Hráč 1997 February/Hrac_09_1997-02_cd.bin/UTILS/CHEATS/ULT9FAQ.TXT

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ULTIMA IX : ASCENSION



The Frequently Asked Questions List



Version 1.12 - 17 January 1997





Compiled by Lawrence Deneault (Sith Dragon).



Formerly compiled by Adrian Yau (Sagacious Dragon)




Copyright (c) 1995-1997. All rights reserved





INTRODUCTION




1.1 Objective




This FAQ was created with the intention to answer some Frequently Asked



Questions on Usenet regarding Ultima IX: Ascension, which is currently in



development.




Hopefully, this document will also serve to dispel the many rumors that



have been circulating in the Ultima and CRPG communities.




This FAQ was suggested by Brian Martin, Design Coordinator of the Ultima IX



project, who has provided most of the information you will find here.




1.2 Disclaimer




Please keep in mind that Ultima IX is still in development and, as such,



nothing about it is set in stone. The game design could possibly change by



the time it is released.




Unless stated, all information presented in this FAQ has been confirmed by



Origin.




1.3 Trademarks




Ultima, Britannia, Origin are all registered trademarks of Origin Systems,



Inc. The Avatar, Serpent Isle, Pagan and Ascension are likewise trademarks



of Origin Systems, Inc. Origin Systems Inc. is a subsidiary of Electronic



Arts.




All other brands and names are properties of their respective owners.




1.4 Acronyms




UIV/V/VI/VII/VIII/IX áááUltimas 4/5/6/7/8/9



SI ááá Ultima 7 part 2: Serpent Isle



<NEW>Changes from last version




1.5 Spoiler Warning




There will be spoilers for gamers who have yet to play the previous



Ultimas. Sections 2.2 - 2.4 (Background Info) contains most of the



spoilers.






BACKGROUND




2.1 What is Ultima?




For those unfamiliar with Ultima, it is a line of computer games of the



Role Playing Game (RPG) genre produced by Origin Systems. Currently, there



are thirteen games in the series (fourteen if you include Akalabeth).




For more information about Ultima, refer to the Web at:




The Ultima Dragons Homepage



The Origin Systems Homepage




or in the Ultima Dragons newsgroup




rec.games.computer.ultima-dragons.




2.2 Who is The Avatar?




The Avatar is the main character of the Ultima series from Ultima IV



onward. The Avatar is the champion of virtue in the games. The concept of



virtues (philosophical values) is a main feature of the Ultima games.




2.3 Who is The Guardian?




The Guardian is the main antagonist in the current trilogy (Ultimas



VII-IX). He first appeared in Ultima VII, where he attempted to gain



control of Britannia. He has been depicted as being a red humanoid with



glowing yellow eyes.




2.4 The Guardian Trilogy so far.




In Ultima VII -- The Black Gate, The Avatar is summoned to Britannia and



uncovers The Guardian's plans to gain control of the world with Batlin's



help. Naturally The Avatar foils The Guardian's plans and Batlin flees



Britannia.




In Ultima Underworld 2 -- The Labyrinth of Worlds, The Guardian makes



another attempt on Britannia by encasing The Avatar and Lord British's



castle within a dome of blackrock. The Avatar travels to other



Guardian-dominated worlds to gain the power necessary to free the castle.




In Ultima VII, Part Two -- Serpent Isle, The Avatar follows the trail



Batlin has set to the Serpent Isle. The Avatar discovers a land on the



verge of destruction from the forces of Imbalance. In restoring Balance to



Serpent Isle, The Avatar falls into The Guardian's trap.




In Ultima VIII -- Pagan, The Guardian banishes The Avatar to the world of



Pagan. There, the Avatar seeks a way home to Britannia.




2.5 The Official Ultima VIII -Pagan End Sequence




From the five blackrock fragments, The Avatar recreates the Blackrock



Obelisk of the Great Temple. The pyramid shaped obelisk is a black gate



which takes The Avatar into the Nexus of the Worlds -- the place with the



white pillars. Upon entering the Nexus, a person is taken to where they



most desire to go.




