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Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Ultima IV - Next up, the Abyss

Other than the fights, Ultima IV isn't bad.

The quest was unique, and the end quest - go find and read a book of wisdom - so you can be an example to all people to aspire to being better people - is also so.

It's pretty enough.

But I'm not going to finish it just yet.

What's halted me at the moment is the next thing to do is the final dungeon - the Abyss. I'm fully equipped, I have a map (to be fair, the game comes with complete dungeon maps), I'm loaded up with spells, etc. . . . but you can't save in the dungeon, and everything resets when you leave. Based on how long it took to do most of level 1, I'm looking at a good 4-5 hours in a game I can't pause or save. It's a good rainy day project for when I don't have other responsibilities upcoming. If I could break it up into hour-long chunks I'd be fine.

It'll be nice to finally check Ultima IV off the "to do" list.


There is a dungeon underneath that red field in the middle of all of that lava.

So I need to walk across it, then use the Bell, Book, and Candle to open the pathway, to climb down to:



It's just that annoying bit - "Quit & Save" - "Not here!"

Yeah, sorry I just need to have a life outside of gaming sometimes. Sigh.

4 comments:

  1. Those graphics! Not far from Ultima][ and Alkalabeth World of Doom from my bvb Apple][+ days. Fond memories.

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    1. It's a mere 4 years after Ultima 1!

      They didn't change the dungeons from first-person line drawing movement until later - hopefully V, and I'm sure they did by VI. I played VI a lot. IIRC I finished it through twice.

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    2. Dungeons in V are the same as in IV, but combat is a little better. V is the first game where you can attack on diagonals and I think it was the first where bad guys will flee. Also they cut the party size down which really helps speed fights up. Also preparing spells is streamlined from IV, which I remember being very happy about.

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    3. Thanks for the preview.

      Monsters flee in Ultima IV, too - and letting non-evil creatures flee if they try is a big part of getting your Compassion level up.

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