Ultima VII, a good place to start?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Bohica, Apr 19, 2014.

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  1. Razimus

    Razimus Avatar

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    Exult is ok but it isn't the full original experience, not even close, it's all anti alias blurred and some things are different when it is possible to get it working in dosbox as intended but I suppose you mean speed, there's a moslo program I believe that slows it down like it was at release on the old machines.
     
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  2. Rezulm

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    If you can't handle the gameplay because its too outdated, I suggest watching some Let's Plays. You can enjoy the story and learn about them without battling the out-dated stuff yourself. I know there's some great let's plays out there as I've found them while being nostalgic. Ultima IV was my first and probably the reason for my gaming addiction to this day.

    Or you could watch Noah Antwiler's series of youtube vids on the whole series. But he adds his opinions and it won't be an objective view for someone who didn't play the games themselves first. That said, i enjoyed watching his series immensely and it is probably the shortest route to get a feel for every game's history. Can watch them all one afternoon or evening.
     
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  3. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.
  4. Tartness

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    If you truly wish to experience Ultima, I suggest starting with Ultima IV and pushing through the shortcomings of the era. For me in any case, it is about the accomplishment. If not and you don't wish to deal with the aged graphics and controls, then go purchase a copy of Dungeon Siege, that will allow you to play a couple of fan made projects like Ultima V Lazarus and the Ultima 6 Project and then you can continue with VII and VII part II.

    Ultima VII and VII part II are my favs, but Ultima is more than just those two games, and you also don't want to miss Darkstarr's debut as Lord Blackthorn now do you? :)
     
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  5. Eriador

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    I dont know if Gracekain must start with Ultima VII, but must play it!
     
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  6. Bowen Bloodgood

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    If she really wants to go nuts with it.. she can always slip in Underworld II between Black Gate and Serpent Isle. :)
     
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  7. mikeaw1101

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    they're all great games but maybe not to a newer generation so much.
     
  8. Jlad

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    I was wondering if anyone was going to mention this. If you want to play them in order, then you would have to do this. Underworld 2 takes place between Black Gate and Serpent Isle. It also happens to be an incredibly good game and a very important piece of gaming history as well.

    As to where to start, I have a hard time cutting out any of them. U7 is regarded as one of the best, though, so it's definitely worth a playthrough at some point. :)
     
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  9. Asclepius

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    Wow. Good advice from everyone...

    I would seriously recommend Ultima VII. I know the older ones have a lot to recommend them, but it just depends how far back in time and technology you are prepared to go. Personally I think that playing the older ones would be really tedious now - keyboard only, turn-based combat, graphics abysmal by current standards..

    (The updates - Lazarus etc - could contradict that statement; haven't tried it)

    The link that O'Sullivan provided is the one to go with. U7 was a ***** to run in the day - it performed memory tricks to access more memory in old 386-type machines. I vividly remember the separate autoexec.bat and config.sys files you had to set up to run the thing. Fortunately the one you get from gog.com comes bundled with Dosbox - you don't have to think about anything, it just does the job for you.

    The graphics in U7, although oldish, are reminiscent of UO. You will adapt very quickly to the view, and to the mouse-driven interface and interactivity. The plot is awesome, complex, and absorbing. Also there are very many subquests that you can choose to do, or not.

    It may help you prepare for SoTA in another sense: as you journey through the world, you accumulate experience points. When you have sufficient, you can visit a trainer, and convert those points into skills (fighting, magic, etc). So you can construct the character you want. I think SoTA will do something similar.

    The lore of Britain is recapped in the introductory manual; it's great to have an understanding of that. You can always go back further if you fall in love with them - U4 is a seminal one, and U5 is also a classic.

    Good luck!
     
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  10. Sunsanvil

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    Thats all very much options in the Exult settings menu. You can in fact set things to have no filtering at all and simply do NN scaling to your desired windows size. For an "authentic looking" experience, I use:
    • Window size: 1024,768
    • Scaler: OpenGL
    • Scaling: x3
    • Game Area: Auto
    • Fill Quality: Bilinear
    • Fill Mode: Fill

    The beauty of Exult: It just plain works.
     
