Ultima The Ultima Series Discussion Thread

[Eirinjas]

I agree with Mr. Garriot's anti-vampire children policy position. In fact, I would extend that to ordinary children as well.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

2 hours? wtf

 

[Bruma Hobo]

2 hours? wtf

Two hours of the same old shit actually, there's nothing interesting here. This time Garriott seems to be slightly humbler though.

 

[Infinitron]

ScummVM, resurrector of vaporware Ultima engine remakes: https://ultimacodex.com/2020/04/the-pentagram-xu4-and-nuvie-websites-all-have-scummvm-stickers-now/

The Pentagram, xu4, and Nuvie Websites All Have ScummVM Stickers Now

If you’ve clicked on over to the Pentagram, xu4, or Nuvie websites recently, you may have noticed the ScummVM sticker prominently displayed over each project’s logo. You can see the Pentagram logo above; here are the other two:









This shouldn’t come as a surprise, of course; we first heard about ScummVM incorporating these projects into its collection of game engines almost two months ago. That said, each site has been updated with a short news blurb about the new partnership.

xu4:

As of April 2020 xu4 became a subengine of ScummVM.

After years of stagnation this means that xu4 is not dead after all but will thrive in ScummVM.
Right now code needs to be sortened out and xu4 is not yet in an official ScummVM release.
Keep an eye on ScummVM news and its code on GitHub.​

Nuvie:

Nuvie has become a subengine of ScummVM

In a drive by the ScummVM team to add Ultima engines to their list of supported games, the Nuvie team has been convinced to merge with the ScummVM code. At the moment this means that DreamMaster of the ScummVM team is working on seamlessly integrating Nuvie.
Finally people will again be able to work on the two Worlds of Ultima games and if you want to help improving the games, you can always send pull requests to the ScummVM project on GitHub.

We hope this will help people enjoying the games for many more years!

In other news, we had to disable our forum because it has been overrun and crushed by too much spam. And since we are now part of ScummVM we are sure we will find our place in its forum.​

Pentagram:

After years of stagnation Pentagram became a subengine of ScummVM and is already experiencing many bugfixes. It’s not yet in an official ScummVM release but you can follow its progress on GitHub.
We hope that Ultima 8 gets all the love it needs on ScummVM and maybe, just maybe someone decides to take on the Crusader games.​

There’s little to be added here that isn’t already captured in the posts above. Two of these engines, especially, had languished without maintenance or updates for years; Nuvie was still being worked on infrequently. Hopefully, their incorporation into the ScummVM ecosystem will lead to further — and more frequent — improvements to each of them.

 

[Grauken]

So Exult is next?

 

[Vitor]

Did you guys ever heard about Ultima Odyssey? Not that canceled one. Uodyssey is a single/multi (coop) game made in the UO engine using the new open source classicUO. This guy made this mod for 7 years to play with his friends and it´s something so big and unique. Made every skill useful, big big big open world, some unique quests, good lore and everything that made uo great. Best of all: singleplayer focus. I think this is my first post here but as an Ultima fan i thought it w´d be cool to share it. I think the only downside so far was the difficulty when you got stronger but I changed a couple of things and it´s perfect now. For all Ultima fans (single and online) it´s a nice fresh air. So much content that I never saw it in any other game.
I´m using an old build that I think it´s perfect. I don´t know how the game is right now in the lastest build but the project is done.

 

[RatTower]

Did you guys ever heard about Ultima Odyssey? Not that canceled one. Uodyssey is a single/multi (coop) game made in the UO engine using the new open source classicUO. This guy made this mod for 7 years to play with his friends and it´s something so big and unique. Made every skill useful, big big big open world, some unique quests, good lore and everything that made uo great. Best of all: singleplayer focus. I think this is my first post here but as an Ultima fan i thought it w´d be cool to share it. I think the only downside so far was the difficulty when you got stronger but I changed a couple of things and it´s perfect now. For all Ultima fans (single and online) it´s a nice fresh air. So much content that I never saw it in any other game.
I´m using an old build that I think it´s perfect. I don´t know how the game is right now in the lastest build but the project is done.

I used to play around with RunUO servers back in the day.
Always thought UO would make a great singleplayer/coop RPG, given some fine tuning.

Downloaded the server software. Hopefully I'll have some time to try it out in the near future.

 

[Comte]

So Exult is next?

Man I hope so.

