Ultima The Ultima Series Discussion Thread

[Sceptic]

Silellak made the U7 SNES LP. He was a great poster and a big Ultima fan, shame he stopped posting.

Regarding U5 and Lazarus, Lazarus is an amazing game but it's not U5. I love both dearly and would always tell people they should play Lazarus, but not as a replacement for U5.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

I would definitely start with a PC Ultima and not any of the ports or fan remakes like Lazarus. My favorite 3 are U5-U7. They really captured the "We create worlds" philosophy of Origin at the time, and give the best Britannian experiences of all the Ultimas (U4 was a bit too primitive in both gameplay and engine, though still a decent game).

Or you can just start with U1 and work your way up. The U1 remake is playable and short but fun. However, U2 is not that much fun and U3 is too much of a grind. But I feel like starting with one of the better games will whet your appetite for the whole series and also be a more enjoyable experience.

 

[Infinitron]

What's with all these mods lately? http://exodus.voyd.net/2017/02/02/announcing-sosaria-mod/

Announcing Sosaria Mod

Announcing Sosaria Mod, a new project under the Exodus Project umbrella. Sosaria Mod is a world mod to Ultima’s 2 and 3 that allow both games to be set in the “Lands of Lord British” from Ultima 1. This effectively keeps the first three games all on the same consistent world.


Why Sosaria Mod?

When I began playing the Ultima series back in 1990, I started with Ultima 6. By then the world of Britannia and its history had been firmly established. The manuals and the NPC’s in-game talked about the lore of the earlier games as if those events occurred in the same setting and all these things happened in one connected and consistent world.

I did not realize until years later when I went back to play the prequels that this history was not as stable as it was made out to be as there were some glaring continuity problems. The inter-game narrative was connected in the manuals by the Triad of Evil, but the setting was largely disconnected. The Sosaria’s of Ultima 1 and 3 barely resembled each other, and Ultima 2 took place entirely on Earth. Furthermore, Ultima 4 had no resemblance to its predecessors save for the namesakes of some cities.

What if we could take those disparate worlds and make them more consistent with each other? What would Ultima 2 feel like if it took place in Sosaria? What would Ultima 3 feel like if that Sosaria was consistent with the one in Ultima 1? And can it be slightly less difficult to imagine this world could become Britannia? That’s the driving purpose behind Sosaria Mod – make the game worlds of the first trilogy consistent with one another, and possibly later lore.

Why choose the Lands of Lord British from Ultima 1?

Note that the four continents of Ultima 1 are modifications of Richard Garriott’s original D&D campaign map, while the Sosaria of Ultima 3 is actually closer to the original. He talks about this in the Avatar Adventures interview:

“Then for Ultima III, since I wasn’t going to be doing the time travel theme again, I didn’t need Earth. So I went back to a modified Earth, this place Sosaria. It didn’t really look much like the first one, but I know it was, because when I built the first one I drew in my old D&D world and cut rivers through it and cut it up into separate land masses. Ultima I actually had four maps on it, but they are just a flip and translation of the ones you see for Ultima III. Pretty close to it, just cut up. Ultima III is actually a truer representation of my old D&D world.” – Ultima: The Avatar Adventures, p364

However, despite this information, I decided to embrace Ultima 1’s layout for this mod rather than the Ultima 3’s for several reasons.

1. All other continents in U1, including Lands of Danger and Despair (aka Serpent Isle), are transformations of the LoLB continent. Since Serpent Isle’s shape is canon, a case could be made that the LoLB in U1 would make more sense to carry forward.
2. The LoLB map can be transformed into Britannia with less work. It still requires a massive cataclysm to have taken place, but the persistent towns like Moon, Britain, and Yew are near the appropriate geographic spots already.
3. The U3 world map is already currently in use as the main continent in Shroud of the Avatar. With SotA being a successor to Ultima even in terms of world lore, it did not feel appropriate to reuse the same shape in Sosaria Mod.

What’s your progress?

Release 3.3 of the U3 Upgrade will add world modding capabilities. I also have a fair amount of the game world mapped out. So look for the U3 mod either included with or shortly after the next U3 Upgrade release!

U2 will take a fair bit longer as the upgrade is not currently in active development and both the code and the game world require a lot more rework. Not only do the overworld maps need to change, but many of the towns and all the NPC text will be affected. However I have a first pass of the overworld maps and a few towns completed.

If you want to monitor progress more closely and you like reading assembly code then you’re welcome to follow the bitbucket repo.

When will you be done?

Since this is a personal side project it’s difficult to make a commitment. Having said that, I’m hopeful I can be done by the end of 2017.

Do I have to play with Sosaria Mod when I use the upgrade?

Not at all! Playing with the mod is completely optional. Even if you have the mod installed, it’s designed so that you can always choose to play the original game.

Pics or it didn’t happen!

These pics are from the current iteration of the U3 Sosaria Mod and may or may not reflect the actual release.


Britain and the Castle of Lord British

Moon across the channel, on Verity Isle

Grey and a nearby moongate

The hidden city of Devil Guard

Peer gem view

 

[Eggs is eggs]

Ah, I never noticed that the "Lands of Lord British" continent is roughly the same shape as Sosaria of Ultima 3.

It is also cool that they reused one of the other continents for the Serpent Isle map.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Alright, so I finally got around playing Ultima 7 The Black Gate for the first time. So far its lovely, just lovely. I'll keep my impressions for a longer later post but got two odd technical questions.

Running the latest Exult build (no keyring mod).

The screen sometimes changes color abruptly from bright, to dark, to red. I assume it has something to do with the times of the day but I sometimes can't figure out the reason, at first I thought it was dusk and dawn but thats not possible. Is it artifical light sources that cause the change? Is it supposed to turn red inside only? - but it turns red outside too sometimes, does it factor in light from open windows and such? Because the changes seem a bit strange sometimes.

The sound seems a bit off too. Music sometimes changes abruptly or just stops altogether. The games seems to have very few sound effects so sometimes I am playing essentially in silence for some time, which seems a bit strange too.

 

[Infinitron]

Define "silence". There should usually be sound from NPCs milling about opening doors and manipulating objects, birds chirping, wind blowing, etc.

 

[Marquis de Lirium]

Perhaps you need to install a sound pack. IIRC they are not installed automatically with Exult.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The screen sometimes changes color abruptly from bright, to dark, to red. I assume it has something to do with the times of the day but I sometimes can't figure out the reason, at first I thought it was dusk and dawn but thats not possible. Is it artifical light sources that cause the change? Is it supposed to turn red inside only? - but it turns red outside too sometimes, does it factor in light from open windows and such? Because the changes seem a bit strange sometimes.

Nighttime has a slight blue tint to the darkness if that helps, and being close to a light source such as torches and such at night gives everything a slight hue of orange. (The Light spell has a white tint to it.) If you're still wondering when it's day/night, the best way is to check NPCs and their schedules, they should be turning on lights or sleeping in their beds. In Britain they tend to turn on the lamp posts outside at night, so that's a clear sign right there.

A red color in U7 usually means you're taking damage. Have you checked whether the Avatar is taking damage from some bizarre source, like he's being attacked, is poisoned or maybe starving?

If none of the above helps you at all, then everything points to a dodgy Exult installation.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Hm, thanks for the info guys, I think there is nothing wrong with my game afterall though. Been taking a quick look at a lets play, there just seem to be few sound effects and moments when its pretty quiet.

With regard to the screen color, I can tell when its night or day, just the abrupt and arbitary change from dark to red to dark again is somewhat irritating sometimes. This part here (4:00-5:00) illustrates pretty well what I mean: notice how its bright at first, then it gets dark, then suddenly red. Notice how the screen color changes from dark to red for no apparent reason even when he is just fiddling with his inventory outside?



Seems like its just the way it is.

Edit:

Yeees, I know, I just saw it. He puts a flame sword on. :D Still, the color change in the earlier part of the video is what I mean and there are parts in the game where you walk through a town at night and the screen constantly changes from dark to red. Oh well, it probably has something to do with light sources I am not aware of.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Alright, so at least with my sound there was indeed something wrong, its better now after I reinstalled the sound pack. Makes me think there is probably something wrong with the screen going to red too, I will probably try to reinstall the whole Exult setup one of these days.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Still, the color change in the earlier part of the video is what I mean and there are parts in the game where you walk through a town at night and the screen constantly changes from dark to red. Oh well, it probably has something to do with light sources I am not aware of.

