On to Ultima IX: Ascension: To mod, or not to mod?

Gottfried Leibniz once described a concept in his theodicy that was much satirised by philosophers in its attempt to come to grips with the problem of evil in the world. Basically it espouses the idea that god had made earth the "best of all possible worlds".

What does this have to do with Ultima IX: Ascension? Well, in the final chapter of my Ultima journey, I am seriously considering adding mods to the game in order to make the experience the "best" (I use the word loosely) that it can possibly be at this point in time. (Naturally, someone can always argue that you can make a better world!)

Although this will be my first time actually playing the whole game (I've started the tutorial a couple of times out of sheer curiousity...) it's one of the few games where I've felt that one or two mods from the very beginning is probably a good idea. I've read enough Ultima dragon testaments and other let down fans stories of despair for how the series finished and so, wish to improve upon the core game if I can - and potentially avoid the pitfalls of expectation.

Thus to my central question: Should I mod the game from the start and if so, what mods would you advise that I add to make it "the best of all possible 3D Brittannia's that there conceivably could be?

Some recommendations would be great, thanks!

So far, I have patched to 1.18f and added a better economy and extra hp for monsters mod and dialogue mod (courtesy of our own Grandor Dragon, I believe...).
I'm trying to look forward to playing this game as best I can.
If I can get a Gothic-lite experience out of it - then good. Certainly not
expecting a masterpiece to rival U4 or U7!

Cheers

Pessimeister said:

Some recommendations would be great, thanks!

So far, I have patched to 1.18f and added a better economy and extra hp for monsters mod and dialogue mod (courtesy of our own Grandor Dragon, I believe…).
I'm trying to look forward to playing this game as best I can.
If I can get a Gothic-lite experience out of it - then good. Certainly not
expecting a masterpiece to rival U4 or U7!

Cheers

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If 1.18f the 'unofficial' patch? If not, get that one as it fixes a lot of bugs. I used the community dialogue patch. Definitely connects better with the series story arc, but you have to turn off the voice acting or sometimes what comes out of the speakers won't match the text on the screen.

Those were the only ones I've done. There are a couple others that add some areas back, but I never tried them, worried they might break the game. There's one that allows you to explore anywhere from the beginning, rather than have areas open up to you. I avoided that as well.

Thanks for the heads up on the unofficial patch.
I've just downloaded 1.19f (from here http://www.ultimaaiera.com/ultima9/ultima-9-unofficial-patch/#comments)

As much as I'd prefer a more open world like experience true to the older games, if installing one comes with a risk of breaking the game too much, I think I'll avoid them as well - at least in the short term.

I can't remember the name of it, but there was a program someone made a few years back that allowed you to change the key bindings and tweak the mouse sensitivity.

There is a file in your Ultima 9 folder that you can edit to change the controls. The controls in U9 does take some getting used to, but once you are familiar with them, they actually work rather well.

As for the game itself, I do believe that if it had not been named Ultima (and released in a less buggy state) it would not have been hated by CRPG lovers, because while it sure has some flaws, it is not a horrible game.

Anyway, the dialogue patch makes the game a lot better, but it might be worth experiencing the game as it was released (-bugs), just to have done it.

I figured out how to manually alter the key bindings in order to go to a standard WASD style of play. You just have to alter the values in the default options config file.

I went with honesty at the Gyspy tent - and so will thus build a mage character.

My early impressions are a little mixed - slightly clumsy/naff melee combat, wooden voice acting and Britain seems very under-populated. But on the other hand, I love the aesthetics and atmosphere; it really does beckon further exploration.
This is assisted of course by the wonderful memory filled music.

Still, it's early days and I'm looking forward to the dungeon crawling puzzle elements. I've already wandered into the garden maze and found a nice flaming sword.

Pessimeister said:

Britain seems very under-populated.

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That was the killer for me I think. I could have let the combat slide. I could have let the non-openess slide. I could have let a lot of the inconsistencies with prior games slide. But I couldn't let slide the emptiness of the world. I'd come to expect bustling cities with lots of people, each with their own schedule. Instead it was a handful of people here and there. The world felt empty and left a hollow feeling in me everything I played it.

For an open-world 3D game released in 1999, I can understand why the world isn't more populated. Sure, it would have been nice if there were more NPCs, but the game could barely run on systems back then as it was.

That's a great point, JDR13 and I think it helps to maintain some perspective when considering when the game was released. I remember I had an 800 mhz Duron machine at the time and it could barely run it!

Also, some games that were released after Ascension were even more guilty of the 'empty' feeling - Dungeon Lords for example comes to mind.

