How much developed is the adventure mode? Can you ACTUALLY live the life of, for example, a farmer, a soldier, a king, a gladiator, a renegade mage, a thief? I mean, can you get quests, complete them (maybe from a guild) and actually gain reputation and change your social status? Can you, maybe, own/buy/build a castle/town/shop? How much advanced is the interaction with NPCs and gameworld in general? Is there a crafting system? More in general, is there something to do beside combat and questing?
Are there minigames (an arena, gambling, etc.) and how many of them?
thanks.
Lots of questions about Black Gate
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Re: Lots of questions about Black Gate
If you're asking about Black Gate in general (and not a fan-made mod that I'm unaware of), here's your answer:
The Ultima series includes combat and questing as parts of each game, but they're not the primary focus. The focus has always been the stories being told and on making the world its citizens seem as real as possible. So human interaction with NPCs is a major part of the game, and conversation is generally kept interesting. (In other words, you don't have to sit through any long and boring monologues.) Problem solving is another major part, and the problems are natural extensions of the story being told. The world is wide open and you can go explore any area you want.
Yes, you could live the life of a baker by working for a bakery making bread all day, and make some cash doing it. You can also make swords and sell them to blacksmiths. That wouldn't be interesting for long though, since that detail is the spice rather than the meat. (They're the little touches designed to make this world seem as real as possible.) You're here to do a job, solve a freaky murder, and discover who this Guardian guy is, not dabble around in a bakery all day. (It's not a "crafting" system like in World of Warcraft, you just learn how to do it and then do it.)
You wouldn't want to live the life of a thief, since Virtue is a major part of the Ultima series and your character in particular has been a shining example of all that is good in the world ever since he went on the Quest of the Avatar in Ultima IV. You're a sort of messiah/hero type to the people of Britannia. But your companions have known you for longer, and if you start stealing stuff and beating people up, they won't tolerate it for long. (I don't know how much of that is implemented in the Exult engine.) And a gladiator arena would offend the peace-loving sensibilities of Lord British (King of Britannia). But you can go beat up monsters in the dungeons all day long if you want.
The game world is very advanced, especially considering the time period it was made in. Counting both parts of Ultima VII (its the two expansion packs), this is possibly the largest single-player computer RPG ever created, in game world, detail, and storyline. And across the entire Ultima series, I'm pretty sure this is the largest and most detailed story arch involving a single character ever made into a computer game series.
There are some side quests as well. Most have something to do with the main story-line, but some don't and are just fun diversions.
And there is, in fact, a casino in one town. Go knock yourself out there.
By the way, if you're new to Ultima, want to try out what's possibly the most influential computer RPG ever created and the game Richard Garriott (creator of Ultima) thinks is his best ever, and don't mind playing something whose graphics are rather retro, check out Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. That's the start of the main story arch that your character in this series goes on. (Pretty much all you'd need to know about the earlier games is explained in the manual.) Ultima IV is now freeware, and you can get a version of it for modern computers at http://xu4.sourceforge.net. Make sure you also print out a copy of the Ultima IV map (http://members.aol.com/ultimadox/u4brtcl2.jpg) and get a copy of the manual (http://files.the-underdogs.info/games/u ... ma4vga.pdf has the text from the game's two books and reference card. At the end there's a hints section that gives you the game solution. I suggest avoiding that part unless you really want to get the game over quick.)
The Ultima series includes combat and questing as parts of each game, but they're not the primary focus. The focus has always been the stories being told and on making the world its citizens seem as real as possible. So human interaction with NPCs is a major part of the game, and conversation is generally kept interesting. (In other words, you don't have to sit through any long and boring monologues.) Problem solving is another major part, and the problems are natural extensions of the story being told. The world is wide open and you can go explore any area you want.
Yes, you could live the life of a baker by working for a bakery making bread all day, and make some cash doing it. You can also make swords and sell them to blacksmiths. That wouldn't be interesting for long though, since that detail is the spice rather than the meat. (They're the little touches designed to make this world seem as real as possible.) You're here to do a job, solve a freaky murder, and discover who this Guardian guy is, not dabble around in a bakery all day. (It's not a "crafting" system like in World of Warcraft, you just learn how to do it and then do it.)
You wouldn't want to live the life of a thief, since Virtue is a major part of the Ultima series and your character in particular has been a shining example of all that is good in the world ever since he went on the Quest of the Avatar in Ultima IV. You're a sort of messiah/hero type to the people of Britannia. But your companions have known you for longer, and if you start stealing stuff and beating people up, they won't tolerate it for long. (I don't know how much of that is implemented in the Exult engine.) And a gladiator arena would offend the peace-loving sensibilities of Lord British (King of Britannia). But you can go beat up monsters in the dungeons all day long if you want.
The game world is very advanced, especially considering the time period it was made in. Counting both parts of Ultima VII (its the two expansion packs), this is possibly the largest single-player computer RPG ever created, in game world, detail, and storyline. And across the entire Ultima series, I'm pretty sure this is the largest and most detailed story arch involving a single character ever made into a computer game series.
There are some side quests as well. Most have something to do with the main story-line, but some don't and are just fun diversions.
And there is, in fact, a casino in one town. Go knock yourself out there.
By the way, if you're new to Ultima, want to try out what's possibly the most influential computer RPG ever created and the game Richard Garriott (creator of Ultima) thinks is his best ever, and don't mind playing something whose graphics are rather retro, check out Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. That's the start of the main story arch that your character in this series goes on. (Pretty much all you'd need to know about the earlier games is explained in the manual.) Ultima IV is now freeware, and you can get a version of it for modern computers at http://xu4.sourceforge.net. Make sure you also print out a copy of the Ultima IV map (http://members.aol.com/ultimadox/u4brtcl2.jpg) and get a copy of the manual (http://files.the-underdogs.info/games/u ... ma4vga.pdf has the text from the game's two books and reference card. At the end there's a hints section that gives you the game solution. I suggest avoiding that part unless you really want to get the game over quick.)
Re: Lots of questions about Black Gate
I thought this post sounded familiar. Someone was asking the same basic questions about Serpent Isle less than a year ago.
http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=29413#p29413
Also, someone else asked about guilds in the Black Gate and people responded with some basic information about the game. You might want to read this post and the answers.
http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=29469#p29469
But Richard answered the question much more thoroughly.
http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=29413#p29413
Also, someone else asked about guilds in the Black Gate and people responded with some basic information about the game. You might want to read this post and the answers.
http://exult.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=29469#p29469
But Richard answered the question much more thoroughly.