Ultima VIII - Next Free Game on Origin

[jhwisner]

Ultima VIII was a disappointment back in the day but compare its feature list to games today
~ day and night cycle

To be fair, there is only twilight rather than a day night cycle. There are schedules, but one of the key aspects of the gloomy setting is that there is no day/night.

 

[pibbur who]

Many, like the the mad toddler, had some problems with U8 as an Ultima, but not as a game per se. I liked the game, it certainly had enough Ultima features for me. And the athmosphere... I still remember those Zombies rising from the earth.

pibbur who has been an ultima dragon for more than 15 years.

 

[Arahael]

I really like Ultima 8. Sure, it is not U7, which is easily among my 50 best games.
But still, the atmosphere of the game is great. And the magic system was superb, with different schools of magic, each with a unique way of casting spells.
Regarding Origin, I am actually liking it more and more, mainly because they have localized prices for my country unlike Steam, so I can buy new games around 30% cheaper. And the customer service of Steam is atrocious.

 

[Moriendor]

No offense taken Bedwyr as many members hate EA's Origin for various reasons. I remember when everyone hated Steam, and now look at how things changed.

Contrary to Origin (which I'm no big fan of by the way), there was a ton of really good reasons to hate Steam though. Steam was a real piece of shit software for the first three years or so at least. The issues ranged from extremely poor performance to stability issues to frequent and massive connection problems… the whole nine yards and then some. It was a real nightmare and didn't help at all, of course, that it was forced down our throats to play many games like Valve's own catalogue.
The only problem that Origin has ever had AFAIK was that EA was supposedly collecting data and scanning hard drives which turned out to be false as Origin only scanned the typical save game folders for cloud synchronization.
Again: I'm not a big fan of Origin (nor Steam really… sure the sales are great but as for a client, a unified open client would be the best solution IMHO) but to be fair: Origin is a decent little piece of software just like Steam is nowadays. No real difference. Same goes for uPlay. It's all the same.

 

[Edgy]

Contrary to Origin (which I'm no big fan of by the way), there was a ton of really good reasons to hate Steam though. Steam was a real piece of shit software for the first three years or so at least. The issues ranged from extremely poor performance to stability issues to frequent and massive connection problems… the whole nine yards and then some. It was a real nightmare and didn't help at all, of course, that it was forced down our throats to play many games like Valve's own catalogue.
The only problem that Origin has ever had AFAIK was that EA was supposedly collecting data and scanning hard drives which turned out to be false as Origin only scanned the typical save game folders for cloud synchronization.
Again: I'm not a big fan of Origin (nor Steam really… sure the sales are great but as for a client, a unified open client would be the best solution IMHO) but to be fair: Origin is a decent little piece of software just like Steam is nowadays. No real difference. Same goes for uPlay. It's all the same.

No. UPlay is bad. You want to avoid it if you value your sanity.
Connection issues and deleted save files are among the things that still Pollute it
to this day. Origin isn't as bad as people think.
Thought about getting ultima but does it have romance and michael bay explosions?

 

[Xian]

I didn't mind Ultima VIII though many didn't like it since it had different controls and settings than it's predecessors. I had already played Crusader No Remorse and No Regret so I was familiar with the control scheme.

 

[CelticFrost]

Many, like the the mad toddler, had some problems with U8 as an Ultima, but not as a game per se. I liked the game, it certainly had enough Ultima features for me. And the athmosphere… I still remember those Zombies rising from the earth.

pibbur who has been an ultima dragon for more than 15 years.

Ultima is just that...nothing has touched it since as a group of games.

In 1984 I was handed some notes on a piece of paper and some 5-1/4" floppies with Ultima2 and 3 on them in grade 9 computers.

 

[Korplem]

U8 was the first RPG I played, so I have a fondness for it.

 

[TheMadGamer]

Ultima is just that…nothing has touched it since as a group of games.

I agree and it's a shame (though G1/G2, Divinty 1/OS, & Arx Fatalis come close) .

I get a chuckle over the 'hoo haw' about Witcher 3 being mostly a seamless world where you explore a giant landmass and enter and exit interiors without load screens.

At this point, I'd rather this type of design be so common that we don't even notice it anymore and doesn't even stick out as a bullet point. The same with NPC schedules, day/night cycles, and a bevy of other features that have largely gone un-evolved since U7.

 

[CelticFrost]

I agree and it's a shame (though G1/G2, Divinty 1/OS, & Arx Fatalis come close) .

I get a chuckle over the 'hoo haw' about Witcher 3 being mostly a seamless world where you explore a giant landmass and enter and exit interiors without load screens.

