OT: Recruitment for a new Serpent Isle-based Project

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:18 pm

Greetings

I am Sergorn Dragon, and have come to require the aid of my fellow fans in my time of need.

I am currently planning on the realization of an new Ultima fan-made game entitled “Return to the Serpent Isle", which as you may guess involve the former Lands of Danger and Despair and is very much tied to one of the most beloved episode of the Ultima series: “Ultima VII Part Two – The Serpent Isle,” which was released in 1993.

"Following the defeat of the Guardian, Britannia is finally at peace. Yet Shamino feels compelled to start an expedition toward the Serpent Isle, intend on finding out what have happened to his former land. As a member of his expedition you are about to set out on an adventure that will forever change your life…”

It aims to create a totally new adventure in the Ultima universe, with new – and some old – characters, a familiar yet different surrounding… and a philosophy that aims to be faithful to everything Ultima ever stood for, while at the time trying to modernize it – and thus giving the chance to every Ultima and CRPG fans to enjoy a new story in the Ultima universe.

This is a project I have been planning for some years – as such it has already a set story outline written from beginning to end and I’ve been working on compiling a comprehensive (albeit still incomplete) design doc explaining in what direction I want to take the game - for the time when I would finally be able to start this project.

And that time has come.

“Return of the Serpent Isle” will be made using the Dungeon Siege engine, and making use on the wonderful tools and systems that Team Lazarus and Team Archon have been building over the years for their respective games and Project Britannia.

But such a project cannot be achieved by one man – which is why I am now looking for other dedicated fans to help me in this task and join this newly “Team Serpent”. Before offering your help, keep in mind that this is going to be a long and hard task – and while I feel that it can be accomplished, and that it will be worth our while… remember that it will also take a lot of your time.

So I am basically looking for people at every post:
- Writers
- 2D Artists
- 3D Artists
- Musicians
- Worldbuilders
- Designers
- Scripters
- Coders

If you are interested in joining in – feel free to email me at SergornDragon@gmail.com

While a good knowledge of the Ultima series (and specifically of Serpent Isle) is obviously recommended, do not hesitate to offer your help even if you’re not an all-time Ultima expert. I hope to create a game that will appeal to any CRPG fan, and not just Ultima fans.

If you have some example of your work to offer, please provide it as well.

So thank you everyone for your time – and for letting me post this everywhere

-Sergorn Dragon
Project Leader
Ultima: Return to the Serpent

PS: FYI – the project website will be a http://sergorn.jexiste.fr. It is not open yet and only feature a splash page, but should hopefully be ready for early 2009.

John the Consultant · Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:30 am

Is there a reason why you will use the DS-engine? Wouldn't Exult Studio be a better choice for a sequel to U7?

John

Ozrick · Post by **Ozrick** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 5:43 am

Hi Sergorn,
How is your project going? I know some fans here who are awaiting for some updates. Will the website be on soon?

Thanks! 8^I

Tenar · Post by **Tenar** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:24 am

I agree with John, wouldn't Exult be a better choice? I love the classic Ultima feel and I'd love to the sequel like that

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:22 pm

I agree... Nothing wrong with a good jab at a remake, but IMO DS is waaay over done. I want to see some remakes using the Exult engine. It seems to me it would almost be easier too. Perhaps we'd see more finished projects if groups would devote more of there time to the exult engine rather than borrowing from Microsoft and 2K games all the time. :^)

Lathlas · Post by **Lathlas** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:12 pm

Well, for what it's worth I like the DS engine. I can already see what the Serpent Isle looks like in exult, and Lazarus has definitely replaced SI as my favorite Ultima game of all time.

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:01 pm

Sorry, I need to insert a foot in my mouth... Completely over looked the fact we were talking about SI...

Sorry.

I'd like to see Ultima 1 - 6 on the exult engine.

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:00 am

My comment is not so much related to the OP, but to the name that the poster presents himself with. I guess he won't show up on this thread any more, effectively having used the Exult forum as a kind of mailing list for Ultima-related stuff and never to return, I am pretty sure it is safe for me to diverge a little.

