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Regarding Sevkor, the external hard drive failure turned out to be more of a setback than was initially obvious. I lost about 1/6 of the base texture maps that went into the level, files I was unable to recover.
So I set it aside in frustration temporarily and then a while ago began trying to rebuild the missing artwork. It's been slow going not just because of that but because all the files that were saved have to be reconnected now that they're on a new drive, etc. And there were a LOT of files tied to this project.
The good news is the problems of data loss I had before are not going to occur again. I have an online backup service running now on my computers (Backblaze) and it is a per-computer service, meaning it is far more affordable than other cloud backup systems for me, as I have over 15 TB of data stored between my two computers and my array of external hard drives. That data includes a ton of video files and visual effects projects, game dev stuff, etc. That doesn't help the data I already lost and have to rebuild, but it ensures that this doesn't happen again in the future.
Not sure what the prospects for Uru are though, at this point. The engine is aging and difficult to work with. Our best and newest option Korman, is still in an early beta build and far from feature-complete.
Bottom line is we will need a solid effort from a team that knows Plasma well, and can expand on the work that's been done already. But with Adam Johnson (Hoikas) gone, I am not sure how we could pull that off short of assistance from current and former Cyan staff. (The Headspin guys who built the engine?) We could try to organize a Kickstarter to fund such an effort, but it'd need to be done with Cyan at the center of it. Cyan was generous to reopen MO:UL for us 6 years ago. But it has been largely stagnant ever since and could really use an ongoing stream of content to keep players interested. That content won't happen without a better set of tools, that people can realistically use.
But I don't want to be the dreaded 'ideas guy' who has an idea for how things should be but no way to make it a reality. Which is why I'm making my own Myst-like game and a few other promising projects. Yes, they are siphoning some time away from Sevkor. But when they're launched in the next 3 months I might be making enough money through them, to give a large amount to the MOULa fund. Might be enough to redirect the efforts of one or two Cyan staffers toward Uru long enough to get the work done.
It's a long shot but it might work. I have that sense of optimism that comes with being a young person in America. I believe that I can change the world and moreover, that I have to because the needs are so great. Uru is just a small part of my bigger agenda; I aspire to save human lives all over the planet and tackle systemic environmental and social problems. I don't just want to save virtual worlds. I want to save the real one. The world is far more open now to entrepreneurs than in the past. There are no gatekeepers stopping us from, say, publishing our own books, making our own games, making our own movies, running our own businesses. Things are now faster, cheaper... you don't need a ton of collateral to start a business on the internet, and that's incredibly exciting and freeing.
_________________ Matthew L. Hornbostel, creator of Panoramic Worlds,
a Myst fansite, and
various other stuff.
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