Development Info Ultima 6 Project Beta 3

[Jason]

Tags: Ultima 6 Project

It's time again to dig your Dungeon Siege disc out of the junk drawer/cat litter box/thrift store for a new beta release of the <b><a href="http://u6project.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=1" target="blank">Ultima 6 Project</a></b>.
<br>
<blockquote>It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of the Beta 3 Release of Team Archon's Ultima 6 Project, for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Some things to look forward to in this release:
<br>
<br>
<li>Many bug fixes have been implemented since the Beta 2 release.</li>
<br>
<li>Those players with proclivities to the dark side can now follow an "evil path".</li>
<br>
<li>Additional enhancements have been made to the map and journal systems, and the Compendium is now complete.</li>
<br>
<li>Performance improvements have been implemented.</li>
<br>
<li>It should be noted that anyone using a previous version will have to uninstall it prior to installing the Beta 3 Release, and start a new game.</li>
<br>
While this is not the final release of the game, we feel that it is reasonably polished, enough for public consumption (read: scrutiny). We still expect that there will be some bugs, and are soliciting your help in finding them. If you find problems with the release, want to exchange play hints with other players, want to give us kudos, or (heaven forbid) want to tell us what you really think, join us at our forums. We have set up a special forum for the Beta 3 Release on the Project Britannia forums ( http://www.projectbritannia.com/index.php ).</blockquote>
<br>
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.watchtower.org/">the Watchtower</A>

 

[1eyedking]

It's time again to dig your Dungeon Siege disc out of the junk drawer/cat litter box/thrift store torrent folder

Fixed.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

*reaches for spindle of burned dvds*

 

[Silellak]

Been curious about this, <fanboy>especially after the brilliance of Lazarus.</fanboy>

Has anyone tried the previous beta releases? I know the Ultima 6 Project was always a bit more ambitious about what they wanted to change compared to Lazarus, but I never heard much feedback one way or the other.

 

[Zeus]

I've never played Ultima VI.

# Those players with proclivities to the dark side can now follow an "evil path".

Is that a new feature? Did the game originally have that? I thought Ultima games were about quests of virtue, this sounds like a Bioware light/darkside kind of deal.

 

[Silellak]

I've never played Ultima VI.

# Those players with proclivities to the dark side can now follow an "evil path".

Is that a new feature? Did the game originally have that? I thought Ultima games were about quests of virtue, this sounds like a Bioware light/darkside kind of deal.

It is new.

Spoiler

I imagine it boils down to wiping out the Gargoyles rather than working with them towards peace, but that's just speculation.

Lazarus did something similar, but the "evil path" wasn't entirely new, since you can do some pretty-damn-evil things in the original Ultima V. It just added an evil ending:

Spoiler

The evil ending, I believe, involves shattering the mirror in the room where LB is held to trap him there forever.

Ultima VII was the first (and only) Ultima game I know of to have an "evil ending", so the idea isn't entirely unheard of.

Spoiler

Basically at the end of Ultima VII you can use the Black Gate to return to Earth, rather than destroying it, thus leaving Britannia to its fate.

 

[Texas Red]

I'm tired of these ass ugly 3D graphics of the old games.

 

[Silellak]

I'm tired of these ass ugly 3D graphics of the old games.

I don't know about the Ultima VI Project, but Lazarus did a lot more than just update the engine - they fleshed out NPC dialog, greatly improved the music, etc. The problem with U6P, as I see it, is that Ultima VI wasn't nearly as limited in NPC dialog as Ultima V was, so there's not as much to improve.

 

[Jaesun]

I am SO looking forward to this too Silellak.

I did play Milestone 2(?) a year or so ago. Areas were beautiful, combat was ok. And it was very faithful to VI.

 

[mindx2]

I installed this even though I usually would wait for the "final" release. However, these guys are saying Beta 3 is basically the finished product so I took the plunge.

Here's where I'm coming from. I absolutely LOVED Ultima: Lazarus! I still consider it an amazing game regardless of it being a "fan project" or that it used the dreaded Dungeon Siege engine. In fact, I consider it one of the best games from anyone in the last five years! The professionalism and love of Ultima truly shined through in their efforts. It felt like an Ultima game unlike, say... Ultima IX! Ultima VI was my first Ultima game and still holds my fondest cRPG memories. I had played other games but this one gave me a living, breathing world to explore and interact with.