You're right on this one: Light sources have ranges. They only give out light over a specific distance, the bigger the light source the bigger the range. The color changes through the castle is the Avatar traveling in and out of range of various light sources dotted around.

 

[Junmarko]

 

[LB_wannabe]

- Back in 2003 someone called Devi has made a remake of Ultima IV with Neverwinter's Aurora toolset. A module called "Ultima IV Reborn".

here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/jrk7mzu



- Then in 2010/2011 someone called Glanestel Dragon has made some "fixes" to this module.

here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/z4dsp3k

This module has the original dialogues of Ultima IV with the gameplay of Neverwinter Nights.



- In 2016 an italian user has released an italian "Ultima IV Reborn" AeT version, a sort of less generic NPC project, where all the original dialogues were modified according"the original ones, personaltaste of the author and Ultima lore".

here's the link with the description: http://tinyurl.com/z9222ly



- Finally in 2017 was released an english translation of "Ultima IV Reborn" AeT version with various modifications.

here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/z56zoqe

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Meanhwile, is there a point to carry the tons of blackrock I find around with me in Ultima 7?

Pretty heavy shit, just wondering if I should keep picking it up when I find it.

 

[Neanderthal]

Plot wise you're gonna need four or five pieces, I usually store em on ship or in Sentri's gaff. Useful for blowin up wi Rudyom's Wand though.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Blergh, I think I've ran into a bug in Terfin, about the plot to destruct the altars. I found the note, Teregus sent me to talk to Runeb, I kill Runeb but afterwards nobody acknowledges it. I can only select 'evidence' in the conversation with Teregus and then he sends me to talk to Runeb again, even though Runeb already lies slaughtered in the Fellowship Hall. I should be able to tell Teregus that the altars are safe now, right?

No big deal, I don't need the XP but its kinda triggering that I can't resolve this. Anybody perhaps knows of a workaround?

I should've stuck to my 'one save per town' policy from the start but since I never ran into serious issues (except sound) I eventually only used the quick safe feature.

 

[Jaesun]

I've never heard of that bug before. Are you playing in DOSBox or with Exult? SausageInYourFace ?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I should've stuck to my 'one save per town' policy from the start but since I never ran into serious issues (except sound) I eventually only used the quick safe feature.

I NEVER use the Quick Save feature, no matter what game has it. I can't even remember anymore why I don't use it, but I suspect it had something to do with massive bugs in the system.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I've never heard of that bug before.

Latest Exult build. I have found at least one reference of other people encountering it too, apparently no solution however. I'll just move on with my life.

 

[Max Stats]

Wow, those posters must cover nearly an entire wall! I always loved his box art, but I don't have anywhere to put posters like those.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

..aaand another bug. Alagner is still alive when I return the notebook to him even though he should be dead. Meh, I thought Exult takes care of all the bugs? Or do I just have shitty video game karma?

 

[Jaesun]

..aaand another bug. Alagner is still alive when I return the notebook to him even though he should be dead. Meh, I thought Exult takes care of all the bugs? Or do I just have shitty video game karma?

You are playing with the latest Exult 1.5.x Snapshots right?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

1.5.0git , it says in the corner.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Doug the Eagle had to put effort into helping Alagner survive his execution, and now Exult just does it for him.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/21/ea-shot-down-ultima-online-pitch-3-times-a-ign-unfiltered

EA SHOT DOWN ULTIMA ONLINE PITCH 3 TIMES — IGN UNFILTERED

Electronic Arts needed a whole lot of convincing before Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott was given the green light to make Ultima Online.

On the latest episode of our interview show IGN Unfiltered, Garriott shared the story behind the creation of Ultima Online. He and his team wanted to make a multiplayer Ultima game—which they referred to internally as "Multima"—for quite some time, but waited until the market was ready for such a product.

