Ultima Collecting -- I am in big trouble!

[Albert]

I was browsing through some Ultima auctions on eBay and ran across this one:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 121056275518

 

The seller rated the item in "Very good" condition. WHAT?? There is writing in thick black marker on the front of the box, and the back of the box has a huge vertical strip where someone ripped a piece of packing tape off the box. As per eBay's description of what "Very good" should be,

 

"Very Good: An item that is used but still in very good condition. No damage to the jewel case or item cover, no scuffs, scratches, cracks, or holes. The cover art and liner notes are included. The VHS or DVD box is included. The video game instructions and box are included. The teeth of disk holder are undamaged. Minimal wear on the exterior of item. "

 

Just another example that you cannot trust sellers to accurately describe items. Photos are worth a thousand words.

 

..Al

[LynxVGL]

Look what I received today:

 

 

I have a decent collection of US Ultima releases (games, clue books, novels) as well as various Japanese releases, but dear lord this book frightens me. It is over 800 pages and covers nearly 2,000 items...

 

..Al

Albert, I PM'd you about an item I don't see in your collection. ;>

[Albert]

Albert, I PM'd you about an item I don't see in your collection. ;>

 

Just answered your PM, thanks!

 

..Al

[Albert]

Just finished Ultima III.

 

Not terribly satisfying as to exactly what "Exodus" was.

 

Time to get some work done!

 

..Al

[Hatta]

Not terribly satisfying as to exactly what "Exodus" was.

 

Movement of Jah people!

[Goochman]

Just finished Ultima III.

 

Not terribly satisfying as to exactly what "Exodus" was.

 

Time to get some work done!

 

..Al

 

How many hours would you say you spent playing?

[Albert]

How many hours would you say you spent playing?

 

That's a good question, probably around 25 hours.

 

..Al

[Albert]

So, I installed Ultima IV and then fired up Pix's Ultima Patcher. There are a few different patches available. One of them includes VGA graphics, a sound patch, and a few other things, including a speed limiter. Well, I really don't like the VGA graphics, so I uninstalled that and installed a standalone music patch. Unfortunately, if I don't use the VGA patch, the game runs way too fast (the music is fine, but animations, moongate cycles and probably other things are way too fast). Haven't found a good solution yet, but I'm still looking.

 

..Al

[Asaki]

Let me know if you figure it out, I couldn't find a solution either. I even emailed the guy and got no reply =(

 

I mean, besides using MoSlo on my 486, or running it on my DS, etc.

[Albert]

Let me know if you figure it out, I couldn't find a solution either. I even emailed the guy and got no reply =(

 

I mean, besides using MoSlo on my 486, or running it on my DS, etc.

 

I'll probably just play it with the VGA graphics. The game then runs at the proper speed, although some of the animations still look too fast. Not worth it for me to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.

 

..Al

[SoulBlazer]

I've been meaning to fire up Ultima 4, just not had the time yet. Thanks for the information about the patches.

[Albert]

Overall the patches have been great, as they often fix problems with the original games, and in the case of Ultima III and IV, add music and enhanced graphics if you want them. You also get things like the ability to instantly reload your save game by hitting Alt-R, which is faster than quitting the game and relaunching it (which I did many times with Ultima III before I realized I could just hit Alt-R!!)

 

..Al

[Asaki]

...and enhanced graphics if you want them.

 

Or in the case of U4, enhanced graphics or no updates at all >

[Shannon]

Doesnt Dosxbox have a way of "slowing" the emulation down with a menu or some key commands? Or are those options disabled in the GOG version?

[Albert]

Doesnt Dosxbox have a way of "slowing" the emulation down with a menu or some key commands? Or are those options disabled in the GOG version?

 

Yes, you can modify settings in a configuration file, plus you can slow down the emulation via by hitting Alt-F11 (I think). I played with this a bit, but if I slowed the game down it completely screwed up the music so it was playing WAY too slowly. I'll just play with the VGA graphics, it'll be fine. They just don't look that great on a 30" display, I much prefer the original EGA graphics. The character animations are still way too fast (for instance, the jesters look like they are having a seizure), but I haven't seen anything that affects gameplay.

 

Hopefully Ultima V doesn't have these issues. I looked at the patches available for U5 and they look more benign. Amusingly, there is a patch that replaces the runic font for standard Latin, so you don't have to translate signs in the game.

 

..Al

[Asaki]

Doesnt Dosxbox have a way of "slowing" the emulation down with a menu or some key commands?

 

Yes, but it doesn't work very well on games that old. In Might & Magic, for instance, you have to keep turning the cycles up a notch to put most things at normal speed, and then turn them down a notch if you want to be able to read anything.

 

I usually just end up running them on this old 486 laptop I have, with MoSlo. I get a lot better results (though no sound card for the newer games).

[Markimus of K.]

Great thread gentlemen, brings back a lot of memories.

 

I remember playing U3 on my Atari ST. Around 1999 or 2000 I remember thinking how much I loved Ultima's music but how poor the sound was on the ST.

 

Then I thought, hey, I wonder if it goes out on MIDI? Sure enough, I hooked the ST up to my cheap Yamaha keyboard, outed that to my stereo and promplty almost soiled myself! Sounded glorious!

