New to Ultima Series (Seeking Advice)

[Illuvatar]

Alright so i found this forums and it looks like we have some pretty old gamers here...so on with my question.

I have been looking for a advanced rpg..nothing like dungoens and dragons, but something with good replay value and many different possible ways to play through, i really enjoyed playing dragon warrior 1 for the nes, and i seen a few screenies of ultima 3-4, and was just curios.

Is ultima any fun? well similiar to dw 1, is the learning curve complicated? and were should i start at?

Also i found this game on the internet called EUO online... is this anything like ultima, it looks a lot like it, but it also looks very dead, if anyone is interested in starting new on the game i would be happy to find a gaming buddy.

[BlastProcessing402]

Hardcoregaming101's been putting up an article about the Ultima series that does a pretty good job of giving it an overview.

If you don't want something like D&D, I'd definitely skip the first three, four is where they really started to become something different.

[Blitzwing256]

honestly start with Ultima exodus on the nes, its in my top 5 games of all time. its the first rpg I ever played that just sorta dumps you in the world and lets you explore, doesn't have any stupid storyline about empires and whiny main charecters, you can just explore and play the game completely at your own pace.

[Edmond Dantes]

Is ultima any fun?

HELL YES!

well similiar to dw 1, is the learning curve complicated? and were should i start at?

Dig up a copy of The Ultima Collection, download Dosbox, and start with Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness. The first two games play like a proto-Zelda and really aren't that complicated at all. Starting with Ultima III they become more like proper RPGs and start to get gradually more complicated, but if you know how to play Dragon Warrior then none of the Ultima games should be beyond you.

And oh my god Hardcore Gaming 101 actually did an article that's not about an obscure JRPG, and actually said something other than "it's American trash." I'm in shock.

[Aussie2B]

And oh my god Hardcore Gaming 101 actually did an article that's not about an obscure JRPG, and actually said something other than "it's American trash." I'm in shock.

Where'd you get that idea? o_O There's been so much coverage of Western stuff in the last year or two like PC point-and-click games that I think it's actually been lacking in coverage of Japanese games. And RPGs have never been that big of a percentage of their content. And I've never seen an anti-American stance over there.

I do take other issues with the site myself, though. I rarely check in these days (and if I do, it's probably to look at an old article). It's just not as good as it used to be.

[Edmond Dantes]

Admittedly I don't visit HG101 as much as I used to. I remember lurking at the forums for one day and seeing some argument or other where they bitched at a guy for thinking that American RPGs were better than Japanese ones, which is where I got my impression from.

Only thing I like about HG101 is their screenshot comparisons. The actual articles come off more like glorified reviews than anything.

Getting back to Ultima: I repeat my earlier suggestion (find the collection and start from the beginning), but its also entirely possible to hunt down the NES version of Ultima: Exodus and start from there. That's the only console port I would actually call an improvement over the PC original.

[Illuvatar]

Ty for the advice...because i have this phobia were i just can not play a game on a emulator, literally it just DOES NOT feel right at all, i tried once to play secret of mana on emulator and could not, but when i actually got the game it owned me, in a good way.

Alright so i ordered quest of avatar Iv and Exodus III nes ports....don't let me down.. i want a Good nes rpg =) overall, for both games i paid under 20 dollars not to bad i guess =/

Btw i have never played chrono trigger...but played Som wtf is all this hype about? is it worth dishing out 50 dollars almost + shipping (I don't want a linear game were every time someone plays its the same outcome almost) for the snes Version, like i said i just can't bring myself to play emulators.

Yes my english is trash

[Edmond Dantes]

Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger are among my favorite games of all time, but yes they are linear RPGs.

Ultima Exodus on the NES is good, but I didn't really like the NES port of Quest of the Avatar, except for the music.

[Sunnyvale]

Btw i have never played chrono trigger...but played Som wtf is all this hype about? is it worth dishing out 50 dollars almost + shipping (I don't want a linear game were every time someone plays its the same outcome almost) for the snes Version, like i said i just can't bring myself to play emulators.

Never tried it myself (I button mash anymore, RPG's are 15 years dead to me), but my brother said that the PS1 Chrono Trigger/ FF 4 Chronicles has an accurate port of Chrono Trigger. A lot less than $50, and no emulators required...

[Edmond Dantes]

PS1 Chrono Trigger is accurate, except for the new FMVs and the load times.

If you play it in a PS2 with the disc speed set to "fast" then it's not bad.

[Blitzwing256]

You won't go wrong with the nes ports of avatar and exodus. Avatar's virtue system can be a little daunting at first, but its still a great game.

for exodus i'd recomend your first party consisting of the follwoing:

human or dwarf (if you want to rely more on fighting than magic) ranger
dwarf fighter
bobbit cleric
fuzzy wizzard

its a good starter party with decent magic and good fighting mix

[Illuvatar]

Ty for the tips, i will start out with exodus and not even touch quest of avatar, until i complete exodus.

