I've gotten off my butt and actually updated a few things. You'll most likely not even notice, but the Linkster thing that didn't work is now removed, and the playlist is actually kinda updated. Messed up, but updated. If you find any broken links on the main pages please let me know. Thanks.

Ok, back to the grindstone.

On top of working full time, I'm now in school full time as well.

I'm not going to have a day off for over two months so I'll be very sporatic as far as appearance go.

School is Mon - Fri all day. Work is Sat and Sun all day along with Mon and Tue nights. Busy busy.

Every once in a while I'll be in CHAT so you can drop a line in there to me if you like.

I'm finally "working"

After several weeks of training, I'm now actually doing what I'm being paid to do.

I recently visited IRC and noticed how dead it was in there. Hopefully more of you will visit and say hi.

Server: irc.tragena.net

Channel: #map

Well, not so much as an update, but just to let you know I'm still alive.

The new job is going good so far. I'm still going to be focusing on that for the most part for a while so hang in there.

Once I start my normal hours and get into the routine, I'll be on a bit more.

In my case, no. And as such the website, Dragon mod 10, and everything else that doesn't provide income is basically on hold until I do get one.

In the mean time I'm sure you can all keep yourselves entertained for a while longer.

Still trying to find a"decent" (such a relative term) job, but it just might be the 7-11 working nights or something soon.

Yea well hes been busy and told me to post this, needless to say i cant post in the news

any way he had me do some work on it now here it is ryandors "untitled 2" (he didnt tell me what to call it so ive been saying that and freemap2 *shrugs)

http://www.darkshadowsuo.com/images/ryandorfreemap2.JPG

I have a link on my site right now i'll give out the direct link in a couple days when i change some space around

Overdue for an update! But there's 3 new screenshots and a new tutorial by Melody. Check them out. Remember, you have to send them in for me to post them! (Then I just need to get them up in a timely manner )

Just a few more additions to the news. Ryandor has added a new section to his site which allows people to send in their work so that others may use it. This section is for worldbuilders. It's a good idea, and was originally an idea for UOXPark!, but I'm really busy to try to add in too many more things to the site. As I haven't even finished creating the rest of the pages and links for sphere, and whatnot. *Sigh* Anyways, check that out.

UOXClassic has been having some trouble lately with connections. I'm not sure what's going on with that exactly, but hopefully it will be taken care of soon.

I'm looking for suggestions for some changes to the UOXPark! site layout. All suggestions are greatly appreciated. I know one of them will be keep up to date and finish the links, but I'd still like some suggestions. I'll probably do some changes here and there within the next few days. I'll be incorporating a javascript menu system to help make it a little more appealing. Since my site is just simple html. Just post on the forums, e-mail me, contact me.

This is an add-on for Mod 9 (required). To install, extract to your Dragon folder making sure you use folder names. It will create some new files and overwrite changed files. Make sure you back up your Dragon folder if you have custom files. This is completely compatible with maps made with mod 9.

What's included:

• Color: roughgrass
• Transition: roughgrass
• Item transition: rock2- / star2- (Malas coastlines)
• Item placement: roughgrass (swampgrass)
• Item placement: swamp
• Item placement: prairie and plains

Ok, by popular request, I've added a new section where you can submit building designs and scripts. (For those who, for some strange reason, don't go to the home page: Designs)

The submission guidelines are on that page as well. I expect at least a few designs within the next few days, so send them in so there's at least something on that page.

Another screenshot has been added. Check it out on the Screenshots page

Also, please let me know if anyone is having problems with the forums. It seems that the login page is having a problem. Thanks.

On or about May 29th, Ryandor.com will be changing hosts. While I do not anticipate any problems, there is the possibility of some downtime. Additionally, there is a possibility that the forums may get wiped. I'm taking every precaution against this and hope to restore all the previous messages to the new host, but there's no guarantees. If there's something in the forums you can't live without, now is the time to save a copy of it. I will also be locking the forums over the transition time, at least a couple days prior to the 29th. During this time please be patient as everything changes over.

