Excelsior Patch 2013 Beta

[+Nyx]

About a year and a half ago, I started to think about improving the shard and adding new content. I quickly realized that UOEX needed a patch to add new graphics and mobs, but I hadn't the first clue how to do this. I asked Colibri what he thought of letting me create a patch for the shard, and how I might begin. He said he'd be willing to consider it if I would make it, and pointed me in the right direction.

6 months and hundreds upon hundreds of work hours later, I finished the patch. Unfortunately, there were still some issues I hadn't yet been able to figure out how to fix, and neither Coli nor V had any idea either. So, the patch was put on hold. Earlier this year, my interest in patching our client was renewed when I accidentally found some even newer graphics that could be added. I hunkered down, did insane amounts of obscure research, and managed to find solutions to the previous problems. I had to start completely from scratch, after finding that part of the problem previously was partially corrupted files. I spent an additional 3 months and another 500 or so hours working on adding even more new stuff and resolving those old issues. Finally, the patch worked beautifully on installation and after lots of testing.

I passed the files on to Colibri so that he could update the affected scripts on the server, as well as test on his own system. Once we determined that everything was working, Colibri began to update the server to be compatible with my patch. That process finally finished yesterday, and now we're ready to release the patch!

All told, I spent nearly a year and almost 1,000 hours personally creating this patch and I can say with absolute certainty that regardless of how it is received by the players, I am happy with my work. I am very excited to finally be presenting it to all of you. This patch is my baby, a labor of love for Excelsior and an expression of how much this shard means to me.

Special thanks go to +Colibri for trusting me with this project; +Veritas for his immeasurable help, input and moral support; Dramoor for extensive assistance in testing, troubleshooting, and locating new graphics; and to our helpful, polite veterans who have given various input, suggestions, and support along the way.

And so, without further ado, here is the download for the most up-to-date patch beta:

If you have NOT PATCHED before today: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wh8qtevx1t8nj ... 207-30.rar

If you patched, and want to update to the most recent version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/75i9q6bgxq166 ... 207-30.rar

PLEASE READ THE PATCH NOTES BEFORE PROCEEDING!

After you have read the patch notes and once your download is finished, you may unzip the file and read the installation instructions.

Enjoy!

- +Nyx

[+Nyx]

Patch Notes:

Installation & Memory Errors

"Out of Memory" Error
Occasionally when opening the patched client via Razor, you may receive an "Out of Memory" error. There is no known resolution to this issue, though I have spent dozens of hours researching and fiddling with it. Basically, the version of the UO client our shard runs on was not meant to accept files quite as large as we are now going to be using, so sometimes the client and razor get a little insecure and throw an error. If this happens for you, simply close all other programs running on your system, start your client with razor, and then open your programs again. I have been running the patched client for over 6 months now, and have only received this error 4-5 times, almost always after a fresh reboot. This is the only known issue with the functionality of the patch.
UPDATE: I have modified the patch to decrease some file sizes. Please download the new version. If you are still having trouble after installing the updated patch files, you may try this microsoft fixit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947246
Some players have had success with this method, but others have not. Further suggestions are to close the system process "Lcore.exe" if you are using logitech products. This is a rather memory-heavy process that is not necessary to the functionality of your devices.

Improper installation errors:
These are usually evident when you log in after installing the patch and you can no longer see your character or other mobiles. This is a result of partially corrupt files and it can happen in the following ways:
- If you try to install the patch before the files are completely finished downloading
- If your game window is open while you're installing the patch.
- If you have any sort of system error while copying (Ie: a program crashes, your computer locks up, windows updates reboots your computer, etc etc etc.)

If this happens, just reinstall the patch making certain you have no UO windows or utility programs open at the time you begin the copy. Reboot your computer, and you should be good to go.



Known Issues

Monsters with an incorrect body
In order to add as many new monsters as I did, some of the old monsters' body values had to be updated. The main portion of Colibri's contribution to the patch was in ensuring that all the old monsters still show properly (so you shouldn't see any deer that suddenly look like huge dragons). This was not as easy as it sounds, and took a lot of Colibri's time. If you do notice any pets or monsters that don't look like what they should and are suddenly a new creature you don't recognize, page the staff and let us know. Please page while standing at the location of the monster, or with the pet shrunk in your backpack. Tell us what the issue is in as much detail as you can.

