Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Dusk 2.7.3 hosted by WeaveMN

This is some fantastic news!

I am very happy to say that Dusk is online!  Dusk has been revived by Andy Weaver after 10 years of being offline.  Except for a couple small up times by Lou and Libernullmal, more on that below.

Thank you Andy for your love of MUD's and will to host Dusk.

Here's a quote of what Andy said on Google+:

"Ok, so I had to mess with a few more things but it is now up at http://dusk.weavercrazytown.com:8080

Let me know if you are able to see images.  I updated to the latest java and it said it wouldn't load.  If things work for you feel free to add the link to the blog and invite your friends.  It is running off a separate ubuntu server now from my regular home machine.

Andy"

I had the latest version of Java 7 installed and it worked for a bit but all of a sudden it quit working and crashed firefox when I tried to load the Dusk applet.

So I've purged the Java version off my Ubuntu machine and installed Sun Java 6 with the following command.

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts

Or I installed Java6 through the Ubuntu Software Center.  I forget because I was failing a bunch of times and finally got it to work once I had Java6 installed and the icedtea plugin.

Zabin@Zabin-laptop:~$ java -version
java version "1.6.0_21"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_21-b06)
Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 17.0-b16, mixed mode)


Then I was having a hard time getting Java enabled to work the browser plug-in.  I've said in a earlier blog post that icedtea won't work but here I used the icedtea plugin and now Java is working applets in firefox.  Here's the command:

sudo apt-get install icedtea6-plugin


Andy sent me that message on April 26 and I've been quite busy lately with work and was having this issue with Java.  I finally got a couple hours to sit down and play with this hobby.  So I got Java enabled finally and checked out his site.  The Dusk applet poped up and Dusk was online!  Yay!  The images loaded for me and I was running around in Dusk online.  Looks like it's been up for the last few days and is still up.  Thanks again Andy for hosting my Dusk demo game.  I will make more game-play I promise as soon as I have more free time.

More interesting Dusk news:


An old Dusk player commented on my first Dusk video I uploaded to YouTube.  He asked for some old Dusk files, I imagine he wants to play the old Dusk world's to bring back old memories.  So I've added 'NewDusk' and 'DarkStarDusk' to my DuskFiles on github.  I thought about doing this before but now I'm being asked for those files so there you go ;)  I also emailed 'Wildern' (whom I recieved all these files from) asking him if he has a copy of the OldDusk world.

Here's the email I just wrote to him today.  I haven't herd from him in a year or so, so lets hope he gets it and has some free time for this old Dusk game hobby.

Hey Wildern,

I haven't herd from you in a while and wanted you to know I finally got around to making the Dusk files I got from you available on gitbub.  https://github.com/ZabinX/DuskRPG

I also wrote a Dusk blog http://duskrpg.blogspot.com/ and started collecting/creating pixel art at opengameart.org

I've inspired a Java developer 'Michael Zucchi aka NotZed' to create a fork of the server called DuskZ and he's implementing everything I could imagine that would make the game look more modern looking.  Animation, layers, and a lot more cool things.  He's still in a early stage of his developments so it's interesting watching his progress.  I wanted you to know about this exciting Dusk developments because if it wasn't for you keeping the project alive (by sending me your files and teaching me what you know), this wouldn't have been possible.

I've herd from a few of the old Dusk players who would like to host/contribute to a new Dusk as well as play some of the old Dusk games.  You've gave me NewDusk, and DarkStarDusk files.  I'm curious if you have OldDusk?  I was a god on that one and would love to play it (bring back some memories).  If you have any other interesting Dusk files I've love to include them in my DuskFiles on github.

Another Java developer 'Andy Weaver' has been kind enough to setup a server for Dusk and it's been online since April 26 just a few days ago.  I've been busy and had issues with Oracle Java 7 and finally got around to installing Sun Java 6 today (it's a pain since Ubuntu quit including it in the synaptic package manager because of some licensing issues) and logged into Dusk online (the world I've put together with new images).  There's not much in my Dusk world ATM but at least I've started the first town, a cave, and lava caves for when you die and go to hell.  Hopefully Andy hosts a Dusk-Server for awhile and has shell protection so maybe Dusk will be on-line again after 10 years of downtime.  Dusk was online a few months Lou worked on his Dusk Ataxia (his Dusk upgrade which he lost the files for) back in 2005 and Libernullmal hosted NewDusk for a month or so in 2008.

I plan to make more game-play in my Dusk demo game and have enough mobs and quests to get to 1000cp which should be at least 10+ hours of game-play.  Right now I think I only have enough to get to lvl 100 without doing too much serious grinding.  When I have some free time I'll get around to polishing that up.

Looking forward to more of NotZed's Dusk developments and eager to see a play-able version as I'm excited to map a new Dusk world utilizing layers and seeing new animations.

Thanks for your help keeping this old project alive!

Zabin

12 comments:

  1. I just saw that, it is great news!! :D

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  2. Yeah, it's awesome Andy is willing to host Dusk :D It's been online over a month and is still up! I did see it offline for a day but he had it back up online the next day. I'm very happy he's hosting Dusk right now :) I hope he continues to host it for a good time (I'll provide game-play content when I can) There still needs polishing and more game-play content which I plan to work on when my work calms down a bit.

    Since NotZed got animated tiles working in his Dusk fork I've put the little free time I've had lately in learning more about animation. I found some inspiration to come up with an easy river water animation. Next thing I'm going to play with is a water fall animation. I'll submit my work to OGA when I have enough to show off.

