Basically I am ambitious of making a Middle Earth UO Free shard. I know there used to be one called Flame of Anor, a french server, but it appears to no longer be in operation. I am also curious as to whether or not it would be a copyright violation to make a Middle Earth shard. I guess it may depend if I avoid using any copyright names like having a player race of "halflings" instead of "Hobbits" and so forth.
The other question is whether or not it is technically possible to make Middle Earth in a UO Map. I've seen one map that uses a single Felucca map for the entire Middle Earth map, but detail is very low, and I wanted something ... bigger.
It is mostly for roleplaying purposes, but here are a few breakdowns of how I would rendered the world of Tolkien in UO Felucca sized maps.
The first map uses just the main 6 facet maps that come standard in UO.
The next two uses the UltimaLive system of having a very large number of Felucca sized maps.
This one uses 6 by 6 Felucca Maps to render all of Middle Earth for a total grid of 36 maps, plus higher detail felucca maps of the Shire, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendel, Highpass and the Goblin City, Moria, Lothlorien, Lonely Mountain, Isengard, Rohan, Angband (Carn Dum), and a large area around Minas Tirith to the Black Gate and the north western parts of Mordor for a total of 60 Felucca maps in total.
And this one is the most realistic for size and distance, but least practical for sheer hugeness:
In both of the last two giant multifaceted maps I have included the island of Numenor. Obviously this island would be very high level, with very good loot, and very high chance of death. And no bankers.
In my Ultima Online rendering of Middle Earth I would make some changes to magic. I won't list everything here, but for one thing, there would be no long distance travel shortcuts. No moongates. No recall, mark or gate spells. All maps would follow Felucca rules. No Trammel rules here at all, not even in the 6 map world.
Four races would be playable: Man, Elf, Dwarf, and ... Halfling. Modified starting skills and attribute maximums for each race, different affinities for each race, and so forth. Might even make Orcs and Trolls playable, for those players who enjoy roleplaying the evil guys for a change. Heck, I may even follow Lord of the Rings Online pattern and make Orcs, Trolls, Spiders, and Wargs playable, just for the fun of it.
Necormancy would be in, not something you'd want to cast, because every necro spell would make you grey. That's just one of the ideas I am bouncing around.
So... is this possible? Playable? Legal?
And finally, who would want to play here? Anyone?
And one more thing, which map would you consider most realistic for a UO free shard?
The other question is whether or not it is technically possible to make Middle Earth in a UO Map. I've seen one map that uses a single Felucca map for the entire Middle Earth map, but detail is very low, and I wanted something ... bigger.
It is mostly for roleplaying purposes, but here are a few breakdowns of how I would rendered the world of Tolkien in UO Felucca sized maps.
The first map uses just the main 6 facet maps that come standard in UO.
The next two uses the UltimaLive system of having a very large number of Felucca sized maps.
This one uses 6 by 6 Felucca Maps to render all of Middle Earth for a total grid of 36 maps, plus higher detail felucca maps of the Shire, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendel, Highpass and the Goblin City, Moria, Lothlorien, Lonely Mountain, Isengard, Rohan, Angband (Carn Dum), and a large area around Minas Tirith to the Black Gate and the north western parts of Mordor for a total of 60 Felucca maps in total.
And this one is the most realistic for size and distance, but least practical for sheer hugeness:
In both of the last two giant multifaceted maps I have included the island of Numenor. Obviously this island would be very high level, with very good loot, and very high chance of death. And no bankers.
In my Ultima Online rendering of Middle Earth I would make some changes to magic. I won't list everything here, but for one thing, there would be no long distance travel shortcuts. No moongates. No recall, mark or gate spells. All maps would follow Felucca rules. No Trammel rules here at all, not even in the 6 map world.
Four races would be playable: Man, Elf, Dwarf, and ... Halfling. Modified starting skills and attribute maximums for each race, different affinities for each race, and so forth. Might even make Orcs and Trolls playable, for those players who enjoy roleplaying the evil guys for a change. Heck, I may even follow Lord of the Rings Online pattern and make Orcs, Trolls, Spiders, and Wargs playable, just for the fun of it.
Necormancy would be in, not something you'd want to cast, because every necro spell would make you grey. That's just one of the ideas I am bouncing around.
So... is this possible? Playable? Legal?
And finally, who would want to play here? Anyone?
And one more thing, which map would you consider most realistic for a UO free shard?
- The six facet map?
- The 60 facet map?
- The 144+ facet map?