Introducing
the Ultima Online™: Age of Shadows™ Custom House
Design Tool. With this tool you can truly build the house of your
dreams!
The landscape of Britannia™ has never seen changes like this!
With thousands of different design elements and the ability to build
up to a three story house with a customizable roof, the possibilities
are endless.
Customizing Your House
Creating a custom house is simple! First, you will need to find
a plot of land to call your own. Next, you will use the new House
Placement Tool (more on that coming soon) to lay the foundation
for your new Custom House. You will now have a "dirt plot" on
which you can build your new home away from home.
You may be asking, "What happens if I already own a house in the
great land of Britannia?" Well, good news! You will be able to
turn any currently owned house into a customizable foundation.
Castles, keeps and "L" shaped houses are the exceptions for now,
but keep checking back for updates on this and all other features.
Worried about storing your items? That's taken care of too —
all of the items in your house will be placed into a secure container
that will be accessible through the sign on your house.
To
begin building on your foundation, double-click on the house sign
and choose the Customize option. This will place you in Edit Mode,
where you can build anything from a small hut to a medium-sized
manor to a large tower, complete with plenty of yard space to
show off your green thumb. While in Edit Mode, other players will
not be able to see what you are currently building; all they will
see is a dirt plot or the last design that you committed to the
land (more on committing designs later). As you build, your character
will turn slightly transparent, as well as gain the ability to
walk through the walls, adding unlimited freedom and control while
designing your house!
We've made the Custom House Design Tool interface
very user-friendly. On the left side of the interface, you'll
find all the different design elements, such as walls, doors,
floors, stairs, teleporters, and enhancement house pieces.
Once
you select which element you would like to start building (let's
say you picked floors), the different design tiles available will
appear in the middle section of the interface. To place a floor
piece, simply left-click on the tile you like best, move your
cursor over the area on your plot where you want that floor tile,
and left-click again. It's that easy!
If you want to cover the entire area with the same floor tile,
or any other piece you have selected, you can click-and-drag with
your left mouse button over the area you wish to cover.
Correcting Mistakes
If you place a tile in the wrong spot accidentally, or if you
decide that you just don't like the color of a tile, there are
two different ways you can change it. The first option is to erase
the tile. To do this, click on the Erase button on the interface
tool (that's the button that looks like an eraser… pretty
easy, huh?), place your cursor over the tile you wish to get rid
of, and then left-click. Notice how the tile highlights red? That
indicates that you are in Erase Mode. To exit Erase Mode, press
the ESC key on your keyboard. The other option for replacing a
tile is to select the new tile that you want to use and place
your cursor over the tile you want to replace. This will highlight
the tile yellow, which indicates that there is already a tile
in that location. Be sure your cursor is over the correct tile
before you left-click! The new tile will automatically replace
the old tile.
Building
Upper Levels
Once you've finished the first floor of your house and you want
to start building the second floor, just click on the Second
Floor icon on the right hand side of the interface. Similarly,
to edit the third floor and the roof, just click on the appropriate
floor icon in the same area.
A green square the size of your foundation will appear above the
first floor, and your character will pop up to the second level
of the house. Now all you have to do is follow the same steps
that you did to build the first floor!
Support Rules
There are some extra structural support rules to be aware of when
building upper levels. If a tile you place highlights orange,
it is in an illegal position. You will not be able to save your
house if you have any tiles illegally placed! A tile will turn
orange if you try to make a floor or wall piece float, meaning
that there is nothing supporting it from below. Placing tiles
over the stair openings on upper levels is also considered illegal
and will turn tiles orange. So, just keep these support rules
in mind when building your house.
Getting Upstairs
Now that you have all the floors of your house built, you will
need to find a way to move from one floor to the next. Again,
you are presented with two options: stairs and teleporters. You
can go the traditional route and place a staircase that leads
from one floor to another, or you can enter the magical realm
and use teleporters! That's right — you can place a teleporter
tile on the bottom floor and a matching tile on the top floor,
allowing you to step on one to relocate instantly to the other,
skipping the second floor entirely! And the best part about teleporters
is that they only take up one tile each. Just think of all the
extra storage space!
Saving your design
You can play around with house designs at your leisure and come
back to it at any time. While you're working on it, your progress
will be saved on the server, even after you leave Edit Mode! Whenever
you enter Edit Mode again, your design will be just as you left
it, allowing you to pick up right where you left off. Once you've
committed a house design (see below), you can begin to work on
another design, coming back as many times as you need to get it
just right. Don't worry — it won't replace your current
house appearance until you commit it, and there's no time limit
for how long you can take!
Committing Your Design
Once you are sure you have the house that you want the world to
see, or if you just want to test out your new floor plan for usability,
you will need to commit your design. Committing your house will
take you and your house out of Edit Mode and place you at the
foot of your foundation steps. This will also make the house visible
to all passersby. To commit your house, click on the System
button and then click on the Commit button. Enjoy your
new design!
Everything Has a Price
House
customization does have its cost, but we think that as a proud
new homeowner, you'll agree it's worth it. First, you'll need
to purchase a dirt plot, which will range in price depending on
the size. Next, you will be charged a little bit of gold for each
tile you place, but it will not be deducted from your account
while you are in Edit Mode. In the lower right corner of the interface,
you will see a small pile of gold coins with a number next to
it. That number is the running total cost of your customized house.
The gold in the total box will be deducted from your account when
you commit your house for the world to see. If you do not have
enough gold, you will not be allowed to commit your design. If
this is the case, you will need to save your design and go out
and find enough gold to make your dream a reality.
You'll find that the Custom House Design Tool in Age of Shadows
will add a whole new dimension of personalization and fun to the
already deep world of Ultima. Be the first in your village to
create your own custom house and start the trend —
don't just settle for following it.
Stratics Central
