Ultima IX Ascension Mod "Forgotten World" announces team ope

[Hawkwind]

Dear Ultima fans,

this is Nimdraug from Team Forgotten World. Some of you may already have heard of our project: We are developing a modification for Ultima IX Ascension, improving it in many ways.
There have already been great achievements in cracking some of the file formats, others are still being researched. For updated information, keep an eye on http://www.forgottenworld.de

We are currently looking for:
- 3d modellers
- Texture artists
- Programmers (any high-level programming language or python)

If you feel you could enrich our team, please check our site for contact information.

After spending a lot of time on decoding the file formats, we finally managed to unravel the file format for the models used in U9. The picture below shows a render scene from blender, a 3d modeling program using the models and textures from Ultima IX Ascension. We are using a self-written python script to import models to blender where we can pose and modify them.

[Andrea B Previtera]

Excellent job! Will you release to the public the tools you use to extract/convert files?

[Andy]

I really hope you guys get the people you need. Unfortunately, I don't have skills in the programming. This is a very worthy project.

[Nimdraug]

Yes, we will release our final tools as we get to the point of them being usable by someone who doesnt spend his free time fiddling with a hexeditor.

[Hawkwind]

However, imo you shouldn't count on it before the release of our Mod.

There is quite a huge difference between a development version and a release version because of the higher demands on stability and usabilty.

So, before the release of our Mod, we will most likely concentrate on getting it done, instead of making the tools stable and usable. But it's something we haven't decided on yet, so anything is still possible.

[Hawkwind]

During the development of Forgotten World, we found a way to let appear some normally invisible objects in the world of Ultima IX: Ascension. These are basically objects which are used for triggering the different scripts in U9, but also monsters and items which support a fast test of features. Have a look at the four new screenshots on www.forgottenworld.de to get an idea of how this looks like.
We have also extended our team openings yet another time: Having found out how to add completely new music (even additionally to the original U9 music), we are now looking for a talented composer who is willing to join us. Information can be found on our team page.