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Why can't I play/enjoy Ultima VII?

avatar_58

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Wait a deer killed you? The game goes nuts? Sounds to me like it's going too fast for you. If you are not using dosbox or exult then you cannot play this game, not even with mo'slo.

With dosbox you STILL have to set the cycles so that it plays at a decent speed. There is no way shit should kill you, especially that early.
 

avatar_58

Educated
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Thats just needlessly complex. Just get dosbox and set

EMS=False
Core=normal
Cycles=10000-12000 (somewhere in this range, toy with it)

And away you go. Not incredibly complicated.
 

mirrorshades

Liturgist
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Nov 8, 2006
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Binary said:
"Binary Dragon also has a useful page dealing with memory management, with particular reference to RDOSUMB. Check it out here."

;)
RDOSUMB was my salvation, when Windows 98 was king. My DOS boot disk was majorly tricked-out.

"Pimp my floppy!"
 

Fez

Erudite
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Ooops. Wrong link. Some internet history for you there then. :P
 

avatar_58

Educated
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Well theres your problem. VDmsound won't slow your games for you, so unless you played on a 386 it ran 500x too fast.
 

Binary

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avatar_58 said:
Well theres your problem. VDmsound won't slow your games for you, so unless you played on a 386 it ran 500x too fast.

Are you the same avatar_58 of the DOSBox forums?
 
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Ok, got underway at about 11000 cycles. Seems like it needs to be a bit quicker still as there is still some hitches, maybe loading the next part of the overworld or something.

I'm confused about a couple things, and the thought of wading through a .pdf, 95% of which is fluff, is repulsive.

What's the "halo" button do on the various inventory screens?

Does Spark's sling need ammo?

Is there some morality system in this game where if I steal I fuck myself over? I remember rumblings about that but the FAQ I've peeked at recommends to rob everyone and everything blind.

Is the enjoyment of the game substantially ruined if you by acquiring good equipment early? I ask because the FAQ I was reading recommended to grab a few of the hidden goodies right outside Trinsic and they all sound very powerful (like magic armor, a lightning whip, a flame sword, etc). If it ruins the game then I'll just forget about them.

How do I tell if one weapon is better than another? I assume a great dagger is better than a dagger, but is it better than a sword?
 

Binary

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undead dolphin hacker said:
What's the "halo" button do on the various inventory screens?

Defensive mode. Any character with the yellow halo will be protected by any other character that has the "protect" battle strategy selected

undead dolphin hacker said:
Does Spark's sling need ammo?

No. Beware of missile weapons in general btw, Position your missile users in the flanks ("flank" battle strategy) or they might shoot your party members.

undead dolphin hacker said:
Is there some morality system in this game where if I steal I fuck myself over? I remember rumblings about that but the FAQ I've peeked at recommends to rob everyone and everything blind.

Wellllllllll... depends on how you want to roleplay. If you steal things and people notice, there will be problems. Even your party members can turn against you. It is however very easy to steal things without even your party members noticing - I won't say how, figure it out for yourself if you really want it ;)

But in general there isn't a Karma system as in U4-U5 (U6 had a Karma system but it didn't have any effect iirc?)

undead dolphin hacker said:
Is the enjoyment of the game substantially ruined if you by acquiring good equipment early? I ask because the FAQ I was reading recommended to grab a few of the hidden goodies right outside Trinsic and they all sound very powerful (like magic armor, a lightning whip, a flame sword, etc). If it ruins the game then I'll just forget about them.

That won't ruin your experience at all. Even with standard weaponry the game battles will all seem easy, as Ultima 7 isn't really meant to be taxing in terms of combat (exception - a few areas in the Forge of Virtue expansion).

Where did you find those btw? Trying to remember near Trinsic where could there be a stash of magical items, and nothing springs to mind.

undead dolphin hacker said:
How do I tell if one weapon is better than another? I assume a great dagger is better than a dagger, but is it better than a sword?

There are books spread out throughout the game and while some just have some story or other, others are useful. I believe you can find somewhere in Trinsic (in the blacksmith's house iirc?) a book that explains the damage done by standard weapons and armors.

I don't think it covers magical/special/unique weapons though. You will find information on those in the quests to find them or in the place where you find them.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
There's two stashes near Trinsic, one in Trinsic, one just south of it in a forest, very difficult to spot as the locked chest is obscured mostly by a tree. The other stash is on the roof of the Blacksmith's house, but you need to stack crates to get up there and get teleported to the stash.
 

avatar_58

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Binary said:
avatar_58 said:
Well theres your problem. VDmsound won't slow your games for you, so unless you played on a 386 it ran 500x too fast.

Are you the same avatar_58 of the DOSBox forums?