The Avatar is taken back to Britannia, where he appears wearing the suit of



the Titan of Ether. However, Britannia is unlike the one we remember. The



sky is blood red, rivers of molten lava flow across the land and dragons



swoop about in the sky. The Guardian's head is carved into a mountain.




2.5.1 Has the Guardian conquered Britannia?




Presumably yes, but we'll have to play the game to discover how far his



power extends.






PLOT




3.1 Why is Ultima IX called 'Ascension'?




There is no official explanation from Origin as it would probably give away



the plot. However, the general concensus is that The Avatar will "ascend"



to being a fully-realized Titan of Ether in order to defeat The Guardian.




3.2 General plot features of Ultima IX




3.2.1 How much of the plot has been worked out?




At this point in the development of Ultima IX, it is safe to say that the



main plot has been scripted. Voice acting for the cutscenes has already



been recorded so it is too late to change the major plotlines, but it is



likely that Origin is still working out the side quests and the easter



eggs.




Likewise, Origin has already done much of the town and dungeon design and



is currently stocking them with items, people and monsters.




3.2.2 What's the story about?




Ultima IX is the final chapter in what has been coined the 'trilogy of



trilogies' and will continue the story from Ultima VIII and wrap up the



Guardian saga (UVII-IX).




The game designers have also revealed that they intend to resolve



everything about Ultima; right from the beginning of Ultima. Many artifacts



and locations from past Ultimas will be brought back in Ultima IX.




3.2.3 Philosophical elements




Starting from Ultima IV, the series has always had a plot based around a



system of ethics. The concept of The Avatar and the Britannian Virtues will



play a key and central role in the game.




3.2.4 Plot Non-Linearity




Ultima IX will feature a non-linear plot. Quests need not be done in a



specific order and there will be many ways to solve puzzles.




3.2.5 Sideplots




We have been promised that there will be plenty of sideplots (minor quests



unrelated to the major storyline) and lots of easter eggs.




3.3 The Avatar's Character




3.3.1 Character Transfer.




Transferring your character of The Avatar was a feature of the older



Ultimas (this option was left out from Ultima VII onwards). Can we transfer



the Avatar's stats from Ultima VIII? They're not sure if it will be



implemented.




3.3.2 Will the Avatar retain the powers gained in UVIII?




In short, no. Building up the character of the Avatar is part of an RPG.



The Avatar will have to work to gain strength and powers in Ultima IX. By



the end of the game, the player should have fully explored the powers of



the Titan of Ether.




3.3.3Will The Avatar be back in Ultima X?




Lord British has indicated that Ultima IX will be the last Ultima to



feature The Avatar as the protagonist. Whether this means he will be killed



or will become an NPC is unknown. Additionally, whether or not Britannia



will survive Ultima IX remains to be seen.




3.4 Companions and Party Members




3.4.1 Will companions from previous Ultimas appear in Ultima IX?




Yes, the companions will return. However it has yet to be confirmed if they



will join the Avatar's party.




Other characters with sufficient reason to have a long lifespan will also



appear in Ultima IX. In general, these are characters from other worlds.




3.4.2 Will Dupre return?




In short, yes, according to Lord British. It is doubtful that Dupre will



return as a party member, however. Origin has hinted in the past that Dupre



would return in an NPC role, such as having a cameo appearance sometime



during the course of the game.




3.4.3 Will there be party members in Ultima IX?




Yes, there will be party members in UIX. Though there is no confirmation on



who they will be.




3.4.4 How many party members can I have? I want an army!




The total number of party members has yet yet to be decided. Do you really



want an army of people chanting "Feed Me!"?




3.4.5 Will Lord British actually help to save Britannia in Ultima IX?




Although Lord British has been less-than-helpful in past Ultimas, Origin



has stated that Lord British will actually join The Avatar's party at some



point in Ultima IX to help defeat The Guardian.




3.5 Magic




3.5.1 How important is magic in the plot of Ultima IX?




Magic will play an integral part of the game.




3.5.2 What sort of magic system will be implemented?




Even though the magic system in UVIII was very interesting, it was



complicated and ended up being cumbersome. Ultima IX will return to the



spell book system similar to Ultima VII.




