Thirteenth Official Chat
Wednesday, 29 November 2000
Abaddon | Welcome to yet another HoC chat for UOX3. Glad to see a number of people here, more than last time |
Abaddon | There's no specific topic today, so feel free to ask questions. Type /msg QuestionBot !addq Your question goes here |
Abaddon | There's no specific topic today, so feel free to ask questions. Type /msg QuestionBot !addq Your question goes here |
Abaddon | Or type /msg QuestionBot !commandq for a full list of commands |
Abaddon | So, ask away! |
Questions
- when oh when will the test versions end? =} (Dreoth, 1 votes)
- anything big going to be added to UOX before the Dec 31 release? (Dreoth, 1 votes)
- How long till we can expect the javascript system? (Binary, 1 votes)
- Are the current changes being made to the UOX code being ported over to the new upcoming LARGE build? Additionally, do the delays
in the current code cause delays in the release of the "Big" release? (Tom2, 1 votes)
- Is there an eta on the ability for ships to "sail around the world"? Meaning when a ship hits the north map it wraps to the south
immediately. (Paige, 1 votes)
- Will there be any moves to add some of the freelance coders, like knox, to the Devteam? (Tom2, 1 votes)
- Will we ever see items added through target cursor instead of directly to backpack again? *whistles* (Xuri, 1 votes)
- Will there be one tool that will " combine " all of abs exsisting tools and are there any updates or new tools comming out in the
next few weeks? (Weazel, 1 votes)
- Do you agree that adding magic items with the ability to add to any skill would greatly expand ths possibilities for interesting
magic items, and is there any plans for such implementation in the near future? (Tom2, 1 votes)
- With the Big december release will npcs stop pausing after each step and walk alot smoother with the new script engine? (Dreoth, 1 votes)
- will there be a new map building tool for UOX3 any time soon? (Dreoth, 1 votes)
- Any set date for the Test release 5? *snickers* (Tom2, 1 votes)
- With all the new posts about UO:3D's arrival, has there been any legitimate information regarding them making it harder for Emus
to function, or even incorporate the latest additions they are making? (Tom2, 1 votes)
- And new information on the logo contest? (Paige, 1 votes)
- How about an entirely new look for uox's website? (Paige, 1 votes)
- Will there ever bee a windows's style interface for the emulator instead of a black dos style screen? (Paige, 1 votes)
- when you say that you step south and it wipes all static items...is that only on boats or when you cross over by land too? if it's
by land, that can seriously affect some custom servers. (Binary, 1 votes)
- When will the forum link on uox3.com be fixed? It opens a entirely new window right now and errors out. (Paige, 1 votes)
- I am confused about bugs and the best way for them to be acknowledged. Specifically, do you want us to use the message boards as a
dynamic medium for bug exposure, or do you want us to use the Bug Database? (Tom2, 1 votes)
- Hey Ab, am I being a pest? :) (Paige, 1 votes)
- I suppose this was just answered but what is the absolute total complete main uox3 site currently? I need to update my website to
reflect this. (Paige, 1 votes)
- Over the past few years we have seen uox evolve to new versions of itself constantly bettering what it is to better provide for
the users. Will uox3 ever evolve into a uox4 or just continue with the current name? (Paige, 1 votes)
- If you set tiles near the bottom of the map and have it to where when someone steps on them they teleport to the top of the
map...wouldn't that work as a temp. fix for the map problem? (Binary, 1 votes)
- Would it be possible to include in the teleport.scp an effectiveness on ships? It currently does characters and horses, etc. But
if you got it to work with ships then you could ignore the border problems and let admin declare the world boundaries. (Paige, 1 votes)
- Regarding the new script engine: What language will scripts be in, javascript I'm assuming, and will there be a tool out to edit
them without directly writing new scripts, akin to Decius' editor, for those who don't wish to learn how to script manually? (Zane, 1 votes)
- How far from the edge can you be before uox "barfs"? 10 tiles? have to cross it? (Binary, 1 votes)
- how many of the .scp arent being used? If there is any will they be removed from the source soon so we can clean up the files a
bit :} (Dreoth, 1 votes)
- What are the next problems\bugs you are working to hopefully get fixed within the next couple of builds? (Cobol_Junky, 1 votes)
- One of the things I am looking forward to is a better account system, will you be making any new releases on that before the big
build or are you saving it for the big build (Cobol_Junky, 1 votes)
when oh when will the test versions end? =} (Dreoth, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Well, they'll end when they end. A lot of it has been laziness on my part, and an indicator to the people using them that they are test versions, and may have unforeseen issues. When walking stabilizes, you'll probably see a stable 20e, or we'll skip a stable 20e and hit straight on to 20f or 21 :> |
How long till we can expect the javascript system? (Binary, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Well, let's lookie and see. It's nearly December now, so basically, it's most likely going to be available Dec 31. However, depending on timing,
and how much we can get done, we may be able to squeeze it in by Christmas. Perhaps earlier, though that seems a touch unlikely |
Abaddon | I know you're all itching for it, I've been working on the docs and fleshing things out. You will know it's capabilities, format, and other
things weeks in advance |
Xuri | * drools |
Are the current changes being made to the UOX code being ported over to the new upcoming LARGE build? Additionally, do the delays
in the current code cause delays in the release of the "Big" release? (Tom2, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Almost everything done in the current source base is being ported over into the upcoming large build, yes. Not everything, but almost
everything. Things have changed, things have been reorganized, and things aren't the same. So where appropriate, we're bringing across all the bug fixes
and improvements that we can. In fact, one of the major things we're bringing over is the walking code that Knox and Thyme have been working on |
Abaddon | Saves us from having to do everything :> |
Abaddon | Delays in the current code base, or the time I have to spend working on the current code base, do delay the big release. I can't be working on
everything at once, I'm sure you can understand. That's one of the reasons we try and stick rigorously to the 2 week build release, so that I can work on
