Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

[chukimomosra]

Welcome to RPG Codex!

Thank you!!

Vitality in Underworld 1&2 is just ((Strength divided by 5, rounded down) + 30).

EDIT: Ooops, forgot to add "at character creation" but I believe most understood what I meant.

Ohh!! Yes that makes more sense. I had it as round(STR * 0.24 + 29).

Also I wonder if you wanted Ultima Underworld 1,2 to have an addition attribute which one would it be? What is missing?

 

[Spukrian]

err.. like what? i can't think of any instance in these games where the locked viewpoint is tied mechanically to anything.

There are a few things that depend on the mouse cursor being free (e.g. combat). Though I personally don't believe mouselook would ruin the game, but it would make some things much easier.

Also I wonder if you wanted Ultima Underworld 1,2 to have an addition attribute which one would it be? What is missing?

Maybe a Wisdom stat that does for Mana what Vitality does for hitpoints?

 

[Inec0rn]

Depends how they implement it, if adding freelook i would tie the different swings to movement keys, left, forward, right.. im unsure if these attacks actually have any mechanics behind them. The only other thing i can think of is the original team hiding objects in area's where you would have to go out of your way to change the view angle being easier, although none of these items would heavily impact the game (maybe some gems and potions meh).

 

[chukimomosra]

There is an Ultima hacks program that adds mouselook as is quite good, actually. You can use E to activate things directly. You use ` to switch between mouselook on and off.
It is this one https://johnglassmyer.github.io/UltimaHacks/patcher-site/ (you select your local unpatched unmodified uw.exe the appropriate hack)
The documentation is found here https://johnglassmyer.github.io/UltimaHacks/#ultima-underworld-the-stygian-abyss
(It also can patch Ultima 7 though using Exult is way better.)

 

[Spukrian]

im unsure if these attacks actually have any mechanics behind them.

Different types of attacks does different amounts of damage, depending on the weapon: swords does more damage with side attacks ("slash"), maces and axes does more damage with overhead attack ("bash"), daggers does more with stabbing ("thrust").

EDIT: At least that's what the cluebook says, I'm inclined to believe it.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

err.. like what? i can't think of any instance in these games where the locked viewpoint is tied mechanically to anything.

The speed of movement of monsters considers practical limitations of the controls scheme. If you can move around monsters easily with mouse look, combat is trivial. Also, exploration becomes so easy. I found the inability to easily run away (as it would be with mouse look) added a lot of tension to exploration. With mouse look I can cross a dungeon level in like 2 minutes and just blow by everything.

At a minimum, IMO combat and pacing are ruined by mouse look unless monster and NPC movement is enhanced. (To say nothing of puzzles, time based events, etc.)

 

[Kweepa]

Hi, I'm creating voiceovers for the cutscenes and dreams in the first game, and realized I may have been pronouncing Tyball wrong all these years.
How would you pronounce it? TIE-BALL or TIB-ALL? The first is my preferred, the second is more like the Shakespearean name Tybalt. I don't want to be ridiculed as another STY-GEE-AN fool.

 

[Butter]

I always assumed it was like Tybalt.

 

[Inec0rn]

Sorry guy TIB-ALL for me too..

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm a Non-English native speaker, so I went with TIE-BALL until I heard otherwise.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Tibble like nibble and bibble seems Black Adder comedic.

 

[Kweepa]

Yeah, kind of takes away from the menace of the guy to call him Tibble. I might push it towards TEA-BOLL, although that reminds me of the Monty Python deodorant sketch.
One other one: cah-BEER-uus (as I have heard on a few playthroughs) or CAH-beh-riss (my preference)?

 

[octavius]

Hmm...aren't there already voiceovers? I remember the guard at least; terrible.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Hmm...aren't there already voiceovers? I remember the guard at least; terrible.

The guard (Corwin) is actually voiced by chiptune legend Martin Galway.

One other one: cah-BEER-uus (as I have heard on a few playthroughs) or CAH-beh-riss (my preference)?

I use the former. The latter makes him sound Canadian.

 

[Kweepa]

There are voiceovers for the intro cutscene, but not the dreams, the Tyball cutscene, the Arial cutscene, or the ending cutscenes.
I got in touch with Brian Martin (the narrator) and he said it was cool if I cloned his voice for some other voice lines.
I was hoping to get in touch with Martin Galway, to replace Stygeean with Stygian, but no luck yet.
Almric has a couple of lines at the end, and I'm not sure what to do about that.

 

[chukimomosra]

There are 2 pronounciations of Stygian right in the intro. If you listen closely in the intro the guard sounds like he says Star-gee-an while King says something closer to Sty-gee-an. The pronounciation should be Stee-gean both in UK and US English so I am not sure where both accents come from. Regarding Tyball I would guess the guard would probably say Tar-ball like Star-gee-an while the King might say Ty-ball like Sty-gee-an (i.e. tie-ball).

 

[Kweepa]

Interesting, I never heard Star-gee-an from the guard. It always sounded like Sty-gee-an. I can hear it now that you've said it, but I don't think that's what he was going for. If it helps I'm from Northern Ireland like Martin Galway.
As for cah-BEER-uus, yeah, that's probably right, since it's clearly Latin-inspired. Sigh.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Looks like Underworld Unity lives on in the Godot Engine albeit in a pre-alpha state.
https://github.com/hankmorgan/UnderworldGodot

 

[Kweepa]

Anyone know if you can find or get this little guy in Underworld 1?

I presume it's a golem? But defeating the golem on level 6 doesn't award you with it.

 

[Cael]

Anyone know if you can find or get this little guy in Underworld 1?

I presume it's a golem? But defeating the golem on level 6 doesn't award you with it.

Lizardmen?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I don't recall an inventory item like that.

But it looks like one of those 'spell-in-effect' icons.

Maybe it's some far-fetched coding method of implementing that in-game?

 

[Cael]

Try Vas Sanct. Or was it In Vas Sanct or Vas In Sanct?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In Sanct is just 'Create Protection'.

In Bet Sanct (mentioned early on a scroll) is 'Create Small Protection', so with that logic applied it should be In Vas Sanct, 'Create Great Protection'.

IIRC the icons for these games (in UUW1) is a shield, with the shield's size showing the spell's size.

Could be one of the protection spells of the game, the runic system certainly allows for them.

 

[octavius]

There are 2 pronounciations of Stygian right in the intro. If you listen closely in the intro the guard sounds like he says Star-gee-an while King says something closer to Sty-gee-an. The pronounciation should be Stee-gean both in UK and US English so I am not sure where both accents come from.

Stygian means "Styxian" (it actually took me decades to realize this), so logically it should be pronounced Stee-gean.

 

[Fearlessjay]

Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 were amongst the first PC games I ever got after the Amiga and Speccy 48K. Doom 2 was the reason I upgraded but they and Ultima 7 ended up been all time favourites. Such a amazing time. Elder Scrolls Arena, Sam and Max, Tie Fighter, so many classic games. Underworld was a totally new world though. The ability to go anywhere and it was the first immersive sim. I'm a Dub so I totally mispronounce everything anyway.