Difference between revisions of "Playing Fan Ages"

(haha take that dustin)
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=Introduction=
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==What are Fan Ages?==
There are two different programs used to simplify the downloading and installing of Fan Ages: UAM (Uru Age Manager) and ULM (Uru Library Manager). Historically, UruAgeManager was written initially and used for Fan Ages. During the "Great Cyan Clamdown of 2006" things were driven underground for a while, and UruLibraryManager was written to take its place. Later on, UruAgeManager was rewritten from scratch and added to the tool Drizzle.
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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.
  
  
UruAgeManager Strengths (as part of Drizzle):
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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].
*Runs on the Java platform.
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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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*Faster downloads
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*Caches downloads, and lets you easily switch versions of an Age without redownloading
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UruLibraryManager Strengths:
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What makes up these Ages is data made in special tools ([[Blender Intro|Blender]], [[Free and useful tools to help in Age writing#Python tools|Python]], [[AlcScript]], [[PyPRP Intro|PyPRP]]). However, the game engine needs a push to recognize these Ages. Manager programs, most notably [[Installing ULM|Uru Library Manager]] (ULM) and [http://alcugs.almlys.org/Drizzle Uru Age Manager] (UAM) were written to make this push (installation), and also to manage downloading Ages from a [http://ulm.hbyte.net/ common database].
*Runs on the .Net platform.
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*Allows you to customise which books are on your Relto shelf
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For info on UAM(Drizzle): [[Drizzle]]
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While Fan Ages are not created by Cyan Worlds (and thus not commercial, not always cohesive, and [[Ahra Pahts|in some cases]] not finished), 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.
  
For info on ULM: [[Installing_ULM]]
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==What do I need to play Fan Ages?==
  
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*Windows XP or Vista
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*The Uru game engine, necessarily as part of one of these games:
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**[http://www.amazon.com/Myst-Uru-Path-Shell-Expansion-Pc/dp/B00023XXLI Uru: The Path of the Shell] (which requires [http://www.amazon.com/UBI-Soft-008888681090-Uru-Beyond/dp/B00008Z0IA/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_3 Uru:ABM])
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**[http://www.amazon.com/UBI-Soft-Myst-Uru-Chronicles/dp/B00023XXMC/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_1 Uru: Complete Chronicles]
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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]. Created by Old Wolle, H'astin, and ddb174.
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**[[Installing ULM|Uru Library Manager]]. Requires [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework .NET]. Created by Tyion.
  
Disclaimer: dustin may be a bit pie-faced :P
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(as of January 2009 there is not an available multiplayer version)

Revision as of 04:21, 21 January 2009

What are Fan Ages?

As you know, in D'ni culture an Age is a separate universe, described by and accessible through special books. And as you know, as D'ni culture is represented in the Myst and Uru series of computer games, an Age is essentially a level in one of these games.


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, Plasma.


What makes up these Ages is data made in special tools (Blender, Python, AlcScript, PyPRP). However, the game engine needs a push to recognize these Ages. Manager programs, most notably Uru Library Manager (ULM) and Uru Age Manager (UAM) were written to make this push (installation), and also to manage downloading Ages from a common database.


While Fan Ages are not created by Cyan Worlds (and thus not commercial, not always cohesive, and in some cases not finished), 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.

What do I need to play Fan Ages?

(as of January 2009 there is not an available multiplayer version)