• Music System:
  • Musicianship:
    The Music System no longer requires the Musicianship skill.
    The Angel Island Music System is an in-game system where players demonstrate real-world musical skills and shouldn't be required to pick up an in-game skill that adds nothing to their ability to compose and produce musical works.
    The Music system also provides virtual instruments, so there is no requirement to have an instrument in your backpack.
    None of the above changes affect the traditional UO Bards. (Musicianship and instruments are still required.)
  • Macros:
    The [Play command now supports the use of macros. Not only does this allow you to package and reuse commonly used constructs, but it allows you to pack an enormous amount of notes into a single [Play command. Example:
    [play macro min = cl 0.1 ds 0.1 g 0.1 c
    [play %min%
    In the above example, we define the macro min, then use the [play command to play it back
    All of your macros are saved across server restarts.
  • [play list
    list allows players to list their currently defined macros.
  • [play ConcertMode
    ConcertMode is a special mode for playback that allows composers to compose pieces with different volume settings down to the note level.
    You enable/disable concert mode with the command
    [play ConcertMode true/false
    It is recommended that when playing 'around town', West Britain Bank for instance, that you leave concert mode off or you are likely to annoy everyone at the bank.
    For concerts, like the Battle Of The Bards competition coming up, concert mode is highly recommended as it gives the composer control over volume for everyone in the area.
  • Volume Control
    Players can now control the volume of their pieces by embedding volume attributes in their [play strings. Example
    [play v20 a v10 a v5 a v0 a
    In this example, we first set the volume to its maximum (level 20) then play the note 'a'. We then set the volume to half volume, and play the note 'a', and so on.
    Volume stays in effect until it is changed.
    Note: volume attributes are only available in concert mode.
  • Music Algebra
    Once you've mastered the basics of composition, you use Music Algebra to greatly enhance your compositions.
    Music Algebra sounds scary, but it's really nothing more than shorthand for frequently used musical constructs.
    - transposing ([play %blues[-1]%) would transpose all of the notes in %blues% down by 1 halfstep (c becomes b, ds becomes d, etc)
    - adjusting tempo ([play %blues<*2>% would multiply all pauses by 2, [play %blues<-0.05>% could subtract 0.05 from all pauses)
    - reversing ([play %-B7% would do [play a fs ds b)
    If this all sounds a bit esoteric, try it out for yourself. Just paste these lines into your client:
    [play macro min = cl 0.1 ds 0.1 g 0.1 c
    [play macro maj = cl 0.1 e 0.1 g 0.1 c
    [play %maj[+12]<2>% 0.2 %maj[+7]<2>% 0.2 %min[+9]<2>% 0.2 %min[+4]<2>% 0.2
    [play %maj[+5]<2>% 0.2 %maj<2>% 0.2 %maj[+5]<2>% 0.2 %maj[+7]<2>%
    Find more information on Music Algebra on our Wiki (in progress.)
  • Titles
    Players that join the NPC Bard Guild (see the bard guild master,) will have their titles replaced with "Composer".
    The skill cap for Composers is 120, so the two additional ranks above Grandmaster are supported (Elder, and Legendary.)
  • Skill points, Fame and Karma
    As a Composer, you will earn Skill points, Fame, and Karma in the following ways:
  • Getting a composition published on the Music Box.
  • Selling a track on the Music Box.
  • Players other than yourself listening to your melodies on the Music Box.
  • You will also gain skill points (but not fame or karma) by composing (using the [play command.)
    The system uses a complexity meter to decide how many skill points to award. Just playing the note 'a' over and over won't get you much skill!
    The system also counts the number of times you played a line and subsequently decreases your chance at a skill gain. (macroing the same song over and over will soon bottom out.)
  • Play Buffer:
    The old play buffer was something like 32 notes, so composers would have to shorten their lines, and/or add more pauses to give the play engine a chance to catch up.
    The new system gives composers a queue of 1024 objects. these objects include notes, pauses, and volume control.
  • Townships:
    We recognize the need to address township upkeep fees and have reduced NPC upkeep greatly.
    We will continue to work on long-term solutions that balance the cost/benefit of owning a township.