It's goodbye time.
Mils Michael
It is with a lot of sadness that I'm bringing news
from the Eriadain "team". I think you all guessed,
the project is dead.
It has been that way now for several months. I am saying
"team" because I am now the only one left, since the others
left the boat before me.
For months now, I kept insisting to some people that Eriadain
was still going on, although I hadn't touched the game for
days...weeks... and now months.
The reasons ? I started Eriadain when I was 17, right after
Ultima IX's release. I am now 21. At this time of life and in
4 years a lot happens. You grow up, change, evolve and
so do your interests. Even if you don't, 4 years it's a pretty
long time for an amateur game development.
As much as I continue to love Ultima as a series, as much
as I love the idea behind Eriadain and what we were trying
to accomplish, I have to face the fact that working on Eriadain
doesn't feel like fun anymore. It felt more like a burden I was
carrying because I didn't want to face the bad reactions of calling
the project dead. Because I also didn't want to leave 4 years of
work uncompleted. Because of personal pride too.
But sometimes you just have to admit defeat and failure. And this
is what Eriadain is right now. I am sad to leave my version of Britannia
behind, and sad for not being able to bring my vision of Bob White's
plot to life. It is kind of funny when you come to think of it.
I thought the reason OSI wasn't able to implement that was because
of time,financial and engine constraints, and that I, as an amateur,
wouldn't be a victim of these constraints. It turned out that the
Eriadain team faced the same troubles in some ways : 2 engine changes,
and some internal team problems, sometimes because my vision of
the game couldn't be understood. Eriadain was never meant to be "U7
in 3D" and I actually liked U9 very much, believe it or not !
But OSI couldn't do it, and neither could I.
I am even more sad for disappointing people who trusted in that
project. I am thinking especially of John Watson , former lead
designer of U9 who sent me a very moving and encouraging mail,
and Richard Garriot, which according to some echoes was aware of
the project... and Bob White of course. I am also thinking about
the people who were looking forward that game.
But you have to face it, as of today, there aren't many of them left...
People who got NWN installed and are also Ultima fans. The Ultima
remake community, as lively as it seems only appeals to a niche
of fans. U5 Lazarus is now reaching alpha releases and the reactions
to it are rather limited compared to what the project was a couple
of years ago. Even rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons didn't react much
to it. This helped me realize that there wasn't too much point spending
so much effort in Eriadain, as great as I hoped it would be. I was
not looking for fame and glory of course with such a project, but, heh,
you know... you don't make a game with the intention that no one will
play it... well, I don't. I also came to see Ultima as a closed book.
If you are looking for an U9 remake, you may still be interested
in the U9 Redemption mod for Morrowind founded by U9 former team
members. It is not based on the Bob White plot, but they may
still have the skills and talent to bring a good game. I am also
wishing good luck to any of the Ultima projects right now and hope
them better fortune than Eriadain's.
As for Eriadain's fate, it will be uploaded some place thanks to
someone who offered the necessary 1 GB. I will post the link soon
and thank Ken from Lost Sosaria for that. Check out his projects,
they might be worth more than a shot :) Eriadain will be uploaded
"as if" with its current hak paks, this is why it takes so much
place. I could of course fire it up again in the editor and
delete what I find to be the unneeded data, but I am afraid
of breaking something... that and of course the fact that
it would be a painful thing to do. You will notice that although
it is far from start, it is also far from finish. Dialogs are 99%
placeholders, the story is only half scripted, towns
are empty... and there are way too much
dungeon maps :) A lot of maps are done though..
and oh well, curious minds with time to lose or
interest can check it out. I am not even sure myself of what's in
there besides "A lot of work but definitely not enough".
I do not mind if someone wants to pick up Eriadain again, as
a totally new project, or as an evolution of what has been
currently done. If no one volunteers (which I would understand
very much :) ) , I "might" (and only might) pick up the project
again, but that won't be before years and when
I am finished with my current project.. and it would be a very
very very different game. Do not count on it.
It's funny, I'm feeling all shaky right now.
-Moa Dragon
Thaqui
watching (none too closely, to be honest) for a while now.
Unfortunately, it seems that most people (myself included) would rather
just play it when it comes out, and not bother playing too much
attention to the project while it is in development, especially with
little information going out.
I congratulate you on the effort you made so far, however, and I can
understand just what a colossal task that making a module that size is.
I would be very interested in taking a look at what you've made, though
to be honest I have far too much on my plate already to consider
developing it.
You raise an interesting point - how many Dragons have NWN? Around the
time that NWN was released, I participated in a thread on the Bioware
forums about the Ultima remakes, in which MMAzrael's U7 module was shown
- it reached over 10 pages, and there did seem to be quite a bit of
interest. I still think that for every person that will post that they
are showing interest, there will be 5 that do have an interest, but
won't post.
It is quite a pity to see that the prophecy of the Ultima remakes
turning into vapourware is proving true, but the community could only
try, hmmm?
thehawk
(All that stuff removed)
For what it is worth Moa Dragon, I appreciate the time and effort that
you guys put into Eriadain during its life. While I am sad that the
project will never see the light of completion, it is very important
that you only continue to work on such a project as long as your heart
is in it. When that is no longer the case, then it is time to stop and
walk away.
Also, in comment to your comments about the Lazarus and
U9:Reconstruction projects. They are still alive and doing well
(Lazarus seems to have more activity right now tho). They have both
gotten quite a bit more attention and discussion in one of the Legacy
channel- another gathering place for Ultima fans- tho there is little
interaction between even tho UDICers who are there, and those who are
here.
