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 Forum index » Diversions » Console/Video Game Discussion
[PC/MAC] URU lives !!
Moderators: krystyn
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samsbase
Boot

Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 15
Location: brighton and hove england

 		[PC/MAC] URU lives !!
I know many ofy ou may have participated in URU in the beta and before and just to let you all know URU lives again and beta signup JUST started. At this point anyone who signs up will get a place in the closed beta before it goes open so sign up now. And dont forget to keep playing uru at Until URU see you in the cavern !

PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2006 6:11 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		I know this server project was first built back in 2004 -- even the copyright on the bottom of the page and the disclaimer say 2004 -- but I clicked on the News link
http://plasma.cyanworlds.com/news.xml
That is dated March 9th, 2006
Letter from Rand Miller wrote:
Hi everyone,

Quick update on the state of the Uru, and a request for your help.

The new D'mala shard is up and running - feels like the cavern has a smidgen of life again. At last count there were well over a thousand invitees and growing. It's been a pleasure to meet and chat with many of you in the cavern. Thanks so much for supporting Uru as we move forward.

We're still moving forward with (all together now) "cautious optimism". The third party that is providing the limited funding for Until Uru is still evaluating the possibility of renewing full blown Uru Live, and the process involves seeing how many people respond to the D'mala shard invitation.

With that in mind I'd like to ask for your help. Until Uru is an unpublicized, grass-roots effort, and as such, the only way that many of the thousands of people who purchased Uru will even know about Until Uru is through word-of-mouth. Now is the time to spread the word. If you know people who have Uru but haven't tried the online aspect of it, please send them an invitation and encourage them to get a taste of it through Until Uru. And if you know Myst fans who haven't tried Uru at all, encourage them to pick up a copy of Complete Chronicles (at Amazon for as little as $4USD) and join the gathering. We do want new people to realize that they're not playing Uru Live, but this would be a great time for them to get a glimpse of what Uru Live will look like.

Anybody who is currently in Until Uru can send invitations. Please take advantage of this free invitation system to get as many people as you can to join the gathering in the cavern. You're the ones who can bring life back to Uru, and the more people you bring back to Uru, the greater chance we can bring Uru back to life. Thanks for your help.

See you in D'ni,
Rand

Woohoo!

(Now to convince Leftbrained to let me use his computer this weekend...)

PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2006 10:21 am
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samsbase
Boot

Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 15
Location: brighton and hove england

 		oh theres two seperate things here

firstly my announcement was for URU LIVE this corporate project has just been announced by cyan in the advent of the success of thier official D'mala shard for the Until URU extension for URU: Ages beyond myst. more about that can be found at Until URU. This new announcement is very exiting for all of us and i'd hate you to miss out

just a clarification on the two recent happenings.


D'mala shard:

The D'mala shard is an official server for the Cyan program "Until URU" which uses the same programming as the old URU live before it was shut down. (anyone wanting to access this only needs an installed copy of the game and an invite from a member. I can give you one of these invites if you e-mail me at sam.byardwowSPLATntlworld.com) This will not be updated exept by small fan made updates made official by cyan (bug fixes only normally) the next of which is next week.

Uru live:

The official MMO version of URU slated to come out later this year which has just been announced by cyan. This will require a monthly subscription and the beta test will be testing this new project.
Uru live is the thing we are all so exited about as new content WILL be added to this however it wont be to Until uru on teh d'mala shard.

Story line:

Uru has always followed a distinct and complicated story line which is very similar to an ARG in many ways. The crossover between the www.drcsite.org forums and the D'mala shard at the moment is where it is sporadically happening. With the advent of the beta announcement we are expecting the story to kick start itself again both on the d'mala shard (minor) and the Beta shards (major) whilst the drcsite.org forums will be used in a major way throughout.


feel free to post any more questions you have and i will do my best to answer any. Otherwise head over to www.urulive.com http://plasma.cyanworlds.com www.cyanworlds.com www.guildofgreeters.com (most useful people you will ever meet) or www.drcsite.org .

Sorry for being so cryptic before and i hope to be more clear in future.

PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2006 10:58 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		thanks for the rest of the links; i was only going off the one link in your first post.

Can I get an invitation? (rather, send me a PM about it here, because it's probably going to need Leftbrained's email address.)

PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2006 2:03 pm
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		anticipation builds -- is Uru Live an ARG?
I know we debate the definition of "what is an ARG?" frequently, but read the following description and tell me how this is NOT an ARG:
Quote:
...a "new media" platform where the storyline starts to be something that's both soap-opera and a game...

...much of the story, a plotline that's being planned to last for years, will take place within the confines of the city. Some of the story hints and clues will be obvious to players but Cyan has hired players and actors to interact in the city and world as normal players while dropping story bombs on unsuspecting players. Part of the mystery of the world will be in the conversations with real people and how much to believe. These dribbles of story will touch a few players and spread virally for a while before the information is eventually released over broadcast to others that might have missed the content.

As players find more of the story, they'll be introduced to new linkbooks that lead to new worlds and puzzles.
(the full interview can be found here)

Does it matter that *some* of the content will be on an exclusive server, and accessible only by subscription? The characters and factions that form the backstory already have public websites; you can read the history now, and I imagine they will continue to be updated -- and freely accessible -- as the story progresses.

Is this ARG 2.0?

(I'm spending most of my weekend online in Until Uru -- the joys of finally having an upgraded computer! It is 3-year-old content that I've played thru several times before, but the experience is still a delight. The promise of continuing new content is a dream come true. I do believe I will be paying Gametap's subscription fee when Uru Live launches to the public.

PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:23 pm
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SpaceBass
The BADministrator


Joined: 20 Sep 2002
Posts: 2701
Location: pellucidar

 		Just from reading your quote above, I was skeptical that the audience would have any influence on the story, which is one of my metrics for determining ARGishness. But after reading the rest of article and specifically the following quote, I would have to agree that, if this ability of players to influence the story and history holds true, URU Live ought to be considered an ARG.
Quote:
And this [player] got so involved in this that at this point, he has a permanent spot in the game. His name is Brian, and in one of the journals that the actors wrote, Brian's name is there as helping, as that part of the history that will live forever. So there's an ability to become part of the story and actually shape it.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:45 pm
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Mountain Girl
Unfettered


Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 650

 		Oooh, oooh, oooh, I want an invitation.
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:24 pm
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gamersquest
Greenhorn

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 9

 		Mmmm same here MountainGirl - sounds great Very Happy

PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:10 am
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Jotacon
Decorated


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 285
Location: Amesbury, MA

 		I'm in the closed Beta for it right now. It's pretty awesome, but I can't say any more. I'm under an NDA. Sad Keep rocking on Until Uru, and sign up for the Beta. There's also an open beta coming up, I think.

Keep rocking out like the D'ni, guys Smile
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:19 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Jotacon wrote:
Keep rocking out like the D'ni, guys

I attended a "town hall" chat this weekend, with around 20 players, some from the old Prologue days. The interface has commands to make your avatar dance and jump, and at the end it felt like i was in the rave scene from the second Matrix movie (in a good way).

After SpaceBass pointed out how one player became part of the story, I went back and read more of the history from Prologue. There is a website where players from that time have been trying to recreate what it felt like to interact with in-game (they call it In-Cavern or IC versus OOC) characters. Their media page is where you can watch some reenactments, filmed inside the game world and taken directly from chat logs recorded at the time.

I'm replaying thru Uru now, and I came across a journal written by a character. (Journals are strewn throughout the game world -- it's a very rich backstory but requires a lot of reading.) The first time I played the game offline, I don't remember thinking much about the names and dates mentioned in the journal. Now I realize that the offline single-player game actually documents the names of players who were furthering the story during Beta, as the dates match.

I won't claim that every player will influence the story. It's probably a lot like ILoveBees, in that any player at the right place and time has the chance to have a conversation with an IG/IC character, but that the number of players who directly alter the course of events will be few. We can't all be a Weephun or a Tweek, or the story would be chaos.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:59 pm
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bagsbee
Unfettered


Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Posts: 417
Location: NYC

 		Flaming Nutter

This looks awesome!!

/me scrambles to find his copy of Uru

PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:23 pm
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krystynModerator
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		I have a suspicion that the old CD may not work - that the physics engine has been completely redone for this version.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:16 pm
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
krystyn wrote:
I have a suspicion that the old CD may not work - that the physics engine has been completely redone for this version.

Again, let's be clear about two entirely different interfaces being discussed here.

"Until Uru" is a patch to the original game CD, which then lets you connect to an official free shard. For those of us who were lucky to have been part of the original beta test of the original Uru Live (now called Prologue), this is a chance to revisit the Cavern. For others, this is your chance to experience what it was like in those early days.

"Uru Live" is a new release of the game, being developed for Gametap, and which is currently in closed beta testing. The open beta phase should be starting shortly. I believe the software for this will be a download from Gametap (for which you will need a subscription to access), but I am not participating and do not have all of the facts.

Therefore, yes, your old CD will work for Until Uru. You will, however, need to download a software patch, and this will nullify any progress you may have made in the game's expansion packs. (Path of the Shell was *awesome* but not part of Until Uru.) The revamped physics engine will be part of Uru Live only.

PostPosted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:06 pm
Last edited by catherwood on Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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krystynModerator
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		Ah, thanks for clearing that up, cath! I wish I had been able to participate in the original, but did not have a machine at the time that could handle it.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:26 pm
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		Uru Live steps into open beta
Uru Live will be moving into the open beta phase on Gametap sometime on Wednesday, Nov.29th.

Another 3 page interview/article with Rand Miller was published this week. Here are a few excerpts from page 2
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/747/747605p2.html

Quote:
...
The other challenge that we had is the aspect of storyline. The Myst series is a little different from other games. We take a story arc and write gameplay around that. Typically games take mechanics and attach story to the mechanics. We do things differently. We have story arcs that reach out for years from now. We've laid out grand story arcs and sub-story arcs that get down as small as a monthly start and finish. What we've also built into Uru is the ability for those things to change based on what individuals do and what groups do. They'll actually affect where the story goes and where it branches.
...
Your choices will control where our storyline goes.
...
The other part, storyline, has a lot to do with perceived control. There are two ways it works for us. Number one is just being smart designers. We do our job right and get the perception of a lot of paths of choice. The player thinks he could have done lots of things. In our mind, there are two and those two choices lead to one thing or the other in the future. We can collapse things from there. It's a little behind the curtain and I don't want to diminish the sense of control. I admit, some of it is smoke and mirrors. But then, a lot of it isn't.
...
As designers, we know that this agenda is going to be accomplished but we don't know who it is who's going to help him. The branches are very small from a design point of view but not from the players' point of view. They feel like they're the ones making this happen.
...
A bit of it is being smart on our part. That's not that hard. That's what game designers do all the time. You want people to feel that they have infinite options but in the end you have to collapse those to realistic options.
...
We can affect a lot of people by only affecting one or two. The levels of connection collapse very naturally by human nature. We use our storyline to touch as many people as we can but the players tell the story beyond that. Suddenly many people are affected with not a lot of effort on our part. Little events can affect a great number of people.
...

Some of that may be just a bit too meta to be fun for some of you, but I find it to be quite insightful. A great game can still be on rails, but that doesn't mean there is only one car or that there can't be multiple tracks.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:06 am
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