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grimwerk: http://www.u5lazarus.com/
Lazarus is a devoted remake of Ultima 5, using the Dungeon Siege engine. It's really well done.

http://u6project.com/wp/
Ultima 6 was remade using the same engine. I suspect many of the Lazarus folks were involved. I haven't tried it yet, but I expect that it, too, is really well done.
Are those mods even up to polish and even finsihed? Also out of all the games why Dungeon Siege?
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Elmofongo: Are those mods even up to polish and even finsihed? Also out of all the games why Dungeon Siege?
Lazarus is polished. Lazarus is excellent.
http://www.u5lazarus.com/Praise.php

I haven't played the second game, but it has had its final release.

Why Dungeon Siege? is answered here:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=7991

There were a two main reasons for using Dungeon Siege. First, its node-based engine was perfectly suited for making a very large, open-world game that the player could explore without ever seeing a load screen. Next, the flexibility of the engine for modding purposes was incredible, allowing us to do everything from replacing core elements of the UI, to reinventing the dialogue system, to creating entirely new creatures and architecture from scratch, to implementing dynamic ship travel!
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chadjenofsky: Hi Gogitizens!

So I am considering buying the Ultima collection, but would like people's opinions. The problem is that my one and only experience with Ultima was the SNES Ultima: Black Gate which I found to be really awful. It seemed some dungeons were buggy, and I wasn't too happy with the graphics or game play. Seemed to me to be a slow play-through that really got on my nerves. Then again, maybe I just wasn't into cRPG back then... Assuming this game was a good representation of cRPGs from that era.

Is the Ultima series strictly for die-hard RPG fans who have been forged in the green fires of Kaldratho and a +4 in Dexterity? I read that the SNES port of this was bad, if so, then it's a shame my introduction to this line has been tarnished.

What would be your opinion of recommending this series to someone who isn't an RPG fanboi?
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Elmofongo: Be warned about Ultima 4.

To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins at once oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.

Other than that I have not played the rest of the series, but I did like Utilma Underworld. Give that a try.
But there are other ways to gain virtue! ;)
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yogsloth: The really good ones have aged poorly, and the more recent ones weren't that good to begin with.

My advice for non-RPG fanatics is to start elsewhere. Might and Magic series (start with 3), for example.
^ This.
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qwixter: The DOS version of U7 was a nightmare for me to get running at release. I remember that it needed so much memory that it needed its own boot configuration.
Oh dear lord, this takes me back. I remember I had to use an alternate boot config to my uncompressed hard drive, and could either have sound, or mouse functionality, but not both. Ah, the fun of working with that 640k base ram.

Personally, I've played 1, 3, 7 (both parts), and 8. Of those, I'd say Serpent Isle was the best (#7, part 2). I always wanted to try 6 though. I don't know if the version of Pagan included here includes the patch for better jumping or not, but if not, I highly recommend using that, as it makes a world of difference for the jumping sections.
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Elmofongo: Be warned about Ultima 4.

To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins at once oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.
That's more of an exploit than something "you have to do". I don't think knocking off an entire virtue in one go was ever intended, and it's not a fun way to play. At least not in my opinion.
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chadjenofsky: So I am considering buying the Ultima collection, but would like people's opinions. The problem is that my one and only experience with Ultima was the SNES Ultima: Black Gate which I found to be really awful.
I wasn't sure if that's the one that was a port of the PC version or if it was the bad one (Runes of Virtue) which was a port of a gameboy game.

The worse experience of playing The Black Gate on SNES was the UI for the interface was horrible (since it wasn't using a mouse) so managing that was a pain. I haven't played the game personally, but although functional it needed some modifications.

Spoony talks about Ultima extensively, might look it over.
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Elmofongo: Be warned about Ultima 4.

To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins at once oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.
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Barefoot_Monkey: That's more of an exploit than something "you have to do". I don't think knocking off an entire virtue in one go was ever intended, and it's not a fun way to play. At least not in my opinion.
Yeah, if you basically flip a coin to the beggar whenever you're in town, you'll most likely be okay.
Thank you so much for all your comments! I wish I can mark the question solved by all of you, but I don't think Gog will let me. :-( (So I'll +1 everyone)
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InfraSuperman: ...
Thank you, InfraSuperman! See, that's what I'm after in a game... the story and immersion. I sensed that even in the SNES which made me wonder about the previous history discussed inside Ultima 7: The Black Gate.

Based on this and several other people's opinions, I've decided to take a chance and buy them--even though it might not be a good intro to RPG like Might & Magic could be as mentioned by yogsloth and muun. (I'll keep them in mind if any special sale arises!)
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Antimateria: You should buy it and gift me ultima 8. =)
Yeah... I'll take that under consideration... However, it just so happens that I now have a spare key for Witcher 2 available! Want it? =P


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advancedhero: Short answer: YES!
Long answer: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
TL;DR! ;-) Thanks for the input!


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grimwerk: ...
Are mods easy to install with Gog's version of games?


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rtcvb32: The worse experience of playing The Black Gate on SNES was the UI for the interface was horrible (since it wasn't using a mouse) so managing that was a pain. I haven't played the game personally, but although functional it needed some modifications.
I hadn't realized the game had been stripped of violence until now, and the gameplay was just hideous... Watching Spoony's commentary about Ultima 7's SNES port reminded me about some of the pointless quests. The worst was having to go into a dungeon for something, but somehow ended getting teleported out before finishing, but not having to go back in because for whatever reason the game forgot I still hadn't retrieved some item??? That was the only relief I felt.