In addition to the standard form of Britannian magic, Origin has indicated



that a new form of ritual-driven magic will also be present in Ultima IX.



Origin did not specify how the ritualistic magic would work because the



system was being designed at the time, but they did say that it was going



to be very impressive.




3.5.3 Will reagents still be used for the magic system?




Yes, traditional Britannian reagants will be used.




3.5.4 Will party members be able to cast spells?




They're not telling.




3.6 Miscellaneous Plot Questions




3.6.1 Will dragons be involved in the storyline?




Definitely yes, but not the Ultima-type. In addition to the cinematic



screenshots featuring dragons, the Ultima VIII end sequence shows dragons



flying about the sky. Furthermore, Lord British also mentions dragons as a



form of transportation in Britannia (letter to fans in Ultima VIII patch



kit). In an interview, Lord British also mentions taming dragons will be a



major plot in the game.




3.6.2 How much time has passed since Ultima VIII: Pagan?




No one knows for certain, but we can presume that many hundreds of years



have passed since The Avatar was last in Brtiannia. Since Lord British ages



at a significantly slower rate than Britannians (he hardly aged in the two



hundred years between Ultimas VI and VII: The Black Gate), the new



cinematic screenshots show him to be well into his sixties or seventies,



indicating that much time has passed.




Alternatively, The Guardian may have aged Lord British prematurely to



further torture the conquered monarch. Whichever the case may be, we will



not know for certain until the game is released.




3.7 The Ending




Will the Guardian finally be defeated for good? Will the Avatar or



Britannia still exist after UIX? They're not telling :)






GAMEPLAY ISSUES




4.1 Will Ultima IX use the same engine as UVIII?




No. Holding with Origin tradition, each new Ultima involves new technology.



Every new numeral has a totally new engine (U7SI is not considered a new



numeral). Ultima IX will feature a 3-D polygon-based engine with a



rotatable point of view, or "camera".




4.2 World interaction




Ultima VIII was a step back from previous Ultimas in terms of interaction



with the world and its objects. Sitting down was something we missed most.



However, Origin has promised that interaction will be greatly improved in



Ultima IX -- in fact we'll see more of it in Ultima IX than in any other



Ultima.




4.2.1 Okay. Origin talks the talk about incredible world interaction, but



do they walk the walk? I mean I want a real Britannia to adventure in.




<NEW>Origin is going to great lengths to make Britannia as real a gaming



world as possible. In past Ultimas, Origin has always tried to establish a



feeling of realism by the inclusion of as much real-world physics as the



current technology would support. Ultima IX will be no different.




In the February 1997 issue of the German gaming magazine PowerPlay, Origin



has outlined for the first time the depths of the physics they have modeled



for Britannia:




If a player fires an arrow and it misses its intended target, it will



continue on its trajectory and stick into the ground until it is retrieved.




If the player picks up an empty barrel and throws it into water, it will



float on the surface. If the barrel happens to be partially full it will



float lower in the water. If the barrel is full, it will sink to the



bottom.




In addition to what Origin has said about the physics in the game, the



screenshots from the game appear to support the idea that the game's engine



generates a center of gravity for each object in the game and it will



balance or lean accordingly.




4.3 Will Ultima IX still use the menu system for conversations?




Prior to the menu system which was first introduced in Ultima VII,



conversations with other characters was carried out by typing keywords.



Ultima IX will use a similar conversation menu system, but with an improved



approach, which feels more like a conversation in the real world, and every



click will be relevant.




4.4 Movement




4.4.1 Will there still be jumping and climbing?




One important feature of Ultima VIII was the ability to jump and climb.



Unfortunately, there were just too many puzzles dependant on jumping



skills. Origin is not revealing whether Ultima IX will have jumping and



climbing. However, what's certain is that we will not have the arcade



action of Ultima VIII.




4.4.2 Will the Avatar be able to swim?




<NEW>In the February 1997 issue of the German gaming magazine PowerPlay,



Origin states that The Avatar definitely will have the ability to swim in



Ultima IX.




4.5 Combat




Combat in UVIII was an RPGer's nightmare, basically a session of frenzied



mouse clicking. Though blocking and kicking actions were implemented they



were rarely used. It all came down to the weapon's power and the dexterity



of the Avatar in avoiding getting knocked down.




