Ultima 6 Project hits Beta

[Saxon1974]

Fuck. Now I really want to play Lazarus again.

Well thats the great thing about deep wide open world games, if you wait a couple of years you forget enough stuff to play it again and have it be semi-fresh.

I have enough games like that in my library to last me for years even if another true RPG never gets made. (Ok, lets not start a dork war here)

Alternating between Ultima VI, Ultima VII, Ultima VII Part 2, and Lazarus might actually be enough. Har.

Or, if you're feeling really frisky, throw in the Ultima Underworld games, though they're not nearly as "open world".

I tend to float between Ultima III, Ultima V, Lazarus and Ultima VII. I played IV again a while ago and I understand why its so popular since the storyline is different, but as far as gameplay I think its a little over-rated and I like III and V better.

Yes the first Underworld game was great, although it doesn't really feel like Ultima to me. Never did play the sequel.

 

[Luzur]

felt more like Daggerfall to me, to tell ya the truth.

maybe thats why i liked it.

 

[Martin]

I think Lazarus was my favorite RPG release in the last 10 years, loved every minute of it.

Wow, I thought I was the only one. Lazarus fanboys unite!

Funny and I am in AZ too, we could form our own Lazarus fanboi club!

The weather must fuck with our brain.

Lazarus seemed to me a pretty competent remake, but from what I remember it inherited alot of the realtime bullshit from dungeon siege. Also the magic axes made the combat aspect....well...broken, maybe it was supposed to be faithful to the original ultima V in that regard?

I dont know how the original Ultima V combat was like though, the oldest origin rpg's I played were Ultima VI and Savage Empire, the simple turn based system based on movement found in savage empire and ultima 6 was good, in any case a whole of alot better than the pathetic combat in Ultima 7.

I just hope they make some effort to keep the good aspects of the original Ultima VI combat.

I also hope the flying carpet will be in.

I'm pretty sure the flying carpet was only in Ultimas 5 and 7, not 6. It wasn't in Lazarus because the engine would never have been able to support it, sadly.

I personally think all the crappiness of the Dungeon Siege engine (limitations on PC-teleportation ability, real-time combat, etc.) is more than made up for by the "seamless world" element that I feel is so important to an Ultima game. An Ultima game with more than one loading screen - the one right after the title screen - just feels fundamentally wrong, and the Dungeon Siege engine really helped Lazarus nail that aspect.

Not to mention the other ways the team got Ultima right - the music, the atmosphere, the characters, the writing...I could gush on and on, obviously. They really brought a whole new life to the already-great story of Ultima 5.

In the end, I even enjoyed the combat in Lazarus...sure, it wasn't turn based, but it was still loads better than Ultima 7 (not that that's terribly hard, but still) and the difficulty curve seemed pretty comparable to Ultimas 4-7, right down to certain equipment (ie, Magic Axes) being overpowering. I never felt combat in Ultima was the point, which I suppose is obvious considering Ultima 7 continues to be my favorite RPG yet has perhaps the worst combat engine I've ever seen.

Just to note there was a magic carpet in 6, I remember trying to use it to get to the heh...codex, you know through the statues, its been a while.

 

[made]

You sure about that? I'm quite positive that U6 had a balloon in place of the carpet for flying purposes.

 

[Martin]

I cant be 100% sure since its been ages and ages but I am pretty sure.

I remember lots of loose details like the ships and the magical fan you used to change the wind direction. And I remember that about the carpet, I really dont think I am wrong.

 

[Silellak]

Wiki says V and VII. I am pretty sure made is correct, Ultima VI had the balloon, and the Magic Fan which was used to easily control said balloon.

http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Carpet
http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Balloon
http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Fans

 

[Martin]

Guess I might be mistaken, was pretty sure though, probably mixed memories.

 

[Dyspaire]

... Ultima VI had the balloon, and the Magic Fan which was used to easily control said balloon.

Just finished re-playing U6... this is accurate.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

... Ultima VI had the balloon, and the Magic Fan which was used to easily control said balloon.

Just finished re-playing U6... this is accurate.

Ooh, you should now immediately play the remake and tell us how it compares, since it will be so fresh in your mind :D

 

[franc kaos]

OMFG! It's like coming home.

This is Role Playing Goodness, the characters, the conversations, the depth (and sandboxy width) of the world, the soul infused throughout it...

This is not a world designed by committee, but one dreamed into being by Richard Garriot - and it shines through every pixel on the screen - the runic alphabet, the creature designs, the virtues and beliefs, the dangerous wilderness; this is why I got into CRPGs all those years ago.

Thank you Team Lazarus!

Franc Kaos.

 

[Wulfstand]

I don't really understand why they didn't use Dungeon Siege 2's engine, since afair it had the same "only 1 loading screen" concept, and it looked and felt better imo, especially if they would remove those shitty graphical enhancements the weapons with special enchantments get.

 

[Silellak]

I don't really understand why they didn't use Dungeon Siege 2's engine, since afair it had the same "only 1 loading screen" concept, and it looked and felt better imo, especially if they would remove those shitty graphical enhancements the weapons with special enchantments get.

I'm not sure how easy it is to port between those engines, and both Team Lazarus and the U6 Project collaborated to build the basic Britannia inside the DS engine. I doubt it would've been just as easy as taking all that work and dumping it into the DS2 engine.