Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm a fairly competant programmer. When strange circumstances pile upon eachother, eventually creating a stairway of unrelenting confusion, leading to absolutely nowhere, any such illusions I have of my abilities quickly dissipate.

However, despite my complete lack of confidence in the .NET networking classes, there is good news. After many long nights of endless toil, the networking code is complete, asynchronous, and ass-kicking. It is optimized to oblivion, much improved over Epsilon's predecessor.

At the moment, the UScript converter is being rewritten to allow more flexibility than ever. Once that is finished, more updates will come.

Today has been quite a progressive day for Epsilon development.

All of the login-related and walking packets are (partially) working. Meaning, you can log in, naked, and walk around.

Having passed those first protocol milestones, the whole world that we love, in all of it's splendor, is open to further development.

Today has been quite a progressive day for Epsilon development.

All of the login-related and walking packets are (partially) working. Meaning, you can log in, naked, and walk around.

Having passed those first protocol milestones, the whole world that we love, in all of it's splendor, is open to further development.

• The saving method has been temporarily revamped and is using serialization. Until an effective method to create text saves with Epsilon objects is devised, the saves will remain as such.
• Core completely restructured to facilitate new namespaces that were not originally intended.
• Command compiler implemented to allow command line access from console to Epsilon and all compiled assemblies.
• Compiler now references to Epsilon assembly, giving scripts access to everything within the Core.
• GarbageCollect added, using built-in .NET Garbage collector.
• Access for commands to Console.
• Re-compiling on restart is no longer necessary if "Use current compile" is true.
• Character creation and deletion implemented. Soon will be able to scroll through characters when the

Epsilon, like most other XSS software available, interprets/compiles scripts on the fly. Giving an optimal amount of customization for users who are not inclined to fiddle with source-code or programming languages.

We have taken this customization a huge step forward. Where entirely everything is within the scripts. Only that which interacts with the client, or socket, is hardcoded. The core interacts directly with the scripts, and while base things, if editted, will limit functionality or features, it does allow the user know and have access to all of Epsilon's functions. The base classes for items, characters, and nearly everything else are in convenient script files, neatly organized, and when the server starts, compiled.

Compiled may not seem like such an important step, considering many other XSS software compile their scripts. But Epsilon compiles, along with VB and C#, psuedo-scripts, or as we are calling it, "UScript."

Documentation for UScript is sparse, as UScript, like Epsilon, is in it's infancy. However we can guarantee that the integration between the two will be an epic step forward in XSS development, giving an optimum amount of performance and customizability to all users.

At the moment, the UScript psuedo-script to VB converter is being integrated with Epsilon, so then we can continue forward with packet work. Expect it soon.

Celeron out.

The website is complete enough now to be made public. I have updated links and done some more comprehensive documentation of UScript. Also, a basic FAQ has been created, if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at celeron@twilightmanor.net.

Epsilon's progress is slow and steady, please be patient.

If you would like to help out, in any way, e-mail me at the aforementioned e-mail address.

I have changed the packet compression to use "compression.dll", the same DLL that Kair's Epsilon used. It works well.

The site's been updated yet again for no reason in particular. Does it seem familiar? There's a new section, UO Protocol, which contains information about the network protocol used by Ultima Online. It's nowhere near complete, but I'm going to try to work on it every day.

The site's back up, but I may be relocating it within the coming weeks/months to a dotcom address. I've decided to quit Ultima Online, at least for now, and try to work on some other online games. Epsilon source is freely available via the link to the left if anyone is interested. I'm hoping to secure a website and begin work on different games and keep a sort of emulator collection. Most likely my first serious project will be Final Fantasy XI, which is a MMORPG version of the popular Final Fantasy series. Other choices I am considering include Dark Ages of Camelot, Asheron's Call, and Neverwinter Nights. Anyways, I'm done with Ultima Online and I'm done with Epsilon for now.

I've made the decision to skip the Test Center stuff at the moment in order to implement some major changes to the server code to optimize performance and efficiency. I'm *thinking* about implementing centralized data management (for multiple shards sharing the same account information) and subserver support. I've already got a plan drawn up for how I intend for the Login Server to work to minimize bandwidth consumption, and I will most likely finish this part of the project, although I am not sure if it will ever see the light of day. To those who have been looking forward to staffing or testing on the Test Center, I apologize, though they may still maintain their positions when the server finally does go up. In the mean time, I have posted a sort of "transitional build" of the server; that is to say, the build is out there to say "here's the direction we're going, and this is what's happening with Epsilon," and its not exactly what I intended for the first release of the .NET version. You can find the build in the Downloads section (and be sure to get the Microsoft .NET Framework installed if you do not already have it!)

The Downloads section has been wiped. Since all previous builds of Epsilon are no longer supported and were meant as a sort of test, they are no longer available for download. Also missing are the Cliloc Editor, Animation Viewer, and Artwork Viewer programs.

