Gog.com

[cironian]

I liked Windows 8 after the jump patch

 

[Ingmar]

I never played 7/7.5 so I'm definitely hoping for that.

I am already  about getting to replay 5/6.

[Lantyssa]

Which Ultima had Sherry the Mouse and the Gargoyle Realm?  6?

[Ingmar]

6. That was the one where they made the transition from the map->zoom in when you go to town->zoom in more in battle interface to the 'everyone is on the screen all the time' no map/town transitions, etc. V is the last 'classic' one interface-wise, VI necessarily suffers a little as it was a big change, and it incidentally also makes the game feel a little more dated, IMO.

[Lantyssa]

It's the only Ultima I ever played.  A mouse wielding a halberd tickled my fancy though.

[tgr]

I'm not sure if it has been noticed yet, but since we're talking all things ultima:

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ultima_underworld_1_2

(I'm sad to say I never played ultima underworld, I was stuck on EGA back when it was hot shit. )

[Ingmar]

I actually didn't really care for UU, personally. I know it's important technically or whatever but it never clicked for me as actually fun.

[WayAbvPar]

I have played around with the browser version of U4...might just give GOG's version a run. It is a fun trip down memory lane.

[Yegolev]

I actually didn't really care for UU, personally. I know it's important technically or whatever but it never clicked for me as actually fun.

I missed it when it came out, but I watched someone else play it for a bit.  Seems a tad like Arx Fatalis, and I haven't even finished that one.

[rk47]

I actually didn't really care for UU, personally. I know it's important technically or whatever but it never clicked for me as actually fun.

I missed it when it came out, but I watched someone else play it for a bit.  Seems a tad like Arx Fatalis, and I haven't even finished that one.

It is arx fatalis, even the designers admitted that Arx Fatalis is a spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld.
I hated the first UU as a kid, but the second one was much improved. It's worth a look for someone curious about the game. But a modern iteration is probably Arx Fatalis or Might & Magic: Dark Messiah

[Sheepherder]

6. That was the one where they made the transition from the map->zoom in when you go to town->zoom in more in battle interface to the 'everyone is on the screen all the time' no map/town transitions, etc. V is the last 'classic' one interface-wise, VI necessarily suffers a little as it was a big change, and it incidentally also makes the game feel a little more dated, IMO.

Your opinions are objectively wrong.

You haven't lived until you've crashed the gargoyle party at the shrine of compassion with a cannon.  Or resurrected a corpse with a lit powder keg stuffed into it just to see the results (note: hilarious).  Or used flasks of oil to wall off, funnel, or entrap enemies.

The ridiculously small view window is the only thing that makes the game feel really dated, and that's because they spent so much screen real estate duplicating the status window, combat log, and command list that existed in previous games.

[Ingmar]

The pixels the size of a baby's fist also make it feel dated, imo. The graphics in V are not 'better' but they're much cleaner so it holds up better now.

[Sky]

One thing I loved about 7 and 7.5 was the paperdoll and having your gear show up on it. So awesome for the time. I forget the first game I played where your actual avatard in the game reflected your current gear, but I do remember those paperdolls from Ultima.

Full disclosure: never played 6. Came out during my luddite period, when I only had my C64 on the road and was playing U5.

[Sheepherder]

The pixels the size of a baby's fist also make it feel dated, imo. The graphics in V are not 'better' but they're much cleaner so it holds up better now.

Counterpoint: limited colour palette with little or no use of transparency.

One thing I loved about 7 and 7.5 was the paperdoll and having your gear show up on it. So awesome for the time. I forget the first game I played where your actual avatard in the game reflected your current gear, but I do remember those paperdolls from Ultima.

Weapons in U7 appeared in your hands, all major pieces of gear in Serpent's Isle appeared on your in-game avatar.

[Sky]

That must be it, then. I had a real thing for Serpent's Isle. I was still smoking a ton of pot back then, hah.

[Sheepherder]

I played through Black Gate and Serpent's Isle not too long ago in Exult, but even in DOSBox they have aged well.

[Lucas]

Wing Commander III: The Heart of the Tiger is now on GOG ($5.99 is a fantastic bargain, they could easily sell it for 9.99):

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/wing_commander_3_heart_of_the_tiger

 

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.

I still have the original UK limited (the "movie reel" one) edition, with the T-shirt, soundtrack, extra bonus CD and VHS tape. Greatest collector's edtion of all time, for one of the greatest games of all time :)

[Ingmar]

The pixels the size of a baby's fist also make it feel dated, imo. The graphics in V are not 'better' but they're much cleaner so it holds up better now.

Counterpoint: limited colour palette with little or no use of transparency.

How about a complete sentence, so I can tell what the hell you're talking about?

[Sheepherder]

Well, given that the topic is U5, U6, and graphics, and "counterpoint" followed by a negative would indicate that I am making a point against your position, it follows that I am saying that U5's sprites look like shit because of the 16/64 colour palette and the lack of bit masking / transparency.

Like so.

[Ingmar]

Which, IMO, still looks better than VI does to me now. But, you know, Nethack looks better than VI does to me now too.

[Velorath]

D&D stuff on sale through the 26th.  For $34.31 you can get both Baldur's Gates, both Icewind Dales, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights Diamond, Temple of Elemental Evil, Dragonshard, and Demonstone.

