r/Ultima

I want to get into the Ultima series, but I am having difficulties. As recommended, I am trying to get into Ultima IV to follow the story.
The part that I am struggling to understand is what I should do and how I should approach the game story. Once I start the game, I am left in the middle of nowhere, near a village. My character are supposed to know nothing about that world.

Then, once I start interacting with NPCs, I am not sure what to ask them. I mean, I could ask anything, but it is like a forced conversation that feels unimportant and lack of meaning for my character. Why my character should care about "virtue"? Why my character should even talk to random NPCs in the village? There is no motive for that, maybe at most to find a way to return to my world, but that is all.

Basically it feels as if my character does not belong to that world in any way, there is no related background, and this leads to a feeling of disconnection between the character and the rest of the world.

I mostly play ttrpgs and CRPGs with a slightly more guided experience, and my characters already belong to the world in one way or another. There is background, life experiences, knowledge, some motives, some reasons to explore and interact, etc. So how to approach this issue with Ultima games, specially starting with Ultima IV?

Hello,
I have learned that Wizardry and Ultima are super crucial to the development of JRPGs, which happen to be my favorite genre. I am aware they are more cRPGs than JRPGs, which I've never interacted with as a genre (never played Baldur's Gate or anything like that). So, with that information, where should I start for the series as more of a JRPG fan than a cRPG fan?

And why isn't it Ultima 7?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that the 0.2.0 version of Ultima VII Revisited, the Trinsic Demo, is now available for download at https://www.u7revisited.com !

https://preview.redd.it/bliigx9jhzyg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c1b5983850b492e90ed9515a24eb55618702135

Features of the new version:

* The full intro is now complete.

* Then entire plotline in Trinsic is now complete.

* Buying from shopkeepers is now implemented.

* Music and sound effects have been added.

* The lighting system has been greatly improved.

* Character cards that allow you to equip your characters are now implemented.

* Pathfinding now allows characters to walk up and down levels.

* Sandbox mode allows you to tinker with the game however you wish.

* Help screens have been added for both demo and sandbox mode.

* Patreon Island honors the patrons who have helped this project stay alive.

Please give it a look at give me feedback! I want this version to be as good as it possibly can.

Also, I'll be streaming tonight at 6 PM CST at https://twitch.tv/viridiangames if you want to come by and say hi!

Now I know that ultima 7 is one of the best crpgs of all time I know that. So I know that the game itself is good, but im 17 and dont have any experience in older games especially computer games, The oldest games I have played is like half life 1 which is very different from ultima. So are the systems hard to learn? Does it hold up well today? Is it going to take me hours to learn what im doing in it and should I even be starting with 7?

I finished Ultima 6 for the millionth time and took a screenshot and sent it to a friend, at the very end where it says to notify Lord British and he said I should. I know RG sent out some for years after Origin closed, does he still and how would I contact him, does anyone have his contact information on the Net? Would a screenshot of the ending with my personal character name be enough? Thank you for the response.

To make a long story short I'm on a major ImmSim kick and want to play the game that started it all, and I have no other ideal way to play it except maybe DosBox on my phone and at that point the Jap. PS1 version just seems like less of a hassle.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

I was on the fence from the cartoony graphics, it is very silly in the best way possible.

Each of your 6 Ability Scores chime in with advice, taunts, random ideas...this is the closest to a real implementation of Ultima IV's virtue system in a modern game.

They each have a political approach to life which could easily be substituted for Virtue-based philosophy.

Apparently this was done in Disco Elysium before...I need to check that out.

Just played it solidly through all Saturday and Sunday, amazing game and it took a while for the penny to drop.

Planescape: Torment is definitely in its DNA as well although instead of reading a novel in text it is chatty entertaining conversations.

Would love to see Esoteric Ebb modded to Ultima virtues!

With development of ultima 8 exult, a remake of ultima 8 in the ultima 7 engine, underway, it got me thinking. If ultima 9 was made in the ultima 7 engine, what would you want? I figure this be a good spot to promote community discussion.

I think the biggest challenge is not just ​making 2d sprite assets from the 3d asset from the final release, but it is to rewrite ultima 9 and take the best out of the bob white version, ed del castilo version and final version and create the best approximation of the ideal ultima 9 by taking the best of the 3 versions of ultima 9.

For reference, here is the plot summary of the bob white version:

https://hacki.bootstrike.com/english/articles_orig_plot.htm

And a couple other references I found: https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Development_history_of_Ultima_IX

https://ultimacodex.com/2011/06/ultima-9-ed-del-castillo-plot-summary/

as well as what have ​been gathered​ about ultima 9 so far

https://ultimacodex.com/2024/11/ultima-9-was-released-25-years-ago/

As for gameplay, what would you guys want to bring back from the 3 versions? What you like and dislike? Be it areas, gameplay mechanics and story points.

For example. Would it be interesting to start with the god powers from pegan then add a plot reason for the avatar to build up from zero again? Or have them stay powerful and build the story and gameplay around it like with legacy of kain blood omen 1?

The issue with Ultima Underworld 2 where the mouse pointer does not want to move for small movements of the mouse and then moves too much for quick movements, was a persistent problem for me. I'm playing the Great old Games version (gog.com).

My solution was to buy an old (i.e. old technology but new product), cheap, wired, non-gaming mouse to use instead of my modern gaming mouse. It worked perfectly. The pointer moves smoothly and I played the game to completion without issue. I can have both the old mouse and my new mouse plugged in at once without a problem.

I know there are recommended changes the dosbox configuration to attempt to cure this problem, but what I found didn't work for me.

I hope this helps the next Avatar. I presume it works for UW1 too.

I bet there are several old mice that would work, but here's the mouse I bought from Microcenter (though they don't have one anymore so the link is amazon): https://www.amazon.com/HP-X500-Wired-Mouse-E5E76AA/dp/B08VJDGK2H/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

https://preview.redd.it/iqqiju01p80h1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=e8364cc31e68202716c7332734c2e9d48c8f69ae

10/10

I finished U4 about a year ago and recently got the itch for something similar. I booted up ultima V and I can see I can either transfer my character or make a new one... Should I transfer the character or go with a fresh start? What actually changes?

I’ve been writing this story for a bit now, was going to be one of six or eight short stories revolving around these knights in training in my original fantasy world but has turned more into a novella/novel at this point. “The story grew in the telling,” as Grandfather Tolkien said.

Either way, I based the knights on a philosophy inspired by the system of the Virtues. Initially each story was going to be about one of the virtues and in the end the characters will have learned about them all and become knights themselves. Now I’m not sure since it’s grown more than I expected.

Anyway, I’m just here to ask for some advice or inspiration for implementing these philosophy deeper in the story. Thanks.