ULTIMA IX : ASCENSION The Frequently Asked Questions List Version 1.02 - 5 Dec 1995 Compiled by Adrian Yau (Sagacious Dragon) ayau@tartarus.uwa.edu.au Copyright (c) 1995. All rights reserved @~Continued from last issue Section 4 : Gameplay Issues --------------------------- 4.1 Will U9 use the same engine as U8? No. As with tradition, each new Ultima involves new technology. Every new numeral has a totally new engine (U7SI is not considered a new numeral). 4.2 World interaction Ultima 8 was a step back from previous Ultimas, in terms of interaction with the world and its objects. Sitting down was something we missed most. However, interaction will be greatly improved in Ultima 9; there will be lots of it. * 4.3 Will Ultima 9 still use the menu system for conversations? Prior to the menu system (first introduced in Ultima 7), conversations with other characters was carried out by typing keywords. Ultima 9 will use a similar conversation menu system, but with an improved approach, which feels more like a conversation in the real world, and every click will be relevant. 4.4 Movement 4.4.1 Will there still be jumping and climbing? One important feature of Ultima 8 was the ability to jump and climb. Unfortunately, there were just too many puzzles depending on jumping skills. Origin is not revealing whether Ultima 9 will have jumping and climbing. However, what's certain is that we will not have the arcade action of Ultima 8. 4.4.2 Will the Avatar be able to swim? No comments here either :) 4.5 Combat Combat in U8 was an RPGer's nightmare, basically a session of frenzied mouse clicking. Though blocking and kicking actions were implemented they were rarely used. It all came down to the weapon's power and the dexterity of the Avatar in avoiding getting knocked down. 4.5.1 What will combat be like in Ultima 9? However there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we have been promised that there will be a new and inventive method of combat, which should please a vast majority of players. A combat system far different from that of U8. However, the design team will not reveal any further. 4.5.2 Will there be two combat models, realtime and turnbased? The design team hopes to incorporate this into the game. However, the code has yet to be written, so it's unconfirmed. 4.5.3 Will combat combine the keyboard and mouse? No. 4.5.4 Will there be more monsters? Due to space and budget constraints, as each monster required 100s of animation frames, Ultima 8 only had a small selection of monsters. Ultima 9 will have greater variety, as it will be released on CD-Rom. 4.5.5 Will there be resurrection for the Avatar? The Avatar, if killed, will probably be resurrected in some manner. 4.6 Graphics 4.6.1 Characters 4.6.1.1 Will there be an option for a female Avatar? Yes. This was not included in Ultima 8 due to the number of animation frames required. 1200 frames were used for the Avatar alone! 4.6.1.2 Will there be character portraits? U6 to U7 featured character portraits when conversing with others. In U7SI this was taken a step further by using digitized photos for many of the portraits. This feature was sorely missed in U8. The good news is that portraits will return. However, it is unconfirmed if digitized photos will be used. * 4.6.1.3 Will there be live actors and movie cut scenes? No. There will not be any live actors or video footage but there will be over 40 rendered cut scenes throughout the game. Please note that these cutscenes will not limit the non-linearity of the game. Ultima 9 is will NOT have the mission based format of the Wing Commander series. There will also be a method to review all the cutscenes you've been through. 4.6.2 Weather 4.6.2.1 Will we see the return of night and day? This is a definite yes. 4.6.2.2 How about the seasons and weather? Clouds and weather such as rain, lightning storms will be implemented in Ultima 9. However, they're still unsure about the seasons. 4.6.3 Inventory 4.6.3.1 Will inventory have a graphical interface? Yes. 4.6.3.2 Will there still be paperdolling in inventory? Paperdolling was first introduced in U7SI. The inventory screen actually showed the character wearing and holding equipped items and weapons. However, it is unconfirmed if this feature will be included in U9. 4.6.4 Map * 4.6.4.1 Will it be a mono- (U7) or dual-scaled map (U5)? There have been past indications which indicate a leaning towards a dual- or multi-scale map (see Lord British's letter to Ultima fans, in the Ultima 8 patch upgrade). However, it has been decided that multi-scale maps are expensive, as spells for each map scale have to be rewritten. On the other hand, monoscale maps although capable of having detailed graphics have resulted in smaller worlds. Large worlds on monoscale maps of high detail results in long travel times. A decision has been made about the mapping style of the game but Origin are not releasing any details just yet. 4.6.4.2 What sort of perspective will Ultima 9 use? Ultima 9 will have a isometric view like the previous Ultimas. 