Limit Theory Forums

Just got my free versions of Ultima Underworld 1 & 2. Now, I have to see if I can go back to the past for these or give them away as gifts to people on the forums. Haven't claimed mine so I can still gift them.

If you haven't played these games before, the controls will take some getting used to -- as in System Shock, in UU1 and UU2 you do movement and combat through the mouse, and adjust your view angle with keyboard keys.

It'll feel really weird at first, but stick with it and it'll soon feel natural. Not as natural as WASD+mouselook, but it is what it is.

The gameworld you get to explore will make that effort worth your while. If you have any questions, feel free to ask -- I'm not a super-expert, but I've played them enough times (and just finished replaying UU recently) to know the tricky bits.

(If you've already played them and just want to enjoy them again... never mind. )

Flatfingers wrote:If you haven't played these games before, the controls will take some getting used to -- as in System Shock, in UU1 and UU2 you do movement and combat through the mouse, and adjust your view angle with keyboard keys.

It'll feel really weird at first, but stick with it and it'll soon feel natural. Not as natural as WASD+mouselook, but it is what it is.

Urgh, reminds me of my experiences trying to play daggerfall.
Tutorial: "slay this enemy"
*tries to attack*
*dies after 15 sec*

Cornflakes_91 wrote:

Flatfingers wrote:If you haven't played these games before, the controls will take some getting used to -- as in System Shock, in UU1 and UU2 you do movement and combat through the mouse, and adjust your view angle with keyboard keys.

Urgh, reminds me of my experiences trying to play daggerfall.
Tutorial: "slay this enemy"
*tries to attack*
*dies after 15 sec*

But was that due to freaky movement controls? Or to BethSoft linking your "to-hit" chance to your character level?

I didn't play Arena or Daggerfall, but early combat in Morrowind was unbelievably painful -- I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, while every opponent had no trouble puncturing me. The abysmally poor to-hit chance felt so completely unfair that after a week of being killed without any hope of defending myself, I finally applied a mod to change that. It probably made Morrowind "too easy," but whatever; it was vastly more fun after that.

The movement+combat thing in UU does feel odd, but it's really not too hard. Most opponents early on will only come after you one at a time (unless you've done something to aggro a group of otherwise non-hostile NPCs, in which case you're just getting what you deserve ). So there's time to get comfortable with using the controls to move and strike together.

And in UU, at least, you can actually hit what you aim at.

Flatfingers wrote: But was that due to freaky movement controls? Or to BethSoft linking your "to-hit" chance to your character level?

Movement controls, definitely movement controls.

By the time i had my sword pointing the right direction and managed to swing it i was at half health or so

Anyone else enjoy the video of stuff they can do with the new engine?

Charley_Deallus wrote:Anyone else enjoy the video of stuff they can do with the new engine?

I'm waiting to hear their war stories of "Unity made these physics gimmicks way harder than we expected."

On the other hand, the OtherSide team are now showing off some of the slick rendering tricks that Unity 5 enables. So hopefully that will end the "OMG it haz bad graphics!" complaints, freeing up those folks to find other things to complain about....

I highly enjoy the pretty steady emails I get with things they are trying out and just overall game mechanic development. As for what character class I would be...stealth is my game. I can blend in the other classes a bit but my ally is the darkness and surprise.


http://www.gog.com/promo/ea_weekend_pro ... y_Promo_EN

Dunno if that link works for everybody but all of the Ultima games are on GOG at a discount.

1,2,3 and 4,5,6 are sold in 3-packs for 2.39USD while the rest are sold individually for 2.39USD. 7, 8, 9, and Underworld 1 & 2.

New gameplay footage:
https://youtu.be/NLkX_s2euRk

Dem shadowbeasts.

The initial prototype is out.

Gameplay is still being developed, but the core systems are taking shape (even if they're not being allowed yet to bang into each other for fun emergent effects)... and the look of the game has improved significantly:
(Note that the actual game looks better than this -- the above image has aliasing from being a screen capture and is a compressed JPEG file.)

Flatfingers wrote:The initial prototype is out.

Like a few others here I've receive the steady stream of backer updates, Flat, but I'm not tempted to get involved to any great extent. The change in graphics is one that puts a smile on my face.

Back in the days when the original was released I only halfheartedly purchased the boxed copy. Once I started playing the game I realized it would consume many of my free time hours. I want to recapture that same experience with this new offering.

I guess I'm used to the old school way of producing games. Here's the game we hope you like it. KS tends to grind me down in the process of waiting for the finished article. It's probably age related.

Victor Tombs wrote:

Flatfingers wrote:The initial prototype is out.

Like a few others here I've receive the steady stream of backer updates, Flat, but I'm not tempted to get involved to any great extent. The change in graphics is one that puts a smile on my face.

Back in the days when the original was released I only halfheartedly purchased the boxed copy. Once I started playing the game I realized it would consume many of my free time hours. I want to recapture that same experience with this new offering.

I guess I'm used to the old school way of producing games. Here's the game we hope you like it. KS tends to grind me down in the process of waiting for the finished article. It's probably age related.

I played it and had fun with it but can't wait for future updates. I got confused with the magic a lot.

Flatfingers was mentioned in their "Stygian Sentinel Issue 35"

"Hello backers,

Many thanks for all the positive feedback about last month’s look at art director Nate Wells’ work on upping our visual bar. We appreciate all the kind words and support you’ve posted on our forums, like:

Flatfingers: “Much wowness. Looking good!”

Flug: “Looks wonderful, you've done us proud.”

Jordan Joestar: “After every update, I’m more proud and happy than before to be a backer of Underworld Ascendant. Very, very good job.”

Providing a peek at the game’s latest visuals had been one of your main requests, followed closely by progress on core systems and news about backer rewards.

So, this month, we’re digging into the rest!"



At least I think it is our Flatfingers

Who else would talk like that?



I am pretty pleased with their progress, though. These are the original people who "got" player-centric design, and it sounds like they're dialing that up to 11 in Underworld Ascendant.