Ultima IX - Retrospective @ Eurogamer.de

How many of those engine's were available in 2001 though?

I guess I thought that the U5 lazarus was started at that time, but u6p was started at a much later time..... could be I misunderstood this though!
 
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I think U6P was started very shortly afterwards, and they do obviously both use a lot of the same Project: Britannia assets.
 
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They were built concurrently. I do believe Laz started slightly earlier and had a bigger team, but I have no concrete knowledge of this. U6P is a much more robust game than Laz.
 
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Gothic 3 has always reminded me of Ultima IX.

  • 3rd person view
  • Best graphics at their time (basically)
  • Toolbar
  • Big expectations for it
  • Buggy as hell
  • Performance hungry
  • Poor game-play and combat
  • Unknown hero
  • End of trilogy

Yet in the end, I liked both of them. :)
 
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The main motivations for using the Dungeon Siege engine were the ability to have one huge map instead of smaller zones divided by a loading screen, the party, and the promised modding tools. Of course some things were very difficult to introduce. I was not involved with the technical side at all, but I know that sailing and moongates in particular caused a lot of problems.
 
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The main motivations for using the Dungeon Siege engine were the ability to have one huge map instead of smaller zones divided by a loading screen, the party, and the promised modding tools. Of course some things were very difficult to introduce. I was not involved with the technical side at all, but I know that sailing and moongates in particular caused a lot of problems.

since both were started in 2001 or near that time, I understand the decision.
 
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As disappointing as it may be to longtime Ultima fans, I still think UIX was better than VIII.

U8 is the only one I have never played more than 10 minutes. I bought the game shortly after it came out, but my PC just couldn't handle it and I put it away. By the time I thought of getting back around to it when I had a much better PC, U9 was about to come out and I was playing Baldur's Gate (which funny enough I only really bought to tide me over until U9 came out!)
 
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I disliked 8 slightly less than 9. Arcade jumping crap should NOT be in an RPG!!
 
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I agree that Ascension was the better game. I think I would be able to replay it and have some fun. I tried to replay Pagan last year and didn't even get to the first Titan.

I can take Pagan's story more seriously, and I like the setting. But the gameplay was awful. Ascension's exploration was actually quite good, and the combat and magic system showed some premise.

Unfortunately, Ascension was horribly unbalanced. When we were in contact with one of the team members, we learned that the damage multipliers for the "special attacks" you could buy were all set to 1! So unless you buy attacks that have special advantages (such as the stun move with the staff) you don't need to invest a single coin in training.
 
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I liked U8 far better than U9. Disregardng the arcade elements which more or less disappeared after patches, I found it much more ultimaish in story and depth, while U9 was extremely shallow in my eyes. (I still wonder whether it was a bad game or just a bad Ultima).
 
I liked U8 far better than U9. Disregardng the arcade elements which more or less disappeared after patches.

Agreed, I quite enjoyed U8. Some of the mechanics were very annoying, the hopscotch type puzzles and the fact that you improved your character by simply swinging your weapon, but I enjoyed the story quite a bit.

The use of the different magic systems was very good too. I loved the idea of the fire-magic rituals and creating the totems for the air spells. The lack of a party was fine for me too since it added to the sense of being hurled into another world where you were friendless and couldn't rely on having your old companions' aid.
 
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I liked both U8 and U9 - but then, I never played any of the previous ones. I was an Amiga guy - and the Ultima ports were pretty shoddy back then, and as a kid I didn't have too many legal copies of the games.

I always wanted to play U7 - but I can't get past how awful the combat system is.

U8 was probably the strongest of the two, but I REALLY enjoyed U9 for its immersion. Since I wasn't an Ultima-lore dude, I didn't have a problem with the story or characters. I actually thought it was kinda cool in terms of the virtue stuff.

That said, I think U9 has possibly the BEST dungeons of any non-dungeon dedicated CRPG I've ever played - and I LOVE dungeons.
 
That confirms/strengthens my view that U9 maybe wasn't a bad game, just a bad Ultima.

As an oldie, I'm just glad that I got the Ultima experience before things started going downhill, I rate the U7 games as the second best CRPG's I've played, after PS:T.
 
Agreed, I quite enjoyed U8. Some of the mechanics were very annoying, the hopscotch type puzzles and the fact that you improved your character by simply swinging your weapon, but I enjoyed the story quite a bit.

The use of the different magic systems was very good too. I loved the idea of the fire-magic rituals and creating the totems for the air spells. The lack of a party was fine for me too since it added to the sense of being hurled into another world where you were friendless and couldn't rely on having your old companions' aid.

And where howling zombies came up from the ground. Great (and they scared my daughters).
 
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