31337 haxor!

Ok... to start off with, do not try this at home. Hacking your game files can kill your game, kill your computer, or get Cyan reallyreallyreally mad at you. Also, hacking the game files makes your End User License Agreement null and void, so if you end up breaking your computer, Cyan and/or Ubisoft will just point and laugh. And if you try this with a copy of the game that has been patched for Until Uru, you will get banned from the shard and probably end up corrupting the vault. So if you do try this.. do it with an unpatched, non UU copy of the game.
So, of course, like an idiot.. I hacked my solo-player game.
And I found some really fun stuff. To start off with, there's a Bahro stone in Gahreesen that links to the Great Shaft...

And yes, the stone actually works, it took me to the Great Shaft without a hitch. While I was there, I turned on flymode and enjoyed some of the sights...



After a while, I got tired of not really being able to see much (damn you, sunlight and white walls!) and followed up on another lead that I had been itching to look at... the odd "photograph" looking thing in the Kadish vault that I talked about earlier. Alas... it was there, but I figured out what it was, finally; the end of one of the beams that held up the vault itself.

You can see the edges of these beams just have an odd texture, and it happened to poke through into the vault where you could see it. However... some of the beams have collision, meaning you can walk on them.. even the ones that you're not "supposed" to use.

I had to use flymode to get to them, jumping from the platform is chancy, and I panic linked many, many, many times before I finally gave up and resorted to flymode, but it is possible to get to them without resorting to hacks. And while in my Relto one of those many times... I decided to "climb" my tree.

As much as I love my solo version of the game, with the hacks and tweaks, and the extra clothing items and relto pages and places to explore... it will never, ever hold a candle to Until Uru. There's something amazing about being able to explore with company... and I have to admit that while I was exploring, I was lonely. I wanted to be able to share my discoveries with someone as I found them, and have someone share theirs with me.

Gahreesen Madness!

There's been some interesting things happening recently in Gahreesen.. ok, bugs, but still funny as heck. I would make at least a token attempt at being IC, but I can't think of a way to explain it... Whenever I'm there with more than one person, the elevator seems to dislike me, usually dumping me into the air beneath the rooftop, causing me to panic link, but sometimes something else happens; I get off of the elevator and become.. well, really short.
Two screenshots.. (the other person is vid)
Shark Attack! (attempts to gnaw vids ankles)

Now I'm hiding...

The entire time, I was giggling madly and humming the theme to "Jaws"... I could even sit down and hide from him completely, since my head was below the level of the floor while sitting. I mean, I'm short in real life... but not that short!

Oh, and I eventually solved the problem by jumping to the rock pier and back, which put me back on the level with vid.

Does the Baron's office tell the future?

Another explorer brought this up, so I can't take credit for it... but when you link into the Baron's office and look out the window... there's something interesting about the rope bridge...

Or, rather, lack thereof. Does this mean that the office is actually sometime in the future or the past, either before the bridge had been built, or after it has collapsed? I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, so I'll leave the speculating up to you for a change.

But... if there is time travel involved... I wonder if I can somehow get Eddie into the office?

Bahro Stone!

Linking into the city today, I discovered a pleasant suprise...

That's the Teledahn Bahro stone, and it's where it should have been for the last few months. I now have a pretty, new dock for my Relto. I guess the Bahro are pleased with the efforts of the explorers. I checked for the stone behind the library, but nothing yet. I'm optimistic that it will appear, however, sooner or later.

Hmmm.... I've been kicking rocks and logs onto my dock and then turning it off, so that they float. I wonder what would happen if I had another explorer sit on the dock while I turned it off and re-linked?

*Keanu Reeves voice* Woah...

I'm posting this from beautiful Eder Kemo... but it's Eder Delin that I'll be talking about. After the meeting of our five new liasons (congrats, guys, by the way!), a new screenshot was released of a previously unseen age.

It has a remarkable resemblance to Eder Kemo, but evidently, a lot of the "garden" ages have some of the same attributes (possibly written by the same person?). And from what I've seen of it, it looks ... beautiful. As much as I love Eder Gira, it gets very hot and humid.. and Eder Kemo is a tad chilly and damp. Delin, however, looks warm and inviting. Unless it has man-eating monsters or something, I have no doubt that it will quicky become my favorite meditation spot. I can't wait until the explorers have acess to it... it looks calm, peaceful, and inviting.
I wonder if it has fireflies too?

I know I'm being really nit-picky, but...

While in Teledahn last night, getting a suitable picture of the box for this blog (see the post below), I noticed another oddity...

I'm not sure how visible this is, but to me, it looks like there are two square shadows on the desk... that don't belong to anything. Is there supposed to be something there? Or will something else show up later, much like the box did? Or am I just nuts, and they're just stains?

And another idea... what is the meaning of the "stump" that you can reach from the bahro stone in the Shroom Baron's office? I know the other previously "useless" dead end bahro stones, like the balconies and rooftop actually had a purpose in recalibrating the Great Zero... but what about the stump? I've tried taking KI pics from there, but as usual, I WTFcrash every time.

A tale of two theories...

I'm posting from the surface tonight... my allergy to Teledahn is acting up, and I thought I would play it safe and return to the surface to recover.

