Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

[Saxon1974]

I have seen this mentioned in a few topics, but I didn't find any topics specifically talking about this game.

I saw a nearly mint copy of this game at a yard sale over the weekend so I bought it and started playing it again. I can't say enough how much lots of documentation and goodies enhance my gameplay experience and Origin was always great at this. Sadly today's games barely have any and I doubt this will ever come back again.

I have played it before but I think I quit about halfway through.

Anyway, what are you opinions of this game? I thought of it as more an adventure than RPG, but by today's standards its more of an RPG than many.

It has one of the best atmosphere's of any game I have played, the world interactivity is great, the NPC's are interesting.

I think I am going to play Part II as well. Is part II not as good as I?

 

[Zakhal]

UW1&2 are one of the best rpgs I have ever played (apart from krondor series). I finished both in the 90s but I still have clear memories of many of the parts in the game - enough is forgotten though that Im planning to replay them in the coming years. I played arx fatalis (the unofficial uw3) last year and allthough it was okay it was no uw.

The materials are great in both games - atleast in the originals. The cd versions have modern cd documentation instead of printed one. I have three copies of uw1 and two of uw2.

I think I am going to play Part II as well. Is part II not as good as I?

If uw1 was 98% then uw2 was propably 96%. I hope that explains the difference.

 

[Saxon1974]

I had a hard time deciding what character class to select and what skills to go with. Being that this is a dungeon game, I figure picking skills that will be usefull would be smart.

I went with a paladin because I like to use swords and armor, but also like some spell casting ability. I chose appraise skill, which I wish I didn't because I thought that meant identifying items, but it doesn't it just means analyzing when bartering with NPC's.

I tend to play Rangers alot in games, but I didn't think a ranger seemed right being that this game is all in a dungeon. Then I thought about using a Druid, but again didn't seem right in a dungeon and they can't use heavy armor I dont think.

fun game!

 

[Zakhal]

To avoid character creation frustrations in old rpgs I usually read tips from walkthroughs first (they always have info on char creation) what is useful and what is not. Often in old games there are totally useless skills and other stuff that you should know when creating a character. Theres nothing more frustrating than to waste hours playing a game only to discover you have to restart because of gimped character.

I dont remember much from uw - I played both games with melee character. Long range spellcasting in i.e uw2 is not good because your spells often hit walls instead of the monster. But othervice spells are usefull. Paladin is most likely a safe choice for ultima game - cant go wrong with that.

fun game!

Very!

 

[Saxon1974]

The early games that Richard Garriot was creative director and designer on where all so brilliantly done. I also loved how he insisted on lots of stuff in the box, maps and manuals etc....

A shame the industry went where it has and he went over to MMO's. The technical capabilities today seems like they could create such a fantastic RPG if only someone would focus on making them again.

Im playing on standard mode and I kept getting killed by a danged spider before I realized that I didn't have mace skill and I was using a cudgel. I figured that was better than a rusty dagger, but then realizing I had sword skill switched to the dagger and killed it easliy. Duh...

 

[Fenril]

I recommend giving 2 a good play as well, Its a game I remember very fondly and is longer and more varied than UU 1, UU1 has more charm sometimes but UU 2 really grabbed me. It also uses some of the new engine abilities in creative ways.

Then there is Arx fatalis, tried it once seemed ok, supposed to be a spiritual sequel but I only played a couple of hours.

 

[Zakhal]

One important tip - dont throw all useless stuff into the nearest undergound river. There are quest items in the game that dont look like quest items. Theres atleast one ring in uw1 that looks like normal ring but in real its a main quest item.

 

[Saxon1974]

Ok thanks. Im trying to keep everything I can, but its gets tricky with limited inventory space. I loaded up on as many bags as I could find.

I did find a piece of wood, which im not sure what that might be used for but i kept it.

 

[WalterKinde]

Those two games were my first taste of PC rpgs.
They are great games.
The game made me actually want to explore it and interact with the npcs, i even had fun figuring out the Lizard speak in UW1 using the mute guy as an interpretor on the third or second lvl of the dungeon, then there were dwarves and the knights deeper down, rotgut worm soup recipe, war between the gray and green goblins.
Good times.
Not to mention an increase in stats was really visible in game, beef up perception and hidden doors etc would become evident to you on first look when exploring.

 

[Anthony Davis]

My 2 cents...

Great game, but unless you are playing with a walkthrough, heed these rules:

1. Don't throw ANYTHING away.

2. Don't kill anyone you don't have to.

Those games were made back in the day when failure was an option.

 

[Binary]

Me and Astromarine used to disagree about UW. I used to say UW1 was the best and he said UW2 was better. A few years later we talked about them again, and he thought that I was right and UW1 was better, and I thought he was right since I started preferring UW2!

As Zakhal said, they're both worth it. The variety of worlds in UW2 is very attractive, but the plot in UW1 is more "feasible".

 

[Saxon1974]

My 2 cents...

Great game, but unless you are playing with a walkthrough, heed these rules:

1. Don't throw ANYTHING away.

2. Don't kill anyone you don't have to.

Those games were made back in the day when failure was an option.

Ah, but I like difficult games! Games today are way to easy for me!

So far I don't think I have thrown anything away.