Why do all those Ultima guys call themselves "X Dragon"? I mean, it's almost laughable! As if one would take over the positive properties associated with dragons when one calls oneself a dragon. As if I would assume I'm talking over the internet with an ancient being of great wisdom that can breathe fire. While on the other hand, dragons have become kitsch today. Whenever I see a car with a dragon painted on it, I don't have quite as much respect of the owner as the owner might think I have. I mean, I don't bow down in awe, I don't even think of anything associated with awe. Basically, I think: "Oh no, kitsch again."

And now, in Ultima, there are those forums where those "X Dragons" talk to each other. It's almost like a role playing game itself. I don't really know what my point shall be here, it's just that I wanted to say: Those "X Dragon" names make me smile every time I see them. But it might be for a different reason than you think.

Yours truly,
Fantasyword Dragon.

Post by **Dominus** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:31 am

@Madoc, you have no idea what you are talking about...
see http://www.udic.org/

And it is maybe not the best forum to complain about this. After all, at least 7 members of the Exult team are also UDIC members.
Arthuris Dragon, Colourless Dargon, Nadir Dragon, Vector Dragon, Geometrodynamic Dragon, Lanica Dragon, Dominus Dragon and some who may be not listed on the roster...

Lathlas · Post by **Lathlas** » Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:09 pm

@Madoc, That may be the most unintentionally hilarious thing I have ever seen on the internet. Thank you for swallowing your whole foot down to the knee for our amusement.

I'm Stormcrow Dragon, I just don't use the name anymore. Maybe I'll add it back to my sig.

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:09 am

@Dominus:

Thanks for the link. However, I'm not sure if that makes my view of "X Dragon" namings any more serious. Just because you guys do that for a long time already, it doesn't change anything about my comment.

I also don't want to be totally disrespectful, just a little bit. Come on, if you see a list of World of Warcraft names half of which contains the word "Shadow", and the other half "Dark", don't you feel tempted to say that "Dark Mystery Shadow Rogue" gets a comical note when everybody calls himself like that? My situation in this forum, in front of all of you dragons, is largely the same, except that I'm a reader here for several years already.

I emphasize that I do respect you a lot for your work on Exult, which to my mind is the greatest independent retro RPG project of all times.

@Lathlas:

No problem for me (even if I'm one of the "idiots" out of your signature). My comment was meant as a funny note, and if it made you smile, for whatever reason, it served its purpose.

Post by **Dominus** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:12 am

What you fail to understand is that the Dragon byname is not about the usual cliche, but show our group affiliation. If you are Part of that fan Club you have a Dragon name, simple as that.

torgus dragon · Post by **torgus dragon** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:36 pm

Torgus dragon thinks you failz hardc0re

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:24 pm

@Dominus:

It's hard for me to be that picky. I noticed your dragon group affiliation. But that does not change anything about my statement. It's still somewhat funny that you guys have this club going on, and instead of a secret handshake or something, you call yourselves dragons. I don't want to diminish that, but maybe if you found out that I had a club going on for some years in which we call ourselves "Dark Rogue" or something on that line, you might get into the position yourself to find that slightly amusing. I don't know - maybe you would, maybe not. And maybe, when you read about all those Dark Rogues in a forum for some years, the moment might come one day that you finally make a funny comment on that. If that were even remotely possible to your mind, then you could get the idea of what's going on in mine. There is nothing of deep meaning in my statement, just saying that this calling-yourselves-dragons thing can be funny sometimes for outsiders. I'm sorry for having crossed borders to something that seems to be more serious than I originally assumed. Please take my apologies for that.

@Torgus dragon:

wtf? k thx bb

Lathlas · Post by **Lathlas** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:46 am

torgus dragon · Post by **torgus dragon** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:47 pm

I said you fail. I hope that clears things up...if not I can go into detail.

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:03 am

@torgus dragon:

I responded, in the same manner of speech: "What? Well, okay then. Thanks for the discussion, and bye."

But well, I would appreciate your elaborating on my failure, as perceived by you. As I did not try to achieve anything, I would certainly be interested in getting to know how you can observe a failure in what I posted. I was simply stating that I find your calling yourselves dragons funny. The reason for your calling yourselves dragons, or how long you do that, is not of any importance for my finding that funny.

