lands
www.thefeudallands.ca

[Malignant Manor]

Light sources being turned on and off by npcs are hardcoded in schedules.cc. The light source tab just makes the object emit light. It's extremely easy to just use the shape numbers already hardcoded. I think he is talking about just having it turn on and off with double clicks though which is simple usecode.

[Wizardry Dragon]

I think you misunderstand what I mean. There is a specific set of objects in shapes.vga for "light source" "lit light source" and "spent light source" specifically. IIRC, the aforementioned schedules code should light a "light source" object nearby if it is unlit during certain times (I dont have the code on hand to verify directly though, Id have to dump it)

Tl;dr: I mean the object "light source" not an object with the "light source" property (and thus tab)

Cheers, Wizardry Dragon
Lead Designer, Ultima VII: The Feudal Lands
www.thefeudallands.ca

[Scythifuge]

The only light sources that NPCs will be operating are braziers (Nahuatl) and torches (all tribes), while the Eodon portion of the game takes place. While in the Avatar's house, only the player will be using light sources, while the museum portion will take place during daylight hours. Currently, I have three light sources that I'll need to test. A regular table lamp, a Tizio lamp from the Ultima VI intro, and a light switch for walls. I have no idea how to implement them into E.S. so that the player can turn them on and off. The ceiling fan WIP could probably use a switch as well.


One note about Petrell's concern about all of the interaction in the beginning: While I am hoping for as much or more interaction in Eodon, I think that the player being surrounded by modern amenities in the beginning will create a cool and realistic contrast to the primitive Savage Empire! During the short time in the house, the player will have electricity, food in the refrigerator, running water in the kitchen and bathroom, etc. Once in Eodon, the player will have to trek for fresh water, hunt and fish for game and cook the meat or become famished, find or create torches for light or wander in the dangerous dark jungle with dangerous creatures and cannibals, find reagents for spells and plants for making medicines, etc. If its possible, I would like for the player to be randomly attacked while camping in the jungle, like in earlier Ultimas!

[Scythifuge]

UPDATE:

So, I was compelled to work on Eodon stuff, even though I said that I would finish the Avatar's house stuff first (which is 80-85% completed). I just cannot stay focused! I need artists to jump in to work on stuff so that I can stay focused on specific tasks...


Anyway, so I was looking at the original fountain and the basic editing that I did to it, so long ago, Since I am trying to avoid using original graphics, I decided to give redrawing it from scratch (but using the original as inspiration) a go. At first, I was like "Man, there is no way that I am going to pull this off!" But after a few hours of work, I think that I have something! After drawing that, I created a different version for Kotl city, since the original Kotl city was rather bland. While perusing the "Blogging Ultima" blog, and seeing that modern players find areas to be a let down, I have decided to spruce things up a bit, and have some new backstory for the "time stop" chamber, involving the Kotl hero, Katakotl. There will be more props created for Kotl city, and I shall strive to make it a more exciting place to explore. So I created a new jungle fountain, and a more pristine 128x128 pixel fountain for Kotl city (which is broke up into 64x64 pixel pieces).

After that, I decided to work on the Fabozz statue. Again, I felt that I would be unable to recreate the sprite, but after a few hours, my kids are telling me that it looks great! (they play a lot of newer stuff, but they love old school games as well!) I am thinking about posting shots, but I don't know if posting "later portion of the game" shots is such a good idea...I will mull over the idea while thinking of what to try drawing next.

Speaking of what to draw next, I have been thinking about the Haakur tribe. They are neanderthals, and dwell in caves. To spruce their area up, I may draw cave-walls with the cave painting graphics. Other than that, I'm not sure what to do. Their npc sprites will probably be similar to the SNES version, but all NPC sprites are waiting until all of the other assets are done. Any ideas or suggestions from the Ultima community will be considered

[Scythifuge]

UPDATE:

New items drawn:

I redrew the kiln/oven from scratch. I also drew a statue that is partially inspired by the Toltec statues at Tula, and has designs on it, including the Ultima serpent. Overtime, I'll probably draw other statues/broken statues/broken walls that are remnants of the Kotl and hint at other civilizations.

