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jollyrob

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Jul 30, 2008
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I have what i feel to be a legitimate question about a port, or not so much a port but a custom client.

Does anyone know if there is an ARM compatible UO emulator floating around out there somewhere, I did a fair bit of googling and couldn't find anything, but figured I'd ask.

If there were or some way to make a similar clone of UO, this would make a great MMO for the pandora, as it's simple to play in quick bursts, not to heavy on graphics, the map doesn't have to be rediculously huge, and also being primarily mouse controlled, would be great to play using a stylus. Plus we'd have a keyboard for the endless chatting during mining and such :p

I know this is a shot in the dark being certainly a closed source game, but there have been emulators for it already (eg. sphere) and plenty of free private servers (i used to GM on a very very small one) so hoping if there isn't already an ARM client, maybe someone could attempt writing one.

And if that's not a possibility, I wouldn't imagine that it would be too impossible for someone talented to write a maybe somewhat more basic clone of it (that of course could improve with time)

ps. don't ask me, i'm not a programmer at all, just an idea guy
 
Ports require source code.

A custom client is a LOT of work. Would be much easier to make a mmo from scratch, and then the programmer can do it the way they want to do and improve things.

And an ARM compatible UO emulator? Err. no. no. really no. I just don't know how to respond to this one. :blink:
 
I'm aware it'd be a lot of work. Don't assume i'm expecting this to exist over night. Just coming up with some ideas and presenting them to the community is all. :)

Personally something like UO as in play style, even simple graphical style is something i think would be well accepted on this system...it's a great MMO style for a handheld and far less rediculous and out of line than people trying to ask for Second Life or something along those lines.

A small UO-ish style birds eye view MMO with a map size of maybe 500 players max (considering there aren't millions and millions of potential pandora owners) is something i think could be feasibly done by a dedicated person or group of people, there are talented people on this forum, they'll make nothing but emulators if you don't bring the ideas into the limelight
 
Fantastic, just the type of good (useful and positive) news i was looking for :)
 
Jollyrob said:
there are talented people on this forum, they'll make nothing but emulators if you don't bring the ideas into the limelight
Stop coding those emulators, everyone! This guy's got an IDEA!
 
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Gruso said:
Jollyrob said:
there are talented people on this forum, they'll make nothing but emulators if you don't bring the ideas into the limelight
Stop coding those emulators, everyone! This guy's got an IDEA!
Really it's a fun joke, but lately I'm getting tired of every single post that is not incredibly well explained, reasoned and well documented, is always laughed at. I understand that this is a very complex community with lots a really talented people, and others like me that only look for a nice console and can't give much more than support and money since don't know much of programming, are laughing stock every time a doubt arises, but really the community attitude is far from friendly in most cases. There are so many quotes around from members laughing at people, it's really annoying, and keeps people from saying anything in fear of being laughed at.

If Pandora, a community based machine, is going to be succesful, maybe the community should be a little more friendly with everyone, but it's just my two cents, now keep doing funny jokes, it was a nice one by the way.
 
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I do hear you. :) There are a lot of newbies bringing fresh enthusiasm to the boards, and a lot of oldies who are either snappy or in hiding. I'm not an oldie or a newbie, but I like to think I bring the worst of both worlds to the table.

The climate has changed throughout the year, and I think it'll settle into a groove when everyone has their Pandora and starts getting to know each other.

I do think Jollyrob's comment was a little strange. No malice was intended, but your observation of the trend in general is a fair one.
 
oblivioner said:
..,lately I'm getting tired of every single post that is not incredibly well explained, reasoned and well documented, is always laughed at. I understand that this is a very complex community...
Don't forget it works two ways - there have been an awful lot of pointless posts and posts replicating what has been said before, often many times. That creates a 'mood' - not saying this or any other thread, just in general. That leads on to...
Gruso said:
...a lot of oldies who are either snappy or in hiding

Gruso said:
The climate has changed throughout the year, and I think it'll settle into a groove when everyone has their Pandora and starts getting to know each other...
Generally this is a friendly, helpful and fun forum. It doesn't need to be too serious - this is about what started life as a games console. Both forums have had a lot of new members which is great. I suspect the aims of many of those new members lean slightly more towards the UMPC part than the emulator part, so we will all need to learn to get along and enjoy our stay, or not.
Other than that, Gruso your behavior is shocking and heartless. Please report to headmaster PoisonedV's office for further etiquette training. ;)
 
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There are MMOs we could use already, for a replacement for old school 2D UO (the onlyway to play UO) Mana World is ok although its not close to the epicness of UO .... you can sit down in game tho ... so thats a bonus
 
surt said:
There do appear to be OS clients (eg. http://www.iris2.de/index.php/Main_Page) so porting should be a possibility.

