First official UOX3 House of Commons Chat

# First official UOX3 House of Commons Chat

#### January 16th, 2000

«Xuri»: Soon now..
«Rain-»: The time has come...
«Revana»: hold on.. =)
«Xuri»: *whistles*
«Abaddon»: please have just a little patience, we are almost there folks
«QBot»: yes our apologies
«Abaddon»: Sorry we took so long guys, but we will be starting now

«Abaddon»: The aims of this forum is for users to ask questions of us, and suggest potential future things... very similar to the uohoc forum
«Abaddon»: Now, Xuri will be the question taker, so if anyone has any questions, private message him and he will pass it on to us
«Abaddon»: So, let the games begin.... Send those questions to Xuri =)
«Revana»: and me..

«Xuri»: <Leper> What is the status on the bug fixing for UOX3? And what was the most difficult bug to fix?
«Abaddon»: At the moment, we are all endeavouring to do our best when it comes to bug fixing. It is a top priority that we see right now
«Abaddon»: Fur fixed what was probably the most difficult one, the memory leak/crashes and the char/item loss
«Abaddon»: at least, it would be the most difficult one for me =)

«EviLDeD»: <Zarnon> Is there a time from for completion of this debugging phase?
«EviLDeD»: We would like to have the last phase of debugging over with in the net 2 weeks.
«EviLDeD»: We are trying to get a full fledge connection, and server willing to host a very large, and constantly running server to work out ALL the bugs possible, will be a public shard as well, and everyone will be able to sign up. for the power test.
«EviLDeD»: We cant give any promises as to exactly when but we are doing out best.

«Revana»: <Morticus> Will there be any type of Quest generators?
«Abaddon»: It is not in our short term time frame at all
«Abaddon»: We have noted it as a future potentiality, but we make no promises on time frame
«Abaddon»: It would be neat though

«Abaddon»: <Zarnon> Are there any planes to add the Select/Set course for boats with the world map?
«Abaddon»: It is not actually considered a bug right at the moment, it's just a feature that we haven't implemented as yet
«Abaddon»: Our goal is to make boats fully functional and bug free, as best as possible
«Abaddon»: It involve some networking/packet type stuff, I'm not sure if we actually have the details on it, but I'd probably place it as medium term solution

«EviLDeD»: <UnknownHost> after the freeze is over, what's next on the agenda?
«EviLDeD»: I would like to say great things, but haven't we all heard that one before. next on the agenda, we are going to broaden the scope of Races, as well as do our best at developing a more real life set of rules regarding Experience, notoriety, alignment, Skill systems to give UOX3 a more real feel.
«EviLDeD»: There have been some really good things thought out regarding town politics, and other systems that *cough* might make it into the emulator ya never know. But you didn't hear that from me

«Abaddon»: <darksentry> Has the bug related to trading (when the person on the receiving end right clicks, they automatically take the item, regardless of other checks) been addressed? And also, is it possible (or will it be possible) to alter merchant selling prices on a global level? (making prices x a value)
«Abaddon»: Well, that's a new bug that I haven't heard of, and I guess it's something to investigate =)
«Abaddon»: And as for altering prices on a global level.... we haven't really gotten feedback as to really needing that at all, but yes, it's something we can certainly look at, I don't imagine it would necessarily be TOO difficult to implement...
«Abaddon»: No promises on a time frame though

«Abaddon»: <Morticus> What about triggers? Will there be more incorporated to aid NPC's in order to make quests? (or is it already possible)
«Abaddon»: Yes, we all have wonderful plans to flesh out the trigger system.
«Abaddon»: EvilDeD and Revana both have ideas for some triggers, and I have a few triggers lying around that I can merge in in the not too distant future, I imagine
«Abaddon»: It all depends on how well the debugging goes in the next 2 weeks
«EviLDeD»: Yea I have in here too. there have been lots of ideas regarding this topic to, none of which have seemed to offer the flexibility that we want, while at the same time giving nice low lag play on lower ended machines.

«EviLDeD»: <Ripper> what is the eta on multithread in UOX
«EviLDeD»: Well Ripper *cough* isn't it past your bed time, or shouldn't you be up here with the rest of us...
* Revana chuckles
* Rain- grins
«EviLDeD»: To answer that. I am looking to get my hands on the code right now, and add in the console threading system, and lay in the foundation for the login thread as I have promised. The time is near my friend.