I have drawn a tomato plant attached to a wooden stake as well as a chili plant, and a pole bean plant, and am almost done with corn stalks, all for the Nahuatla. Food will be able to be harvested from these, and will be available for trade in the Nauhatla market. I have also drawn cacao tress, one tall and one short. These will be in the jungle, and chocolatl wil be able to be harvested from these, for spells, potions, and for trade. Sprites for the pods and for the individual beans are drawn as well. I may draw squash.

I have also drawn a metate y mano which replaces the original game's grinding stone. I have 32 frames for grinding corn into masa (to bake tortillas on a comal (drawn), the equivalent to Ultima VII's baking bread). Frames will need to be drawn for grinding other things, such as the ingredients for making clay-pot-grenades.

Next up is tweaking this cool and free 2d texture for the mountain sides. I may be able to make some sort of demo, maybe a small island to show off my plan for world building, as well as some of the new graphics, but I have no time frame for this.

[nickasdf]

would be nice to see a more up to date screenshot of work in progress please

[Kensu]

How many z-levels does U7/Exult have? Will you be able to make those cliffs for real, or are you going to have to fudge like the original game did?

[Scythifuge]

nickasdf-

I'm currently working on the cliff-"walls" (finally!), I'm hoping to post screens after that and some tweaking to the Nahuatla stuff. The texture I acquired from Spiral Graphics was reduced to 128x128p from 512x512p, and needs to be busted up into pieces for the walls and corners, and horizontal walls need to be darkened slightly, and all topped with the grass textures, and random pieces will have vines/moss/plant growth. It is a very tedious process...


Kensu-

I am unsure of how high the z-levels on the current CVS go, but I did a quick experiment by stacking a bunch of 32p squares to build a pyramid, and it went rather high. The plan is for actual cliffs, with cave systems and things to explore and find inside, palette-cycled waterfall-walls, blocks of water so that the player can wade through waist deep streams (and deal with crocs and nasty piranhas...

So far, I'm sticking with my plan of using a default chunk and building the map with "blocks" and "walls".

[nissar]

Wow, those screenshots look amazing!
I shamefully admit that i never finished Savage Empire, was the only Ultima Game i couldn't finish.

[Scythifuge]

quote -

Wow, those screenshots look amazing!

Thank you, Martin! Many of those graphics have been replaced or tweaked since then, and I will probably tweak/redo the gumps as well. Everything else is on hold for now while I mess around with the mountainside texture, which is tricky because I need the regular wall shapes PLUS the corner pieces, and have the texture remain seamless for any width or height of the mountainsides. It may take some time for it to all work out, unless I can find somnone with better skills to bang them out quicker.

[Simon Martinez]

That is a great job what you have done so far!. I looooved the savage empire, great game.

[artaxerxes]

sorry, I must have missed that again, but where does one see all your screenshots, or for that matter, download some of your creation?

thx
Artaxerxes

[Scythifuge]

Sorry, I haven't had time since the last post to work on the project, lots of stuff going on that interferes with such things! If any artists could join the project, I would happily send the mountain textures for tweaking, as I am having a hard time creating seamless walls and corners. I will resume the project, but not sure when. Once the mountain walls/corners are done, I can probably create new screenshots.

[Phoenix1224]

This project sounds like an amazing idea, I just hope it continues to its end product.. Makes me wish I knew how to do any of this stuff so I could lend a hand.

[Dude]

Wasn't there a project to remake U6 with the U7 engine, too?

[Dominus]

@Dude
Please stick to the topic. The thread is long enough as it is, don't add more clutter to it. I don't know of such a project. If you or ANYONE else wants to further discuss this, please open a new thread (I'll delete further replies to this here).

[Scythifuge]

Greetings all!

