THE GAMERS' FORUM [Note: The following is an edited transcript of the conference held with Lord British and staff members of Origin on May 2, 1990. --Uncle Andy, who hosted the Conference and edited the transcript.)] (Lord British) Greetings, again. As you might guess we at ORIGIN have recently finished 2 years of intense work to bring you Ultima VI and you have many who were involved in the project with us here tonite. You may go ahead with your questions. (Johann @ Origin) (And a few who were just obnoxious kibbitzers in the project.) (William Grenker) I would like to know how to get an update for version 1.7. (Lord British) You can call us on our 800 lines and a customer service helper will send you a new disk if needed. Our 800 number is 800-999-4939. By the way, not everyone will need an upgrade generally, if you use a hard drive to play on, you probably are fine! (David) What computer do you use to program and what is your actual role in development, do you do the programming yourself? (Lord British) I did most all of the programming and development myself on the first four Ultimas. Beginning with number V, I did about half of the programming and none of the art as I began to utilize professional artists. By the time Ultima VI came around, I was basically involved in the design and world creation aspects having specialists working with me on all areas: 4 programmers, 5 artists, 3 writers and an assortment of testers, musicians, and other helpers.I personally use a Dell 386 system. (DAN) WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM AND ALSO, CAN I LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER SEQUEL? (Lord British) First, there will definitely be another sequel and probably many more. As for where I get my ideas, each Ultima takes about 2 years to develop and so MANY ideas are generated in the process It's really quite interesting and fun! (Shadow) First, I want to thank you for writing a game that employs MCGA/V to such spectacular effect (I too use a Dell 386)--and for removing the necessity for a key disk! I'd like to know why you decided to make Ult VI a 2-D world instead of a 3-D world (i.e., world wrapping around) when Britannia is so realistic in other respects. (Lord British) Thanks for the comments on the graphics. You can be sure that I enjoy working in VGA. As to your question about the world design method. In my desire to create a more holisti, cohesive world I wanted you to be able to consistently.interact with the hundreds of objects in the world that you discover. From many standpoints, the best design to handle this is the one I chose...after much study.The reason why you don't see both 2-D and 3-D is because it constricts both modes if you use them together. (Eeyore) I am a relative newcomer to the CRPG world...cut my teeth on ROGU E... I would like to know what design features you try to incorporate into your games to let a newcomer to CRPG finish your games! (Lord British) A good question. Ultima VI, as a matter of fact is the first Ultima in a while in which one of the principal design criteria was that the story be both easy to follow and relatively easy to grasp. While at the same time providing you a rich world to explore and experiment with. And, you will note that ULTIMA VI has a MUCH easier to use interface than its predecessors. (Gary) How about one wimpy question... Thar be some wot say you included the Quenton Murder as a red herring. Any help here??? (Lord British) Yes, how astute of you! Many people have, like you, tried to solve it. You CAN actually figure out the murder but Quenten doesn't acknowledge your solution. (Gary) Hmmm....guess I'll have to await the hint book...THANKS (Charles Miles) Origin says that version 1.7 of U6 only runs into trouble on a small proportion of IBM & compats. But Origin has not said what systems the game WILL work on. In talking to other people on GAMERS I haven't been able to find a common thread...it isn't hard drives, it isn't the manufacturer, it isnt the graphics card, it isn't memory and it isn't the BIOS. My question is: on exactly what systems WILL 1.7 run? And what was u6 tested on? (Lord British) It is a fact that most of the problem occured with those who played 1.7 on floppy drives only. Because of the variety of hardware configs out there it is difficult to make a blanket statement as to who will have problems. We have been compiling a list of data to study who does and who doesn't have problems but, believe me, we are happy to have observed that it is truly a small number of the earliest players who had any problem at all. (Charles Miles) I'd just like to point out I'm playing on an all IBM model 50 with a hard drive and I STILL got lock ups and corrupted saves. (Lord British) Call us, we'll help you figure it out. (Henry) First off, I'd like to say that Ultima 6 is my favorite game at this time. The graphics and sound is great. (especially STONES). I haven't had any serious problems with version 3.2. Never any lockups.. only a loss of a couple moonstones and a walking wall in 1.7. Now for my question. I've read over in GAMPUB that I should beware if... Johann @ Origin) (BTW, the real Iolo wrote STONES) (Henry) ...I enter a ship with more than 4 people or have more than 250 items in my inventory. Any truth to this? (Lord British) The most lingering mystery we've observed is a problem that's very difficult to recreate but which can be avoided easily by restricting