Announcing: New Project Britannia

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Ultima Codex, Jul 23, 2015.

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  1. Ultima Codex

    Ultima Codex Avatar

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    I wrote once (back in 2011) that Neverwinter Nights 2 would serve well as the go-to engine for Ultima remakes and other fan projects. At the time, in 2011, it made sense to make that assertion. Four years later, while there’s nothing technically invalid about what I wrote, Neverwinter Nights 2 has largely faded as a viable option for…well…just about anyone with an interest in storytelling via game mods, and not just because the Neverwinter Vault seems to have been taken permanently offline (despite IGN’s assertions to the contrary). Other, newer, and better options have come along; Divinity: Original Sin ships with a powerful editing toolkit, and Sword Coast Legends may also ship with one, as well. And then there’s also a wee little game called Skyrim, which supports truly massive open worlds, and also supports a lot of very Ultima-like features (including object interactivity).

    There really is no existing game (and associated toolkit) which is perfectly — or even ideally — suited to making Ultima remake mod, or an Ultima fan project...or, for that matter, a Shroud of the Avatar fan project. No matter what ‘form’ of Ultima-like experience one favours, development based upon an existing game’s engine is basically all about compromising and cheating your way around the chosen engine’s limitations…to say nothing of the fact that what is being used is still the engine of another game, which in turn requires project teams to ask fans to buy a game they might not be interested in otherwise just to play a fan project.

    Is there another way? Yes. Since the days of Lazarus, one game engine in particular has become the go-to engine for both professional and amateur projects alike: Unity. Back in 2011, Unity was basically an engine for making mobile games. Since that time, and especially since about 2013, it has really come to the fore as a powerful, versatile engine for making desktop PC games, as well, and in fact has been used by a number of game development companies, both independent and publisher-owned, to create a variety of titles (including RPGs).

    I've collected a bunch of ideas about New Project Britannia into a podcast episode, but you can find the same information at the newly-launched New Project Britannia website. Essentially, we want to create a central framework that multiple fan projects can each contribute tech and artwork to, allowing it grow over the months and years until it becomes the long-desired Ultima Game Maker that many have wished for, which in turn could enable Ultima and Shroud of the Avatar fans to build their own games and projects using pre-made systems and assets. Eliminating as much of the grunt work of asset and system development (and world-building) as possible leaves these teams with more time to craft meaningful stories.

    And we hope that you'll join us.

    NPB is something we hope to grow in time, in partnership with The Digital Lycaeum (which is already a bit of an asset repository, albeit one which could certainly stand to grow and expand) and the Ultima and Shroud of the Avatar fandoms.

    If you’re interested, get in touch. We’ll make it work from there.
     
  2. Ultima Codex

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    Update: I figured that announcing New Project Britannia would make for a bit of a big deal, but I have to admit that I was utterly unprepared for just how much of a big deal it would be. In the week that has elapsed between then and now, I’ve been in a near-constant race to stay on top of all of the feedback I’ve been getting about the project. As such, I decided to devote a second podcast episode toNew Project Britannia, in order to discuss and publicize some of the project’s goals and needs.

    Additionally, there’s now a dedicated New Project Britannia forum, which can be found here. Hop in and contribute; there are already a couple of design threads that have been started.

    I’ll also be spinning up an NPB-specific IRC channel later today; the project’s producers will be making (hopefully) regular use thereof, and I’d encourage anyone else who wants to contribute to the project to do so as well (once it’s live; I’ll put up news about that).

    And that's probably the last time I'll bump this thread, unless people want to add discussion here.
     
  3. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    I am very excited about this project and I wish it success.
     
  4. Umbrae

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    Is there a way to sign in and login on the forums? I don't see a login or register, and I was hoping my time may allow me to help contribute even if it is just the discussion.

    BTW this project sounds fantastic!
     
  5. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    You have to go to the root ultimacodex.com page and register and/or sign in there.
     
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  6. Sir Korvash

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    Sounds like an great project, and really excited for it! I've been working on a pet project for school, based on Ultima. I've been working in UE4, but could easily transition stuff over to Unity
     
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  7. Ultima Codex

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    I see you found the login form, but this would be a good thing for me to add to the NPB subdomain proper.
     
  8. Ultima Codex

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    We'd welcome you aboard, to be sure.
     
  9. Umbrae

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    Yes, I got to the login and registered, but it would still not see me as logged in on the sub-site. However, I see you fixed it so thank you very much! :)
     
  10. Vendetta Beretta

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    Cool project! It would be nice to be able to sign up for a newsletter. Even if there was just a small email once per month with a few bullets and a picture of what is going on. I would love to keep up with this project and maybe later join in too.
     
  11. Ultima Codex

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    It's an interesting idea. I'll pitch it to the rest of the production team, and...er...I guess start looking into how to set that sort of thing up.
     
  12. enderandrew

    enderandrew Legend of the Hearth

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    Mailchimp is a possible solution.
     
  13. Ultima Codex

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    It is. Their free plan offers 12,000 emails sent to up to 6,000 people, which would be more than enough. And there's a Wordpress plugin for it as well.
     
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