Of course, the downside for Ultima is that it's all downhill from here!
(Still hoping they've managed to secure the Worlds of Ultima titles, though. They're a really interesting pair of curios)
GOG News and Updates 2011
- Thread starter Minsc
- Start date
Of course, the downside for Ultima is that it's all downhill from here!
(Still hoping they've managed to secure the Worlds of Ultima titles, though. They're a really interesting pair of curios)
Minsc
Gold Member
Never really played the Ultima games except for a little of III (i think) on the NES, so I'm curious to see how these hold up when I try them.
Good catch, looks like every EA title has been $6 so far.
Good catch, looks like every EA title has been $6 so far.
Diomedeskun
Member
I've mostly played Ultima VII with EXUlt in recent years, which has filters for the graphics and extra options for the interface, but it still holds up really well. The Black Gate is huge and wide open, with a level of interactivity I haven't seen in any other RPG ever. Serpent Isle is less ambitious, but more polished in many ways, despite the fact that it was rushed and some game elements are clearly unfinished. If you only make one Ultima purchase, make it Ultima VII.
I remember a happy hour or so spent doing naught but baking bread.
You know, I have absolutely no intentions of replaying Ultima 8, but I would give Ultima 9 another shot if it gets a release on GOG. I mean the game was barely playable back then for me and I was playing the superior Glide version already. Can't imagine how terrible the Direct3D version ran.
Since Christmas is coming up, and therefore I'm thinking in a saley mood, I'm trying to recall what happened last year - specifically, I *think* that the various Infinity Engine RPGs *weren't* placed on sale, since they were both a huge coup for the site and a fairly recent addition at the time. Can anyone confirm my memories?
If that's the case, then on a similar note, I would not be surprised if EA content is excluded from this year's sale in a similar manner - or, at the very least, the most recent releases. We'll see, I guess.
If that's the case, then on a similar note, I would not be surprised if EA content is excluded from this year's sale in a similar manner - or, at the very least, the most recent releases. We'll see, I guess.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I do remember buying all those D&D RPGs when they were on sale though... so if they weren't on sale during the Christmas sale, they must have gone on sale soon after.
There was a sale around... August, I think?
Edit: Found it. http://www.gog.com/en/news/all_dand...s_weekend_during_our_3rd_birthday_celebration. It was their first promo to use the sliding discount system.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Ah, I just checked: "Purchased on Dec 15, 2010"
So it was a pre-Christmas sale!
So it was a pre-Christmas sale!
I really didn't think there were any sales on that until the September one. Is there a pricetag on the purchase?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
No, but given that I bought all the D&D games that day, it must have been a franchise sale. I definitely waited to buy them on sale though... since that's just the way of things when it comes to GOG and Steam.
SnipeyMcGee
Member
Only other Ultima games I've purchased were Ultima Underworld 1-2 which I haven't gotten around to playing yet. But Ultima 7 sounds really outstanding-- I think I'm going to take the plunge after work. As a fan of crpgs like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, what kind of story and gameplay can I expect with U7?
Forge of Virtue and The Silver Seed are both expansion packs for parts 1 and 2 of the main game respectively.
I seem to remember a comment that the main issue with expansions was not quite being sure exactly where the rights lay with them. I guess they *were* sure for Ultima!
Versipellis
Member
I think it was easier with U7, 'cause a package including the two parts+expansions came out back then (Ultima VII Complete). It's like the Zork collection including Planetfall: there would be no reason for them to include that game, but since that collection was published with Planetfall included, they just used it for the GOG release.
Versipellis
Member
The perspective (according to the Exult guys) is a -135 oblique projection. Drawing the sprites must have been a real hell for the artists.
It's a direct evolution of the top-down perspective from older Ultimas and it's a way to avoid the issue of having NPCs and objects hidden by buildings and such.
Somebody tried to see how it would look with an isometric view, Ultima VIII style.
Not bad, I guess.
Found it! The D&D games *were* included in the Christmas sale last year - but *not for the full duration*. The Atari games timed out around the 22ndish.
Versipellis
Member
It seems the package comes with DOSbox.
For those looking for higher resolutions (with a larger view area) and some nice upgrades, I suggest using Exult. The only real problem here, is that the combat system is not the original one (since they don't have the source code).
http://exult.sourceforge.net/index.php
For those looking for higher resolutions (with a larger view area) and some nice upgrades, I suggest using Exult. The only real problem here, is that the combat system is not the original one (since they don't have the source code).
http://exult.sourceforge.net/index.php
ZombieSupaStar
Member
wasn't there other stuff they dont have emulated, like npc schedules or something?
Versipellis
Member
I'm pretty sure I've seen NPCs working eating and sleeping according to a schedule, but I never checked out the original version to see if they work in any different way (I suppose so, but I can't say how much they differ).
charlequin
Banned
Just so I can remember: what games (besides SMAC) are missing expansion packs again?
Magic Carpet, Populous, Wing Commander 1 & 2, and Dungeon Keeper.
I can't remember if Privateer had an expansion or not, if it did add that to the list.
I was going to go with Exult until I read this. The official page also mentions a nasty bug about disappearing items that will break your savegame.
Is the Exult battle system entirely different or something? I guess the benefits of Exult outweigh the downsides?
It's unfortunate that the other games are missing expansion packs but this hurts the most. Wing Commander 2 is the first game I ever played on my own PC (not counting a C64) and its expansion pack structure directly influenced my views on DLC. Really well-done stuff that directly continues the main campaign.
The strange part is that the Wing Commander CIC fansite believes that EA already owns the rights to the Wing Commander expansions so they should have been included in the GOG release.
