July 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 05 Aug 2010 07:29 am
###**Job Postings**###
No job openings at this time.
###**Update**###
Team members not listed are working on the same assignments as June 2010. Some of these take a good long while--personal + professional lives being what they are.
Direhaggis: worked on tutorials and implementation issues for chapter 4. Re-worked several NPC's. I also started back up on the Endgame. Finished 3 endings and an entire optional path the player can take. The best that I can describe it as? The Deus Ex choice at the end that results in the Voltaire quote. I think that's obscure enough. The 'main' ending is evolving and has 10 hours of solid writing left to it. Of course, implementing and revising everything that came before it will be the real challenge. The first half a decade was a cake-walk. Oh wicked wondrous bitch, writing.
Zini: finished several levels of Destard. Also polished the cooking tutorial. This skill has been elusive in its difficulty. Still, we've taken all of the fan suggestions and incorporated them all into a reasonably interesting system.
Spyder: he in part worked on several models related to the main narrative. It's funny: throughout the process, I figured X, Y, or Z would be a decently common item. It appears not. But so far no one has tried to set me on fire, and that makes all the difference. He also worked on some armor model with Lord Alamar, made a coffin, a dead body, and other assorted odds and ends.
Lord Alamar: focused on implementing and texturing armor models. He's going to focus on extending his modeling skills via classes and software to expand his horizons. I've been delighted by his contributions thus far and eagerly await what he'll produce.
The Brown Dragon: nearly done with a first draft of Jhelom. As I've mentioned in previous months, this city has been unusually elusive to populate. After the 4th writer not so suddenly disappeared, I spent a good afternoon writing an outline; figured I'd do it myself. TBD has stuck around and been good enough to not make me torture you all with more of my NPC's. God knows there'll be enough of that already!
LSD: nearly finished with Buccaneer's Den. He and I have briefly talked about some of the festivities he has in store for you all. In two words: just wow. There is a degree of beauty and debauchery undreamt by mere mortals, and somehow he has made it manifest in the funniest ways possible. It really is quality work.
We also have a new writer, I believe. I emphasize faith in that sentence because I've been juggling 6 projects at work and not paying explicit, mindful attention. What can be written, except that I'll keep writing?
"And there's a concrete sky Falling from the trees again and you know now why It's not coming round too soon It's harder than a heartbreak too."
Newest World Map Posted by: Corv on 21 Jul 2010 10:58 pm
Just thought I let you all see our newest world map (screenshot by Spyder). It's directly out of the game, no photoshop or anything like that involved (we know better than BP):
edit:
also updated the media page with this new screenshot and more importantly with our first fan art submission, a version of "Stones" created by Dustin Naegel. You find it on the bottom of the media page in the Fanart secion.
June 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 11 Jul 2010 06:26 am
###**Job Postings**###
Writer (1): one of the dungeon writers hasn't been heard from in about 3 months. That is my new criterion for handing over their assignment to someone else. I want someone to write 3-5 NPC's for 2-3 dungeons, one of which has a very specific overall quest.
###**Update**###
Team members not listed are working on the same assignments as May 2010 --
Lord Alamar: Back in the day, I requested a minotaur for one of the shrine quests. Alamar was able to find a pretty good one that can be of use. He also finished 75% of current equipment model integration (which sounds about as much fun as mainlining printer ink but what do I know). He was interrupted when he became the latest inductee into the Hard Drive Crash Society. But he's still moving forward with a trusty backup.
Hyena of Doom: Finished all of Skara Brae, which was the first area I ever wrote. I want to take up a few sentences and express how damned impressed I am with Hyena's productivity. We had, on occasion, wondered how long interior worldbuilding would take. He's made sizable areas manageable, and for that he has our respect and thanks. He'll be moving on to tackle the behemoth, Britain, after finishing some stuff in Paws.
Zini: Worked on levels 1-3 of Destard, as well as stuff related to the oversized denizens of it. Also did monster scripts and implementation of tutorials and other things.
