Mod News U5: Lazarus released

[Calis]

Tags: Ultima 5: Lazarus

To my amazement, the rest of the staff didn't care enough to post this (forcing me to actually make myself useful) but it's finally out: <A HREF="http://www.u5lazarus.com/">Ultima 5: Lazarus</A>.
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I haven't seen much in the way of feedback on it yet, but this thing is probably the only excuse one can have for owning a copy of the original Dungeon Siege.
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Since I don't actually own Dungeon Siege, you guys need to <A HREF="http://www.planetdungeonsiege.com/ultima5/tapestry_game.asp">download U5: Lazarus</A> just so you can tell the rest of us if it's worth getting DS for.

 

[Jason]

DLing now. The drivesmeinsane (whatever the fuck that is) mirror seems to have the top speed right now (236 KB/sec). I didn't try the BitTorrent ones, though. I don't swing that way.

 

[HanoverF]

Maybe by the time I'm finished DLing I'll have found where I laid to rest the turdburger that is Dungeon Seige...

 

[Jason]

I had a bitch of a time installing it. After installing DS and the patch, I installed U5 using the default path and all I could play was DS. There was no separate exe or shortcut for U5. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled U5 into the program files\microsoft games\dungeon siege directory. Still just vanilla DS. I tried copying the lazarus res files into the DS resource folder and the game started with the U5 screen and then started the normal DS game (the Krugs are attacking, farmer boy!) but with the U5 Avatar model. So I uninstalled DS and U5, then reinstalled DS, the patch, and U5. More DS and no U5. I eventually used my super genius powers of deduction and copied the res files from the lazarus resource folder into the DS resource folder and the lazarus map file (which was stupidly placed in the resource folder by default) into the map folder. Now it plays fine. I don't know if it's any good or not because I need to go see Munich (the movie, not the city).

 

[Deacdo]

You need a copy of U5 to play?

 

[nakanja]

When you install it, it puts a start menu shortcut. I'll be like "c:\DungeonSiege.exe" map_paths=!"D:\Program Files\Lazarus\resources" res_paths="D:\Program Files\Lazarus\resources

Change the first part to point to wherever Dungeon Siege is installed and you're good to go; you shouldn't have to move any of the Lazarus files.

You need a copy of U5 to play?

No; all you need is Dungeon Siege (with the patch)

 

[Jason]

After my retarded installing mishaps, I've played Lazarus enough to give some early general opinions.

PROS:
*big-ass world you can get lost in
*some decent dialogue so far
*combat is slightly harder than DS (poison is permanent unless you find a proper healer, which I haven't)
*purdy music (old U5 music and some new)
*talking horse
*you don't start off as a farm boy
*very nice pdf manual (are you listening, Josh Ritter?)

CONS:
*combat is still crappy DS combat for the most part
*dialogue is handled in the old "select-a-topic" manner ("name", "job", etc)
*very limited character options so far
*no journal entries
*the DS engine is annoying in general

Overall, I definitely think it's worth the 500+ Mb download if you already own DS. If you don't, I wouldn't buy DS just for this unless you find it used for $5 or so. Or steal it from a friend.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

*combat is still crappy DS combat for the most part

Given all the reviews say this is singularly the worst aspect of the game that not only makes it dull and boring but also results in a score of around 40, I'd say that's a pretty big con.

 

[HanoverF]

The me of the past sent the me of the future a big 'Fuck You', I finally found my Dungeon Seige box, had a weird moment when I thought 'Oh good, Dungeon Siege.' Which I'm pretty sure is the only time anyone ever thought those words, peek inside, and it had the fucking NWN discs in it!!!1!!!1 And where I thought NWN would be had Morrowind in it!

I think I just punk'd myself

 

[FrancoTAU]

I've only played it for a couple hours but i'm digging it so far. As far as mods go, i don't know how you could ask for more.

Dialogue is good. Music is great. Graphics are nice, but a bit dated obviously. The plot is the same as U5, so that's good too. Exploration factor is high as the world feels huge and wide open. Combat is very mediocre though. It looks like they were going for the U7 vibe and i think they're pretty successful at it. The engine doesn't allow for everything in the world to be interactive though.

I almost tempted to recommend buying Dungeon Siege if you don't have it since it's only 10 bucks new these days.

 

[Calis]

I've given it a quick (20 minutes, my sister stole the PC to do some numerical algorithm crap after that) look. The production values looked pretty good, but I haven't gotten far enough to be able to comment on gameplay yet.

 

[Shagnak]

I might get time to have a decent look at it, oh, in a week or so.
By then this thread will be dead and I'll have to do some obscene resurrection voodoo. Oh well.

dialogue is handled in the old "select-a-topic" manner ("name", "job", etc)

Yeah, this is what I would expect. I don't remember there being kompleekayted dialogue trees in the original, so this is appropriate.

Wow, I'm actually looking forward to re-installing DS

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Ultimas 1-6 all had that text parsers when conversing with NPCs. Ultima 6 was the only one that highlighted keywords, I think. So the select-a-topic, while not my bag, is appropiate.

