POTCO in Unreal Engine 4

[WhiteSkyMage]

The Legend of Pirates Online (commonly abbreviated as TLOPO) is an ongoing fan-made recreation of Disney's retired online game, Pirates of the Caribbean Online (POTCO).
We're not going to make any promises. When performing a task as recreating an MMO, there are many potential problems which could be faced. However, like many other members of the community, we're hopeful that a revival of our beloved game is possible and will do our best to deliver.
You can find a preview of our progress in the below video:

The entire project is a work in progress. TLOPO does plan to release as a community server for the game in the future, however there are no plans for release at this time.
The project is in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Company, partners or entities.
The real purpose of this project is to "revive" the game, using what original files we have, making the game work exactly as it was before the game's closure on September 19th, 2013. All changes from the original (with few exceptions), wether it be adding unreleased content, re-adding content/features which was once apart of the game and later removed, or creating brand new content & features will all be handled after our "full" release as a post-closure community server (after alpha and beta stages).
The project is being created using files from the original MMO which can be found in the game's downloadable launcher.
Why isn't the project open source? There is a similar situation with the Toontown Online community (another former Disney MMO). One project's source code was "leaked" and redistributed amongst certain members of the community to create multiple post-closure servers, dividing the community in it's already uncertain state. We would hate to see this happen amongst the PotCO community as well, as it's state is already deteriorating.
Looking to join the team? Apply to be a developer at http://goo.gl/forms/jm5299lqLd
With the best of intentions,
- @JohnnyDaPirate
The Legend of Pirates Online Project Manager

Johny, listen carefully.
You gonna have to ASK the devs this serious question and I want it answered on one of their streams.
I know they have a darn tons of work on there, and I don't wanna bother them too, if they see this, then great.

Since last week after I got to know how to work with this game engine, I decided to help out, even if im not in the dev team itself, nor I am good graphics designer, that at all not. Well, but I pushed it, so for a week. I will post some screenshots of some of the stuff, i am still working on - what you want to know - well I am rebuilding the whole Port Royal island (from the POTCO) game into UNREAL ENGINE 4! I managed to put down some really nice textures into the scene. Well I am sure there is somebody who can improve upon them.

I want them to first finish this game up, so that people can go back and play. What I am asking is, are they INTERESTED into working for an HD Edition of the same game??? So, yes I mean porting TLOPO to UNREAL ENGINE 4. I know it sound ridiculous, but by the time they're done, I will try to be done with one of the islands and be working on game mechanics and whatnot... If the TLOPO team is interested to work on this again, this time adding even a lot more features than they are right now and transforming the whole game, then i will be glad to give them a first kick before they have even started to scratch the beginning of the project.

Now onto some screenshots...
Here is that nice realistic sand I got ... i guess you could say that it's one of those most important textures for that game...

Water...yeah I will work on this one too. We need waves don't we?
This water is more of the "lake" type

Grass...I did not see a lot of it on Port Royal to be honest. There was only one thing - the sound that you are stepping on a grass texture... I think we need grass...

Rocks...a lot of them in TLOPO, but just take a look...

Yeah so that's my island... or at least the outline of it. don't worry, NEXT is Fort Charles. NO LOADING SCREENs YEAH!

I will post more updates when I get more stuff done....However, I it will help me a lot more if you give me a KEY for the alpha. Because screenshots on google do not show everything.

Now, why did I chose Unreal Engine 4 and not any other engine like Unity?
Unreal Engine 4 has been made free since last Game Developer Conference (GDC) in USA. Therefore it's open for everybody to use and it is a powerful engine, programming is made way easier with this scripting language called "Blueprint" which is great for quickly prototyping levels, and you can even create entire games using Blueprint. If you’re not a programming wizard, but just want to make a game, this can make Unreal Engine 4 a great option for you, or C++ is also a really big "friend" with Blueprint so that enables those other dudes to handle the heavy load. Unity is free, well however it doesn't include some very important features like Profiler, which enables you to optimize your game. You can get this in UnityPro, but would cost $75/month. However it is the Graphics which UE4 really stands out on the front. You can say, well, why not CryEngine, if we talk about graphics, isn't it the best one? Depends - again - it's not a free engine! Even if better with graphics, people claim it is a lot more advanced. And why bother learning it when Unreal Engine is nowadays a priority for getting a JOB (it's true - go and see for yourself), community is a lot bigger, and it's more user friendly with their UI Overhaul. It does take time to learn, and it is a little steep, however I am sure a developer with experience can handle it, especially the people over at TLOPO. You guys are sweating on harder stuff than it is actually to do.

