Ultima The Ultima Series Discussion Thread

[Infinitron]

Interesting. I'd always assumed that all of the Serpent Isle portraits were based on Origin developers and their family members. But I guess some of those Avatar portraits were too glamorous to be everyday people.

 

[Wayward Son]

First off, hello, I'm wanting to get into Ultima and was wondering, should I start with 4 or 5? I have both games on my laptop and was wondering which one was best to start with. If guess U4 though.
Secondly,

I have actually been "designing" that game for 15 years, and have lore and gameworld, but not a single line of code. I don't think I'll ever get around to implementing it before retirement.

I have the same thing, I finally found an engine that might work for me though, so my dreams may become reality.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Start with four, it starts the whole thing with the virtues and how you become the avatar and discover the Codex (not our Codex, the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom). I wouldn't feel like the 'real' avatar if I hadn't played how it all started. Also, you can appreciate the changes as well as the recurring mechanics and themes much better this way (e.g. how Blackthorn inverses the virtues has more impact on you if you actually mastered them in four, instead of, say, just having read a synopsis). If you really can't stomach the mechanics you can move on to five because it has a lot of technical improvements. But for the whole experience I'd suggest you try out four.

 

[octavius]

First off, hello, I'm wanting to get into Ultima and was wondering, should I start with 4 or 5? I have both games on my laptop and was wondering which one was best to start with. If guess U4 though.

Lorewise: U4
Gameplaywise: U5
Everything that was tedious in U4 (especially the slow combat combined with too many random encounters) was fixed in U5. OTOH U4 was the key Ultima game that "shaped" The Avatar.

 

[Wayward Son]

First off, hello, I'm wanting to get into Ultima and was wondering, should I start with 4 or 5? I have both games on my laptop and was wondering which one was best to start with. If guess U4 though.

Lorewise: U4
Gameplaywise: U5
Everything that was tedious in U4 (especially the slow combat combined with too many random encounters) was fixed in U5. OTOH U4 was the key Ultima game that "shaped" The Avatar.

Start with four, it starts the whole thing with the virtues and how you become the avatar and discover the Codex (not our Codex, the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom). I wouldn't feel like the 'real' avatar if I hadn't played how it all started. Also, you can appreciate the changes as well as the recurring mechanics and themes much better this way (e.g. how Blackthorn inverses the virtues has more impact on you if you actually mastered them in four, instead of, say, just having read a synopsis). If you really can't stomach the mechanics you can move on to five because it has a lot of technical improvements. But for the whole experience I'd suggest you try out four.

Thanks guys, I already started with U4. Had my friend make sure that I was honest and ended up rolling a dexterous shepherd. How badly did I fuck up? The manual isn't too clear on what they can or can't do.

 

[octavius]

Shepherd is the weakest class and will have problems getting enough XP to get the full 8 person party needed for the end game. Last time I played, using a Bard, Dupre the Paladin gobbled up most of the XP.
But as long as you are aware of the problem it may not become a problem. Just make Shepatar deal the killing blows.

 

[Neanderthal]

For U4 you're gonna need a notepad an pencil, craploads o details and hints that need noting down and acting upon, mantras, reagent harvesting places, yadda yadda. Also explore everywhere thoroughly, theres hidden folk an things all over shop.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

For U4 you're gonna need a notepad an pencil, craploads o details and hints that need noting down and acting upon, mantras, reagent harvesting places, yadda yadda. Also explore everywhere thoroughly, theres hidden folk an things all over shop.

And if you're anything like me, a walkthrough for when you inevitably get stuck.

Before you go too far try and get hold of the C64 version. The disk-swapping is a chore but it has by far the best music of any version. You don't have to play it all the way through but it's the definitive Ultima4 experience.

 

[octavius]

Before you go too far try and get hold of the C64 version. The disk-swapping is a chore but it has by far the best music of any version.

Better than the Amiga music?

 

[Bumvelcrow]

Before you go too far try and get hold of the C64 version. The disk-swapping is a chore but it has by far the best music of any version.

