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Gynovore posted:However, the voice acting for the minor characters made you gouge your eardrums out with a rusty nail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4NThslOItA
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Jan 22, 2021 04:25
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The Joe Man posted:It seems to be a running theme: Holy poo poo. I skipped Redguard and Battlespire. Doesn’t look like I missed much.
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Jan 22, 2021 05:56
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Is Ultima IX a complete game, or is it a hot broken 3D and unfinished mess like Might Magic IX?
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Jan 22, 2021 06:33
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chaosapiant posted:Is Ultima IX a complete game, or is it a hot broken 3D and unfinished mess like Might Magic IX? When it launched, it crashed every eight seconds and there were potential showstopper bugs, but it could theoretically be finished. The patched version had no fatal bugs and only crashed now and then.
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Jan 22, 2021 06:39
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chaosapiant posted:Is Ultima IX a complete game, or is it a hot broken 3D and unfinished mess like Might Magic IX? BTW, if you're asking whether you should play it today, I would say "only if you're actively looking to kill time." Most bugs are fixed and it will run like butter on today's hardware, but still it's not great. Each of the 9 dungeons consists of one environmental puzzle after another after another... some are fun but most are tedious. Combat is boring, there are 'gotcha!' areas, and balance is crap. Like, there's a huge complex magic system with eight levels and runes and reagents, but the best spell in the game is a cantrip that throws a small rock at a target. It costs no mana and can be cast as fast as you mash the key, making it the best single-target spell in the game.
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Jan 22, 2021 06:46
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I bought a Voodoo 3 card specifically to play Ultima IX, so that must explain why I had fewer problems with stability than most (game-ending bug notwithstanding). Also, oh wow, the voice acting. WANN TU PARTEEEE???? WHENTHECHALICEWASLOST SOWASTRINSIC'SHONNNAAAA YOUMUSTPAYFORTHISLOSSSSsssss I absolutely had more fun with the dungeons and combat than other people in this thread but I do imagine it would not hold up at all today. Even when I replayed it in 2004 for a bit I remember thinking "drat, we have come a long way with 3D world movement mechanics since 1999"
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Jan 22, 2021 08:50
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Gynovore posted:If patched Ultima 8 is worse, forget it.
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Jan 22, 2021 09:19
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I've played and finished U1-7 and the two 7 xpacs. I almost finished SI but got bored. I remember when Scorpia reviewed U8 and I was like, noooope. And U9 needed such high end PCs to barely run at the time and was basically the Ishtar of PC games that I ignored it, as well. And Ultima was my favorite series growing up. A shame what a dumpster fire it turned into at the end.
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Jan 22, 2021 09:53
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Gynovore posted:If patched Ultima 8 is worse, forget it. Chev fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Jan 22, 2021 |
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Jan 22, 2021 10:47
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i don't think the most important question about ultima ix has been answered yet: What's a paladin?
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Jan 22, 2021 11:35
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I was a huge fan of Ultime games back when they were first released, so I can't even begin to describe the crushing disappointment of Ultima 8, followed by the even more crushing disappointment of Ultima 9. At least Ultima 8 was playable on release, Ultima 9 was buggy trash. I think getting rid of character portraits in Ultima 8 was one of the worst design decisions, it just made the characters feel totally disengaging. It still makes me sad how much they sucked when compared to Ultima 7 and Serpent Isle.
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Jan 22, 2021 12:08
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I was sad to lose the party but U8 out of the gate didn't feel terrible. It had improved graphics but otherwise felt in line with the old games. It's problems build up over a play through. At release I was such an Ultima nerd I tried very hard to like 9. I pre-ordered the giant shame edition. I had a Voodoo card but it still ran like butt and was very buggy even in an age of particularly buggy releases.i guess technically it wasn't just completely broken like MM 9 though. I know the script mod is supposed to help but I think the whole game just needs to reimagined start to finish to make it any kind of Ultima finale. Like it doesn't need a remake it needs a do-over. Maybe one of the non-LB old Ultima devs will make a retirement project out of it.
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Jan 23, 2021 07:26
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CYBEReris posted:i don't think the most important question about ultima ix has been answered yet: A miserable pile of virtues.
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Jan 24, 2021 16:20
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No pile, paladins only have the one (and evidently it isn't "drinking responsibly").
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Jan 24, 2021 18:51
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How does Wizards & Warriors stack up against, say, Wizardry 8? I really like Wiz 8 and might just replay it if W&W isn't the same quality.
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Jan 24, 2021 18:58
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moot the hopple posted:How does Wizards & Warriors stack up against, say, Wizardry 8? I really like Wiz 8 and might just replay it if W&W isn't the same quality. I haven't played either in too long to say, but there is a recently completed screenshot LP of it on these forums.
