December All Guilds Meeting Summary

Here is the summary for today’s Meeting, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

Uru Advent Calendar

Minasunda was first, with two announcements: the first about her Uru Advent Calendar marker game, available from Mir-o-Bot (KI# 32319) by sending it “sendme 8833282” in PM.

Before collecting markers, it is advisable to use the “/startlog” command, that will save a chatlog in Documents/Uru Live/log. For each day there is a marker in Ae’gura, with two links to Youtube videos – one in German, the other in German with English subtitles. The videos will not be released in advance.

The Advent Calendar is also available on Minasunda’s website, again in German and English.

Christmas Party

The second announcement was about the Christmas Party, planned for December 15 at 13:00 KIT in Mir-o-Bot’s Eder Delin; to get there, send “link” or “meet” in PM to Mir-o-Bot. Yoda will provide the magic, the Nulp Dance Group will perform one of their dance and Seeker will play music (stream).

Minasunda also gave a remind about MO:UL’s 10th anniversary, coming on February 2020. So far, only two events are planned.

Fan content and state of Minkata

Doobes and Rarified were next, to give an update on the fan content situation.

At the end of November, with the help of Hoikas and Emor D’ni Lap, they were able to get the New Guild of Messengers Pub working on Minkata-alpha. Doobes and Emor previously submitted a few very basic testing Ages, but the new Pub is the real stress test, so it is useful as a benchmark.

They were also able to locate, and in some cases squash, a few bugs both with the Age itself and with the fan-made server MOSS. It has been said many times, but this really is a concrete step in bringing fan-made content to the official Uru Live server.

This content will include upgraded Cyan Guild Pubs and an upgraded Watcher’s Pub – although the path to the Tree still requires more work to function correctly. Doobes is hoping to also send all four Ages (Tre’bivdil, Fehnir’s House, Vothol Gallery, New GoMe Pub) currently on the Gehn shard and The Open Cave, plus two brand new Ages of his to help tie things together.

Rarified commented that November has been unusually productive on the testing pipeline; things picked up with a code submission from cjkelly1, one of the original authors of the MOSS server used on Minkata, which provided the initial additions to the client necessary to be able to explore Ages built with Blender and Korman.

The regular Minkata (beta) shard will stay relatively clean, for testing bug fixes to be incorporated in the Uru Live client. Minkata-alpha will run in parallel, using the same client but through a special batch file. Announcements about new testing cycles will in the future come from the creators, rather than Rarified, who will take the role of adding the new content to Minkata-alpha, and leave it up to the author to describe the things they want tested, as well as any special ways to get access to their Age.

Rarified also mentioned a couple of Ages under construction (including Doobes’ library Age, Chiso Preniv) that will provide in-game access to the other new Ages. Once those have become available and tested, he will start moving fan content into Minkata along with them. That will be the enabling event to start considering when fan content can be considered for inclusion in Uru Live.

To summarize, a new Age will first be tested on Minkata-alpha; when all the major bugs will be fixed, it will be moved to Minkata (beta); next it will be given a final test on Cyan’s Staging server before being released on Uru Live. There is a lot going on behind the scenes to start making this happen, and it has been the result of excellent coordination between authors, testers, and shard admins, and the enthusiasm from both Cyan and fan creators.

Becoming a tester

If you want to drop into Minkata-alpha and get ready for what is involved in testing, all the details are in two threads (one, two) on the OpenUru.org forums. Note that, and this cannot be stressed enough, Minkata is a testing shard:

• it is not meant for playing, Ae’gura especially will have barriers in place that will not be removed;
• the server, or the new Ages, may not be available all the time;
• the Vault may become corrupted, so complete wipes of the database can (and likely will) happen;
• it requires using an Internal client and being familiar with console commands;
• testing an Age involves doing some tedious activities, like walking against every wall and clicking every interactive element;
• your progress will be volatile, avatars are there just for testing things (see point 3).

