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[Krathoon]

OH, SHIT, AVATAR! You are in for it now! The Guardian wants to really stick it to you!

Welcome to the Ultima Thread! Share your content and stories about Ultima.
I am trying to really dig into these games. Going to start with Ultima 4 and see if I can stand it.
I am using the MIDI and VGA upgrade.
I may jump ahead and play some Ultima 6, 7, or the dreaded Ultima 9.

The Ultima 7 intro.


The Ultima 6 intro.


A good summary about what happened with Ultima 9.

 

[Krathoon]

Of course, Metal Jesus collected all the PC boxes. The bastard.

 

[dispensergoinup]

Ultima 4 5 and 6 were my life, I love this series.

 

[Krathoon]

Ultima 4 5 and 6 were my life, I love this series.

That was when it got really good. Or so I hear.
Then it peaked with Ultima 7.

I hear that the first 3 games get pretty weird. Has some weird ideas.

 

[dispensergoinup]

That was when it got really good. Or so I hear.
Then it peaked with Ultima 7.

I hear that the first 3 games get pretty weird. Has some weird ideas.

That's what I hear too, I had a pc that could barely run Ultima 7 so that's one I never really finished. I spent a lot of time on Ultima 6 though. I still listen to the soundtrack sometimes for that nostalgia kick.

 

[Archaic101]

Ultima 7 was a huge deal. It was one of the first games to successfully portray a "living world," at least with sharp, VGA graphics. The great storyline, myriad sidequests and cliffhanger ending were all leaps and bounds beyond what other western RPGs were attempting at the time. The only letdown was the combat, which was almost entirely automated (with bad AI to boot).

 

[Krathoon]

Yes. The Elder Scrolls games were kind of a successor to Ultima. Then, Fallout brought in more game mechanics.

There is also this old Origin game called Bad Blood that I need to check out.

 

[Meicyn]

Grew up on Ultima IV, was what got me into RPGs. Played a lot of Ultima VI as well, though the C64 version was awful and crashed constantly. Was remarkable that it ran at all on the hardware though.

Ultima IX was such a huge disappointment. George Oldziey’s soundtrack was solid, but everything else was just meh. Couldn’t even install the game at launch. Ah, memories.

I had planned to grab the MIDI files from Ultima IV and give it some modern instrumentation and tweak the sound a bit like I did for Ultima VI’s soundtrack. Maybe I’ll get back on that soon, I still have an early version of the Wanderer theme sitting in my to do folder among a lot of other unfinished projects…

 

[Krathoon]

Yeah. There is a patch for Ultima 4 that adds Midi music and VGA graphics. I tried it out. It does make it better. The version I used kept the same old cutscenes.
That one does have a fan remake in the Dungeon Seige engine.

 

[Krathoon]

Ultima 9 is like this bizzaro Ultima. I still want to play through it.
The game is $6 on GoG.

Ultima™ 9: Ascension

Prepare to embark on the final adventure in Ultima--the best selling role-playing saga of

www.gog.com

I have the original collector's edition box. It is buried under a pile of stuff.
Edit: I dug around in my game manuals and found my Ultima 9 feelies.
I will see if I can post a picture of them.

 

[Krathoon]

They really don't explain what happened between Ultima 8 and 9. I think the Avatar lost his mind. Somehow, he forgets everything.

 

[niilokin]

ultima 9 was such a huuuge disappointment...

 

[Sentenza]

Ultima VII is still the gold standard for an highly interactive world and complex NPC scheduling 30 years later.

Very few games approached its level of complexity and arguably none has surpassed it.

Also, a shot out for the Ultima Underworld series and some interesting spin-offs like Savage Empire and Martian Dreams.

 

[Krathoon]

They push the reset button with Ultima 9 when they ended 8 on a cliffhanger. They even use the gypsy again. The Avatar should not have been home at all. It made no sense.

 

[Krathoon]

Ultima VII is still the gold standard for an highly interactive world and complex NPC scheduling 30 years later.

Very few games approached its level of complexity and arguably none has surpassed it.

Also, a shot out for the Ultima Underworld series and some interesting spin-offs like Savage Empire and Martian Dreams.

They nailed it with that one.
I am not certain if I should play the gog version or run it in Exult. Exult smooths out the animations.

 

[NiiloPielinen]

EA screwed Ultima 8 & 9. 8 was rushed and devs from 9 were shifted to ultima online. 9 had several re-writes and lead changes until Richard Garriott took over and finished what he could before deadline

 

[nowhat]

Ultima V basically defined my childhood (and I still have the cloth map). While not as universally praised as IV, it did offer some significant improvements, including being able to arbitrarily target ranged attacks instead of just cardinal directions (and one could use halberds and morning stars to attack enemies behind obstacles - does it make sense, no, but it's fun). It was among a handful of games that had a native C128 mode, the difference to the C64 version being in-game music. V included the first rendition of "Stones".