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  3. So I've finally got Sun Java 6 Installed but I dont know how to download the IcedTea plugin or enable it. I am not very Plugin Savvy and my computer is pretty old and slow. The client loads fine except for the images. I get "-1 Images loaded" when I log into my account. It also says I'm using Java Version 1.6.0_45. Was wondering if I could get anymore info on how to get this setup. I am a Dusk fanatic! A bunch of my friends in school found the game years ago and started playing back in the day. I always randomly google "dusk gmud" and recently found this site which is exciting! Glad someone brought it back!

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  4. Ataxia was a great dusk, I still might have some screenshotted gameplay from years ago somewhere. I remember having 800+ cp and a god logging in and asking how in the hell I leveled so much. Grinding out the same creatures for hours of course! Though NewDusk was my absolute favorite dusk, the map was spectacular and the secret items were sweet. I owned the bottom right castle at one point!!

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  5. Hey, I'm glad you found my blog about Dusk. I couldn't stand Dusk being gone anymore so I started this blog in an attempt to bring it back. I'm proud to say that what I've set out to accomplish with this Dusk blog has been a success! Dusk is online and it's seeing some developments! :D It's pretty awesome of Andy to host Dusk. The most exciting and awesome thing is NotZed's Dusk developments. It's been a month or 2 since he last poked at the code but I just talked to him and he says he's been meaning to but hasn't got around to it yet. I think he's been pretty busy at work (me too) and hasn't had much free time for this hobby.

    Thanks for sharing your memories of Dusk. I was a god 'Xyphoid' on Tom's Old Dusk and I remember doing these 'God Sword quests' where we would hide the best sword in-game and everybody would be running around the maps for hours until it was found. Before I became a god I was the one running around looking for it. After Tom quit hosting Dusk I remember working a bit on DarkStarDusk but the home computer died shortly after and I couldn't play anymore (around 2001). When I checked back after a year or 2 for the game no-body was hosting it anymore :( My friend in school who introduced me to dusk I randomly saw at the mall around 2004 and he told me about 'Void Dusk' which I never got the chance to check out unfortunately. Then came Dusk Ataxia in 2005-6 which was an upgraded version of Dusk developed by Lou. I've tried my best to keep in touch with him but he tends to disappear and cuts off internet communication. I was hoping he still had his upgraded Dusk files but he never open-sourced them and he says that he lost them. Too bad, he made it pretty sweet looking. I really liked Lou's Dusk Ataxia because of his improved graphics. Which inspired me so I started doing pixel art and made my own Dusk game with all legal assets. That's a little bit of what I remember about Dusk's history.

    What kind of computer are you using? I'm guessing windows. If the client loads (the pop-up applet) then your browser plug-in is working fine. If java wasn't working the applet wouldn't have popped up.

    I just checked Andy's site http://dusk.weavercrazytown.com:8080 and it's still online and works for me. I'm using Linux Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system.

    Sorry it's not working for you, but don't worry I think I have a solution ;) The problem isn't with your computer. I remember having this problem when Libernullmal hosted Dusk for a tiny bit in 2008. For some reason it was working for Linux and Windows XP but not for newer versions of windows. That's why I'm curious what kind of OS your on. We found a fix by simply removing the HTTP prefix or someshit. I'll go through my old emails with him and see if this is the same problem with the images not loading for certain computers. If this is the same problem I'll make sure to contact Andy with the fix ASAP.

    Whoa I've typed a wall of text already :P Anyways it's nice to hear from an old Dusk fan.

    Zabin

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  6. I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find this article. I love this kind of content because it gives a lot of great information. I really enjoy reading most part of the article. I'm learning about Java in this blog. Really it will help lot of people.

    Java Developers

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  7. I'm currently using Windows XP. I have both FireFox and Chrome. I have Sun Java 6 but not the IcedTea plugin. I went through some of the old files on NewDusk and was curious to the drop rate of the Lava axe from Fiends. It was .01 haha I remember fighting them forever just for the drop. The simple things in that game made it so much fun.

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  8. http://imgur.com/mTSpcoq

    This is what it looks like when loaded. I try to walk around and the names duplicate on the screen like that. I noticed on previous Dusk that I would have to move one square for images to load or what not but this does not seem to be the case.

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    Replies
    1. I was delayed in replying here because the other night my electric went down.

      @ kelvin, I'm glad you've enjoyed the information I've written here about this neat old Java game.

      @Charles, Hey there, I took a look at my old emails from 4 years ago and it was a different problem, my bad. It was a Java security error we were having but since that isn't the problem here, I'm not sure what needs to be done to fix it.

      I have Java version 1.6.0_27 and it works for me. Andy said he tried the newest version of Java and the images wouldn't load for him. Before I had this version I had the newest version of Java also and it worked for me then as well. Then the new Java glitched out and I purged the Java off my machine and installed an old version.

      My Windows 7 computer is at my other house and I'm curious if Dusk works on that machine. When I get some free time I'll try it and I'll post around on some forums asking for others to test so we can see what computers are having this problem and the version of Java being used.

      http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/screenshot77if.png/

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  10. Hi @Xyphoid Zabin :)

    What's up mate? I hope you're having some good time this summer.

    Best regards,

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  11. Hey Bertram :-]

    Nice to hear from you, I'm doing great-just busy with life. Thanks for wondering about me! I'm looking forward to playing more of your game :D

    Peace-Zabin

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