ship passengers to 4. You can also have a large inventory with no probs I guess if one tries hard enough, One could strain the system, but it's not easy. (Raistlin Majere) I would like to say, I wish that you could choose a class, like a thief, but my question is, are you going to add more modern stuff like airplanes and guns again? (Lord British) First, I'll let you in on a secret. I am expanding the Ultima saga to include adventures in Britannia which will remain medieval in nature and I am introducing a new product line which will begin this F all called "Worlds of ULTIMA", where where the moongates can take you to other adventures in many new places! (Steve) Is ultima vi going to come out for the apple ][gs. And are the fights in ultima vi as slow as the ones in III & IV? (15-10,Lord British) Maybe. We are currently discussing an Apple version with some developers who are interested in doing the conversion... stay tuned. Ultima VI is far less combat-oriented, as you will see. (=- Longshot -=) Anyway, first of all, my applause on a *great* CRPG And I'd like to ask 1) How much playtesting did Ultima 6 receive before hitting the stores? 2) What made you decide to change certain places on the map? (Lord British) I'm glad you asked that. Ultima VI received the highest level of playtesting given to any Ultima to-date. In fact, over 1000 hours. As far as the map changes go, Britannia has always changed some from one Ultima to the next. My additions and subtractions each time reflect both personal whims and story necessities. (Gus Smedstad) I gather from an earlier answer that you can't do anything about Quenton's murder even if you've figured out who did it (which I have). My q uestion though, is this: is there any way to retrieve a moonstone o nce you've buried it? If not, then should we conserve them? A lso the manual mentions that polearms require great ST & DX. How do I tell when a character is ready for, say, a halbred? (Lord British) Well... Correct about Quenten. You CAN dig up your moonstones if you will wait until both moons set then you can pick them up. By the way, it is IMPERATIVE that you have all 8 moonstones in your possession at the end of the game as you will find out. As to polearms try to equip your character with it... if you can use it, you can wield it in battle. (Gus Smedstad) But Is there any penalty for low DX? (Lord British) No penalty. (Lord Paresh) My screen for U6 sometimes Freezes. why? (Lord British) Depends on a lot of things... give us a call... glad to help. (Lord Paresh) Then can you tell me more of U7 (15-10,Lord British) sure...! As soon as I finish a much needed break (and the rest of the development team, as well)... we will be jumping right on it. From the technological standpoint I have already figured out many of the ways in which the game will be enhanced. (Lord Paresh) Are you really using players from your competition from u6? (Lord British) OH.... yes, we indeed WILL be using real Ultima players... in the Ultima VII story! Check out the contest included in the U6 box. (skydiver) i have a simple question :do you think that Ult 6 will be released for the C-64/128? ive really enjoyed ult 1-5. (Lord British) In fact ULtima VI for the C64/128 is WELL UNDER WAY, just down the hall from me! At this time, you can already walk around in Britannia! (Johann @ Origin) (The c64 programmer is REALLY talented!to fit a 7 disk PC game on a c64) (Slasher) Will Ultima Worlds be VII or will VII be a separate Game? Will U7 be U worlds? (Lord British) Good question, Slasher! Worlds of Ultima will be a separate line. Each numbered Ultima (e.g. VII) will be set in Britannia, as usual and the Worlds of Ultima will take you via moongate to many new and different worlds! (DUTCH BLAKE) I take it from your earlier answer that your feel that running out of table space is somehow a user error rather than a program error. I would disagree with this philosophy of programming. Do you really feel this way about the error? (Lord British) If there is a bug, we'll fix it and we welcome your observations and suggestions. Thanks. (Aardie) A strange question that's been with us since Ultima 4...Y our shops keep Italian hours (3 hours for lunch :-) and some other elements remind us of Rome. Have you been to Italy? (Lord British) Hah! Never been to Italy, actually... However, many have observed that the shopkeepers keep MY kind of hours which are not exactly 9 to 5. (Wizzy/Sys0p).Evening, LB. Just wanted to ask another question about WORLDS OF ULTIMA.Is that to be a series of games, or is that one title to cover one game? (Lord British) It will be a series! There are currently 2 titles in the works. The first one, which we will preview at the CES this June in Chicago is titled:The Savage Empire.In a few words... (Johann @ Origin) (BTW, this IS the first public mention we've made of the WORLDS series!) (Lord British) dinosaurs, steamy jungles, mad scientists, steamy jungle princesses and of course, moongates! (Johann @ Origin) (Lost civilizations, lizard men, giant ants, ....) (Wizzy/Sys0p) Sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun, LB! Thanks for the scoop! (Shadow) I hope this hasn't been asked already, but I wanted to know If you could give any endgame hints.Specifically, how one gets a sacred quest (or what one needs to get one) any hints? (,Lord British) Yes. It involves significant dealings with the gargoyle race. (Faraday) I was wondering how