Getting Ready for Age of Shadows: Client Patch

[Balandar]

It's time for the Age of Shadows patch! Remember that before Age of Shadows can work, we'll need to release both a patch and a publish. The patch will put the necessary art files and client-side files on your computer, while the publish will allow our servers to run the Age of Shadows code. Patches require a download on your part, while publishes do not.

The patch is scheduled to go live Wednesday, Feb. 5 at approximately 2:00 PM CST (you can find more info below on what to expect from this patch). The publish will be made live on each shard on the same day UO: Age of Shadows is released in its respective territory.

Note below that most of the changes in this patch will only affect AoS-enabled servers, which means that they will only be live on servers that have received the Age of Shadows publish.

This patch contains the following: (for more information about these features, you can read about them here)

Both 2D and 3D clients

• New Item Properties System (Only on AoS-enabled servers)
  
• House Customization System (Only on AoS-enabled servers)
  
• Support for Weapon Abilities System (Only on AoS-enabled servers)
  
• New Landmass: Malas (Only on AoS-enabled servers, and only for AoS-upgraded customers)
  
• Necromancy System (Only on AoS-enabled servers, and only for AoS-upgraded customers)
  
• Chivalry System (Only on AoS-enabled servers, and only for AoS-upgraded customers)
  
• New Monsters (Only on AoS-enabled servers, and only for AoS-upgraded
  customers)
  
• New Localization Data Format (On ALL servers)
  

3D client only

• The trees will now sway in the wind. (On ALL servers)
  
• The terrain in the 3D client has been changed to more closely resemble the terrain of the 2D client. (On ALL servers)
  
• 3D client users will now experience colorful motion trails (fondly dubbed "swooples" by the dev team) when they swing weapons. (On ALL servers)
  

The current version will become 3.0.8z for both the 2D and 3D clients.

Known Issues

There a few minor issues we're aware of in this patch, but since they are not serious gameplay-affecting issues, we didn't feel they warranted holding back the patch. They should be fixed soon, but we want you to be aware just in case you find something a little off.

• THE NEW WEARABLES FOR 3D ARE NOT BEING RELEASED IN THIS PATCH. (This isn't really a bug with the patch, but we thought we'd answer the question before it was asked.) For those who do not upgrade to Age of Shadows, the new 3D avatar art and wearables will be released in a separate patch after AoS launches. People who upgrade to Age of Shadows will get the new wearables with their AoS installation right away.
  
• Magic wands may not correctly display their descriptions in both clients.
  
• There is a bug with 3D clients that may cause any pants worn in the legs equipment slot to use the plate mail legs texture.
  
• The party manifest may not immediately update to display new members of a party. Pulling a status bar off the new member will fix this.
  
• The language tab in the options interface is now empty. This tab will be removed in the future.
  
• Some of the stats on the status bars (including damage range, luck, and magic resistances) may not display correctly until your server has received the AoS publish.
  
• The 3D paperdoll will now display icons to open the necromancer and paladin books, but these icons won't do anything until your server has received the AoS publish.
  
• Other AoS options have been added to the options gump, including House Cache Size, Item Properties Display Mode, and Display Item Properties. These icons won't do anything until your server has received the AoS publish.
  
• Some spell descriptions have been changed to reflect the spells' new functionality, but the spells themselves will not change until the AoS publish goes live. This may result in some discrepancies between spell descriptions and effects.
  

Patch size

And last but not least, please note this is a large patch. 2D users can expect to download between 2.5 and 3.5 mb, and 3D users can expect to download between 13 and 17 mb, depending on which version you're currently patching from.

If you log out or get disconnected after this large patch goes live, you may end up needing to spend a considerable amount of time (depending on your Internet connection speed) patching upon your next attempt to log into UO before you can re-enter the game.

We recommend that, when this patch goes live, all players (particularly those who play with the 3D client) find a safe place to log out, download the patch, and then log back in to continue playing after receiving the complete patch.

If you have any difficulty receiving this patch, please check the following:

• Check the "Patch" directory within your Ultima Online directory (the default location is C:\\Program Files\Ultima Online\Patch). This directory should be empty. Any files in this directory should be deleted.
  
• If you are unable to connect to the patch server at all, and are using an original (Non-T2A) version of Ultima Online, you may need to update your verinfo file. For details on updating this file, please see the information posted here.
  
• Run a virus scan on your computer. Undetected viruses may cause conflicts with patching Ultima Online. For information on up-to-date virus detection software, please visit http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/vso/default.asp.
  

If after trying the above, you are still experiencing difficulty patching the Ultima Online client, please visit our Support Page for technical help at http://support.uo.com.