Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Smiler]

But before we do that, we have a decision to make. There are two options for playing this game: Either the regular PC version, or the Dungeon Siege remake, Lazarus. There are problems with both. With the old PC version... it's the old PC version. You have to deal with the text parser and all of the other antiquated mechanics. I can at least install a mod that takes all of the bullshit runic signs out of the game so I don't have to decipher crap.

The problems with the Dungeon Siege are a bit more varied. The game runs poorly on my computer since DS is so old. Due to a few engine limitations, some of the game mechanics are different. The creators of the mod fleshed out the dialogue system so the writing is about on par with Ultima 7. This means the dialogue is more interesting, but it means there is a shitton more, and there is no text dump so I would have to either transcribe it myself or use a million screenshots.

The choice is up to you guys. I am playing this mostly blind, so either way I am going to be bumbling town to town. One thing to keep in mind is that in Ultima 5, the classes were narrowed down to Warrior, Bard, and Wizard, but in the DS remake all of the classes are restored. This makes the game more "interesting."

Edit: I will say now that a lot of the mechanics missing in Lazarus are movement/travel based, and it might make the game more annoying.

Edit2: Playing the old PC version would open up porting my character to ultima 6 if I ever decide to LP that later (I might)

[Smiler]

Actually fuck that, I'm just going to play the Lazarus version. I tried playing the DOS version for a little bit, and the lack of music freaked me out. What I do want to know is what I should make the Avatar look like and what I should name them. There is also character creation, but after Ultima 4 it only determines what stats you start out with, since the Avatar can do everything now. I will just be picking whatever I want, so get bent.

I also want input on what I should do with reagents. There is a mod for Lazarus that makes it possible to just get rid of the need for reagents completely. Should I use it and make the magic system suck less, or should I suffer?

Here are your choices for the world's most dorkiest character portraits:
1.



2.



3.



4.



5.



6.

[Doom]

First lady, she gets my motor going.

Also please suffer the most at all possible times.

[Disposable Ninja]

Ditto what Doom said. All of it.

[R^2]

I would have to either transcribe it myself or use a million screenshots.

Welcome to my world.

Also please suffer the most at all possible times.

Welcome to my world.

[Büge]

Yes, I agree with Doom. And you should name her Tandoori, because she's goddamn hot.

[Smiler]

Oh hi gypsy lady I'm glad you are still hanging around to hand me my stats.



No for real we totally did this last game. Since this isn't that exciting, I am just going to cut out all of the choices. You can probably look them up or something.



Cool I guess?



Yep. That's the whole plot of the last four games in one screenshot.



But did I really? My playthroughs of Ultima 4 usually involve me being the biggest douchebag on the planet in a quest to get all of the cool shit before I actually start being virtuous.







The Codex of Ultimate Wisdom now comes in Navi form. Hey listen!



I suppose there isn't any other explanation for a glowing coaster to suddenly fly into my bedroom.



Break glass in case of swag emergency.











Man, throwing crap in desperation really does work!



Magic doors: You always have to run into them.



I guess that Ankh case also had a sword and a suit of chainmail in it as well.











So far my lame friends have summoned me back to Britania just to get me attacked by ringwraiths. Thanks assholes.



It sure doesn't look like Shamino is between me and the Shadowlords. I guess since I am wearing real armor he is just going to use me as a shield. And then he gets shot anyways.



My magic coaster seems to be coated in Off! Anti-Shadowlord spray.



Oh yeah going to Iolo is going to be a huge help. He'll sing your arrow wound closed.











I guess I am used to Iolo's Ultima 7 character portrait where he looks like an old dude instead of Jesus. This is going to bother me all game.



So while I was gone, everyone thought it was a great idea to tear Britania inside out. Hey guys the Avatar had to wear like a spacesuit to go down to this place. LET'S BRING IT UP TO THE SURFACE.



And with that made new hellish dungeons that Lord British couldn't resist going into. I guess a guy who is immune to everything but signs and poisoned bread doesn't have much to fear.



I dunno man, I wouldn't trust a guy named BLACKTHORN, even before evil ghosts made him evil.