Better than the Amiga music?

Yes, by a long, long way. I was very disappointed with the Amiga version, particularly the music. If I remember it was just one sub-standard tune all the way through, although that may have been U5. But still, I still remember being angry that they had done such a shoddy job with the U4 Amiga port. Probably PC version for ease of play and C64 version for atmosphere. I think there are various restoration patches that spruce up the PC version's graphics but I don't know what they do to the sound.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

That C64 version looks ugly and slow though. Do what I do when I play old games without music, put up some dark ambient track (adds heaps of atmosphere to Wizardry) or The RPG Codex Gentleman's Club of Fine Music. The soundtracks for Ultima 6 to 7 should fit perfectly, too.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

That C64 version looks ugly and slow though.

That's true, it is very slow, but ugly? That's cruel. Maybe I'm just getting all nostalgic, but I could (and did) just sit with the game paused and listen to the music.

 

[Neanderthal]

When I first played U4 I were listening to Mike Oldfield LPs, kinda hooked on him at time, Hergest Ridge, Incantations, Ommadawn. Now whenever I hear him i'm taken back to Ultima 4 and my first run, good shit.

Funny things thats also a tip: Went wi Fighter on me first runthrough, didn't recruit any of the companions and went through whole game right to end, couldn't enter last spot because of no mandatory eight companions so had to slog me way back and get em all. Pain in the fucking arse.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Interesting. I'd always assumed that all of the Serpent Isle portraits were based on Origin developers and their family members. But I guess some of those Avatar portraits were too glamorous to be everyday people.

I've heard somewhere that some of the Serpent Isle portraits were a mix of big Ultima fans and contest winners getting a moment to shine.

 

[Jaesun]

Jaesun drinks too much, just ignore this... carry on

 

[Keldryn]

These are all from a U7 FAN MOD.

They are not from the default Serpent Isle game. Just FYI.

The blonde girl is still my favorite one (and the one I usually use). <3

Verily, thou art mistaken.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

These are all from a U7 FAN MOD.

They are not from the default Serpent Isle game. Just FYI.

The blonde girl is still my favorite one (and the one I usually use). <3

Are you sure about that, Jaesun? I never played SI modded and I'm pretty sure I remember the top and bottom ones being possible avatar avatars.

 

[Keldryn]

These are the portraits included with the keyring mod:

 

[taxalot]

Jaesun is wrong. I'm also confirming these dudes were in my Ultima VII : The Complete CD-Rom.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

Jaesun is wrong.

It's a sad day, but we'll all get through it if we pull together.

 

[Jaesun]

These are all from a U7 FAN MOD.

They are not from the default Serpent Isle game. Just FYI.

The blonde girl is still my favorite one (and the one I usually use). <3

Verily, thou art mistaken.

I just loaded the default game and yes, these are the defaults.

I *SWEAR* some of these were from a Fan Mod. Carry on, just ignore me.

Alcohol, it's a hell of a drug....

 

[Infinitron]

 

[oldmanpaco]

I have the maps from III - VIII. III (2:13) didn't have anything on it so we used tacks to place the cities, dungeons and moongates. Good times.

 

[BlackGoat]

U5 map is best map. Gorgeous colors. Gotta go looking for mine next time I'm visiting my folks. Probably buried in my old room somewhere.



So good. I want to make a game with this kind of shit. A game worthy of it, and all this stuff worthy of the game.

 

[Keldryn]

I've only got the cloth maps for V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX. I was unfortunately not really into "buying" games for the first couple of years after I got a high-speed (haha) 14.4k HST modem, so I never got the original VII and Serpent Isle at the time of release. I did track down a reasonably priced copy of VII with the map on eBay about 15 years ago.

My personal favorite cloth map is actually the Team Lazarus cloth map that I imagine is extraordinarily rare. Ian had a set made up for everyone on the team (at cost + shipping; they weren't cheap!) and I believe he swore he'd never do such a thing again.

I don't have a picture of the actual cloth map handy, but it's this image: