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Is Middle Earth custom mapping possible, or even legal?

Vorspire

Knight
The boy's use to shut down threads for talking about it.. client edits I mean.

Not so sure about that, things like custom artwork mods for the client even have their own sub-forum - custom maps fall under that category too.
Plus, the 'boys' also consisted of UO:Gamers staff on a power trip back then.

As long as the client isn't redistributed by an unauthorized vendor, IE; as anyone that isn't EA/Origin/Broadsword, then there's no issue.
 

Dian

Sorceror
I was only referring to modifying the client.exe itself by way of a hex editor, and redistributing it. It was always frowned on to discuss around here.
 

Dian

Sorceror
It's also possible to have 6 maps of 7168x4096. You'd have to edit the client (at which point, you're locked in with whatever version client you're using) and, I believe, the core. This is which direction I'm taking. I've been looking for the original post with the instructions to do it but I'm having no luck. I do have a few instructions I could include (with pictures) if you're interested.

I wasn't aware UltimaXNA was still viable.

That is what I was responding to.. And for what its worth, I dont care if someone does, not trying to stop anyone.. just saying its at the least, not supported around here. Thats all.
 

Vorspire

Knight
Anyway, back to the mapping portion of the topic.

Multiple maps could be used as stated earlier, but instead of using teleporters around the edges of the map, you could just define a region with 4 rect3D's that represent lines around the perimeter of the map and then handle the region's OnEnter, determine their direction of travel and offset their new location appropriately.
To avoid a player seeing the edge of the map (the 'void' / blackness), you can make the theoretical width of the region's lines say, 50 to 100 tiles and design the maps with an overlap of double that amount in mind.
Rather than thinking about it like they're adjacent cells in a grid or table, think of them as pieces of a blanket that are sewn together, where you must leave some room for the stitching (which tends to be hidden when complete) :p

In a sense, the way boats wrap-around the map when they meet the edge uses a similar concept - the map wrap bounds are defined a ways away from the physical map edges, to give the illusion of continuous sailing.
 

Tatti

Sorceror
I can't speak german, but here is a link that leads to the pages of a former Middle-Earth shard. http://uome.uodev.de/

My friend told me the story of it. Apparently they made a LOTR-themed shard, and after like an year of being online they got contacted by the law offices and sued about it because of the copyright trademark etc (apparently the heirs of Tolkien had something to do with this?). They decided to shut down the shard to avoid any damage and made all the scrips, .muls and other resources free to use - which you can find from their website.

On another hand there is a Czech server called Moria that has the same content. Apparently Lord of the Rings Online launched on the same year as the other shard got sued, and the shard was first hit in Google when you tried searching for such. 1+1. Just be careful with the naming and make sure to give credit to the original creator and all the other cautious stuff.
 

Sythen

Sorceror
I will support it... if you want larger maps contact me. I have notes on how to do all of that. However I will not be posting them on RunUO because of the copyright. All of the maps on the server(s) I am creating or have created all use trammel/felucca map sizes.
 

StaticZ

Sorceror
It's real to do - we for a long time use custom map with size - 12288 x 8192 (standart feluca map is 6144 x 4096 ). The main problem is that now client use file mapping and thats why it can easily reach limitation of 2GB ram for x86 process. So it will be problemating to use very huge maps.
 

scadeus

Traveler
The German Shard UO:Mittelerde had to shut down due to copyright problems.

e: sorry, someone was faster.
 

eriminator

Sorceror
i was staffmember at uo:me the german tolkien server.

and it is true, the shard shut down because trademark issue. depend on TOLKIEN trademark. we never had trouble with uo-copyright!!

by the way, we have used a pre-ml size map ;)
 

Arrrr

Wanderer
i was staffmember at uo:me the german tolkien server.

and it is true, the shard shut down because trademark issue. depend on TOLKIEN trademark. we never had trouble with uo-copyright!!

by the way, we have used a pre-ml size map ;)
Interesting, Is it applied even when used on non-profit servers? It blows my mind.
 

Sythen

Sorceror
I think the idea that Broadsword Entertainment or Electronic Arts is going to come after you for using Client versions 7.0.23.1 or earlier is a paranoid delusion; now if you use the newer clients which read the .uop formats then you're swimming in murky water and could get the tip of a very jagged broadsword up your rear end considering Ultima Online their bread and butter and they are a smaller gaming company.

That said do what you want. They couldn't care any less if you distribute the Ultima Online game data to anyone as long as they are old file versions. The client's mentioned above should be considered abandonware because that is exactly what they've turned into. So making a server using them will not harm Broadsword in the least making it perfectly okay for you to distribute them to your friends and family. Just don't sell them because you don't own the Ultima Online game or any game derived from the genre using the Ultima Online client as your game engine.

If in doubt read section 5 paragraph (d) of the Ultima Online Terms of Service Agreement.

This is, unarguably, one of the most drawn out topics on this forum and the silliest at that. If EA, OSI, Mythic, Broadsword really wants to virtually molest you in court THEY CAN... but its not worth their dollar to do so because most servers, if not all of them created using RunUO, Sphere, or any other emulation product do not have the potential to hurt their pocket books. For that to happen requires capital and marketing skills and most people on here don't have either of those.
 

pooka01

Sorceror
What do they expect when they show us a movie? Who is not imaginating?
That's like the inventors of the wheel would destroy every trains because it violates copyright...

Copyright is a piece of crap sometimes.
There's elves in ultima online, most people know where this comes from... lord of the rings. orcs? lord of the rings.
That's just a map, nobody's selling it so i don't see the problem.

what happened to The German Shard UO:Mittelerde, globally?
Did they try to sell the map or planned to?
 

eriminator

Sorceror
uo:mittelerde was COMPLETE free to play. the server/website was payed by staffmember.
there was nothing to buy ... but at the same time, lotr online was released ... and uo-mittelerde was the FIRST hit when you use in germany google with key lotr game / mittelerde and so on.
the websiteadress was named mittelerde - the trouble was cause using the names that tolkien used in his books at the website/server which are trademarks & the very close look to lotr-movies & release of lotr online.

after a letter from tolkien-enterprice law-office, uo:mittelerde shut down website and gameserver but they share FOR FREE all content

http://www.uome.uodev.de/index_eng.html
 

Sythen

Sorceror
they should just change the names and get creative... they could then have their own free server without issues.
 
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