
Ultima VI - doppp
http://www.filfre.net/2017/04/ultima-vi/
======
gavanwoolery
Reminded me about another bit of info on Ultima 6 / Warren Spector:

Spector cites an amusing anecdote from Ultima 6’s in-house testing: "…on
Ultima VI, which is kind of where I realized that all this improvisational
stuff could really be magical. It was unplanned, kind of a bug. There was one
puzzle where the Avatar and his party came up on one side of a portcullis and
there was a lever on the other side of the portcullis that you had to flip to
raise the portcullis and keep on making progress. I watched one of our
testers, a guy named Mark Schaefgen, playing in that area. And he didn’t have
the telekinesis spell, which was the way to get past that portcullis. I was
sitting there rubbing my hands together going ‘oh ho ho, he’s screwed, he
can’t do it.’

He had a character in his party named Sherry the Mouse. You can probably see
where this is going. The portcullis was ‘simulated,’ and here the air quotes
are around simulated, simulated enough that there was a gap at the bottom that
was too small for a human to get through, but not too small for Sherry. He
sent Sherry the Mouse under the portcullis, over to the lever, she flipped the
lever, and then the rest of the party went through. And I fell on the floor.
At that moment I just said to myself, ‘this is what games should do. We should
start planning this, not having it happen as a bug.’ That was where I realized
this was really powerful."

It was things like this that make the Ultima series stick in my head to this
day. :)

~~~
pchristensen
I have my own Sherry the Mouse story. I realized that having a character that
could skip portcullises would be useful, so I kept her. I had to make her
tougher and I found a way to grind to raise her stats. I gave her a lightning
wand (one of the few weapons she could carry), went to a village and found a
dog walking around, and had her kill it. In order to get it to re spawn, I had
to remove the dead dog body, but it was faster to just put it in my backpack.
So I would have Sherry kill dogs until I ran out of room for the bodies in my
inventory and then go far away to unload them, then go back and grind some
more, shooting dogs with lightning. Once she was strong enough to hold a real
weapon, I went to the cave of the giant ants and had her kill ants with a
halberd until she was strong enough to wear plate mail armor. A mouse. With a
halberd and plate mail armor. Probably my favorite gaming experience ever.

~~~
gavanwoolery
Many people have made fun of this, a quick google search and I found:
[http://img06.deviantart.net/9d4d/i/2014/014/6/b/sherry_the_m...](http://img06.deviantart.net/9d4d/i/2014/014/6/b/sherry_the_mouse_and_lord_british__by_gijohn20-d727jjb.jpg)

------
scott_s
This paragraph resonated with me:

 _The complexity of the world model was such that Ultima VI became the first
installment that would let the player get a job to earn money in lieu of the
standard CRPG approach of killing monsters and taking their loot. You can buy
a sack of grain from a local farmer, take the grain to a mill and grind it
into flour, then sell the flour to a baker — or sneak into his bakery at night
to bake your own bread using his oven. Even by the standards of today, the
living world inside Ultima VI is a remarkable achievement — not to mention a
godsend to those of us bored with killing monsters; you can be very successful
in Ultima VI whilst doing very little killing at all._

I got into western RPGs only recently - I played only JRPGs on the SNES and
then later consoles. My first western RPG was Mass Effect 2, and since then I
played ME3, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Skyrim. When playing Skyrim, I
realized that the wolf pelts I was accumulating by killing wolves as I walked
the countryside could be smithed into leather armor! That leather armor would
fetch considerably more money when sold than wolf pelts.

My first thought: I found a cheat to more money! My second thought: I found a
_business_.

~~~
QSIITurbo
The menial tasks you can do in these games were a mistake in my opinion. For
example, the overly complex UI in Ultima Underworld and Ultima VII was more or
less just to facilitate the use of these items that you maybe spent 1% of your
gaming time on (fishing, putting fuel into light sources, baking bread,
selling them, yay! Who gives a crap). UW could have been a real forerunner if
it had had a simple mouselook with streamlined combat and without the useless
complexity.

Modern games have given up on that for which I am very grateful. Diablo and
Black Isle games were the real forerunners in the KISS principle that
revitalised the dying 2D RPGs.

