Ultima VII: The Black Gate (Youtube retrospective)

mattbarton.exe · 20 June 2009, 19:22

Hi, guys, I wanted to let you know I've posted the 17th episode of "Matt Chat" on YouTube:

[ Show youtube player ]

Some folks have been asking me to cover Ultima VII: The Black Gate, so I gave it my best shot. I hope that you like it.

It was hard getting it made because I kept wanting to bake bread and milk cows. Don't ask.

TCD · 20 June 2009, 19:48

Oh how I loved that game

Really a masterpiece and when I played it for the first time I almost stopped because there was so much to explore that it was quite a bit frustrating that you knew that it would take literally months to see it all

Only other game that had that feeling was Morrowind.
Again a great review Matt and I really enjoyed seeing the table-top RPG photo

(*sigh* good times)

Shoonay · 20 June 2009, 19:57

Thanks Matt, another cool game report

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

[...] there was so much to explore that it was quite a bit frustrating that you knew that it would take literally months to see it all [...]

Exactly why I failed to even start playing it... it's complexity scared me!

Oh well, it was already too late when I got me a PC (December of 1998), but I remember enjoying to read EVERY single article (and solutions) about the game.

I never liked the view used in the game though, looks very strange for me with that isometric / top perspective.

Jakodemus · 20 June 2009, 20:44

One of the greatest games of our time. They don't make games like that anymore. In my mind the best thing about Ultima VII is that it has a huge amount of conversation and most of it is really interesting. Compare that to a Oblivion or Fallout 3 were NPC only says a few senteces at best. Personally I like Ultima VI even more. Mainly because of its conversation system. You just don't click the right word. You have to write it yourself.

keropi · 20 June 2009, 20:50

very nice!!!! thanks for pointing those videos!
UltimaVII is a milestone, it even uses it's own memory system, an os-like game if you like...

ps. I am a big ultima fan, I have all pc versions boxed complete in Kyon standards

Richard Garriot is VERY talented, and gave use something even more precious: Ultima Underlworld .
And you should try to get some roland devices for the best experience (an MT32 or better yet a CM32L , CM64 or LAPC-I)

Shoonay · 20 June 2009, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropi

I have all pc versions boxed complete in Kyon standards

OMG, another EAB copyrighted meme!

Sensi · 20 June 2009, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropi

very nice!!!! thanks for pointing those videos!
UltimaVII is a milestone, it even uses it's own memory system, an os-like game if you like...

ps. I am a big ultima fan, I have all pc versions boxed complete in Kyon standards

Richard Garriot is VERY talented, and gave use something even more precious: Ultima Underlworld .
And you should try to get some roland devices for the best experience (an MT32 or better yet a CM32L , CM64 or LAPC-I)

Agree on UU.

You deserve something special for that "Kyon standards" term

Another great video Matt.

Shoonay · 20 June 2009, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropi

And you should try to get some roland devices for the best experience (an MT32 or better yet a CM32L , CM64 or LAPC-I)

Yeah, I hope the music doesn't sound like on an Atari

/me wonders if DOSBOX with Timidity would work

Sensi · 20 June 2009, 21:34

You DosBox Shoonay, buy some old 486 or PI or PII, they are cheap and look so ugly

Matt, is on your video list some text adventure game? Zork series or some Level 9 games?

keropi · 20 June 2009, 21:40

I can tell you from personal experience that UU is like another game if you have Roland LA synthesis hardware...

yes, I have some kind of Roland fetish...

mattbarton.exe · 20 June 2009, 21:48

Ultima Underworld is a brilliant game. I played it back when I was researching my CRPG book. I have DosBox; I'll have to look into the audio options. I know there are several. Doom tends to get all the publicity.

I touched on text adventures a bit in [ Show youtube player ], but yeah, I've been thinking more about it. I think to really do it right, I would need the actual Infocom packaging and all, so I could show all the cool feelies and stuff that came with the games.

Re: Shoonay--I think you're not the only one. It takes quite awhile before you really feel comfortable playing the game, despite the efforts to streamline the interface. It's a fascinating question, really--you might want people to be able to do all sorts of different things, but how can you enable them to do it without making the interface too complicated? This game made huge strides, but of course they couldn't have anticipated all of the nice things in modern interfaces that make games easier to control. Some of the contemporary magazine reviews I read were even skeptical of the mouse--not many gamers had mice, so that could have impacted sales.

