Ultima The Ultima Series Discussion Thread

[LarryTyphoid]

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Replaying Ultima 5. I used to think I liked this game the most, but I had more fun replaying Ultima 4. A big part is how you get your characters stronger.

In Ultima 4 you've got the skill orbs in the dungeons, and I like those a lot because with them, you can increase any of your stats in any order at any point in the game, and they tie into the big overarching puzzle of the game regarding the relationships between the 3 principles and the 8 virtues. The 3 RPG attributes correspond to the 3 principles - you can find orbs that greatly increase intelligence in the dungeon Deceit, for example, because that dungeon corresponds to the virtue of honesty, which is the virtue that is purely derived from the principle of truth. I bet if you were smart, you could observe this behavior in the RPG mechanics and deduct the relationships between the virtues and principles without having to search out the NPCs that tell you.

In Ultima 5, you have to go back and forth between the 8 shrines and the Codex on the Isle of the Avatar, which is just a fucking pain. These don't even increase your stats by more than +1 for the 3 pure virtues (you get +1 to strength and dexterity when completing the quest of the shrine of honor, but only +1 to strength when completing the quest of valor; you think that the quests of the 3 pure virtues would increase your stats in the corresponding attributes more than the quests of the combination virtues, which is how it was in Ultima 4), and even then it's only for the Avatar - your companions don't get anything from these Codex trips. The other way of raising stats is to rest, which will cause the ghost of Lord British to appear at random and upgrade one of a character's stats at random. I thought we were past random stat allocation since Ultima 2 pulled this shit but I guess not.

I'm still enjoying my playthrough, and I'm frankly shocked at how replayable these games are. With how Ultima 5 is going, though, unless I find something I really like in my second playthroughs of 6 and 7, I'm probably gonna have to pick Ultima 4 as my all-time favorite Ultima game (maybe tied with Underworld? Gotta replay that one too.)

 

[Ladonna]

Replaying Ultima 5. I used to think I liked this game the most, but I had more fun replaying Ultima 4. A big part is how you get your characters stronger.

In Ultima 4 you've got the skill orbs in the dungeons, and I like those a lot because with them, you can increase any of your stats in any order at any point in the game, and they tie into the big overarching puzzle of the game regarding the relationships between the 3 principles and the 8 virtues. The 3 RPG attributes correspond to the 3 principles - you can find orbs that greatly increase intelligence in the dungeon Deceit, for example, because that dungeon corresponds to the virtue of honesty, which is the virtue that is purely derived from the principle of truth. I bet if you were smart, you could observe this behavior in the RPG mechanics and deduct the relationships between the virtues and principles without having to search out the NPCs that tell you.

In Ultima 5, you have to go back and forth between the 8 shrines and the Codex on the Isle of the Avatar, which is just a fucking pain. These don't even increase your stats by more than +1 for the 3 pure virtues (you get +1 to strength and dexterity when completing the quest of the shrine of honor, but only +1 to strength when completing the quest of valor; you think that the quests of the 3 pure virtues would increase your stats in the corresponding attributes more than the quests of the combination virtues, which is how it was in Ultima 4), and even then it's only for the Avatar - your companions don't get anything from these Codex trips. The other way of raising stats is to rest, which will cause the ghost of Lord British to appear at random and upgrade one of a character's stats at random. I thought we were past random stat allocation since Ultima 2 pulled this shit but I guess not.

The stat increases are nice, but in these games the deciders are really equipment, hitpoints, spell availability and their uses. I never cared too much a about how my stats were going, and it never seemed to affect how viable my characters were in the long run. I agree with you regarding the way the you had to go between the shrines and the Isle of the Avatar was a pain, but apart from that I found everything else in Ultima V to be superior. Exploration, conversations, item use, combat, dungeons and puzzles, etc.

It's the same as the classes available; In Ultima IV you have a different class for each virtue (8 classes), with different equipment available for each, stat spread, icon, etc. In Ultima V you have four classes, one of those being the main characters "Avatar" class only available to them. It didn't really make a big difference to me though.

 

[Cael]

Replaying Ultima 5. I used to think I liked this game the most, but I had more fun replaying Ultima 4. A big part is how you get your characters stronger.

