[Sunny Under]

What am I looking forward to?

Definately stability and for all of the major bugs to be finally fixable.
And if MGE/MWSE functions are added, I can finally run Morrowind without something else running in the background.

[Daramis McGee]

So... Any progress?

[Lisa Robb]

What is everyone looking forward to the most in the new engine?

Animation blending, physics, and the possibility to add new animations.
I don't really care about anything else.

I just hope I don't stop modding before this is finished, or I'm gonna miss out on all the fun.

[Chris Cross Cabaret Man]

So... Any progress?

I just read they have been working on something for sound, and for reading files from their zips or something.
They are rewriting a lot of stuff in C++ or something.
They have a website, check it out.

[dav]

I just hope I don't stop modding before this is finished, or I'm gonna miss out on all the fun.

So... Don't stop modding?

[emily grieve]

I have to say i really can't wait for this, but unfortunatley i have too

I really want physics in Morrowind, thats the best part for me, that and it actually being able to make the most out of your hardware

Keep up the good work :goodjob:

[sarah simon-rogaume]

I wonder if the OpenMW team is still going to write a scripting language of their own.

Nicolay (t-brick) has his own commercial level scripting language he's working on that he hopes to sell eventually. Yes, it will be used for a lot of stuff in OpenMw. So modding low level stuff and adding/changing complicated things should be a lot easier.

I really want physics in Morrowind, thats the best part for me, that and it actually being able to make the most out of your hardware

The idea (at least right now) is to have ragdoll physics and physics on anything the player moves around personally. Can't do physics on stuff that's already place, because it was never placed with concern for physics being applied. You'd get clipping issues, which usually mean stuff jittering back and forth madly and etc.

Also there's an entire wishlist of stuff I'd love to see in graphical terms once it's done. I'm (very slowly) working on a small thing. But really there's plenty of stuff already done for OGRE that could be added and I'm sure the shader wizards here will enjoy working with OGRE a lot more than MGE.

[Greg Swan]

I have to say i really can't wait for this, but unfortunatley i have too

I really want physics in Morrowind, thats the best part for me, that and it actually being able to make the most out of your hardware

Keep up the good work :goodjob:

Yeah I know I can't wait either lol.
I so wish I could code. Then I could help.

It's such an awesome idea. It's one of those really really massive projects that you never think someone will do it and then some people go and work on it devoting so much time.
They've come so far and I am glad to see it still going strong.
I'm also very happy Bethesda Softworks is allowing it.

Thank you OpenMW team for working on this.
Good luck with rewriting code, and good luck with the terrain and animation rendering.

[Queen]

What is everyone looking forward to the most in the new engine?

As heretical as this will sound, I'm looking forward to the Crystal Scrolls as a result of this being pushed more. I think the guy writing the Crystal Scrolls is taking it a bit personally and it's showing - his engine appears to be much further along. The competition factor is great.

[Esther Fernandez]

Also there's an entire wishlist of stuff I'd love to see in graphical terms once it's done. I'm (very slowly) working on a small thing. But really there's plenty of stuff already done for OGRE that could be added and I'm sure the shader wizards here will enjoy working with OGRE a lot more than MGE.

I actually prefer MGE for full-screen shaders, it's simpler to work with than OGRE. As far as material shaders, OGRE is better there, but it's designed to support that.

As heretical as this will sound, I'm looking forward to the Crystal Scrolls as a result of this being pushed more. I think the guy writing the Crystal Scrolls is taking it a bit personally and it's showing - his engine appears to be much further along. The competition factor is great.

The Crystal Scrolls is based on Crystal Space, which, as far as engines go, isn't the greatest. It's a full engine, unlike OGRE, hence the appearance of having more done, but CS isn't near as good as OGRE graphically, and the code is just a mess for it. It's a massive, bloated system with everything you'll never need half-done.

As for the mention that OpenMW is now being done in C++, that's excellent news.

[maya papps]

Although this post may well show the breadth and scope of my ignorance, I was wondering about some of OpenMW's internal workings and how it will handle Morrowind data. I started wondering about this because it occurred to me that Morrowind is essentially a large database. I'm not sure how it actually works, though it appears that all the game assets, whatever type they may be, seem to be one sort of object or another, related across various database tables.

One of the major weaknesses apparent in vanilla Morrowind's implementation is the static nature of its database (or at least "database-like" structure). For instance, suppose I wanted to create a mod that added custom items to the game. To do that, I would have to manually create entries for each such item as its own unique object in the construction set and then place them in the game, either explicitly (e.g. on a shelf) or implicitly (e.g. in a leveled list or through scripting). Having to first create the object I wish to see implemented in the game inherently limits the variability of available objects in both Morrowind and its mods.

Suppose I wanted to create items or spawn loot, monsters, etc. with characteristics depending on the player's actions and properties. To do this, I would want to use a rules-based system. Instead of focusing on the proper circumstances to include one of a handful of objects, I would focus on defining the rules that would dynamically create unique new ones.