~~~
Leynos
The living world aspects of Ultimas VI and VII were what made them such a
great draw for me as a child. Long before I was old enough to understand the
"real" gameplay of these titles, I could appreciate the rich nature of their
environments, and spent countless hours in them. They represented the gold
standard that I held every CRPG to since.

When everyone was praising the depth of Morrowind, for example, I found its
environment sterile and lacking in the kind of interactivity I had enjoyed in
these games of my youth. Skyrim was the first modern CRPG to really surpass
them.

(I do realize that the itch I'm describing is probably better satisfied with
something like Minecraft, but I'm getting stubborn in my old age).

~~~
Razengan
I recommend checking out Rune Factory 4 on the Nintendo 3DS. It has some
pleasantly surprising dynamic world (well, a single town at least) for a
console – let alone handheld – title.

------
santaclaus
The sequel, VII, and VII part 2, are singular achievements in terms of world
building. The level of detail that went into NPC schedules, interactions, etc,
down to the fact that you can do mundane tasks with no bearing on the actual
game like baking bread, were pretty damn cool. The recent Witcher game might
come close, but I'm still jonesing for some RPGs on VII's level.

~~~
kingmanaz
Somewhere on the road between Britain and Cove lies my fondest memory of
gaming. Can't recall what it was specifically, either---the mysterious
toolshed, the moonstones, the tiny one-room houses by Lock Lake, sundown and
dinner at the inn---together it was unforgettable. Tseramed, too, out toward
Yew and his little tale: "Youth is her's forever". The phantom mayor of Skara
Brae, forsaking his afterlife. The bitter orphan in Paws' workhouse, etc.

Serpent Isle was stranger and "colder" than U7 part 1, but likewise memorable.
Will always be able to recall the following:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrEAAUq365Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrEAAUq365Y)

...seems to somehow better convey the essence of Ultima than what was
attempted in writing above: A strange, dreamlike, occasionally-haunting
impression from the era when computers were less understood and more full of
possibilities.

~~~
henrikschroder
I remember playing U7 part 2, and got to the part where the Guardian just pops
up across your screen and starts talking. Shit, that was scary and cool.

"Patience Avatar, I shall be with thee shortly!"

------
phodo
Amazing game. While on vacation last week, I was eating at a restaurant
overlooking the deep blue ocean and the background music playing was the
Ultima theme song. I seemed to be the only one who recognized it and right
there and then, I proudly basked in a glorious solitary moment of radiant
geekiness and nostalgia as I thought of shimano, iolo and all the rest of the
characters that made up that amazing place called Britannia.

~~~
pinaceae
Shamino. Shimano is cycyling gear.

Iolo. Lord British. The Avatar. The Guardian.

U6, U7/1, U7/2 and UW2 were glorious worlds.

~~~
pingpongchef
This is not a coincidence. No source but I once read an interview that
confirms the name came from misreading the brand name.

------
sbierwagen

      The creepy poster of a pole-dancing centaur hanging on 
      the Avatar’s wall back on Earth has provoked much comment 
      over the years…
    

Someone dug up the original art of that poster:
[http://ultimacodex.com/2015/10/remember-that-centaur-
poster-...](http://ultimacodex.com/2015/10/remember-that-centaur-poster-in-
ultima-6s-intro-i-found-the-sketch-it-was-based-on/)

~~~
CamperBob2
Awesome, I'd totally forgotten about the Nagel.

------
bmurphy1976
Oh man I loved this game. This game may have single handedly set me on my
career in software development. I'd played many many games before, but this
one really opened my eyes to the possibilities that computers offered.

I just finished a recent playthrough, no more than six months ago! The game
holds up really well. There are obvious shortcomings compared to modern games,
it could be a hard slog for younger generations who are used to a more
polished product, but if you are looking for a good bit of nostalgia U6 is
hard to beat.

For comparison I also tried re-playing Bard's Tale 3 recently. I wasted many
hours of my childhood with that game. Frankly, I'm amazed at how poor and
awful of a game it was and I just I couldn't stick to it.

------
smacktoward
Since these articles on gaming history by Jimmy Maher consistently get voted
up to the front page of HN, it may be worth mentioning that he has a Patreon
where you can support his work here:

[https://www.patreon.com/DigitalAntiquarian](https://www.patreon.com/DigitalAntiquarian)

~~~
GFischer
Really cool reads. I actually got stuck on a tangent reading about the story
of Trip Hawkins

[http://www.filfre.net/2013/01/seeing-
farther/](http://www.filfre.net/2013/01/seeing-farther/)

I hope people do support the author (I've almost convinced myself that I will
support all the awesome content I come across the Internet if I do "make it"
\- so many good writers, webcomics, video creators... and I have a 50
dollars/month entertainment budget)

------
godmodus
This is a strange way to implement an text editor.

~~~
soperj
Thought it was a VI variant as well at first.

~~~
dllthomas
Have you tried Ultima Emacs?

------
outworlder
>On the evening of February 9, 1990, with the project now in the final frenzy
of testing, bug-swatting, and final-touch-adding, he left Origin’s offices to
talk to some colleagues having a smoke just outside. When he opened the
security door to return, a piece of the door’s apparatus — in fact, an eight-
pound chunk of steel — fell off and smacked him in the head, opening up an
ugly gash and knocking him out cold. His panicked colleagues, who at first
thought he might be dead, rushed him to the emergency room. Once he had had
his head stitched up, he set back to work.

Hah. That's how you are able to kill Lord British in Ultima VII. I had never
understood the reference, until now.

------
elif
the latest game in this series, Shroud of the Avatar (still in pre-release) is
having a free play weekend this weekend. Even though it's not "released" yet,
it's a full game, very playable and enjoyable.

[https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=69568](https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?page_id=69568)

~~~
joshontheweb
Unless I'm mistaken, Shroud of the Avatar seems more in line with the Ultima
Online experience which Is a totally different than the single player Ultimas.
I could never get into Ultima Online. I would love another classic Ultima
though. Any suggestions for games that would scratch that itch?

~~~
kingmanaz
I'm assuming you've already played Ultima 7. You may also want to try Martian
Dreams or Savage Empire if you haven't.

The following recommendation might be unpopular: Try the now-antique Final
Fantasy 7 for an RPG with an impressive, if somewhat meandering storyline, and
a world seen through the lens of childlike wonder. Definitely a non-Western
RPG, but about the best in that genera.

Anyway, doubt there will ever be anything like the single player Ultimas
again, due more to the nature of computing and game production having moved on
from a early baroque age of wonder.

~~~
tjl
FF7 is an excellent JRPG, but for a different (and more modern) take on JRPGs,
I recommend the Persona series, especially 4 (Golden if possible) and the
latest 5. Persona 3 is excellent as well and similar in style to 4 and 5, but
not quite as polished.

Persona blends building relationships (which helps with your Persona
customization and hence dungeons) along with doing various day-to-day tasks
such as studying, getting a part-time job, going on dates, and even minor
things like taking care of a houseplant all of which help improve various
stats. Some activities aren't available if you don't have a certain rank in a
stat.

They provide an interesting exploration into various challenges in the modern
world, but without coming across as heavy-handed.

I think the only real problem is that Persona 5 holds your hand for a very
long time as it introduces the system so it's not until around the end of the
first boss area that all the options open up which is about 6 hours into what
can be a 100 hour game.

------
jdright
Best game series ever with Ultima VI, VII, VIII and Online possible being the
best games ever.

~~~
samstave
UO was the bet game ever made, invented the MMO - but the original 1997-ish
release was so much fun and also (I think) invented the idea of PVP (aside
from quake, that that was FPS rather than ISO, etc.. so a philosophical
argument I guess)

The entire reason I am in computers and tech is because of Ultima 2 which I
found on a floppy in the Apple lab at my school.... I then ran a BBS, setup a
network and converted the drafting lab from actual pencil drawing to CAD.

Bards tale was a good franchise as well - where we competed to complete them
and me and my best friend got into fisticuffs over the fucking cheat book he
bought.

He is now a Senior Producer at EA.