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Jan 24, 2021 19:24
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moot the hopple posted:How does Wizards & Warriors stack up against, say, Wizardry 8? I really like Wiz 8 and might just replay it if W&W isn't the same quality. Wizardry is positively nice and charming compared to Wizards & Warriors And yes, both games have recently completed LPs on the forum, so you can see the difference for yourself. If you don't want to, here's the gist of it: Wizardry 8: Hard as balls, but fun if you're into dungeon crawlers. Wizards & Warriors: Bad and dumb
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Jan 24, 2021 20:17
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moot the hopple posted:How does Wizards & Warriors stack up against, say, Wizardry 8? I really like Wiz 8 and might just replay it if W&W isn't the same quality. It's like a kid tried to make a Wizardry clone in dad's garage workshop.
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Jan 24, 2021 20:31
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steinrokkan posted:It's like a kid tried to make a Wizardry clone in dad's garage workshop. I like W&W and was chuffed when GOG brought it back. Just an opinion, of course, but I think that the previous posters are 1) Being quite hyperbolic and B) Wizardry 8 is a high bar to clear.
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Jan 24, 2021 21:14
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Speaking of Wizardry 8, are there any mods considered essential for a first playthrough? Not really looking for rebalance or gameplay changes, just bugfix and look-nice-on-a-modern-display stuff.
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Jan 24, 2021 23:33
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There's at least one widescreen mod that I would recommend checking out first, although I don't have a link at hand. Note that if you use it, you have to rename or remove the video files in the game data directory, or the game will crash when you try to start a new game. At least that's an issue I ran into when trying to use the widescreen patch with the Steam version of Wiz8. It was really quite annoying to figure out what the problem was.
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Jan 24, 2021 23:43
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Gynovore posted:Ultima XI was a milestone in at least two ways; the first fully 3D RPG, and the first fully voiced RPG. Except in both cases, Lord British tripped and fell getting off the short bus. Decent to Undermount beat it to fully 3D by about two years. Weirdly enough, both games were completely broken upon release and only became barely functional after extensive patching.
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Jan 25, 2021 00:03
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steinrokkan posted:It's like a kid tried to make a Wizardry clone in dad's garage workshop.
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Jan 25, 2021 00:41
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FuriousGeorge posted:Speaking of Wizardry 8, are there any mods considered essential for a first playthrough? Not really looking for rebalance or gameplay changes, just bugfix and look-nice-on-a-modern-display stuff. https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Wizardry_8 You might want Wizfast in addition to the widescreen modification. All it really does is speed up the combat animations because combat with large groups of enemies really bogs down.
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Jan 25, 2021 00:50
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FuriousGeorge posted:Speaking of Wizardry 8, are there any mods considered essential for a first playthrough? Not really looking for rebalance or gameplay changes, just bugfix and look-nice-on-a-modern-display stuff.
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Jan 25, 2021 00:52
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Random Stranger posted:Decent to Undermount beat it to fully 3D by about two years. calling descent to undermountain barely functional is giving it too much credit
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Jan 25, 2021 00:57
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Arivia posted:calling descent to undermountain barely functional is giving it too much credit I've speedrun the game. I think the list of bugs I encountered while working it out was two pages long.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:11
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I remember liking Descent as a younger person, but then again I also liked Ruins of Myth Drannor. That said, I would still like to see the latter come back on GOG while I don't care much about the former. Coincidentally, RoMD is also a game that benefits greatly from a speed patch. Fake Edit: By Descent, I mean Descent to Undermountain of course. The actual games called "Descent" were lovely.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:16
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JustJeff88 posted:I remember liking Descent as a younger person, but then again I also liked Ruins of Myth Drannor. That said, I would still like to see the latter come back on GOG while I don't care much about the former. Coincidentally, RoMD is also a game that benefits greatly from a speed patch. I thought all the goldbox Forgotten Realms games were on GOG.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:17
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Skwirl posted:I thought all the goldbox Forgotten Realms games were on GOG. Pools of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was a sort of reimagining loosely using the 3e D&D rules. It's not nearly as nostalgia-inducing as the original Pools of Radiance.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:22
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Skwirl posted:I thought all the goldbox Forgotten Realms games were on GOG. Ruins of Myth Drannor is not a gold box game.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:23
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JustJeff88 posted:Pools of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was a sort of reimagining loosely using the 3e D&D rules. It's not nearly as nostalgia-inducing as the original Pools of Radiance. That's the one that deleted your hard drive if you uninstalled it without a patch?
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Jan 25, 2021 01:24
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Skwirl posted:That's the one that deleted your hard drive if you uninstalled it without a patch? Yes. I found a CD copy at a thrift store and I'm curious, but not curious enough to put the disk into a computer, you know? I'd buy a GOG combo pack of Ruins of Myth Drannor and Descent to Undermountain. The poo poo D&D games package. Weird question, I was told that there's someone in here who's taken apart old RPGs and has some idea how they work, would it be possible to hear how Pool of Radiance (the original) handles creating random encounters? I've been trying to figure out how tabletop handled it, and it was suggested I ask here how Pool of Radiance did it.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:06
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Isn't there a book that explicitly describes how to handle random encounters in Pool of Radiance tabletop?