I also appreciate Blackthorn listing anyone the Avatar has ever been friends with as criminals. You know, just in case the Avatar ever showed up from another world or something.



The story thus far is that Lord British got lost in a huge tunnel he made while pulling the Codex up from the abyss. And then a dude named Blackthorn took control and then got corrupted by evil hate-ghosts. The only goal I have right now is "Save Lord British" with no details of what I should do. Thanks for summoning me from my home for this guys!

[Smiler]

So now we are in the game itself. It would be kind of easy to see each character if they weren't all on top of each other.

Dungeon Siege is kind of like a Diablo game with a party. You get a bunch of party tactics that so far don't seem to do much. You can pause the game at any time, which is pretty nice for combat when shit starts going down.

Notice how Shamino is hurt pretty badly. When characters are down to a certain amount of health, their portrait flashes. In combat it isn't much warning, because if your party member is that hurt, they are probably going to die.



So here is Iolo's house. There isn't much in here, but lets take everything we find.



A yellow potion, and a crappy book full of songs. If you ever wanted to know the lyrics to Stones, this is the fucking bees knees.



The other cabinet has the mugs that the Avatar and Iolo drank from in the cutscene, and two food rations. At the top of the backpack there are three points of interest. The first is gold, the second is lockpicks, and the third is food. Any food you pick up gets absorbed into that food counter. Rations tend to add a ton of food to the counter.



The Avatar's stats are pretty average, which is about as good as I could have hoped for. Everyone's stats seem to hover around 20, so I am not sure if Ultima 5's cap of 30 for each stat still exists in Lazarus. In the inventory the Avatar has a spellbook, a map, the Codex medallion thing, a pocketwatch, and a sleeping bag.



Shamino has some scrolls of protect (Didn't help him much against those Shadowlords :V) and some gemmy things.



Iolo is carrying some melee equipment as a backup for his crossbow, and a bunch of torches.



As soon as you start moving around the clearing around Iolo's house, Iolo starts talking at us. Who asked you for ideas? :|











I guess I will go towards Empath Abbey, since I get new party members there. And it lets me make Shamino less dead.



Looting the hell out of Iolo's barn.



LET'S TALK TO A HORSE!



-name?



-job?











-Iolo











God Smith why don't you eat a dick. -Hay







-Ask



Uuuuuuh I guess? -Yes



Cool story bro. -Bye







After that RIVETING DIALOGUE, it is time to bully a giant rat.



SUCK A DIIIIIIIIIIIIICK




So there was a throwing axe in a target outside of Iolo's house. I will have to try this out later.



FUCK YOU WOLF



So note that Shamino is behind me not fighting. That is kind of a good thing, but the combat seems a little weird. Odds are whoever you are controlling is going to be getting messed up by the time anyone else shows up. I can kind of fix this by having everyone selected at the same time, but then I have to hear chatter whenever I click to move.



See how the Avatar is hurt after that? Yeah, fuck you wolf.



Signs in this mod thankfully are in english and not runic bullshit. I am going to right way to get to Empath Abbey :D



Hey I am here.



So when i first enter the keep there is no one around. Weird spawning glitches. I would have guessed that maybe they were all eating lunch or something, but ten seconds later people started materializing.



People like this lady.



Oh okay it's going to be someone who is going to be like AVATAR MY CAHSIN!!!



Who else wears armor with a giant ankh on it?



So from this I can assume Shamino lied to me, and he was the only one who summoned me. Shamino is such a bitch. Why not go through the usual conversation stuff. -Name



DON'T JUDGE ME JULIA I HAD TO MAKE SURE. - Job



So apparently the shadowlords don't like this place. They can't handle love or something. Pansies. -Friends



Is Lord British really my friend though? He seems like a guy who just kind of really really insists on you doing stuff. To the point of resurrecting you if you die. No way man, you can still become the avatar, let me brush off those mortal wounds. -Empath Abbey



So I guess the Principles are going to be key in fucking the Shadowlords' day up. -Lord Micheal



Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. UHHHHHHHHHHHH.