Direhaggis: I finished more tutorials, and edited some of said tutorials to finish. I've had more difficulty writing these than the first 5 1/2 years of doing ~300,000 words of dialogue and narration for the main narrative. Speaking of which, I'm going through the main game and patching up holes or cutting out mildly interesting loose threads.
Spyder: Finished different ore vein models for each dungeon interior set. He also created some sounds for scripted and general purposes, as animal model work. Firmly sat a texture problem in the corner, shook a large finger at it, and was able to make it behave.
Corv : More behind-the-scenes and coordination stuff.
If I missed something, y'all know the drill. I am exhausted and only care for three things right now: finishing Season 4 of 'Lost', drinking water, and working on Destard-ly things.
A man with good judgment does not make the goat his gardener.
May 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 09 Jun 2010 08:40 am
###**Job Postings**###
Technically nothing at this time, but I may be looking for an additional dungeon writer.
###**Update**###
Direhaggis: I finished a few more tutorials, wrote several NPC's, and inched toward finishing the main plot. Not my usual output from months past, but I'm getting there.
Zini: Coordinated with various departments about implementation efforts and improving quest testing. For instance, he has exercised unusual patience when trying to get something just right and I, well, take literary liberties that don't quite work. Anyway. Hand of applause, Zini.
Aurora: I'd like to imagine working on Covetous.
Sage: Finished the Lyceum and the outskirts of Britain several months ago. Not sure if I ever wrote that, so there it is again or for the first time.
Spyder: Worked on wildlife creatures and prospector type models, such as a handy pickaxe to mine ore. We have been getting all up into ore recently. I'll be doing a tutorial about mining soon. That's right: you can harvest ore, do your own blacksmithing, and produce an entire suit of armor if you're so inclined. Or leather. Cloth too.
Corv: Helping with administrative stuff and server whatnot.
Hyena of Doom: Did all of the exterior worldbuilding for houses for the 3rd iteration of Skara Brae. Has also been working on a pet location of mine related to the area. The first one was around 2004 circa the original Redemption team and was just sub-standard. The second one didn't quite work. So this one should take.
Lord Alamar: Retexturing various things and searching around for spare parts for to build our army of awesome.
Jacar: Making progress on re-writing and re-interior worldbuilding for the cold secret location. We have several of those. Again, as I mentioned a few months back, he lost all of his work.
LSD: Still working on Buccaneer's Den. If his work on Vesper is any indication, we are in store for debauchery of epic proportions.
The Brown Dragon: 3/4's done with Jhelom. I'm especially happy because I've thrown at least 4 separate authors at that city for the last several years. All of them failed. The last guy created an entire macroeconomic web related to tropical natural resources and outlines for 70 NPCs, but then suddenly vanished. I write all of this not because I'm complaining. It is just to give you a sense of how relieved and satisfied I am with TBD's work.
Jomtung: He finished Empath Abbey, which was another area that'd been left dangling for awhile. Beyond my doing some narrative for the abbot, a few people tried but then disappeared.
Gaius Atrius: Interior worldbuilding. Terra Incognita.
So despite some slowdown, we are back.
So in summary, with the exception of Buc's Den, my Excel file tells me that every major, moderate, and minor area on the surface world is now more or less populated. Granted I or someone else should generate 5-7 more Moonglow NPC's, and a handful of NPC's for a few more dungeons, but that's it.
(and let me say: LSD's work is always worth the wait. I mean that not as an encouraging lead writer or even team member; I mean that as a zealously hateful anti-christ of lukewarm fantasy or RPG fiction).
April 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 12 May 2010 07:13 am
###**Job Postings**###
Technically nothing at this time, but I may be looking for an additional dungeon writer.
###**Update**###
Direhaggis: I have been remiss. Obvious. I finally got my Ph.D. I'm depositing my 255 page, 66,000 word dissertation on Thursday. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I did next to nothing project-related this month, or the one before that. The good news is that I published more in the last four months than the last four years. And I guess you could say I got a promotion.