Here are my initial impression after only exploring Castle Britania:
- The intro surprised me with it's detail and immediately brought back my original memories when I first booted up Ultima VI. From flipping the channels to walking into the red moongate, this was definetly a nice beginning.
- The gypsy tarot card reader went through the "moral" choices (nice tarot card graphics) and ended up as a fighter. I'm not sure but I don't remember if the original actually tells you what profession your choices made but this game tells you immediately.
- After going through the moongate again you end up at the sacraficial alter surrounded by the gargoyles. This part I did miss the original scenes as it felt detached and distant due to the camera angle and distance.
- My old friends show up and rescue me and I was ready for my first battle with the few gargoyles that ran after us.... but no. The first battle in the castle is now a scripted event with no input from me. Nystal and Dupre basically wipe the floor with them as you would guess they should. So I have no impressions yet on combat. I have a feeling I'll miss the turn based combat from the original. However, I imagine it is similiar, if not identical, to Lazarus' combat which is Dungeon Siege's combat. Now I didn't mind the combat in Lazarus as the rest of the game (dialogue, quests, locations, etc.) made up for this one part. Combat never seemed the focus of Lazarus so I'm hoping the same is true for U6P.

* Now the part that really shows they put a lot of effort into this thing is the interface. By this I mean the journal, spellbook and map! The journal is full of information. It has the entire compendium in it and it organizes quests and completed quests well. You can show both or only current quests and organize them alphabetically, when recieved, or not organized at all. I spent a lot of time just "flipping" through the journal and reading what was there. There is also a page where you can write down your own "thoughts" which is a really nice touch but not sure how useful if most of this info will be on the quest pages.

* The spellbook (once I found it in the Avatar's room) shows you exactly how many components you have and organizes the spells by level per page. I only had a few in the book like Heal, Recall and Poison plus a few others I can't remember.Clicking on a spell shows you the cost in spell points and components.I don't know about others but I like this spell system. I can't wait to find those rare components I need for that powerful spell!

* The map is also quite nice and useful. Again, I had to find it first and you have to click on it to use it so no permanent map on screen at all times which is another nice touch. You can view the whole map or "zoom in" on your current grid. It doesn't show your position but it is very detailed so you can quickly figure out where you are. You can also "pin" information to the map and write what it is so later you won't have to try and remember where exactly that one house was. You can turn these pins on and off.

So far I've stayed within Castle Britania looking at every room and taking everything not nailed down! Hey, Lord British said I could take anything in the castle I wanted. There are locked doors and chests to try and lockpick and even a magically locked chest. It had the same little blue glow on the lock that the original had and brought a quick smile to my face. I'll definetly be coming back to find out what's in that chest!

Overall it seems to be a very faithful recreation of Ultima VI but I have yet to experience much expanded dialogue. It's all pretty much exactly as I remember the begining of the original... Lord British telling me to investigate the eight shrines and start by going to Cove and talk to the soldiers that are recovering from their encounter with the gargoyles.

So as of right now my initial impressions are very positive.It certainly is feeling like an Ultima. If things continue as they are I will enjoy this recreation quite a bit. Will it have that "WOW! This is freaking great" feeling that Lazarus had? I don't know but if it comes close I know I'm in for a treat :D .

Edit: I forgot to mention that the dialogue system uses the same "click the key word" system that the original used. It works well and keeps that old U6 feeling.

 

[Silellak]

Thanks for the awesome run-down. I'll definitely have to keep this project in mind next time I'm looking for a PC game to play, though like you, I'd prefer to wait for a "final" release.

Out of curiosity, how is the music? I actually thought that was one of Lazarus' strongest points.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Okay, after this semester ends I'm going to want to play both Lazarus and this. Problem though... will Dungeon Siege run on Vista?

 

[mindx2]

Thanks for the awesome run-down. I'll definitely have to keep this project in mind next time I'm looking for a PC game to play, though like you, I'd prefer to wait for a "final" release.

Out of curiosity, how is the music? I actually thought that was one of Lazarus' strongest points.

Music sounds very similiar to Lazarus but I really haven't heard anything that makes me go "Oh, that is from U6!".

Okay, after this semester ends I'm going to want to play both Lazarus and this. Problem though... will Dungeon Siege run on Vista?