Sure whatever. - Lord British



Yeah the prologue was reminding me of that every few screens. Lets ask about something else we already know about. - Quest of the Avatar



No that's okay.



No for real guys it's okay.



Julia don't you see his portrait in this game he looks like Jesus get your facts straight.



Iolo don't feed the troll have you never been online before?



Iolo is a bard and he probably smells come on be real dawg.



Okay after that bit of pointless dialogue, let's ask about - GWENNO for some reason.



She's wrong on both counts because Gwenno is actually a bard for some reason. - Shadowlords



So the Shadowlords just really fucking hate anything the Avatar is part of. What jerks :|



Yeah Shamino they sure didn't think much of you :V - Outlaws



What a diiiiiiiiiiick.



Just because I am a RPG protagonist doesn't automatically mean I am going to fix everything. What an awful stereotype. -Blackthorn




So I am guessing that the principal keep guys still like me and are the only people who aren't letting Blackthorn's shit fly.











Well I guess. It's not like I have a full party yet.



I'm not planning on losing, but then again I don't know what your expectations are.



So Julia is okay. She has a spear. I am not sure how good her stats are, but one thing I am sure of is that she is one more person to soak damage up. She'll do for now.

Next update will consist of me talking to all of the dorks in Love Castle. Oh, and I guess I'll fix Shamino, even though it looks like he is slowly healing. What a faker.

[R^2]

For those of us with crappy eyes and outdated monitors, could you shrink your images down a skosh? I'm getting horizontal scrollbars and boy is it tedious to have to scroll across that many big images.

[patito]

Do you need to find a book or something to read the runic signs in the original version? And if so, can't one of your companions just read the runic things to you? they live there after all.

Also, Shamino probably should have tried summoning you around empath abbey, since apparently it's shadowlord protected.

[Smiler]

Do you need to find a book or something to read the runic signs in the original version? And if so, can't one of your companions just read the runic things to you? they live there after all.

Also, Shamino probably should have tried summoning you around empath abbey, since apparently it's shadowlord protected.

No, you have the game manual and you have to translate it all yourself. Also I think the Avatar just kind of popped up wherever. Kind of like how in 4 you got dropped at whatever town represents your class's virtue.

Also yeah sure I will try to downsize the images.

[patito]

Shamino was sort of waiting for you, so I figured he was the one summoning you. But I suppose you're within walking distance of empath abbey so he probably though he was close enough.

Also will they explain why the avatar left in the first place.

[Smiler]

Tell me how readable these are. I can't lower the resolution in game, or else things like looking through containers or buying things becomes almost impossible.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/123768/Game%20pictures/1-024.png
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/123768/Game%20pictures/1-065.png

Patito: Nope. The Avatar just always fucks off after the quest is over. At the end of 4 Lord British is like "Yo dawg see you later I'll call you if I need any help!"

[Brentai]

Ehh, bump it up a size or try using a different scaling algorithm.  It looks like you're using Nearest-Neighbor there.

[R^2]

Oh yeah, I forgot the NES port genderswapped the tinker and changed her name to its masculine counterpart.

Also: The original release of Ultima 4 had Smith the Horse in it (in the prairies in Paws), but due to a bug in the game he never got to give you the hint he was supposed to. He just made normal horse noises, to the point where the NES port just has a couple horses without names, because why bother? When he was included in this game, the devs put in his hint from the last game. Since then, he's always been one game out of synch, giving you a vital clue to the resolution of your quest -- your last, now-completed quest.

Smith the Horse is kind of my favorite character now, because that's great.

[Smiler]

Yeah in 5 he is supposed to tell you that the answer is Infinity.

[Smiler]

Here is the healer in Empath Abbey.



I hope you love descriptions of characters, because goddamn there's one for pretty much everyone you meet. I think Ultima 6 starts this, and that is also the first game that has character portraits.











I get the option to say either shadowlords or bandits. I don't know why I would lie about where he got the wound from. I'm not going to for fear of my karma lowering. Plus it would be weird if bandits gave Shamino a otherworldly arrow wound.











