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Remaking Yserbius Split Thread!!

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Tiger

Active Members
#41
This just in...
Ken Williams

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is extremely unlikely anyone will ever release Yserbius. I'm not even sure who owns it. My guess would be AOL. We sold it to AT&T, who sold it to AOL. Although, that said, I also heard a rumor that Electronic Arts may have some claim to owning it.

But, that's only the beginning of the mess.

Sierra published Yserbius, and had an independent developer, whose name I've forgotten (for the moment) who we paid royalties to. Also: Sierra sold TSN, and the rights to operate Yserbius, but not the Yserbius name.

In other words, for AOL (if it is them) to ever re-release Yserbius, AOL, Sierra (if it exists) and the author (who I can't remember) would have to be negotiated with - by a person who probably has never heard of Yserbius.

It's really sad, but I suspect Yserbius is dead.

Now, that doesn't mean a game couldn't be created that captured what was good about Yserbius, and improves on it -- that doesn't infringe on the rights of the original.

The tricky part about this is that you need designers, programmers, musicians, qa people, etc. I do believe something great could be built with a small team, but it's hard to put one together.

Last year, there was an attempt by people on this board to build a game. It is still going, but it has been a long tough haul, and may never go anywhere. I hope it does, but it's hard to assemble a team of volunteers and keep them interested in a project and working hard. I'm impressed the team has made it this far.

Good luck - Ken W
Also, there was a link on there to Xensoft.com which was already mentioned here.... Anyone tried contacting Xensoft? http://www.xensoft.com/Yserbius.cfm
 

Navic

Inactive Members
#42
It's time to start the "Buy the rights to Yserbius Fund". Who has a few million lay'n around? :p

Years ago, my companies competitor folded. The employee's fearing the end basically copied and looted that company before the doors closed. Soon after some of them came here to work and brought their loot with them. You would think an ex-TSN/INN, Yserbius developer, someone would have a copy of the code...
 

Tiger

Active Members
#43
Ya would think... But we don't need the rights to it... We're not goina charge people to use it... Like I said... This legal aspect is pretty much a mute point...

We need Developers! ;-p
 

Lord_Cie

Inactive Members
#46
Navic said:
...a copy of the programs code.

Hows that? :)
Gentlemen, I propose a midnight raid of Vivendi Universal's archives. It's going to be tough, not all of us would make it back, so I propose we watch an adequate training video first, like Hackers, or something.
 

Xenther

Active Members
#48
So - here's currently where my effort stands. I've got a good bit of C# code devoted to the effort. I have most things outside of the cano working nicely. I've slowed down quite a bit for two reasons.
1. Works been nuts. Super computers are a time sink.
2. I'm not thrilled with the .net frameworks UI graphics.

On the second point, it's mostly that modifying things to look/work like yserbius has been somewhat of a hack, and it's getting more and more annoying to deal with.

I'd always planned on using OpenGL for the 3D dungeon aspect, but now I'm thinking of expanding that and redoing the entire front end.

There are GDKs like RealmForm, which builds on the Axiom engine. Both of which might be way more then we needs, with not much return. So I've been leaning towards just using the Tao Framework, but their main site's down, though the code is supposed to be in the Mono projects Subversion repository.

The Tao Framework seems like just what the project would need and not much else. It's got binding for OpenGL, GLU, FreeGLUT, and OpenAL.

In terms of collaboration, I'd be interested in working on something with people. I think initially what we'd want to do is develop the tools/controls we'd want to make of use of in terms of building the UI with OpenGL. Things like the textboxes, listboxes, buttons, etc. I'd also like to put some work into hooking up OpenAL with OGG Vorbis. I know there has been some tenetive work in that area with things like csVorbis.

Also need to expand our inventory of Yserbius information so intelligent design decisions can be made about data structures, etc.

Anyway, this is a lot of the stuff that I've been pondering lately. I'm always looking for input.
 

BloodCelt

Inactive Members
#49
Lord_Cie said:
Gentlemen, I propose a midnight raid of Vivendi Universal's archives. It's going to be tough, not all of us would make it back.
Thier HQ is in France. Xenther can blow up a paper bag and pop it, and LC can accept their surrender.

BC
 

hicksman

Inactive Members
#50
Hey all
Been reading your posts and it sounds interesting. Unfortunately, the task is -i'm sure- much larger than we would all like to believe.

I had a moment of inspiration and decided i was going to hack the inn software to spoof the software into thinking it was connected. That way i could get into yserb and eventually learn the communications protocol enough to be able to put it online.

