The Fancy Bastard Forum

Tough to say. The Duke Nukem 3D source code was released a long time ago. As far as I knew nothing much had been done with it, but Wikipedia suggests otherwise. Given the fanbase I'd say there's hope. Since this is an MMO, though, you really want there to be a distributed number of servers all using the same version, working together and talking to each other. It strikes me as likely that different flavors will start to crop up as people start tweaking code to their liking. But if people can rally around a community site and coordinate server updates then it could be a pretty cool experiment.

From what I've seen, we'll be getting some of the code at some time early next year. The community is more active than when the game was actually released, which is ironic; and hopeful.

The Consensus seems to be that we'll be communally working at a "Pure" version, but there will always be offshoots. However, the community has been bickering a ton, we have multiple threads asking the same questions, and the mods seem to be letting things loose. I guess that's inherent to the community, but we still all love URU.

Plus, I think the Open-Source bit has attracted a ton of programmers, and we tend to be an angry bunch.

I never really got into Myst or the sequels because I was a little bit too young and inexperienced with PCs in general to ever get past the first few portions. That being said, the concepts therein always appealed to me and I'd be really interested to see what could be done with it. From a programming perspective, I'm hesitant. Working together on a game with a bunch of professionals is hard enough, let alone working anonymously over the internet with a rougher schedule, if any. I've seen way too many "free community MMOs" crash and burn or just end up sucking through lack of direction. Fingers crossed though.
I wouldn't really compare the game to WoW, as it's really in its own genre. I don't even see how it would work as an MMO, but I'm sure they could figure something out.

Uru (unlike other chapters in the Myst series) was already an MMO; they're just turning the server code over to the community.

I feel like it would be tough to have professional game code in front of me without feeling the need to tinker with it or somehow try to improve it and/or break it. That's both the danger and the allure of it. Ideally there would be a centralized code repository that all the servers would check against - I haven't done much open-source work, but I'm sure there are standard ways to administer that.

Dram, in all honesty it doesn't work like a traditional MMO. The Original concept was based on the idea that the players were all called to D'ni for unknown reasons. Some claimed they were there to explore, others claim personal pilgrimages, others are just there for the ride. So everyone is there, and there're all these mysteries (Yeesha's purpose, The Bahro, D'ni itself [ I mean, it is a whole "lost civilization"]), which everyone is trying to solve. The original ages were meant as Yeesha's lessons to us regarding the D'ni ways, as a warning. Many (now lost) plot lines were going to be based on the conflict between the DRC ( a human-based exploration society) and Yeesha, as Yeesha has a tendency to give us things that may not be fully safe. There were also great mentions of a D'ni survivor (Escher from Myst V)

Of course, as URU got canned by Ubisoft, Cyan was forced to mangle what story and content it had into 2 expansion packs; and basically took Escher and the Bahro's tale as Myst V. So all the Content from Myst V was supposed to be cleverly and decisively given to the community.

With the Open Source option, we SHOULD be able to change many design flaws that the game has. For example, instead of making the Volcano passage (The cleft) a single-player random puzzle, we could make the first few hours of the game based on taking a side for the DRC or Yeesha. Either you could trek the miles of the Great Shaft down to D'ni; learning about all that D'ni accomplished, the DRC's failed endeavors, the progress we've made regarding their society, and conversing with your fellow travelers. Or you could take Yeesha's pilgrimage, going solo or with a small group of friends, facing risks the DRC frowns upon, and learning about all the Bad D'ni did. But, you would get some AMAZING set-pieces, such as Kadish Tolesa. I really, really, want to work on that side-project.

Overall, the community was talented enough to break Cyan's Plasma engine, re engineer tools for blender and other programs, and make their own levels. All without Cyan's explicit consent. So now we're being rewarded for out dedication.

I think that's pretty awesome myself

Posted By: Mike BradyUru (unlike other chapters in the Myst series) was already an MMO; they're just turning the server code over to the community.

I feel like it would be tough to have professional game code in front of me without feeling the need to tinker with it or somehow try to improve it and/or break it. That's both the danger and the allure of it. Ideally there would be a centralized code repository that all the servers would check against - I haven't done much open-source work, but I'm sure there are standard ways to administer that.Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Posted By: Locke Cole117Yeah, there's a HUGE war going on regarding the VCS we'll be using. But in all honesty, whatever Cyan goes with, we'll be forced to use the same. Programmers are dedicated to their VCS's, although I've never had the need to use one :P

Posted By: Mike Brady

Posted By: Locke Cole117Yeah, there's a HUGE war going on regarding the VCS we'll be using. But in all honesty, whatever Cyan goes with, we'll be forced to use the same. Programmers are dedicated to their VCS's, although I've never had the need to use one :P

Yes, that much I know! I think that's really the crux of the matter. If you can nail down version control then I think everything else will fall into place. I've only used one myself (CVS) and it has actually saved my ass on at least one occasion. I'm hardly a hardcore programmer, though, so I have no idea what the state of the art might be.Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.