Whoops.



Fuck bed rest.











- Name



Don't talk back to me >:|   - Job



If this was an smoothly flowing conversation I would ask about those resurrections, but no. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT SCAR???



>:|   - Empath Abbey



- Resurrections



Really? REALLY? Blackthorn's secret police is just straight up called the opression. Speaking of, - Opression



- Blackthorn's Law



It sounds like Blackthorn is a dick. - Outlaw







- Deep Forest







- Khenton



I dunno. He's probably pretty cool. The healing option lets you either heal health or cure poison. The price for both is redonkulous, so I'm probably going to pass. Seeyah dude.



Let's move right along to this dork who is in the courtyard.



Look at this shit. Seriously? I suppose these aren't any worse that the descriptions the later games come up with.



WHAT IS YOUR NAME



Straight up, huh? - Job



- Student? What a nerrrrrrd.



- Abbey



- Learn



- Lycaeum



- Truth



- Serpent's Hold



- Courage



- Love







- Barbra



- Lord Micheal



















- Julia







- Visions



- Evil



- Hope



- I get the option to either say Tandoori or Avatar here. It doesn't matter what you pick here, because...











Pretty much everyone just calls you Avatar. It's easier that way.



sssssssssssssigh.



Yeah I gave in.



Toshi is kind of cool because he gives you a rundown of each of the keeps of virtue. That's pretty much all he's good for though. His conversation was pretty boring, sorry I didn't say much about it.

Toshi really fucking sucks. He's going to be on bow duty because otherwise he would really be sucking it up in melee combat. Out of all of the people so far, he is going to be the first to get dumped. He does come with this cool ring though.



YOINK!

[Smiler]

Oh jeeze another conversation. Can my heart take it? At least this guy is sitting in a sweet ass chair.



He couldn't possibly be the guy in charge, could he?



Gonna leave me hanging then? Gonna ignore me for Julia? Cool.







I guess they have to balance out how much talking I am going to be doing. - Name



What could your job possibly be I wonder?



- Julia



Oooooooooooh really now?



Okay this line is kind of confusing. So basically people who aren't from this world or whatever age like super slow when they are here. I think most of the Warrior's of Destiny fall under that list, as well as Lord British. And on top of that I think wizards also live super long. This shit is confusing yo.



Wink wink.







- Empath Abbey



- Love



Okay, one of my options here is -Afraid. Refresh my memory as to why this is one of them.







Okay I guess that works. What is that - Eternal Flame you were talking about?







Oh man, so it's kind of like the end of Krull. Got it. - Evils



- Protection



- Keeps



- Shadowlords



Okay so this pretty much spells out that we need to do something with the keeps to get rid of the shadowlords. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to match them up, either.



I am sure I will need to use some sort of magic item that I will need to fish out of someone's dialogue tree.



Get out of here Shamino you don't count.



Yeah why not.



Yaaaaaay story time :V



Oh fuck don't tell me it's Air Bud. THERE'S NOTHING IN THE RULES THAT SAYS A DOG CAN'T BECOME AVATAR.



Okay I am not sure if it is Air Bud anymore.



Okay not so much Air Bud.



Hey there is a goal for me to seek. Thanks bro! Now tell me about - Serpent's Hold



Okay now - Lycaeum



So I guess the mages are going to be annoying to get a hold of. Typical. Let's kick off the stupid Blackthorn discussion with - Opression



- Blackthorn







Pretty much the same story that we've heard a few times by now.



Okay, my last option is to ask about - Barbra







Okay cool. That wraps up talking to Lord Micheal.







hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng



Okay now we are done for real.



Time to look upstairs for some cool stuff. Unfortunately there is nothing cool here aside from more people.

But look, a jester. Let's make the update even longer by talking to him.



"Now's not the time." What a bitch. As if you have anything else to do.

He is supposed to be right at the front door of this place, but he wasn't there when i got here. So I follow him downstairs to have a chat I probably didn't need.



Ugh.



What kind of dumb name is Hardluck?



Yeah but Avatar is an okay title. Speaking of which, TELL ME ABOUT MYSELF.



