Difference between revisions of "Playing Fan Ages"

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=What are Fan Ages?=
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This page describes how you can play fan-created [[:Category:Ages|Ages]] on your own PC, manually installing those you are interested in. If you want to meet other explorers in an age, you need to [[Playing Together|play the ages online]].
As you know, in [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/D%27ni D'ni] culture an [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Age Age] is a separate universe, described by and accessible through special books. And as you know, as D'ni culture is represented in the [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Myst_Universe Myst] and [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Uru Uru] series of computer games, an Age is essentially a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_(video_games) level] in one of these games.
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== What do I need to play Fan Ages? ==
  
This article deals with a certain kind of Age - those created by fans of Myst and Uru, that are playable using Uru's game engine, [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Plasma Plasma].
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*Windows 2000 or newer (also known to work in Linux using [http://www.winehq.org/ Wine])
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*[[Uru:CC|Uru: Complete Chronicles]]
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**For Windows Vista and newer, please read the [[Uru:CC Installation|installation instructions]] carefully as incorrect installations quickly cause hard-to-find problems
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*[[Offline KI]]
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*The ages
  
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== What do I need to do? ==
  
These Ages are comprised of data made with certain tools ([[Blender Intro|Blender]] and [[PyPRP Intro|PyPRP]] to create the Age, and [[Free and useful tools to help in Age writing#Python tools|Python]] and [[AlcScript]] to make it interactive). However, the game engine needs a push to recognize these Ages. Manager programs, [[Installing ULM|Uru Library Manager]] (ULM) and [http://alcugs.almlys.org/Drizzle Uru Age Manager] (UAM), were written to make this push (installation).
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After [[Uru:CC Installation|installing Uru]], you need to install the [[Offline KI]]. It extends Uru to properly support fan-ages and also features many more gooedies. Click on the link for installation instructions and a more detailed feature description.
  
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Now Uru is ready for fan-ages, but the ages themselves are still missing. While manually downloading, installing and updating them is possible, the most common way to manage your fan-ages is by using the [[Uru Age Manager]] functionality of [[Drizzle]]. It automatically downloads the ages you selected, and tells you when there are new versions available. Uninstalling ages is also easily possible.
  
While Fan Ages are not created by Cyan Worlds (and thus not commercial, not always cohesive, and [[Ahra Pahts|in some cases]] a continual work in progress), it is important to note that these are the cornucopias of imagination of the person next to you on the bus, and you would be remiss to not enjoy them.
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[[Category:Tutorials]]
 
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=What do I need to play Fan Ages?=
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*Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Windows7 (Also known to work in Linux using WINE)
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*The Uru game engine, necessarily as part of one of these games:
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**[http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/PotS Uru: The Path of the Shell] ([http://www.amazon.com/Myst-Uru-Path-Shell-Expansion-Pc/dp/B00023XXLI Amazon.com] (which requires [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/ABM Uru:ABM] ([http://www.amazon.com/UBI-Soft-008888681090-Uru-Beyond/dp/B00008Z0IA/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_3 Amazon.com]))
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**[http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Complete_Chronicles Uru: Complete Chronicles] ([http://www.amazon.com/UBI-Soft-Myst-Uru-Chronicles/dp/B00023XXMC/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_1 Amazon.com])
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*An Age manager program:
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**[[Drizzle|Uru Age Manager]], currently included with the [[Drizzle]] toolkit. Requires [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_(programming_language) Java]. Maintained and created by Old Wolle and ddb174.
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**[[Installing ULM|Uru Library Manager]]. Requires [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework .NET]. Created by Trylon.
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For online play, you'll need to find someone running an Alcugs shard, or set one up.  Details are at [http://alcugs.almlys.org]
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=What are Manager Programs?=
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There are two different methods of downloading/installing/playing Fan Ages: UAM and ULM.  Historically, UAM(UruAgeManager) was written initially and used for Fan Ages.  During the "Great Cyan Clampdown of 2006", projects that relied on the reverse-engineering of Plasma were driven underground for a while. In time, ULM(UruLibraryManager) was written to take its place.  Later on, UruAgeManager was rewritten from scratch to become part of the Drizzle tool.
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==UAM Strengths==
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*Uses the Java framework
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*Has every Age ever released, some 24+ more than ULM
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*No problems with corrupted Ages
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*Much faster downloads
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*Caches downloads, and lets you easily switch versions of an Age without redownloading
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==ULM Strengths==
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*Uses the .NET framework
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*Allows you to customise which books are on your Relto shelf
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==Installing by hand==
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I don't actually know how this is done, but it would be nice to have a summary of how these programs get PotS to recognize Ages. The strengths are:
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*Uses whatever freaking framework you want
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*????
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*Profit!
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Latest revision as of 04:16, 14 June 2012

This page describes how you can play fan-created Ages on your own PC, manually installing those you are interested in. If you want to meet other explorers in an age, you need to play the ages online.

What do I need to play Fan Ages?

What do I need to do?

After installing Uru, you need to install the Offline KI. It extends Uru to properly support fan-ages and also features many more gooedies. Click on the link for installation instructions and a more detailed feature description.

Now Uru is ready for fan-ages, but the ages themselves are still missing. While manually downloading, installing and updating them is possible, the most common way to manage your fan-ages is by using the Uru Age Manager functionality of Drizzle. It automatically downloads the ages you selected, and tells you when there are new versions available. Uninstalling ages is also easily possible.