the release, then spend another 1.5 weeks working on the large build, and so on |
Xuri | (And I only remember to update uoxdev.com so many times per week :) |
Is there an eta on the ability for ships to "sail around the world"? Meaning when a ship hits the north map it wraps to the south
immediately. (Paige, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Well, north/south is different from east/west, I guess. From interesting experiments of my own, you can actually go further south than the
"valid" map locations. The client itself wraps the map0.mul stuff around, but not statics |
Abaddon | So if you do want to see a staticless world, you could pop on down south, and see it that way. Fascinating, to say the least :> |
Abaddon | I personally don't want to implement an east/west wrapping. Mostly due to the fact I have a river running from T2A to Britannia myself :> |
Abaddon | As for north/south.... haven't looked into it, but I'll have a looksie sometime. Doubt it's that hard to do |
Xuri | Not to mention countless other custom maps which would not benefit from it. |
Will there be any moves to add some of the freelance coders, like knox, to the Devteam? (Tom2, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Well, that's not really up to me to decide. It's up to the freelancer involved, and EviL himself. Now, I know that EviL had plans for a sort of
selection criteria, an exam of sorts that people would sit, so that we can ensure we have knowledgeable people joining the team |
Abaddon | But it's not up to me |
Abaddon | And of course, that implies that Knox and so on want to be part of the core team, and not a freelancer :> |
Abaddon | Anyone is still free to submit snippets to me |
Will there be one tool that will " combine " all of abs exsisting tools and are there any updates or new tools comming out in the
next few weeks? (Weazel, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Unless someone puts them all together on my behalf, it's not likely. For a few reasons |
Abaddon | 1) They don't all relate to each other that much |
Abaddon | 2) You have a slim set of tools as it stands |
Abaddon | 3) Combining them all could cause some code and size bloating, and increase start up times. You also may only want one feature |
Abaddon | 4) It's easier to maintain seperate tools than a combination of them |
Abaddon | As for new tools coming out in the next few weeks, I imagine there will be to support the new definition file system that is in the works, to
translate from old to new |
Abaddon | I don't have the time to update the current tools at the moment, so it's not likely that an update will come out for them |
Xuri | Hm I think Orcberg is working on a tool (nearly finished I think) that lets you compile a text list of npcs and items in your world...:> |
Xuri | And I'm almost done with version 0.20 of WorldBuilder hehe . |
Do you agree that adding magic items with the ability to add to any skill would greatly expand ths possibilities for interesting
magic items, and is there any plans for such implementation in the near future? (Tom2, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Yes, I agree that it would help to expand things. I don't know if it should be added straight into the core, mostly because that would involve
storing up to 50 new numbers, per item, for most items that don't make a difference. So that's an extra (at minimum) 50 bytes, per item, for every item in
the world. Do the math, and you'll see that RAM increases quickly add up |
Abaddon | HOWEVER, under the newer scripting engine, it should be possible to do this without requiring that extra memory bloat |
With all the new posts about UO:3D's arrival, has there been any legitimate information regarding them making it harder for Emus
to function, or even incorporate the latest additions they are making? (Tom2, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Not really. I have hard rumours abounding that the land will be larger. But you must understand, OSI need to retain compatability between each
of the 2 clients, and they need to be interoperable |
Abaddon | So that means they will share a common encryption (which we ignore), and a common packet structure. Granted, UO:3D may have more, I understand
that, but I wouldn't have thought it would be TOO difficult to cope with |
Abaddon | UO:3D may have a larger map (breaking all those wonderful toys like Worldforge *snickers*) but that should be easy to deal with. They'll have
new npcs, sure, but that should be easy to deal with. They need to be able to support the current map as it stands |
Abaddon | They may have a new format for it, they may not. Even if they do, it shouldn't be too hard to correlate (it would be the same, after all) |
Abaddon | So all in all, I don't think it'll be too hard to support |
Regarding the new script engine: What language will scripts be in, javascript I'm assuming, and will there be a tool out to edit
them without directly writing new scripts, akin to Decius' editor, for those who don't wish to learn how to script manually? (Zane, 1 votes) | Abaddon | The new script engine is most definitely in JavaScript. At launch, there will be no tool to edit these. There will be extensive and available
documentation, describing all functions, variables, events, and other related data, along with examples of events and functioon usage, so that users will
have a full manual that they can easily understand |
Abaddon | Anyone with a knowledge of JS (or C, I have no JS knowledge, but I've picked it up through similar syntax) shouldn't have much trouble at all |
Abaddon | Understand that this is a replacement for triggers, and a much more powerful and flexible one than that. You're asking for a tool that would be
like plugging in a few things into a tool, and getting a whole C++ program out. Not likely to happen. |
Abaddon | If you want control, if you want it some way, you'll have to write it yourself, but we do provide the docs and other things to help you, and
we'll be on hand to help out as well |
What are the next problems\bugs you are working to hopefully get fixed within the next couple of builds? (Cobol_Junky, 1 votes) | Abaddon | Well, normally I figure this out about 3 or 4 days before a release :> Depending on the bugs in the DB, and the state of each. However, walking
is obviously going to be something that needs close attention |
Abaddon | And to Thyme and Knox, we're all grateful for the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that you put in |
Xuri | and coffee cups bought. |
Abaddon | They certainly understand it a lot better than I, I won't be foolish and believe otherwise :> |
Abaddon | But I guess my answer will be: Whatever I deem most critical about 4 days before release |
Abaddon | or what's achieveable for the release |