As many of you know http://www.Tugsoft.com is the licenser/producer of a product known as UOAssist, a very helpful tool for those of us who don't like clicking a zillion things as we race to create potions, weapons, and the like in our daily adventures.

I was recently given the opportunity to sit down with the creator of UOassist and ask some questions about the product, its future, other products that might be made available in the future, and their thoughts on Ultima Online. I hope you all find this as useful as I did! The questions are in bold beige, and the responses are in black.

Just some background info for our users, why/how did you start UOAssist?

I was a beta tester for Ultima Online way back when. During that testing I found a bunch of tasks were very repetitious, and being a programmer, I decided to do something about it. At first I made just a simple program that would record and playback mouse movements/clicks... and keyboard presses. That was great for many of the crafting tasks I enjoyed but had its limits. As I explored more of the opportunities the game had to offer I kept thinking of new things I'd like in a program. That was the inspiration for what became UOAssist.

Currently UOASpeed, that name may change, is being beta tested. It isn't so much a new program but a service that is designed to help modem or low bandwidth people get around faster in game.

Will you be adding the ability count necro regs in the near future?

This is already done. All you need to do is go to the display page and turn on the option.

Have you noticed an increase in sales since UOA became available for UO gold ?

Not that I've noticed. Sales go up and down so it would be hard to specifically follow. We do firmly believe that it is a good opportunity for those that would rather use in game items to pay for a UOAssist license.


Ok, if we can go back to this program that can reduce lag. How does that work and where can users get it?

That would be what is currently being called UOASpeed. It works much like proxy service but is smarter about the data going through it so it can optimize the data flow to the client. Currently it is in beta so the only way to get it is by being lucky enough to see when beta testers are being accepted by watching UOAssist's update/news page or the website. Once beta testing is complete announcements will be made on the UOAssist update/news page and main website. http://www.tugsoft.com/UOAssist/UOASpeedBeta.html

About how much longer will the program be in beta?

If I had to guess how much longer beta testing will last I'd guess two to three weeks, but that is just a guess and subject to change in either direction.

How relevant is this new proxy service with the lag changes Fertbert is talking about?

One common misconception people on the UO boards seem to have is that UOASpeed only helps because of the current programs OSI has. That was never the case. Even after OSI does their improvements UOASpeed will continue to help. The facts are that UOASpeed probably will not even be released until OSI has made a number of their improvements which have already begun.

Do you or any of the UOAssist team play ultima online? And if so what are your opinions regarding some of the new changes with AoS?

 

I used to play quite a bit but recently have not. I've tried some of the new AoS features and really enjoyed them. They might get me back playing some more but I've been so busy getting UOAssist up to speed for AoS while working on UOASpeed and other non-UO related projects I haven't had time.


That's all folks! We would like to thank the team over at Tugsoft.com for taking some time out from their busy schedule to meet with us, and we hope to hear from them again in the future!

Any thoughts about this article? Post them on the discussion boards.