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Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

Trojan_generic

Magister
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
1,564
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
https://af.gog.com/forum/general/ul..._syndicate_wars_delisting/page1?as=1649904300

We’d like to inform you that, on publisher's request, Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars will be delisted from our catalog on Monday, June 28th, 1 PM UTC.

For everyone who purchased the titles prior to delisting, they will remain in their GOG library.

aliens.png

https://af.gog.com/news/bgrab_your_...ars_and_ultima_underworld_i_iib?as=1649904300

Today we have a HUGE surprise for all classic game fans! 4 outstanding titles return to GOG.COM, accompanied by a special message from their publisher:

„Syndicate and Ultima Underworld are back! It seems that twenty years on there’s still plenty of love for these titles so we’re pleased to confirm that effective immediately they’ll be available again on GOG, and we’ll be keeping them in the store for the foreseeable future. To celebrate this we’re offering these games as a free download for four weeks.”

That’s right! Until the 3rd of September 2021, 5 PM UTC, you can grab copies of Syndicate Plus™, Syndicate Wars, and Ultima Underworld I & II free of charge.

So, don’t hesitate any longer and dive into the captivating worlds of those classic gems!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was just going to post about this. It is maybe the nicest free game offering from a company since a very very long time. Might want to update the thread title with NOW FOR FREE or something.
 
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Desiderius

Found your egg, Robinett, you sneaky bastard
Patron
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
14,131
Insert Title Here Pathfinder: Wrath
I was just going to post about this. It is maybe the nicest free game offering from a company since a very very long time. Might want to update the thread title with NOW FOR FREE or something.

You mean there are people who didn't already have them?
 

KafkaBot

Scholar
Joined
May 4, 2016
Messages
189

This smells a lot like a publicity stunt, but hey, offering the two Ultima Underworlds for free is an awesome gesture nonetheless.

Just claimed it, what am I in for?

Can't speak for the Syndicates - never played them - but the UUs are some of the greatest immersive sims ever made. You're in for a delightful treat.

If you do enjoy them, make sure to check out Arx Fatalis, the game Spukrian mentioned. It's Arkane's best game BY FAR, and has one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen in any RPG.
 

Ysaye

Arbiter
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
771
Location
Australia

This smells a lot like a publicity stunt, but hey, offering the two Ultima Underworlds for free is an awesome gesture nonetheless.

Just claimed it, what am I in for?

Can't speak for the Syndicates - never played them - but the UUs are some of the greatest immersive sims ever made. You're in for a delightful treat.

If you do enjoy them, make sure to check out Arx Fatalis, the game Spukrian mentioned. It's Arkane's best game BY FAR, and has one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen in any RPG.

And then back Monomyth....
 

alighieri

Educated
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
89

Sacibengala

Prophet
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Aug 16, 2014
Messages
1,098
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
4,101
Location
Chicago, IL, Kwa
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/syndicate-and-ultima-underworld-are-back-on-gog-and-free-right-now

Would I recommend you play any of these games in the here and now? Probably not! They're historically interesting and I am glad that they are both available outside of EA's Origin, but there are a lot of games to be playing, aren't there? Six or seven, at least.

What a dick

More like just run-of-the-mill millennial moron. UU1 in particular remains one of the greatest games ever made, and its slightly obsolete control scheme takes all of 15 minutes to get used to. Journos gonna journo.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
UU1 has (almost) literally modern FPS controls (WASDX instead of WASD) lol. Of course the guy at RPG "can't" recommend it, because for game reviewers—unlike actual professional critics/reviewers in other fields—anything released prior to last year is completely archaic and impossible to enjoy.
 