I didn't know about all of the other people, but whatever. - Job



So you suck? Okay. - Empath Abbey



JUGGLE FOR ME BITCH



Oh screw you. How about a joke?



God you are the worst.



Shamino you too.



Don't flatter yourself. Let's round this trainwreck up with some - Songs



Would I have asked you about it if I didn't want to hear them?



...















No thanks. I already got it from the other four people I have talked to here.



Who is this - Tim guy



Well I sure am glad I asked you to sing then. Seeya.



Thankfully no one interjects and the conversation is over.



Okay I'll probably be back later when I get around to it. At this point I've decided to go to Britain to talk to Gwenno. I don't think Yew is going to have much for me. And besides, I could check on Lord British's castle, which might have some clues or something.



Oh hey some ruins and junk. Could this be something interesting?



Nah, it's just full of rats.



Fuck you rat.











Nope, nothing interesting at all.



So there are a ton of woodland creatures running around. If you force attack them, you can actually kill them.



They drop meat. There are better ways to get food in my experience.



Fucking insect swarms. It is impossible to see them, and they usually come in groups. Luckily they are chumps.



BEAR!



The trick to combat so far is to just have my ranged dudes kite the fuck out of things.



And then when I get bored of that I have everyone kick the shit out of stuff.



So, I can loot bears.



And they are meat pinatas. In the time it takes to kill a bear you will have maybe killed like 2 deer. I am pretty sure deer only yield one meat. Bears are probably going to be my food source through the game.



Lookit dat food counter.



At this point I am kind of lost in the woods.



Gremlins are kind of weak.



WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK



Gremlins usually just pop food out when they die. The problem gremlins present is that they can steal food from you.



Okay, so there is a kind of useful minimap in this game. It comes in handy, since in a 3D game I can just rotate the camera all over the place and lose track of where I am going at any time.



You can also travel by it, so that will be pretty good later on when I am walking between towns and crap later on.



I am back on the trail, but wolf.



A worthwhile trip. My companions didn't do shit while I fought this wolf. They can go to hell.



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA



Phase spiders are kind of dicks. They kind of teleport on you. They don't present much of a challenge though. I don't think.



So here is this body of water.



Okay, in hindsight I know where I am now. Back then I was confused as hell. I am somewhere around the point my mouse cursor is. I kind of had a loose grasp of where I was, but this threw me off while I was playing. Next update I will throw a big version of this map up so I can demonstrate how little I know of Britania's geography.



This time I find a giant spider.



Ow. Notice that the Avatar is poisoned. There are potions that cure poison, and the healers all can cure it.



Wolves can't cure poison, but killing them can comfort me a little bit.



Ow, maybe not. Okay, let's show off the magic a little bit. I am not sure how learning magic works in this, as it seems like as soon as you hit the level you know all of the spells, and everyone has all of them. Maybe the second level spells require teaching from mages, but I am not too sure yet.



Hi spellbook. This is where you see how many reagents you have. It also shows you the spells, and when you select the spell, it shows what it takes to cast. There are bookmarks for quick selection as well.



There is a cure spell in here, so let's whip that out.



Select the spell, hover over your target, and right click.



Bam. No more poison.



It is officially night time. At this point, moongates start popping up. I am not near any, so that doesn't mean much to me.



I get back on track, but hey look a glowy spot on my map.



In this little grove thingy, bloodmoss is growing. Cool.



THIS IS WHAT REAGENTS ARE!



Okay, back to Iolo's house. I could just camp, but I want a bed.



Gotta wake up early in the morning. In the camp screen, I would choose who if any I want to keep watch while everyone else sleeps. In this case, I imagine that the Avatar gets the bed while everyone else just sleeps on the floor. You get a lot of sweet perks when you become the Avatar.



This is what you see when you sleep.



It's morning now. Next update I will start heading towards Britain. It'll be cool.

[Smiler]

Hey guys should I show the full dialogue window with all of my dialogue choices, or should I keep doing what I am doing?

[François]

Man, this must already be a pain, I'd recommend you stay in your groove.