There's a fan remake of sorts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_V:_Lazarus

You need a copy (*cough*torrent*cough*) of Dungeon Siege to run it, and it's not 100% faithful - OTOH, there are fan-made extra quests and such, it's really quite impressive all things considered.

 

[Krathoon]

Yeah. I will have to see where I put Dungeon Siege.

 

[Krathoon]

Yeah. I will have to see where I put Dungeon Siege.

I found it. Not certain if I have Dungeon Siege 2.

 

[Krathoon]

Really, Ultima turned into this "make your own adventure" thing with Ultima Online. I never got into it.

 

[Sentenza]

There's a fan remake of sorts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_V:_Lazarus

You need a copy (*cough*torrent*cough*) of Dungeon Siege to run it, and it's not 100% faithful - OTOH, there are fan-made extra quests and such, it's really quite impressive all things considered.

Lazarus is great. One of my favorite total conversions ever made.
It's also buggy as hell, for the record. I remember having to use some unofficial fixes made by fans I downloaded on their forums (yes, pretty much mods for the mod).

 

[Ozzie666]

Ultima 6 intro, the music is just perfection.

Also - I have a lot of love for Martian Dreams, totally wacked out concept, but it worked. It was part of the World of Ultima series. I didn't care much for the Savage Empire game. I think Martian Dreams really hit because of Total Recall being released prior, but repairing Mars with all those historical party members. Sort of like Bill and Teds too.

It used the same engine as Ultima 6.

 

[Krathoon]

Deeper in Ultima 7.

 

[MrA]

That was when it got really good. Or so I hear.
Then it peaked with Ultima 7.

I hear that the first 3 games get pretty weird. Has some weird ideas.

Weren't the first 3 described by crazy old lord British himself as Richard garriot learns to program, 3 to 6 as Richard garriot learns to write and 7 the culmination of everything learned for the first 6 games

 

[kurisu_1974]

Ultima 7 was pure magic, the stuff you could do in that game, that's not often seen even today.

So mad I never was able to finish it because I got stuck advancing the plot. I don't think I could go back to it today.

 

[thelurkinghorror]

I stil have my original box of U7 U8 and UIX (and also Ultima Online).

Ultima 7 was the one that hit me most, really a revolutionary game and very hard for my younger me, I was twelve at times.

Ultima 8 was not bad but nothing like the seventh Ultima. Ultima IX is a disaster, plain and simple.

I tried to play the older games but only Ultima VI taste good enough.

 

[Fuz]

The only Ultima games I played fully are VI, VIII and IX. Sadly, I missed VII at the time, I tried to play it many times but I just kind of lose interest as soon as I enter Britain. I have kept it installed on my PC for like 10 years, always ready to get back to it but...
VIII was too arcade for me, it lost much of the RPG aspects of Ultima, and IX was too formulaic - go there, close gate, go there, close gate - as opposed as VI that was a real, breathing world... but it wasn't as bad as people paint it.
VI was awesome. An incredible game full of little stories that you need to discover for yourself (the pirate map, for example), huge world, the whole sailing thing with a sea full of dangers that screamed "ADVENTURE" and a great story with political implications. I think the dialogue interface (you had to write words and see if the other character reacted to the word you used) while obviously clunky added a ton to the believability and especially to the sense of discovery of that game. The game didn't hold your hand, you had to work it out for yourself and it was a very rewarding experience. You heard someone casually mention a pirate treasure and... hey, I wonder if that drunkard old sailor that comes to the tavern in the evenings knows anything about it? No, he says doesn't but maybe let's follow him around at night and...

The problem with those games, in this era, is that you have to live in the game's world. You just can't be a passerby and complete a checklist in one place before moving to the other. You have to spend time with the characters and the world. But now we're trained to quickly consume product->buy next product, so I doubt many people would find them enjoyable.

I played some UoL, but not too much as I was more invested in DAoC and the PK system bothered me, great game and I have memories of a late friend in there.

I also always wanted to play the spinoffs: Martian Dreams and The Savage Empire, they have a fantastic setting and looks really interesting, got them all on GOG, downloaded dozens of time and never played. I wish they remade them.

 

[Krathoon]

Yeah. Ultima 4 and 5 are pretty low tech interface wise. They are actually pretty sophisticated.
The animation is not that great, but there is allot going on under the hood.

 

[Krathoon]

I get the impression that the dungeons in Ultima change from game to game. Even more so with

The Stygian Abyss​

That is pretty much what Ultima Underworld was all about.

 

[Hendrick's]

That was when it got really good. Or so I hear.
Then it peaked with Ultima 7.

I hear that the first 3 games get pretty weird. Has some weird ideas.