4.6.4.3 Will a rotating perspective be used? The isometric perspective used in U7 and U8 had a problem of not being able to see behind walls and the items dropped behind them. Quite a few gamers have suggested a rotating perspective be used. Ultima 9 will not have the problem of losing items behind walls. However, Origin is not revealing how they will achieve this. 4.6.4.4 Will we be able to run the game at different resolutions? As U9 will be produced for Win95 (see section 5.1.1), will we be able to adjust the resolution, to see a larger area? Note: We all run machines at different resolutions. CAUTION: Origin cannot confirm this at the moment, however it is most likely that we will be able to run the game under different resolutions, and view a larger area of the map using higher resolutions. 4.7 Sound 4.7.1 Will we get 32 channel sound like in WC3? U8 only had 4 digital channels for sound effects. WC3 had 32 channels for sound effects. The greater the number of channels, the more sounds you can hear simultaneously. For example: shouting, clashing of swords, footsteps, spell casting simultaneously in a battle. It's most likely but the design team has yet to confirm this. * 4.7.2 Will Ultima 9 have full speech? Ultima 9 will have full speech, with the option to turn speech off. Text will still be available and there will be an option to have both speech and text simultaneously. Real actors will be hired for the voices, including the voice of Lord British. The Avatar will also have male and female voices. Speech will also be included for the other language versions of Ultima 9. 4.8 Interface 4.8.1 Will there be more shortkeys? Yes, there will be lots. There will be shortkeys for keys, spellbooks, stats and more. 4.8.2 How about user configurable keys? Very unlikely. Section 5 : Technical Issues ---------------------------- 5.1 Platforms 5.1.1 Which platforms are U9 currently targeted for? Currently, Origin only has plans for Windows 95. 5.1.2 Will U9 be released for 3DO? It is most likely that Ultima 9 will be released for other platforms as well (including 3DO). However there are no concrete plans for them yet. + 5.1.3 Will there be a Mac version? There is a possibility that a Mac version will be made. However, this is highly dependent on the sales of the Mac versions of Origin's other games (Super WC, WC3 and System Shock). 5.2 Multitasking Will we be able to take advantage of multitasking in Win95 to take notes online? They're still not certain of this. 5.3. System Requirements * 5.3.1 What will be the minimum requirements to run U9? The current expected minimum system requirements are a 486/66, with at least 8Mb RAM and a double-speed CD-Rom drive. 16Mb RAM would probably be ideal . A fast video card is highly recommended. 5.4 How big will U9 be? In terms of disk space, U9 will most likely take up 2 CDs (something in excess of 1.2 Gigabytes). 5.5 Will there be a floppy version? No. Ultima 9 will be released on CD-ROM only. Section 6 : Miscellaneous ------------------------- 6.1 Who's on the Ultima 9 project? Project Director Richard Garriott Design Coordinator Brian Martin Senior Designer John Watson Designer Chuck Zoch Designer Robert White Art Director Beverly Garland Art Team Denis Loubet Micael Priest Robert Baldwin Micahel Morlan Scott Jones Tech Director Mike McShaffrey Tech team Herman Miller Gary Smith Sean Rogers Ragnar Schuerman 6.2 When will U9 appear on the shelves? At the moment they're shooting for Christmas 1996. 6.3 Where can I get screenshots? There are none at the moment. 6.4 Is Ultima 9 "The Lost Vale"? No. "The Lost Vale" was supposed to be an add-on for U8. It was never released as the folks at Origin didn't think it would sell. 6.5 Will there be add-ons for Ultima 9? Depends on the success of Ultima 9. 6.6 Will there be a Ultima 10? Definitely, unless Ultima 9 turns out to be a total bomb :) 6.7 Will there be a special edition for Ultima 9? They're not sure on this one yet. 6.8 Cheat Menu What already? And you haven't played the game yet :) Section 7 : In Conclusion ------------------------- 7.1 Credits This FAQ could not be made possible without the help of the following people: Brian Martin at Origin (a really cool guy) for answering our many questions. James R. Cheney (Cheese Dragon) for his input and editing. James provided many of the questions you see in this FAQ. Rainbow Dragon for transcripting the GenCon '95 talk given by Lord British and company. 7.2 Obtaining more information The following newsgroups usually have some information on U9. Watch out for the S/N ratio though! alt.games.ultima.dragons comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg 7.3 Contacting the author Do you have any information or questions regarding Ultima 9 which you don't see here? Read anything which you think might be useful to other fans? Have any gripes about the FAQ? I would love to hear what you think about it. Feel free to send me mail at: ayau@tartarus.uwa.edu.au - o -