- Joined
- May 13, 2009
- Messages
- 28,591
The recipe is like that due to engine limitations. Unlike the popcorn (place an ear of corn over a lit torch in your inventory) they couldn't come up with a way to make the player 'assemble' the stew themselves, so they needed a trigger script to make it happen.
Hence, the recipe page.
There are more such 'workarounds' in the game. This is a minor spoiler for those unfamiliar with the game, but at one point players will encounter an upset spectre named Warren. He just floats there and does nothing if directly engaged with, and he's not hostile. But when the player engages with an in-world object at that location, they're thrust into a conversation against their will.
In truth the player is talking to the upset spectre, because they couldn't get the conversation system going unless the player is talking to an in-game creature. This can be best demonstrated by the following experiment: When you find the spectre, save the game, then kill the spectre. Now explore your surroundings and absolutely nothing will happen... including any sudden conversations.
This is why when the devs went to work on their next non-Ultima Underworld game, they decided to cut out the dialogue system and only have people talk at the player. This accidentally lead to players feeling all alone and abandoned in-game, so they used that as part of the game's setting and atmosphere.
Honestly, Citadel Station would be a completely different place if only there was someone there to talk to...
Hence, the recipe page.
There are more such 'workarounds' in the game. This is a minor spoiler for those unfamiliar with the game, but at one point players will encounter an upset spectre named Warren. He just floats there and does nothing if directly engaged with, and he's not hostile. But when the player engages with an in-world object at that location, they're thrust into a conversation against their will.
In truth the player is talking to the upset spectre, because they couldn't get the conversation system going unless the player is talking to an in-game creature. This can be best demonstrated by the following experiment: When you find the spectre, save the game, then kill the spectre. Now explore your surroundings and absolutely nothing will happen... including any sudden conversations.
This is why when the devs went to work on their next non-Ultima Underworld game, they decided to cut out the dialogue system and only have people talk at the player. This accidentally lead to players feeling all alone and abandoned in-game, so they used that as part of the game's setting and atmosphere.
Honestly, Citadel Station would be a completely different place if only there was someone there to talk to...