Zini: Finished the cooking implementation, as well as eating and starving scripts. Going hungry in Britannia was never so exciting (and chock full of solid code)! Also worked on more bug-fixing and party-related implementation.
Lord Alamar: Continues to find useful monster models from existing mods and retexture them.
LSD: Has transformed Buccaneer's Den into a retched hive of scum and villainy. I salute him, I throw the goat, I salute by throwing said goat.
Spyder: Made an entire set of interior worldbuilding models for Britain. All of the pieces are high quality and appropriate for the various districts represented in the game.
Hyena of Doom: Still on Skara Brae interiors. Soon to be or is currently working on Britain. Which will blow this writer's mind, gentle reader, because every other place is tiny compared to it.
The Brown Dragon: Working on a build of Jhelom. This is the remaining city of virtue to be written. Actually one of the last areas that needs writing at all according to my Tobin's Spirit Guide.
Jomtung and Aurora: Continuing on their areas, although I need to 'touch base' with them.
Gaius Atrius: Working on interiors. Somewhere. Terra Incognita and all that.
Jacar: Rebuilding his interior worldbuilding empire.
I would like to note for the record that I didn't intend to be away from the project as long as I was. For mostly professional but some personal reasons, I just didn't have the energy at the end of the day to do project work. As suggested above, work life will get slightly easier in the next few weeks. I'll continue to work with Zini on some re-writes.
I appreciate the understanding of the fans. These last two months have kicked my ass. Thank you for not adding an extra boot to the mix.
March 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 07 Apr 2010 03:46 am
###**Job Postings**###
No positions are open at this time.
###**Update**###
Direhaggis: I'm afraid I've continued to not do much, gentle reader. I did the usual summary writing and some dialogue work for Zini, but not a lot to be honest. I've never burdened you all with grad school details, so suffice it to say I've been bogged down far more than usual.
Zini: Implemented more main quest and side quest stuff, as well as party dynamics. Worked on cooking script work.
LSD: Currently waiting for me to find the time to write a summary for Buc's Den so he can flesh the place out.
Spyder: made new blood textures and some corrects to our wisp model. Currently is collaborating with Niko from Team Archon about gargoyles and the Guardian. The high-res Guardian model they have is really quite outstanding.
Hyena: Currently working on interiors for Skara Brae.
The Brown Dragon: Still working on Jhelom.
Jacar: Had a wardrobe malfunction of the 0's and 1's kind and had to start from scratch basically. He's working on one of those new locations that I can't tell you about. Hint: it's cold, very dangerous, and high up.
Lord Alamar: Going through existing mods to find useful models and textures that we can use or otherwise get high resolution renders of.
Various writers: Still all doing their thing for dungeons and such. Time will tell if I need to put out another recruitment drive.
February 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 06 Mar 2010 06:45 am
###**Job Postings**###
No positions are open at this time.
###**Update**###
Zini: worked on the alchemy skill some more, did general cleaning and debugging, and started to work on making cooking manageable.
LSD: finished writing Vesper. 32 new NPC's besides the several I had written.
Spyder: worked on various grate, pipe, and other sorts of models for one of the interior worldbuilders. He also worked on creating more unique monsters specific to the Ultima lore. Finally, he's collaborating with our newest 2D artist, Lord Alamar, on several other creatures.
Lord Alamar: has so far produced some impressive work. He has focused on re-texturing existing models both in our inventory and around the web. So far he's produced a fantastic sea creature of death and mayhem that I am enamored of, a rotting undead thing, and monkeys.
Direhaggis: I mostly coordinated with interior worldbuilders on various locations, cleaned up and finished some dialogue for areas whose writers have long since vanished, and more or less just did managerial work. That being said, a recent event I won't discuss will give me a great deal more time to work on the project.