 

[Joshua Daggerfire]

Johny, listen carefully.
You gonna have to ASK the devs this serious question and I want it answered on one of their streams.
I know they have a darn tons of work on there, and I don't wanna bother them too, if they see this, then great.

Since last week after I got to know how to work with this game engine, I decided to help out, even if im not in the dev team itself, nor I am good graphics designer, that at all not. Well, but I pushed it, so for a week. I will post some screenshots of some of the stuff, i am still working on - what you want to know - well I am rebuilding the whole Port Royal island (from the POTCO) game into UNREAL ENGINE 4! I managed to put down some really nice textures into the scene. Well I am sure there is somebody who can improve upon them.

I want them to first finish this game up, so that people can go back and play. What I am asking is, are they INTERESTED into working for an HD Edition of the same game??? So, yes I mean porting TLOPO to UNREAL ENGINE 4. I know it sound ridiculous, but by the time they're done, I will try to be done with one of the islands and be working on game mechanics and whatnot... If the TLOPO team is interested to work on this again, this time adding even a lot more features than they are right now and transforming the whole game, then i will be glad to give them a first kick before they have even started to scratch the beginning of the project.

Now onto some screenshots...
Here is that nice realistic sand I got ... i guess you could say that it's one of those most important textures for that game...

Water...yeah I will work on this one too. We need waves don't we?
This water is more of the "lake" type

Grass...I did not see a lot of it on Port Royal to be honest. There was only one thing - the sound that you are stepping on a grass texture... I think we need grass...

Rocks...a lot of them in TLOPO, but just take a look...

Yeah so that's my island... or at least the outline of it. don't worry, NEXT is Fort Charles. NO LOADING SCREENs YEAH!

I will post more updates when I get more stuff done....However, I it will help me a lot more if you give me a KEY for the alpha. Because screenshots on google do not show everything.

Now, why did I chose Unreal Engine 4 and not any other engine like Unity?
Unreal Engine 4 has been made free since last Game Developer Conference (GDC) in USA. Therefore it's open for everybody to use and it is a powerful engine, programming is made way easier with this scripting language called "Blueprint" which is great for quickly prototyping levels, and you can even create entire games using Blueprint. If you’re not a programming wizard, but just want to make a game, this can make Unreal Engine 4 a great option for you, or C++ is also a really big "friend" with Blueprint so that enables those other dudes to handle the heavy load. Unity is free, well however it doesn't include some very important features like Profiler, which enables you to optimize your game. You can get this in UnityPro, but would cost $75/month. However it is the Graphics which UE4 really stands out on the front. You can say, well, why not CryEngine, if we talk about graphics, isn't it the best one? Depends - again - it's not a free engine! Even if better with graphics, people claim it is a lot more advanced. And why bother learning it when Unreal Engine is nowadays a priority for getting a JOB (it's true - go and see for yourself), community is a lot bigger, and it's more user friendly with their UI Overhaul. It does take time to learn, and it is a little steep, however I am sure a developer with experience can handle it, especially the people over at TLOPO. You guys are sweating on harder stuff than it is actually to do.

Here are reason why this wouldn't work.

1. It takes a full team of fully knowledgeable devs about 3 years to make an MMO. If I am not mistaken, only one of the devs have graduated So far.

2. Only one there devs actually know C++, and that would be heavily needed to modify UE4 to work with an MMO.

3. They would have to recreate everything from scratch. No Astron to help with server stuff, and no client files. Nothing.

