Ultima The Ultima Series Discussion Thread

[Daemongar]

So what was Batlin going to do? Kill the Guardian? Usurp his power?

He believed that getting into the Void allowed him to absorb unlimited power. He never did explain how or why.

Yah - I'm at that point now in my playthrough. When you look at the eye of the moon, Batlin says in the cutscene "When I open the Wall of Lights, I'll be more powerful than the Guardian himself!" Of course, before you confront Batlin, Selina says "With the Guardians help he (Batlin) and I shall meet in the Eternal Void to conquer new realms together" underscoring that Batlin's lying to everyone - I suppose he suspects the only way to stay alive is to become stronger than the Guardian.

Batlin further says before his demise "Now I shall enter the Wall of Lights and become immortal! Then I shall return to destroy thy mortal soul!" then later "I have been tricked! Avatar! I beseech thee! Help me before..."

Then the Guardian states "See how I reward those who fail me!" or such.

So, the take is that Batlin failed at bringing the Guardian into the world in U7. Somehow, Batlin's whole ambition was to become greater than the Guardian. Effectively, the Fellowship has been disbanded, Batlin failed, and Batlin is led to believe by opening the wall of lights he can become immortal/tap into unlimited power or such. Unfortunately he uses the wrong Blackrock serpent - even though the impression in the ground clearly shows the opposite serpent.

So, I think Batlins ambition was a ruse, and Batlin's story is told in parallel with the imbalance in the land, not the cause of the imbalance in the land. The Avatar restores balance to the land, but the Guardian pulls the Avatar into another world.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Despise the almost inevitable shit that it would turn out to be, it's so weird that at NO point EA every attempted a revival of the Ultima franchise (outside of that abominable low budget mobile thing).

It's a very obscure series at this point. Its most famous entry is probably Underworld (on account of its connection to System Shock and other Looking Glass Studios games), and we saw how that game's "revival" ended up. And even Ultima Underworld is a pretty obscure game among casual gamers. I had someone on /v/ tell me that Grand Theft Auto is a more important and influential game than Underworld.

average age on the codex is way above the average video game target audience, they can't comprehend the massive majority of people buying games having absolutely no clue what ultima even is

and ultima isn't even that popular on the codex to begin with, the highest rated mainline ultima was tied with some crappy jrpg on the top 101: https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11193

 

[BruceVC]

Despise the almost inevitable shit that it would turn out to be, it's so weird that at NO point EA every attempted a revival of the Ultima franchise (outside of that abominable low budget mobile thing).

It's a very obscure series at this point. Its most famous entry is probably Underworld (on account of its connection to System Shock and other Looking Glass Studios games), and we saw how that game's "revival" ended up. And even Ultima Underworld is a pretty obscure game among casual gamers. I had someone on /v/ tell me that Grand Theft Auto is a more important and influential game than Underworld.

average age on the codex is way above the average video game target audience, they can't comprehend the massive majority of people buying games having absolutely no clue what ultima even is

and ultima isn't even that popular on the codex to begin with, the highest rated mainline ultima was tied with some crappy jrpg on the top 101: https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11193

https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players/

Here is an interesting link, I fall under the prestigious 12% group

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I generally felt meh about the series past ultima V. Sure the story continues but I kept thinking he was rushing things to keep up with the industry. There are just situations in V+ that you can do that aren't very avatar-like (which I get bored of being tbh...) U3 was the only game in the series you create your own party. After that... ALL AVATAR ALL THE TIME... stay tuned next game and see what corny adventure the Avatar gets into next.

Oh..... yaaayyyyy......

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I generally felt meh about the series past ultima V. Sure the story continues but I kept thinking he was rushing things to keep up with the industry. There are just situations in V+ that you can do that aren't very avatar-like (which I get bored of being tbh...) U3 was the only game in the series you create your own party. After that... ALL AVATAR ALL THE TIME... stay tuned next game and see what corny adventure the Avatar gets into next.

Oh..... yaaayyyyy......

For me, the fact that Ultima follows a single protagonist throughout the whole thing is one of my favorite aspects. It's just part of what makes the games feel like epic adventures when you're playing the role of a character with so much history. It might've been a good idea to give that a break and return to the Ultima 3 style for spin-offs, though.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I feel they retconned the idea of a single protagonist post Ultima IV.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I feel they retconned the idea of a single protagonist post Ultima IV.

III is only Ultima where hero/avatar being single person doesn't fit.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I feel they retconned the idea of a single protagonist post Ultima IV.

It'd probably make more sense if the Avatar was separate from the protagonist(s) of 1-3, but U6 and U7 made it pretty clear that it's all the same guy, for better or worse. If I were remaking the series, I'd just make U4 the first game in the series, and the "Age of Darkness" games would be prequels or something.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I'd like to see a good remake in the series connecting all the side trip games as well and maybe some fan ones. Deciding on what engine would be the most difficult part. Hard to imagine ultima underworld done any other way and redoing every ultima into an very cool new underworld engine would be weird.

This might have happened if RG(LB) actually cared and didn't lose the ip. Rich people are just fucking crazy it would seem.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I feel they retconned the idea of a single protagonist post Ultima IV.

III is only Ultima where hero/avatar being single person doesn't fit.

Unless you play it with only 1 dude.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

I feel they retconned the idea of a single protagonist post Ultima IV.

III is only Ultima where hero/avatar being single person doesn't fit.