Cyan assets upgrades

Doobes had more to say about his work on porting Cyan’s Ages into ready-to-export-and-modify files. Chogon has drafted some legal notes to include with these files. Once that is finalized, Doobes should be able to post the ‘base’ versions of the blends on GitHub.

From there, anyone can download the Ages and modify them. Presumably, one could even customize many Ages for their own shard for a sort of “alternate dimension” shard. A Shard of Dreams, if you will.

Fan Ages and content coming to MOUL have been promised for many years, and it can be incredibly frustrating getting hopes up and continuing to wait. However, the recent developments, along with Cyan’s loosening of the rules with their assets, has opened things up as they never have been before. Exciting new things are coming, and soon.

To keep updated on Doobes’ work, check his blog and his Facebook page.

OpenUru.org fan Ages repository

Rarified closed this section by mentioning the notion that building Ages is not for resource-challenged computers. With content comes the need to store it; free access to large quantities of storage is uncommon. But OpenUru happens to have a fair amount of free space.

So he offered to establish a repository on the OpenUru server to run in parallel with the Guild of Writers repositories on GitHub for authors to store their big Blend files and Ages as they evolve.

If you are an author, be ready for an announcement from Hoikas and Rarified when this is set up and tested.

The Lost Art

Korov’ev mentioned the release of the latest episode, “Schisms”, of MystiTech’s machinima series, The Lost Art, produced with the help of Mirphak and Yoda for advanced lighting and special effects, Dulcamara and Doobes for special sets, Larry LeDeay and Tweek for graphics, and Larry LeDeay for D’ni translations.

In the last episode, we had a mysterious egg, shared dreams, and Thomas’ new assistant turned up to be not exactly human. What is next?

Episode 9 is tentatively planned to be released on December 29 at 13:30 KIT, as a Youtube Premiere event, during which people will be able to chat live with the creators while watching.

If you have a question, or you want to help with the making, you can send an email to enquiries[at] mystitech[dot]de.

Uru Live client update

For the Cyan News section, Korov’ev started with a reminder about the official Cyan newsletter.

A new version of the client (Build 918.OpenUru=139) has been released, for the first time in years! The update includes:

• Physics compatibility with Korman created Ages;
• KI art changes by Hoikas:
  • fixed miniKI text chat scaling to be resolution independent;
  • fixed “text x-raying” in the Big KI;
  • hid the blackbar handles visible on ultrawide resolutions;
  • restored the Big KI background noise animation;
• updated the Terms of Service/End User License Agreement;
• updated the Zandi Radio music to replace copyrighted material;
• updated Tomahna end credits music, removed copyrighted material.

Note that the client does not automatically update the uncompressed music when updated; you will need to delete the file sfx/streamingCache/clftZandiRadio_Loop.wav to hear the new music (“IV. Allegro Molto” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).

Launcher problems

Some people had problems updating. Usually the issue is that the client is unable to replace itself (UruLauncher.exe); temporarily launching it with admin privileges (or even better, moving the game folder somewhere else other than the UAC-protected C:/Program Files (x86)) should fix the problem.

Other problems happens mostly because of missing libraries or DLL:

• A stack dump error probably indicates a failure to initialize PhysX: it is advisable to install the Legacy component;
• the error related to msvcr71.dll and msvcp71.dll can be fixed by downloading them from Chogon’s post, extracting them, and putting them in the Uru Live folder, along the launcher;
• the error related to d3dx9_27.dll can be fixed by installing a few extra DirectX files. The install procedure is a bit unintuitive: you will have to download the installer, make a new folder on your desktop, run the installer and tell it to extract into the folder you created, then run DXSETUP.exe in the folder to install the DLL files. If it worked, you can delete the folder on the desktop and the installer;
• a Windows 10 update from 2017 broke the way moving with the mouse works. The problem has been fixed on the Gehn shard, and is one of the bug fixes planned to end up on MOUL, but for now you can use Sirius’ fix.