Just to let everyone know what our current schedule is, below is a list of items that I plan to address before finalizing the .NET version for release:

• Implement Custom House Designing - The desining tool is about 70% finished at the moment, and I am working diligently to resolve an issue with displaying the house design after it is committed. Significant progress has been made as to the decoding of the House Design packet, and I am only a few bytes away from publishing a working variation of the packet.
• Necromancy, Magery, and Chivalry Skills - About 20 spells are fully functional at the moment, and more continue to be added each day.
• Melee Combat - Hand-to-hand combat is something that I definetly want to see implemented in some form before any final release, but it's not guaranteed to make the first cut.

Test Center Staff: I am currently seeking gamemasters, world builders, and scripters that want to pitch in on the Test Center. If you're going to be a scripter, you will need to be fairly proficient in VB.NET. If you're interested in staffing for the Test Center, send me an e-mail at WebDude15@aol.com with Test Center somewhere in the subject line.

Site Changes: I made a couple of changes to the site today. The forums have been completely wiped and some additional boards have been created. The other thing is that old news will no longer appear on the main page, and instead can be found in the Archived News forum.

This post was meant to be added Friday, but I was having problems accessing the web server, so it's being posted today instead. I'm pleased to announce that OSI-style house customization will be coming to Epsilon. I've already done work on the design tool's protocol, and it functions well enough to build and save a house design. The only problem that I'm having right now is with the ability to properly display customized houses, which I expect to remedy by the end of the week. Until then, here's a little picture to look at :)

Work is being done to incorporate the new Age of Shadows changes into Epsilon as quickly as possible, and I expect to have a Test Center available in soon. Also, I will be providing information regarding the changes that were made to the Epsilon code over the past few months, and hope to provide scripting tutorials in the near future. Below are some images exhibiting the Paladin Spellbook and Necromancer Spellbook, along with some special items. Oh, and FYI: Support for Malas has been added.

Also, I have decided after much deliberation that the VB.NET +Epsilon code will be made public.

A large amount of the +Epsilon code has been either removed or recoded, including scripts, gumps, commands, characters, items, accounts, and many of the functions. First off, the previous scripting format has been completely removed and replaced with a method that compiles VB.NET source code instead. Gumps, commands, characters, and items currently are supported under this new format. Items and Characters have also been given many new events, including OnHear, OnSeeChar, and OnSeeItem. The +Epsilon code has been reorganized and heavily revised, most of which is related to characters and items. The way commands, targets, and events are handled has changed as well, which will be detailed later. +Epsilon administrators can look forward to having much more control over their servers through the use of VB.NET scripts. Secondly, a few new things have been added including shopkeepers, stat locks, and better movement checking methods.

At the moment, a release date has not been considered. Also, I'm still debating as to whether or not +Epsilon will be open source. The Test Center will probably be available with the new code within a couple of weeks.

Currently, work is being done on the .NET version of Epsilon (+Epsilon) to incorporate an even more enhanced script system than in any previous version of Epsilon. The new script system is very similar to C-Sharp, and can be used to override hardcoded functions. An example of a script using the new format can be found here. At this point, more complex features such as if/thens, for and do statements, etc. are not implemented, but work is being done to complete this aspect of the script system. The new script system is expected to be fully operational and stable near the end of November, at which point a beta release for +Epsilon may be considered.

VB Artwork Viewer: I decided to go ahead and post a program I made a while back to experiment with mul reading in VB6 for those of you who are interested in this stuff. This program draws the Statics, Land, and Alpha artwork. The source is included with the zip.

The latest version of Epsilon has been released. In this version, the most notable changes are with the Support and Visual Updating systems. The Counselor help system is currently being revised, and now uses a scriptable gump to help when taking calls. The Help menu has been enabled to players again, and the Test Center text has been removed. Many of the bugs related to characters disappearing, or not updating properly have been fixed. You can find the 3.22 build and source files in the Downloads section.

Well, I've decided to temporarily hault production on Epsilon and take a little break from coding. +Epsilon is progressing nicely, and currently internal operations are being optimized, as well as a slightly different script system. Also, it is important to note that the Visual Basic 6.0 version of Epsilon is being discontinued. Be sure to download the .NET Framework from http://www.microsoft.com/netframework/ if you intend to test the C# version of Epsilon in the future.

• Creation bug fixed involving scripted items and decimal item ids.
• Minor Become bug fixed.
• Anatomy skill added.
• Char.Hunger added.
• Expressions will now activate in the order of appearance, rather than procedures first and then expressions.
• Walking bug fixed where the client would lose the character location (mostly occurred in Third Dawn)
• Various internal tweaks and fixes.
• More error handling code.
• X command added to allow Item/Char property setting (Example: =X StatCap 250)
• =Grantability (Gr) command implemented. Individual commands may now be granted to staff members through this command. Example: =Gr #1 Invisible
• [Grant] section in Commands.scp added to define abilities that staff members can grant.
• EvalInt bug fixed.

We're currently looking for a person who is willing to host a Test Center with the latest Epsilon code. We'd prefer the host to have a DSL connection or greater, and for the server to be up as much as possible in order to test a number of things. If you're interested in helping, send an e-mail to WebDude15@aol.com.