 

[Saxon1974]

Me and Astromarine used to disagree about UW. I used to say UW1 was the best and he said UW2 was better. A few years later we talked about them again, and he thought that I was right and UW1 was better, and I thought he was right since I started preferring UW2!

As Zakhal said, they're both worth it. The variety of worlds in UW2 is very attractive, but the plot in UW1 is more "feasible".

Good news which means I have 2 more classics games to add to my play list. It's a good thing I have a large collection of classics to play since no one makes games Im interested in anymore.

I am looking forward to see how the newest NWN2 expansion turns out since it's supposed to have an explorable map like Baldur's gate.

 

[Jasede]

I never got into UW, the controls feel so awkward, oh-so-awkward. I wish they had made it tile-based. Still willing to give it another chance, though - the "failure is an option" thing intrigues me.

Call me weird, but I loved bad design like in King's Quest VI. "OH, you didn't pick up these 2 barely visible coins? Well, reload. Oh, you didn't save? Oh well.". Or better still "You didn't pick up that hole in the wall? Well, you're stuck now.". Oh and "You didn't pick up that brick? Have fun being crushed by the trap.".

Good times.

 

[Saxon1974]

I think it's because you like a challenge Jasede. So many games now hold your hand and lead you around. When you have a real chance to muck up your game you really have to pay attention.

I agree that the camera isn't the best ever, but once I played with it for a bit I was fine with it. It was innovating for its time. But the thing is, I don't think the 3D innovation is why it's such a good game. It would have been just as good if it was the old style and tile based.

 

[tunguska]

Ultima Underworld is among my favorite CRPGs of all time. And if you like the Underworld games you will probably also like Arx Fatalis.

 

[Saxon1974]

Ultima Underworld is among my favorite CRPGs of all time. And if you like the Underworld games you will probably also like Arx Fatalis.

I thought Arx Fatalis was ok, but not really enough of an RPG for me. I did enjoy what I played of it though.

 

[Binary]

I don't honestly remember "dropping quest items by accident" being an issue in the UW series.

I agree you shouldn't kill NPCs though - unless they attack you first. IMHO worst design decision on UW2 is the fact that any castle NPC will attack you for moving their stuff around (just raid the castle in the beginning before talking to Lord British)

 

[Maia]

UW

Yes, a great game. My first computer game ever and still a top favorite. I was so hoping that somebody would make a deserving sequel or Beth would borrow some things from it for TES, but alas. It has it all - a good FP combat, which includes quite a bit of tactics, pretty decent dialog for the time, with lots of unexpected choices and consequences, really good exploration with entertaining puzzles, even monstrous creatures that have personality and could be peaceful and valuable allies, etc.

Re: class, Paladin is good. You'll just have to invest into magic as you go, because utility magic is very powerful and enjoyable. Bad classes to start with are Mage - combat magic is very weak early on and remains unreliable, Tinker, Shepherd, etc.

Utility skills - I remember that Lore and Repair are quite important. You don't want to have to backtrack to the merchants or to the one and only smith all the time.

Weapons: missile weapons suck. They are too slow and there is no way to switch them out quickly. I only used them on monsters who couldn't get at me, like lurkers in the water, etc.

Swords power up quickly, but do less damage. Axes are noticeably slower than swords, but more destructive. Maces are similar to, but a bit worse than axes. I don't remember if undead are particularly vulnerable to them.

The art of your attack matters - stabs don't do anything for skeletons or tree-based monsters.
Also, it matters whether the region you target is protected through armor or not. Not only will it take longer to kill somebody through armor, but if they drop that piece, it will be respectively damaged.

Re: wood. You can combine it with rags and oil flask and make torch. IIRC.

 

[Jasede]

Just started playing this again. Got poisoned by a bat. Found leeches. Thought "Hah, you know? In any decent old-school RPG you'd be able to use them on yourself to remove the poison, but I bet they didn't think of that.".

Then my head exploded.

 

[WalterKinde]

I started off as mage in UW1 and yep combat will suck at first thats why you got to put together the ranged rune spells.
Favorite none combatant spell was daylight brighter than the torches in game.
And around the first 3 levels there are magic rings that can help the mage survive, although fall in the water and have to battle lurkers or bats you die fast.

 

[Zakhal]

Its a survivalist game - especially in the start. Explore and survive thats what I like in rpgs.

 

[fastpunk]

I never got into UW, the controls feel so awkward, oh-so-awkward. I wish they had made it tile-based. Still willing to give it another chance, though - the "failure is an option" thing intrigues me.

What was so bad about the controls? I hope you know you can move using W for forward, A for left and D for right. Plus, the game runs a bit slow in DOSBox if you don't set the CPU cycles to about 6-7000.

Anyway, I discovered this series this year and have been playing a bit ever since. I'm surprised how technically advanced and good looking this series is, considering its age. And the gameplay is really good. Truth be told, anything Looking Glass made turned out pure gold.

 

[Jasede]

That's true. Still think the controls are awkward - if only there was a way to make "S" move backward instead of it being "walk forwards" I'd be happy. Jumps are hard to time too. Best example: the very first Ankh Shrine - a full running jump is too high and you slam against wall above the door, then fall down; a slower jump is easily too slow and you drop into the water.

What made jumping easier for me was figuring out how to do a standing long jump: hold shift, press "j".

 

[fastpunk]

Eh, you can use the mouse to move backward if need be. The jumping is annoying indeed. Still, this game is great fun.