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Interview Ultima Forever Interviews at IGN and RPS

Crooked Bee

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Tags: Bioware Mythic; Electronic Arts; Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar

In this newspost, I bring you the two interviews that have recently appeared on Bioware Mythic's upcoming "reimagining" of Ultima IV, Ultima 4ever: Quest of the Avatar. First off, the most recent one at IGN with the game's executive producer Jeff Skalski:

IGN: Can you give us some examples of difficult moral choices the player may have to make?

Jeff Skalski: While travelling through town a woman stops you and asks if you can go find her husband. He’s been missing for 6 days and has not returned from his last adventure to a nearby cave. You accept the quest and go exploring. While travelling through the caves you stumble across a corpse of a fallen warrior and upon searching it you uncover it was this woman’s husband, but also in his pockets is a letter from his mistress. You return to the woman, now widow, and are given a choice. Do you hand the letter over to the woman and tell her, “Your husband has died, but no worries; he was a lying bastard who was cheating on you anyways.” (Honesty) or rip the letter behind your back and tell her, “Your husband died an honorable death. I’m sorry for your loss.” (Compassion) Neither answer is wrong or right, but it’s your choice to decide what virtues you lean towards and ultimately the path you’ll take to prove worthy of Avatarhood.

IGN: Ultima Forever is a "reimagining of the original rich world". Is this more a thematic reimagining, or will you be basing the new game on the same locations, characters and enemies?

Jeff Skalski: For those familiar with the ’85 classic Ultima IV, no doubt you’ll recognize certain NPCs, locations and some of the key moments you took in proving you were an Avatar. There will also be things new for you to explore and experience. We took liberty to make changes as needed, such as going from single player to multiplayer, and turn based to real time combat. The story has been fast forwarded 21 years and a new leader has taken the throne. Past friends have aged, but new friends are waiting to be met.

IGN: Can you tell me a little about the game's combat system?

Jeff Skalski: Sure, think Legend of the Zelda: Link to the Past, but you have 4-5 abilities instead of just swing. Our combat is positional based, and by flanking or hitting an enemy from behind you increase your chance to crit.​

Holy shit, incline of Ultima combat! Next in line, the interview at RockPaperShotgun with lead designer Kate Flack:

RPS: Are you comfortable talking about Ultima Forever as a remake of Ultima IV? That’s where you’re looking back to, right?

Flack: I like to think of it as less of a remake and more of a reboot. It’s a subtle distinction but an important one. We’re not here to remake exactly the experience you had in Ultima IV. What I’m interested in doing is taking the effect and the intent behind Ultima IV and then applying that to a game. If you think about Ultima IV, the time it came out, 1985, it was fairly cutting edge in terms of technology and massively high concept. It was the first game to really tackle ethics.

I wanted to do something that was as subversive, as interesting, as deep…something that could ask as many questions as Ultima IV.

RPS: You mentioned ‘enhancing’ virtues. Are there actual bars that show how far people have advanced along each virtue track?

Flack: Well, our character sheet is separated into two halves. One is your physical body and external nature and the other half is your virtues and internal nature. To become the Avatar you need to excel in both of those things. It’s not good enough to be a brutish Conan, you have to be a warrior poet on the other side.

So one half is dedicated to your virtues and as you go through the game there are a couple of different ways to gain virtues. One is progressing through the main quest, the Quest for the Avatar, where the choices you make will result in virtue points. So, like, +37 compassion. That fills up an XP bar and then you go to a shrine, which you have to find around Britannia, and meditate. That causes your acutal virtue to rise.

You can also earn virtue by doing dungeon runs, which is about encouraging play with other people. So when you enter the dungeon we start tracking your behaviour and then at the end of that we drop virtue rewards based on what you have and haven’t done.

RPS: And I have to ask about Lady and Lord British. Do you mention the backstory of where he is and why she has taken charge?

Flack: Yeah, she’s literally just come to the throne and her father, Lord British, is off among the stars. No one knows where he is. She’s a symbolic figure, it’s about passing on to the next generation.

Rather than put words into Lord British’ mouth, which I don’t want to do because it’d be like wearing someone else’s underpants. It’d be disrespectful for me to use that character and so Lady British represents the passing of the torch and she’s trying to heal Britannia.

There have been various councils trying to rule, with differnet NPCs like Lord Blackthorn, people who have tried to do good but haven’t ruled very well. Now the forces of hatred and lies have moved in and begun to manipulate, affecting BRitannia for their own ends.

Lady British comes to the throne and says let’s open up the Moongates and bring people from Earth. Let’s have the humility to know that we need help and that this time it’s not enough to have one Avatar. So, yeah, she’s symbolic but also I can’t write very convincing men! Sorry!​

No worries, Kate. We understand.
 

CappenVarra

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To really start the fun we need someone to gaudaost whiteknight the game; otherwise is just easy point and laugh material...
 

Infinitron

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Other than the part about depth (I think), this is a fairly accurate description of the game I played.
 

SuicideBunny

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Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera
well, at least it's more of an rpg than both u7s and has better combat too...
 

