Blog

Let’s break the silence!

First of all, apologies! We haven’t released some news for quite a bit. Not because there is nothing to tell. It’s kind of the opposite: We were busy as hell making progress for the shard! Our community grew to over 420 discord members! That makes us proud! Thank you to @everyone of you, being part of this! You guys rock! But let’s get back to the topic. Here is what happened in the meantime:

* We implemented “skinning” as a new skill. With that, you can carve corpses to acquire different kinds of leather and other lootables.

* The mob movement speeds were redone. * We are currently redoing the armor handling once again, because we were still not entirely happy with the way they worked.

* Damages: also those have been reworked. We changed damages from pure random picks between a min and a max value to dice rolls. That results in way more constant and predictable damage values.

* Lockpicking has been customized to a mini game – we already posted a video of it. See the media section.

* Remove Trap: will now need a defuse kit crafted by tinkers

* Cartography: the deciphering of maps is now being done in steps (%). It also requires a “deciphering tool” which is a craftable for tinkers.

* The handling for T-Maps has been redone and makes use of the new skill implementations.

* Dungeon Chests will work differently on UO SAGAS. They spawn hidden, have to be found with Detect Hidden, opened via the new lockpicking minigame and the new Remove Trap implementation.

* Our new loot generation system is done.

* Crafting: Recipes have been added for some advanced crafting items. These recipes will unlock items for the crafter that uses them. Examples are: Hair dyes, Luck jewelry or Lanterns and Torches.

* Item durability: everything but blessed items will break! That’s the general rule for tools, weapons, armors etc! Repairing will reduce the max durability a bit (depending on your skill and damage level of the item).

* Item Repairs: The item repair system is implemented. You can do mass repairs with your crafter or use the Armorers NPC repair services that are also capable of repairing all the items you are wearing or carrying.)

* We implemented countless new mobs for our dungeons and wildlands.

* The implementation of our “Character Improvements” has been started. This XP based system works in parallel to the skill system and allows to unlock certain abilities regarding resource gathering (i.e. carry more resources), PvM (i.e. damage increases or resistances).

* Our newbie island, Adena, was redone from scratch and looks so much better now. Expect screenshots and a video soon!

* The 4th dungeon is also finished! We will also post media material. Our worldbuilders show so much love for every detail!

* 2 new big POIs have been added to provide dungeon-like feelings that can be experienced with mounts.

* A new big island has been added as well. This one will also be dungeon-like. It will be covered with challenging spawn, T-Map spawns, Dungeon Chests and Champ spawns. With recall/gate restrictions just like in dungeons, but it will allow mounts (while our “real” dungeons will stay mounts-free)!

We make good progress on every aspect of the shard. Nevertheless, we have to inform you that we will not be able to reach launch status in autumn. After a discussion with all staff members we decided to not strip down our feature list nor release something that does not meet our standards. So we have to correct the release date to: it’s done, when it’s done. But we promise you to keep up our dedication and commitment to release an Ultima Online shard that plays in the league of the few top shards out there. With that said, we continue to work next on the Class System, our Taming Overhaul and our Housing Implementation (new house styles, a HouseKeeper NPC – you will love that one! And a big surprise we can not reveal at that point in time).