Hyena of Doom: finished the secret location and is now almost done with Paws (!).
Jacar: working on another secret location still.
Gaius Atrius: finished work on--wait for it--yet another secret location. Will next be working on Yew or Skara Brae, can't remember which right now.
Alpha3d: working on Hythloth, possibly with lots of nasty surprises in store.
The Brown Dragon: working on Jhelom. He'll be the 4th or 5th writer to give it a shot, but I have faith this'll stick.
Jomtung: working on Empath Abbey.
Aurora: working on Covetous.
John Franklin: currently between assignments, but hopefully something will develop.
If I missed someone, please reply to the thread.
"Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service."
January 2010 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 01 Feb 2010 08:15 am
###**Job Postings**###
2D artist: We may need someone who has experience working with NIF Skope and graphic editing software to convert 3-dimensional models to 2-dimensional images. Please inquire by PMing either Zini or myself.
###**Update**###
We have cast off the egg nog strobe light of some saturated hole in the wall. The air is frozen. We briskly plow along the arctic tundra, carried by well-oiled beasts of fortune and bacon. We have never been stronger than now. Momentum is on our side--as long as the bacon holds out.
LSD: Finished several more NPC's for Vesper, which should be quite the bustling desert town and general surrounding area after we finish. After that, he'll work on Buccaneer's Den. You would need to know LSD to realize how fitting and wondrous a spectacle that will be.
Aurora: Still working on Covetous.
Zini: Worked more on the alchemy skill and implementing it. Has also done or researched some other assorted scripting functions.
Alpha3d: Still working on Hythloth.
Gaius Atrius: One of the new interior worldbuilders. He's already half-way finished with one site occupied by bandits, or rebels, or whatever else the vagabonds are called nowadays. He, this one, is channeling the great bacon spirit.
The Brown Dragon: Another new-comer to the team for the writing department. Brown is a veteran of UV: Lazarus. I'm delighted to have someone from a successful Ultima project helping us. He'll be working on populating Jhelom.
Hyena of Doom: About to finish working on the undisclosed dungeon-like location. It's one of the areas I wrote, so I'm eager to see what it looks like.
Direhaggis: Well I finally finished all of the tutorials for the beginning of the game. Still need to do fletching and smithing at some point. I made incremental progress on one of the routes of the Endgame. I also wrote some summaries for new writers and worldbuilders about various areas that have been done or need filling in. My immediate next task will be writing up descriptions of the various potions that can be made in game. (My productivity is going to be middling for another month due to nailing down a post-Ph.D. job via interviews and sniper fire besides my other work duties).
Corv: Currently away.
Jacar: Focusing on writing up more NPCs and quests before doing the interiors.
John Franklin: After some time away for personal matters, JF has come back and is again working to finish interiors for Paws. There are other "shovel ready" areas for him and others, so I foresee things going along at a brisk pace.
Spyder: He made a great grate for a grating place, finished up the potion models (different sizes and textures), and made a fully animated, gorgeously repulsive new creature. I kept tripping over my fingers in praise of the thing. He'll next work on winged and wingless gargoyles.
As usual: if I missed something, un-miss it please. Until next time, we will continue on our makeshift sleds and behead the occasional, ill-omened gopher.
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
December 2009 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 08 Jan 2010 07:08 am
###**Job Postings**###
Interior Worldbuilders: Still need 'em.
###**Update**###
December.
We collectively wanted to drop a brick on the accelerator, lean out of our respective car windows, and toss cheap bourbon whiskey at ignoble creatures while hollering how magnificent we were over the thump of Rogue Acoustic sub-woofers. Angels would scream as the earth moved, split, and then exploded under the tires of our unholy nerd fury as the sun turned up two white-hot fingers and goaded us to conquer the heavens. We. Would. Make. Progress.
Ha. Ha.
Zini: Worked on the alchemy skill.
LSD: Finished some NPC's and quests for Vesper. He's also taken up the task of combing the internet for MW and original content Oblivion mods.