I wish you the best in your future pursuits. I hope you took the best
parts of Eriadain with you, and look forward to playing with the pieces
that you guys did get done with.
-thehawk
Fallen Angel Dragon, UDIC
Ashikaga
> Greetings.
>
> It is with a lot of sadness that I'm bringing news
> from the Eriadain "team". I think you all guessed,
> the project is dead.
> It's funny, I'm feeling all shaky right now.
(*hugs*)
Well..., perhaps this will keep you feel better: I've also let a project
(or two...) die before, so I can understand you very well. I've faced the
same dilemma as you are facing: engine constraint, writer's block, move on
to aspects of life that seems to be more fruitful (or sometimes...
practical) at the time.... It's always a hard decision to euthanize a
project, mostly because there are fans who are going to be disappointed
(and in one of my cases, the biggest fan was actually my co-designer and
it's soooo difficult to let him down...). But you know, happiness claimed,
happiness lost, perhaps that's just life. At least we are not financially
burdened to do the work, I don't know if that'll help you ease the guilt in
some way... :-/.
I did all the stuff you did.... I even tried to keep the Yahoo Group (we
use it to exchange ideas, uploading files and keep a record of stuffs)
alive longer than I should.... But now, you just have to try really really
hard to put a big period to the end of the project and enjoy your life
again.
Hope we'll see you more often here and I like the funny/weird websites
you've found for us over the years. :-) Live happily. (*hugs*) <==
slightly self-serving....
--
Ashikaga Dragon de-NT- OM+++ U7'S89 u- uC uF-- uG+++
-== UDIC ==- uLB----uA+ nC++ nH+ nP+nI nPT- nS+++ nT--
Cats, Smile, Love wM----wC+ wI--- wN- z++ a26
Lost Dragon
I do.
I also have a U4 mod (I used the existing U4 mod as a seed). It was was
meant to take advantage of the HOTU add-on. The current version does
not require a hakpack and I hope to keep it that way.
I have characters (but no dialog), the land mass of Britannia (scaled
down), and 90% of towns mapped and populated with placeables.
I lack dungeons, encounters, and lots of scripting.
--
Lost Dragon
Mils Michael
I canceled it with a lot of grief today, and
look what I found today...
Complete scripts of old original plot cutscenes !
http://www.michael-morlan.net/pages/writing/writing_ascension.htm
A couple of things to note : the "Farewell to Friends"
bit although never detailed in the leaked bits, was almost
written identically in the Eriadain, which is quite a surprise to me.
Also, I guessed right in thinking that the "Return to Britannia"
cutscene remained unchanged (it unveils some inconsistencies,
such as Blackthorne crying.). Finally, the leader of Courage Tribunal
was not named Corwin, but Corrigan... Verona, one of the major
characters was actually FEMALE (after 4/5 years working with
her as a male in mind, it came as a total shock !) , and the
Guardian had brilliant speech... just read the Avatar Imprisoned
cutscene...
I feel like a child again.
Obviously, I emailed the guy asking for more.
-Moa Dragon
Ashikaga
<snip>
> Well, get to work! :)
>
> crrraaaCCCKKKK!!
>
> *You see Poly put away an oddly familiar whip...*
(*opens his eyes wide*)
Refractor Dragon
news:PY7Sc.303$Vm6.116@okepread04...
> > You raise an interesting point - how many Dragons have NWN?
>
> I do.
*raises hand/paw/claw/[insert appendage]* Same here.
--
The Triad
User of 'Thingamajig!'
Refractor Dragon -=(UDIC)=-
J. P. Morris
> Greetings.
>
> It is with a lot of sadness that I'm bringing news
> from the Eriadain "team". I think you all guessed,
> the project is dead.
Ah, that's a shame. It happens to so many projects.. one of
the reasons I'm determined to see RotJ through to completion.
Sorry to hear that.
>
> -Moa Dragon
--
JP Morris - aka DOUG the Eagle (Dragon) -=UDIC=- j...@it-he.org
Fun things to do with the Ultima games http://www.it-he.org
Reign of the Just - An Ultima clone http://rotj.it-he.org
d+++ e+ N+ T++ Om U1234!56!7'!S'!8!9!KAW u++ uC+++ uF+++ uG---- uLB----
uA--- nC+ nR---- nH+++ nP++ nI nPT nS nT wM- wC- y a(YEAR - 1976)
Zac Bond
"Mils Michael" <mick...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cfa2o1$mr1$1...@news.tiscali.fr...
> Greetings.
>
> It is with a lot of sadness that I'm bringing news
> from the Eriadain "team". I think you all guessed,
> the project is dead.
Well, at least you manage to START your big projects, unlike a few of
us...:-P
-Ophidian
Mils Michael
> us...:-P
>
> -Ophidian
The worse thing about it is that I'm not tally excluding giving it back
another try in a few years and finish making myself an utter
fool :)
-Moa Dragon
Claus Kick
brought sad news...
Fool? who is a fool?
You are certainly not a fool for trying, you are certainly not a fool
for giving up and certainly not a fool for not giving up completely at
the same time.
Withstand the Fury
> meant to take advantage of the HOTU add-on. The current version does
> not require a hakpack and I hope to keep it that way.
Oooh! Another one! Do you happen to have a website with details
concerning this project? I'm about to launch a new Ultima News site,
and I'm in close collaboration with Dino the Dark Dragon's News Page
as well...I'm know for a fact we'd both be thrilled by news of a new
project!
Cheers,
:) WtFD
Withstand the Fury
Hee hee...this one is addressed to Lost Dragon, since he'd mentioned it!