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Reverse-engineering the 1998 Ultima Online demo server

draxinar.github.io

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Re: Reverse-engineering the 1998 Ultima Online demo server

#71

Quote: If anyone out there has the dynamic0.mul or dynamic0.bkp (server savegames) or regions.txt (spawn definitions) or resbank.mul (resources definitions) files from the original Ultima Online servers, circa 1997-2003, I’d be very grateful if you could send them to me. It seems very unlikely that the original dynamic0.mul or dynamic0.bkp files are truly lost, since they were surely backed up in multiple safe places…

Hey, I might have something useful for this. I found some old Ultima Online ISO archives and uploaded them here(not mine):

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Jw_QGpRJPGGnLUhYjVgk...

Not sure whether the exact files you’re looking for are included yet, but there are several server/client-era ISOs and backups in the archive. Might be worth digging through.

Let me know if you find anything interesting in there.

Re: Reverse-engineering the 1998 Ultima Online demo server

#72

Oh, UO...such good memories. I remember biking down to Cybersmith in Palo Alto to buy pre-paid time since I wasn't old enough to have a card. Used to rock it on the Napa Valley shard back in the day (I wasn't brave enough for Catskills). Nowadays I miss the UO experience but simply don't have time to sink into anything like it.

why not catskills? was it different? are you thinking of Siege Perilous that had a harder rule set?

At least when I played Catskills was seen as a more 'hardcore' shard - basically had to expect above-average hostility and PK behavior.

Re: Reverse-engineering the 1998 Ultima Online demo server

#74
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “rails” thing is very much the gist of it. Don’t get me wrong, I think classic WoW is probably one of the best games ever made, but after it came out, nobody wanted the raw experience of early online worlds anymore. Which is just life I guess.

Yep. After I stopped UO I took a break for a few years and picked up WoW after it had already settled in for a bit. I was surprised how on rails it was. Get a quest? Well my UI plugin tells me exactly what to go. Add *any* sort of mystery or nondeterminism? People whine. This is also where I first started seeing people focusing on "end game", although it may have existed in EQ. The actual sandbox-ish game was just a…

I never got to the endgame but I solo-levelled a couple of characters in a slow pace in classic wow (pre-tbc) and it was mind blowing. The world is so well crafted, the lore, the art design, it is just fantastic. I guess if we have to be on rails at least they did it well.

Re: Reverse-engineering the 1998 Ultima Online demo server

#75

Quote: If anyone out there has the dynamic0.mul or dynamic0.bkp (server savegames) or regions.txt (spawn definitions) or resbank.mul (resources definitions) files from the original Ultima Online servers, circa 1997-2003, I’d be very grateful if you could send them to me. It seems very unlikely that the original dynamic0.mul or dynamic0.bkp files are truly lost, since they were surely backed up in multiple safe places…

Hey, I might have something useful for this. I found some old Ultima Online ISO archives and uploaded them here(not mine): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Jw_QGpRJPGGnLUhYjVgk... Not sure whether the exact files you’re looking for are included yet, but there are several server/client-era ISOs and backups in the archive. Might be worth digging through. Let me know if you find anything interesting in there.

Just so you know, your comment was marked as "dead", I've vouched for it but the person you were responding to may not have seen it in time.
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