Exult Forum

So with all the talk of my little mod Im working on, so here's the run down.

Some of you meay remember (/know) that when the cataclysm happened, the lands were divided into Britannia, the Serpent Isle (the Lands of Danger and Despair) and the Feudal Lands. The goal of my mod is to bring together these three lands in one setting using the multi-map capacity of Ultima.

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To break down the additions, features, and changes to these realms:

BRITANNIA:

>> The game won't end at the traditional end game. You can gather together your equipment and a party of your choice, and venture to the Serpent Isle
>> The Generators will be moved to a seperate map.
>> The sewers underneath Britain (circa U6) will be reconsturcted on another map.
>> A karma system will be enforced (circa U4)
>> You can now meditate at shrines (keyring mod)
>> You can now view the codex (keyring mod)
>> Zauriel the mage will give a new quest (keyring mod)
>> Chahiero the archmage will give several new quests, including one to access the Feudal Lands
>> You can now forge nomal swords from sword blanks
>> The moongates will now follow the cycle of Sosaria's moons (circa U4)
>> A special item will allow you to view the status of the moons.
>> Moongates will function properly once the Ether is restored.
>> The Orb of the Moon allows travel to the shrines (keyring mod).
>> Many old spells, such as undead and iceball will make a comeback.
>> Many new spells will be added.
>> Many non-SI unique spells will be available in Britannia.
>> Jaana and Mariah will be able to cast spells again once the Ether is restored.
>> Many Fellowship leaders will respond to the destruction of the Generators now.
>> The Avatar and party have an alternate death handler once the Ether has been restored.
>> All good NPCs will have conversations, incl. egg generated ones.

SERPENT ISLE:
>> The introduction & storm sequence has been rewritten to handle all the different party members.
>> The Knight's Test will give you a command suitable to your different virtue ratings, instead of a preset one.
>> Once you are a Monotorian Knight, you will actually *have* the responsibilities of your command.
>> When the traitor is revealed, you can take leadership of the Command if you are a member of it.
>> If you recover the Helm of Courage, you may take leadership of your Command.
>> NPCs will respond much more to you having recovered the Helm of Courage.
>> You will have a joinable NPC in Monitor, whom depends upon the command.
>> Some of the little bugs in the Fawn trial will be fixed.
>> Moonglow will be rebuilt with the originally intended second level.
>> Many of the subplots which were not expanded upon in the original SI, will be.
>> Much of the messyness in the original SI map will be moved to alternate maps.
>> Freezing in the North will be negated if you're wearing a heat-inducing armor (try running around in full plate and see if *you* feel cold!)
>> The storms will reduce severely if you finish the Silver Seed quest.
>> Many spells will start to function correctly if you finish the Silver Seed quest.
>> If Boydon dies, it will be possible to recreate him at Erstam's Isle via a side quest. (this will only work once, however).
>> The effectiveness of Automaton companions will be increased.
>> A new quest will allow creation of a customized Automaton companion.
>> You will be able to pernamently give the Avatar an Automaton body using the Life Transference machine. The Automaton must be willing, of course.
>> Blink rings will function (although erratically) once the storms subside.
>> You can now return to Monitor and attempt to rally the Pikemen to turn back the goblins, instead of having the city simply overrun.

THE FEUDAL LANDS
At a basic level, this is a remake of the classic Ultima IV, which has always been a favourite of mine. However, you're already the Avatar ^_~ Instead, you aid another in finishing the quest, and in doing so awaken an evil in the land you must defeat.

It will feature:
>> 8 joinable NPCs (one for each virtue, as in U4)
>> Many new towns and castles, obviously.
>> Virtue's Hold, a fortress-city beseiged.
>> A couple dozen new spells, including an 'Epic' spell system available only via quest.

Right now I have 5 'main' quests in, and a couple sub-quests.

All of the joinable NPCs will have their own shapes, and there will be mroe than one new generic shape as well (I might push the shapes limit just a bit I think)

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As you can see, its more than a little ambitious and I don't expect a full release anytime soon, but I thought I'd let everyone in on what I keep referring to as 'my mod' ^_~

Art help, specifically for shapes, faces, and gumps, would be much appreciated. Usecode help would be handy, too.

"Oi, what'd I have to go and get myself into?"
~ Wizardry Dragon

Looks very nice! Can't wait for the release.

Do you have a website for this?

Not as of yet, no.

I will Imageshack some screenshoots soon, though.

This is however what I was originally coding for those couple of years back when I wrote the UCC docs, so, it is somewhat into development ^_~

As for a release date, I offer only "when its done"

To give credit where credit is due, many changes that this mod includes are those of the Keyring Mod by Marzo. I quite like it ^_^

~ Wizardry Dragon

This is however what I was originally coding for those couple of years back when I wrote the UCC docs, so, it is somewhat into development

That IS long ago

Sounds very interesting. If you want, you can also use (plug) SI Fixes (it is available with Exult's sourcecode, and also at ESGuides), which (as the name implies) fixes a few bugs in SI.