Three was good.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

Ultima 7 was on another level back then. An astonishing, magical, humongous game. Best RPG of all time, except for the saved game bugs causing you to lose all sort of progress or also have loot disappear. Fell over on the weight of it's oen ambition

Was par for the course that games would get corrupted in late 80s early 90s tho

 

[Lord Panda]

Ultima V basically defined my childhood (and I still have the cloth map). While not as universally praised as IV, it did offer some significant improvements, including being able to arbitrarily target ranged attacks instead of just cardinal directions (and one could use halberds and morning stars to attack enemies behind obstacles - does it make sense, no, but it's fun). It was among a handful of games that had a native C128 mode, the difference to the C64 version being in-game music. V included the first rendition of "Stones".

There's a fan remake of sorts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_V:_Lazarus

You need a copy (*cough*torrent*cough*) of Dungeon Siege to run it, and it's not 100% faithful - OTOH, there are fan-made extra quests and such, it's really quite impressive all things considered.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Never played these but watching the trailer for 6 I want to play it.

 

[akimbo009]

Always wished I'd get transported to another world to be a bad ass warrior as a kid ala Ultima. Never happened sadly.

 

[dispensergoinup]

Sorry, had to show off my humble collection so far:

 

[Meicyn]

Sorry, had to show off my humble collection so far:

My condolences on the XIV 1.0 CE. I too, was suckered.

On the positive side, I do enjoy my legacy account subscription cost these days.

Also, neat seeing those old Microprose and SSI boxes again. One of these days, I might replay the Dragonlance trilogy. It’s been awhile.

 

[dispensergoinup]

My condolences on the XIV 1.0 CE. I too, was suckered.

On the positive side, I do enjoy my legacy account subscription cost these days.

Also, neat seeing those old Microprose and SSI boxes again. One of these days, I might replay the Dragonlance trilogy. It’s been awhile.

Ah yeah that FFXIV CE , oh well at least they made up for it !

Yeah these gold box SSI games were my childhood, planning to replay Eye of the Beholder soon!

 

[Krathoon]

HG101 has some great reviews on Ultima games.

Ultima IX: Ascension – Hardcore Gaming 101

www.hardcoregaming101.net

 

[Havoc2049]

Sorry, had to show off my humble collection so far:

^^^^
So much goodness in that photo.

Here is my Age of Enlightment Trilogy, Atari ST versions, which are the only games in the series I've played. I need to get off my ass and play Ultima 1-3 and then 7-9. I bought the whole collection on GOG many moons ago for dirt cheap.

 

[Alexios]

Ultima IV sounds the most epic with the quest to attain all virtues and what not, it'd make for an awesome reboot of the series in modern times if they could actually manage to make it great, not like every other RPG, maybe Gothic-esque.

I was so excited for the Ultima 1 fan remake A Legend is Reborn, they did a lot of good work considering how long ago it was but of course a full game was too big of a task and EA shut it down anyway.

Ultima IV, Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams and Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire are freeware mind (via gog & elsewhere), possibly among others.

 

[Krathoon]

Richard Garriot has tried to get EA to remake some of the Ultimas, but they will not do it.

EA is the problem.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Fuz]

Ultima IV sounds the most epic with the quest to attain all virtues and what not, it'd make for an awesome reboot of the series in modern times if they could actually manage to make it great, not like every other RPG, maybe Gothic-esque.

I was so excited for the Ultima 1 fan remake A Legend is Reborn, they did a lot of good work considering how long ago it was but of course a full game was too big of a task and EA shut it down anyway.

Ultima IV, Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams and World of Ultima: The Savage Empire are freeware mind (via gog & elsewhere), possibly among others.

IV was groundbreaking at the time, much as VII was.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Ultima 4 5 and 6 were my life, I love this series.

Yep, played them on my C64/128 and loved the cloth maps at the time as a kid.

 

[SScorpio]

FYI, last year someone made a framerate patch for Ultima VII. This caps how fast the game runs without needing the various slowdown tools.

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=80564

 

[Krathoon]

FYI, last year someone made a framerate patch for Ultima VII. This caps how fast the game runs without needing the various slowdown tools.

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=80564

Oh, I didn't know that was a problem.

 

[SScorpio]

Oh, I didn't know that was a problem.

Ultima VII / Serpent Isle and Wing Command 1 & 2 are some of the top examples of speed sensitive games.

 

[Krathoon]

Here is a fix for the earthquake effect in Ultima 7 to work right in Dosbox.
Apparently, the game uses a videocard trick that Dosbox doesn't support.
You run the com file instead of U7.EXE. I guess it passes through to the exe somehow.

Ultima VII Earthquake effect (screen shaking) - Page 1 \ VOGONS

www.vogons.org

 

[Krathoon]

Ultima VII / Serpent Isle and Wing Command 1 & 2 are some of the top examples of speed sensitive games.

I tried that fix. It seems like they walk smoother.

Really, I like running the original game instead of in Exult. I am sure Exult is missing stuff because they don't have the source code.

 

[Krathoon]

Of course, the GoG version of Ultima7 is not setup for MT-32.