What's stopping Swen from making a proper Ultima VII clone?

[0sacred]

So Ultima VII seems to have been an epiphany for Swen (as it was for me), he has said it's still his inspiration, but he hasn't recreated it. We're talking about a dialogue heavy game with lots of settlements, puzzle heavy (if you factor in the dialogue), interactive environments, light on combat. Instead he makes these combat heavy games, though admittedly they got more adventure elements from D:OS to D:OS2 to BG3. I'd d1p an Ultima VII clone any day, even with all the gay stuff, but it seems something like BG3 is the best we'll get.

 

[Infinitron]

Swen's games are really nothing like Ultima 7 at all, other than having interactive environments that let you drag stuff around, and maybe the ability to play a character who wields farm equipment:

Sometimes people will be inspired by something, but they don't see the same things in it that other people do.

 

[mondblut]

So Ultima VII seems to have been an epiphany for Swen (as it was for me), he has said it's still his inspiration, but he hasn't recreated it. We're talking about a dialogue heavy game with lots of settlements, puzzle heavy (if you factor in the dialogue), interactive environments, light on combat. Instead he makes these combat heavy games, though admittedly they got more adventure elements from D:OS to D:OS2 to BG3. I'd d1p an Ultima VII clone any day, even with all the gay stuff, but it seems something like BG3 is the best we'll get.

He won't fight bethesda at their own turf.

 

[Eisen]

Divine Divinity

 

[luj1]

he has said it's still his inspiration, but he hasn't recreated it

People always say Fallout is their inspiration, then create something like Broken Roads (hot garbage)

Just the other day, the devs behind BEAST claimed to want to create a tactical RPG, but their game is a linear interactive movie

There isn't always a connection

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Ultima 7 has good writing, something of which Larian is incapable.

I only played some of it, but I thought Divine Divinity got the Ultima 7 feel down pretty well, even if the writing wasn't there.

 

[luj1]

Whatever the game Swen creates, whether it is mechanically sound or not, you know it will be goofy and wear a teletubby suit.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

He knows nobody really remember Ultima anymore so it would be a hard sell, but I think a game like Ultima 7 would do great in this day and age... it would have to be indie though.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Bethesda has been doing plenty of high budget Ultima wannabes. Granted, most of them are very unpolished, have awful dialogues, and tend to be very dumbed-down, but unlike Ultima they also have at least some relevant stats and character builds.

A modern-day Ultima successor would look less like Divinity: Original Sin and more like Morrowind, just saying.

 

[Frozen]

Nothing. They will again remake Divinity OS with even more gay sex and call it "Ultima VII> The Modern Remake"

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Nothing. They will again remake Divinity OS with even more gay sex and call it "Ultima VII> The Modern Remake"

Gay sex made the Avatar feel like he had improved as a man in the original U7.

 

[Gahbreeil]

Can someone explain UVII to me? I have not ever played it. You can make it tl;dr.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Can someone explain UVII to me? I have not ever played it. You can make it tl;dr.

it's basically an isekai

 

[CryptRat]

Swen's games are really nothing like Ultima 7 at all, other than having interactive environments that let you drag stuff around, and maybe the ability to play a character who wields farm equipment:

Weapons which are farming tools (forks, scythes, flails ... ) are so cool. They scream bloody, crude, anarchist brutality in a way I like.

 

[Roguey]

Since Swen appeared to be getting a bit anxious about going all-in on something even bigger, one would hope that he tries to diversify a bit and make something smaller.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Swen's games are really nothing like Ultima 7 at all, other than having interactive environments that let you drag stuff around, and maybe the ability to play a character who wields farm equipment:

Sometimes people will be inspired by something, but they don't see the same things in it that other people do.

shit, looks like another day in the forested hills raking out paths which I regularly do, but I wear all black like a ninja so as NOT to be detected. Lol, but I do bike in the swamps with an orange tank top and also carry a backpack. Toss on a cap and a huge gray/black beard and that’s almost a selfie. WTF?!?

 

[Disciple]

Ultima VII is also one of Todd Howard's favourite games. He's mentioned several times how his younger self was impressed by the ability to bake your own bread in the game.

You can be influenced by lots of good, innovative works and still deliver subpar stuff as a creator. The Neil Gaiman syndrome.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Can Todd bake bread IRL though?

 

[Dwemer Puzzle Box]

Will we get to fuck not-Lord-British?

 

[Gahbreeil]

it's basically an isekai

Like, Simon the Sorcerer? That sounds pretty cool. Any modern adaptations in the style of?

I remembered I tried to play Ultima Online once, was sold on being able to chop wood, mine rock, etc.

 

[taxalot]

Now that Swen built in romances and cringey stuff in BG3, I think he's fully prepared for dealing with what the Ultima community has become.

 

[d1r]

Because the Ultima series has almost zero brand recognition nowadays. Only the oldest, and neckbeardiest on the net still swoon over Ultima 7 or Underworld, and they are certainly not the target audience anymore.

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

Ultima 7 was barely even an RPG

 

[gaussgunner]

I have fuzzy memories of Ultima 6 or earlier, but I never got around to acquiring my own copy and playing a complete Ultima game. After 7 the developers started chasing a different audience (Diablo fans, right?) and I lost interest.

I eventually played Divine Divinity and it is the closest thing to the old Ultima games that I know of, but every Larian game after that strays further from the target. Swen will never hit the mark because he has poor taste. Terrible taste.

 

[lvl 2 Blue Slime]

There's always been something very larpy and gay about Ultima, appealing to weirdos who are interested in """story""" and """immersion""" over the heart of CRPGs - which is killing monsters, leveling up and becoming more powerful.