Thanks for the all the nice comments. What a great forum community you guys have here!

cd32lover · 21 June 2009, 12:48

no amiga version?

TCD · 21 June 2009, 12:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by cd32lover

no amiga version?

http://hol.abime.net/230

skateblind · 21 June 2009, 14:32

Another great video! I played this a lot at boarding school when I was pretty young, I don't remember being able to make bread or milk cows, but I think I mostly just walked round fighting things. :P

Zandig · 21 June 2009, 19:53

Excellent video Matt!

I've been re-playing this one on and off with Exult for a while:
http://exult.sourceforge.net/index.php

A great game!

20 June 2009, 19:22	#1
mattbarton.exe Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Cloud, MN/USA Posts: 328	Ultima VII: The Black Gate (Youtube retrospective) Hi, guys, I wanted to let you know I've posted the 17th episode of "Matt Chat" on YouTube: [ Show youtube player ] Some folks have been asking me to cover Ultima VII: The Black Gate, so I gave it my best shot. I hope that you like it. It was hard getting it made because I kept wanting to bake bread and milk cows. Don't ask.

20 June 2009, 20:50	#5
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	very nice!!!! thanks for pointing those videos! UltimaVII is a milestone, it even uses it's own memory system, an os-like game if you like... ps. I am a big ultima fan, I have all pc versions boxed complete in Kyon standards Richard Garriot is VERY talented, and gave use something even more precious: Ultima Underlworld . And you should try to get some roland devices for the best experience (an MT32 or better yet a CM32L , CM64 or LAPC-I) Last edited by keropi; 20 June 2009 at 20:57.

20 June 2009, 21:48	#11
mattbarton.exe Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Cloud, MN/USA Posts: 328	Ultima Underworld is a brilliant game. I played it back when I was researching my CRPG book. I have DosBox; I'll have to look into the audio options. I know there are several. Doom tends to get all the publicity. I touched on text adventures a bit in [ Show youtube player ], but yeah, I've been thinking more about it. I think to really do it right, I would need the actual Infocom packaging and all, so I could show all the cool feelies and stuff that came with the games. Re: Shoonay--I think you're not the only one. It takes quite awhile before you really feel comfortable playing the game, despite the efforts to streamline the interface. It's a fascinating question, really--you might want people to be able to do all sorts of different things, but how can you enable them to do it without making the interface too complicated? This game made huge strides, but of course they couldn't have anticipated all of the nice things in modern interfaces that make games easier to control. Some of the contemporary magazine reviews I read were even skeptical of the mouse--not many gamers had mice, so that could have impacted sales. Thanks for the all the nice comments. What a great forum community you guys have here! Last edited by mattbarton.exe; 20 June 2009 at 21:54.

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20 June 2009, 19:48	#2
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,606	Oh how I loved that game Really a masterpiece and when I played it for the first time I almost stopped because there was so much to explore that it was quite a bit frustrating that you knew that it would take literally months to see it all Only other game that had that feeling was Morrowind. Again a great review Matt and I really enjoyed seeing the table-top RPG photo (sigh good times)

20 June 2009, 20:44	#4
Jakodemus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Finland Posts: 62	One of the greatest games of our time. They don't make games like that anymore. In my mind the best thing about Ultima VII is that it has a huge amount of conversation and most of it is really interesting. Compare that to a Oblivion or Fallout 3 were NPC only says a few senteces at best. Personally I like Ultima VI even more. Mainly because of its conversation system. You just don't click the right word. You have to write it yourself.

20 June 2009, 21:34	#9
Sensi Unregistered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: N/A Posts: 1,643	You DosBox Shoonay, buy some old 486 or PI or PII, they are cheap and look so ugly Matt, is on your video list some text adventure game? Zork series or some Level 9 games?

20 June 2009, 21:40	#10
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	I can tell you from personal experience that UU is like another game if you have Roland LA synthesis hardware... yes, I have some kind of Roland fetish...

21 June 2009, 12:48	#12
cd32lover Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sweden Posts: 16	no amiga version?

21 June 2009, 14:32	#14
skateblind Village Idiot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: UK, England Age: 38 Posts: 580	Another great video! I played this a lot at boarding school when I was pretty young, I don't remember being able to make bread or milk cows, but I think I mostly just walked round fighting things. :P

21 June 2009, 19:53	#15
Zandig Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: NY / USA Posts: 266	Excellent video Matt! I've been re-playing this one on and off with Exult for a while: http://exult.sourceforge.net/index.php A great game!

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