Ultima 7

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I've been playing through RPGs again to see if there's anything I can learn. I don't know why I am doing this. I am just doing this. Ultima 7 is the first one.

I am using Exult, which is an open source program to make playing Ultima 7 easier. It's great. Perhaps the ideal way to play Ultima 7 is on an old VGA monitor, but frankly - while I have one in a nearby closet, I can't justify the room it takes up and everything else that would be required.

Let's see how these screenshots look. I am using imgur initially. Imgur used to give you nice links for images at different sizes. They stopped doing that. I have no idea why.





That's 1440 pixels across. Is that annoying and shitty to view?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

A few things about Ultima 7:

1) That goddamn font for conversations. I am surprised Exult doesn't let you change it. I cannot. stand. the old English whateveritis.

One thing Exult does do is let you change the background for the text. There used to be NO background. That made it unreadable. You were reliant on yellow text with a couple pixels of black stroke around it. So that is an improvement. But god, I want to die looking at that font.

2) Where I got frustrated in my previous play-throughs is when I would assemble a party, but they would get hungry, but I couldn't get them meat to shut them up. You're trapped in the first town until you solve the murder. If you don't solve the murder you can't go adventuring. Well, this time I am going to steal everything I can from the townsfolk and sell it for money to buy meat.

Wholesome, delicious meat.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

This is a giant map of Ultima 7, and I think it will be helpful.

http://www.kxmode.com/U7map/#7/-26.804/-100.915

[RealNC]

About the Imgur thing, you append one of these letters to the image filename:

h: 1024xN
l: 640xN
m: 320xN
t: 160xN

For example, "OKvG94W.jpg" is the original. The 640 pixels version is "OKvG94Wl.jpg"

[Jizaboz]

It really is a good game but I never finished it. Recently re-bought it with the rest of the Ultima games really cheap on GoG a while back.

And yeah, I play in exult with the same type settings.. but I actually like the old fonts ha

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Thanks, Nikos. I'll give that a try.

Well, I found Lord British. And I think I remembered how I got stuck the first time playing this, in the 90s. Lord British tee hees and tells you to find his spellbook. We're gonna want to find a spellbook.

I have decided that I am OK with using a cheat code for reagents. I think that material components for spells is kind of dumb and while I don't doubt that this game is balanced, I don't have a lot of time to play.



So with this in mind, our goal is to FIND THE SPELLBOOK. I think in all my other playthroughs, I couldn't find it, got frustrated, went off into the wilderness to find Dupre and died.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

We'll use this for the spellbook, as it is the first guide that I saw that actually tells you what steps to take. No shit I never figured this out before.

https://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/520848-ulti ... /faqs/1816

Also, there is a day and night cycle in the game, and this is what happened when I tried to use the sundial at night:

Ah Christ, I don't have it. Anyway, Iolo says "I believe the key word in sundial is 'sun', Avatar."

Har dee har har, Iolo.

[ChainGangGuy]

I vaguely recall playing Ultima VI for the PC ages ago.

I want to say Iolo was there. Maybe a Dupre?

Was the giant map helpful to your cause?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

The map has been great. I am able to identify where I might want to go in this absolutely crazy world, a world that was never intended for me to enter.

There is an Iolo and a Dupre as well. What kind of an Avatar are ya, ChainGangGuy? What I guess I am asking is if you steal from the townsfolk. In the game. I absolutely do. Out of the game.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

http://www.chrisguincreations.com/the-d ... p81itqblwi

[Jizaboz]

All hail to Lord British!

[RealNC]

All hail to Lord British!

What's a Paladin?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

So, I wanted to read that article later so I posted it here. Something stopped me from playing through U7, I get to the same spot each game. And I am sure I lost my save game.

But I keep thinking that something is missing with the RPGs I play today. First, the intro text is universally AWFUL. It's like a genre condition.

I do really, really hate the U7 font. That part does not help.

[Jizaboz]

I finished it a few months back but it would have been impossible to do so without a walkthrough.

[Tdarcos]

All hail to Lord British!

What's a Paladin?

It's the guy who lives at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, going out and solving people's problems. He had a business card, "Have gun, will travel Wire Paladin, San Francisco" over an image of a knight chesspiece. Ran on TV and radio back in the '50s.

Seriously, the 12 paladins were the "twelve foremost knights of Charlemagne's court, comparable to the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian romance.'

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

All hail to Lord British!

What's a Paladin?

It's the guy who lives at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, going out and solving people's problems. He had a business card, "Have gun, will travel Wire Paladin, San Francisco" over an image of a knight chesspiece. Ran on TV and radio back in the '50s.

Seriously, the 12 paladins were the "twelve foremost knights of Charlemagne's court, comparable to the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian romance.'

Didja ever play any of the Ultima games, Commander?

[RealNC]

All hail to Lord British!

What's a Paladin?

...

"What's a Paladin" is just a famous quote from Ultima 9. When an NPC mentions the Paladins to the Avatar, the Avatar replies with "what's a Paladin?" It was the moment in the game where people finally realized that Electronic Arts had ruined the Ultima franchise.

[Jizaboz]

“What’s a Paladin” is also a loading message in Shroud of Avatar :)

9 I only briefly played and then quit due to it playing like shit in Windows 98. It probably still does in all operating systems.

[RealNC]

9 I only briefly played and then quit due to it playing like shit in Windows 98. It probably still does in all operating systems.

That's good! I was not so fortunate. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and sabotage my PC before my past self installed the game.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

“What’s a Paladin” is also a loading message in Shroud of Avatar :)

Are they trying to own that? They are trying to roll with it! I think Garriot had nothing to do with 9 though right?