Hi, its Imprint. I'm rebuilding my UO World Building site, and its going to be called "UO Dark Shards". I will be offering FREE public domain maps as I did in the past as well as offering to develop "unique" maps for individuals for a price.

Also I've placed a sample image of the "Alternate OSI World" BITMAP that I've been working on for close to a year. It is now completed and I will be making it available for download.

Site is finally back online with a new look and feel. I've been busy over the last few months as stated on the old site I was finishing the "Alternative OSI World Map" and I'm pleased to announce that it is completed and available for download now.

I'd like to take a minute to thank Ryandor for informing all his visitors of my site coming back online, and for his great work on the MOD's for Dragon. Checkout his site when you get a chance. www.ryandor.com

As before I'll be developing new BMP Maps now and then and adding them to the site for anyone to download and use, they are all public domain and can be used/changed as you see fit. If you decide to use one of my maps for your shard, a donation of 10$ would be welcome through my PAYPAL account as these worlds take months to draw and test, so a donation would be much appreciated if you would like to support my efforts.

I am now willing to develop "Unique" world BMP's for a price. If you are looking for a certian type of world map that you can own/offer as a shard. Check the "Unique Maps" link for further details and price.

I am also going to link to all the tutorials I know of out there pertaining to world development and give credit to the person who wrote it. See the Help link for listing of Tutorials.

They said it couldn't be done. Well, Melody has just proven that you can actually use MS Paint to create a map.

Also, Xelah has finished the Roof Tutorial.

Thanks goes out to both of you for contributing!

I'm sure most of you know this, but for those who don't, I do not make any of the maps you see available for use. This site provides help for you to make a map. Not for me to give you a map. If you email me asking for a map, I will not reply. The reason is simple: There's only so many maps in the screenshots, and most of these are other shard's screenshots. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate me giving out their map (even if I had a copy) after they did all the work. Additionally, I am not for hire, for money or anything. A typical map can take well over two months to even remotely finish, and I don't have that kind of time to spare. Sorry, but if all you want is a premade map, there's one on your UO CD.

That being said, if you are looking for others to help you build a map, then please post in the forums. Also, if you have a question on how to make a map, then read through the FAQs, then ask if you still need help.

TSMC is a program that can take a full color "raw" file along with an altitude file and convert it to a map0.mul. It's not for the faint of heart but this enables complete control over the map0 creation process. Source code included. You can get it at Sydius.com.

http://www.sydius.com/downloads.shtml

There's a new forum, by suggestion, where you can add to the map making tutorial. If you've got a technique, how-to, or whatever, then please contribute. I'm making this into a "group effort" for lack of a better term. I'm also breaking out of the "chapters" and going with just posts. Any aspect of the map making tutorial can be added. Once there is enough to make some sense of it, I'll combine the posts in the tutorial. All contributors will be credited of course.

My latest thoughts regarding map editing revolves around the limitations of Dragon. As most everyone knows, Dragon can be very limited when it comes certain aspects. Namely, tweaks you do on the map are lost if you have to re-run the map through Dragon.

I'm currently working on a set of techniques to hopefully make up for this drawback.

One well known technique is the Fix file that you can sue with Dragon. Although I'm sure most map makers do not utilize it, due to the bug that it has. I have been successfully using this technique for many months without a problem, and I encourage people to learn about it and use it. It does make a lot more things possible. There is a post in the FAQ's about how it work if you are interested.

Another technique I am working on is the use of MapConvert (one of Eikon's tools) to place things in the map that Dragon may not be able to. MapConvert has the advantage of being able to define relatively easily, the equivelent of the colortable in Dragon, plus the ability to selectively choose what parts of the map you draw on. The downside is it doesn't do any translations (however, Eikon has another tool designed for it). The real power of it is in using it in combination with Dragon. These two program complement each other greatly.