Aurora: Still on Covetous.
Direhaggis: Hells bells, gentle reader. I continued working on tutorials for Ch. 1, then switching to Endgame work. Wrote another 5 alternate endings. Made decent progress writing the Guardian. Do you know how hard it is not to write cheesy villain drivel? My total input after the second week was just embarrassing.
Alpha3d: Still working on Hythloth.
Hyena of Doom: Still working on the 2nd unmentioned location from last month.
Direhaggis: I'll make it up in January or March or something, I swear!
Corv: Helps out in ways only he can.
Jacar: Writing NPCs and doing their interiors for a remote location. May yet work on a city that's passed through at least 4 sets of hands. That would be nice if applicable.
Spyder: Created models of potions using a new bit of software. The biggest ones are these massive pony keg Cure 9999 things.
"If I wanted to get a job in radio now, would I enter the office of a station manager clutching my Lifetime Achievement Award, saying, "I've got some fresh, cutting-edge ideas. I want to make new, ground breaking radio." Would anyone in his right mind, trying to get a job anywhere, even mention having been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award? Of course not.
And so I want to thank the Third Coast International Audio Festival panel for effectively ending my career."
November 2009 Posted by: -Direhaggis- on 03 Dec 2009 08:04 am
###**Job Postings**###
Interior Worldbuilders: While we have gotten a few new people over the last 2 months, we are always looking for more folk that can put things on top of other things. Like I've said before: if I can vaguely work with the construction set, you most surely can do it.
Here's the latest news.
###**Update**###
Zini: I know I write this periodically, but U9R would not be possible without Zini. He implements, he scripts, and patiently explains MW's limitations to your seldom informed writer, gentle reader. He did some dungeon creation and implementation for the beginning of the main game. He's also in charge of balancing the 8 virtue classes so that their beginning, middle, and end powers are roughly balanced and useful in different situations. General miscellaneous bugs were also killed.
LSD: This man has been absolutely instrumental in helping us populate the rest of Britain proper. And he's finished up well over dozens of NPCs! Like I've written before, I think in total we've got about 70 unique ones wandering around. He's also working on characters for Vesper, followed by Buc's Den. He's also taken one for the team and helped us with some, ahem, dry runs of some mods that may be of interest to the more mature set.
Aurora: Working on Covetous. I am happy that the dungeons are getting populated. I like populated dungeons.
Alpha3d: Working on Hythloth. He's a long-time Ultima fan and definitely has a feel for both the more recent (uh, if 1991 is recent) Ultima flavor as well as those more int he past.
Hyena of Doom: Started and finished interiors for an undisclosed cold location (!). Is nearly done with another portion of said location (!). I'm really looking forward to his interpretation of the locations I set up in my mind.
Grogdon: Every so often touches up Minoc.
Direhaggis: Finished another 3 endings for the main quest. I'll continue with yet more alignment and quest influenced ones this month, as well as getting started on the 'main' ending. By 'main' I mean the one people will typically view as the logical end to events that occur in U9R. I also worked on some tutorials for the player at the beginning of the game and did some dialogue revision. Finally, I finished ~10 miscellaneous books and borrowed ~20 from the U6 and U7:BG corpus. Me and anyone else who wants to will write many, many more.
Corv: Behind the scenes stuff.
Jacar: Working on interiors for one of those undisclosed cold locations. While I can't write anything about it, I will say that he takes an existing set of ideas and a space and really pulls it together to make visual sense.
Spyder: Made a series of 'broken' models based on existing objects, a gorgeous set of painting equipment, and other things for classified locations.
I'd like to end by writing that it's immensely satisfying, as a Titan from the beginning and a writer from the first incarnation of U9R, that we have a solid team going and an end in sight. Granted, implementation will take a long time, and interiors the same, but still--we're going forward!
"Enjoy the great taste of wassail, in cans!" - Jacar
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