«Abaddon»: <Ghosty> What are you doing about the client lock-ups that happen when there are many floor tiles / decorations in one area?
«Abaddon»: Well, we do what we can. But the biggest trouble with that is bandwidth limitations
«Abaddon»: You probably notice that the real UO doesn't actually use that many floor tiles in one place
«Abaddon»: The trouble is that each and every tile has to be sent to each client, and the client ends up getting flooded with information, and on slower modems, it just can't keep up
«Abaddon»: One potential solution is to use WorldForge to merge them in with the native map, it will certainly reduce the bandwidth required
«Abaddon»: but we do realize that not every shard has that option, so we will try and see what we can do

«EviLDeD»: <JustMichael> When are flying creatures and swimming creatures going to be added to UOX?
«EviLDeD»: Abaddon has the snippet for flying creatures, so I would most likely think that it will go in after the feature freeze is over, or possibly when boats are worked out completely. Other wise it will find it way in soon I would imagine, unless someone else can offer any more info on this
«Abaddon»: I have the snippets, but the only reason it wasn't put in weeks ago was because I got around to it around midnight, and I didn't think too clearly way back then =)

«Abaddon»: <Zarnon> The region spawn is a fabulous feature, but it will put npcs in invalid locations, like the black area in dungeons, will/can this be fixed?
«Abaddon»: Well, we always try and improve things where we can, of course
«Abaddon»: The biggest trouble with region spawners is the fact it's not necessarily particularly easy to determine what is, or is not, an invalid location
«Abaddon»: The trouble will be finding a sufficiently quick way of determining, because we certainly don't want to slow the server down =)

«EviLDeD»: <Someone> Hmm... how about local price shifts, depending on the stock that the shopkeeper already has (% against restock value)? -- I'm not sure whether that's been discussed / implemented... but as I can't actually think of another question... :)
«EviLDeD»: Good question, even if it was outta lack of anything else to ask. Once the freeze is over as I sort of answer a question earlier, there are going to be some more body blown into some of the existing system, as well as some new systems added that will provide the ability to offer complex commerce like you described. It has been discusses, it has not been implemented, and We will certainly take your interest in it as a positive vote that its
«Abaddon»: just a note to the people who have turned up, send any questions you might have to xuri or revana

«Revana»: <Badmoon> Are there any plans to implement mini-games such as chess to be useable by players (if it has not already been implemented)?
«Revana»: Well, currently, there are no plans for game boards since it is the feature freeze, but yes, I think it would be a great implementation. I can have a look after the feature freeze and see what I could do, but no promises.

«Abaddon»: <darksentry> Has the functionality of the remove button been added to bulletin boards or will it be added any time soon? Also, have there been any plans to get books working properly? (users can't open or read/write in books)
«Abaddon»: As for books, I have the snippets lying around for that, so it shouldn't be too difficult to implement. Once again, feature freeze is priority, and that's why it hasn't been done yet. But they are fully useable books
«Abaddon»: As for the bulletin board, it hasn't been touched in god knows how long. One thing we need to do is take an inventory of what is in, what isn't, and what would be nice. But it is something we can look at, though I have no idea how soon

«Abaddon»: <Rain-> Here's a question.. - What would you say is the best GM tool to use at the moment?
«Abaddon»: That's a tough one, for sure
«Abaddon»: I personally use my memory, and knowledge of the command list, though I know most people won't =)
«Abaddon»: CGMT is old, and has a lot of reduced functionality because of it
«Abaddon»: ShardAce is the most complete, and a lot of people use it
«Abaddon»: xGM hasn't been updated, though it is still alive
«Abaddon»: and TGMT is an upcoming tool, I believe, hough it is still too early to say

«Revana»: «JustMichael»: Will the account system be fixed before the feature freeze is over? Specifically how it currently messes up accounts after the one you delete.
«Revana»: Yes, fixing account is the second top priority for me. (The first is my mid term exams). Some things you can expect is a new format, but it will also work with the old one, and the new acct system will never mess up with characters.
«EviLDeD»: On that one JM, We think that the account stuff should be fixed, as that is not a feature but a bug. I am not informed on the corruption, but if you want to detail it for me I would be happy to have a look into it.
«Revana»: also, minor note
«Revana»: If you do experience acct problems, please send it to revana@uoxdev.com, that way, I can compile all the problems
«Revana»: so I can fix everything.

«Abaddon»: <^Treker^> Will it be possible to ride Dragons and other creatures in the future?
«Abaddon»: It would certainly be nice, wouldn't it? =)
«Abaddon»: Yes, it would be a nice feature for us to try, and that is one thing that we will be looking at in the future. It's something I wanted to work on earlier, but never got around to (mostly due to races).
«Abaddon»: But I have no idea how soon that might be

«Abaddon»: <Someone> A lot of the messages on the board are about the "nameless" items that are being produced by players... It seems that the "NAME" field of the items are blank. - as opposed to "#" - Any plans to fix?
«Abaddon»: In actual fact, I sent JM our current source only 30 minutes ago, and he said he would look at that for me. So in theory, it's a short (very) term solution
«Abaddon»: Possibly today, maybe tomorrow. Certainly within the week

«Xuri»: Any more questions, people? /msg me then.

