Release - First installment of Ultima II remake

Chris H.'s Ultima / ACS-style game development system!

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Heather Harrison
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Release - First installment of Ultima II remake

Post by Heather Harrison »

I have put the first installment of my Ultima II remake in a temporary location on the web.

http://www.xmission.com/~dh/temp/u2b.zip

For those who haven't looked at the WIP thread, this isn't a faithful remake of Ultima II. It is more of an expansion that hopefully realizes some of the potential missed in the original version.

To install the game, make a directory called U2B in the ACK games area, and unzip this file there.

Here is a brief description of the changes.

Wilderness maps are now 256X256, and there is more variety of terrains. The functions of many of the miscellaneous items obtained from thieves in the original have changed, and they are now acquired in different places. Most of the original monsters are present, but their fighting abilities have changed. Many other monsters have been added. There are more locations to visit.

Time travel works differently now, and it is not immediately possible to travel through time. The first major quest in the game is to figure out how to travel through time. Once that quest is completed, this installment of the game is essentially completed.

The installment I have released contains the BC time period with all locations completed, all dialogues finished, and all monsters placed. The wilderness maps for the other time periods (except for Legends) have been created and are accessible, but nothing is living there yet.

I have played the quest through from beginning to end, and things seem to work, but I am sure there are bugs to be discovered. If anyone here wants to spend time playing through this probably buggy game, I would appreciate hearing about the problems.

A few things work differently in this game than in other ACK games, such as the Ultima IV parody.

There are three new commands.

O - Operate, open, close, etc. Operate or manipulate certain terrain objects, such as doors, chests, and switches.
S - Search. Search chests, barrels, and a few kinds of furniture for treasure.
Z - Info (additional). Displays some additional information screens: list of spells and magic training.

There are additional variables that the game keeps track of.

TP - Training points. The player starts with 5 and gains 5 with each level. Training points are used for combat training and magic training, but are not required to learn specific spells.

Food - The player will automatically consume food (and regenerate some hit points) at regular intervals. Don't run out of food or you will slowly starve. Fortunately, food is inexpensive, and a number of monsters leave food behind, so this shouldn't be a problem. There are five food objects, and they are all alike in their properties.

Food and TP are displayed along with HP and MP, but ACK doesn't have a really good way to handle this, so I have implemented a kluge that doesn't work extremely well. Sometimes it is slow to update. I'll try to think of a better way to handle this.

The player gains HP and MP when leveling up, but anything else requires training. In BC, there is one trainer who will increase weapon skill or ranged weapon skill by 5 points per training point.

Magic system: There are wizard spells and cleric spells. With the proper training, the player can learn both types of spell. More advanced spells require certain objects to be equipped, but the first three spells of each type can be cast without any items as long as the player has enough magic points. Certain wizards and clerics in the game provide magic training. In BC, there is one trainer of each type.

Fighting: At first, the player starts in eastern North America with poor equipment. I recommend heading west toward the Great Plains area, where there is a rat-infested abandoned house. The rats are easy to kill, but watch out for the cow in the field. There is also a village south of the abandoned house. These are good places to get some equipment. After that, it's probably wise to remain in North America until you acquire some better equipment and reach Level 2. The monsters in Asia, Europe, and Africa are a bit more difficult. Later on, good equipment will easily defeat most of the monsters found in BC, but still watch out for daemons, devils, balrons, and dragons.

I hope everyone enjoys this. While anyone who wants to is playing (and testing) the BC portion, I will be working on the other time periods, and the second installment will include all of Earth's time periods (except Legends, which won't be accessible until late in the game).

Heather
Last edited by Heather Harrison on Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

rld
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Post by rld »

It looks very interesting so far, although I've only played up to the rat-filled house at this point. The macros look very complex, so I'm sure there are lots of useful ideas there to be examined.

One thing I was curious about - what does the ADDMSG.EXE program do?

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Post by Garth's Equipment Shop »

Yaay! :D Thanks Heather
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Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

The ADDMSG.EXE program was an experiment to use an external program to create some messages. It was just experimental, and it didn't work well; I found a better way of doing what I needed to do just by using the macros. I should remove it since it isn't used.

Hopefully the game will work out reasonably well. Let me know of any bugs you find or any suggestions you have for improvements.

Yes, the macros are very complex. Fortunately, I'm good at programming, so generating complex macros isn't a big deal. Some of the macros are generally applicable, and others might find them useful for their games. If you have any questions about specific macros, let me know and I can try to explain them.

Heather

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Post by Garth's Equipment Shop »

I'll be alot more active here starting tomarrow evening after work. The plant is shutting down for general repairs and cleaning so I get a whole week off! Without pay though :P
But I plan to use it to catch up on all my ACK projects. I'll let you know if I find anything worth reporting as I play through your WIP. Everything seems to work beautifully so far.

There is one thing that seemed a little out of place or that felt a little like it was something meant only for the Game Designer to see and not the player. Did you intend for LOOK to behave as it does when it is used on monsters? It seems to report their condition, HP and some other stuff though it isn't terribly useful as I dont have time to process what all info is revealed before it clears. HP is about all I am usually able to read. And ofcourse they are usually attacking while im trying to read it.

Maybe you could have a new kind of shop or museum where the curator is an expert on the local wild life. There the player could purchase a book like the monsterous encylcopedia or beastiary which when read displays the icons of various creatures along with their stats, attack types, etc. Or perhaps a zoo with monsters in cages so they cant attack and plaques on the cages or on signs by the cages which describe them.
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Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

The LOOK command behaves as it does because cheat and debug modes are turned on for testing purposes. I thought I would leave those on in case anyone who is play-testing the game wants to make use of them. If you want to turn them off, change them in the configure adventure area and the LOOK command should behave normally with monsters.

It's funny that you mention the zoo. Right now, I am putting a zoo and an aquarium in the expanded New San Antonio. (That town is 128X128, and the original 64X64 town forms the core of a much larger town.) For the zoo and aquarium, I have created version of the monsters with neutral alignment so that they don't try to attack. Some of these "neutral" monsters also live in towns, such as the squid in Towne Linda. I plan to have curators there.

I also plan to do something with books, but I haven't implemented it yet. The SEARCH command will work on bookcases, and according to a formula that I haven't come up with yet, different selections of books will appear in different locations. It won't be possible to take the books (due to the limitation on object numbers), but it will be possible to go into libraries in certain places and read the books there. Books that describe the wildlife will certainly be part of the selection.

Another possibility I am considering for books is something like the key ring, where using it would give the player access to a selection of books.

(By the way, do not lose the key ring! It is required to hold unique keys, and if it is not in your inventory when you find a key, you won't be able to take the key. To unlock a door that requires a unique key, use the key ring on it. In BC, there are three unique keys, and there will be more in other parts of the game. My system of doors and the key ring allows for up to 62 unique keys. Number 0 is for skull keys, and Number 63 is for doors that are controlled by switches.)

Thanks for your comments. I will continue posting on game progress in the WIP thread.

Heather

rld
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Post by rld »

Still playing my way (slowly) through the BC area, and I haven't seen any big problems with the game so far. Explored Gerry, made my way down to the Swamp Tower, and then headed over to Eurasia, bought a skiff and went to pay Lord British a visit. All quite interesting so far. :)

The door and chest trap disarming and unlocking methods are nicely developed, and add a bit of strategy to the dungeon crawling. The battles so far have been challenging without being frustratingly difficult, and there is a nice selection of items for the player to try out. Just started with the wizard and cleric magic training, so I haven't gotten too far into that yet, but that also looks to be a well-designed system.

I also like the trick of putting multiple towns/areas in a single worldmap region, separated by undefined cells, and then using the SETPORT command to make sure that the player returns to the proper entry point on the worldmap.

Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

I'm glad it is working out so far.

Given the limitation on number of regions, I had to come up with something, especially considering that I have the idea of putting in a bunch of smaller locations. With creative use of portal and entrance macros, it is possible to combine numerous locations into one region. Custom world maps work best for this. Using this trick, it is certainly possible to make a gigantic game and still have space to spare. By the time I'm finished, I don't think I will even use up all of the regions. It will be nice to have some available in case I get ideas for additions later or in case someone else wants to add something to the game.

Of course, there are still limitations on the numbers of NPCs and wandering monsters that can be placed in the region, so a large dungeon that is full of nasty critters is probably best given its own region, but a few towns can be placed in a single region without difficulty.

I have extensively tested out the doors and chests, so I don't anticipate massive problems there. The magic system is a late addition, and I haven't exercised it as much, so there could be bugs. In BC, the number of available spells is limited due to unavailability of special items and intelligence training, but if anyone wants to fully check out the magic system, the third character option at the beginning of the game (labeled "Test" and with a daemon icon) comes ready-made with every spell and a good many magic points.

Also, some items that will be encountered have the same effect as certain spells when used (i.e. the potions and the Strange Coin).

(I had a hell of a time figuring out what to do with the Strange Coin, but I wanted to include it in the game. I finally figured out a use that seemed to make some sense.)

Again, I'm glad it is working out so far. Let me know of any observations or suggestions. Meanwhile, I'll continue work on Earth's other time periods. (See the WIP thread for details of progress.)

Heather

Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

I have put out another release. There aren't many changes that affect the BC time period, but there is some new stuff in the other time periods.

The major change is that I have added introduction and title sequences. Also, I removed the food and training points display from the game screen and added them to the inventory display. It didn't work out too well on the game screen; it didn't always work right and it slowed things down. I have also removed the Z command; the I command now displays all inventory and stats.

The new release is in the same place as the old one:

http://www.xmission.com/~dh/temp/u2b.zip

Hopefully the introductory sequence makes sense. I would appreciate any feedback.

Heather
Last edited by Heather Harrison on Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

I have uploaded the latest version. This primarily includes a few bug fixes, changes due to the ACK mega-patch (which is now required for the game to work properly), and more completed maps.

Here is the link to the game.

http://www.xmission.com/~dh/temp/u2b.zip

Also, I have put a copy of rld's ACK mega patch there for the sake of convenience. This must be installed for the game to work properly.

http://www.xmission.com/~dh/temp/ack_mega.zip

Let me know if there are any problems.

Heather

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Post by Heather Harrison »

Naturally, just after I uploaded this update, I found two infinite-loop bugs in macros that were caused by GOTOs not properly updating. I've fixed them and sent another update. If anyone downloaded this after my previous post, but before this one, you will want to get it again. Use the links in the previous post.

(Note for others - Although GOTOs update correctly most of the time, there are situations that can mess them up. This is one of the most common problems I've had with macros. In your games, I recommend carefully testing all complex macros even after only the slightest change just to make sure this hasn't happened.)

Also, my first attempt at weapon/armor skill taxes/bonuses and restrictions are now in this version. It was while I was implementing and testing this that I discovered the infinite-loop bugs in other macros.

Let me know if there are any further problems.

Heather

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Re: Release - First installment of Ultima II remake

Post by Garth's Equipment Shop »

It is saying document not found Heather.. :P
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Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

Sorry - I think the file got renamed at some point.

Try this.

http://www.xmission.com/~dh/temp/u2b.zip

By the way, I just uploaded a new version with the massive castle/prison/dungeon complex in the Devonian completed, but not extensively tested. A friend is currently helping me test it.

If anyone wants to try out that quest, do the following:

1. Play through the introduction like normal.
2. After teleporting out of the introduction area, type CTRL-X, and then enter 244. This will take you to the cheat room.
3. Ignore the junk there (unless you want some of it) and take the north passage.
4. In the next room, take the teleporter on the left side of the screen, second from the bottom.

You will now be in northeastern Gondwana, in the Devonian period, and your character will be reasonably well equipped. The goals of the quest are to kill the Emperor of Gondwana, rescue a woman he has kidnapped, and retrieve the Force Shield (which has the same function as the Ring in the original - it allows one to effortlessly pass through force fields). This is easier said than done. The main doors to the castle and the prison are securely locked, and the player must travel deep into the dungeon, kill many monsters, and solve some devious puzzles, in order to finally get to the Emperor.

Heather

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Post by Heather Harrison »

I've fixed the link throughout this thread.

Also, remember that rld's ACK mega patch is required for the game to work properly.

Heather

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Post by Garth's Equipment Shop »

Cool thanks Heather. Great work btw.
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Post by rld »

Heather, do you have a list of the variables (if there are any left) in your U2B game that you are *not* using for any purpose in macro code?

If I have to add any other variable-controlled features to the mega-patch, I would like to be sure that I am not breaking your existing code.

Heather Harrison
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Post by Heather Harrison »

According to my list, the only variables so far unused are O, C2, E2, J2, and L2. I am using many in bit-wise fashion, and some of the others still have unused bits. A game this large is bound to need a lot of variables.

If you happen to use one that I have already used, it isn't too difficult to go through and change them in the macros, so do whatever makes the most sense for you.

Heather

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Post by Garth's Equipment Shop »

Heather if you return at some point could you please upload this release to the new file repository rld started for us? You can find link to his thread with complete instructions in the stickied ACK Adventures thread. Thanks.

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Re:

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Heather Harrison wrote: Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:19 pm I've fixed the link throughout this thread.

Also, remember that rld's ACK mega patch is required for the game to work properly.

Heather
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the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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Re: Re:

Post by Jizaboz »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Tue Aug 08, 2023 8:52 pm
Heather Harrison wrote: Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:19 pm I've fixed the link throughout this thread.

Also, remember that rld's ACK mega patch is required for the game to work properly.

Heather
There's no way this was a real girl named Heather, right?
And they linked to xmission? "The Greatest Page in the Universe"? Did Maddox give them FTP access? ???
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