  11. abovenyquist

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    Ah, I have many memories of spending hours in front of an Apple ][+ playing Ultima IV. The inability to save in dungeons was brutal. Once you're into the Abyss... you're in.

    Ultima V, for me, is the high point of the series. It was the smallest leap in platform and engine, and I think that contributed to the greatest leap in storytelling. In later games you start to lose control of what's happening in combat, and the inventory systems get a bit overly fiddly. Those complaints aside, the depth of breath of Ultima VII is breathtaking.
     
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  12. docdoom77

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    I put in a vote for U7 with exult. You have to do a little research to install it right with the soundpacks and a little playing to find just the right screen settings for you, but it's totally worth it. Make sure to put on paperdolls, the character models in the menu look much better that way. Best. Game. Ever.

    It doesn't really hold your hand though, so be prepared for that.
     
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  13. UnseenDragon

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    I love these conversations because you realize people have such diverse and rich experiences with different games depending on when they played them. I know Richard views IV and VII as special due to what they represented (such cataclysmic changes in paradigm). You really can't go wrong with any of them,but for my IV-VII represent the heart of what 'Ultima' is. V is probably my favorite because it's what I played first.
    Someone else mentioned Lazarus and I agree it's a fantastic remake of Ultima V (though I'm still partial to the original). I've not played the U6 Project for more then 5 minutes, but it's on my (long) list of to-dos.

    Another thing I can recommend reading is Caroline Spector's Ultima guidebooks. The first one covers IV-VI and reads more like a novel than a guidebook. The second covered Ultima VII and Ultima Underworld II. The second book can be very pricey, but I've found some good deals on used copies of the first one.
     
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  14. Numa

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    [​IMG]

    For the appreciation of those who never got to experience the joys of 8 bit graphics, here's a shot of the gameplay of SSI's The Shard of Spring. Your imagination was always working overtime to fill in the lack of resolution. But for us then, this was cutting edge - as was the early Ultima series.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Bowen Bloodgood

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    On the bottom: Ultima II Europe / top of Africa. :)
     
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  16. Floors

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    After VII,

    Lazarus, without a doubt, the most playable, and it's a really cool version of Ultima V.

    If you never played UV but can't bring yourself to play tile based graphics like up there ^^ it's for you.

    Almost a tribute to Ultima in and of it's self.

    The U6 Project is also cool, better in some ways, worse in others.

    I also like to play OG UIV on my phone. I wish I could play Original UV on my phone...
     
  17. Dermott

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    There is also a mod for Exult which turns the U7 world graphics 45 degrees (like UO). The end result is that the character graphics end up looking like they fit in the game instead of being at an odd slant. The downside to this is that the higher your resolution, the more you're going to lag the HELL out of your system, or at least it was the time I tried it.
     
  18. redfish

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    A lot of people would argue the turn-based combat was more fun and combat got ruined in U7, and the typing in conversations will prepare you how it works for SoTA :)
     
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  19. Isaiah

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    If you do get a chance to play Ultima 4 I would recommend it though. However if the old style user interface is a problem, download the clue-book for the game and play through it quickly. I bet it will help a lot when playing SotA. The Quest for the Avatar was not a simple game because you spend most of your time figuring out what this whole virtue thing is. If you have the clue-book you should be able to follow it, but you'll still get the idea of how much discipline it took to finish the quest.

    Lord British is going to throw some twists in SotA for sure, so we will need to think and not just try to act like we did in U4. However I think the mindset of Ultima 4 will be helpful because it keeps track of everything (or at least it feels like it does). When you start out in U4 you're weak but as you gain in the virtues you get much stronger too. However if you don't want to play it at all, at least read a walk through or maybe somebody has a walk though in video format online. (that might be nice for somebody to create if it isn't out there already). U4 is just one of those games that is a must. It started the real ultima feel.
     
  20. redfish

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    Speaking of turn-based, tactical combat (1985),

    [​IMG]
     
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