Butter

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,523
UU1 has (almost) literally modern FPS controls (WASDX instead of WASD) lol. Of course the guy at RPG "can't" recommend it, because for game reviewers—unlike actual professional critics/reviewers in other fields—anything released prior to last year is completely archaic and impossible to enjoy.
UU1 movement is done entirely with the mouse, unless you're using the aforementioned mod.
 

octavius

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,184
Location
Bjørgvin
Have you ever played the game? You move with WASDX and alternately the mouse. Shall I link the reference card that came with the game? lol

You can use the mouse for everything in UU1, including movement. I completed it once using only the mouse. Only exception is for loading and saving IIRC.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
I know. "You can also use the mouse" is not the same thing as "movement is done entirely with the mouse". The point is that UUW1, in addition to mouse controls, uses nearly modern FPS controls, so there is no reason for the RPS guy not to recommend it, other than he cannot recommend any game that was not released more than a year ago.
 

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,158
UU1 has (almost) literally modern FPS controls (WASDX instead of WASD) lol. Of course the guy at RPG "can't" recommend it, because for game reviewers—unlike actual professional critics/reviewers in other fields—anything released prior to last year is completely archaic and impossible to enjoy.
And by the way try ambermoon remaster, it's surprisingly modern as well, was published around the same time as UU too , much less revolutionary of course . Every other rpgs were shadowed by UU.
 

Denim Destroyer

Learned
Joined
Mar 20, 2021
Messages
425
Location
Moonglow, Britannia
I just did a surface level comparison and it seems the only difference between the current version of the GOG Underworld games on and the previous versions is an added DOS config menu on boot. Really does make me wonder why the games where pulled in the first place.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
https://af.gog.com/forum/general/ul..._syndicate_wars_delisting/page1?as=1649904300

We’d like to inform you that, on publisher's request, Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars will be delisted from our catalog on Monday, June 28th, 1 PM UTC.

For everyone who purchased the titles prior to delisting, they will remain in their GOG library.

aliens.png

https://af.gog.com/news/bgrab_your_...ars_and_ultima_underworld_i_iib?as=1649904300

Today we have a HUGE surprise for all classic game fans! 4 outstanding titles return to GOG.COM, accompanied by a special message from their publisher:

„Syndicate and Ultima Underworld are back! It seems that twenty years on there’s still plenty of love for these titles so we’re pleased to confirm that effective immediately they’ll be available again on GOG, and we’ll be keeping them in the store for the foreseeable future. To celebrate this we’re offering these games as a free download for four weeks.”

That’s right! Until the 3rd of September 2021, 5 PM UTC, you can grab copies of Syndicate Plus™, Syndicate Wars, and Ultima Underworld I & II free of charge.

So, don’t hesitate any longer and dive into the captivating worlds of those classic gems!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Someone bothered to ask EA reasons behind this, EA gave him a non-answer: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...-when-delisting-titles-following-gog-backlash

EA will consider "player perspective" when delisting titles after GOG misstep
Publisher pulled Syndicate, Ultima Underworld games from marketplace, has since relisted them in free promo

Electronic Arts has offered an explanation as to why four of its classic titles were delisted, then relisted on popular PC games marketplace GOG in the past few months.

GOG served a notice towards the end of June revealing it would soon remove Ultima Underworld and its sequel, Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars from its marketplace. The site said at the time this was "on publisher's request."

The decision was met by confusion and frustration from consumers, and earlier this month GOG and EA announced the titles would not only be returned to the marketplace but also available for free until September 3.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, EA's executive vice president for marketing, commercial and positive play Chris Bruzzo said the delisting came from a breakdown in the publisher's process for managing the digital titles it has on sale, and has since changed this procedure to avoid similar situations in future.

"When making decisions that affect players we take the time to review exactly what the potential impacts are and whether they serve the players best interests," he explained. "When we delisted Syndicate and Ultima Underworld we missed that step and so didn't fully consider the players perspective.

"From the level of interest players showed in delisting these games, it was clear that people still wanted them to be available, so we did two things.

"The first was to ensure that going forward we have a process in place that considers the player perspective in listing decisions. The second was to relist the titles and make them available to as many people as possible with a month-long promotion."

He added: "We saw so much love for these titles, more than twenty years after they originally launched we realised that we had to make them available again."

We recently took a deeper dive into the development and impact of Ultima Underworld in our podcast interview with Warren Spector.
 
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