I'm running it on Win7 64 and have zero problems. However, I do have it set in Compatibility mode to run under WinXP SP2 and as administrator.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Well, paint me excited, then.

 

[Saxon1974]

I installed this even though I usually would wait for the "final" release. However, these guys are saying Beta 3 is basically the finished product so I took the plunge.

Here's where I'm coming from. I absolutely LOVED Ultima: Lazarus! I still consider it an amazing game regardless of it being a "fan project" or that it used the dreaded Dungeon Siege engine. In fact, I consider it one of the best games from anyone in the last five years! The professionalism and love of Ultima truly shined through in their efforts. It felt like an Ultima game unlike, say... Ultima IX! Ultima VI was my first Ultima game and still holds my fondest cRPG memories. I had played other games but this one gave me a living, breathing world to explore and interact with.

Here are my initial impression after only exploring Castle Britania:
- The intro surprised me with it's detail and immediately brought back my original memories when I first booted up Ultima VI. From flipping the channels to walking into the red moongate, this was definetly a nice beginning.
- The gypsy tarot card reader went through the "moral" choices (nice tarot card graphics) and ended up as a fighter. I'm not sure but I don't remember if the original actually tells you what profession your choices made but this game tells you immediately.
- After going through the moongate again you end up at the sacraficial alter surrounded by the gargoyles. This part I did miss the original scenes as it felt detached and distant due to the camera angle and distance.
- My old friends show up and rescue me and I was ready for my first battle with the few gargoyles that ran after us.... but no. The first battle in the castle is now a scripted event with no input from me. Nystal and Dupre basically wipe the floor with them as you would guess they should. So I have no impressions yet on combat. I have a feeling I'll miss the turn based combat from the original. However, I imagine it is similiar, if not identical, to Lazarus' combat which is Dungeon Siege's combat. Now I didn't mind the combat in Lazarus as the rest of the game (dialogue, quests, locations, etc.) made up for this one part. Combat never seemed the focus of Lazarus so I'm hoping the same is true for U6P.

* Now the part that really shows they put a lot of effort into this thing is the interface. By this I mean the journal, spellbook and map! The journal is full of information. It has the entire compendium in it and it organizes quests and completed quests well. You can show both or only current quests and organize them alphabetically, when recieved, or not organized at all. I spent a lot of time just "flipping" through the journal and reading what was there. There is also a page where you can write down your own "thoughts" which is a really nice touch but not sure how useful if most of this info will be on the quest pages.

* The spellbook (once I found it in the Avatar's room) shows you exactly how many components you have and organizes the spells by level per page. I only had a few in the book like Heal, Recall and Poison plus a few others I can't remember.Clicking on a spell shows you the cost in spell points and components.I don't know about others but I like this spell system. I can't wait to find those rare components I need for that powerful spell!

* The map is also quite nice and useful. Again, I had to find it first and you have to click on it to use it so no permanent map on screen at all times which is another nice touch. You can view the whole map or "zoom in" on your current grid. It doesn't show your position but it is very detailed so you can quickly figure out where you are. You can also "pin" information to the map and write what it is so later you won't have to try and remember where exactly that one house was. You can turn these pins on and off.

So far I've stayed within Castle Britania looking at every room and taking everything not nailed down! Hey, Lord British said I could take anything in the castle I wanted. There are locked doors and chests to try and lockpick and even a magically locked chest. It had the same little blue glow on the lock that the original had and brought a quick smile to my face. I'll definetly be coming back to find out what's in that chest!

Overall it seems to be a very faithful recreation of Ultima VI but I have yet to experience much expanded dialogue. It's all pretty much exactly as I remember the begining of the original... Lord British telling me to investigate the eight shrines and start by going to Cove and talk to the soldiers that are recovering from their encounter with the gargoyles.

So as of right now my initial impressions are very positive.It certainly is feeling like an Ultima. If things continue as they are I will enjoy this recreation quite a bit. Will it have that "WOW! This is freaking great" feeling that Lazarus had? I don't know but if it comes close I know I'm in for a treat :D .

Sounds awesome thanks for the breakdown! Just amazing to me how awesome LAzarus was its a shame those guys didnt get paid for their effort.

 

[Elzair]

Music sounds very similiar to Lazarus but I really haven't heard anything that makes me go "Oh, that is from U6!".