Dom: Makes ya feel old, doesn't it? ^_~

Marzo: I had a moment similar to your spellbook one with that. A lot of the time I *did* get between now and when I wrote the docs was finding and plugging SI holes, and then I go now and find that someone already did it

~ Wizardry Dragon

A potential problem for your mod has just occurred to me: you might have problems with the total number of NPCs. I think that the max # of NPCs in Exult is 355 or so (seeing as the avatar's usecode ID is -356 and the whole party is -357). I don't think you will be able to merge all the games without turning a lot of NPCs into 'monster' NPCs (similar to FoV and SS NPCs).

As is now, you're correct. I could also have shape # problems. I was somewhat hoping that it would be possible for Exult to handle a larger number of NPCs; after all, Im sure its more than capable of it.

~ Wizardry Dragon

"Dom: Makes ya feel old, doesn't it? ^_~"

Makes me feel >really< old:-) I've worked for 4 different employers since starting Exult. It's great to see people using the tools to create mods.

i would be fully happy to help out where i could with art, aside form animations and mugshots (unless the animations are edits of the existing models... i really.. really suck at animating stuff.. lol)

one question... will the game 'skip forward' after BG in time (not visibly, just say that it has) until after Underworld 2? it really should considering the game is fully part of the storyline

One thing which you may consider (and which I am thinking about for the keyring mod too) is to have new games start not with the avatar reaching Trinsic directly, but with a pit stop by the gypsy (sp?) first -- and I think you know *which* gypsy I am talking about.

I haven't played Ultima Underworld 2 (although I loved the original), so I dont know enough of it to implement it even in a cutscene sort of format. So it will probably just skip it, or pretend it doesnt exist ^_~

The one thing I plan to do is have it so you can play even when you have finished the main quests in the three sections. For two reasons: to go back and finish the subquests as you want, and for two, there will still be plenty of things you can do after outside of subquests. I plan to have you able to buy houses, command Knights at Monitor, and so forth. So, if you want to keep playing in the sandbox, I want to let you ^_~

And I can use all the help I can get Crysta. Im decent at pixel art, but ugh, the mugshots from U7 really arent my style, and my first attempt to do one is kinda marginal. (judge for yourself: http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/4356 ... e001cr.png )

I have a bunch of items I'd like to add, the first of which are, I want to have axe head 'blanks' and axe hilts (to make your own axe), morningstar blanks, and such. Feathers also and arrow shafts (for arrows), and maybe some custom floor tiles (I loved the blue floors in U6, and also, the purple tiles from Hawkwind the Seer in U4 would be neat). Those are just the tip of the iceberg, theres plenty of other stuff if none of that interests you. By no means you have to do it all (I wouldn't expect you to), those are jsut some of the things that come to me off the top of my head.

~ Wizardry Dragon

An idea that occurred to me for handling large numbers of npcs: You could have one main NPC file, for joinable NPCs, and NPCs which go across maps, and then a seperate NPC file for each map, containing the NPCs for that map.

~ Wizardry Dragon

id need a screenshot of the hawkwind tiles

and sadly, that mugshot is better than any ive tried.. lol

and as for Underworld... i've not only finished it several times but own the cluebook, so i can provide whatever help you might need

thats underworld 2.. 1 i've made it to the bottom of the Abyss but not finished.. lol

All they were is purple octagons, but they looked so cool back in the days of the Commodore 64 ^_^

~ Wizardry Dragon

Ahh, and I forgot to mention, but Im also working on adding the classic Gypsy test to the beginning of the game ^_~

~ Wizardry Dragon

dont have a picture of the purple octagon? lol

I'd forgotten to mention that Im lazy, else this would have been done two years ago ^_~

~ Wizardry Dragon

Wow ... sounds like a really huge plan. I hope you can pull this off somehow.

Maybe at some point I can also offer doing some of the artwork needed. Though I'm certain that I'm not really that good, I've sometimes managed to create some images that were quite nice, given enough time.

You can also use 'monster eggs' to create NPC's like they did for guards in SI.

Jammet - that would be much appreciated ^_^

DrCode - yeah, the only problem is that I cant do that for every single NPC and inevitably Im going to run out of room. The main NPCs in Serpent Isle alone would put it over.

*copies* *pastes*

An idea that occurred to me for handling large numbers of npcs: You could have one main NPC file, for joinable NPCs, and NPCs which go across maps, and then a seperate NPC file for each map, containing the NPCs for that map.

