Your favourite Ultima

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Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

"J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in message
news:42a4b18c$0$41899$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> The Triad wrote:
>
>>> Naxatillor worked perfectly, although I had to kill him with a
>>> cannon I summoned up, since killing him in cold blood will prevent
>>> him from resurrecting properly.
>>>
>>> As for Smith, that was not so good:
>>> http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/magnu.gif
>>
>> *amusement*
>>
>>> (I was listening to 'Chronicle of the Black Sword' at the time.
>>> Just as I got around to Tiberius, with Finn programmed to be
>>> Smith, it began playing 'The Conjuration Of Magnu', also about
>>> a horse being summoned. I thought it was extremely apt.)
>>
>> *thinks; goes to look up*
>
> This doesn't really do it justice, but:
>
> http://www.hawkwind.com/lyr/mag.htm

Very interesting. Assuming that in its totality it's not just poetry, what
is the music like?

--
The Triad

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

The Triad wrote:

> "J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in message
> news:42a4b18c$0$41899$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
>> The Triad wrote:
>>
>>>> Naxatillor worked perfectly, although I had to kill him with a
>>>> cannon I summoned up, since killing him in cold blood will prevent
>>>> him from resurrecting properly.
>>>>
>>>> As for Smith, that was not so good:
>>>> http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/magnu.gif
>>>
>>> *amusement*
>>>
>>>> (I was listening to 'Chronicle of the Black Sword' at the time.
>>>> Just as I got around to Tiberius, with Finn programmed to be
>>>> Smith, it began playing 'The Conjuration Of Magnu', also about
>>>> a horse being summoned. I thought it was extremely apt.)
>>>
>>> *thinks; goes to look up*
>>
>> This doesn't really do it justice, but:
>>
>> http://www.hawkwind.com/lyr/mag.htm
>
> Very interesting. Assuming that in its totality it's not just poetry,
> what is the music like?

On this album ('Live Chronicles') there are two tracks, the intro,
which is the first verse spoken word, followed by the main track which
is pretty much the same flavour as the rest of the album.
I have not heard the studio version.

Think mid 80's epic metal. I see a lot of parallels with Spinal Tap,
and Iron Maiden's vaguely prog-like 'Seventh Son' album.

--
JP Morris - aka DOUG the Eagle (Dragon) -=UDIC=- jpm@it-he.org
Fun things to do with the Ultima games http://www.it-he.org
Reign of the Just - An Ultima clone http://rotj.it-he.org
d+++ e+ N+ T++ Om U1234!56!7'!S'!8!9!KAW u++ uC+++ uF+++ uG---- uLB----
uA--- nC+ nR---- nH+++ nP++ nI nPT nS nT wM- wC- y a(YEAR - 1976)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

"J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in message
news:42a5eddc$0$41922$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> The Triad wrote:
>
>> "J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in message
>> news:42a4b18c$0$41899$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
>>> The Triad wrote:
>>>
>>>>> Naxatillor worked perfectly, although I had to kill him with a
>>>>> cannon I summoned up, since killing him in cold blood will prevent
>>>>> him from resurrecting properly.
>>>>>
>>>>> As for Smith, that was not so good:
>>>>> http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/magnu.gif
>>>>
>>>> *amusement*
>>>>
>>>>> (I was listening to 'Chronicle of the Black Sword' at the time.
>>>>> Just as I got around to Tiberius, with Finn programmed to be
>>>>> Smith, it began playing 'The Conjuration Of Magnu', also about
>>>>> a horse being summoned. I thought it was extremely apt.)
>>>>
>>>> *thinks; goes to look up*
>>>
>>> This doesn't really do it justice, but:
>>>
>>> http://www.hawkwind.com/lyr/mag.htm
>>
>> Very interesting. Assuming that in its totality it's not just poetry,
>> what is the music like?
>
> On this album ('Live Chronicles') there are two tracks, the intro,
> which is the first verse spoken word, followed by the main track which
> is pretty much the same flavour as the rest of the album.
> I have not heard the studio version.
>
> Think mid 80's epic metal. I see a lot of parallels with Spinal Tap,
> and Iron Maiden's vaguely prog-like 'Seventh Son' album.

Ah.

*thinks*

....for the record, I've never (to my knowledge) heard anything even vaguely
related to the terms mentioned in your last paragraph.

Can the equivalent be explained in practical terms? If not, thank you
anyway.

--
The Triad

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <Fk9ne.8682$BR4.7134@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, Wesley wrote:
> Which part do you like best ?