Honestly, music is not the strong point of Ultima VI. It mostly seems to feature music from past Ultimas.

 

[made]

Honestly, music is not the strong point of Ultima VI. It mostly seems to feature music from past Ultimas.

As with many games of that time, there are notable differences between the platforms. The amiga version suffered in the graphics department but in turn featured some of the most memorable and evocative tunes of ANY rpg I've played to date that were a major contributor to the game's overall atmosphere.

Just compare
http://www.ultima.rabbitslair.de/ultima ... uction.ogg

http://www.ultima.rabbitslair.de/ultima ... tion(Amiga).ogg

 

[CrimHead]

Dungeon Siege

Stopped reading here

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Okay, after this semester ends I'm going to want to play both Lazarus and this. Problem though... will Dungeon Siege run on Vista?

I ran perfectly here, on Vista x32

 

[mindx2]

Dungeon Siege

Stopped reading here

That's unfortunate. Despite the use of Dungeon Siege, Ultima: Lazarus was great. Dialogue, exploration, music, and an actual Ultima "feeling" made me forget that it once was Dungeon Siege. This remake, so far, seems to continue that same precedent set by Lazarus. I never played very much of Dungeon Siege because it was absolutely terrible so I understand your hesitation but you really should at least give Lazarus a try.

 

[Serious_Business]

Dungeon Siege

Stopped reading here

That's unfortunate. Despite the use of Dungeon Siege, Ultima: Lazarus was great. Dialogue, exploration, music, and an actual Ultima "feeling" made me forget that it once was Dungeon Siege. This remake, so far, seems to continue that same precedent set by Lazarus. I never played very much of Dungeon Siege because it was absolutely terrible so I understand your hesitation but you really should at least give Lazarus a try.

I second that. It is actually p. good, although the combat does get tiring. But combat is secondary, otherwise you wouldn't play U7. Every damn character in this game felt alive, they put a lot of efforts in the writing. I actually don't see why someone would play the original U5 over this, although I'm probably not old school enough for me to say that, but at least many would agree that the experience is worth it.

 

[Sceptic]

That's unfortunate. Despite the use of Dungeon Siege, Ultima: Lazarus was great. Dialogue, exploration, music, and an actual Ultima "feeling" made me forget that it once was Dungeon Siege. This remake, so far, seems to continue that same precedent set by Lazarus. I never played very much of Dungeon Siege because it was absolutely terrible so I understand your hesitation but you really should at least give Lazarus a try.

+1. The only thing Lazarus and DS share is the engine. In just about every single other aspect the games are complete opposites. I remember thinking DS's linearity was due to engine limitations - nope, the engine is capable of huge wide open spaces and beautiful geography. Same for the conversation system, the spell system... it's amazing what the engine can do and how moddable and flexible it is. And it's even more amazing that the guys who developed the fucking engine couldn't do jack shit with it.

 

[Silellak]

That's unfortunate. Despite the use of Dungeon Siege, Ultima: Lazarus was great. Dialogue, exploration, music, and an actual Ultima "feeling" made me forget that it once was Dungeon Siege. This remake, so far, seems to continue that same precedent set by Lazarus. I never played very much of Dungeon Siege because it was absolutely terrible so I understand your hesitation but you really should at least give Lazarus a try.

+1. The only thing Lazarus and DS share is the engine. In just about every single other aspect the games are complete opposites. I remember thinking DS's linearity was due to engine limitations - nope, the engine is capable of huge wide open spaces and beautiful geography. Same for the conversation system, the spell system... it's amazing what the engine can do and how moddable and flexible it is. And it's even more amazing that the guys who developed the fucking engine couldn't do jack shit with it.

I've gotten into some pretty heated arguments with folks on the Codex based on the premise that Lazarus is enough of a revision of the DS engine that labeling it just a "mod" isn't fair to what the Lazarus dev team managed to accomplish.

 

[Saxon1974]

Decided to attempt a playthrough of Original Ultima VI in preperation for this final release.

I find it easier to go forwards then backwards so Im more likely to play original VI then this as opposed to other way around.

Ultima VI is pretty good so far, once you set all your companions combat setting to "Command" so you can control them all combat is pretty good and turn based.

I find the inventory management in this game a tad annoying though. Also I wish I could turn the music off and leave the sound on..

But seems like an interesting large world with interesting NPC's so far.