In any case, I've just finished up dungeon Despise and are searching for the shrine of compassion before heading back to see Lord British to see what will come next.
I quite liked having to take it slowly through a dungeon for a change and solving each of the little puzzle rooms.

Whilst I'm yet to really start building my mage skills, I found a really neat shield. (The Kiran Shield)

If anyone has any small tips with using the spell system more effectively, I'd appreciate it. So far I've only been spamming the minor stone-throw (with some amusing effects.)

JDR13 said:

For an open-world 3D game released in 1999, I can understand why the world isn't more populated. Sure, it would have been nice if there were more NPCs, but the game could barely run on systems back then as it was.

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Very true. Which is one of many reasons I wish they'd just kept developing the 3-D isometric one (or used the assets from UO)!

I will say this. To this day, it has the best sunsets I've ever seen in a game.

Pessimeister said:

That's a great point, JDR13 and I think it helps to maintain some perspective when considering when the game was released.

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I agree as well. I can still remember how obsessed I was playing pong on my Atari 2600 - it was the first videogame I ever played on my home TV and it was AMAZING and REVOLUTIONARY to be a participant of the on-screen action. Perspective is everything - a lot of people, especially younger games lack that, though perhaps at no fault of their own, we all have to start somewhere.

Hi,

- if you alter anything in ini files, don't change the walk or run speed; it couses bugs (cruxial triggers wont go off)

- check out
http://www.forgottenworld.de/
and get the music fix

- i know the community dialogue patch is supposed to be great. for me the voice acting was important for the over all atmosphere

Have fun,

Parc

And just have to say it: I love this game. Despite all its flaws, It has given me the best game experience ever. I keep coming back.

P

I've played a little bit more...cleansed the shrine of Compassion and upgraded armour now to chain mail and wandered around Paws for a bit.

I've also sussed out the magic system a little more - just dug out my manuals and had a good read. They're wonderfully crafted texts - as those who have the dragon edition of Ascension can attest to.

I'm pleased that the spell creation system developed in U8 Pagan in the Sorcerer's Enclave, has made an albeit simplied return to Ascension. Binding my first few spells now.

Overall, the game is quite fun and pleasant to play. I really like the relaxed pace.

I've had a few crashes though and experienced an odd freezing bug at a bridge just outside of Paws where it seems something should happen, but doesn't. Fingers crossed it's not a game-stopper....

Something else that was quite strange - my motherboard started beeping whilst I was exploring one of the nearby lighthouses, something it hasn't done since I blew my blue orb cooler fan a couple of years ago during a summer heat wave.
I switched everything off, gave the heatsink a good clean out and booted it up again - but still got the beep. I then tried lowering the graphic mip-map quality to medium and strangely enough, after 10 seconds - this appeared to work. (?)
I've since not had any issues. Weird!
I wondered whether any code in the unofficial 1.19f patch may be indirectly responsible. (Direct 3D tweaks).

It's kind of ironic - because I've not had anything like this happen with any modern games and Ascension was certainly cutting edge when it came out.

@Parcival Rex. Thanks for the link and your comments. I'm enjoying the game too so far, flaws and all.

@The Madgamer. I can empathise with that - I remember being in total awe of my family's pong machine as well back in '83-84 or so. We had a Grenada Glorytoneeda. The thing used to terrify me with the alienesque analog belching sounds it used to make!

I've had a few crashes though and experienced an odd freezing bug at a bridge just outside of Paws where it seems something should happen, but doesn't. Fingers crossed it's not a game-stopper….

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Was it the bridge just before paws (from Britain)? In that case, you missed out on

Thanks Fnord! :lol:

That's definitely the very same bridge. I now think I know why the cut-scene didn't start: The goblin in question was being attacked by a rat!
Maybe if I can pick off the rat from distance and return at a later date, the scene will happen as normal. Something to try when I play again...

With all the patches you have, there are (fingers crossed) no game-stopping bugs left.
Two tips:
- When you cleanse a shrine an you do not find the purified glyph after the ritual, look up. Its probably hanging in mid-air. During my last replay of the game i had to cheat/fly the glyphs a couple of times.
- When you arive in New Magincia (later on in the game, af Hythloth) save often. There is green mist around that will test your processor and cooler to the max (even on a new computer).

Parc

parcival rex said:

And just have to say it: I love this game. Despite all its flaws, It has given me the best game experience ever. I keep coming back.

P

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I can certainly understand people that enjoyed the game, but honestly, I find this incomprehensible. To each his own though!