However, I did not expect to cause so much discussion on that matter. And by posting a picture of TNG crew palming their faces, or by telling me that I failed in 1337, I will probably not get to see and respect you in your dragon form. If you started to go into detail, that might be of value. But quite honestly, I doubt it.

Post by **Dominus** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:37 am

Fanclubs do traditionally have names. It's a mean for bonding. And yes, I find certain wow names amusing when I read them, but I understand where they come from and wouldn't belittle them. Next time I'm home I'll close this thread...

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:44 am

@Dominus:

Just saying something is funny, or saying why exactly one finds it funny, does not belittle it. But just in case someone might feel insulted, I apologized anyway. Of course you can close this thread, it's your forum. But I get the impression that you guys take my remark far too seriously, I did not intend to hurt your feelings, and I am feeling like you overreact. Your way of treating me here seems unfair to me, and I don't like that. But still, it's not all that important.

If you close this thread, I would appreciate it if you were so kind to give me a little insight on why you think it is important to put a stop to this discussion.

Warder · Post by **Warder** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:49 pm

Eh, Madoc, I think you're looking too deeply into it. I have an UDIC dragon name, but for me it's never been anything more than a vaguely amusing quirk to signing up for the Ultima fanclub, a sentiment I believe most other members share. I don't really see it as any different than using a madeup nickname on, say, an Internet forum dedicated to creating a new game engine for an old DOS game.

That having been said, I'm not entirely sure why this thread would need closing either. Madoc made an ignorant remark, got chastised for it, apologized, and that's... more or less where we are now?

Post by **Dominus** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:31 pm

I was about to close this thread because it is a very OT discussion in an OT thread and everything seemed to have been said and it doesn't seem like the one side sees the reason of the other one. If I don't close it this thread might either dissolve in its unimportance or blow up. And the blowing up of so unimportant OT discussions is something that I don't like here.

torgus dragon · Post by **torgus dragon** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:20 pm

Insert ibtl jordie gif here.

Torgus dragon

Madoc · Post by **Madoc** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:22 pm

@Dominus:

Thanks for the explaination. We don't need to aggree on everything (and I see we don't). So, it's your forum, your thing, this is not a state affair, go ahead and close the thread.

@Warder:

I said "I find the names funny", you said "vaguely amusing quirk". Seems we two say basically the same thing here. But the other opinions were that I "failed" (in what?), I belittled the group (how?) and the such. I don't think that I'm the one who is looking to deeply into it. As I said, I'm a year-long reader in this forum who only rarely wrote something, and now I said "Hey, you guys have funny names", and for that remark, I seem to have earned the combined wrath of the dragons. I must say that this is what irritates me the most, and that's basically what holds me in this discussion. I am searching for the one posting that shows me that I'm wrong, you all don't take it that serious, you are just pretending and making fun of me. Something that tells me that... well, that you guys are not the kind of persons that go mad when someone says their hat looks funny.

---

*sigh* Okay, I'll give it up.

- I am sorry for all the stress, it was not my intention.
- I am sorry for having hijacked the thread and put it into danger of dissolving into unimportance.
- I am sorry for having belittled the Ultima Dragons Internet Chapter.
- I am sorry for having been OT.

I won't do it again. I will search for other forums where my personal style of communication won't create the danger to belittle people's internet groups, or to dissolve discussions into unimportance or whatever.

I hope that finishes this unpleasant discussion.

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:20 pm

Hiya everyone !

Well the thread has pretty much gone of course, but I figured it was better than starting a new one.

I knows things have been quite silent (and to be honest quite slow) on that front in the last years, but at long last the Official Site for my "Return to the Serpent Isle" project is Up and running at :

http://www.ultima-return.com

Not a lot of content for now, but feel free to come and visit

If you remember what I'll talk about last year you'll notice the project has changed quite a bit, but I feel for the best.

-Sergorn

Petrell · Post by **Petrell** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:34 pm

Shame you had to drop Dungeon Siege engine

It would have been nice to see another game using the Project Britannia framework. I has evolved lot along the development of Ultima 6 Project.

There have been number of Ultima projects using NWN 2 engine. None of them have succeeded so far and most haven't even released anything. Is there even any ultima themed/influenced assests around or do you have to build everything from groundup?