 

[Section8]

Q: Goddamn it, why didn't I mark the spot I buried my copy of Dungeon Siege?

A: Because I never expected it to serve me in any positive way ever again. Yet another "RPG" where the best class is the uninstall wizard.

<trudges off to Canberra with a shovel to dig up a backyard that isn't even mine anymore>

 

[Zetor]

Yet another "RPG" where the best class is the uninstall wizard.

*rimshot*


I like Lazarus, it has that Ultima feeling goin' on. The combat also isn't TOO much like ds, with all the combat skills you can learn and all; there's also no quick easy way to heal up, unless you waste yellow potions.. but then, U7 had that too. If you try approaching the trolls guarding the lyceum or the orc camp SE of Yew with a DS hack-n-slash mindset, you're going to die real quick like. Just like in the Ultimas, there isn't too much magic armor/weaponry available, and you won't find Grand Greatswords of Wtfpwnage dropping from random mobs either. The Avatar is squishy, even when wearing plate armor and a magic shield.
My only gameplay gripe is that it plays a lot more like ultima 7 (yes, you can bake bread, zomg) than the turn-based ultimas, but that's to be expected I guess. Oh yeah, NPC schedules can occasionally get annoying, like when I talk to person X, finish the conversation, then become unable to talk to them again until they've stopped moving towards their new location.
It is rather impressive how much new tech they've managed to squeeze into the mod, from the dialogue system to rune magic to moongates to ship travel to NPC schedules. It makes DS2 look like a low-grade DS1 mod, I'm told... can't verify since I don't have DS2 (heh).


-- Z.

 

[Twinfalls]

This sounds wonderful. I'll have to find a cheap copy of DS - those of you who are playing Lazarus, please keep the comments/opinions coming, I'm enjoying reading them.

 

[Circuitbreaker]

I have spent a few quick hours playing Lazarus and I'm quite amazed at the effort that has been put into this mod. Some high quality intro stuff, huge world and so on. Unfortunately it's still Dungeon Siege so on the way to Britain (with some hilly terrain) I already cursed the game for its f*cked up way of handling the camera. I'll definitely give this a serious play through.

BTW I didn't have any problems with the installation. No patching whatsoever required. I don't know if that's related to the fact that I'm running DS1 + the Legends of Aranna add-on.

 

[aboyd]

I've installed it and played for a couple of hours. It's OK. I never played any of the Ultimas, so I feel a bit lost. And I don't appreciate the use of "thee" and "thy" in dialogue. But I do appreciate the fact that dialogue exists and is extensive.

I abandoned my first game on the third floor of the monastery/healer place, when the camera went through the ceiling and I was stuck looking at roof tile. I blame DS, not the U5 team, for that.

I have to say that it's strange -- but in a good way -- to play what looks like a Dungeon Siege game, but without being mobbed by monsters every 5 feet.

I think I need to spend more time on the manual. It's a lovely PDF. Hopefully it will provide more background.

-T

 

[FrancoTAU]

aboyd, there is also a pdf map included in there. If you're hopelessly lost, you can find Ultima maps all over the net. If you're an Ultima vet, you remember mostly where everything is since the world was pretty constant throughout the series.

 

[aboyd]

Thanks. I more meant that I feel lost in the story. These NPCs all know me, and call me the "Avatar." I don't know the backstory on that, aside from the 1 or 2 sentences I found in the dialogues.

No matter. I played BG2 before BG1, and I remember the feeling that lots of things had happened with the character I was playing. That's OK. I'll figure it out.

 

[cubgrace]

I guess Disk One of DS is no good to me? Damn I wish i was more organized!!!

 

[Jason]

I always knew you were a fuck-up, cubgrace. Now go clean your room.

 

[Jaesun]

Thanks. I more meant that I feel lost in the story. These NPCs all know me, and call me the "Avatar." I don't know the backstory on that, aside from the 1 or 2 sentences I found in the dialogues.

I'd reccomend reading http://www.planetdungeonsiege.com/ultima5/bol.asp which has the full book of lore that was released with the origional Ultima V (click on the Folklore link). It has some re-caps of the 4 Ages (Ultima 1 to 4), of where you the Avatar have appeared in Brittania. (The Book of Lore can also be found in game as well.. pretty cool).

The entry "The Crossing" in the manual with Lazarus is sadly the same "re-cap" of ultima IV that was with the origional. Richard sure could have done a better job getting a player up to speed on what had happened. :D (Ultima VI's re-cap is a bit better).

Hope that will help you a bit getting caught up.

 

[aboyd]

Thanks. That does help. I appreciate it.

Off to Brittania, until the wee hours of the morning.

 

[Awakened_Yeti]

its got some serious, game stopping bugs dealing with major plot NPCs at the moment.. word is that an upcoming patch could invalidate save games possibly - id wait till 1.02 comes out before starting a game