I've got some theories, however...
The first is about the fireflies in Eder Kemo. I've wondered if they don't actually feed on the troom spores, since I have a cloud of them happily buzzing around my Relto, and no trooms. Since Kemo is an alternate reality, of sorts, who says that the fireflies have to have physical food to survive? What if they fed on another energy source, such as warmth? That would explain why walking through a swarm of fireflies attracts them; they're feeding on your body heat. And since water has a very high specific heat (in other words, it takes a lot of energy to warm water up, so it tends to leach heat from other sources), wading in a pool would make the fireflies no longer interested in you; not enough heat to keep them happy. To me, Kemo feels slightly chilly from the constant rain. Perhaps the trooms produce heat as a byproduct of living, much like animals do. Relto, however "feels" much warmer to me... which could be why my fireflies are no longer constricted to one place; there's plenty of sustenance for them everywhere.

The second is more of an observation than a theory. While in Teledahn earlier today, I saw this:



An open box on a desk. Pretty mundane, right? Look closely... the interior doesn't match up with the exterior... almost as though there is a false bottom in the box. However, it doesn't have a "hotspot", so I can't really poke and prod at it. I wish I had more to post about this, but whenever I clicked on the box, I "WTFcrashed". After a few tries, I gave up. Perhaps the next time I go to the cavern, I'll remember to bring some benadryl with me.

[Edit] I tried again... and even though it doesn't have a hotspot, I clicked on it a whole lot... nothing happened. However... there are some decidedly odd shadows on the desk; I'll see if I can get another picture for my next post.

Posting from Eder Kemo...
Looks like the servers are back up, I finally managed to link in without any problems. I'm not entirely sure how long I'm going to be able to stay here, because I have things to do on the surface... but I'm glad to have my favorite spot to curl up with a book available again.

*Bangs head against wall*

ARGH!!!!

I had a wonderful night... chatting with friends, gossiping, goofing off, laughing at each other's jokes, that sort of thing. But then someone wanted to join our neighborhood, so I let him link through to my Relto, where I had left my neighborhood linking book unlocked.
After some time, and him not linking back into the 'hood, I got worried that perhaps the door to my hut had closed, locking him out.. and away from my bookcase. So I tried to link to my Relto to make sure he was ok... only to crash to desktop.
For the last hour, I've been trying to get back in, only to be hit with an "AUTH RESPONSE FAILURE" error every time.
Oddly enough, when I log in as my evil twin... I link right in. I'm so frustrated now that I'm actually considering deleting my avvie and re-creating it, just so that I can get back to the cavern... I feel awful because I couldn't tell my friends goodnight.

Flymode and you

Another set of pictures, this time of the Ae'gura "spyroom" instance. Much like Sharper's office in the city, it's not an actual part of the city.
These are all from outside the "spyroom", and aren't visible at all from the game, except for the scope in the spyroom, which could have much more easily been faked with a simple flat image.


This one is of the building that contains office that you can see from the spyroom scope). Another amazing thing; they modled and textured an entire building for one scene.


A closer shot, showing even more beautiful detail that will never be seen in-game.



And this last one is a shot of the office that Sharper was spying on... once again, the entire room was modled and textured, even though you only see a tiny fraction of it. And if you're curious, all of the linking books in the office link to Teledahn... I wonder what the DRC was talking about in that meeting?

Hacking for fun and profit

Ok, this is going to be the first in a series of posts about the "no clipping" hack, also known as "flymode"... an awesome tool for those of us who like to take things apart to see how they work. Obviously, this is a very OOC topic, so if you want to maintain the illusion that Uru is real... go read the Age-Linker's Guide to your right.

One of the most interesting things I found with flymode is this...

A giant pink arrow on the tallest stalagmite in Ae'gura. I haven't the slightest clue what it's for, but... pretty cool, nonetheless.

Another interesting part of the cavern is the Great Shaft, which is publicly closed to explorers. However, playing the solo game with flymode, I snapped a shot of this:

Which is the very bottom of the Great Shaft. Nothing really unusual about it, except for the amazing amount of work that went into something that the average player will only see for a split second. The floor is modled, it's not just one simple texture... even the pillars have D'ni script written on them.

More later, I also have some interesting shots from the Ae'gura "Spy Room"...

This post has been brewing for a while, but I've finally decided to voice my thoughts... reading over the forums has been part of my daily ritual for the past two months, along with checking my friends' blogs, checking my email, drinking that first ambrosial cup of coffee, etc.
As OCD as I am about it, I'm seriously considering removing one particular forum from my "favorites" menu. It's devolved into a morass of flame-wars, name calling, and threats. This is a stark contrast to the usually peaceful, helpful, friendly community that I've come to know and love, and it really saddens me that it should come to this over something as silly as choosing a couple of messengers.
Yep, you read that right... these massive cracks in our community are because the DRC wants us to pick someone to deliver messages back and forth. That's it. Not congressmen (or women), not senators, not grand poohbas, but just messengers. Gofers. Errand-boys (or girls). And I based my voting on that; the ones who realized that this isn't a position of power, and the ones who have stayed out of the flaming and name-calling are the ones that have my support.
And we've already had some wonderful, respected members of our community leave because of this. Why are we letting ourselves be torn apart over something so trivial?
I'd considered posting this on the forum in question, but decided against it. I've been involved in some forum flame-wars in the past that makes this one look like a tempest in a teapot... and since then, I've made a rule that I won't post anything on any forum unless it's 100% positive. So I doubt that I'll be posting anything there soon.
I've even considered completely withdrawing from the community because of all of the negative energy there; I've been spending a lot more time in private ages recently... but I don't think I'm ready to give up Uru yet. There are too many things there that I love.