Before you can port the client, you need to port the libraries. According to that link, we would need both Ogre3D and Lugre. There has been chatter about people wanting a port of Ogre3D, but nobody has stepped up and volunteered to do it yet. The biggest stumbling block looks to be the conversion from OpenGL 2.0 to OpenGL ES 2.0. Not insurmountable, but not exactly trivial either.
 
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It was 3am here when i typed all that up, so i was a little tired and irritable, so ignore any smartassedness in those posts.

And on the topic title i meant compatible clients, not emulators, i don't know why i mentioned the emulators, you only need Sphere or RunUO on the server which could just run on someones webserver somewhere in their basement

That Iris thing is cool btw, how they took a completely 2d game and somehow, made it completely 3d (at least thats what i understand after searching it on youtube). I almost just wanna play UO again to check it out on my desktop.
 
Gruso said:
Stop coding those emulators, everyone! This guy's got an IDEA!
While it's not the most far fetched of ideas. The problem is the Pandora isn't even OUT yet. People need to at least wait till it's out before flooding the boards with ideas like they do now.
 
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Zarneth said:
Gruso said:
Stop coding those emulators, everyone! This guy's got an IDEA!
While it's not the most far fetched of ideas. The problem is the Pandora isn't even OUT yet. People need to at least wait till it's out before flooding the boards with ideas like they do now.
off topic

Wouldn't it be a good idea, to set up a site without general post access, where some members with a Chip-like overview collect ideas, and foremost port wishes with the corresponding link to the source code and slots that can be filled with coders that take the project?
Something similar exists for the emus. I'm sure, there will be massive requests regarding ports, and the questions will be posted over and over again, when the Pandora is delivered. It is a pain to read through the big threads, and there are already starting to form duplicates.
That would be like a request wiki, that people can read first, before asking again.
If you think, that would be a good idea, the best time to start is now, because there isn't much traffic, yet. Just look at the member-count rising each day, many questions to come ;)
 
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mali said:
Wouldn't it be a good idea, to set up a site without general post access, where some members with a Chip-like overview collect ideas, and foremost port wishes with the corresponding link to the source code and slots that can be filled with coders that take the project?
Wouldn't it be a good idea for me to set up a website where I can post projects that I want done around my house, so that people can come over and do them for free whenever they have time? I can have me-like access to collect the ideas along with instructions on where to find all the necessary parts at Home Depot. First project: Put a new roof on my garage. :D

OK, so maybe that's not exactly the same thing, but it's not far off. Asking somebody to port an existing game is no small favor. Asking somebody to write an MMO from scratch is tantamount to asking for a kidney. You're talking about hundreds, possibly thousands of hours of work - all because you think it would be "cool". It would be cool, but that's just not the sort of thing you just ask for.

There is nothing wrong with making a suggestion or floating an idea. However a lot of these suggestions come off more like expectations. Programmers aren't just sitting around waiting to be issued a task. They're not employees. They're enthusiasts and hobbyists, just like the rest of us. They're writing code in their free time for fun. Most people aren't looking for suggestions on how to have fun - they already have a pretty good idea how they'd like to go about it. :)

The Pandora platform is basically a blank slate. It's going to ship in about six weeks with only a few emulators and basic apps ready to go. Anything else is fair game. Those with the ability and desire to write and port programs to the Pandora probably already know what they want to work on when theirs shows up. Most of the devs here have already mentioned a handful of projects they're interested in.

When somebody is ready to start taking requests, I'm sure they'll let us know. ;)
 
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Chip said:
mali said:
Wouldn't it be a good idea, to set up a site without general post access, where some members with a Chip-like overview collect ideas, and foremost port wishes with the corresponding link to the source code and slots that can be filled with coders that take the project?
Wouldn't it be a good idea for me to set up a website where I can post projects that I want done around my house, so that people can come over and do them for free whenever they have time? I can have me-like access to collect the ideas along with instructions on where to find all the necessary parts at Home Depot. First project: Put a new roof on my garage. :D

OK, so maybe that's not exactly the same thing, but it's not far off. Asking somebody to port an existing game is no small favor. Asking somebody to write an MMO from scratch is tantamount to asking for a kidney. You're talking about hundreds, possibly thousands of hours of work - all because you think it would be "cool". It would be cool, but that's just not the sort of thing you just ask for.

There is nothing wrong with making a suggestion or floating an idea. However a lot of these suggestions come off more like expectations. Programmers aren't just sitting around waiting to be issued a task. They're not employees. They're enthusiasts and hobbyists, just like the rest of us. They're writing code in their free time for fun. Most people aren't looking for suggestions on how to have fun - they already have a pretty good idea how they'd like to go about it. :)

The Pandora platform is basically a blank slate. It's going to ship in about six weeks with only a few emulators and basic apps ready to go. Anything else is fair game. Those with the ability and desire to write and port programs to the Pandora probably already know what they want to work on when theirs shows up. Most of the devs here have already mentioned a handful of projects they're interested in.