 

[Mike Wass]

I will straight up say this, TLOPO is not going to be using the Unreal Engine.

Sorry.

EDIT:

Panda3D is fully capable of making some really high quality graphics. Here's some by Tobias:

Source

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

guess there will be 2 C++ coders, id join them ...once i am done with Java...cuz i am learning that too...for the fun of it

 

[Mike Wass]

A lot more than just one person know C++ on TLOPO.

Myself, @deanaug, @loblao and Austin know it.

 

[Joshua Daggerfire]

 

[Joshua Daggerfire]

If what I remember from the stream, one guy said only one person truly knows it

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

If what I remember from the stream, one guy said only one person truly knows it

Yes and i will be the other person who truly knows it
but i will not stop doing this doing project. It look really nice and i am learning quite a bit about this engine.

I enjoy this to tell ya.... It's real game development

 

[Mike Wass]

If what I remember from the stream, one guy said only one person truly knows it

@deanaug and @loblao know it the best, Austin and I know it pretty well but are not perfect. We know enough to get by. We don't really need it too much with TLOPO, but it's nice to know.

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

@deanaug and @loblao know it the best, Austin and I know it pretty well but aren't perfect. We know enough to get by. We don't really need it too much with TLOPO, but it's nice to know.

Why do i have that one feeling that you are one of those devs in the team?

 

[TESS TRUEBLOOD]

Yes and i will be the other person who truly knows it
but i will not stop doing this doing project. It look really nice and i am learning quite a bit about this engine.

I enjoy this to tell ya.... It's real game development

Aaahhh so many ambitious people with our little Caribbean! While your images are very pretty, I have to say that using such a look in TLOPO would largely destroy the style and feel of our POTCO. Have you checked in with the Black Flag Online project? They are making a POTCO-ish game and may have a use for such a process as you are proposing and it would not work against the feel of the game because they don't really have one established and won't until they finish.

 

[Joshua Daggerfire]

Why do i have that one feeling that you are one of those devs in the team?

Because he is.

And personnel preference, I do enjoy making tiny little games for LAN party's, though I don't like using pre built engines anymore.

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

Aaahhh so many ambitious people with our little Caribbean! While your images are very pretty, I have to say that using such a look in TLOPO would largely destroy the style and feel of our POTCO. Have you checked in with the Black Flag Online project? They are making a POTCO-ish game and may have a use for such a process as you are proposing and it would not work against the feel of the game because they don't really have one established and won't until they finish.

Because he is.

And personnel preference, I do enjoy making tiny little games for LAN party's, though I don't like using pre built engines anymore.

Ok sorry guys, maybe i rushed way too high in here. I got really no darn experience with game development, since I am still really into Uni, and everyone has preferences. And I recently kinda finished my last for now C++ project so i decided to go on push some limits on that, but well throwing myself into an engine maybe wasn't the best thing ever to start off with game development experience.
I overlooked TLOPO in a "massive" way which the community might not really need it as you said... but that's alright it's all about what people want to play and remember I said I want this game finished before anything else has to start (meaning I am thinking about those people who just wanna enjoy playing it again), and there are those that are looking for the extra stuff, like me, for example, am looking on what can make this game a little more fun when everything else seems like "i've done it, i am looking to do something more" after you've played poker, BJ, fishing, sailing, killing enemies, doing quests...blah blah...and you are looking for this one other activity...

Anyway, I will do my stuff, and you guys do yours. I wish you luck and take breaks and take it slow with steps, no rush. You are probably as excited as the community is, but I've always been told "if you run, you won't get far" which most of the time was true when I decided to rush and finish a project - no matter, there is always a bug somewhere.

Thanks a lot.

 

[PirateJasonS]

Aaahhh so many ambitious people with our little Caribbean! While your images are very pretty, I have to say that using such a look in TLOPO would largely destroy the style and feel of our POTCO. Have you checked in with the Black Flag Online project? They are making a POTCO-ish game and may have a use for such a process as you are proposing and it would not work against the feel of the game because they don't really have one established and won't until they finish.