Bruma Hobo

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Three useless stats thanks to the automatic and piss-easy combat, lack of utilitarian and social skills and boring magic (unlike previous Ultima games). But yeah, Ultima VII has stats.
 

Jaesun

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Three useless stats thanks to the automatic and piss-easy combat, lack of utilitarian and social skills and boring magic (unlike previous Ultima games). But yeah, Ultima VII has stats.

Start a new game, run straight to Destard, and own everything in there due to piss-easy combat as you state.

Oh OK.

Have you even played an Ultima game, or do you just like using an Ultima avatar and shitposting?
 

Bruma Hobo

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I started a new game, recruited Spark, Shamino and Sentri, stole some bows and crossbows, and almost demolished Destard... It took me 30 minutes i think.

And please, do not defend U7's combat and RPG mechanics... It may be an awesome sandbox game with good story and characters, but it is not a good cRPG.
 

Fowyr

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Wheel of Decline
0923.jpeg


I wonder, when we reach its low point?
 

Mother Russia

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I started a new game, recruited Spark, Shamino and Sentri, stole some bows and crossbows, and almost demolished Destard... It took me 30 minutes i think.

And please, do not defend U7's combat and RPG mechanics... It may be an awesome sandbox game with good story and characters, but it is not a good cRPG.

U7's combat was not very good true, but it was good enough for the time. And yes the perspective could have been better, instead of the sideways top down it had.

However, only an utter 'tard would state U7 is not a good CRPG. It is (along with U7 II), in fact, one of the very few Ultimate CRPGs, never to be topped, not even by it's creators. Do you even have any idea how far ahead of it's time U7 was? There have been lots of attempts to duplicate the things which made it so incredible, but none succeeded. Some came close (divine divinity), others failed spectacularly (Radiant AI :lol:)

Even almost 20 years after it's release, no one has managed to duplicate the many unique features that made U7 stand out. I won't go on a rant about U7's plus points, anyone can shoot it up in Exult and see for themselves. But the main thing is, U7 made a living breathing world, where NPCs had other things to do than sit around and wait for YOU to come up to them and give them a reason to exist. Also, you could bake bread.

U7 belongs in the library of every serious or even half serious crpger, to remind us of what is possible if you are dedicated enough and have enough passion.

Unfortunately, I doubt we will see it's like again, at least not for decades, especially not in this era of mega MMO bucks.
 

Bruma Hobo

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I started a new game, recruited Spark, Shamino and Sentri, stole some bows and crossbows, and almost demolished Destard... It took me 30 minutes i think.

And please, do not defend U7's combat and RPG mechanics... It may be an awesome sandbox game with good story and characters, but it is not a good cRPG.

U7's combat was not very good true, but it was good enough for the time. And yes the perspective could have been better, instead of the sideways top down it had.

However, only an utter 'tard would state U7 is not a good CRPG. It is (along with U7 II), in fact, one of the very few Ultimate CRPGs, never to be topped, not even by it's creators. Do you even have any idea how far ahead of it's time U7 was? There have been lots of attempts to duplicate the things which made it so incredible, but none succeeded. Some came close (divine divinity), others failed spectacularly (Radiant AI :lol:)

Even almost 20 years after it's release, no one has managed to duplicate the many unique features that made U7 stand out. I won't go on a rant about U7's plus points, anyone can shoot it up in Exult and see for themselves. But the main thing is, U7 made a living breathing world, where NPCs had other things to do than sit around and wait for YOU to come up to them and give them a reason to exist. Also, you could bake bread.

U7 belongs in the library of every serious or even half serious crpger, to remind us of what is possible if you are dedicated enough and have enough passion.

Unfortunately, I doubt we will see it's like again, at least not for decades, especially not in this era of mega MMO bucks.

Complex simulated worlds are pretty important, I agree, they are needed to replace the GM's response to the player's ideas in computer games (so I was able to steal some shit at night in Britain while people were sleeping), but a gameworld alone doesn't make a good cRPG.

Without interesting problem-solving situations (like combat) influenced by a good character system, we would be talking about a sandbox game, an adventure game, or a LARP simulator. Take your pick.


Ok, this is turning into another "What is an RPG" thread, sorry people.
 

Metro

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U7's combat was bad but Ultima Forever is just a shitty Diablo clone. Seems like a hook to get more people to install Origin.
 

UnknownBro

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I didn't even read the interview and you know why?
Because it's going to be SHIT.

"Bioware and EA together to bring you the ULTIMATE experience in innovative action-packed strategic gaming... a big pile of steaming shit that is!
"Soon on PC and XBOX, preorder now for only $69,99 (dildo not included)".

Moving on...