When somebody is ready to start taking requests, I'm sure they'll let us know. ;)


Hey Chip :)
You've got me wrong here ;)

My intention, wasn't to annoy devs. My intention was just to think of a way to organize info, in order to minimize useless double questions regarding ports. Do you really think, anyone wants to browse through a 16(yet) pages long thread to find out, if somebody already asked for a port? I see the next RTFM wave going through the forums, when the Pandora is finally out.

Second, I'm sure, that if there is a form of an organized database that points to available source code, that one or two devs will go there to look around. And maybe there is a link to a game, that they didn't even know, and would like to port. And think about newcomers, searching for a project to prove them selves. It alway makes sense to organize info.

When I make as suggestion I don't do it out of the blue, usually I have thought about it.
Do you remember, when people were nervous because there were so few updates from Craig, ED and the others? There were updates, but nobody realized it and so you made your database :)

I'm sure there would be volunteers to do the task. It would be a great contribution to the community and would make the waiting easier for them. Sadly I've no spare time to do it.

And last. I've just recently signed in, but I've been here for quite a while ;)

My suggestion might be stupid, we might never find out ;)
 
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mali said:
Hey Chip smile.gif
You've got me wrong here
No, I understand what you're getting at. I understand you have nothing but good intentions with this suggestion. I realize that I'm probably coming off more negative than I intend, but I swear my posts sound less dickish in my head. :D

mali said:
Do you really think, anyone wants to browse through a 16(yet) pages long thread to find out, if somebody already asked for a port? I see the next RTFM wave going through the forums, when the Pandora is finally out.
I know that thread is not particularly easy to navigate, but it's not meant to be. It's meant to be a dumping ground for all the "Hey, what about this game?" threads. There were dozens of them, so I merged them all into one place, where they can be easily skipped over. Anybody who is really at a loss for project ideas is welcome to mine that thread for suggestions, though as I've said, that's not really the problem.
QUOTE
I'm sure there would be volunteers to do the task. It would be a great contribution to the community and would make the waiting easier for them. Sadly I've no spare time to do it.
Most (if not all) of the programmers here already have more ideas than time to work on them - a situation to which you seem to be able to relate ;) . As for helping users, just look at the Quake 3 thread. If somebody can't be bothered to type "Quake 3" into a search box here, what chance is there that they'd do it on a 3rd party site? I'm not trying to be overly negative, that's just the way it goes. Anybody who does have a surplus of time and energy is more than welcome to set something like that up. I'm just saying, don't expect it to cut down on the port requests ;)
 
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Chip said:
mali said:
Hey Chip smile.gif
You've got me wrong here
No, I understand what you're getting at. I understand you have nothing but good intentions with this suggestion. I realize that I'm probably coming off more negative than I intend, but I swear my posts sound less dickish in my head. :D

mali said:
Do you really think, anyone wants to browse through a 16(yet) pages long thread to find out, if somebody already asked for a port? I see the next RTFM wave going through the forums, when the Pandora is finally out.
I know that thread is not particularly easy to navigate, but it's not meant to be. It's meant to be a dumping ground for all the "Hey, what about this game?" threads. There were dozens of them, so I merged them all into one place, where they can be easily skipped over. Anybody who is really at a loss for project ideas is welcome to mine that thread for suggestions, though as I've said, that's not really the problem.
QUOTE
I'm sure there would be volunteers to do the task. It would be a great contribution to the community and would make the waiting easier for them. Sadly I've no spare time to do it.
Most (if not all) of the programmers here already have more ideas than time to work on them - a situation to which you seem to be able to relate ;) . As for helping users, just look at the Quake 3 thread. If somebody can't be bothered to type "Quake 3" into a search box here, what chance is there that they'd do it on a 3rd party site? I'm not trying to be overly negative, that's just the way it goes. Anybody who does have a surplus of time and energy is more than welcome to set something like that up. I'm just saying, don't expect it to cut down on the port requests ;)


Ok, our opinions differ here. As long as you take the time to merge, no problem ;) The Quake3 thread isn't particularly a good example for your standpoint. The scale of laziness varies and maybe this guy had asked anyway. Maybe not, if he had a reference to go through on his own. And using the search in this case, delivers the insight, that more than one is intending to port quake3. That is a nother proof of how good it is to organize info. Those coders surely don't know of each other. Then we have double ports in the end :D

Well, the issue is closed for me. I don't have the credit that you have(very rightly) in this forum and won't go on discussing something, that won't prevail at the end. I personally don't care, I overread useless questions or just answer them :)
 
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