An example of this sort of thing that already exists in vanilla Morrowind would be the alchemy system. When a player wants to create a potion, the game does not yet have an object corresponding to the potion that will be created. Instead, the engine follows a series of rules and then produces the appropriate output based on the variables in its calculation. Depending on the player's intelligence, alchemy skill, luck, the quality of the apparati used, the combination of ingredients used, and various "behind the scenes" global settings, (I think that accounts for all the variables but don't hold me to it), the game then creates a new potion that did not previously exist. Player created potions are not listed in the Alchemy "table" visible in the Construction Set. That is to say, their creation is rules-based.

Imagine what could be done if more of the game operated in this way. NPC's/creatures could be generated according to rules based on the player's characteristics at the time. And not just which NPC's/creatures spawn but also their properties: their number, stats, abilities, spells, items, etc. could be dynamically created as well. Whole new systems could be created. Suppose you wanted to create a ranger mod. One could create a system that acts similarly to alchemy, allowing the player to apply the negative effects of a combination of ingredients to a bundle of arrows. The type and strength of those effects would of course depend on various factors, be generated in a rules-based way, and result in a virtually infinite number of possible outcomes. There are many, many ways this sort of thing could be used to make Morrowind a much more dynamic, interesting world.

As I imagine it, some sort of formal database system would be implemented in the game engine. The engine would parse the *.bsa, *.esm, *.esp, and *.ess files during loading times, generating its own database file (or merely updating it as necessary after first run), which the game would then use primarily. With a suitable interface to the database backend, its contents could be modified through modifications to the rules of the database itself, scripting, and the player's actions in game. This approach would allow for many more options while maintaining the consistency/coherence of the original game/mod files (at the expense of some hard drive space).

What I'm trying to ask is will OpenMW implement OGRE's resource/scene management or add to it in a more "database-like way" than Morrowind's original implementation (or at least one that allows for similar results as far as the modder/user is concerned)?

Whatever the answer, much thanks to all the people working to make Morrowind even better.

[Dagan Wilkin]

Does this mean we can have fancy stuff like normal maps and such what?

[Charity Hughes]

imagine if they complete the multi player function of open morrowind and project tamriel at the same time we could have like... a legit mmo! but I don't really like mmos, but it would be, at max, like 100 people, at that size of a map we could coexist nicely.

[Taylor Bakos]

imagine if they complete the multi player function of open morrowind and project tamriel at the same time we could have like... a legit mmo! but I don't really like mmos, but it would be, at max, like 100 people, at that size of a map we could coexist nicely.

Just as long as I can choose to play single player. And whenever I want to.

I read they want to use a save system like Fable where you can save your gameworld and your character seperate. I think it's awesome. You could start a new game with a pre-made character, or use a character in multiplayer.
Maybe even make an NPC out of a character save!

I know Fliggerty will love that. He has that Excise Office thing he made.

[Pixie]

Just as long as I can choose to play single player. And whenever I want to.

I read they want to use a save system like Fable where you can save your gameworld and your character seperate. I think it's awesome. You could start a new game with a pre-made character, or use a character in multiplayer.
Maybe even make an NPC out of a character save!

I know Fliggerty will love that. He has that Excise Office thing he made.

mmmm and I bet there would be an ironman server!
This game never fails to get me exited, even all these years after launch. truly the best game ever to have such longevity.

[Undisclosed Desires]

mmmm and I bet there would be an ironman server!
This game never fails to get me exited, even all these years after launch. truly the best game ever to have such longevity.

Ironman? As in you die and your character is deleted?
Screw Ironman Server.
How about an option in the menu to create a different kind of character save that, like, records whether or not a character has died and makes it unloadable. For singleplayer and multiplayer.
That way you can risk your hardcoe character anywhere, and the file itself says whether or not it's hardcoe.

[Grace Francis]

the latest news in openmw site is in 16 January 2010, just incase someone haven't seen it.

[Sunny Under]

imagine if they complete the multi player function of open morrowind and project tamriel at the same time we could have like... a legit mmo! but I don't really like mmos, but it would be, at max, like 100 people, at that size of a map we could coexist nicely.

I hate the idea of a Morrowind MMO so much it's unreal.

What -would- be nice is being able to create a sort of "Server Setup" or something, sorta like what NwN uses. Basically, your actions in the world change the world, but each charater isn't saved to the world itself. All journal entries and all scripts that effect the player would have to effect all player though, I'd think, to keep it all working smoothly... But I wouldn't know.

Multiplayer would be amazing, and something Morrowind really needs. But not an MMO or anything. A Co-Op or party based system would be way more awesome.

[Cedric Pearson]

Actually, with a combination of OpenMW and Fliggerty's Census and Excise Office, that might be kind of fun for a while. Give every person a plot of land and whatnot.

I hate MMOs with a passion, but we have an already defined and smallish community.