[rk47]

Got them all. 

FUCK YES! YESSSS YESSSSS! SHARE IT IN YOUR FESSBOOK! NAO!

[Cadaverine]

If only they would get all the old SSI D&D games. 

And Bard's Tale I, II, and III.

[Lucas]

If only they would get all the old SSI D&D games. 

And Bard's Tale I, II, and III.

Yep, especially the *whole* SSI collection, not just Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, but also Buck Rogers, Dark Sun and Ravenloft 

[raydeen]

If only they would get all the old SSI D&D games. 

And Bard's Tale I, II, and III.

Yep, especially the *whole* SSI collection, not just Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, but also Buck Rogers, Dark Sun and Ravenloft 

I've got the old SSI Gold Box games somewhere on a Wizardworks collection CD. I remember the first game would not work at all (WW fucked up something about it, can't remember what - ended up having to pirate it just to see what it was like). Never played the Buck Rogers games but loved Dark Sun and Ravenloft (especially Ravenloft). Some Eye of the Beholder love would not be turned away either.

And yes, I snagged the deal too. I've been waiting for this to eventually come around. I think I've bought NWN three times now. Once as the original, once as the Platinum version and now the Diamond version.

[Velorath]

If only they would get all the old SSI D&D games. 

And Bard's Tale I, II, and III.

Yep, especially the *whole* SSI collection, not just Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, but also Buck Rogers, Dark Sun and Ravenloft 

I've got the old SSI Gold Box games somewhere on a Wizardworks collection CD. I remember the first game would not work at all (WW fucked up something about it, can't remember what - ended up having to pirate it just to see what it was like). Never played the Buck Rogers games but loved Dark Sun and Ravenloft (especially Ravenloft). Some Eye of the Beholder love would not be turned away either.

And yes, I snagged the deal too. I've been waiting for this to eventually come around. I think I've bought NWN three times now. Once as the original, once as the Platinum version and now the Diamond version.

I had to pick up 3 different collections to get most of the SSI D&D stuff, and even then there are gaps in the things that were collected on CD-ROM.  The Masterpiece Collection had the Dark Sun and Ravenloft stuff, along with the Al-Qadim game Genie's Curse.  It also has Menzoberranzan, which overlaps which is also in the Forgotten Realms Archive, which contains the Pool of Radiance series (including Hillsfar), the Savage Frontier series, the Eye of the Beholder games, and Dungeon Hack.  The Wizard Works 9 game collector's edition has the previously mentioned Gold Box games contained in the FR Archive, plus the Dragonlance Gold Box stuff.  Absent from any CD-ROM collection as far as I know is the Heroes of the Lance series, DragonStrike, and Spelljammer.  Unlimited Adventures, Fantasy Empires and Stronghold were available as part of the AD&D Ultimate Fantasy Pack.

The last time any of the D&D SSI stuff was collected was back in 2001 by Interplay so I assume they still have the rights.  I'm not sure if they'd be allowed to put any of this stuff up on GOG though since Atari currently has the D&D rights for games.

[Ingmar]

Missing out on Heroes of the Lance could be counted as a blessing.

[Velorath]

Missing out on Heroes of the Lance could be counted as a blessing.

Sadly, I actually played it (or tried anyway) back when it came out on the NES.  But yeah, not everything that came out of the SSI era was a great (or even a good game).  Gamespot did a good rundown many years back.

[Lucas]

Missing out on Heroes of the Lance could be counted as a blessing.

Sadly, I actually played it (or tried anyway) back when it came out on the NES.  But yeah, not everything that came out of the SSI era was a great (or even a good game).  Gamespot did a good rundown many years back.

Yep, games like Hillsfar and Heroes of the Lance made us grew into the adults we are now.

 

Still, if you played games like "Wizard Warz" and "The Golden Path" (I'll leave you the pleasure to look for them :P) and and you are still here to narrate the tale...Much respect to you (sorry for this slight derail)  :)

[KallDrexx]

I remember liking Hillsfar as a kid, but looking back I can't remember why.  It was pretty repetitive and dull now that I look back at it.  Gotta love nostalgia!

[Tebonas]

I found it repetitive back then too, but I always attributed it to the fact that I wanted that 2hp bonus and played it with my whole Pool of Radiance party (only to realize I could have lived without my two fighters doing it because I had to roll up a Paladin and a Ranger in Curse of the Azure Bonds instead. The memories, they still hurt)

[Velorath]

I could forgive Hillsfar it's faults because it least it was short.  As a game in and of itself I probably would have felt bad if I had bought it by itself for full price.  When picked up as part of a collection though, it acts an ok diversion in-between Pool and Curse.

[raydeen]

Any bets as to when they hit the 6 mil mark? I'm thinking tonight sometime maybe early tomorrow. There's probably going to be a massive hit as everyone will be trying to be the magic download that gets all the things for free.

[Kail]

As a wild guess, I'd say a day and a half or so.  It was at 5.93m yesterday, 5.85-ish on the weekend.  Which itself is pretty intense, seeing them blow through something like 100,000 downloads in 48 hours.

[Strazos]

Technically, is it counting purchases or downloads? I have some games purchased that I have yet to download...