My apologies, dear reader, for my soapboxing; I realize this was a very long-winded post, but I really had to get it off of my chest.

Posting from Eder Kemo...

Someone told me that this age was their favorite meditation spot. I used to hang out in Eder Gira, preferring the sun-warmed rock and hot springs to the chillier, stormy Kemo. However, something about Gira recently has been giving me a serious allergic reaction, and I can't stay there long before passing out and waking up on the surface.
So I've been spending a lot of time in Eder Kemo, and I've realized... he's right. This age is marvelously peaceful, and there are pleanty of places to hole up out of the damp, either with a good book (as I've been doing the past few hours), or a good friend (as I have many times before). I spent plenty of time sitting and simply staring at the Kemo fish swimming idly about their pond and marveling at their almost jewel-like colors contrasting with the rough grey rock. There are so many little nooks and crannies, all packed with something interesting to sit and watch, either the trooms with their fireflies, the puffer plants, the "Watcher" monument, or simply watching the trees sway in the wind... all serene and peaceful.

Hmmm... I wonder if I can coax some fireflies to join me in one of the tunnels, so I'll have some light to read by without getting my book wet?

I haven't been down to the cavern in a few days, but I still have plenty to post.
The election polls for the DRC candidates are open, and I've voted.

(shameless political plug)
If anyone's actually interested in who I voted for... my first choice was Vid. After spending uncountable hours talking to him in the cavern... it still amazes me how much he loves D'ni and it's history.. as well as this amazing community, and I know that he'll do the job well.
(/shameless political plug)

Meanwhile....
There's yet more bickering going on in the forums. I'll be happy when all of this is over, and we can go back to being a tight-knit community together. Usually, this is an incredible place to be, almost like family, but the elections seem to have caused a lot of rifts. I'm glad that we still have a lot of community-oriented events, such as spoken word night...
which is today... in an hour... and I don't have anything to read!
*panic*

Insomniaaaaaaa!
I should be happily asleep right now, but my body dissagrees... so I might as well write.

Some interesting things have been happening in the cavern. Although they've already been covered in the Guide (see the link to the right), I might as well give my take on them.

There's something odd going on with the private meditation rooms (also known as the Seed Room or the Egg Room). Vid and I were exploring the rooms, testing to see if they really did block out all communication with others in the age (as well having a ball locking Dalken out), which they did, when the three of us decided to go hang out in the Kadish Gallery. Vid and I linked from inside the closed room to his Relto, intending to simply meet Dalken at the Gallery. Strangely enough, when we all met there, Vid and I could converse normally, however Dalken couldn't hear us, and we couldn't hear him. Many jokes were made at this point about Dalken being a bad jedi, since he couldn't hear us. Even voice chat wasn't transmitted.
We finally figured out that since we linked from inside the closed privacy room, the client still thought that we were in a "private" conversation. After a few more jedi jokes, we managed to fix the situation by simply going back to the room, locking ourselves in, and then letting the door time out.
However, this raises an interesting idea: if someone is being really annoying... it should be possible to lure them into a meditation room and then get them to link out while it is closed, essentially forcing them into their own little "private" chat bubble. No one would be able to hear them, no matter how many times they linked in and out, and they would just consider it a particularly annoying chat bug.
However, when I checked last night, the door to the Seed Room was locked again... I'm wondering if this interesting feature is being fixed (I hope not!), or somehow playing with the lights in the lightgarden made it lock itself. Could we have accidentally stumbled on the light combination that makes the door lock? There's an idea.... locking Dalken in the Seed Room!
*evil snicker*
Update: I checked again this morning... the door works fine, now. Must have been a fluke.

Another point of interest...
When I linked to my Relto, I found a notice in my KI from the DRC themselves, asking anyone who hasn't already signed the petition to sign it. Thankfully, I already have, and I've asked both of my parents, my sister, her husband, and some of my "surface" friends to sign it as well. (I'm # 35 on the list. *smirk*)
Strangely enough, the message can't be deleted, and it seems to be hardwired into the KI mainframe as well... I created an extra avatar a few hours ago, ran through the cleft, and got my KI... and the message was there, waiting for me. Kinda nifty.

And a plea, to anyone who might be reading this... I created this blog in order to host some interesting images that I found in the game, but it's turned into alot more than that, now. I'm not sure how many people actually read this blog (only two that I know of), but if you see this, please sign the petition. Uru is one of the few multiplayer games that encourages peaceful solutions to conflict, teamwork, and a strong sense of community.

http://www.petitiononline.com/uru2006/petition.html