Yeah theres really only one of me ;) I came here because it seems like it's only decent place to talk about RPGs. Greetings. :cool:

Dolphin - to answer your questions it's up to you. Basically if you want to steal, steal. You want to try to hunt down powerful weapons, go ahead. Hell in serpent isle I rob a shopkeer right off the bat to get two handed swords and chain mail. The combat is mostly an afterthought, it's the story, questing, conversation and pretty much everything else thats golden. You know, the part many RPGs get wrong.

I really wish we could have an RPG that blended excellent combat/stats mechanics with the living world feel of ultima. I haven't found a single one that comes close.
 

Fez

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There are some mods for Exult too. A couple of them add in more item creation or crafting options.
 
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Jasede said:
There's two stashes near Trinsic, one in Trinsic, one just south of it in a forest, very difficult to spot as the locked chest is obscured mostly by a tree. The other stash is on the roof of the Blacksmith's house, but you need to stack crates to get up there and get teleported to the stash.

The guide I was reading mentioned your first stash, the second is in a cave with some easy monsters and has a lightning whip.

The blacksmith's chimney is considered the cheat room.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Cheat, cheat! If you can get there by accidentally walking into it after accidentally stacking crates there it's hardly a cheat!

Ahem.
 
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Can you forge documents? I've found blank documents to ships and carriages but am not sure if I can forge them or not.

What's the deal with rings? Can I not equip them when I have gloves on?

Do certain characters specialize in certain weapons? For instance I raided that well-hidden chest and got the Flame Sword and the Defender out of it. Right now I have both on the Avatar (the Flame on switch) but I'm wondering if it'd be better to give one to Iolo or Spark. However if they're specialized in ranged, I figure it's not worth it.

Are Flame Swords supposed to cause some really obnoxious looping sound effect?
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Hmm... You can equip rings while wearing gloves, at least in Exult and Serpent Isle, but maybe it's different in vanilla U7-1.

You can't forge documents, sadly. Would have been great.

No, there's no weapon specialisation. Once Spark levels a few times, just give him the biggest sword you can find because he'll have the best stats in the whole game - weird, but oh well.

I don't remember an obnoxious sound effect. However, Flame Sword mainly serve as a source of light anyway.


Also, don't worry about combat. It's... well. Just ignore it. It's terrible. Worse than Arcanum's realtime combat, and that's something. However, combat isn't a problem if you have the kick-ass Forge of Virtue expansion - it ends you with 60 STR, 30 DEX and 30 INT and a sword that can kill everything in one hit. That's how "important" combat is in that game.

It's really more about exploring the huge world and marvelling at the NPC schedules and doing gay shit like hackmoving your own house and decorating it with furniture. Oh yeah.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Well, it is an RPG - it's just really terribly lacking in the most important RPG discipline, to me: combat. It still holds a special spot to me due to the lore, the huge world and the NPC schedules, though. Maybe you should try U7-2; the story might or might not keep you going. And hey, who says you have to like U7? After all I don't like Fallout that much myself, even though it's regarded as the holy RPG grail. (Pff! Wizardry 8 > Fallout)
 

Binary

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undead dolphin hacker said:
Maybe I'm in a gaming funk but this just isn't holding my attention. Lack of good combat and any kind of character customization is a real downer. I wanted an RPG, not an adventure game.

Of course, try PS:T then :lol:
 

avatar_58

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Binary said:
Of course, try PS:T then :lol:

Not sure he'd enjoy that either. Thats why I'm glad adventure games are basically my favourite genre, I don't mind the lack of meaningful combat. I don't wish all RPGs would follow, but it doesn't make me hate the game.
 

Binary

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avatar_58 said:
Binary said:
Of course, try PS:T then :lol:

Not sure he'd enjoy that either. Thats why I'm glad adventure games are basically my favourite genre, I don't mind the lack of meaningful combat. I don't wish all RPGs would follow, but it doesn't make me hate the game.

I was being cynical, you will notice that as quite common in the Codex ;)

I definitely wouldn't recommend PS:T
 
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Binary said:
undead dolphin hacker said:
Maybe I'm in a gaming funk but this just isn't holding my attention. Lack of good combat and any kind of character customization is a real downer. I wanted an RPG, not an adventure game.

Of course, try PS:T then :lol:
I love PS:T but recently finished replaying it.

Sounds ridiculous but:

-Planescape has some degree of combat other than "press C."
-Planescape has the best setting(s) in a RPG ever (the sheer vareity beats out Wasteland/Fallout). Britannia is only interesting if you have some degree of nostalgia for it.
-The one guy that talks like a RenFair fagface in Planescape is properly portrayed as a fagface. Contrast to Ultima.
-Planescape has fewer alter-egos of Richard Garriot in it.

I guess Ultima 7 is just one of those games you had to "be there" for.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
I guess! Was it your second PS:T replay, by the way? I find I can't replay the game a third time. It's just... empty now. I mean, I love it to bits, but there's nothing I want from it anymore. It served its purpose.
 

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