Well. Sounds like a plan, doesnt it?

I sent ONE command to the software before i hit my brick wall. Never could do a damn thing after that. [DEL ]

So, unless you understand what you're doing 100%, you're a total loss. Just try as an experiment to hack your character in the yserb offline version and see how long that takes. Then multiply that my 1 million.

If we want to get off the ground, we need a plan, and we need people who know how to program. No websites, no concept art, no music, just programming. I've seen 300 fan made missions for System Shock, Alternate Reality, Marathon, INN, etc pop up and all they have it a website and some "features" like "it will be immersive". Then they do nothing, disappear and someone else comes along with the same dream. The effort should be on sourceforge too, so no one can try to be the hero and keep all of it to themselves which, as i said before always leads to them ditching the project and disappearing with all of the work that they did. I hate to be negative, but it is, as they say, "reality".


I'm all in. I can code, but not well enough to lead. Other than that, im worthless.
 

Tiger

Active Members
#51
Xenther sounded impressive... No clue what he's talkin about.... But sounds like a start... I agree with Hickman, we need to pool everything into one location... Setup a team thats going to work on this and DO IT... If they have to leave, then somone else should be ready to accept the task at hand... Just like any buisness practice... I can test and test the interfaces, but otherthen that, I can't program... Period... :lol:
 

Tiger

Active Members
#53
Then lets start getting a structure outlined... Who's willing to be lead programmer? Xenthar? What do you need from us to make things easier? Can we create a SourceForge, or other tracking service? There's a module for PHP called Work Board, that can be added, which will basically create a project list and progress...Ya can see it here... http://tigereyegfx.net/tiger/modules.php?name=Work_Board Though I don't have it setup all the way, its capable of much more... This something you want Slohand/Navic?

Work board mod can be found here: http://www.nukescripts.net
 

slohand

Yserbian
Staff member
#54
I dont know if this is helpful,, but

There is a Developement Forum on this site that is hidden and is designed for Folks involved in the developement of Yserbius. There are three people who see it right now.. it is used for Logging information and passing notes back and forth. If there is going to be a effort i would suggest whom ever is interested let me know so i can give the proper clearance to view and use this area so we can keep notes going,,, Navic has been doing alot of Cataloging and has amassed alot of info and has been keeping a real nice log.
There is also a FTP area on the site i can grant access to for members it is currently being used to keep the pics, and other info which is apart of the developement ie screen shots code, etc etc,, It was intended that this be a archive for the developement of the project and in the event we had someone drop out of the developement for some reason the material would remain their for future generations to work on until hopefully we put it together enough to make it work. So it is up to you guys.. Tarquin was doing some coding but he vanished totally,, he had a nice beginning interface going , but he is gone without any word so basically it is at a standstill pending more folks. let me know if anyone is interested in this .. Slohand
 

hicksman

Inactive Members
#55
Although my ire was not directed towards you Xenther, i think it would be a great idea that you use sourceforge. :D I'm more pissed at the 101 people who've started up System Shock conversions and left them.

If you need some help, or want to move faster, let us know what you need. I am currently employed as a tech writer. (and writing my own design spec for a totally different old rpg remake)
 

slohand

Yserbian
Staff member
#56
I sent a Email to Tarquin direct instead of going through the PM system it is a hotmail address,, but i havent heard anything,.,, i guess there is a thousand reasons why he cant answer i just hope all is well with him and perhaps one day he can come back to the team..... Slo ````
 

Navic

Inactive Members
#57
Sorry it took me so long to post. but I ran outta mana to cast "Post Reply" :p

Tiger said:
Xenther sounded impressive... No clue what he's talkin about....
You took the words outta my mouth :D
With that being said, leave me out of the programming and other computer related stuff. The extent of my 'puter knowledge is using work related programs and posting polls here :)

I'll be the gopher, gatherer, cataloger, etc...

Slo, I'd give the guys posting here rights for the Development Forum.

Xenther, take a look at what I have done, and let me know what ya need next.

Maybe someone could start gathering screen shots? I figured out how to get them using Windows 2000, but not XP. If anyone knows how please tell me :)
 

Tiger

Active Members
#59
Either we scared Xenther away, or we just post to much... lol Woot, another post! LOL

I will offer my services on whatever you need... Servers... Domain name... SSL.... Name it, I can get it... God I love workin at a domain company... :twisted:
 

slohand

Yserbian
Staff member
#60
Ok I made the changes and sent a Letter to all members. If you have any questions let me know and should anyone else take a active interest like those here they can be nominated. Thanks Slohand
 
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