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:23 pm

I was really fond of the DS engine - but that just didn't felt reasonable in the long run. I originally planned to use the DSII engine actually - it was better looking and had quite a bit of new feature, but the idea pretty much dropped dead when it appeared DSII didn't have a true save game feature and that one couldn't be coded in.

I'm not quite sure about Ultima themed assets, but there are definitly existing assets we will be able to use for our project and that should really help in creating more Ultima-ish aspect in the game. (If you'd ever checked the Realm of Ultima website, you'll know about the working boat travel system for example - this is something we'd like to implement obviously).

-Sergorn

Petrell · Post by **Petrell** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:24 pm

Obviously I remember RoU

I worked as news poster for Dino's Ultima Page for quite long time (had to drop out last year).

The project is probably dead now with having no update for over year now. Even the forums are gone now. It'll be good if you can salvage something from it's ashes.

Obviously there are lots of generic assests that can be used in most mods and mod is based on serpent isle so there won't need so many Ultima themed assests. The D&D systems ability to present Ultima game mechanics does rise major concerns however.

Another worry with NWN2 is court battle between ATARI and Hasbro. Should Hasbro win it's very likely that NWN2 will disappear as a result (along with any remaining PC D&D titles). What ever happens, situation does look too good for PC games based on D&D in general.

Anyway, good luck with the project. Hopefully you'll manage to direct it to completion.

Oh, and there is another Ultima project in the works known as Ultima 7 GET Recreation being developed by Team Exalted. Is your project the one Dr. Foo mentioned in his reply to me?

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:41 pm

The guys behind RoU are still actively working on NWN2 community - but it does seem RoU has taken a backseat unfortunately.

Regarding the D&D systems - it's both an issue and a non-issue to me. We'll try to modify it as much as possible (at the very least we know for a fact it'll be possible to "hack in" our own Ultima classes, and we had already devised specific classes when aimed for a DS Siegelet), but on the other hand the "ruleset" has always been very secondary in Ultima games so I feel the game could work around having a D&Dish ruleset as long we make the reste Ultima-ish enough.

And no this project is unrelated to what Dr Foo mentionned (I have never heard of him or this GET Recreation before) - I actually feel that when he mentions the "Serpent Isle sequel" he means it in the sense that's it's Ultima VII sequel so I assume they have a team recreating the original SI.

-Sergorn

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:08 pm

Eh, it'll be nice to get away from Dungeon Seige. I mean the Project Britannia frame work is all good and well but I think most people like it for remakes because its established more so than its simply a slightly newer 3d engine to work from. In all honesty, though, I thought the Dungeon Siege engine was a bit bland to begin with.

It needs to be built on a more interactive engine, maybe like Oblivion. That's the only true way to represent Ultima 7's former glory.

IMO aside from the top down 3d graphics and serious clipping issues that Dungeon Siege brought to the table the whole concept of basing any future Ultima games on that engine is a step back.

There needs to be more remakes based on Exult. The Ultima 7 engine being as great as it was is the only reason any of us are here in the first place.

Cobalt · Post by **Cobalt** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:08 pm

With that said I'm off to Dennys to go eat my free Grand Slam.

Hmmph!

RetsejDragon · Post by **RetsejDragon** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 10:51 am

I agree that there need to be more ultima add-on/remakes with the Exult engine. We have a great opportunity to explore new concepts and stories while holding on to the classic feel of the '93 Ultima games we all know and love.

Actually, I've been down to work on a serious remake (or add-on) for U7 since Oliver Marcoux busted out with the U7 Wizard - though I became quite proficient in building and toying around with stuff, still had no where near the level of control that I can probably achieve with Exult.

...I fantasize about what's possible now that we can mess around with the usecode with greater ease *-*

Retsej Dragon
-=UDIC=-

Petrell · Post by **Petrell** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:45 pm

Eh, it'll be nice to get away from Dungeon Seige. I mean the Project Britannia frame work is all good and well but I think most people like it for remakes because its established more so than its simply a slightly newer 3d engine to work from. In all honesty, though, I thought the Dungeon Siege engine was a bit bland to begin with.

It needs to be built on a more interactive engine, maybe like Oblivion. That's the only true way to represent Ultima 7's former glory.

