Exult Forum

Not strictly U7 stuff, but this is the most knowledgable Ultima forum I know of.

Anyway, does anyone know what Richard Garrott is upto with his new company (the name of which escapes me), the last time I checked there website it didnt have anything of interest on it.

Is it reasonable to assume he is working on a new RPG? If so what are the chances of him returning to form and coming up with something has good as U7?

PS As a aside, do you think that it is possible to achieve a level of interaction like that in BG/SI using a U9 (3D) style engine, or is it only realistic using a U7 style?

PPS What's all the fuss with Baldurs Gate? Finally started to play it, seems to me to be U7 with all the good bits and interaction taken out. Its so dry and boring, I've given up bored before even escaping from where you start!

Richard Garriott is working with NCsoft on a game called "Lineage - The Blood Pledge", an MMORPG which is doing great in Asia. In fact, it's the biggest MMORPG in the world, subscriber-wise, that is. He's preparing for the US release, I think.

http://www.lineagethebloodpledge.com

P.S. Yes, I do. Not necessarily with the third-person behind the back perspective, though - but 3D doesn't equal bad.

P.P.S. Baldur's Gate is a truly awesome game - it has a great storyline, interesting conversations, and balanced combat. It doesn't have the world/player interaction of the Ultimas, though. Baldur's Gate 2 is even better.

The company RG started is called Destination Games.

From what I know he's currently introducing an Asian hugely succesful MMORPG called 'Lineage' in the USA, and plans to create a new game (currently codenamed 'Tabula Rasa' (= clean slate)) in a few years.

There are several online interviews available that have some more details. Someone else might have an URL lying around. (or try google)

I think his company name was Destination Games (no joke). I think his plan was to create his own MMORPG game like Ultima Online or Everquest. Personally, I don't have any interest in games like that, but would rather see a great single-player game like U7/SI.

As for Balder's Gate, I've never played it since I don't run Windows, but I've heard great things about it. Maybe you need to be patient enough to get to the interesting parts. Personally, I am looking forward to NeverWinter Nights, from the same company (which will run on Linux).


-Karl

Lineage has actually been released in the US. The latest PC Gamer comes with the full game, you just have to pay to play, as usual. I'd like to be able to play before paying, because I have next to no idea what its like, hehe. So until I see some reviews or some such, I'll keep an eye on it.

Personally, I've spent years looking for a modern RPG with the level of interacivity that U7 has. It seems that modern RPG design has taken a huge step backward in recent years. Take Baldur's Gate, for example. I found this game to be tremendously BORING. First of all, I can't stand the fact that the world is made up of little, square maps that I have to walk all over in order to see everything. i spent most of my game time laboriously walking over every inch of every map, revelaing all of the blacked-out areas, just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Yawn. In U7, everything is on one, single-scale map, and although you can't see everything at once by scrolling around, you aren't compelled to try and walk everywhere. It's much more free-form. I think all RPGs should be single-scale. And yes, I realize that this is difficult to do. But anything less is simply crap. I can't get interested in an RPG in any other form.

Second, there was almost NO physical interactivity in BG. You couldn't pick up the food on the tables, you couldn't sit in the chairs or lie in the beds; everything was just artwork. In U7, of course, you can manipulate almost anything.

Finally, my biggest problem with almost every modern RPG is that the NPCs don't go anywhere. Granted there was a limited amount of NPC scripting in BG, but most everyone was standing in exactly the same spot at noon and at midnight. I thought this had been done away with in Ultima 5!

Baldur's Gate may have a good story (I think it doesn't) but there's so little that you can actually do. I only played it because I heard that BG2 was the most amazing game since Pong and I wanted to have a developed character to take into that game. Perhaps someone here can save me some money:

Is Baldur's Gate 2:

1. Single scale?

2. Fully world-interactive (ala U7)?

3. Realistically NPC scripted (ala and Ultima after 4)?

If the answers to these questions are all no, then BG2 is going to bore me as much as BG1. Such a shame, really. In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the modern equivalent of Ultima 7: a massive, single-scale world consisting of a fully interactive environment and filled with fully scripted NPCs. Someday... Sigh.

Morrowing looks very promising, check it out at www.elderscrolls.com . Huge interactive enviornment, completely free form (you can completley ignore the main quest), could be good.

Thats the thing though, not everybody likes the same types of RPGs. You can't sacrifice one persons likes for anothers. Not to mention a lot of people have broad tastes in game styles, just like musical tastes. I personally love Ultima, Baldurs Gate so far & Planescape Torment (I just played it again fairly recently), Final Fantasy, Gothic, the Krondor titles, etc.
You also have to remember that Baldurs Gate, and Planescape are based on the Dungeons and Dragons rules, and their methods of play are influenced by pen and paper gaming. Granted, pen and paper has unlimited possibilities.
Just wait for Neverwinter Nights... I'm stoked.

If you want what you've mentioned, single scaled world, NPC schedules, fully interactive world, I seriously suggest you check out Gothic. I'm totally immersed in this game. It's a 3D world, similar to Ultima 9. In my opinion, U9 should have been much more like this game. Only thing is that the world in U9 was a bit prettier. Gothics is a little more on the blocky side, but by no means ugly.
Anyways, I've ranted enough. Just typing enough to get tired My early classes are cancelled tomorrow, so I get to sleep late.
Night!

I really didn't like either of the BG games either; my impression of BG1 after struggling with the thing for some time was that it was like a stat-heavy version of "Warcraft with traps and really bad pathfinding". The plot, such as it is, is really nothing more than an excuse to force you to wade through more and yet more combats.

While combat-heavy games aren't a bad thing in principle, the manner and mechanics by which the BG games handled it turned it into frustrating drudgery very quickly.

BG2 helped on the story side of things; it did get better. Unfortunately, they made the combat problem worse - not only are you stuck wading through endless battles yet again, but a good many of those battles have the difficulty cranked up in various ways so that even if you get lucky and don't get splattered across the screen (which many times you probably will unless you know what's coming), you're stuck spending even more time in recovery from them.

These weren't the only problems, of course, just the one that eventually put me off trying to complete them.

I know multiplayer is the big thing among developers, but the Infinity engine is so horribly unsuited to it...

Neutronium Dragon

If I want an RPG with a lot of combat, I'll play the original Privateer, which I just finished again (along with the Righteous Fire add-on) for the 3rd time. My favorite villains are the Retros:

"DIE... by the very weapons you adore!"
"REPENT... and accept our righteous judgement!"


And it's fun talking your way past the Kilrathi:

"Permission to pass, monkey boy!"

If you like privateer, than I suspect you'll like Frontier:First Encounters (Elite 3). You can get a new frontend to run it under windows or linux from http://www.jaj22.demon.co.uk/, and the rest of the files you need from frontier developments elite club http://www.eliteclub.co.uk/download/.

I just wanna give you guys a 'head up' to what Baldur's Gate should have been: Planescape: Torment. It's the -only- RPG I know of where you actually get to make decisions. It won RPG of the year, too. Admitadly, the combat system is, er, simplistic, but the story and characters more than make up for the gameplay's mediocraty. A couple companions you pick up are a floating, talking skull("What's up, chief?"), a succubus turned good, a perpetually burning man.... It's very fun. I think it's Windows only, though...