~ Wizardry Dragon

Also, I may add that a good bit of the point of this mod is to push the limits of Exult a little, to show is full capabilities ^_^

Anyways ... *drum roll*

Screenshots!


Ambushed!


The front lines

So... I gather that I'll be able to play BG and then take that same uber-stats party on into SI, not to mention the new lands you're adding?

If so, how are you going to handle scaling? Part of the point of the "starting over" beginning of SI was that your uber character was reset.

hey Wiz, I loaded up U4 so I could take a look at what you meant and...



either you were thinking of somewhere else (or a different game), or you combined the lower tiles with the animated purple ones somehow.. lol

still.. going with that you'd want something like this, right?

I demand more damned gargoyles.

Crysta - They were purple in the C64 one, and white in the DOS one. I just booted up the fossil (I mean C64) to check ^_^ Also, xU4 has them as purple, just not octagons

That looks awesome though, Crysta! Theres a couple other tiles I'd like if you don't mind? A darker stone floor or two (and later walls) would be nice, to imitate 'Blackrock'.

Nice work thusfar though ^_^

Garret - whenever the Avatar, or any of his(/her) companions, travel between worlds, they are weakened. This is why (s)he always starts out very mediocre at the beginning of each Ultima, despite the fact that (s)he is the champion of Britannia. They will be *weakened* however; not reset. They will have their quipment, spellbook, and a fraction of their original stats going into new worlds. You will still lose equipment at the beginning of SI; although the storm and Shamino's list will have to be reprogrammed significantly to accomodate this.

Azulmagia - more screenshots? Sure!


A dire warning...


The eye of the storm: the Keep at the heart of Virtue's hold.

(Crysta or Jammet ~ would you mind editing a version of the LB sprite, changing the cloak from purple to red, and the blue shirt and pants to some sort of armor?)

~ Wizardry Dragon

And I just spotted a typo in one of my screenies xD It's 'wary' not 'way'.


Dr. Code & Co. - is it possible to create new chunks in ExultStudio? And if so, how? Maybe I'm just blind (entirely possible), I didn't see a mention of it in the docs.

~ Wizardry Dragon

from left to right, top row then bottom:

arrowhead/heads,
feather/feathers,

unfinished weapon handle,
iron ball,
length of chain,
axehead blank (wasnt quite sure how to do it.. settled on this because 1 could be used for a throwing axe and 2 for a two-handed axe ),
and shaft/shafts (not sure which looks better, top or bottom row..)


the handle would have multiple uses, obviously... id suggest requiring some caltrops in addition to th ball and handle for a mace (or, if with a chain as well, a morningstar).. if this is all a bit too complicated just say so

oh, and i'll probably recolor the handle, it seems a bit too dark to me

is it possible to create new chunks in ExultStudio?

Look for 'U7CHUNKS' under 'Map Files' in the right hand side; there you can see a list of all the game's chunks. Go to the end of the list and right click the last chunk; choose 'New->Empty' from the menu to create an empty chunk, or 'New->Duplicate' to, well, duplicate the chunk you right-clicked. Beware that duplication adds the duplicate right after the chunk you duplicated; I don't know if there are any ill effects, though.

With your brand new chunk, place in the map somewhere. Check the 'Edit Terrain' checkbox and edit the chunk (in the map) to your heart's content, by dragging shapes from shapes.vga into it. When you are done, you can save the file and the modifications will be saved too.

Crysta - Very nice! ^_^ I feel compelled to specify that a flail is the one that has the chain, a morning star the one with the spikes, and a mace the one without.

Marzo - Ouch; if it offsets everything by one, that'd be nasty and messy. Thanks for the info, though ^_^

~ Wizardry Dragon

oop.. my mistake... sorry, I guess i'm not completely caught up on my medieval weaponry

of course, I proved that fact a while ago with how i didnt quite get the throwing axe right at first

Don't mind me, I'm just a medieval weapon geek xD

Now with graphics to test with, its time to find all the bugs in my forging script

~ Wizardry Dragon

just a bit of style mimicking on this one.. tried to make it resemble t blackrock walls and floors from Underworld 2, while still having it really be unique and from scratch

i gave it in two sizes cause its so dark it could be hard to see

Neat ^_^ That'll help in a few places for sure ^_~

Could you also have a sort of Blackrock 'brick' wall? The hall pictured above for Virtues Hold is supposed to be made of the stuff, so their enemies can't just rain firey magical death on them ^_~

And another screenshot, the last for today ^_~



Hopefully tomorrow I can have some pictures of the item forging in place.

Crysta - can you work with the metal items you made graphics for to make the 3-frame heating up process on the forge?

~ Wizardry Dragon

oo... cant believe i forgot that

of course I can.. it should be up on here by the morning

'Salright. Im still around for another few hours, just am trying to keep myself from posting too many screenshots and giving too much away xD

~ Wizardry Dragon.

Ouch; if it offsets everything by one, that'd be nasty and messy. Thanks for the info, though

I know that it may screw things up; what I don't know is if it *does* mess things up. Maybe Exult compensates for this when you save the map + the new chunks -- I don't know this, as I haven't tested it.

But in any case, if you add only to the *end* of the chunks file you will be safe...

Yeah ... well Id rather not find out ^_^;;

~ Wizardry Dragon

is this what you wanted?

hopefully these look good enough.. i didnt cut out the sword blank in that cause i was too lazy

When you insert one in the middle, Exult is >supposed< to update the whole map so things don't get messed up. Don't you trust us?:-)

(You could always make a backup of your patch and gamedat directories and then try it.)

Wow, this sounds like a huge project. Very impressive... If I weren't such a sucker at programming I'd really love to help (I know that's easy to say!).

Hopefully, you will be able to make this mod work with the keyring mod, the quests& interactions mod and the Cure Cantra-patch...

If you are doing the complete overhaul of U7 that this appears to be, maybe I could contribute some suggestions? I know I should not burden you with more suggestions, but, what the heck, you can always ignore them ...I posted these a while ago in the Sword&Shield forum when it looked like there was still a NWN mod being developed.

1)The two plot lines are too loosely connected for my taste, and if you proceed too far with either one, you get ahead of yourself in the other...I don't know if I made myself clear here, bur I give you one example: If you follow Elizabeth and Abraham all the way to Buccaneer's Den and enter the catacombs, you find the Fellowship death list, and Alagner's name is already crossed out even though not only is he still alive, but also does the Guardian not even have the Wisp/notebook information yet that necessitate Alagner's removal. Plus, you find the note about sailing to the Isle of the Avatar the next morning - but the Black Gate plot hasn't even progressed that far.

2) You should get more than just Chuckles's annoying game hint to go and see the gypsy about your future. Without this, you are completey clueless as to the TimeLord/Ether plot. Maybe when passing the gypsy wagon, Iolo or Shamino could drop a line suggesting to go and ask her about advice.

3) The flying carpet makes some quests unnecessary (joining the Fellowship, for example). This should probably be amended.

4) I feel the infiltration of the Felowship is not really essential in the original BG, even though I think this is a neat idea and should have more impact on the plot.

5) Some of the puzzles in the dungeons should maybe be a little more logical (of course, I particularly refer to the Isle of Fire/ Forge of virtue tests. In my opinion, the Test of Truth in particular can only be solved through pure luck (or using a walkthrough guide)- maybe giving more hints to the hidden passage would help. And what's the point of switching the helmets in the Test of Courage?).

Oh well. Just some ideas. Please don't take me to be ungrateful as to what you are doing, I really think you guys are amazing!

OK, in this image, there are two new chunks (I used "Duplicate", then edited them)-- the one where the 4 streets merge and the one immediately to its left. Everything seems to work just fine.

However, when I created a new shape with number 1025 (Frames 0-3), I could not walk on them, even though the settings were the same as the other Unusables. I found Unusable Shapes that did not have 32 Frames, and imported the graphics into new Frames, and they work just like any other bit of cobblestone. They do cover up the Chunk numbers, though.

Excuse all the purpleness (and the stoney-looking streetlights). Hope this helps your project some:



The "purple squares" and the "purple octagons" were made with these images:

Heh... yeah, those really are images. You *should* be able to just download the 4 .PNGs and import them into your game.

Oh... HEXagons.

This


is made with

and these two (day and night)





are made with this:

Hope that helps some.

Perhaps you could alter the colors a bit, so they don't seem so bright. That'd help the tiles look more realistic, blending better with the original graphics.

Sebastien -

1: The death list is something I plan to cure with usecode. It will only be spawned there if the Alanger sequence has passed. Same with the note - it will only spawn once you reach that plot point

2: I'm adding the traditional gypsy intro to the game. In it, you'll be prodded in that direction ^_~

3: The flying carpet is a somewhat powerful magic item, and this Im debating with whether it should even work before the Ether is repaired.

4: I plan to have the BG NPCs react a lot more toy our presence in the Fellowship, as well as your actions.

5: I didn't really feel it was that bad; I didn't require a walkthrough. Just persistence ^_~ They're supposed to be difficult though, because the reward is great.

Crysta - those sprites are perfect ^_^

SoulFeast - thanks for the info. To ensure that you can walk on them, make sure they are not a Y-Obstacle and have a Z coverage of 0.

Azulmagia - I present to thee more damned gargoyles!



~ Wizardry Dragon