4.5.1 What will combat be like in Ultima IX?




Origin has promised that there will be a new and inventive method of combat



-- one far different from that of UVIII, which should come as a great



relief to most players. However, the design team will not reveal any



further.




4.5.2 Will there be two combat models, realtime and turnbased?




The design team hopes to incorporate this into the game. However, the code



has yet to be written, so it's unconfirmed.




4.5.3 Will combat combine the keyboard and mouse?




No.




4.5.4 Will there be more monsters?




Since each monster required hundreds of frames of animation, Ultima VIII



only had a small selection due to space and budget constraints. Ultima IX



will have feature a much greater variety since it will be released on



CD-ROM and space is no longer a consideration.




4.5.5 Will there be resurrection for the Avatar?




The Avatar, if killed, will probably be resurrected in some manner.




4.6 Graphics




4.6.1 Characters




4.6.1.1 Will there be an option for a female Avatar?




Yes. This was not included in Ultima VIII due to the number of animation



frames required. 1,200 frames were used for The Avatar alone!




4.6.1.2 Will there be character portraits?




Ultimas VI and VII featured character portraits when conversing with



others. In SI this was taken a step further by using digitized photos for



many of the portraits. This feature was sorely missed in UVIII. Portraits



will not be implemented in the same manner as in the previous games. In



Ultima IX, the "camera" will zoom in on the conversations to such a degree



that near-portrait detail will be achieved. NPC portraits will be actually



be animated texturemaps superimposed on the NPC's polygon face.




4.6.1.3 Will there be live actors and movie cut scenes?




No. There will not be any live actors or video footage in Ultima IX, but



there will many rendered cut scenes throughout the game. These cutscenes



will not limit the non-linearity of the game. There will also be a method



to review all the cutscenes you've been through.




The rendered cutscenes, called "sendings" in the game, will play a pivotal



role to the plot of Ultima IX. The sendings are actually the dreams of Lord



British, which are being given to him by The Guardian, and will give The



Avatar insight into events that he would not otherwise be aware of.




4.6.2 Weather




4.6.2.1 Will we see the return of night and day?




This is a definite yes.




4.6.2.2 How about the seasons and weather?




Clouds and weather such as rain, lightning storms will be implemented in



Ultima IX. However, they're still unsure about the seasons.




4.6.3 Inventory




4.6.3.1 Will inventory have a graphical interface?




Yes.




4.6.3.2 Will there still be paperdolling in inventory?




Paperdolling was first introduced in SI. The inventory screen actually



showed the character wearing and holding equipped items and weapons. This



feature will be included in Ultima IX. In addition, characters in the game



will also have this feature.




4.6.4 Map




4.6.4.1 Will it be a mono- (U7) or dual-scaled map (U5)?




There have been past indications which indicate a leaning towards a dual-



or multi-scale map (see Lord British's letter to Ultima fans, in the Ultima



VIII patch upgrade). However, it has been decided that multi-scale maps are



expensive, as spells for each map scale have to be rewritten. On the other



hand, monoscale maps although capable of having detailed graphics have



resulted in smaller worlds. Large worlds on monoscale maps of high detail



results in long travel times. A decision has been made about the mapping



style of the game but Origin are not releasing any details just yet.




4.6.4.2 What sort of perspective will Ultima IX use?




Ultima IX will have a isometric view like the previous Ultimas.




4.6.4.3 Will a rotating perspective be used?




The isometric perspective used in UVII and UVIII had a problem of not being



able to see behind walls and the items dropped behind them. Quite a few



gamers have suggested a rotating perspective be used. Ultima IX will not



have the problem of losing items behind walls as the fully 3-D world will



allow rotatable perspectives.




4.6.4.3.1 The rotatable perspective is really neat, but everything's so



small. Is Origin going to pack a pair of glasses in as the Ultima IX



trinket?




Nope, no glasses. Origin's way ahead of you on this one, though. In



addition to having a rotatable point of view, the Ultima IX engine features



the ability to zoom in and out in order to improve resolution.