In order from best to worst:

Ultima V
Ultima IV
Ultima III
Ultima VII
Ultima VI
Serpent Isle
Savage Empire
Ultima VIII
Martian Dreams
Ultima I
Ultima IX
Ultima II
Akalabeth

Haven't yet got around to playing the Ultima Underworlds, so no ranking for
them.

For reference, here's roughly the order in which I started playing them and
when I finished them:

Ultima III (ca. 1986, completed ca. 1991)
Ultima IV (ca. 1987, completed ca. 1992)
Ultima V (25 December 1988, completed ca. 1994)
Ultima I (1988, completed ca. 1997)
Ultima II (1988, never completed)
Ultima VI (25 December 1990, completed ca. 1991)
Savage Empire (1990, completed ca. 1991)
Martian Dreams (1991, completed 1991)
Ultima VIII (1994, completed 1995)
Ultima VII (1997, completed 1997)
Serpent Isle (1998, never completed due to annoying bug)
Ultima IX (September 2000, completed 2000)
Akalabeth (2001, never completed)

Ultimas I through V were played on the Commodore 64; the rest on an IBM PC.

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

"J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in news:429f52e4$0$7587$ed2619ec@ptn-
nntp-reader03.plus.net:

> There's a lot of ways you could total the game, killing key
> plot characters and then burning their corpses.. casting VANISH
> on critical objects might work too.

Which reminds me, you ever play Knights of The Old Republic (I or II)?
Not only can you be a complete bastard, the game recognizes that you're a
complete bastard and starts to play along.
The Ultima games needed more multiple endings.



-==Kensu==-
"You're the Avatar! You were supposed to destroy Lord Blackthorn, not join
him!" -Dupre/Ultima V alternate ending

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

"J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in news:42a336bd$0$25428$ed2619ec@ptn-
nntp-reader02.plus.net:

> Samurai wrote:
>
>> Quoth JP Morris <jpm@it-he.org>:
>> ...
>>> [What happens if you resurrect Smith into Dupre's body..?]
>>
>> Lumina might get on a bit better with Smith if he saw him drunk. And
>> certainly if he saw him drawn. 😉
>
> Well, it cuts him in half. Is that good enough?
>

Are you talking about ressurecting a dead body while they're still in
someone's inventory?
As I recall they simply walk out of the character's icon...

-==Kensu==-

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <MPG.1d08f908604d8deb9898a0@usenet.plus.net>, Samurai wrote:
> In U6, it didn't really matter what order one did things -- even
> teleporting to the gargoyle world with the Orb of the Moons at the
> start of the game had a built-in way of balancing things out.

Actually, that's one thing I didn't really like about U6. A certain level
of non-linearity was most welcome, of course, but U6 made it too easy to
circumvent most of the plot. The first time I played it, I simply guessed
where the treasure cave was instead of collecting pieces of the map. It
would have been nicer, IMO, if the game forced you to go on all the map
quests before it let you find the cave. This would not have broken
linearity, since you can still collect the pieces in any order.

Likewise I think it replay value would be extended if the orb of moons
wasn't quite so powerful. It gives one too many shortcuts to areas of the
game that can only otherwise be reached by solving quests and good
old-fashioned exploration and dungeon-trekking. Rather than let you
teleport anywhere right from the beginning of the game, I think a better
system would have been to allow you to teleport to only those destinations
you had already visited. (IIRC, this is how teleportation worked in
Ultima VIII.)

By exploiting the orb of moons and knowledge of the plot gained from
previous playings, a player can probably complete Ultima VI in as little
as an hour or two.

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <Xns9671ED544B7D0kensuhotmailcom@207.115.63.158>, Chris
Schumacher wrote:

> "J. P. Morris" <jpm@it-he.org> wrote in
> news:429f52e4$0$7587$ed2619ec@ptn- nntp-reader03.plus.net:
>
>> There's a lot of ways you could total the game, killing key
>> plot characters and then burning their corpses.. casting VANISH
>> on critical objects might work too.
>
> Which reminds me, you ever play Knights of The Old Republic (I or II)?
> Not only can you be a complete bastard, the game recognizes that you're a
> complete bastard and starts to play along.
> The Ultima games needed more multiple endings.
>
> -==Kensu==-
> "You're the Avatar! You were supposed to destroy Lord Blackthorn, not
> join him!" -Dupre/Ultima V alternate ending

Actually, Ultima V is indeed one of the few Ultimas that has an alternative
ending. Don't tell me you've never fought your way through to the bottom
Dungeon Doom only to inform Lord British that you've forgotten to bring
the sandalwood box!