No patch mobs in old-world maps
None of the new patch mobs are currently spawning in-world. Nearly all new patch mobs are being reserved for Elysium and other upcoming new content. Some will be used for events or seasonal dungeons, but you will likely not see many new mobs in the "old" lands. We are trying to retain as much of the integrity and spirit of the original game as possible, and so new mobs will stay in new content areas.

Patch Deco Item Plans
Deco items will begin to be integrated into the shard slowly to give players plenty of time to update their clients. Some new items will be added to the deco room, countless will be used as new quest rewards, some will go for raffles and auctions, made into addons, veteran rewards and so on. I will announce any time new items are made available.

Wearable Items
EDIT: Fixed! I'm awesome. - +Nyx

Patch Mob Attack Animations
New patch mobs are not currently using their 'attack' animations in most cases. They function, but for some reason when attacking they stand there or move around the player without animating the attack. We're working on figuring this one out.

Mobiles with Incorrect Hues
Some pets such as mules may appear to be the wrong hue, and some mounts may be glitchy, invisible, or the wrong animal. This is a minor serverside fix that Coli will zap before too long.

Castable Forms Display Incorrectly
Some 'forms' may make your player appear as one of the new patch mobs or otherwise strangely until Coli updates the scripts serverside. There's no benefit to this, and so it's okay to do.

[Perma]

Not working when clicking on patch-4a_betatest1_2013-07-14.rar

[cougar4357]

Got the download working for me, took a while to start and seems like its gonna be an extremely long one at this rate but downloading nonetheless

[Aryanna Conners]

Still no torrent?

[cougar4357]

ok.. got the download done but now im confused.. how do i actually patch the client, didnt see any instructions when i downloaded.
Thanks

[heyyo]

Is the only thing that's available from the patch the gate in town center that shows some of the different mobs/decorations? Or more likely am I missing something?

[Semzz]

That is truly some beautiful work +Nyx, Thank you very much for all your hard work, it payed off for all of Excelsior in a huge way, thank you +Veritas and +Colibri for assisting her in this huge endeavor

[Asmodean]

As far as I know, the only available stuff right now is the preview room. +Nyx and +Veritas had to wait for the patch to go in before they could start adding all the mobs and deco to the maps. Now that its in, they can begin populating the maps with content, and then once they have stuff for us to do, they can provide us ways to get to the new places.

[Angmmar]

Awesome... a mix of diablo II, WoW and a other games, i guess, models... Something new, just like the server needs... the patch work fine for now to me... :hugs:

[usaji]

Nyx,Coli and all the staff:Thanks!The content of the patch is amazing and my vocabulary is too small to put into words my fascination for the work of you guys.I dont know if is the place to report a few bugs i have found in my little test,but here we go:1º) some ethereal mounts are really invisible and some positions and not others(when you see the back of players they disappear.2º)hue of umm are wrong they are solid not ethereal.They are blue now.3º)The daemon hunter inside the portal in Town Center dont have the correct colors,just the green lines in the chest and the eyes,thr rest are black.4º)The crystal giant animations are wrong,now they look like the new monster:deamon hunter.5º)Inside the Shimmering Effusion room i almost die because they dont appear,dont have any animation and in this time was necessary i go out of room logout and restore the old version of UO,to finish the prism of light.For now is just it.Hope this helps.

Ingame my char is Daniella and Serramana.

[Adrycks]

Wow!!! Lots of things done!!! I'm really looking to the new patch. Will download it as soon as i'm back from vacations! Hope you will take some in the near future +Nyx. Sounds like you deserves some!

Happy gaming people!!!

Drakis

[aaron]

Just want to report that I also get the memory error when using Assist UO as well. Looks like getting around it works using the same methods as with Razor.

[JimTheDM]

[quote="aaron"]Just want to report that I also get the memory error when using Assist UO as well. Looks like getting around it works using the same methods as with Razor.[/quote]

Have you tried the microsoft fixit from the link above in +Nyx's notes. It may work for you.

Jamkul

[Violette001]

I just installed the patch, but now my mount is invisible?