Question about the "lost" actual source code of ultima7

[Trevor_Clim]

hello!
the FAQ of exult says:

"Furthermore, Origin and/or people that worked for Origin claim that the source code for Ultima 7 (BG/SI) has been lost for some time. So there is no chance for the Exult team to have a look at the actual code. Also the team tried to contact some people from Origin earlier but got no positive or negative response on the Exult project. So far it seems that both Origin and EA have decided to ignore Exult. On the other hand former Origin employees contacted the team and congratulated the team on their effort. Most noticeable are Lord British himself and Ken Demarest (Programming Manager of Ultima 7)"

the exult team need the original code of ultima 7 to do every thing perfect and that work with exult would become much easier and faster, iam right?

so R. Garriott and K. Demarest "congrulated the team on their effort", i am sure R. Garriott has (a copy) of the original code, why not asking him? i think he would give the team the code!

or has the team already done it?

[suraimu]

The reason the code is 'lost' in the first place is probably because RG
took it with him when he left.

[Max aka Moscow Dragon]

Maybe it would be a good idea to contant Ken about the AGIL language syntax?
Why re-invent the syntax and the grammar for the usecode language by ourselves?

[Dominus]

Suraimu: The code is said to be lost for years now (at least seven years, I think). RG is only gone from Origin for about 2 years (or so), so it´s not lost because he took it...

Also, I´m sure we would run into serious copyright issues if we would use the original source without direct permission of EA/Origin

[Trevor_Clim]

damn it !

so there is no chance to get to the code!?!?

Talking with EA/Origin doesnt bring any chance?

[Dominus]

Talking with EA/Origin?
They didn´t even answer questions by Dr.Code if they allow this project...

Besides the UDIC (Ultima Dragons Internet Chapter - an Ultima Fanclub) tried to get the code released for years. When the production of U9 reached its final stage it seemed they would get somehwere with it but then the U9-team was laid off faster than you can say "oops" and nothing was ever heard of it...

[nadir]

Jeff has contacted Origin many times. I don't believe having the source code would help us much, however, as Exult most probably implements some things differently from an architectural point of view, and it would be more effort to "port" things from one code base to the other than actually implementing them from scratch as has been done until now.

[Colourless]

Exult is too close to being finished for the source to be much us for us. It would though allow us to just work out the few things that we don't yet quite understand. Porting the code, if we had it, is extremely unlikely. It would just be too hard.

-Colourless Dragon

[suraimu]

Has anyone tried using the telephone to get ahold of them instead of
sending e-mails that are easily ignored? Just a thought.

[drcode]

I believe the issue of the source code has been addressed on the UD newsgroup by a former Origin employee. What I recall he said is that the code probably exists at Origin, but on an unmarked tape in a pile that nobody has time to go through. Each of the main developers also was given a CD of the source to take home.

But Colourless summed up the situation best.

[Oblivious]

Yeah, they never respond to any of the people asking for permission of any of the Ultima remakes. But then recently, some @!#$ accused the people of the Ultima 1 remake of doing it without even contacting them, and saying that getting RG's okay to do the remake is like getting Toto's permission to do a Wizard of Oz remake. DEATH TO EA!!!

Unfortunately, according to CNN, EA is doing better than ever....

[drcode]

Oblivious: Sounds like you're a Slashdot reader.

Also, one idea I've been mulling is using the Exult engine for an Oz game. I won't need Toto's or anyone else's permission, as it's been in the public domain for several years.

[alexei]

I think someone keeps the code in safe place. There must be some sourcecode.. or part of it. I mean that developing the game and it's engine is very big project.It may take years. The project team of U7 must have taken backup copies of source code many times. I mean backup during development work and some non-public version releases. ..losting a source code.. sounds very VERY odd.

... When Exult is ready i think it's good idea to "lose" it's source code .. just a joke.