far you have advanced in Ultima Seven, and by way of a hint could you tell me what to say to the gargoyle to let me surrender. (Lord British) Yes, try "sacrifice" to the gargoyle then "Valkadesh". Little actual code has been written for U7 to-date,but we will soon begin! (Henry) Okay, since the Avatar is returning that which made him/her an avatar, will he/she still be an avatar in U7? (Lord British) Once an avatar, ALWAYS an avatar! (Henry) Thank you. what a relief! (Aardie) About the portraits. Shamino is clearly you (we met once long ago at an AppleFest in Boston prior to Ultima 3. What other characters (b esides Iolo and Dr. Cat) are based on real people? (Lord British) Very many, for sure. (Johann @ Origin) JOHANN is! (Lord British) The 8 companions of the avatar and many of the principal characters, too. (Uncle Andy/CRPG SL) When is the Amiga version to be released? (And could we find out a bit more about Johann? (g) (Lord British) Sure... Johann is one of our producers here at ORIGIN... (in fact, he is producing the Worlds of Ultima product... (Uncle Andy/CRPG SL) Hooray! (Johann @ Origin) (But don't tell Hawkins, Ybarra, or Gordon where I am! I escaped from the dread ship EMPIRE!) (Lord British) We try to involve many of our friends in our games. For instance, you might notice that Moebius wrote the Compendium playbook. (Uncle Andy/CRPG SL) But you didn't tell me when the Amiga version was due. (Lord British) This fall, Unc. (Henry) Okay, you said that all 8 companions to the Avatar are real people . Does that include Beh Lem and Sherry? (Lord British) When I said the 8 companions I meant the ORIGINAL 8 from Ultima IV. Sherry, as it happens, is really my girlfriend who is here now! (Aardie) Is Ybarra, the pirate, by any chance also the Ybarra of Bards' Tale fame? (Lord British) Of this I cannot lie, so I better keep my mouth shut! Hah ha! (Aardie) (g) (Charles Miles) I love the new interface of Ultima VI -- will this be a fe ature of the WORLDS OF ULTIMA series? And will they be 256-color? (Lord British) You can count on it, in both cases! (Charles Miles) Great! (Lord British) In fact, we are even improving the interface! (Faraday) In Worlds Of Ultima will virtue be as stressed? As it is I remember those happy carefree days of ultima 3 when I could cause no real damage, and get in no real trouble. (Johann @ Origin) All Ultima games will always reward virtuous, heroic act ions... (,Lord British) Remember, you ARE still the avatar... (15-38,Faraday) Oh well, thanks. (Johann @ Origin) But perhaps not as explicitly VIRTUES as in the Ultimas (15-10,Lord British) We may do stories in which you are expected to be less than virtuous. (Wizzy/Sys0p) I'm tired of being virtuous. I want to get to the grit...no, that's not my Q... No, this is an older question, but I've forgotten the answer. I'd like to upgrade my current ULTIMAs from 5-1/4" to 3-1/2" diskettes. What's the process to do so? (Lord British) We can upgrade you to 3.5... give us a call. (Charles Miles) On the 3.5" issue ... when I call for an upgrade, can I get 3.5" disks instead of 5.25" without paying the surcharge? (Lord British) Sure, you can either order your game for 3.5 to start with. or, you can make them yourself as the reference card describes. (BigBad MaMa) I am an apple fanatic and have heard very bad vibes about no apple conversion being planned since GS too slow. True? any hope??? (Lord British) We are doing our best to arrange the developers for it. We will let you know for sure when we know... (Wizzy/Sys0p) Sorry to keep harping on this one. (back to conversions). Does this apply to the older,copy protected diskettes (like a 1986 Ultima 3?)? Those would need to be sent in, right? (Lord British) No, with Ultima 3. There IS a 3.5 version for Ultimas 4&5&6. (Henry) (Putting on a tape of STONES ala MT-32) I tried putting Ultima 6 on 5.25HD floppies with 3 disks on each. But it would not recognize the disk (i.e. Map) when I would put in the HD floppy with that disk on it. Did I do something wrong? (Lord British) Sounds like we need to talk to you by phone to talk you thru. Please give us a call for assistance. (Shadow) Are there four IDEAL people (besides those you start with) that we should be looking for to join? And can any mages join? Nobody I know has been able to find any, but the documentation (p. 18) seems to imply that a mage will join your party. (Lord British) In this Ultima, YOU are the only *full* magician.Beyond the 4 members you start with, you only need a few to join you for a few moments for special purposes, such as Sherry, the mouse. (Uncle Andy/CRPG SL) Trumpets! Fanfare! Applause! (Shadow) Thanks for your answers and for such a super game! (Johann @ Origin) huzzah! Huzzah! (Charles Miles) (Uncle Andy/CRPG SL) Thank you for coming Lord British. thank you Johann! (Wizzy/Sys0p) A very fine conference, LB, Jeff, Andy, et al! (Henry) Clap Clap. (Shadow) Oh frabjous day... (BigBad MaMa) yahooooooo! (Charles Miles) (Danny Low/CRPG SL) cheers! (Aardie) Thanks. Night. (BigBad MaMa) hic (Henry) !!!!!! (Faraday) Good show (Lord British) You are all very welcome and thanks for having me here. Good night! bye. (Wizzy/Sys0p) I want to thank everybody for being considerate. You were all so well mannered! (Eeyore) Thank you for spending this time with us...You must be exhausted! (Wizzy/Sys0p) Night, L.B.! Thanks for putting up with us! (Lord British) *** P-o-o-f! **** bye! [End of Conference]