I just wanted to mention that the project is still active, but that due to relationship/kids/upcoming baby/new job I haven't done anything for about three months, but have resumed recently, though on a limited scale. While on the job, I think a lot about what I want/will do as far as the scope of the project.

The mountain-texture thing is still an issue (was last thing worked on), so I will for now be using modified versions of the original game's textures, because they work seamlessly. I was trying to be as unique as possible while still keeping with the original feel, so heavily modified versions of certain things will have to do in order to keep the project moving forward. Time flows differently for me than the average person, but I realize that much time has passed since my original concept shots for this project were shown.

I do have quite a bit of new graphics, believe it or not, and I will finish up certain things in order to show screenshots that will reflect gameplay. My Exult is clustered due to experimenting and what not, I wish that there was an option to remove shapes (i.e., shape-tests that I would like to remove since they don't work or fit). Organizing everything has been difficult, and it is hard to fathom how a professional game company organizes and tracks all of their assets.

I have new Nahuatla stuff, so that many buildings will have unique designs (but similar construction), most of the Nahuatla plants, cocoa tree, inventory items (B.G. style for now), weapons, food (plantains in place of bananas, need to draw a plantain plant) , statues/fountains (got a complete Fabozz head) among many other things...

Everything will continue at a snail's pace until people join the project. Right now, getting artists on board to finish up art assets is top priority. I simply cannot do everything by myself, unless the game is released by 2015. Plus, I still draw graphics when time permits for other Ultima-related projects in order to not get burned out on S.E. and also to improve my skills.

So artistic Ultima fans, draw some jungle stuff!!!

William Scott Franklin
Scythifuge Dragon

[Lathlas]

I've never played Savage Empire, so I'd need to find some reference points, but if you post a list of art you need I can start pushing some pixels around.

Check out my Map and Face threads here for some references. I'm not an artist by any mean, but I'm pretty handy with Photoshop so I can definitely convert existing BG items and textures pretty well.

[Scythifuge]

Thank you, Lathlas! I'll try to compile a list of specific items that the project needs as soon as I can. Anyone interested in helping can draw anything that belongs in a tropical rainforest. With extended lift values, trees can be much taller than Ultima VII trees. It will really help when I finish up some stuff and assemble some stuff for screenshots...

[Melchett]

Hi, I'd love to help if at all possible (you are basically making Savage Empire look like I imagined it would when I first read about it in that free origin catalogue thing back in the day), but being a technical black hole I'm really not sure how I can :p.

How does one actually go about drawing the objects in such a way that they can be imported into Exult Studio?

[Kensu]

On a related note...
Has anyone else had problems using u6decode on SE's lzc files? I can't seem to decompress any of them; I keep getting an error message which comes from the segment where it checks the header.

[theruler]

Any news about this project?

[Dominus]

http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=330301#p330301 first answer by Scythifuge

[Oryon]

By all the gods of the Pantheon, i salute you!

I would sell a kidney for an Exult conversion of The Savage Empire.
Great job!!

[Scythifuge]

Thank you Oryon and others who have commented on the project. I truly wish that I had more time to work on it.

I have many assets drawn, and the only things keeping me from showing screenshots are that I haven't imported them into Exult (they are on multiple canvases with names like nahuatl_completed_items_canvas.png or avatar_house_canvas.png), and that I am no good at acting as my own producer and do things out of order rather than in an orderly fashion with a schedule. When the day comes that I post some shots, they will most likely be mockups.

Maybe if I start showing some stuff, other artists will join, but no one has posted or emailed any samples as of yet.

I have a lot of the Avatar's house assets completed, so perhaps I should try to set aside a few hours and post a mock-up. I will do my best...

[Crowley]

I recently sent you email about helping with the art. Of course, that went to the "sythifuge" address listed on your profile...

[Scythifuge]

I just checked my email and responded. Many thanks!

Edit by Dominus: this thread was a spam attractor - thus I froze it