In Ultima 4 you've got the skill orbs in the dungeons, and I like those a lot because with them, you can increase any of your stats in any order at any point in the game, and they tie into the big overarching puzzle of the game regarding the relationships between the 3 principles and the 8 virtues. The 3 RPG attributes correspond to the 3 principles - you can find orbs that greatly increase intelligence in the dungeon Deceit, for example, because that dungeon corresponds to the virtue of honesty, which is the virtue that is purely derived from the principle of truth. I bet if you were smart, you could observe this behavior in the RPG mechanics and deduct the relationships between the virtues and principles without having to search out the NPCs that tell you.

In Ultima 5, you have to go back and forth between the 8 shrines and the Codex on the Isle of the Avatar, which is just a fucking pain. These don't even increase your stats by more than +1 for the 3 pure virtues (you get +1 to strength and dexterity when completing the quest of the shrine of honor, but only +1 to strength when completing the quest of valor; you think that the quests of the 3 pure virtues would increase your stats in the corresponding attributes more than the quests of the combination virtues, which is how it was in Ultima 4), and even then it's only for the Avatar - your companions don't get anything from these Codex trips. The other way of raising stats is to rest, which will cause the ghost of Lord British to appear at random and upgrade one of a character's stats at random. I thought we were past random stat allocation since Ultima 2 pulled this shit but I guess not.

The stat increases are nice, but in these games the deciders are really equipment, hitpoints, spell availability and their uses. I never cared too much a about how my stats were going, and it never seemed to affect how viable my characters were in the long run. I agree with you regarding the way the you had to go between the shrines and the Isle of the Avatar was a pain, but apart from that I found everything else in Ultima V to be superior. Exploration, conversations, item use, combat, dungeons and puzzles, etc.

It's the same as the classes available; In Ultima IV you have a different class for each virtue (8 classes), with different equipment available for each, stat spread, icon, etc. In Ultima V you have four classes, one of those being the main characters "Avatar" class only available to them. It didn't really make a big difference to me though.

Most of the classes in U4 didn't really matter. What is the difference between a Ranger and a Bard? Same spell points, same weapons, same armour. Or a Tinker vs Paladin?

U5 made the classes different in many ways due to things like encumbrance of equipment (sum of the weight of all worn equipment vs Strength), magic points being dramatically different, and the pre-built NPC have stat spreads that are tied to their class (and no real way of maxing everything, so the stat spread mattered).

 

[LarryTyphoid]

New GeorgGreat video about Ultima VI:

 

[0sacred]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

 

[Cael]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

Just don't do it. I believe the tremors only appear at the beginning and then nothing else happens.

Exult also gives you the option of disabling the add-ons for both U7 and U7-2, I think.

Although if you buy a ship in U7, you are doing it wrong...

 

[0sacred]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

Just don't do it. I believe the tremors only appear at the beginning and then nothing else happens.

rly? I thought they persist until you do the addon content

Exult also gives you the option of disabling the add-ons for both U7 and U7-2, I think.

I've never used Exult, doesn't it fuck with graphics and shit? I will look into it

Although if you buy a ship in U7, you are doing it wrong...

ok?

 

[Cael]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

Just don't do it. I believe the tremors only appear at the beginning and then nothing else happens.

rly? I thought they persist until you do the addon content

Exult also gives you the option of disabling the add-ons for both U7 and U7-2, I think.

I've never used Exult, doesn't it fuck with graphics and shit? I will look into it

Although if you buy a ship in U7, you are doing it wrong...

ok?

Exult is the only way to play the game on modern machines without fucking with your memory management extensively. U7 is infamous for its... unique... memory management.

Haven't you played U7 before? If not, I won't spoil it for you.

 

[0sacred]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

Just don't do it. I believe the tremors only appear at the beginning and then nothing else happens.

rly? I thought they persist until you do the addon content

Exult also gives you the option of disabling the add-ons for both U7 and U7-2, I think.

I've never used Exult, doesn't it fuck with graphics and shit? I will look into it

Although if you buy a ship in U7, you are doing it wrong...

ok?

Exult is the only way to play the game on modern machines without fucking with your memory management extensively. U7 is infamous for its... unique... memory management.

Isn’t it super easy to do in Dosbox?

Haven't you played U7 before? If not, I won't spoil it for you.

