Re: TIL: Ultima 6 NuVIe

On Tue, 24 Sep 2024 23:14:44 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:52:51 +0200, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:
>

Am 19.09.24 um 18:07 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

I replayed Ultima 7 a few years back. I was disappointed to learn that
the experience wasn't as great as I remembered. Without argument,
"Ultima 7" was a groundbreaking game, taking many of the ideas of
"Ultima 6" and giving them some necessary polish.

>
Ultima 7 did not age well, the combat system was a mess and that drags
the experience down nowadays.
I will stick to my fond memories, had the same experience as you!

>
A lot of people complain about Ultima 7's combat, and understandably
so. The game stripped out all strategy -and pretty much all control-
from the game. You'd hit the "c" key to switch your party into combat
mode, and the AI would instantly take over, automatically running
about willy-nilly swatting at enemies until all nearby foes were dead.
>
Technically, you _could_ control the characters manually but -because
the game was real-time- this was functionally useless. The enemy AI
didn't wait for you, and managing the characters was a mess.
>
Worst was when a party member got seriously wounded; he'd run away
(often dropping his weapon and equipment) and -if the enemy chased
him- might even die offscreen and you'd never find him.
>
That said, I actually sort of _liked_ the combat system. Not because
the combat was fun (it wasn't) but because it de-emphasised the combat
entirely. Your party generally was incredibly overpowered anyway, and
by mid-game you could easily trounce any enemy. Pressing "c"
essentially turned into a "make the bad guys go away" button; no fuss,
no muss. That let me focus more on the bits that Ultima 7 _was_ good
at; the exploration and world-building.
>
I'm not sure if that's what Origin intended, but that's the effect it
had on me.
>

Yeah. Didn't bug me either. You just learn to manage the side-effects and
move on.

Ultima VII, though much vaunted, was just not a very good game though
IMO. It was not the train wreck that was Ultima VIII, which effectively
euthanized the series, but the quest was a huge McGuffin chase and the
Guardian was just not a good challenge compared to ethical improvement. I
blame EA demanding a more Hollywood experience. EA ruins everything.

I never got more than halfway through Serpent Isle, though the system was
more polished. I simply got bored.

U6 was the last satisfying Ultima I played. The third trilogy was pants.
U5 is the pinnacle, IMO. Especially the possibility of just getting
trapped with Lord British if you did the dumb thing.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten