Glamdring - Good evening everyone, thank you for coming to tonight's Ultima Online open house. This Stratics House of Commons chat is a direct connection between you the players and the designers and programmers of Ultima Online.
Glamdring - This chat will be in a moderated format. To ask a question of the developers, please /msg or /query the question takers that will be listed in the topic of the channel. These question takers will then present the questions to the Ultima Online development team present this evening. Please /msg or /query different question-takers at different times, in order to balance the load and speed the process up.
Glamdring - I will be our moderator tonight...I will post your question into the House of Commons chat channel and the Developers will answer those that they can. Please remember that your question may have been asked previously or may not be able to be answered in a public forum.
Glamdring - Please do not message or query myself or anyone from OSI, these questions will be ignored. We encourage you to read the logs of the previous Open Houses, which are available at http://uohoc.stratics.com.
Glamdring - Enjoy tonight's chat...the topic is "Ultima Online Third Dawn"
* Stonegate hugs Glamdring *

Glamdring - *Sub_Zero_Atl* My Q: Is there a target date for the public beta? If so, what is it?
Tajima - We hope to send out the beta CDs to duplication on the 10th, so they should be public in late January.

Glamdring - *ImaDufus_LSR_Pac* Will current alpha testers get a beta CD when the beta is ready? (I collect UO CDs, Scarry huuu? and I want a beta CD! I have over 17 UO cds of all diffrent kinds hehe)
Tajima - You'll be able to order a CD, but alpha testers will be patched up to the beta version automatically.

Glamdring - *Balthar_IV* The current Thrid Client doesn't have any shadows and the graphics seems rather unsophisticated. I am assuming that these are simply because of this being an Alpha at this time. Am i correct?
Jalek - There are tree shadows currently as well as terrain shading. We are currently working on the mobile shadows :) Also, the art isn't final for sure...

Glamdring - *Shaar-SH* Will players of Siege Perilous be able to fight in the new lands whether as factions members or as red killers?
Runesabre - Siege Perilous combined with the new lands ilshenar is undecided at this time.

Glamdring - *BA_Barrackas* Can you elaborate on what was meant when you said that the new lands will have a "modified version of the Trammel rules". Modified in what way?
Alai - I probably said too much earlier regarding that. Basically, the new lands follow the Trammel ruleset in regards to player interaction. The CURRENT PLAN is to allow reds there however. Note, that this is all subject to change.

Glamdring - *Watts* With the introduction of UO:3D I have read that content will be easily added due to the three dimensional client. Is there a plan in place for a monthly or bi-monthly "event" to take place?
Runesabre - At this moment the Dev Team is focused solely on making sure Third Dawn is an extremely polished update to UO. The systems we are building allow content creation but the use of those systems months from now is not our focus.

Glamdring - *Elim* Are new Craftables for crafters going to be included with Third Dawn since adding art will be alot easier? Crafters haven't really gotten any new craftables in quite a while.
Alai - "Yes"
Alai - How often we add content in the future is in the air, but there will be some stuff coming with UOTD at launch.

Destiny - *Niobe* Can you explain a bit what it takes to convert a 2d game into 3d?
Tajima - The process of converting from 2D to 3D was pretty extensive. It involved essentially a rewrite of all the graphics routines to support Direct3D. Even the sprites are now Direct3D surfaces.

Glamdring - *cs_* are there any plans to allow the UO:3D client to have 'custom skins' ala quake/halflife?
Runesabre - Not at this time no.

Glamdring - *Niobe* I'm really impressed with the small details added everywhere you walk, park benches, abandoned towns, many others. What made you give such a high priority to the exploration value of the new land
Alai - More than anything else, the new map rocks because of the level of talent that worked on it. The people who worked on the map were all terrific, most of us with extensive experience in creating interesting content.
Alai - I think it'd be cool if they gave their 2c as well tho... guys?
Oaks - We wanted to give the new lands a lot of "character", and thus we focused greatly on the points of interest. We had more time than usual to work on the details, because we used tools like the Algorythmically Generated Terrain, er, Generator, as well as a myriad of other ingenious programs developed from our lead map builder's, Alai, experience.
Ignatz - A definite priority was to try and make exploration of the map fun and interesting. Little details can go a long way toward adding depth and richness to the land.
Alai - Its a cool map, we're proud of it, and hope you enjoy it.
Oaks - We also used the talent from the IGM department to help us build the map. Their experience developing clever and detailed interest points certainly shined through.

Glamdring - *VO* Will there be any new weapons, if so what kind and will they work in the old lands ?
Tajima - There are three new weapons in Third Dawn, and you'll be able to use them in the "old" lands as well.
Runesabre - There will be new weapons. I don't want to give away all the surprises but there will be a new sword, fencing weapon and bow to name a few. We are still designing their attributes so I can't tell you how they compare with existing weapons just yet.

Glamdring - *Alaric* will the beta be patchable to the final ver.?
Runesabre - Yes the Beta will be patchable to the final version. The Alpha CD is as well for that matter.
Jalek - And thus they have flowers
* Runesabre wonders who knows where that originated from! *
Jalek - tOAD reference :)

Glamdring - *Balthar_IV* When will we get to apply to take part of the beta?
Tajima - Soon(TM) 02:34:26 *Prescient* Is Direct3D the only graphics system that Third Dawn will support, or will others be able to be chosen (OpenGL, 3dfx, etc..)?
Runesabre - The Third Dawn client only supports Direct3D.

Glamdring - *Balthar_IV* How many new types or creatures are planned to be added in Third Dawn?
Ignatz - There are over 10 new critters and many, many more fresh new looks for older monsters that up to now have shared or stolen their "body" from another creature
Ignatz - like lich lords

Glamdring - *Sub_Zero_Atl* Will the backpack-style inventory be in UO:3D? The pics I've seen have a grey inventory area, not a backpack...
Alai - No promises, I'm thinking about making which inventory you use be an option. Either the original layouts or the new. The downside, of course, is if you choose the original layout, it won't be resizable.

Glamdring - *RedPhoenix_GL* will any 3rd dawn monster appear in old lands?
Ignatz - Most will be able to. We will have placeholders for players who continue to use the renaissance client

Glamdring - *Balthar_IV* For those of us who have highspeed internet connections, will we be able to simply download the Beta?
Tajima - No, you'll only be able to receive the beta through via the CD.

Glamdring - *Alaric* will there be any new spells in third dawn?
Oaks - There won't be any new spells, but all the effects have been completely revamped with a 3D particle system.

Glamdring - *Pad[CF]* If you try to take a certain amount from any stack of items, there is only the slider to manipulte the amount to take from the stack. This is very annoying. Will the old option to manualy set the amount be reimplemented?
Alai - "Yes" Try holding shift and alt-shift when dragging a stack if you haven't already, BTW.

Glamdring - *Shaar-SH* Is there plans to actually giving the areas of the new lands each a theme and story or just making it one big monster bashing place?
Ignatz - Ilshenar is already themed, mostly. We tried to have each point of interest make sense thematically as much as possible
Ignatz - though, there will be plenty of monster bashing
Ignatz - some areas have very specific themes

Glamdring - *Dagda* Do we have a contact regarding the use of the systems months from now so that we may ask/suggest/participate in what these system will allow to be done?
Hanse - Sure thing...all announced systems on our web site can be discussed on our web boards... :)

Glamdring - *Sturm-West* Will the people with active accounts get a price break on Third Dawn like we did when Second Age came out?
Tajima - Yes, you can do this by ordering the beta and getting the patches up to the final version.

Glamdring - *Sub_Zero_Atl* In screenshots I've seen-text appears on the torso-not above heads-is this going to be changed?
Alai - Yeah, that's jus' inaccuracy in figuring out how tall the 3D models are. We'll be working to fix that.

Glamdring - *|BlackThorn|* with the increase in data due to 3d rendering, will folks with dial-up ISP have a problem with greater lag, and will the server be updated to handle the new higher volume of info ?.. thanks :)
Jalek - All 3d data, models, particle systems, etc is stored on the client, the server is sending no more information than it used to. You shouldn't notice any server to client increase in traffic

Glamdring - And in closing =)
Glamdring - *ImaDufus_LSR_Pac* Next question.... WHY DID YOU MAKE MONGBATS SCARRY?!?!
Glamdring - good 3d eh?
Hanse - ...as a young boy...I used to fear mongbats under my bed...
Jalek - Because mongbats have been chastised for to long
Runesabre - They contrast with the flowers
Jalek - haha
* Destiny Giggles *
* Jalek bows *
Tajima - Mongbats are, well, underappreciated in our society...
Raven - *g*
Jalek - and thus they have flowers
Stonegate - *roflmao*
Tajima - I mean, who among us don't know a closet mongbat?
Alai - I felt bad when I got killed by one, and thought I'd feel less crappy if they were more imposing.
Tajima - There's nothing wrong with being a mongbat...
Tajima - Who are we to judge?
Runesabre - Mongbat's were banned from MLB and are now getting revenge
Tajima - ; )
FierYiCe - Didn't anyone ever tell you that the size of a mongbat doesn't matter?

Glamdring - I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight
Glamdring - and thanks to the UO team, another great chat
Melantus - good night all and thanks
Mag - ...
Tajima - Thanks, everyone!
* Jalek disappears into the shadows *
Alai - Adios folks, thanks fer comin'
* Alai bows out. *
Glamdring - Please join #ultima-online for continuing unmoderated chat...the log will be posted on the Stratics website
Glamdring - The log will be posted shortly on the UO House of Commons site