Ultima IV: Flash Version

zzajin

innocent bystander
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And for those who want to try real, real, old-school 3D and Garriotts very first game: a recreation of Akalabeth has just been released on the itunes App-store.
 
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Bah, that flash version is nothing compared to Sega Master System version, which is far superior in mechanics (you can aim etc), in graphics and in sound. And it's Java based instead of Flash, though computer is capable of handling both like most modern systems are.

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You can play it here as well as dozens of other great SMS games like Phantasy Star I and Wonder Boy. Try it! :)

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As the author of the Flash version of Ultima 4, I just want to thank zzajin for posting a link to my game. The game is actually up to version 1.0.10 now. I'm currently getting ready to deploy this as a Facebook app, so I'm hoping to get people reaquainted with this GREAT game from the past.

Ergonpandilus, I've been aware of the Java version (in fact it was the inspiration to try to redo the game in Flash), but I found that the game always crashed when I entered a city. Perhaps you've had better luck with it? :(

I know that there's quite a bit of difference of opinion about which version was better for playing the game: the classic computer version, or the console version. I myself grew up playing the original game on the Apple IIe, so I went for the 'classic' style. That's why I chose that particular gameplay version because I wanted to be faithful. to my original memories of the game.

If you're interested… I have included beautiful scans of the original manuals inside the game. So if you need to look up spell formulae it's only a button click away (which is kinda cool IMHO).

I've also put the following features into the game to try to improve on the basic gameplay. I'd luv for you guys to give it a try and let me know what you think:

Features :
•Play Ultima IV online with no further downloads required. Use any of the current browsers to play: Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or IE.
•Save your game data right into your browser.
•Dropped chests have four different levels according to monster difficulty. Thus there's more incentive to take down Gazers or Balrons versus Giant Rats.
•There are now nine different chest traps: Acid, Arrow, Bomb, Blades, Death Bolt, Gas Cloud, Mana Drain, Poison, and Sleep.
•Random world monsters are specified by region, so you are more likely to encounter undead in the Fens of the Dead, or Pirates in the vicinity of Buccaneer's Den.
•Ultima V style reagent mixing. Specify how many cures you want to make, enter the reagents, and then be told if you were successful or not.
•Ultima V style camping. Specify how may hours you want to sleep and who would like to stand guard.
•See monsters, chests, and transports on view spells or peer gems.
•Resize the browser window to play in full-screen mode.
•Removed sleep exploit to remove poison.
•To be able to search for objects, players need to talk to people first. You can't just wander into Lord British's castle and search in the treasure room.
•Multiple keywords can be used to trigger conversation topics: e.g. you can ask about black or stone at the Britain pub.
•Different cursors let players know when there is more pages of text to be read in a conversation response.
•Dungeon fields appear as transparent coloured barriers so you can see any monsters hiding behind them.
•Game has different combat animations to differentiate between attacks of poison, sleep, electricity, and flame.
•There are now 20 different wandering storm monsters that obscure player vision in the world. Watch out for a dragon hiding behind that passing twister.
•Winds are 'less random', and more likely to stay in one direction for a given period of time with less periods of CALM WINDS.
•The original game data has been completely transferred into XML making the game almost completely data driven.

Again, thanks for all the comments and I hope you are all able to enjoy my 'revisioning' of this great and classic RPG of the past,
Blair Leggett
 
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I considered posting it on the news page, but you would get a C&D from EAs' lawyers within days.
 
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I considered posting it on the news page, but you would get a C&D from EAs' lawyers within days.

Actually… no not really. Ultima 4 was released as freeware in 2001. Also, I worked at EA for 7 years… so while I would not welcome a call from the legal department. I might say hi to some of the people I worked with. ;)

Please post a link to my game wherever you feel is approptiate.

Thanks,
Blair
 
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Personally I didn't know that a word like "fukwit" exists at all.
 
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Okay, it was suggested I move my comments here because the dev lurks in this thread: The gist? The game's combat is set much harder than the original making this game's focus totally different.

It's definitely not using the normal game's stats. I played through this for about 15 hours over the last few days and the combat is seriously in the monster's favor. I read through the patch notes and the guy has increased the difficulty in combat. It makes the game very frustrating. I'd suggest skipping this until he tweaks it back. I just started playing on an emulator and the combat is MUCH easier.

Version 1.0.08 (Mon. May 24, 2010)
- Monsters now appear on dungeon peer at gem/view spell displays.
- Improved monster move algorithm for dungeons.
- Magic Axes have an animation that shows them returning to their user.
- Ladder buffer overflow problem (climbing a ladder in LBC and holding down a movement key) is now fixed.
- Monster's no longer dissappear when crossing over the edges of the world map.
- Monsters will now follow a player's ship over the edges of the world map.
- Talk Help text is now triggered with -1, and Spell Summary with -2. (fixes an incompatibility with IE Browsers)
- Players can now shoot over sleeping party members.
- Players can now shoot through all ship walls. (Previously the 'angled' walls blocked player's shots)
- Dungeon monsters will now chase players through dungeon halls.
- Resurrect can no longer be cast during combat.
- Fixed some problems on the start up menu when you are creating your character and then pressing the mouse button.
- Monsters are now much tougher.

The guy missed the point of the game. It's not about the combat. It's about becoming virtuous and being an example.
 
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A couple of early game examples. I rolled up a fighter (Valor) and picked up Dupre (Honor). Got 2 orcs in the first battle right outside Trinsic. Easy. Next battle? 7 skeletons and 3 mages. Wipe! Wake up in Castle. Go outside, get enough money to buy a bow. Fight some rogues and lose all my gold. Then 3 cyclops and 3 ettins. Wipe! Lost my bow that I had just bought too. I don't think the Facebook crowd will like the monster tweaks, but that's just my opinion. I was also counting groups of monsters in the Apple II emulator and this flash game. The flash game has about 5 times as many encounters and each one is way more difficult to win.
 
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Your version of the game doesn't allow you to save in dungeons. To me, this is an absolute dealbreaker. The dungeoneering aspect of the early Ultima games is incredibly tedious. I replayed this game last year, but the version allowed saving (and restoring saved games) anywhere. There is simply no way I would have replayed the game without this feature.

It boggles my mind how Richard Garriott could have possible conceived that this was an acceptable design decision. In particular, the Stygian Abyss is an absolute nightmare, which could easily take several hours to finish. Make one mistake, and you have to start the damn thing all over. At any rate, I applaud your effort, but you really should consider revamping your design.

Just my opinion… :)
 
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Let me retract my earlier statement somewhat. The game is still very hard outside, but I've found that dabbling in the dungeons is the best way to ramp up party gold. I'm just basically running in and out of the same room over and over and it constantly restocks 6 chests. This will allow me to eventually buy up reagents, weapons, and armor. It's cheesy, but my party's survival depends on this tactic.
 
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Damn, this doesn't sound good.

No saving in dungeons is a dealbreaker for me, too. I'm too old for this shit, I play every part of a game exactly once.
 
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Agreed, it's a pain. In 1987 it made sense. Today? Nope.
 
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