Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

[octavius]

Woa woa woa. The SBpro sounds are epic.

No, they are not. Have you heard the weak wishy washy sounds of swimming and weapons hitting? The Roland sound effects are definitely better. But IIRC UU was designed for the Gravis Ultrasound card, which maybe explains why the SB is so weak.

 

[Jaesun]

But IIRC UU was designed for the Gravis Ultrasound card, which maybe explains why the SB is so weak.

I am *fairly* certain it was specifically designed for the higher end Roland MT-32's (LAPC1, CM32L etc..).

Is there even a Gravis option in the setup?

 

[octavius]

Woa woa woa. The SBpro sounds music is epic.

Well, the music may sound good, but I always turn off the music in single character FPP games, so I wouldn't know.

 

[Sceptic]

No, they are not. Have you heard the weak wishy washy sounds of swimming and weapons hitting? The Roland sound effects are definitely better. But IIRC UU was designed for the Gravis Ultrasound card, which maybe explains why the SB is so weak.

I don't even think the Ultrasound was out when UW1 was being made. It's definitely made on and for the CM-32L - it uses almost every single one of the extra tones that the module has. Other games have used them (MM3 did if I recall) but none did as extensively.

 

[Tigranes]

Whoa, cool. Thanks. I'll buy on GOG and fire it up. I always wanted to give it a chance, I just wanted to make sure I go into it with a tolerant mindset. I expect I'll give it a few hours and eventually learn why it's so good. (Sadly, I still can't get past Darklands' combat even after a few hours... but fuck me, I will.)

I can deal with mediocre combat if the rest is good, yes. Hey, I play Obsidian games!

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The SBPro sound effects are not good, agreed. The music on the other hand I find superior. I always found the Roland music to be distracting and loud where the SBPro music was very well suited.

Then again I think everyone feels strongly about whatever format of music they played this game with first.

 

[skacky]

Yeah combat is clearly not UU's strongest aspect but the rest is so fucking good you just forget about it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Yeah combat is clearly not UU's strongest aspect but the rest is so fucking good you just forget about it.

at least until you get to that fucking level full of fire elementals and lava

and then you ragequit

 

[Tigranes]

OK, so I tried a bit. Basic controls are actually fairly easy to get used to for being so different.

1/ How do melee hits work, I seem to swing a lot without hitting? Player skill based?
2/ I started a druid then picked 'search', how do I use that or where does it come into play?
3/ Just wandered around the first level a bit, killed a goblin, died to a spider. Not bad so far.

 

[octavius]

Hitting is based on your Attack skill and your skill with your current weapon. You also need to hold the attack button long enough for there to be any force behind the attack.
Search is for finding hidden doors; makes it easier for the player to actually see the outlines of the doors, which is quite nifty. Some points in it is useful.

 

[WarHamster]

Search is for finding hidden doors; makes it easier for the player to actually see the outlines of the doors, which is quite nifty.

Really? I always thought it just gave you a better chance to find the secret door when you LOOK-click at it. Never noticed the outlines getting clearer.

 

[octavius]

Search is for finding hidden doors; makes it easier for the player to actually see the outlines of the doors, which is quite nifty.

Really? I always thought it just gave you a better chance to find the secret door when you LOOK-click at it. Never noticed the outlines getting clearer.

Well, I always assumed it worked the way I described. But now that you mention it maybe you are right.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I always found the Roland music to be distracting and loud where the SBPro music was very well suited.

I'm in this camp. There are actually sound effects in the game that are good to hear, like monsters approaching. The Roland music all but drowns them out.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

OK, so I tried a bit. Basic controls are actually fairly easy to get used to for being so different.

1/ How do melee hits work, I seem to swing a lot without hitting? Player skill based?
2/ I started a druid then picked 'search', how do I use that or where does it come into play?
3/ Just wandered around the first level a bit, killed a goblin, died to a spider. Not bad so far.

1) For melee your range is longer than you might think. If a creature is lower than your sight line, you are better to look down towards them (using look up/down controls), and thrusting if your weapon is sharp. For blunts, look down and swing sideways. I assume you have read the manual and know how to swing in different ways.
2) Answered by Octavius
3) Be sure to fill out the entire map! That automap system is the best map I have seen in any game. I also like the fact that you have to switch away to view it.

 

[Gord]

I always found the Roland music to be distracting and loud where the SBPro music was very well suited.

I'm in this camp. There are actually sound effects in the game that are good to hear, like monsters approaching. The Roland music all but drowns them out.

It would be great if it supported separate music/effect settings, so I could use midi music with a good soundfont.

 

[Nyast]

I'd love to replay UU1/UU2, but I have a big issue, so I'm posting here in the hope that somebody else had it and found a way to fix it..

Basically, I can't walk straight. Doesn't matter if it's with the keyboard or mouse, simply moving forward feels like the character is moving with a slight biais instead of going in the direction of the center of the screen. It feels like my character is always drunk, which makes it incredibly annoying to move in the dungeon.

It's weird because when I played that game back in the 90s, I don't remember having that problem. It's almost unplayable.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Odd. Have you another system to try on?

 

[Jaesun]

What version are you using? The one from GOG?

 

[Nyast]

Yeah, that's the GOG one. Running on Win 7.

Edit: tested on my laptop, same problem. It must be a "precision" issue in the config somewhere, other than the strange movement the game looks totally fine..

 

[Darth Roxor]

I have the same but only with the reverse step, going forward is straight. Very weird shit.

 

[Nyast]

Oh yeah, I didn't precise, but going backwards works fine for me.

You're lucky Darth Roxor, at least you can play the game

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

could well be a pointing device precision / sensitivity / acceleration thing. I'd try playing with that.

This happens with keyboard as well? If so, trying launching the game without a mouse at all ans see if it still happens.

 

[Nyast]

I increased the mouse sensitivity in the config, didn't help at all.

It happens both for keyboard & mouse.

 

[octavius]

You probably have a joystick or pad connected. Disconnect any you have and see if that helps.
Also in general these old DOS games plays best with a mouse sensitivty of 150-200 and any acceleration or smoothing turned off.

 

[Nyast]

No, I don't have a joystick/pad connected, I'm not a console fag.

I already tried to increase mouse sensitivity, but I'll try to see if there are any acceleration or smoothing that can be turned off. But the thing that confuses me is, if it's an acceleration/smoothing/sensitivity issue, why does it only affect a single direction ( moving forward ) ? ( or in DR's case, only backwards ) ? Does not make sense.