 

[smaug]

Ultima IV has no sound for me (GOG) version. (Help)

 

[Grauken]

Ultima IV has no sound for me (GOG) version. (Help)

Use the music patch
http://www.moongates.com/u4/upgrade/Upgrade.htm

 

[Vitor]

Did you guys ever heard about Ultima Odyssey? Not that canceled one. Uodyssey is a single/multi (coop) game made in the UO engine using the new open source classicUO. This guy made this mod for 7 years to play with his friends and it´s something so big and unique. Made every skill useful, big big big open world, some unique quests, good lore and everything that made uo great. Best of all: singleplayer focus. I think this is my first post here but as an Ultima fan i thought it w´d be cool to share it. I think the only downside so far was the difficulty when you got stronger but I changed a couple of things and it´s perfect now. For all Ultima fans (single and online) it´s a nice fresh air. So much content that I never saw it in any other game.
I´m using an old build that I think it´s perfect. I don´t know how the game is right now in the lastest build but the project is done.

I used to play around with RunUO servers back in the day.
Always thought UO would make a great singleplayer/coop RPG, given some fine tuning.

Downloaded the server software. Hopefully I'll have some time to try it out in the near future.

I think you´ll like it. Is hard in the beginning but it is pretty fun and immersive. One good thing is that every skill is useful like camping in the dungeons and etc.

 

[Grauken]

new Exult version out at http://exult.sourceforge.net/index.php

Almost ten years after the version 1.4.9rc1, 16 years after the last stable version (v1.2) and 28 years after the official release of Ultima VII - The Black Gate (16 April 1992), we are finally ready to release a new version. With many developers busy with their real life and most having moved on, it took us this long. We have been busy squashing more of the inexplicable crashes but these changes will force us to stop supporting some ancient operating systems.
That's why we decided to release one last version of Exult, Exult Studio and Exult's tools for the old OS' before moving on with development. For really old Windows operating systems (95/98/ME/NT/2000) we prepared a legacy download.
So please grab the new version available on our download page.
The legacy Windows version, the source tarball and the Debian package will be uploaded at a later date.
Please play with it and tell us of any problem you encounter using the forum or bug tracker.

A brief list of the most important changes in Exult since v1.4.9rc1:

• Shortcut bar with important shortcuts right on top of the screen (thanks Litchie)
• Switch to SDL2 - important for up to date OS'
• NxBR and HQ3x/HQ4x scalers
• Option to drop stacks of items without confirmation
• Some more combat options to make charmed combat more difficult
• Schedules got a work-over and are more closer to the original but not yet perfect
• NPCs using beds are sleeping better now
• Paperdoll support of wearing diapers
• Portable option for Windows
• Seperate settings for fullscreen and windowed mode possible
• HighDPI mode available on macOS
• Better pathfinding when the party boards a barge
• Fixed most inexplicable crashes
• Serpent Isle Beta version works
• Cleaned up the code in many places and fixed many compiler warnings
• Tons of bugfixes

But we do have known issues:

• Some crashes due to some cached-out objects, we are working on this in another branch which will be the main snapshot after this release
• Antimagic rain caused by the cube generator is not dissipating as fast as it should
• Exult does not show the "you have beaten Ultima VII in n days" message
• Exult does not return to the game menu after beating the game (instead it quits)
• The BG intro does not have the proper sound effects
• Fire Elementals cannot walk across lava
• Some schedules need more detailed love
• Several bugs that need more in-depth looking at but no plot-stopping bugs
• When you disable "Gumps pause game", certain events might only happen after you close all gumps

 

[Infinitron]

A brief list of the most important changes in Exult since v1.4.9rc1:

• Paperdoll support of wearing diapers

 

[Viata]

Priorities, I guess.

 

[xEnd3r]

The ebook of Through the Moongate: The story of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems Inc. and Ultima - Part I: from Akalabeth to Ultima VI, is now free to download.

http://www.theira.it/download-part-i/

 

[Grauken]

Eh, another aggrandizement of Garriott, read enough of that already

 

[xEnd3r]

Well as i said before, i did my homework before writing it and i tried to let the ppl i interviewed say their stories.
Anyway, it's free so you could make up your mind after reading it and not before

 

[Joonas]

Small update to Ultimapper 5 at http://u5.zorbus.net.

Release 3:

• Spell list. Can be used to mix spells. The window can be left open if you have enough screen estate, as a reference, the spell / reagent amounts get updated.
• Inventory list. This is just a list. All in one screen. Uses the same window as the spell list, you can use TAB to switch between spells / inventory.
• Using a gem or a peer spell / scroll sets the current area (or part of the world map) explored.
• HUD shows the amount of gems.

