New to UO and UOX3, where do I begin?

[Dark_Oppressor]

So, as the subject implies (or outright states, really), I am new to both Ultima Online and UOX3. I've never played UO, but I have heard about it a bit recently, and read about it in the past. I finally can't take it anymore, and I need to check out the game.

I found that there were apparently a great many server emulators, and I determined to use one, so myself and my friends/family could try out the game in our own world. I found UOX3, and it seems like what I'm looking for.

Can anyone help me out? Where do I begin? From what I could glean from these forums, UOX3 doesn't support the latest UO client. Should I just wait and not play? Download an old client? If so, how? Help me!

[Xuri]

Hello, and welcome!

First of all: You can download a version of the UO client which should work with UOX3 from the following location:
http://download.cnet.com/Ultima-Online-Mondain-s-Legacy-client/3000-7540_4-10432237.html

If you decide to patch to a more recent client version, you should halt the patcher (by force if necessary, using CTRL+ALT+DELETE -> Task Manager -> End Process) before it reaches v6.0.14.2, as this is the point at which the client becomes incompatible with UOX3.

Secondly, this installation-guide will take you through the initial setup and configuration of UOX3, as well as tell you how to actually log in and start playing. Be sure to download the experimental build though, as it contains more recent fixes and changes than the latest release on the download-page.

That should get you started, but if you run into any problems or have any more questions, don't hesitate to post again!

[Dark_Oppressor]

Thanks for the welcoming, and the help! I now have the server setup, and I can connect and run around, woo! There are no NPCs or anything, as other things around this site say. I need a separate set of files for this, right? Do I want Stranf's world starter kit?

[Xuri]

You can use the Default UOX3 Worldfiles and the Community-made spawn.dfn files as a starting point. The default worldfiles contain basic decorations, doors, signs, etc. while the spawn-file contains NPC spawns like shopkeepers and monsters.

[stranf]

Welcome!

Of Course you want Stranf's starter kit! Heheheheh.

No, in truth, if you are just solo-ing it and want to run around beating up on a few monsters, then Xuri is right: The default world files and community spawn is the best way to go.

My world-file is a combination of the community spawn and default world files, plus a lot of the communities scripts and my own DFN values. Basically, my world is tailored and setup to handle about 5 or so players playing UO in an old pen-and-paper sort of way and supports a lot of tooling for GM (or DMing) quests. The weapons and armor are balanced differently because back in the day the combat system was essentially broken and we had to make our own enteries in order to make the game enjoyable. The community later fixed the combat bug and re-wrote their own code based on the old OSI combat system (there are posts about this in the bug report section as it was me and a few others who brought the issue to a head).

When the old OSI combat system was implemented, I had already spent a number of hours on my own balancing so we decided to keep Stranf's Starter kit as is. I believe my combat system is a bit more difficult and makes NPC combat a lot harder, which is the way my players enjoy playing.

So play around with UO and find out what you like best!

[Dark_Oppressor]

So, I accidentally, ran the updater instead of ConnectUO, and now I am at version 6.0.14.3! And the client will no longer connect to the server. This is expected, right? That being said, I am currently re-downloading the client installer.

Given the pain-in-the-butt nature of installing the client, updating it, and then killing the process before it updates too far, I have to ask: do I need to update the client at all? I mean, beyond the installer that you linked to, Xuri?

And thanks for all the help, guys

[Xuri]

Depends on what client version is installed by default; I no longer remember. Anything above 4.0.0 and below 6.0.14 should work, I think. One thing you can do, is make a backup of client.exe once you've reached a version you like. Just make a copy and name it something like... client_6_0_14.exe or whatever the version you go for is.

Reasons why you might want to update the client:
-More assets (artwork for items, gumps, monsters, sounds)
-More client-side bugfixes

Reasons why you might NOT want to update the client:
-You don't care about extra GFX-assets and such
-You have a client version that works, seems stable, etc. Don't fix what's not (horribly) broken.

[Dark_Oppressor]

Awesome, thanks a ton!

[stranf]

I think we run 5.01h and it runs very well with UOx3.

Although I can't even remember my UOx3 version now either. It's time to update that too. Xuri's right. We have our setup stable so we haven't bothered to update!