As RoseThorn made notice of, another tool called DragonSCPCleaner fills another gap in the process by being able to automatically modify what statics DragonSP places.

By the time I get all this in place, there will be practically no manual tweaking required for any map creation. While WorldForge is an excellent tool for map editing, there really will be no reason to use it.

Of course all of this makes a bit more preperation work before and during the map making process, but it can be worth it in the long run as having to go back and fix something mulitple times can be more of a time waster than anything else.

Everything I've talked about will be covered in my new tutorial that I've started. If you've been thinking about starting a new map, then the best advice I can say at this point is if you can put it off a couple months until I finish the tutorial, all the better, as the face of map making is going to be changing for the better.

After the tutorial is finished, I'm going to revisit my mod. It will mainly be fixes of the problems I've encountered in the past. However, it will have a couple new features, and I'll be creating options for different configurations. One notable option with be cave floors. Currently optimized for caves under mountains, I'll be including the option of not placing statics cave tiles, as these interfere with caves in dungeons.

The only drawback to all this is for those already on the road, or have already completed maps that they want to edit. Unfortunetly, there's not as much of an incentive for those people to go back and essentially start from scratch to recreate the Fix file, and other files required for this process. But after the tutorial is finished, I'll be addressing that problem too.

New Map Making Tutorial started: Over the next couple of months I'll be rewriting the Tutorial for making maps. I'll be creating it as a series of posts here in the forums. Once complete, I'll combine everything in a complete document. I also welcome comments, additional insight and ideas, and techniques that others use. Anything that you think would be a good addition to the tutorial, I will add. Credit will be given to those that contribute. For ease of keeping track, reply to the relevant chapter.

• Transition: Lava now working
• Color: "no-draw"
• Color: "see through" Cave Entrance
• Misc: Fixed PaintShop Pro Palette file
• Item Transition: Dungeon House in Caves (disabled)
• Misc: Cleaned up some of the scripts
• Misc: Map Actions for Photoshop updated
• Misc: New FullMap using Mod 9 colors
• Misc: Map Piece modified to Mod 9 colors
• Misc: Fixed Fix Table

DragonAssist, created by KnightD, is a helper program for creating those pesky transition scritps. Using this tool you can visualize how your transition will be quickly and easily. For all you map makers out there, check it out! You'll need the UOArt ocx files which you can find here, along with DragonAssist, in the Utilities section.

You can also visit KnightD's DragonAssist page (with screenshots) here: http://individual.utoronto.ca/SanfordR/UOTools/DragonAssist.html

Thanks to KnightD for possibly one of the best contributions to Dragon.

Also, as a side note, the lava transition will be in Mod 9, which is entering the final phases of being released. Watch for it soon!

Caves! Seems I can actually find a bit of time to get something done. Go to the guides section for a quick walk through on how to make caves and cave entrances!"

• Starfield color
• Forest to Swamp transition
• New cave transition
• Cave to Dirt transition
• Black to Dungeon (cave) transition
• Jungle script
• New maptrans for use with Dragon 1.05.00
• and more

Syduis has just released his Map Convetor Tool. Lightning fast and simple to use! Find out all the details and get the download here.

Of course I can't keep my nose out of stuff so I put together a little package to help people get started. SMC-extras you can find in the Apps section.

New version of the Map Making Tutorial is available. (now version 11) Info on UOCopy, Multool, and Worldforge, along with a new technique on grass "cliffs" for the Dragon mod.

Also, by request I've made available a photoshop action that will make a map template automatically. No need to figure out how to get the bmp right. Just run the action and start painting! Custom brushes included too.

http://www.geocities.com/ryandor

• Cave Entrances at altitute 20, 30 and 40
Item Scripts for Alpine and Graveyard (by StormCrow) Item Script for Cave Misc Script Parts Better readme.txt file!