This FAQ is somewhat haphazard, but it's divided into three main sections: Setup, Strategy Tips, and Miscellaneous. There aren't any of what I'd call "spoilers" in this FAQ -- if you must cheat, there is a "walkthrough" for Ultima III on my web page (see above). If March 1996 seems like a long time ago, drop by my web page to see if there's a more recent version of this FAQ.
•SETUP•
Ultima III is slow on my older Mac, how do I speed up the game?
Many of the selections in the Options pull-down menu can be turned off in order to speed up the game, specifically: Turn OFF Strictly Quickdraw, Shape Masking, and/or Music to increase the playability on slower Macs.
Ultima III crashes every time I launch it!
This seems to occur mainly because of an incompatibility with Speech Manager 1.1.1; download a newer version of Speech Manager (see "Where do I get Speech Manager?" elsewhere in this FAQ) and that should solve the problem. If there's anything else that causes Ultima III to crash, I don't know about it. Ultima III v1.3 detects the incompatibility and will let you know before any crashing occurs.
What's some of the new stuff in Ultima III version 1.3?
You can return to the main menu from within the game without quitting, create characters much easier, have your party resurrected if they all die, optionally move diagonally, optionally have the combat handled automatically, save the game only when you ask it to, and more. Many of the optional features must be turned on in the Custom Settings… dialog box.
What does registering the game get me?
Until you register, you simply can't visit the land of Ambrosia. Unfortunately, that's where you can raise your abilities and get items necessary to solve the game.
Where do I get Sound Manager 3.x?
Sound Manager 3.1 (current version as of this writing) is available on Apple's FTP site at:
Be sure to turn on Speech in the Options menu after you install Speech Manager. WARNING: This file is over 5 megabytes.
I heard that the people should have different voices, but they all sound the same!
You need to download Apple's voices from the above location (part of the archive).
What other goodies are available to make Ultima III more interesting?
Three things that I know of: 1) the Ultima III Character Editor will let you cheat your characters in most any way imaginable, 2) the Ultima III Editor will let you edit the maps [and more as it develops], and 3) the Ultima III Portraits patch will replace the normal character portraits with fantasy [like Boris Vallejo] style artwork. You can get all three of these from the usual Mac archives; see my web page (listed at the top of this document).
All of the text is unreadable in Ultima III, I can't play!
This shouldn't happen to you with Ultima III version 1.3. If you have an older version, upgrade to version 1.3 — it'll tell you exactly what font on your system is conflicting with Ultima III.
•STRATEGY TIPS•
This game seems really hard, almost impossible. Is something wrong with me?
No, Ultima III is just difficult until you learn some important tidbits about it. Read the rest of this FAQ and you'll be enlightened.
I need some tips on creating a party of adventurers.
With Ultima III v1.3, this is a lot easier. Upgrade if you have an older version. I personally suggest a combination of a Ranger, Thief, Cleric, and a Wizard. Ultima III v1.3 will automatically select an appropriate race and starting abilities for whatever character classes you choose.
How about some combat tips?
Ultima III v1.3 will allow you to turn on automatic combat, although this is kind of a cop-out. Regardless, you need to buy bows for all of your characters that can use them as soon as possible. Every battle is to the death - watch your hit points and have your cleric cast Sanctu ("C") healing spells when someone gets low. When facing Orcs/Trolls/Goblins, have your wizard cast Repond ("A"), as this will destroy many of them sometimes. When facing Skeletons/Zombies/Ghouls, have your cleric cast Pontori ("A") to try and destroy them. Use your wizard's Mittar ("B") magic missle spells as they never miss. After combat, avoid monsters by hiding behind treasure chests until you are mostly healed up and (more importantly) have all your magic points back.
What good are level A spells (Pontori and Repond)? Why do they fail so often?
The "A" level spells (Repond, Pontori) are free, points-wise; you get what you pay for :-) They only work in combat against the monster type they are intended for (Repond-Orc class, Pontori-Skeleton class), you only have one chance to cast it in a battle (any further attempts are guaranteed failures whether or not the first attempt worked), and it has a 50/50 chance of working. If it works, each Bad Guy has a 25% chance of emerging unscathed. Kinda takes the charm out of it to know exactly what the details are, though.