IMO aside from the top down 3d graphics and serious clipping issues that Dungeon Siege brought to the table the whole concept of basing any future Ultima games on that engine is a step back.

There needs to be more remakes based on Exult. The Ultima 7 engine being as great as it was is the only reason any of us are here in the first place.

I personally think moving away from isometric perspective to 1st/3rd person the biggest step(actually giant leap) back in RPG history. Moving from turn based combat to real time comes close second worst thing that happened to RPG's (as well as strategy games).

As for using oblivion Oblivion or any other 1st/3rd person based engine to remake any good ultima (U4-7pt2), it'll never work. These are party based RPG's and party plays integral role in game design. Party based RPG's simply wont work in 1st/3rd person perspective due to shitty AI. Player simply needs to be able directly controll party members actions in combat. And I take isometric perspective over 1st/3rd perspective in any RPG.

I for one don't care about the graphics, my only consideration for graphics is usability and variety. I especially loathe sacrificing content for graphical quality like they did with Oblivion. Cyrodiil while pretty is bland as hell and there is clear lack or variety and, worst of all, orginality (here morrowind beats oblivion 10 to 0). Who ever designed the imperial city should be shot for the actoricty he did (hell, all the other town in cyrodiil are more interesting and we're talking about city that is supposed to be center of the empire).

Dere · Post by **Dere** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:29 pm

^ And I personally think you need to get with times.

I'm a old school RPG gamer, and I totally fail to see what's so great about an isometric view. What's more, I definitely prefer 1st or 3rd person views when playing a 3d RPG, as I like feeling like I'm the character I'm playing, not like I'm some kind of god watching from above.

Also, I don't give a rat's ass about combat in Ultima - I never played it for that anyway. As long as it isn't too slow and intrusive (which it was in Ultima IV), I'm alright with it. And the party never was such a integral part as you make it out to be - its real purpose was always in having NPCs who aid you combat. And if we aren't getting a decent combat system, I don't care much about the party anyway.

I totally agree with Cobalt about Oblivion being a great engine for a Ultima remake (especially a U7 one), and wish we'd get away from the Dungeon Siege engine.

Post by **Dominus** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:22 pm

Yeah, combat is something that I'm not enjoying in any RPG. I just don't care about it, I'd rather get along with the story. Sadly this feeling was underlined by the later Might & Magic games that had just endless waves of monsters which were only there to not make the games too short. Never finished them, since I was using a cheat to get rid of the boring combat and then the endless hordes were even more boring...

quentinak · Post by **quentinak** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 7:29 pm

Yes I'm playing Lazarus right now, and the DS engine leaves much for wanting in the interactivity department. What makes Lazarus great is the story, NPCs and their schedules, and the beautifully built world. If it had been closer to even U8 in object interactivity I would have been ecstatic.

As for Serpent Isle, if Sergorn is able to redline on the interactivity using DS and have a great storyline, I can definitely see a lot of potential for the game. And there is still a lot of story to be told for SI.

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:28 am

The thing about interactivity - is that unfortunately most RPG released nowaways just don't give a damn about the whole "Virtual World" aspect - so no NPC schecules, no day&night, and no interactivity whatsoever outside of "crafting". There are a few exception like the Gothic games, or Oblivion to a lesser extent, but seems most people are content with the "Bioware formula".

This is why finding an engine to make a exactly "proper" Ultima is an impossible task, because no matter what you chose you'll always have to make some compromises.

I've actually considered the Oblivion engine - but the lack of party if why I decided against it. I agree that party is usually little more than armed packed mules, but my hope (much like in the original Serpent Isle) is to have compagnions that actually matters and have a role in the plot rather than just adding firepower.

-Sergorn

TDI · Post by **TDI** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 2:27 pm

> but seems most people are content with the "Bioware formula".

Yeah... I enjoy BioWare games, but never get back to them once finished. The world is fixed 1 to 1 to the storyline and never allows you to try something different. To me BioWare games aren't really RPGs, they are more like "action adventures". A true RPG must allow the freedom and flexibility to play various roles, and not just the main plot role.