Screenshots of spell list and inventory:
http://u5.zorbus.net/graphics/17.png
http://u5.zorbus.net/graphics/18.png

 

[newtmonkey]

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (PC)

It is finally time to play this one!
I've completed Ultima I, III, and IV, and VII in the past, and have played VI extensively. For whatever reason, I completely skipped U5 and for the longest time I was under the misunderstanding that Ultima V was the least acclaimed game in the series; I might have been getting it mixed up with the NES version for some reason, which is indeed a pile of shit.

I was immediately impressed with the writing, both in the manual and in the introduction. The writing in the game (so far) is not quite up to the high standard set by the intro, but it's very good indeed. I was also happy to see the upgrade to the graphics over Ultima IV; still EGA, but way more detailed and colorful... as I was exploring the coast around Paws and Trinsic at night, I was wondering why a few squares of the ocean on the edge of the screen kept blinking on and off, until I realized, "that must be one of the lighthouses they mention in the manual!" I was nearly awestruck, no joke.

Combat is about a million times better than that in Ultima IV, and I was overjoyed to see that killing monsters gets you honest to God loot! By the time I had finished exploring the wilderness between Yew, Britain, Minoc and Paws/Trinsic, I had amassed an inventory of keys, gems, torches, and even some weapon and armor upgrades.

The concept of the game is simply genius. The way the manual handles it is just superb, with the manual reading like a typical Ultima manual with no hint at what has gone wrong in Britannia, until the very last page where you get the sucker punch of Blackthorne's Code of Virtue "inserted" by the "editor." Reading the corresponding law at the gates of a town never fails to give me a little chill. The game itself does the same thing; most of the time nothing really seems that amiss, people are going about their lives working, etc. But then you walk into a random town and BAM a Shadowlord is there turning everyone into assholes. Or you walk into Castle Britain and the music is played in a disturbing minor key.

I'm only a few hours into this one, but I am really getting into it. Great stuff!

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Take a look at this review of an obscure Ultima you've probably never heard of.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/ultima-patcher-1-67/

Ultima Patcher 1.67

I was approached by “Death Strike” about adding a patch for Savage Empire to the Ultima Patcher. Apparently, the GOG version of the game contains a bug which disables the alternate ending but a later fixed version was released on the compilation CD with 7 Cities Of Gold (anyone who has ever spent time hunting for Ultimas on Ebay should be familiar with this particular CD). They created a patch to update the GOG version which I’ve added to the Ultima Patcher.

Other than that, I’ve added in the latest default installation directories which appear to have changed every time I look, updated some links and changed the Beautiful Britannia download URL. You can download the new version from here.

 

[index.php]

May 21, 2020: Art thou worthy to be the Avatar?
Posted by dreammaster

Many years ago, a company called Origin Systems developed the much beloved Ultima series of role-playing games. Thanks to the previous hard work of others who created stand-alone reimplementations of these games, ScummVM is pleased to announce that two of the games in the series are ready for testing.

The first of these games is Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, based on the prior work done by the xu4 project. You can detect your English copy of Ultima IV as either original or enhanced. Enhanced mode uses the VGA graphics developed by the xu4 project. With the inclusion into ScummVM, the game also receives several improvements, such as multiple savegame slots and configurable keybindings. It even adds in a small secret area that only the most dedicated explorers may find.

The second game is Ultima VI, based on the Nuvie project. Due to some miscommunication, Nuvie may still advance as a separate project, but given the work done integrating Nuvie into ScummVM, we're hoping to have it officially supported in ScummVM as well. As with Ultima IV, Ultima VI supports the original game mode, as well as an enhanced mode that allows for Nuvie's full screen map, container gumps as in Ultima VII, and other features. Note that enhanced mode defaults to double resolution, so for now, the intro only displays in half of the screen.

So break out your copies of the games and give them a try! You will need a daily development build. As always, please submit the bug reports to our issue tracker.

edit:

May 25, 2020: You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, Avatar
Posted by dreammaster

It seems that work on cleanup and improvements to the Ultima VIII integration was further along than I had anticipated. It's now been confirmed that Ultima VIII is completeable under ScummVM as well, so it joins Ultima IV and Ultima VI for official testing.

So break out your copies of Ultima VIII as well and give it a try! You will need a daily development build. As always, please submit the bug reports to our issue tracker.

 

[Taxnomore]

I wonder why.

 

[LESS T_T]

I'd think EA considers Ultima a valuable property, unlike Wasteland or Bard's Tale.

 

[Taxnomore]

The Ultima franchise holds too much value for Garriott to be trusted with it.