Ultima 7 Alternate Font - And view angle change

[SCO]

That looks much better. Exult, right?

That is just a rotated picture. That is not an in game shot.

Too bad...

If I remember reading the dev comments correctly, changing the angle to this in Exult is theoretically possible, however the massive processing power required to do that would basically render the entire game unplayable at this current time. Something like that sadly.

this is bullshit

 

[Jaesun]

Well Exult is open source. Feel free to show us how it is done I guess.

 

[Falkner]

I don't get how that whole thing is supposed to work. Aren't the backgrounds pre-rendered/drawn?

 

[Stabwound]

Between that 45 degree thing and the expanded view in Nuvie it might actually make Ultima 6 and 7 playable.

Just kidding, but I'm only now playing through the Ultima series and the view of U7 looks pretty nausea-inducing. What I want is U7 in original Ultima Online engine.

 

[SCO]

I don't get how that whole thing is supposed to work. Aren't the backgrounds pre-rendered/drawn?

It's just a matrix transformation. Look at some objects like the shield or characters; they get distorted because their edges were only meant for the cavalier perspective.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Don't know about any matrix transformation, but that's just an image rotated 45 degrees.

Refixed:

 

[Stabwound]

Damn, it really is just the game with graphical output rotated 45 degrees. For some reason I couldn't wrap my mind around that; I thought everything had to be redrawn.

I'm no programmer, but I'd think that something like this wouldn't be overly difficult to accomplish, would it? Exult already allows for resolutions that show more on screen than original U7, so it would be a case of rendering all on screen world assets at 45 degrees and expanding the black edges to be filled out with more of the game world. Theoretically nothing would have to be redrawn at all, which was one of the arguments I saw against doing this on the Exult forums.

Fake edit: Maybe the issue is that it would break in-game scripts that rely on specific coordinates? Who knows. All I know is that U7 with the isometric Ultima Online-like perspective is sexy as fuck.

 

[RyuRanX]

Don't know about any matrix transformation, but that's just an image rotated 45 degrees.

Refixed:

I'm so used to Ultima VII's -135º oblique projection that this image looks extremely confusing. I can't stop thinking the game is running sideways.

 

[RK47]

Doesn't really matter. It looks fine the way it is. If you want a HD remake, go ask EA for it. I'm sure this man will happily oblige.

You want the Guardian Trilogy? Umm, ummm... No problem!

 

[Daemongar]

That looks much better. Exult, right?

That is just a rotated picture. That is not an in game shot.

Too bad...

If I remember reading the dev comments correctly, changing the angle to this in Exult is theoretically possible, however the massive processing power required to do that would basically render the entire game unplayable at this current time. Something like that sadly.

Nah, you are talking about Exult 3D, not the rotated view. The rotated view is something people acknowledge is very doable. There is an ongoing discussion here.

Also, I'm pretty sure you could always replace the font in Exult. In Exult, it stores the font as "Avatar.ttf". You could just replace "Avatar.ttf" with any true type font named "avatar.ttf" and use Arial, if you want. I need to test this, though. Seem to recall setting up Exult on Fedora and doing just this with the font to test it out.

 

[Fowyr]

Really, guys, U7 font is easily readable. There are no ligatures, "long s", endings of vertical lines and majuscules are recognizable. Compare it to some real medieval documents.

 

[Suchy]

Damn, it really is just the game with graphical output rotated 45 degrees. For some reason I couldn't wrap my mind around that; I thought everything had to be redrawn.

I'm no programmer, but I'd think that something like this wouldn't be overly difficult to accomplish, would it? Exult already allows for resolutions that show more on screen than original U7, so it would be a case of rendering all on screen world assets at 45 degrees and expanding the black edges to be filled out with more of the game world. Theoretically nothing would have to be redrawn at all, which was one of the arguments I saw against doing this on the Exult forums.

Fake edit: Maybe the issue is that it would break in-game scripts that rely on specific coordinates? Who knows. All I know is that U7 with the isometric Ultima Online-like perspective is sexy as fuck.

It shouldn't influence coordinates, you don't rotate the map, just the screen. But there's still more to it - you need to keep all GUI elements intact.

 

[Jaesun]

Someone has now actually DONE this with the Exult engine.

Interesting...

 

[pakoito]

Is still move and camera panning jerky as fuck? That was my only reason to not play this game.

 

[Infinitron]

http://ultimacodex.com/2012/10/ultima-7-exult-rotate/

I covered this fascinating mod for the latest release of Exult 1.4.9 a while ago. The basic premise of it is that it rotates the field of view 45 degrees clockwise about a vertical axis, giving the game a more classically isometric feel (that might also increase its appeal to Ultima Online veterans). It actually makes Ultima 7 look absolutely phenomenal, I think; I vastly prefer the rotated view to the classic view.

Though still very much in a proof-of-concept state, developer cma opted to release both a standalone executable and a patch for Exult 1.4.9-rc1 so that those curious about the potential of the mod can get an early look thereat. The setup, however, is a bit convoluted. You can find instructions at theproject’s thread on the Exult forums, or here at the new project entry I’ve set up for it on the Ultima 7subdomain.

 

[potatojohn]

If I remember reading the dev comments correctly, changing the angle to this in Exult is theoretically possible, however the massive processing power required to do that would basically render the entire game unplayable at this current time. Something like that sadly.

Surely it would be almost free to do with GL?

 

[Untermensch]

The isometric perspective looks pretty nice, atleast for a still image.
How's it in motion?

 

[SCO]

Like shit probably, considering the npc's only have 4 facings.

 

[bminorkey]

I never realized how retarded the original camera angle was until I saw this post.

 

[Daemongar]

Like shit probably, considering the npc's only have 4 facings.

NPC's (and the Avatar/crew) only have two facings, the other two are mirrors of each other. (Sorry, I just thought I would post this before someone else did, because that's what people do here.) The avatar looking down is the same as the avatar moving right, just rotated. The avatar moving up is the same as the avatar moving left, only flipped 90 degrees.

I never realized how retarded the original camera angle was until I saw this post.

Yeah, there was that other game from '93 or so with that awesome, overhead, scrolling, 3D engine. It's name eludes me, however. What was it's name... dang... maybe you remember it?

 

[mindx2]

All of you so-called Ultima fans complaining about the font and camera angle are full of !! Ultima VII is an AWESOME game just the way it is!! (except maybe using Exult) It doesn't need any newfangled camera angle at all!!

 

[Alex]

All of you so-called Ultima fans complaining about the font and camera angle are full of !! Ultima VII is an AWESOME game just the way it is!! (except maybe using Exult) It doesn't need any newfangled camera angle at all!!

The new camera angle makes me dizzy. It is like everyone is being sucked into the sky or something.

 

[bertram_tung]

NECRO POST

So has anyone actually tried playing with the new angle? I've never played u7 but I'm interested and I would play in the new angle if its playable

 

[taxalot]

Was the 3D version with the rotating camera ever completed or usable ?

 

[Jaesun]

Was the 3D version with the rotating camera ever completed or usable ?

Like with most Ultima Mods... they start out as a dream.... and end up that way too...... Just a dream.