Yes, it’s not new to me. And I got a ship every time

 

[Cael]

how do I VII? (in 2022, without Forge of Virtue)

I don't want to play with the stupid addon which only serves to max your stats PLUS takes the challenge of getting enough money to buy a ship out of the game. And I don't want no stupid tremors either.

Just don't do it. I believe the tremors only appear at the beginning and then nothing else happens.

rly? I thought they persist until you do the addon content

Exult also gives you the option of disabling the add-ons for both U7 and U7-2, I think.

I've never used Exult, doesn't it fuck with graphics and shit? I will look into it

Although if you buy a ship in U7, you are doing it wrong...

ok?

Exult is the only way to play the game on modern machines without fucking with your memory management extensively. U7 is infamous for its... unique... memory management.

Isn’t it super easy to do in Dosbox?

Haven't you played U7 before? If not, I won't spoil it for you.

Yes, it’s not new to me. And I got a ship every time

Just... go talk to Rudyom as Lord British suggested

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Exult is the only way to play the game on modern machines without fucking with your memory management extensively. U7 is infamous for its... unique... memory management.

The GOG version works just fine. I started with Exult but I've come to prefer the DOS version. Exult has numerous quirks that bug me, like the slower movement speed and even jankier combat.

 

[Tavernking]

Thought this was pretty cool

 

[qwertyuiop666]

Elon Musk has played Ultima.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1603941673695707136

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Just beat Ultima 1 (the DOS remake). Mildly amusing way to spend 2 or 3 hours, but I can't see myself ever playing it again. The dungeons were the best part.

 

[Cael]

Elon Musk has played Ultima.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1603941673695707136

U5 was pretty darned good, but U7 was just that bit better...

My top 3 would be 7, 7:2, then 5

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

U1 DOS Remake?

 

[LarryTyphoid]

U1 DOS Remake?

The DOS version of U1 is a remake, which is why it uses sprites from U4. It's also missing some gameplay mechanics, like dungeon pitfalls.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Found this art from the Japanese cluebook of Ultima Underworld.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Been playing Ultima 2. I applied a patch that fixes the attribute rollover bug, allows you to choose which attribute to upgrade at the Hotel California, and adds new graphical modes, including a "CGA Composite" mode that emulates how the game looked on original displays.

Game's not so bad. I made a male human thief with high agility, so I was able to buy a sword early and can kill enemies easily. I can use my high agility to easily steal food, so I don't have to worry about cash outside of getting health from LB. I already knew about the blue tassle shit so I got a ship within ten minutes of starting. It's all easy sailing from here.

 

[octavius]

There's something about those overland graphics in the old Ultima games that activates my nostalgia glands...

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I'm still pretty partial to the C64 version. Plane (brass buttons) is the best way to travel around (gotta get one in each area). Horse was ok, but I forget if it reduced food consumption all that much. Funny guards have all the keys. Does that patch stop items from rolling over too? Boat bridges were hilarious. This game really needed an upgrade like ultima 1. I hate that there really is no ranged usage. (Cannons only adjacent etc). I never played it in cga composite. I think there is a VGA mode I played, though (god i can't remember on DOS). You want a hoot? Try the FM-Towns version (or similiar). Oh lord. It is almost like it has additional content. (damn pity the story screens aren't translated IN-GAME but I believe I found translations or did so later on myself. Different versions sometimes have different content (same with the ultima 3 ending). Where was that patch again?

 

[LarryTyphoid]

There's something about those overland graphics in the old Ultima games that acticates my nostalgia glands...

Same, even though even my father was barely even alive when this game came out. It has a timeless quality that can be appreciated by anyone, regardless of prior experience.

You want a hoot? Try the FM-Towns version (or similiar). Oh lord. It is almost like it has additional content. (damn pity the story screens aren't translated IN-GAME but I believe I found translations or did so later on myself. Different versions sometimes have different content (same with the ultima 3 ending)

I've never seen those. You should post them.

Where was that patch again?

It's included in this utility that can patch every Ultima game.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

OK, Ultima 2 was kinda cool until I realized that I would be grinding for gold for several hours

 

[Cael]

OK, Ultima 2 was kinda cool until I realized that I would be grinding for gold for several hours

U1-3 are like that. The food consumption is retarded. They toned it down considerably in U4, but even then, it can get dicey.