4.6.4.4 Will we be able to run the game at different resolutions?




As Ultima IX will be a Windows 95-only program (see Section 5.1.1), it is



conceivable that users will be able to use its capability to run at



multiple resolutions to see larger portions of the map. However, at this



point Origin does not want to comment.




4.7 Sound




4.7.1 Will we get 32 channel sound like in WC3?




UVIII only had four digital channels for sound effects. WC3 had thirty-two



channels for sound effects. The greater the number of channels, the more



sounds you can hear simultaneously. For example: shouting, clashing of



swords, footsteps, spell casting simultaneously in a battle. It's most



likely but the design team has yet to confirm this.




4.7.1.1 Will Ultima IX feature digital music and sound effects?




According to Origin, all special effects in Ultima IX will be digital. The



music, however, will be streamed directly off the CD-ROM. If it will be



MIDI or Redbook audio is unknown.




4.7.2 Will Ultima IX have full speech?




Due to the amount of text used in the game, Ultima IX will not have have



full speech. Voices will be used in cinematic sequences at the highest



possible quality level. Speech will also be included for the other language



versions of Ultima IX.




4.7.3 Have the voice actors been cast?




Yes. Michael Dorn, "Worf" from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep



Space Nine, will provide the voice of The Guardian. Kay Kuter will play



Lord British, and Maurice LeMarche, "The Brain" from Pinky and the Brain,



will provide the voice of Shamino.




Additionally, Joye McBurnett, Brian Martin, and Michael Morlan also



provided voices for the game, but the characters they played are not known.




4.8 Interface




4.8.1 Will there be more shortkeys?




Yes, there will be lots. There will be shorkeys for keys, spellbooks, stats



and more.




4.8.2 How about user configurable keys?




Very unlikely.






TECHNICAL ISSUES




5.1 Platforms




5.1.1 Which platforms are Ultima IX currently targeted for?




Currently, Ultima IX is being designed as a Windows 95 native program.




5.1.2 Will Ultima IX be released for the Sony Playstation?




Given the recent release of other Origin titles for consoles, such as



Crusader: No Remorse for the PSX, it is most likely that Ultima IX will be



released for other platforms as well. However there are no concrete plans



for them yet.




5.1.3 Will there be a Mac version?




There is a possibility that a Mac version will be made. However, this is



highly dependent on the sales of the Mac versions of Origin's other games



(Super WC, WC3 and System Shock).




5.2 Multitasking




Will we be able to take advantage of multitasking in Win95 to take notes



online? They're still not certain of this.




5.2.1 Will Ultima IX utilize 3-D acceleration?




No. At this point it does not seem as if Ultima IX will utilize 3-D



acceleration. Given the fact that the bulk of the engine was probably



solidified prior to the recent onset of interest in 3-D accelerators it



would prove impractical for Origin to rework the engine to include it.




5.3. System Requirements




5.3.1 What will be the minimum requirements to run Ultima IX?




According to Lord British, the minimum requirements to run Ultima IX will



be a Pentium 90 with 8 MBS of RAM. A Pentium 133 with 16 MBS of RAM is



recommended. A fast video card is also highly recommended.




5.3.2 I've met the minimum system requirements, but will I really be able



to play Ultima IX?




Origin has been quoted as stating that the Ultima IX engine runs at 25 fps



(frames per second) on a Pentium 100 in 640x480 SVGA. Whether or not this



is considered acceptable performance is up to you.




5.3.2.1 Why are the minimum requirements so high? For a CRPG a Pentium 100



seems like a bit much.




Although the Ultima IX engine seems as through it requires an inordinate



amount of system resources, it's only because Origin is demanding much more



out of this engine than it has in previous Ultimas. In addition to having



the rotating viewpoint and the ability to zoom in and out on demand, Ultima



IX is completely polygon-based with each screen made up of anything between



2,000 and 3,000 polygons.




5.4 How big will Ultima IX be?




In terms of disk space, UIX will most likely take up two CD-ROMs (something



in excess of 1.2 Gigabytes).




In the Ultima IX preview in the January 1997 issue of Edge magazine,



Britannia is stated as being 256 screenlengths in width and 256



screenlengths in height.