~~~
nemo44x
UO was great back in the day as was Shadowbane. The whole safe places that
MMO's became - and with good reason as more people liked that - disappointed
me about the genre.

The player motivated politics and maneuvering and real threat to lose what
you've worked hard for and the general scarcity of things in these types of
games was unbelievable. Stealing, fighting for meaningful resources and guilds
that existed to actually protect resources and players is just not possible in
a game like WoW (was very good for different reasons though such as dungeon
raiding) and derivatives where getting attacked and killed is meaningless.

~~~
samstave
That is an interesting comment...

WRT game philsophy, one might say WOW is combat focused (dungeon raids) where
UO was much more personal-politcs focused (with the combat) and thus I think
UO to be an 11 and wow an 8... regardless of how much $$ WOW has made... it is
detracted by the fact that its massive, dedicated, userbase has never
experienced original UO...

~~~
nemo44x
I'll add that I don't think a game like that can ever really exist again. At
least not with the dynamic those games had.

At the time there were no other options for people who wanted to play an MMO.
You had to enter that world. So it was made up of all types of people but
mainly you could break the community into 2 groups: Wolves and Sheep.

There were always plenty of sheep for the wolves to hunt for and terrorize and
for the "hero wolves" to come in and protect. The relationships were real.

As soon as WoW came out anyone who preferred the sheep role (farming,
socializing, building community, etc) had no reason to play a game they could
be killed and have their spoils taken. It became a hassle when WoW gave them a
peaceful world to coexist in. Where your enemy couldn't really hurt you or
take anything you've worked for. A nice, safe space. The wolf types just
became the hard core raiders competing to get eventual identical gear first
and the sheep were the casual raiders and farmers and social butterflies.

~~~
samstave
> __ _I 'll add that I don't think a game like that can ever really exist
> again_ __

I agree with this sentiment 100%

------
cocktailpeanuts
Who here came thinking it's a new modern Vim alternative?

~~~
bwbw223
me

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nsxwolf
The projection they used is just super weird.

~~~
lobster_johnson
Faery Tale Adventure (an Amiga classic) also has a weird projection that
mostly looks weird when applied to characters, which all look like they're
leaning slightly to the left:
[https://youtu.be/E5_4DhXWdwo?t=1824](https://youtu.be/E5_4DhXWdwo?t=1824)

------
syncsynchalt
This was my jam for all of middle school. Thanks for posting this article!

------
lokedhs
I remember looking at the Ultima games at the time as something interesting
that I'd like to spend time on, but I never got into them. I guess it's
because I was always into faster gaming experiences.

I never thought that I would really be able to enjoy any RPG's, but recently
I've started playing them. I'm currently working my way through Tales of
Zestiria and having a geat time with it.

I would like to give the Ultima games a try. Which one should I start with?
I'd like one that is somewhat easy to get in to.

~~~
jedberg
Ultima 4 was the pinnacle of the series. It's also very different than most
RPGs, it's about figuring out the virtues of the world and sticking to them.
I'd suggest that one.

~~~
ido
It's really not easy to get into, from a modern point of view.

I tried playing 4 & 5 a few years ago and gave up very quickly.

------
reiichiroh
I don't know if this is true but a friend who worked at Origin regaled me with
the story that the U6 box art's avatar model was Starr Long when he had a head
of full, luscious hair.

Any Ex-Origin able to confirm?

------
bertlequant
How I miss my shard over 56k

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dewiz
I remember finding a casino in one of Ultima7 islands, I made so much gold out
of the roulette that it became a problem stocking it and carrying it around
Britannia.

------
beders
This was an awesome awesome game. Unimaginable how I played that for so many
hours on such a tiny tiny screen :)

------
m3kw9
Use glass sword on lord British

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WebYourMind
This brings back so many memories! Awesome Game!

------
artur_makly
The top game of my teenage life.

