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Ultima Ultima IV: what to keep in mind?

Caim

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So I want to partake in the :incline: and play me some Ultima IV. I got it from GOG and gave it a test run to see if it worked, but I was somewhat bewildered by what to do and where to start. So I ask you: where do I start, what do I do and so on.

Follow-up question, are there any other things that I should be downloading? Mods, graphic packs, enhancement software, other stuff? Or is vanilla Ultima IV good by itself?

Oh, and I have read that the Shepherd class as a start makes the game difficult in the beginning, but it makes your party more effective because you don't have to haul a Shepherd around yourself. Should I try with rolling one from the start, or should I take a more martial/casting class?
 

Gakkone

pretty cool guy eh
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Jesus. Take notes frequently, that's all you need to know. Now go and play the goddamn game instead of ruining it for yourself here.
 

Stabwound

Arcane
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
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3,240
The only thing to keep in mind is this: have an actual notepad and paper or text editor and take notes, and read all of the literature that comes with the game. You absolutely need to take notes to finish this game, and the only way you understand the vital system of spellcasting is to read the manuals.

U4 isn't the type of game you are supposed to have guidance with. You're dropped into an alien world and it's up to you to figure it out. It's very wide-open, so don't worry about doing such and such at the beginning. Just explore and talk to every NPC. You'll want to ask them their name and job, and remember that some NPCs will join your group, too, but not all.

I wouldn't even worry about combat difficulty. The game is easy as balls in this regard no matter what you do.

As far as upgrades, I'd serious consider using the U4 upgrade pack that gives it VGA quality graphics and improves the quality of the music, which makes a huge difference IMO. Link here: http://www.moongates.com/u4/upgrade/upgrade.htm
 

Alchemist

Arcane
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
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Good advice so far - definitely just read the manuals, take lots of notes, and explore. Min-maxing and metagaming is not what this game is about. Don't read guides or anything just go in blind or you'll ruin the experience.
 

MMXI

Arcane
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
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2,196
Break up town exploration with dungeons. There's nothing worse than exploring every single town and then realising you've got to slog through a bunch of dungeons all in one go in order to progress.

As far as upgrades, I'd serious consider using the U4 upgrade pack that gives it VGA quality graphics and improves the quality of the music, which makes a huge difference IMO. Link here: http://www.moongates.com/u4/upgrade/upgrade.htm
As far as I remember it actually adds music, not just improves the quality. The DOS versions of the first 5 Ultima games didn't have any music.
 

:Flash:

Arcane
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
6,453
As was said, you need to read the manuals that came with the game. Also, you need the map - not an actual pixel map, but the cloth map that came with the game.

The VGA patch used to have a problem in that it displayed the graphics (e.g. of a fountain) in the dungeons very slowly. There is a key combination to switch between unslowed (i.e. unpatched version) and slowed version - which shouldn't be a problem if DosBox is set up correctly. Just switch off slowdown in the dungeons.

And always remember: name - job - bye
 

octavius

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You need a party of 8 to enter the Abyss. Allowed party size = Avatar's level.
XP is gained from competing quests (finding items) and killing monsters. Only the one dealing the killing blow gets the XP, so make sure Dupre doesn't "steal" your XP.
 

Caim

Arcane
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Alright, get a few mods, talk to everyone, recruit someone upon leveling and go town-dungeon-town-dungeon. About the map thing, is the one that game with the game on GOG the correct one?
 

WarHamster

Augur
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Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
108
recruit someone upon leveling and go town-dungeon-town-dungeon.
While that's basically a good idea, to not leave all dungeons to the latter parts of the game, I don't think you ought to brave them too early. They're not total cakewalks, not all of them anyway. If you stumble into a room full of reapers, balrons and whatnot, you'll be raped. Plus there are rooms where you need 3-4 PCs to stand on (invisible) pressure plates to open an exit. So, I'd advice waiting until you're at least level 3-4 and have a couple companion PCs, before venturing into dungeons. There's plenty of towns to visit and going to few of them first, gaining a few levels and companion PCs in the process, is a good way to "ease into" the game if you're new to U4. Besides, you get to know the NPCs and pump them for the much-needed info as you do so and learn how things work in U4.
 
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Revenant

Guest
I'd advice <...> have a couple companion PCs, before venturing into dungeons.
I would advice the contrary - whatever you do, do NOT allow anyone to join you until just before the last dungeon. The reason for this is quite retarded - combat controls are especially clunky if you control more than one character. The main thing that has put me off from playing Ultima IV for a while was the especially tedious process of traversing dungeon rooms with a party. Once monsters get defeated, you still have to leave the dungeon room in the combat view and since characters move only one square per turn it gets horrendously tedious to move the whole party away. If you absolutely need backup during tough dungeon fights, have ONE companion at most, because while moving two characters you already know which character you will move after your current one and don't have to look which character's turn will be next so you don't bump him into a wall. Jesus I feel pain even as I am typing this
 

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