The first three games in the series let you pick heroes from different fantasy races, and the plot from Ultima 4 makes little sense if you believe that the main guy was already a hardened warrior and not an unexperienced soyboy in an isekai plot. Before Ultima 6 the manuals clearly stated that the first four installments had all unrelated main characters.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Did you know that saying "thanks" works the same as saying "bye" in Ultima 5? It's an immersive little touch for some conversations.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I can't recall if Literal Ultima on the old Ultima Dragons went through each response and key words for the ultimas. Navigating to find the page was annoying.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I had to shake my head on this playthrough. He starts out being quite thorough, but god damn his playthrough sucks.

There is a chunk of text I forgot about that alludes to the traveller ir adventurers being called again. I'd liken it to all the players who plated Akalabeth, U1&U2 that adventured but didn't kill the big foozle. Lord knows I've done playthroughs with different classes utilizing the best sex and race for initial stat bonuses.

The writing here could mean adventurers from the past to present have gathered to heed the call Lord British prclaimed. I forget the time line from Akalabeth to the beginning of Ultima 3.

Funny it says you can recruit during your journey (not implemented until Ultima 4 unless you count making a new dude). The game could have used an adventurers guild/inn to readily change out characters. Hiring a random dude or finding a rare comrade would be cool too. Yet another reason I'd like to see the Ultimate remake of the entire series utilizing 1 engine and perspective.


So many reboots and cheating I just laughed and thought "this dude doesn't have a clue on how to genuinely experience the game."

He went with a terrible party build (sure it'd be a challenge and he should have pumped that paladin up to 20 wisdom for sanctu access.). Go with the easy classes on a first playthrough.
Dwarf Fighter
Elf Thief
Fuzzy Wizard
Bobbit Cleric

This guy would be totally devastated on the GBA version of Ultima 3.

I laugh. At least I guess he gets through the game. I can't bring myself to watch all the parts seeing how it fairs atm.

We had no save states on the C64. You die and you better get raised by a healer. Party wiped out. Make a new party and maybe get enough gold to start raising dead roster numbers.

You could, theoretically, make a copy of the play disk as a back up but I never tested that.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Thinking about EXOTICS in ultima 3.

1. They should have been ranged.
And like this:


EXOTIC ARMOR...
So either the Crusader power armor or these mech suits would be fine.


Considering the past I was led to believe the stuff was high tech and not magical.

Weapons WIKI
Armor WIKI

 

[__scribbles__]

Despise the almost inevitable shit that it would turn out to be, it's so weird that at NO point EA every attempted a revival of the Ultima franchise (outside of that abominable low budget mobile thing).

It's a very obscure series at this point. Its most famous entry is probably Underworld (on account of its connection to System Shock and other Looking Glass Studios games), and we saw how that game's "revival" ended up. And even Ultima Underworld is a pretty obscure game among casual gamers. I had someone on /v/ tell me that Grand Theft Auto is a more important and influential game than Underworld.

average age on the codex is way above the average video game target audience, they can't comprehend the massive majority of people buying games having absolutely no clue what ultima even is

This is very often a problem when discussing a work's legacy or influence: Overestimating a work's popularity.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

average RPG fan today

I've never met a "modern RPG fan". Unless you count the one time my friend dragged me to a game shop to play D&D. The other guys in the game were 40 y/o or older, so maybe they knew Wizardry or Ultima (I didn't ask, because I didn't know anything or care about RPGs besides New Vegas). The rest of the store was full of a bunch of fat women, and I heard one of them talking about how much they liked Mass Effect. Is that the modern RPG fan?

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

This is very often a problem when discussing a work's legacy or influence: Overestimating a work's popularity. [CUT}

This is a lot of rambling to correct something that wasn't even said at all.
No one claimed Ultima was a blockbuster.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Another stunning line of dialogue from Underworld 2.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

While not an ultima this was definitely inspired by ultima. It was probably posted before but looks like it is getting closer to a release:
Eldiron

I seriously love 2D construction engines just to navigate and mess around in. The last few ultima-likes I tried were dragon engine, and ACKS.

 

[Martyr]

I know it has officially been shut down, but does anyone here know any way to play the supposedly awful Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar? it's like the game has completely vanished, I can't even find any pirated versions floating around the internet. since it was a smartphone/browser game with cartoony visuals and in-game shop it doesn't seem that anything of value has been lost, but some things you just have to see for yourself.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I know it has officially been shut down, but does anyone here know any way to play the supposedly awful Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar? it's like the game has completely vanished, I can't even find any pirated versions floating around the internet. since it was a smartphone/browser game with cartoony visuals and in-game shop it doesn't seem that anything of value has been lost, but some things you just have to see for yourself.

I doubt it. That game's been completely forgotten by everyone. Nobody's even bothered to make post-mortem articles or videos about it. It got shut down in less than a year, after all.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I know it has officially been shut down, but does anyone here know any way to play the supposedly awful Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar? it's like the game has completely vanished, I can't even find any pirated versions floating around the internet. since it was a smartphone/browser game with cartoony visuals and in-game shop it doesn't seem that anything of value has been lost, but some things you just have to see for yourself.

it was online-only, the game is gone forever

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Reminder that many Ultima Faggons shilled Ultima Forever and some even still defend it.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Wow, this game was even more of a rape than Ultima Forever. I don't think I've seen anyone ever talk about it on the Codex. It looks like a Leage of Angels knockoff, and that's fucking saying something