Righteous Fire.
Versipellis
Member
With Exult you can add some mods, like the one for SI that fixes some quests or the other one (keyring mod) that adds the keyring item to The Black Gate (no more need for a bag full of keys).
Then, as I said, you have more control over the resolution (+ various filters) and a new GUI for system options (like save and restore).
In earlier builds, combat seemed to be a bit on the easy side, but the core is still the same: confusing and messy, like the original
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
So bought. Thanks for the heads-up!
SturokBGD
Member
By sheer coincidence, RPS did a "Gaming Made Me" on Ultima VII recently.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/14/gaming-made-me-ultima-vii/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/14/gaming-made-me-ultima-vii/
diffusionx
Gold Member
I got pretty far in U9 back in the day. It was awful. It's not just bad for Ultima, it's bad for everything. This great series ending with that turd was practically criminal.
Versipellis
Member
There's a cheat mode in Exult.
charlequin
Banned
Oog.
I remember there was a statement a while back about the expansion problem with EA's GOG games getting fixed eventually; I wonder what happened with that.
They had to reverse engineer a lot of things because the Exult devs didn't have access to the original source code.
So it's as close an approximation to how they think the U7 battle system works, as they can get.
Diomedeskun
Member
I've been using Exult for years, and I played through the original version of the game on DOS before that. When I first played through U7 using Exult, battle was much easier than the original game, as many stats and behaviors were seemingly ignored, but it is much better now. I have never had a problem, and you can quicksave with Exult, so I would recommend using it and just saving frequently. It might have an autosave slot too, I can't remember. Regardless, the addition of the keyring mod and Serpent Isle paperdolls in The Black Gate make it worthwhile, plus there are a whole host of options. The original game also has some bugs corrected in Exult and the keyring mod and SI tweaks mod.
Try it out both with and without Exult if you want. You can install Exult in an entirely separate directory than the game.
Yeah, I set it up last night. There's absolutely no chance that I'm going back to the original release now. The increased resolution options alone are reason enough to stay.
BTW, are there any mods for an improved backpack? I was surprised to see that there's no way to sort items and it's a little crazy how the item icons can overlap.
BTW, are there any mods for an improved backpack? I was surprised to see that there's no way to sort items and it's a little crazy how the item icons can overlap.
Maybe (probably!) I'm reading too much to this, but note this little sequence of tweets:
I'll save you the trouble of clicking the link; it's the 'Populous' page of the catalogue, so it currently lists Populous and Populous II.
Now, here's the thing: This reads to me that GoG are saying "You want Populous: The Beginning? Look at our catalogue. Observe that we have Populous and Populous II. I wonder what that means is coming next?"
I'm now expecting P:TB either tomorrow or sometime next week
Shogundarius said:
gogcom said:@shogundarius http://t.co/E8DTafoF
I'll save you the trouble of clicking the link; it's the 'Populous' page of the catalogue, so it currently lists Populous and Populous II.
Now, here's the thing: This reads to me that GoG are saying "You want Populous: The Beginning? Look at our catalogue. Observe that we have Populous and Populous II. I wonder what that means is coming next?"
I'm now expecting P:TB either tomorrow or sometime next week
Versipellis
Member
The only "mod" I know is filling your backpack with bags and crates and then sorting out the items yourself by filling those containers accordingly. Crazy, just crazy. But so hardcore
Oh wow. That takes me back...Ultima on the NES. Good times.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
The real tragedy is that three
Populous games are up and no Theme Hospital or Theme Park *goes ssj4 power level 14 million bro u wanna fight i'll give u a fight K A M E HA M E HA!!!!! ur reduced to rubble *blows smoke off finga gun* mess with da best die like da rest*
crummy
Confession time:
I don't think Theme Hospital is a very good game.
It's amusing, but it trades too much *on* the amusement and not enough on other factors. Every major disease is basically the same; develop a cure, build a room, treat it. Layout generally isn't *that* important, provided you don't create something insane. It just, well, needs more variety.
That said, I've not played it in years. If it appears on GoG, I'll probably pick it up to see if my opinion's changed since then.
New release: Desperados 2
I wonder if that means this batch of EA titles is done, or if they're moving on for a bit to mixed releases rather than turning over several in a row to one publisher.
I wonder if that means this batch of EA titles is done, or if they're moving on for a bit to mixed releases rather than turning over several in a row to one publisher.
U8's got a much more arcadey focus to it; no party, smaller world, *woeful* jumping puzzles.
To be fair, I don't think U8 is *that* bad - if a heavy departure from the established structure of the series - but, well, most things would be downhill from the majesty that is U7.
I wonder if that's nearly it for the EA stuff in general. They announced it at 25+ games, right? Seeing 27 listed if bundles games are counted individually.
I enjoyed U8 for what it was, but the feel of the world was incredibly sterile.
It didn't help that large sections of the game had to be cut, as well as the Lost Vale expansion being cancelled. Which would have expanded a lot more on the ancient Zealan culture, and their deities, that preceded the elemental Titans.
Of course after what was cut from Serpent Isle, it's not surprising Ultima 8 was unfinished.
Minsc
Gold Member
Only up to 19 or 20 (depending on if you count Ultima 4 twice). They said bundled games are counted as a single release.
These are the EA releases since the announcement, and they said there was 25+ packages from signing them (given they could get them all running), so there should still be one more batch, at the very least. I hope anyway!
Probably for next year though, as they'll stop releasing new games in another 2-3 weeks, and skip the last week or two of the month if it's like last year.That's reassuring.