«EviLDeD»: I have to make a comment in this lull of questions.
«EviLDeD»: There was a decision made by me last night that may effect a lot of people, but I think for the better. The current script team was fired!! I don't even know who all that meant, I know that effects Sephiroth, Rain, and a few others, but I made this choice based on the fact that the scripts were and are getting really messed up.
«Rain-»: Doesn't affect me..
«EviLDeD»: At this time Eagle is the head of the scripting team, and I think is the best choice right now. Rain, or anyone that thinks they should be on the team still please talk to Eagle. Lets work together to make this great EMU and script.. no hard feelings just a decisions to better the project on a whole
* Rain- reminds Evil he wasn't on the team

«Revana»: <Someone> How about the secure trade bug - that sets your weight to about 400 until you try to move? -- Stamina goes bye-bye and you're stuck until you move an item in your backpack?
«Revana»: I believe that is a new bug.. but I guess the team will have a look into it.
«Revana»: but.
«Revana»: more information would be better.
«EviLDeD»: Yea, on all bug reports, at all time please be as specific and forth coming with where you were, what you were doing carrying, etc. when submitting bugs. This helps us track them faster

«EviLDeD»: «Boris»: Will adding own pictures and sounds ever be implemented? possibly after freeze devs try to make a UOX client?
«EviLDeD»: When things come together with the devs this year we will start our journey into designing a uoxdev client to be used with the UO EMU's out there. Not sure how long it will take, but proves to be a very exciting venture to undertake. I would like to start dropping features, and gold, but I am going to have to just say be patient, and see what the future hold..
«EviLDeD»: As for the Secure trade bug I am not up to speed on that specifically at this time, maybe one of the other devs might be able to pop in here. Otherwise it has been noted and will be looked into

«Abaddon»: About the secure trade bug when right clicking, I just received a fix for it and it is in the source
* Xuri cheers
«Abaddon»: thank Dupois for that one on the board =)
* Rain- thanks him

«Revana»: will necro REALLY work?
«Revana»: that's from Boris
«Revana»: There is two groups working on necromancy currently..
«Eagle»: also let me make a small note here is you have any bug that are 100000000% sure that its a script bug e-mail it to me and i will be sure to get it fixed... ( eagle@uoxdev.com )
* Revana glares at Eagle
«Revana»: I dunno which one will go in, both are different in how they work. But I guess it will be the public's opinion
«Eagle»: =) i am working on the new scripted spells....other than that i believe rev is working on the hard code
«Eagle»: for ( necro )
«Revana»: =)

«Xuri»: <Boris> if there was a woodchuck in uox... how much wood would that woodchuck if it could chuck wood?
«Xuri»: a woodchuck would chuck no amount of wood cause a woodchuck can't chuck wood. Even if a woodchuck COULD chuck wood, and even if a woodchuck WOULD chuck wood, SHOULD a woodchuck chuck wood?
* Revana laughs
«Rain-»: they don't chuck wood i hear ;)
«EviLDeD»: I was just going to say that the amount of wood that the wood chuck could chuck wood was purely indicative as to how large his tail was, and the size of his keyboard. so in short if uox3 could chuck would it would start a fire :)
«Revana»: I really wouldn't care, just pull your sword and bash the wood chucker.

«Eagle»: <Someone> Scripters! Any plans for a "Scripting for Dummies" FAQ anytime soon? I'm bumbling my way through them, but I'd love a FAQ... :)
«Eagle»: yea along with the new scripts there should be ALOT more doc's and better written doc's
«Eagle»: but that might not be until v35 scripts
* Revana thinks Xuri should change his Xuri World Guide into "UOX For Dummies"

«Abaddon»: <darksentry> Is there any particular place that discovered bugs should be posted? Or just sort of stick to q/a on the stratics board?
«Abaddon»: With keystone being down, it's a problem
«Abaddon»: Xuri has been compiling a list recently and I will go bak to displaying it on an HTML page for general viewing
«Abaddon»: I'll also open up my email address soon which will receive form based stuff from that page
«Xuri»: So send me those bugs =) xuri@sensewave.com

«Abaddon»: <Badmoon> The source for the new build is being released tonight right?
«Abaddon»: Any changes we make to source always go straight into the CVS which is a publicly viewable area
«Abaddon»: we also keep devupdate.txt up to date every time we commit, so people know what happened
«Abaddon»: Xuri is working on an update.txt so people know what happened from the 69 series to the 70 series
«Eagle»: FYI : if you want to look at the cvs goto http://www.uoxdev.com/fur/
«punt»: A note to Linux Users out there. The compiler with RedHat 6.X will not compile UOX source properly. Update to gcc 2.95.2 (the shipping version).

* EviLDeD THANK YOU!!!! It looks like the very first Meeting of the UOX3 House of Commons has been an overwhelming success! Thank you for taking the time to join, and participate if you have. Only through this kind of exchange of information can we ever hope to take UOX3 into the millennium. Thanks again from all the DevTeam
«Xuri»: =)
«Abaddon»: A log of this chat will be available later on tonight