Unwritten RPG acquired by Cyan

On November 26 it was announced that Cyan Ventures acquired the tabletop roleplaying game Unwritten: Adventures in the Ages of Myst and Beyond, by Inkworks Productions, one of the first 3rd party works set in the D’ni universe since Myst IV: Revelation.

Small revisions will be made to the existing Unwritten manuscript to reflect the new ownership, and the revised version will be available in the future from the Cyan Store, as well as from DriveThruRPG.

Future versions of the Unwritten core rule book, future supplements, or other related products will be published by Cyan Ventures, in partnership with Inkworks, which will remain the primary developer for the Unwritten product line.

Lexember

To celebrate Lexember, Cyan will post a D’ni word every day throughout December on their Twitter account. Some of these words are already known, but some are of course new releases, for the happiness of all D’ni linguists.

At the time of this writing, the following have been released: advuh, n. arch; taygahn, v. to love deeply, with the whole mind; bol, n. brother; b’rish, adv. very, so (lit. “to twenty”); dahgo, n. hammer (derived from dahg, v. “to strike”); elioykhets, adj. gusty; eder, v. to rest / n. a moment of rest (used in naming garden Ages).

Mysterium

Submissions for art designs are now open. There will be four categories: T-shirt, pins, activity books, writing and artwork table. Deadlines will be staggered through early-to-mid 2020.

For the T-shirts, the Triumvirate encourages the artists to incorporate contrasts in their designs: Sirrus vs Achenar, Red vs Blue, Haven and Spire, etc. Tying in the host city of Washington, DC is also encouraged. The winning design will be rewarded with a free Mysterium shirt. The deadline is February 16, 2020.

For the pins, they are once again planning a set of enamel ones. Pin design is an easier and faster process than shirts. The deadline for these is March 15, 2020.

For the activity books, which are the new thing for 2020, artists can create a coloring book page, a word search, a crossword puzzle, etc. The deadline is April 19, 2020.

For the writing and artwork table, artists will be able to showcase their Cyan-related artwork or writing. All content must be in by July 31, 2020.

D’ni Language Classes

Shokhootahn Rehn is still putting things away and finding homes for everything after his recent move. So there will be no daytime classes until sometime in winter; nighttime classes are unaffected.

• Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn via PM or KImail (KI# 58324); be sure to include your KI number in the message!
• Shokhootahn Rehn tries to be in the Hood most days at 10:00 KIT and 20:00 KIT to answer questions regarding the current lesson;
• the Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session, currently on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, starting at 20:00 or 21:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule;
• the left-hand imager and Magic Bot are employed to announce last-minute changes to class times: to get notified, add him as a buddy (KI# 27527), then send him a PM with the word “advert”. If Magic Bot is not online, you can send a PM to Mimi Bot (KI# 71459).

r’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

r’Tayrtahn thanked Mirphak and NikiMay for their invaluable help with the Bahro Glyph Tour.

Story Nights – Europe started the story arc of the D’ni creation myth, the pre-history, the life of the first King Ri’neref, and will continue with the lives of the Kings.

Original Story Nights will conclude part 5 of the fan fiction “Jae’s Journey”.

November 9 will also be the start of the bi-annual Bahro Glyph Tour! The tour will last for two weeks, finishing on November 16.

• Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday night, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT;
• for Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT. On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:30 KIT or 30 minutes after the end of the meeting;
• the stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (KI# 58324) a KI mail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list;
• Magic Bot is employed to announce last-minute changes to Story Night times: to get notified, add him as a buddy (KI# 27527), then send him a PM with the word “advert”. If Magic Bot is not online, you can send a PM to Mimi Bot (KI# 71459).

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And that was it for this month. Don’t forget to donate to keep the Cavern open!

The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, January 4, 2020 (Leevosahn 3) at 13:00 KIT.

Until then!