At this point, I'd rather this type of design be so common that we don't even notice it anymore and doesn't even stick out as a bullet point. The same with NPC schedules, day/night cycles, and a bevy of other features that have largely gone un-evolved since U7.

I don't pay much attention the "Hoo Haw" I am hoping this one gives me what I always saw in my mind playing Ultima 3 and 4.

 

[TheMadGamer]

I don't pay much attention the "Hoo Haw" I am hoping this one gives me what I always saw in my mind playing Ultima 3 and 4.

I wasn't really implying people here at the Watch oogling about the seamlessness. I'm referring to the reviewers and youtubers. You'd almost think AngryJoe has never seen a game that had seamless transitions in and out of interiors. Sad.

 

[CelticFrost]

I wasn't really implying people here at the Watch oogling about the seamlessness. I'm referring to the reviewers and youtubers. You'd almost think AngryJoe has never seen a game that had seamless transitions in and out of interiors. Sad.

I knew what you meant. BTW anyone that goes by the name "Angry" should maybe thing about being a MMA fighter or easing up.

 

[kborom]

Great game, got it in the UK so might give it another go.

It was a different Avatar and also not set in Britannia that got people annoyed I recall, the game was pretty damn good even though not U7 standards.

Hot sure why this is "gold", an expansion was worked upon but never completed IIRC

 

[Xian]

I believe that the "Gold" version is the CD version with speech pack. The floppy version required you to purchase the speech pack.

 

[Moriendor]

No. UPlay is bad. You want to avoid it if you value your sanity.
Connection issues and deleted save files are among the things that still Pollute it
to this day.

Not saying you're wrong and maybe this is really happening to some people but my own experience with uPlay is rather flawless. Around last xmas I played through the entire Assassin's Creed series (well, up to Black Flag anyway) and did not have any issues with uPlay at all.
So I'm either extremely lucky or those issues you stated are not that common. I don't play new releases though. If their serves get hammered, I could imagine issues of the kind you described becoming a lot more frequent.
I'm generally avoiding such peak times out of principle with online services, also when playing MMOs ("never play on launch or patch day").

 

[joxer]

Not saying you're wrong and maybe this is really happening to some people but my own experience with uPlay is rather flawless. Around last xmas I played through the entire Assassin's Creed series (well, up to Black Flag anyway) and did not have any issues with uPlay at all.
So I'm either extremely lucky or those issues you stated are not that common. I don't play new releases though. If their serves get hammered, I could imagine issues of the kind you described becoming a lot more frequent.
I'm generally avoiding such peak times out of principle with online services, also when playing MMOs ("never play on launch or patch day").

You're either lucky or you didn't buy AC3 deluxe on GamersGate nor on GreenManGaming (or on key resellers).
And if your copy was retail and disc data is corrupted, you can't do file verification nor download bonus (DLC)!
A disaster of a service. Horrible beyond words.

I wish you went past BF - you'd spot how patchpolished Rogue is and why many say it's the best AC game after Brotherhood.

But more important is to mention how uPlay evolved with with Unity (basically coop game with SP part as sidecontent and bloody pay2win microtransactions, on the positive side it's seasonpass scam got cancelled by Ubi).
Unity takes 50 gigs of harddrive. But if you download it from uPlay client, you don't have to download it fully to start playing! Just about one third of data is enough. The pic:

I've never seen something like this in any Steam/Origin game.

 

[jhwisner]

Great game, got it in the UK so might give it another go.

It was a different Avatar and also not set in Britannia that got people annoyed I recall, the game was pretty damn good even though not U7 standards.

Hot sure why this is "gold", an expansion was worked upon but never completed IIRC

I remember the jumping puzzles (controls before the eventual patch made them extremely frustrating as targeting jumps was incredibly wonky) and lack of companions being the chief complaints.

Lack of companions made sense given the setting and themes though. The obligatory jumping puzzles (most of which resulted in instant death if you missed anything) before they patched the controls were almost intolerably bad.

 

[SonOfCapiz]

And the magic system was superb, with different schools of magic, each with a unique way of casting spells.
Regarding Origin,

This! I can't recall a game since where each school of magic actually works and feels differently. Nowadays, different schools just means different spells (and the classifications can be really arbitrary).

 

[Thrasher]

Got it. Thanks, Couch!

 

[SirJames]

Awww, all we get in Australia is some crappy hidden picture game.

Oh well. I have/had U8 on CD... Somewhere? Wasn't going to play it anyway.

From memory it had the best atmosphere of the Ultima games and also the best magic mushrooms.

As for Origin, while I don't want more and more Steam style apps I find that Origin provides a reliable service and the download speeds are fantastic. (usually faster than Steam!)