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <42A06778.7000601@it-he.org>, JP Morris wrote:
> It is impossible to resurrect mature gargoyles in-game. I don't know
> about immature/wingless gargoyles, such as Beh-Lem.
> It should be possible to resurrect Dupre's body into a gargoyle, but you
> might only get 1/4 of the body or other nasty effects (like when joining
> Smith into the party.. his ass gets left behind when he moves around).
>
> Definitely worth trying.. >🙂

If it's not possible to resurrect winged gargoyles, how about other large
creatures? Like Smith, Pushme-Pullyu, or the friendly Cyclopses in
Stonegate?

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <d7roiv$mmn$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk>, The Triad wrote:
> (Also, a more semi-mundane question: what objects /cannot/ be Animated?
> And what do Animated objects generally do, or how do they act?
> *...imagines, smiling quietly to himself...*)

I think any object that can be picked up can be animated. Thus, a weapon
can be animated, but not Lord British's throne. They tend to simply
wander around until you either kill them or walk too far off-screen. I'm
not sure if the designers had any real purpose in mind for this spell
except as something neat to do.

However, animation is a good way of replicating rare and irreplicatable
objects such as magic wands. Simply animate the wand, then cast the Clone
spell on it as many times as desired, and then kill all the animated
clones. Killing them does not make them disappear; they just revert to
normal objects which you can pick up and use.

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Greetings.

In article <d86kvr$c4t$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk>, The Triad wrote:
>>>> This doesn't really do it justice, but:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.hawkwind.com/lyr/mag.htm
>>>
>>> Very interesting. Assuming that in its totality it's not just poetry,
>>> what is the music like?
>>
>> On this album ('Live Chronicles') there are two tracks, the intro,
>> which is the first verse spoken word, followed by the main track which
>> is pretty much the same flavour as the rest of the album.
>> I have not heard the studio version.
>>
>> Think mid 80's epic metal. I see a lot of parallels with Spinal Tap,
>> and Iron Maiden's vaguely prog-like 'Seventh Son' album.
>
> Ah.
>
> *thinks*
>
> ...for the record, I've never (to my knowledge) heard anything even
> vaguely related to the terms mentioned in your last paragraph.
>
> Can the equivalent be explained in practical terms? If not, thank you
> anyway.

Hawkwind, at least in their 1970s incarnation, are generally regarded as
the founding fathers of the space rock genre. If you want a modern
equivalent, think Monster Magnet, who were heavily influenced by Hawkwind
and even cover some of their songs.

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited
/ |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard
(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

> Think mid 80's epic metal. I see a lot of parallels with Spinal Tap,
> and Iron Maiden's vaguely prog-like 'Seventh Son' album.

IM's Seventh Son is more like hard rock then metal. Too merry for metal

--
Max

 

[Samurai]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.series (More info?)

Quoth Tristan Miller <psychonaut@nothingisreal.com>:
....
> Actually, that's one thing I didn't really like about U6. A
> certain level of non-linearity was most welcome, of course, but U6
> made it too easy to circumvent most of the plot. The first time I
> played it, I simply guessed where the treasure cave was instead of
> collecting pieces of the map. It would have been nicer, IMO, if
> the game forced you to go on all the map quests before it let you
> find the cave. This would not have broken linearity, since you
> can still collect the pieces in any order.

I thought the fact you could do things as you saw fit was a major strength of U6,
because it made the world feel more real, and my interactions with it more my
choices than the programmers'. YMMV, clearly.

> Likewise I think it replay value would be extended if the orb of
> moons wasn't quite so powerful. It gives one too many shortcuts
> to areas of the game that can only otherwise be reached by solving
> quests and good old-fashioned exploration and dungeon-trekking.
> Rather than let you teleport anywhere right from the beginning of
> the game, I think a better system would have been to allow you to
> teleport to only those destinations you had already visited.
> (IIRC, this is how teleportation worked in Ultima VIII.)

I must admit, I thought the Orb was perhaps a little more than the Avatar needed to
go about his business, so there at least we're in broad agreement.

> By exploiting the orb of moons and knowledge of the plot gained
> from previous playings, a player can probably complete Ultima VI
> in as little as an hour or two.

True enough. But if one has already played it to completion, finishing it quickly
isn't so much of a problem, is it?

Wasn't there a speed record for completing a couple of the Ultimas claimed a while
back...?

--

___________________________________________________________
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