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Jan 25, 2021 02:12
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Skwirl posted:Isn't there a book that explicitly describes how to handle random encounters in Pool of Radiance tabletop? 1e... is more suggestive about those rules than explicit, at least in the DMG. Edit: At least for the bits I'm thinking of. I've been trying to figure out how to determine the range of encountered enemies, because adding new monsters is fun but it never really explains how that works. My example was, "why 6-18 kobolds" rather than, say, 2-12 or something like that. It feels like there's a pattern that I'm not seeing, Pool of Radiance being as close to the tabletop as it is might help. catlord fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jan 25, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 02:20
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catlord posted:Yes. I found a CD copy at a thrift store and I'm curious, but not curious enough to put the disk into a computer, you know? I'd buy a GOG combo pack of Ruins of Myth Drannor and Descent to Undermountain. The poo poo D&D games package. I would buy that. Ruins is one of those games that I admit is profoundly mediocre, but I still like. Undermountain is just bad. Ironically and somewhat unhappily, I know where to find a ready-to-work-on-modern-systems abandonware copy of Undermountain, but not Ruins. Bleh. Just to let you know, one can install Ruins on a non-system drive (in other words, not C:) and it's no risk. The reason I haven't played it in ages is because the install process is so tedious. I have the discs, but then I have to put in at least one or two patches, then add a speed patch blah blah blah. Digital gaming has very much ruined me in that regard.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:21
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catlord posted:Yes. I found a CD copy at a thrift store and I'm curious, but not curious enough to put the disk into a computer, you know? I'd buy a GOG combo pack of Ruins of Myth Drannor and Descent to Undermountain. The poo poo D&D games package. I think you want to talk to Boldor: Boldor posted:Pool of Radiance ludicrously-detailed guide updated to v1.40:
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Jan 25, 2021 03:29
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I would also suggest the Gold Box Companion. I think that you could get some insight from that as well even though it's mostly a party-editing tool. It's very comprehensive. Question: Why does everyone not like Eye of the Beholder 3? I played the trilogy when I was younger and I remember liking all three games about equally. It's not going to colour my view, but people really seem to hate it. Might just be me; I quite like Thief 3.
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Jan 25, 2021 03:35
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Nemo2342 posted:I think you want to talk to Boldor: I do believe I do, thanks! JustJeff88 posted:I would also suggest the Gold Box Companion. I think that you could get some insight from that as well even though it's mostly a party-editing tool. It's very comprehensive. Might help too, thanks! And for the tip on non-C: drives too. The patching is also one of the reasons I haven't bothered. While I'm here, does anyone have tips for getting into the Gold Box games? I've had 'em for ages on disk and GOG, and I've tried to get into them a couple times, using the GBC and all, but Pool of Radiance especially caches me with its interface and controls. I know some of the later Gold Box games have mouse support that should help, but PoR doesn't as far as I can tell. Should I keep trying with Pool of Radiance or go to the Krynn games or Gateway to the Savage Frontier? Difficulty isn't really an issue, I'm willing to give them an honest go either way, but I think older controls are what hold me back from these games.
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Jan 25, 2021 04:43
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catlord posted:1e... is more suggestive about those rules than explicit, at least in the DMG. Did you compare the listed groups to the various Monster Manual entries? PoR is 1e I think, so it should be using the numbers in the MMs or Fiend Folios with adjustments per the DMG/possibly the DM’s Sourcebook of the Realms. e: okay, yeah, I can see how this would be confusing. It's trying to do a couple weird things. The Forest chart has a bunch of monsters on it, and we need to find the XP for each monster to see if they're roughly equivalent (per appendix C of the DMG). This is done by taking their stats and using the rules on page 85 of the DMG or just using the given example values in Appendix E of the DMG, which is quicker and easier, so I'm doing that. We'll also need to note their number appearing. Elves are 20 XP per the calculation and appear in groups of 2-24 (2d12). Wild boars are 85 XP + 4/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-12 (1d12). Ogres are 90 + 5/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 2-20 (2d10). Stirges are 36 + 2/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 3-24 (3d8). Hill giants are 1400 + 12/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-10 (1d10). Phase spiders are 700 + 6/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-4 (1d4). Snake, constrictors are 225 + 8/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-2 (1d2). Black bears are 85 + 4/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-3 (1d3). Jackals are 5 + 1/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 2-24 (2d12). and Leopards are 150 + 4/hp per the appendix and appear in groups of 1-6 (1d6). There's not really a balance here - hill giants are the most powerful monster by far, and are flatly (there's no curve to the table) available the same as the other options. But we can still get some ideas. First off, do these monsters appear on the forest encounter lists in either the DMG or the MM2? Yes, and they do match the forest options specifically, although they're spread across a bunch of tables (stirges are from temperate sylvan forest, for example). So this table is a subset of the possible forest monsters. Most but not all of these match their number appearing in the monster manual. Elves and stirges are slightly less, and jackals and leopards are significantly more. So these are actually the wilderness numbers, which means there's a lot more room for avoiding/escaping them. So to add new monsters to this list, I would be looking for stuff that appears in temperate forest, using its wilderness numbers, and adjusting slightly up or down to signify the population of the creatures in the area. There's a wide variety of challenges, but it is using wilderness encounter procedures, so running away from/avoiding the scarier stuff is very possible. Arivia fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Jan 25, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 04:51
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