Ok sorry guys, maybe i rushed way too high in here. I got really no darn experience with game development, since I am still really into Uni, and everyone has preferences. And I recently kinda finished my last for now C++ project so i decided to go on push some limits on that, but well throwing myself into an engine maybe wasn't the best thing ever to start off with game development experience.
I overlooked TLOPO in a "massive" way which the community might not really need it as you said... but that's alright it's all about what people want to play and remember I said I want this game finished before anything else has to start (meaning I am thinking about those people who just wanna enjoy playing it again), and there are those that are looking for the extra stuff, like me, for example, am looking on what can make this game a little more fun when everything else seems like "i've done it, i am looking to do something more" after you've played poker, BJ, fishing, sailing, killing enemies, doing quests...blah blah...and you are looking for this one other activity...

Anyway, I will do my stuff, and you guys do yours. I wish you luck and take breaks and take it slow with steps, no rush. You are probably as excited as the community is, but I've always been told "if you run, you won't get far" which most of the time was true when I decided to rush and finish a project - no matter, there is always a bug somewhere.

Thanks a lot.

Black Flag Online would be a good possibility for you if you have any skills to market. The only problem for you would be that they use Unity and C#, so not quite sure that it would be up your alley. Otherwise, I totally encourage applying there if you've got something to offer. Your ambition would be great to have

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

Black Flag Online would be a good possibility for you if you have any skills to market. The only problem for you would be that they use Unity and C#, so not quite sure that it would be up your alley. Otherwise, I totally encourage applying there if you've got something to offer. Your ambition would be great to have

Ok i do have a good choice on this but...hear this...
I already have my Level 2 on Java (which is really the "advanced" one). Now they offered me also C# AS A CHOICE which i wasn't really that interested in before. Now I see, since this is one of those C languages, which I am now interested into learning them those very deeply, maybe then sign up for the Black Flag project. The problem is, Unity. I was not really that passionate to work with Unity when I did. And now I started this Unreal Engine...you know, id be more into ARK SURVIVAL if I have to tell you. ARK, even as survival game, doesn't mean I can not have a pirate mode. It's going to be awesome if you think about it...

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

However I will still play TLOPO, because I actually played POTCO for only 2 weeks. I started POTCO as a free player and was looking to buy a game card. I sent Disney couple of emails and at some point they decided to give me a key for a week. and then I played this one week and ... that was it. Finished. I did not play anymore after that. I moved on to other MMORPGs. I did not get very far. Level 20...that was it
Now I will really put my time into it.
There is however a couple of suggestions I want to pass to the developers (you guys).
First - Make sure that Black Jack and Poker are not more profitable than pillaging with ship. I am speaking from experience here (Puzzle Pirates). It can cause a big mess and you will see a lot of people staying at the inns.
Secondly - remember those ship repairs using the mini games. Now I don't know if you will be returning those mini games, however this i really hated in POTCO - you can't repair the ship while somebody's driving it. No. Just NO! There needs to be a team play. That's why it's a "crew", cuz everybody has something to do - these ones repair, those ones shoot and the other ones bilge (pump the water out), well not sure if that was in POTCO, but at least it's in PP.
Thirdly - When Jolly Roger event is on, don't overpower him on low level islands (like Port Royal). Sure, he needs to be challenging, it's an invasion afterall, but level 50 against level 1s... I don't think that's fair. I would say the highest level on this one island with perhaps double hp...

And that's really it, which i can remember from POTCO. Surely the card games were OK and it was a fairly low amounts earning from there, made just for the fun of it (the way it's supposed to be), but since that's a re-make of the game, I just wanted to let you know...well you played POTCO, you should know already...