[мistrєss]

when I said mmo, I really meant only, like 20-50 people
I just wasn't sure how else to put it
just enough people so that, potentially, you could do dungeon raids, or pvp, ect.
to be honest, I sort of just got carried away
if morrowind WERE to be made into an mmo it would no longer be morrowind, I suppose

[Kirsty Wood]

No. it would be... Morroworld xD

Seriously, the way you guys talk, does openMW even has plans for multiplayer?

[Stu Clarke]

No. it would be... Morroworld xD

Seriously, the way you guys talk, does openMW even has plans for multiplayer?

yes
well..maybe
it says on their homepage it's a "possibility"
http://openmw.sourceforge.net/jaws/index.php/page/about.html

[Greg Cavaliere]

I hate MMOs too, but I love Co-op.

I have been watching some let's play on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt5YKmP7ecY.(I recommend everybody to watch those, the most amazing thing in youtube right now. Watched 100 videos in 3 days!!!)

What I gather is the game is hard and huge for a new player.. In gameplay, combat, quests, dialogs, alchemy, spells... I don't want to read walk-troughs and game manuals. So I wouldn't mind somebody, a more experienced player showing me tricks, hints and telling me a little secret, little advice, latest rumors. "What is Sanctuary?", What ddes Sound do?". I think long time players would enjoy giving advice to new players and replay the game at the same time.

Since the game is designed and played as single player; the best implementation would be an in-game client which shows friends online like xfire-steam. When you decided to do a quest like "puzzle box", you enable the friends gui, find an online friend. And ask, "Hey, peachy, I am about to enter Arkngthand, can you help?"

The other player can teleport, walk, arrive to the Arkangath, that's guest's choice, when they change their status online(and maybe mark the target cell as well), when they enter the interior they will see each others in there. The multiplier will be limited to 2(3) players and will only work interiors to not to break single game quality.

The noob player's game can be the host here, meaning his game will update in its quest. But the helper's game won't get any quest update. Meaning the helper won't get the box. But he will help killing NPCs and giving potions and casting healing spells on the host, meaning his stats can update and even level up. Or in the same quest helper can be the host and while completing the quest, the noob can be spectator in this case learning stuff. Or both invades the cave and both levels up, but I don't think both can complete the same quest, it just doesn't seem right. And other possible things that doesn't come to my mind right now.

My $0.02.

[Alexandra walker]

I have been watching some let's play on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt5YKmP7ecY.(I recommend everybody to watch those, the most amazing thing in youtube right now. Watched 100 videos in 3 days!!!)

I just watched the first 30 episodes
never screamed at my computer more in my life, thanks
but really! he walked passed bunglers bane and larrius varro a thousand times :banghead:
and he just jumped right into combat! you can't get off the boat, kill a scrib and think you have what it takes to fight snowy >_<
AHHH! I need to watch more D:
it's great to see the thought process of a beginner
feels like I'm discovering the game again! so thanks

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

If you guys like LPs, you should check out Veriax's stuff, it's a riot. He calls it an interactive let's play, because he takes a random request from the comments for his next set of videos that he does each weekend. http://www.youtube.com/user/veriax#grid/user/F42E442C3E955206


Anyways, now for an on-topic request. We're looking for somebody to make a debug test cell, similar to the test cells already in Morrowind (examples found here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Morrowind-Places-Test_Cells). The reason for the request is that OpenMW should have tests cells pre-installed with it when you download it, which means they must have assets publicly available (such as modding resources found on PES or Nexus). The test cells and assets that come with Morrowind (in the Morrowind, Bloodmoon, and Tribunal BSAs that come with the game) do not fit this purpose. The major reason for the test cells is for debugging, and the major reason to have them available with the game, by default, is the ease with which such a package could be used for rapid debugging and testing on all kinds of different systems with different hardware or operating systems.

This request is open to everybody and a submission does not guarantee that your work will be used in a release of OpenMW.

Here are a few guidelines that the plugin should meet:
*The ESM should reference only publicly available assets. This at least includes Meshes, Textures, Animations, and Sounds.
*There should be a BSA that contains all of those assets or they should be neatly organized in a logical fashion.
*Proper credit should be given to all the creators of used assets.
*The ESM should be independent of the actual MW game (meaning no scripts, doors, spells or anything from Vanilla MW)
*The only way to enter the cell should be through the use of the COC command.

Here are some things that you can include in your debug cell/s for testing:
- two cells with a door between them (to test correct teleporting)
- an esm/esp pair where the esp alters a cell in the esm (adds an item, moves/changes an item, deletes an item and so on)
- sounds
- lighting, torches, candles
- animated doors
- beds, loose objects, containers with stuff in them, locked and
trapped doors/chests
- creatures
- NPCs with dialogs, maybe a small quest
- NPCs that can barter, make spells/enchantments, do fast travel etc
- NPC/creature path finding tests
- activators that do something
- Water for swimming tests
- Anything else essential to at least a vanilla Morrowind experience

For later feature tests, the debug could contain any number of things that might eventually make it into the engine, such as bump mapping or billboard trees.