hi everyone, it's been some time since I was last here :)

I'm wondering about the general mechanics overview. The only thing I know like the back of my hand is RunUO's mechanics so I'll try to refer to that with what I mean with my questions. I'm not comparing one to another, I just wonder what they offer as the base to build and develop a shard on - how does the gameplay look like.

0) How is the system balanced? Is there balance at all, or is there clear "path" of progress for a player, eg. armour going from leather to plate, with plate being the "best for all"?
1) How does the combat system look like (literally, w fight)? Is it just AR or are there resistances, does heavier armour have DEX penalty?
2) Are there classes or is there the freedom to choose whichever build you want?
3) How gains work? E.g. is there a random chance (based on difficulty) to gain when using a skill or each use adds skillpoints and when they reach a certain level you gain?
4) Is there a statcap forcing players to think their builds through?

It's just a few things from the top of my head. Generally, I'll be really grateful if someone scripting on 099 described the gameplay in general. If it was written earlier, pardon and I'll be grateful for a link. I know "it's all in the code", but I'd rather hear those things from someone who played and scripted on 099.
Thanks in advance, guys :)

You can script and customize every single thing you just asked. POL doesn't have much of anything hardcoded. It'll all be dependent on what scriptbase you start with and what you decide to do with said scriptbase since you can literally rewrite every system in it to do what you please. And all of this is before touching the emulator's source code which can offer you even more customization opportunities (although it may cut down on how much support you can get).

Unlike RunUO POL is released in two parts. The virtual machine, or Core, and the scripts that handle the actual game play, the Distro. The Distro is what I think you are asking about.

Here is what I know about the current "Distro".

It is based on the World of Dreams (WoD) set of scripts. It's been revamped and updated to work with the latest version of POL. As far as I know Edwards did a lot of the development. It was being used as a shard until he shut it down. For a while we were without a complete Distro and so Edwards donated his scripts to the POL community to become the "Distro". I know it has a class system but I don't know if it is based on the WoD class system or if it's a different system. I don't know about the combat system but if Edwards held true to the WoD scripts it should be balanced. From what I have seen and heard it's a good set of scripts. That's about all I can say because I don't use the it. I started working with POL back around POL 0.94 and my shard is based on an earlier Distro.

As CWO said you can modify and customize the functionality of POL to do just about anything you would like. The main limitation is the client.

You can also check the Complete Worlds forum for other scriptsets as well although they might need some tweaking to get them running with the current POL Core.

Long time no see!

Concretly, the distro is based from an old scriptset called Zuluhotel. We have been running the Zh server since 99.

That represents about 9000 registrations over the years, and some peak of 200+ players online. So yeah, the systems are very well balanced.

Obviously, we had success with our unique features including but not limited to our 2 extra spellbooks ( earth and necro ), over 250 000+ magic items ( no kidding ) each with their own features, GM weapons, GM armors, .... I think we were the only shards with specific classes. For exmeple, if you train specific skills, you get into classes ( warrior, mage, thief, crafter, bard, ranger, ... ) and gain advantages AND disadvantages. I.e.: If you go warrior, you hit hard but do not resist magic.

Check this link for more details! http://fantasiaserver.proboards.com/board/3/started

Thanks all for the replies :)

I know I can customise both POL and RunUO, I probably could write everything from scratch in both, but I do not want to reinvent the wheel. I've done that a few times and it's pointless - you end up using exactly the same templates and methods as the ones who did it and perfected it before you. What I am looking for is a strong foundation to modify the contents of, just to fit the setting of the shard, then build on it, but leave the general mechanics intact to preserve the balance and the concept of the gameplay.

Thanks! That gives a lot of information!

The Distro099 is your option. I'm sad they removed it from the main download page, but you may find the package somewhere around. You'll have plenty of fun that's sure.

I just noticed they removed my title. With humility, I am the Distro Developer without removing credits to the others prior me.