Just got to love gaming in front of the tv with your nes

[Griking]

My recommendation would be to start with Ultima IV for your PC. To play Ultima on a console with a gamepad would be blasphemy in my mind. I'm pretty sure that you can download the full version for free at Good Old Games (www.GoG.com) and probably many other places as I believe it was released as freeware. Next I would install xu4 (http://xu4.sourceforge.net). xu4 is a remake of the original Ultima IV. Its the exact same game and requires the original to be installed but it slightly updates the video and sound effects. It really makes a great game even better IMO.

[j_factor]

Exodus is pretty good on NES, but don't play anything else on NES. The best versions of Ultima IV are the Amiga and Atari ST versions (which are pretty identical). Failing those, the SMS version is a much better port than NES. Not sure about any remake.

Ultima V is best played on Atari ST, but not Amiga. The second-best version is the Commodore 64/128 version, in C128 mode (on a C64 there's no music). Do not play the NES version under any circumstances.

Ultima VI is best on PC, although the Amiga version isn't far off. The SNES version is actually decent as well.

After playing Ultima VI, I recommend taking a little detour and playing the two Worlds of Ultima games (PC only). They barely qualify as Ultima games, but they're very good, and this is the appropriate interval to play them, because they use the Ultima VI engine.

Ultima VII is amazing, try to get the full version with both games and both expansions. Don't even think about trying the SNES version.

After that, the two Ultima Underworld games are fantastic, albeit different. They're first-person RPGs along the lines of Dungeon Master. I don't recommend the Runes of Virtue games.

[Illuvatar]

Okay so i got Iv for Pc, i started a game, it seems i could get into it, but were are the controls? i can not seem to find them, and there are no guides online that i could find for a list of commands...

[jwmollman]

I actually played EUO for a while, and yes it is pretty dead. On average (when I played), there were between 5 and 15 people online at a time. The game is actually pretty fun and now that I remember it, I miss those days of playing on my own throughout the dungeons. The player count was pretty low, but I would meet people here and there and go on quests with them.

I knew EUO was based on the classic Ultima series, but I never tried those games. One day I gave Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny a try on an old DOS computer I built and it was actually a pretty good game. I grew up in the 90s on console games so I didn't know much about DOS games in my childhood. After trying Ultima V, I can say that it's a pretty good game, and pretty similar to EUO (if you liked it). I would recommend it.

I was at a used game store a while back and bought Ultima: Exodus for NES for a few dollars. I'm not a big fan of that one. I don't know, I just didn't get into it like I did Ultima V and EUO.

[BlastProcessing402]

Okay so i got Iv for Pc, i started a game, it seems i could get into it, but were are the controls? i can not seem to find them, and there are no guides online that i could find for a list of commands...

http://www.uo.com/archive/ultima4/u4encore.html

[Griking]

Okay so i got Iv for Pc, i started a game, it seems i could get into it, but were are the controls? i can not seem to find them, and there are no guides online that i could find for a list of commands...

The original game shipped with a reference card which showed which keys did what. If it didn't come in text form with the game you can probably find it via Google

[Tokimemofan]

PS1 Chrono Trigger is accurate, except for the new FMVs and the load times.

If you play it in a PS2 with the disc speed set to "fast" then it's not bad.

Yes, the only game that I quit playing due to load times, get any other version if you actually want to play.

[BlastProcessing402]

Yes, the only game that I quit playing due to load times, get any other version if you actually want to play.

I think something was wrong at the disc factory when they made CT. I've found CDR backups load faster than the original disc I made the backup from.

[kainemaxwell]

last time i played an Ultima game it was Exodus as a kid. Didn't get it. May give Exodus and Avatar another look soon. How are the Runes of Virtue games?

[NerdXCrewWill]

I think something was wrong at the disc factory when they made CT. I've found CDR backups load faster than the original disc I made the backup from.

My copy was so bad! It started fine, but after about two hours of playing, everything degenerated. Eventually it got to the point where it took 1.5-2 minutes to load up each battle. Sadly, I had to shelve it.

[Edmond Dantes]

How are the Runes of Virtue games?

I didn't think they were so bad, but they are a bit of a departure from the rest of the series.

I always got burned out on the first one because my copy has a dead save battery, so I have to start from the beginning each time I play.

[kainemaxwell]

Gave the RoV games a shot, not bad so far. Gonna get into them at a later time. Started a game in Quest of the Avatar, as a Bard. Now to figure out what the heck to do.

[Rickstilwell1]

I didn't think they were so bad, but they are a bit of a departure from the rest of the series.

I always got burned out on the first one because my copy has a dead save battery, so I have to start from the beginning each time I play.

Change the battery. It costs like $8 for the tool and battery.