When the internet started to take off, Garriott and Starr Long decided now was the time to finally pitch their "Multima" idea to EA. As part of the publisher's proposal process, Garriott said the project's lifetime sales estimate needed to justify the costs required to make the game, "but the way to determine that is with comparables," of which there were none at the time. The closest comparison they could find had 15,000 sales. So, taking into consideration the appeal of the Ultima brand, they doubled that to 30 thousand, which still wasn't nearly enough to green light the project.

Six months later, when internet had grown even more popular, he tried pitching the game again to EA, but the project was once again shot down. However, that didn't stop Garriott, as he returned a year later to pitch Ultima Online a third time, but was yet again turned down. He then approached former EA president Larry Probst and said, "we're spending five or ten million making the next Ultima, five or ten million making the next Wing Commander.... You're just wrong on this. You need to give me $250,000 to prove this [idea]."

Probst gave him the money and they used it to make a playable demo. In order to get the product out to the public, they created one of EA's first websites, where people could pay $5 to beta test the game. Within a short period of time, "Fifty thousand people signed up to pay us $5 to get that CD," Garriott said.

"That day was the day the world changed around Origin and EA, and especially for Ultima Online," he added. "It went from being the bastard stepchild that no one wanted in the company, period—it was only happening because Richard Garriott was a jerk enough to stand up and stomp his feet and hold his breath until they let him do it—and now suddenly it became the most important thing happening in EA worldwide." He went on to note that when Ultima Online eventually shipped, it "became the fastest-selling PC game in Origin and EA history for that moment in time."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03...-go-to-the-bathroom-in-space-a-ign-unfiltered

ULTIMA CREATOR ON WHAT IT'S ACTUALLY LIKE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM IN SPACE — IGN UNFILTERED

In addition to creating the beloved role-playing series Ultima, Richard "Lord British" Garriott has been to outer space and discussed the unpleasant experience of pooping in zero gravity many miles away from Earth.

On the latest episode of our interview show IGN Unfiltered, Garriott noted that while books have been written how to go to the bathroom in space, they've always detailed the way you're trained to go in space, and no one as far as he knows tells the "actual story of how troubling it is to go to the bathroom in space."

The bathroom itself is like "small telephone booth" with one receptacle for liquid waste, another for solid waste, and several of knobs and switches that are fairly difficult to use thanks to the lack of gravity. "It's a funnel you pee into for liquid waste, which works fine and that's easy, but the solid waste receptacle is the problem," he said.

Garriott described the solid waste receptacle as "basically a beer keg bolted to the floor with a shoebox-size toiled seat with a lid and a receptacle about the size of your water bottle that fits down inside of it with a plastic bag with a rubber band that holds it at the top. The plastic bag goes down into the shoebox and has perforations in the bottom, and the same vacuum hose that could have peed into is attached to it."

In space your GI tract slows down, so you don't have to go to the bathroom as often, but when you, you're backed up after having not gone in several days, and thus have a lot to excrete. Since there's no gravity, it doesn't simply break off as you're excreting the waste over the toilet. Garriott likened it to squeezing a tube of toothpaste in zero gravity, saying, "if I try to move the toothpaste tube away from the toothpaste, the toothpaste comes with it. And so when you sit over this container and begin to go to the bathroom, you quickly create a column to the bottom of the bag. And if you try to continue it sort of spreads out on your backside."

As a solution to this unpleasant and messy problem, Garriott said everyone reacts by giving "a bounce, because that tends to break things, like shaking the toothpaste off the tube." However, that doesn't resolve the issue but instead creates "an obstruction in the bag, and so you start again but now you have the same problem happening but even sooner."

While you could clean up using baby wipes and start again with a fresh bag, you'd end up going through "dozens of bags and use up the supply on the space station." Since that's not a feasible option, you realize you need to "put on rubber gloves, get out some wet wipes and sort of manually manipulate things out of the way to continue," a process that Garriott said takes "like 45 minutes."

He went on to note how "hilarious" it is that "no one ever talks about it" and that "no one's made a better toilet," adding, "after years and years and millions and millions of dollars being spent on toilets, I could go on about the pantheon of toilets that have been invented for space and they are all worse than the one I described." Garriott then concluded by saying that during his time in space, "I think I made three solid waste deposits, and that was enough."