>I've actually considered the Oblivion engine - but the lack of party if why I decided against it

Actually Oblivion has a few companion mods that work quite well. I usually play with the "CM Partners" mod. You can recruit people, share inventory with them and have them fight with you. They usually do a pretty good job of following you too (teleporting if everything else fails). But I usually only play with one or two. Having three or more might have a clumsy feel to it, as the engine simply not intended that many people following you around.
I always thought that Oblivion would be the perfect engine to recreate U8 though. Complete with jumping puzzles and all.

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:10 pm

Oh I love Bioware games really - but it's a radically different school of design from Ultima and I feel there would be more than enough room for both, but games following an Ultima-ish design approach are really rare (I mean short of Gothic/Risen and the latest Bethesda games to a lesser degree, I can't think of many).

Actually Oblivion has a few companion mods that work quite well. I usually play with the "CM Partners" mod. You can recruit people, share inventory with them and have them fight with you. They usually do a pretty good job of following you too (teleporting if everything else fails). But I usually only play with one or two. Having three or more might have a clumsy feel to it, as the engine simply not intended that many people following you around.

Good to know. To be fair there were a few quests that involved following or working with other NPCs which worked very well in Oblivion. Having active companions involved in dialogue in Oblivion seems hard to implement though, unless it would be possible to implement a totally different dialogue engine. At least NWN2 does have that built-in heh.

It's a shame RPGs can't seem to have both - I'd love a Gothic kind of game with a Bioware/Obisdian kind of dialogue engine and a full party. I'm sure it would be doable if they trully wnated (I mean in Gothic you could have characters following you around and fighting alongside with a near-perfect pathfinding - translating that into in actualy probably wouldn't have been that hard had they wanted to)

-Sergorn

Jackbean · Post by **Jackbean** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:28 pm

Speaking of isometric view, how about the Infinity Engine? It is visually beautiful and allows somewhat turn based combat. I've always wondered why it is never mentioned when people are considering what engine to use for an Ultima remake.

Jaesun · Post by **Jaesun** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:19 am

Creating a new game in the Infinity Engine is incredibly difficult. The pre-rendered backgrounds, and a number of things do not make it that easy as a platform to make a new game with it. Which is sad really.

Jackbean · Post by **Jackbean** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:03 am

That's too bad about the Infinity Engine. The success of Baldur's Gate makes me feel that there is an audience for 2D engines. Perhaps it would make us rethink whether a 3D engine is really a better choice (in terms of look and feel) for Ultima remakes. Baldur's Gate was rendered pretty beautifully.

My guess is that it would take less time to remake a game on Exult than on a 3D engine. With high resolution tiles, maybe a game on Exult can look more detailed than on Dungeon Siege? If Exult has high resolution tiles, maybe it can become an engine for other people to make new games (not just Ultima) on.

Obviously I will play the game on either engine. I just wonder whether both U6 Project and Lazarus took so long because they chose Dungeon Siege.

Post by **Dominus** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:13 am

The engine is not the big time consumer. Creating content is what takes so long. Getting together a team of people willing to work together on the net without payment is not easy. Motivating these people to actually finish creating the content is even worse.

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:10 pm

Dominus has basically summed it up. The biggest issue is not the engine (as far as Return go, we have already revamped NWN2's gameplay considerably and have most Ultima-ish elements implemented already for instance), but crafting all the content for the game : which is areas, dungeons, NPCs, art and so on...

This is why many Ultima projects, and basically a lot of amateur RPG project often just vanish end up being cancelled, because the sheer amount of work required is daunting and can become overwhelming.

As indeed finding people willing to work on such project for free is very difficult - Art being probably the most problematic aspect.

This is basically why Lazarus and U6P took so long to be made: because it was hard to find people, and even harder to keep them motivated.

(Note that this why we plan a more Chaptery/Episodic approach for Return, in order to offer people content to play in a shorter time span)

Also regarding the Infinity Engine I personally feel it won't be a good choice for an Ultima, mostly because as beautiful as it can gets - the engine feels very static and lifeless IMO.

-Sergorn

Sergorn · Post by **Sergorn** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:28 pm

Hi guys !

I just wanted to share with you all a little "concept" video from Return. Hope you like it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSZeSnlCH9U

-Sergorn