Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

[Gord]

I didn't manage to get it either. Now I can't play Serpent Isle.

 

[wildh0rse]

Hmmmm. I bartered with both goblins; Gave the dripper some ale etc. All I get from the other gob is the offer for track. I think I bound the air demon. I will investigate......

 

[wildh0rse]

LOL - What happens if you don't kill Patterson?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Judging by the data at hand, you won't be able to access the last two worlds. Assuming that this is incorrect, then Nystul won't ask you some important questions towards the end, and the game will be stuck.

At any rate you'll have to find a way to contain a hostile entity within the castle. Spiking a door may be the only possible way to do so.

 

[Sceptic]

Hmmmm. I bartered with both goblins; Gave the dripper some ale etc. All I get from the other gob is the offer for track.

I remember someone getting the branch about the serpent after agreeing to be taught tracking, try that.

 

[Malignant Manor]

I think it is extremely stupid that you are forced to kill him.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

That's one of the reasons why I believe UW2 is inferior to UW1: The plot is on-rails and you have to stop at every plot checkpoint in order to beat the game.

UW1, by contrast, forced you to find 8 items and kill a wizard, but you're free to do this in any order.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The atmosphere in UW1 is unmatched and the second game pales in comparison IMO.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I watched speedruns of UW1 and UW2 yesterday, the former being beat in 17 minutes and the latter in 22. The biggest timesavers by far was the "debris retains enchantment" exploit, which breaks both games so massively. Also the Portal spell in UW2.

The best bit for us "normal" players is to use Reveal to open the backdoor to Tyball's quarters to skip 90% of level 7, an interesting option for those whom aren't interested in traversing the maze.

I was also amazed to see that despite only killing the minimum amount of beasties, UW1 was completed with a Lvl 11 Avatar and UW2 not that far behind.

Check out the Speedrun Archives if you're interested.

 

[wildh0rse]

That is some very interesting info. Skipping the Maze of Tyball sounds GREAT. I need to start another new game to try that. That would mean that all you need is Reveal and likely Levitate and boom, you're right by that door. Can it be opened with the Open spell?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I think it can be opened normally. At least he had no trouble during the video. A running jump should suffice to get from the starting stairs to the bridge that leads to that area.

The biggest problem is this - he needed multiple castings of Reveal to make the wall disappear, while the mana-leeching crystal ball was still in effect. This may end up as a case of "Save - try until successful - reload if fails."

If I would use this, it would be to skip the maze, crossing the chasm and messing with the imps to get the Crown of Maze Navigation. That means getting the crystal fragment then BACKTRACKING back to the back door.

 

[octavius]

Anyone else think it was silly that potcullises could be locked and unlocked with keys?

 

[Sceptic]

The atmosphere in UW1 is unmatched and the second game pales in comparison IMO.

Some of the worlds in UW2 have a great atmosphere. I love the loneliness (and music) in the Ice Caverns, Killorn Keep as a twisted and inverted version of Britannia, Talorus really does feel alien, the sense of loss in the Tombs, and of course the conversations with Loth's 3 lich companions are fantastic. Being able to run around the Void for extended excursions was also great, including in the Academy Vault. The biggest problem with UW2 is what UC pointed out - the linearity of the story makes for some completely illogical triggers, and this really sucls.

I was also amazed to see that despite only killing the minimum amount of beasties, UW1 was completed with a Lvl 11 Avatar and UW2 not that far behind.

Both games give you a LOT of XP for exploration. I'm not surprised they leveled up so much. Besides advancement doesn't stop when you reach max level, in both games you continue getting skill points. You can't see this in UW1, because the games doesn't display how many unspent points you have (they added the counter to UW2 UI) but you can still go spend them at the ankhs.

Anyone else think it was silly that potcullises could be locked and unlocked with keys?

Yes.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Yes, using keys to unlock portculli is silly, but Looking Glass couldn't into locks at the time.

One other thing - in the UW2 speedrun gammadragon doesn't fight any of Preacor Loth's 3 liches, they can all be bypassed. You'll need to spam the Portal spell like no tomorrow, though.

 

[octavius]

potcullises

I seen to have a problem with my Rs.

 

[Zep Zepo]

potcullises

I seen to have a problem with my Rs.

And "m"'s (seen)



Zep--

 

[wildh0rse]

Yes, using keys to unlock portculli is silly, but Looking Glass couldn't into locks at the time.

One other thing - in the UW2 speedrun gammadragon doesn't fight any of Preacor Loth's 3 liches, they can all be bypassed. You'll need to spam the Portal spell like no tomorrow, though.

I never knew you could portal through that door - LOL - that mean you can use the moonstone and get the hell outta there and forget about the Liches. NOW, if Lethe's sword was a Damage instaed of Accuracy weapon, that would be cool. The ring of Poison Resistance, as well as the MAce of Undead Bane are both available long after they are very useful.

Haha I crashed the Keep twice already and forgot to give Ogri the Banner of Killorn. I can't deal with that whole Mors Gotha thing in the keep, I just nail her in the Castle. And I just found out that right before the final gathering in the throne room, there are 4 - not 2 of Gotha's goons in the castle.

 

[Jagged Appliance]

I need some help with UUW1. I'm running it in this dosbox build -> http://ykhwong.x-y.net/ for the built-in mt-32 emulation but when I run the game it is stretched vertically and the bottom half of the game is cut-off and not visible. Is this a problem with the dosbox build or can I fix this?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Try running it in a window instead of fullscreen (I assume you are running it fullscreen?).

If it doesn't work, try the gog version.

 

[Jagged Appliance]

I'm running in a window. Problem with the gog version is getting the mt-32 emulation. I really want those sweet synths.

 

[Infinitron]

I'm running in a window. Problem with the gog version is getting the mt-32 emulation. I really want those sweet synths.

Sceptic Can you help here

 

[Gord]

I need some help with UUW1. I'm running it in this dosbox build -> http://ykhwong.x-y.net/ for the built-in mt-32 emulation but when I run the game it is stretched vertically and the bottom half of the game is cut-off and not visible. Is this a problem with the dosbox build or can I fix this?

I don't remember for sure if I used that exact build or a different one with build-in MT32 support, but what you can try is opening the dosbox.conf file and looking for those lines:

fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface

and

aspect=false
scaler=normal2x forced

The actual values might be different for you. The first block should tell Dosbox how it treats resolution and the second one if and how it's upscaling your output. Using "forced" will tell him to use that resolution even when he thinks that it might give problems (due to it being too large or such). If you use "forced", try removing it.
Otherwise, try using a different scaler or a different method for output.

Not sure if that helps with your problem, but that's what I would try at first.

 

[Jagged Appliance]

I've been trying a lot of options in the config file without any luck so far. :/ The same problem persists.

 

[octavius]

I'm running in a window. Problem with the gog version is getting the mt-32 emulation. I really want those sweet synths.

It's an involved process, and it depends on which Roland emulator you use, which Windows version you have and which DOSBox version you use.
This method worked for me: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/might-and-magic-7-9.65635/page-2#post-1841646

Oh, and you may have to edit the UW.CFG file too.

 

[Jagged Appliance]

Ok, fixed the graphical issue. I installed an older version of ykhwong's dosbox svn and that runs the game no problem, built in mt32 emulation works a treat as well.

My shepherd is going dungeon diving