 

I remember making a cassette recording... HA! Just rooted around in my desk and found it!

 

Just tried playing it on my 1984 Sanyo boom box... radio works, tape deck is shot! Dang!

 

Time to see if my old component deck still works....

 

It's broken too! Just makes a grinding noise for 5 seconds when any buttons are pressed.

 

Those were the last cassette players in the house that I'm aware of... I've got one in my car! I don't know why, it's a 2002, who was still listening to cassettes in 2002??? (luckily it also has a CD player too!)

 

ok, tape is in my breifcase, will try it out on the car tape deck on Monday's commute, will post back my findings.

 

I'm interested to see if it sounds as awesome as my 13 old memory of it...

[Albert]

I usually just end up running them on this old 486 laptop I have, with MoSlo. I get a lot better results (though no sound card for the newer games).

 

Yeah, doesn't help that I am running these on a super fast computer.

 

..Al

[SoulBlazer]

Is there a list somewhere of ALL of the ports and versions of all the Ultima games?

 

And just what is Ultima Underworld anyway? Is 2 better?

[nukeshed]

Is there a list somewhere of ALL of the ports and versions of all the Ultima games?

 

I don't know if its true, but I bet the book that was posted in the first post would have a list

[Albert]

Is there a list somewhere of ALL of the ports and versions of all the Ultima games?

 

This is a good website:

 

http://www.ultimacollectors.info/news.htm

 

And just what is Ultima Underworld anyway? Is 2 better?

 

The Ultima Underworld games use a 3D engine and are set in the regular Ultima universe. The first game takes place in the Stygian Abyss, which made its first appearance in Ultima IV. The second game takes place after Ultima VII: The Black Gate and ties directly in to that storyline. Ultima Underworld was the first RPG to use a 3D engine, and it was released before Wolfenstein 3D. Wolfenstein's engine is very primitive compared to Underworld.

 

I would definitely play both of these--while the games will look quite dated compared to any modern RPGs, so do all the other Ultimas.

 

..Al

[Albert]

I don't know if its true, but I bet the book that was posted in the first post would have a list

 

It is by far the most comprehensive collection of everything Ultima I've ever seen. In fact, it's a bit overwhelming when you first look through it!

 

..Al

[Asaki]

And just what is Ultima Underworld anyway?

 

Oh no...

 

Is 2 better?

 

I liked the first one better. The graphics were a lot nicer, and though the world is a lot bigger in 2, it has a sort of "minigame" feel to it. Still a cool game, though.

[Bill Lange]

I finished Ultima I tonight for the second time. The first time was over thirty years ago.

 

I can still remember the first time that I saw Ultima. It was toward the end of eighth grade in the spring of 1982, I took my Atari 400 over to a classmate’s house. He’s parents had an Apple II. I showed him Star Raiders on my Atari. He introduced me to Ultima I. He spent the afternoon saving the galaxy by destroying Zylons. I wandered around the world of Sosaria. I was in awe.

 

Back in the day, Ultima I was the game that compelled me to upgrade my 16K Atari 400 to 48K and to upgrade from the Atari 410 tape drive to an Atari 810 floppy drive. I don’t remember how long it was from the time I saw the game on the Apple II until I was able to purchase it for the Atari. I still have my original Ultima I floppy diskettes, the User’s Manual and the Quick Reference Card. The copyright date on the User’s Manual (Atari conversion version) is 1983. I may have had to wait for the Atari release or I may have had to wait until I could afford to purchase the Atari 810 which if I remember correctly, cost more than my Atari 400.

 

When I finally saw that Ultima I was available for my Atari, probably in ANTIC, ANALOG or Compute!, I had one of my older brothers drive me to the “Program Store” at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, NJ. The “Program Store” was a Mecca of computer software. It had shelves and shelves of software for every computer back in the early 1980s. I loved going there and browsing through all of the boxes of games. I purchased Ultima II – Ultima IV there as well when they came out.

 

*** Spoiler Alert ***

 

Even though the game is 30 years old, I enjoyed replaying it on my PC. No disk swapping, no long load times.

 

If I remember correctly, in Ultima I on the Atari, ship-to-shore cannon fire didn't give you gold or experience, but I could be wrong. I think I also remember that there were bugs in the dungeon in that you could walk through some wall. Both of these issues seem to be corrected in this new PC version.

 

I did run into a small issue where I purchased a ship in the City of Poor and the ship was placed just North West of the city and I couldn't board it from that angle.

Also, if the “Up Ladder” and “Down Ladder” spells were removed from the game, it would be a lot harder.

 

On to Ultima II.

 

Bill

[SoulBlazer]

Looking at those pictures on that website of some of the Ultima's sold in the past, I'm just drooling. Look at all the goodies included!

 

You not only got a really nice box and a good manual, but also maps (somtime cloth ones) and some nice extras like coins and other stuff.

 

I miss those days.

 

Orgin wasn't the only company that did a great job at that....there were other companies that would include some bonuses, and Sierra wasn't that bad at it either.

 

Nowdays you're lucky to even get a manual with your game, and if you DO have one, it's probaly only a few pages.

 

Oh, you can still get what used to be standard in the 80's -- if you pony up big money for the collector's editions. What a rip off!