This Kinda goes with Arley's Mod Idea, but how about LotR?
 

I like Arley's idea about a full conversion mod but with No Magic in the book world it would take away a huge portion of what the engine can do. This is why I suggest a Lord of the Rings conversion. I have read the books many many times since I was about 5 years old and just like most Fantasy Epics, it has the features that would excel in the EQ engine. You have your Dragons, Orcs, Gobs, Ogres (Giant Kin), Trolls, dwarves, elves and so on. With the Max4 import tool I am sure that we could rework the zones abit and make them more Tolkien feeling without to much trouble, and I am not sure how Emu would handle it but we can always add new zones.

The world is massive, prolly ten times what Verant has in place and could provide a true Artistic sense to what we are doing here. The possibilities are endless.

If anyone is interested you can email me at jb_kunkel@hotmail.com, I am not very good at programming but I can model well in 3DSMAX and I can input data into the DBs as needed. Also, I am sure this goes for many other than myself, but I have a very good knowledge of the Tolkien series and could definetely work with Content teams to ensure the world is honest to what it is supposed to be.

Just a thought, let me know what you think.

Lanick

Another thing.
 

Would definitely need to get with Trump and the others to see exactly what kind of expandibility we have in place with the code.

To add new zones you would have to alter the client, which could get you into trouble if you distributed it to the public.

I like Lord of the Rings, but I'm stuck on my project plan... I practically dream about it!

As for the original EQ program being heavily coded to allow for magic, I have some ideas on how some of that coding can be used for other, non-magic, elements of the game I have in mind. Most magic and effects graphics would be, admittedly, lost.

Stick with your plan, though, Lanick. The more mods we come up with, the more expertise we will gain to modify zones and characters. I'm not so sure about the legality of distribution of these mods to the public, without Verant or Sony consent, but under the auspices of EQEmu, we can open up lots of new worlds for EQ fans to explore.

Arley

Yeah, that would be great. Hopefully as EQ continues to age Sony will wisen up and follow the route a lot of other game companies are going and allow users to make modifications.

Not really sure if the EQ client could support that though heh.

The EQ Client limitations is the only thing that I am worried about and this is something that Trump and the other devs will have to comfirm or deny. If the client is able to do it then I would definitely like to get some people together to work as a complete team to get this going.

You can do pretty much anything with the EQ client so long as everyone using the server has the same files the server does.

i.e. new zones, monsters(with image files), etc.

I was involved on a very low level with hex editting back when TeamBG(http://www.teambg.com) started mods on the Infinity Engine(the engine used in MANY Black Isle games, such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, Fallout, etc.).

Anything is possible so long as you have the right resources.

- Xelnagan

- edit -

Fixed some typos... I was half asleep at the time...

Xel, sounds like you may be a person to get involved in this :twisted:

Killspree,
Many ways to make sure verant doesnt find out.

Two ways of doing it.
1. Host files, don't say anything about it. No one except the people who get it have it. Then get rid of them off the host.

2. Login to EQEMu Boards. OMFUX I MADE A NEW ZONE OMG OMG LOOK LOOK SCREENSHOTS DOWNLOADS.. THIS IS HOW I DID IT..

I guess it can be kind of hard to pick which one though.

- Back on topic -

I'd love to help. I've always wanted to mod EQ. You could setup some cool things. Only problem is that its not going to be easy. :x

Well that is something we need to do then!
 

We need to do a LotR mod for EQ. Now we just need to get more people together to do it.

Oh yeah -- forgot to say something last time.
As much as I'd love to help,

I have to disagree that it'd be a great project as of the current status of the emulator now.

The emulator is going great, the devs have been doing a good job. But why mod something that isn't even complete?

Thats like releasing Halflife mods when halflife was 50% made.

But i'll still help in anyway possible. :D

I have actually started working on the design scheme for a Lord of the Rings (well... basically Middle-Earth themed) EQEmu server, and you can find the (crappy) webpage at www.sypherion.com/me-emu

If you're interested in helping out, if you can code, or design webpages, or have ideas for development, or quests, or really anything, please email me at hamled@trifocus.net.


Also, about adding new zones, I'm not sure if what Killspree said is totally correct, however I do know that creating new zone models, or editing current zone models, and having EQ still use them will be very hard. Currently we don't know the majority of the format for the zone models, so it'd be like trying to write a book in a language you only know a few words in.

And in repsonse to Darkyth, the emulator will never be completely finished, as all we can really do is try to keep up with the latest things that SOE comes out with. And so, the present is probably the best time to start working on a project. It just means that we will have to code very carefully.

Sounds great, we should make an irc channel and start to put heads together and try and start to advance on zone creation.