How do I get through doors?
You need to purchase keys at a Thieves Guild. You can find one inside the pub in the town of Grey.
I have run out of food and my characters are starving. Where does one get food!?
Most towns have food merchants, most notably the town right next to Lord British's castle.
How do I cast higher level spells?
For cleric spells, you need a higher wisdom attribute. For wizard spells, you need a higher intelligence attribute.
Okay, so how do I get my attributes to go up?
You must visit the shrines of Ambrosia. Bring several thousand gold pieces and at least 4 or 5 keys. I'm not telling how to get to Ambrosia in this FAQ.
Going up experience levels doesn't seem to make a difference to my characters.
When you go up experience levels, you need to go talk to Lord British. He'll raise your maximum hit points by 100 every time you ascend an experience level. Your experience level *only* affects your max hit points. You are limited to 550 hit points until you get a special item, then you'll be limited to 2550 hit points.
What are the Marks?
Marks are skin brands like tattoos, only they are magical. You can find the hot brands which give you marks in the dungeons, and there are four varieties.
What are Exotic weapons and armour?
Exotics are the only types of weapon and armour that work effectively inside Exodus Castle.
How do I get a ship?
Wait for pirates to come around searching for you. They can fire their cannons three squares away, but only in 45 degree increments; just come towards them one square to the side so they can't hit you. Engage them in combat, and after you win you'll have your own ship.
How do I heal my characters?
Any of your characters that can cast clerical spells and have at least 10 spell points can cast Sanctu, spell "C". This will raise a character's hit points by 10-30. Alternately, you can spend 200 gold at the Healers in Lord British's castle (and some other towns) to have a character's hit points raised all the way to their maximum hit points. There are also rumoured to be fountains in the dungeons that can fully heal all damage.
I can't see in the dungeons, and light spells don't last long enough.
You need to buy some torches at a Thieves Guild. The only Thieves Guild you can get to without using a ship or moongate is the one in the town of Grey.
•MISCELLANEOUS•
Every now and then, deep in the dungeons, I see someone's name carved on the wall. Is this important?
Yes, but it's not important to solving the game. These names are of the many beta testers who helped make this Mac port solid. There are also a few other goofy things you might find written on the walls.
It implies in the manual that you can start with fewer than 4 adventurers, and instead recruit others as you play. How do you do this?
You can't — I'm not sure why this was in the original manual, but I felt compelled to keep the manual the same. You can start with fewer than 4 adventurers by specifying character "0" in the Form Party command when you're done adding characters; but be prepared to play with that many characters permanently (until you Disperse Party and Form again, that is.)
How about taming wild horses, as the manual implies? I haven't seen any wild horses in Sosaria.
Nor will you; once again the manual is incorrect. There are wild horses somewhere in Ultima III, but you can't tame them, just fight them.
Is there any way I can kill Lord British?
Shame on you! But yes, you can. If you look hard enough, you'll find a ship in Lord British's moat. Nothing can resist a barrage of cannon fire.
Where do I get maps of all of the towns and dungeons?
There isn't an archive of maps out on the internet yet, but you can generate your own maps by peering at gems, which you can buy at Thieves Guilds. Once a map is displayed on screen, you can use the Mac's screen capture ability to save it -- press command-shift-3 and "Picture 1" (and so forth) will be saved to the main level of your hard disk.
What happens after I solve the game?
A lot of strange stuff happens after you win ... you can have Lord British raise your hit points past 2250, newly spawned monsters act strangely (wander aimlessly and attack each other), and you can [K]reate randomly generated world maps, among other strangeness.
Are any other Ultimas going to be ported to the Macintosh?
None are currently under development. Ultima IX may be released for the Macintosh shortly after the Windows version (Winter '96). As for older ones, it's possible that LairWare may port another — if so, it'll almost certainly be Ultima IV next. Send Origin Systems (OSI@aol.com) and me (beastie@lairware.com) e-mail.