PS: And I bet Lady British will be a romanceable NPC...
 

sea

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Jeff Skalski: While travelling through town a woman stops you and asks if you can go find her husband. He’s been missing for 6 days and has not returned from his last adventure to a nearby cave. You accept the quest and go exploring. While travelling through the caves you stumble across a corpse of a fallen warrior and upon searching it you uncover it was this woman’s husband, but also in his pockets is a letter from his mistress. You return to the woman, now widow, and are given a choice. Do you hand the letter over to the woman and tell her, “Your husband has died, but no worries; he was a lying bastard who was cheating on you anyways.” (Honesty) or rip the letter behind your back and tell her, “Your husband died an honorable death. I’m sorry for your loss.” (Compassion) Neither answer is wrong or right, but it’s your choice to decide what virtues you lean towards and ultimately the path you’ll take to prove worthy of Avatarhood.
Those do sound like somewhat interesting choices. Shame that tying them to a morality system which is a thinly veiled excuse to drive daily free-to-play microtransaction-whoring gameplay will cheapen those choices beyond any real worth... not to mention that as a Facebook title with a static world, the decisions will never, ever progress beyond the point of "save dog/kick dog."
 

kris

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Jeff Skalski: While travelling through town a woman stops you and asks if you can go find her husband. He’s been missing for 6 days and has not returned from his last adventure to a nearby cave. You accept the quest and go exploring. While travelling through the caves you stumble across a corpse of a fallen warrior and upon searching it you uncover it was this woman’s husband, but also in his pockets is a letter from his mistress. You return to the woman, now widow, and are given a choice. Do you hand the letter over to the woman and tell her, “Your husband has died, but no worries; he was a lying bastard who was cheating on you anyways.” (Honesty) or rip the letter behind your back and tell her, “Your husband died an honorable death. I’m sorry for your loss.” (Compassion) Neither answer is wrong or right, but it’s your choice to decide what virtues you lean towards and ultimately the path you’ll take to prove worthy of Avatarhood.
Those do sound like somewhat interesting choices. Shame that tying them to a morality system which is a thinly veiled excuse to drive daily free-to-play microtransaction-whoring gameplay will cheapen those choices beyond any real worth... not to mention that as a Facebook title with a static world, the decisions will never, ever progress beyond the point of "save dog/kick dog."

It is a difficult choice. Do you want to improve your HONESTY or your COMPASSION. you can not improve both at the same time. :(
 

GarfunkeL

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RPS is supposed to be elite PC-site and even their interviews never ask any hard questions. Like, why remake u4 now? Why make it multiplayer/FB-shit? Why move 21 years in time? Why make an diablo clone? Why why why?
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
U7's combat was bad but Ultima Forever is just a shitty Diablo clone. Seems like a hook to get more people to install Origin.
RPS is supposed to be elite PC-site and even their interviews never ask any hard questions. Like, why remake u4 now? Why make it multiplayer/FB-shit? Why move 21 years in time? Why make an diablo clone? Why why why?

I wouldn't call it a Diablo clone. The comparison with 2D Zelda games is closer to the truth.
 

mindx2

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Codex 2012 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire RPG Wokedex Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I started a new game, recruited Spark, Shamino and Sentri, stole some bows and crossbows, and almost demolished Destard... It took me 30 minutes i think.

And please, do not defend U7's combat and RPG mechanics... It may be an awesome sandbox game with good story and characters, but it is not a good cRPG.

I'd rather have UVII's combat and RPG mechanics than this abomination... :obviously:
 

SCO

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Give *real* alms to the 'poor' (hehehehe) gain compassion.
 

Gragt

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Jeff Skalski: While travelling through town a woman stops you and asks if you can go find her husband. He’s been missing for 6 days and has not returned from his last adventure to a nearby cave. You accept the quest and go exploring. While travelling through the caves you stumble across a corpse of a fallen warrior and upon searching it you uncover it was this woman’s husband, but also in his pockets is a letter from his mistress. You return to the woman, now widow, and are given a choice. Do you hand the letter over to the woman and tell her, “Your husband has died, but no worries; he was a lying bastard who was cheating on you anyways.” (Honesty) or rip the letter behind your back and tell her, “Your husband died an honorable death. I’m sorry for your loss.” (Compassion) Neither answer is wrong or right, but it’s your choice to decide what virtues you lean towards and ultimately the path you’ll take to prove worthy of Avatarhood.
Those do sound like somewhat interesting choices. Shame that tying them to a morality system which is a thinly veiled excuse to drive daily free-to-play microtransaction-whoring gameplay will cheapen those choices beyond any real worth... not to mention that as a Facebook title with a static world, the decisions will never, ever progress beyond the point of "save dog/kick dog."

Even then it sounds way too simplistic. If you chose one of 2 answers, what exactly differentiate them except the stat change? You could just play with answers to min-max your virtues but if there is no real consequence to go with these, it's just an occasion to increase a stat you find lacking at the moment instead of another. Also I'm disturbed by the first answer given: just because Yuri had an affair with Lara in Doctor Zhivago doesn't make him a lying bastard who shouldn't be mourned; in fact, affair or not, he was a good and compassionate man his whole life. Yes, it isn't nice for the woman to discover that her husband died and had an affair, but judging a stranger's life and encouraging his companion to not mourn him because he cheated on her sounds awfully PC. I guess it will fit right in on Facebook.
 

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