5.5 Will there be a floppy version?




No. As with all recent Origin products, Ultima IX will be released on



CD-ROM only.






MISCELLANEOUS




6.1 Who's on the Ultima IX project?




Project Director -- Richard Garriott




Project Producer -- Joye McBurnett




Design Lead -- Brian Martin




Design Team -- Chuck Zoch, Robert White, David Biggs, Kevin Schlipper, John



Watson




Game Art Director -- Jennifer Davis




Cinematic Art Director -- Bruce Lemons




Art Team -- Robert Baldwin, Micahel Morlan, Scott Jones, Gary Snyder,



Jonathan Price, Bob Frye, Cari Oberstar, Scott Weddersnieder, Terry



Manderfeld




Tech Lead -- Mike McShaffrey




Tech team -- Herman Miller, Gary Smith, Ragnar Scheuermann, Jeff Wofford,



Matthew Lamari




6.2 When will Ultima IX appear on the shelves?




<NEW>In the February 1997 issue of the German gaming magazine PowerPlay,



Origin stated that their expected release date for Ultima IX is the fourth



quarter of 1997. Recently the Ultima IX team was temporarily transferred to



work on Ultima Online to ready it for its upcoming beta test. Whether or



not Origin has factored the expected Ultima Online delay into this new



release date is unknown.




6.3 Where can I get screenshots?




Some screenshots of the cinematic sequences have been released to some



magazines. Their scanned versions can be found at:




F-15 Dragon's UIX Preview Pics Page




or at




Sith Dragon's Ultima IX Screenshots Page.




6.4 Is Ultima IX "The Lost Vale"?




No. "The Lost Vale" was supposed to be an add-on for UVIII. It was never



released as the folks at Origin didn't think it would sell.




6.5 Will there be add-ons for Ultima IX?




Depends on the success of Ultima IX.




6.6 Will there be a Ultima X?




Definitely, unless Ultima IX turns out to be a total bomb :)




6.7 Will there be a special edition for Ultima IX?




They're not sure on this one yet.




6.8 Cheat Menu




What already? And you haven't played the game yet :)




6.9 Will Ultima IX be multiplayer?




No. A multi-player Ultima game entitled 'Ultima Online : Shattered Legacy'



is in the works. For more information on Ultima Online check out:




Origin Worlds Online






CREDITS




7.1 Credits




This FAQ could not be made possible without the help of the following



people:




Adrian Yau (Sagacious Dragon) who did all the great work that got this



FAQ off the ground.




Brian Martin at Origin (a really cool guy) for answering our many



questions.




James R. Cheney (Cheese Dragon) for his input and editing. James provided



many of the questions you see in this FAQ.




Rainbow Dragon for transcribing the GenCon '95 talk given by Lord British



and company.




Joye P. McBurnett at Origin, who provided most of the information for FAQ



ver 1.03 and hopefully further versions as well.




7.2 Obtaining more information




The following newsgroups usually have some information on Ultima IX. Watch



out for the S/N ratio though!




rec.games.computer.ultima-dragons



comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg




7.3 Contacting the author




Do you have any information or questions regarding Ultima IX which you



don't see here? Read anything which you think might be useful to other



fans? Have any gripes about the FAQ? I would love to hear what you think



about it.




Feel free to send me mail at:




[e-mail]






VERSION HISTORY




Version 1.12



Updated Section 4: Gameplay Issues



Updated Section 6: Miscellaneous




Version 1.11



Added illustrative screenshots.



Updated Section 3: Plot



Updated Section 4: Gameplay Issues



Updated Section 5: Technical Issues



Updated Section 6: Miscellaneous




Version 1.1



Updated Section 3: Plot



Updated Section 4: Gameplay Issues



Updated Section 5: Technical Issues



Updated Section 6: Miscellaneous




Version 1.03b



Converted 1.03 into an HTML document.



Revised some of acronyms.




Version 1.03



Maintained by Sagacious Dragon , this was current until 19 April 1996.





Sith Dragon Visit my webpage at http://www.walrus.com/~sith for the



-==(UDIC)==- latest in Ultima IX and Ultima Online news plus the new



Ultima IX FAQ.