• =Equips command.
• =MakeCompanion (=Mn) Command.
• (Young) tag added.
• (Compaion) tag added - Only Youngs see this.
• Command Permissions may now use a comma to denote multiple permission levels.
• Item scripts may now initialize custom properties by declaring a variable outside of an event, and they may be manipulated like regular variables. New items created from these scripts will have their own copies of the properties to manipulate, but these values will not be restored upon server starts and will instead be set to the script's initial value.
• The Char namespace now allows for access to all characters (Char[ObjId])
• The Item namespace has been added to allow for access to all items (Item[ObjID])
• The RaiseEvent function now allows for events on other items and characters to be raised. Example: RaiseEvent($Item[1073741825].DClick); * The variable type 'event' has been added to allow for custom events. Example: event MoreEvents = Manual; <- This will add the ON=@MoreEvents event, which will be activated Manually using RaiseEvent.
• Functions have been implemented.
• charUpdate function has been added. Example: charUpdate($Char.Ser);
• Region.Light added.
• =Light (Lt) command added.
• Destroy event added to items.
• Destroy(Serial) function added.
• =Dupe command added.
• Senior Companions and Arch Companions added.
• A Character's Light flag now saves (Save Flag: +0x08)
• Update gump added to show on Login.
• =Available command added.
• =Unavailable command added.
• =Listnewbies command added.
• =Helpnewbie command added.
• =Releasenewbie command added.
• =Defer command added.
• $Server.lastChar property added.
• Drop(Serial) function added. * Timer(Seconds) function added.
• Wait(Seconds) function added.
• PlaceNPC(ID,X,Y,Z,F) added.
• Updates gump added.
• Items may no longer be "illegally dropped" by constantly moving it.
• Items will no properly display after failed drops and grabs.
• Updates, ShowVersion, and EnterWorld toggles added to server.scp.
• Speech keyword support (no more weird characters with certain words.
• Various test messages have been removed.
• Added corpse name notoriety hues.
• Certain invalid commands will no longer crash the server.
• StaDif and MapDif support.
• Fixes to Teleport command involving Z-Axis positioning.
• Fixes to static checking.
• =Staff command to relay a message to staff members.
• AutoAccount added to Server.scp to allow automatic account creation.
• Web server added.
• $Server.Name property added.
• Speech logging will create the Logs directory instead of crashing.
• Saving will create the Save directory instead of crashing.
• Codex packet implemented.
• Upgrade tag added to account.
• Tag[*] added to account.
• Mail tag added to account.
• MountID tag added to char.
• A character of type "t_Mount" will behave as a horse on DClick.
• Account registration menu added along with Register tag in server.scp
• Added $Socket global variable.
• Added addAccount(strName, strPass, bUpgrade, intSocket).
• Added Serverlist(intSocket, strAccountName, strAccountPass).
• Account Upgrade tag allows for prevention of Non-LBR clients to see the new animations.
• Textentry support. Use $Arg[Number] Number is zero based and ranges from 0 to the number of textentries in the gump, in order.
• =Server.Resync command added.
• Resyncs will now reload every script and mul file, and may be done so while players are online without interference.

Let's Get This Clear...

It's no secret that there is another "flavor" of Epsilon out there, and I'd like for it to be known that although it may be called Epsilon, it isn't. The Epsilon name has been with this version of my code almost since the emulator began over a year ago. The Epsilon name belongs to this version, and is exclusive to this program. Any other versions based off of the original code are asked to please adopt a new name.

"Recently, I have been asked on my opinion of other emulators either using source code or building off of existing versions by a couple of people, and I'm completely fine with other people using any or all of the source code, but it is important to know that you must make your project open source, as per the GNU license included in the source. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at WebDude15@aol.com."

"After a little digging it looks like my congratulations to them was a tad early, it has been brought to my attention that they basically took some of the javascript code for the UOXDEV website, namely our nav.js and are using it for their menubar over there. Its not the idea of using the code that makes me mad, its the fact that they didnt bother to ask."

"We've officially gone public! Epsilon server source is now available for your viewing pleasure! Also, be sure to check the new File Formats section of the site for information on loading the Ultima Online Mul files using VB. A sample for Animation Viewing has been posted. All of the links on the site should now work properly as well."

"A new project has been launched today, called Omicron. This new project will serve as an Ultima Online Client Emulator, and is designed to be used with Epsilon servers. The project is currently "In Concept" and the specifics are still being worked out. The project's native coding language is aimed towards Visual Basic .NET, but is currently being developed in VB6. The client is currently in closed source development, but may be opened later on. By developing a client emulator, a whole new world of options is opened to the Epsilon Developers, including built-in Mul Editing and GM Tools. "

"Hi. rofl, lets get to the point. in your post were you cutting me down? do you want to see my emulator? it has EVERYTHING besides the pvm and pvp. Yes UOGenius might be dead, i have no idea now but NEarth is not. UO-Free STOLE the coding from our emulator when they broke off from UO-G b/c of we send UOG the emu to see what it was like. All they did was change databases on an old release. we have banks new characters, npcs, items, static checking, map checking, UOTD New lands (threw a moongate) and god client checking and features. we have more then that but i dont feel like telling you all of it. if your post was to cut me down, i want to get you to see NEarth UO Emulator. peace."