 

[Joshua Daggerfire]

However I will still play TLOPO, because I actually played POTCO for only 2 weeks. I started POTCO as a free player and was looking to buy a game card. I sent Disney couple of emails and at some point they decided to give me a key for a week. and then I played this one week and ... that was it. Finished. I did not play anymore after that. I moved on to other MMORPGs. I did not get very far. Level 20...that was it
Now I will really put my time into it.
There is however a couple of suggestions I want to pass to the developers (you guys).
First - Make sure that Black Jack and Poker are not more profitable than pillaging with ship. I am speaking from experience here (Puzzle Pirates). It can cause a big mess and you will see a lot of people staying at the inns.
Secondly - remember those ship repairs using the mini games. Now I don't know if you will be returning those mini games, however this i really hated in POTCO - you can't repair the ship while somebody's driving it. No. Just NO! There needs to be a team play. That's why it's a "crew", cuz everybody has something to do - these ones repair, those ones shoot and the other ones bilge (pump the water out), well not sure if that was in POTCO, but at least it's in PP.
Thirdly - When Jolly Roger event is on, don't overpower him on low level islands (like Port Royal). Sure, he needs to be challenging, it's an invasion afterall, but level 50 against level 1s... I don't think that's fair. I would say the highest level on this one island with perhaps double hp...

And that's really it, which i can remember from POTCO. Surely the card games were OK and it was a fairly low amounts earning from there, made just for the fun of it (the way it's supposed to be), but since that's a re-make of the game, I just wanted to let you know...well you played POTCO, you should know already...

The game will be exactly the way it was before it shut down.

1. Cards were never profitable in the first place

2. You actually could repair while in combat, and if you werent on the cannons that were currently facing the enemies, that was where you were.

3. Jolly has to be hard to defeat. As in, it should take lots of players to beat him, not just a small group of 5

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

The game will be exactly the way it was before it shut down.

1. Cards were never profitable in the first place

2. You actually could repair while in combat, and if you werent on the cannons that were currently facing the enemies, that was where you were.

3. Jolly has to be hard to defeat. As in, it should take lots of players to beat him, not just a small group of 5

Ok, that's perfect. Awesome. It's going to be a lovely ride My lost memory, of course...

 

[TorchTheWallet]

There is however a couple of suggestions I want to pass to the developers (you guys).
First - Make sure that Black Jack and Poker are not more profitable than pillaging with ship. I am speaking from experience here (Puzzle Pirates). It can cause a big mess and you will see a lot of people staying at the inns.
Secondly - remember those ship repairs using the mini games. Now I don't know if you will be returning those mini games, however this i really hated in POTCO - you can't repair the ship while somebody's driving it. No. Just NO! There needs to be a team play. That's why it's a "crew", cuz everybody has something to do - these ones repair, those ones shoot and the other ones bilge (pump the water out), well not sure if that was in POTCO, but at least it's in PP.
Thirdly - When Jolly Roger event is on, don't overpower him on low level islands (like Port Royal). Sure, he needs to be challenging, it's an invasion afterall, but level 50 against level 1s... I don't think that's fair. I would say the highest level on this one island with perhaps double hp...

And that's really it, which i can remember from POTCO. Surely the card games were OK and it was a fairly low amounts earning from there, made just for the fun of it (the way it's supposed to be), but since that's a re-make of the game, I just wanted to let you know...well you played POTCO, you should know already...

1. There is a gold cap (200k max is what one Pirate can carry at a time), so Blackjack and Poker aren't really "more profitable"...the only way to be really profitable with cards is to use LOTS of cheat cards. Nobody just sits in the taverns all the time playing cards just for money. It's easy to get on average $40k/hour from camping bosses.
2. Nobody even used the ship repair minigames, it was just something to do while you were bored or couldn't use a cannon.
3. Jolly Roger wasn't even that OP. His HP/VP/level scaled off of the number of Pirates in the vicinity. Many of us were able to solo invasions on empty servers, it wasn't extremely difficult. Just like doing solo dungeon runs in other MMOs that have max-level dungeons. And btw, he wasn't level 50. It displayed as "???", and his HP/VP was WAY over that of a level 50 Pirate. More along the lines of Foulberto Smasho, just more VP.

 

[WhiteSkyMage]

Port Royal is taking really nice shape...it will be your choice to either play the original or the UE4 one...