U7 conference
Ophidian Dragon
Read ye title.
-The Big O
The following is a transcript of The GAMERS' Forum's ULTIMA VII Conference
held on July 8th, 1992. Not to be distributed without permission. (Edited
for
clarity)
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, everyone.....
<Banging gavel on gravel, or any other surface that will make a
satisfyingly loud noise> I now call this formal conference to order.
(9-30,John) All rise in the presence of the Lord.
(9-30,John) Lord Brittish, That is.
(9-1,Dave Timoney/ADV SL) Andre - you've got a heck of a lot of line noise!
(9-30,John) Or a mouse with a diff. driver.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok. To start off the conference, let me first remind
everyone of the format:
This is a _FORMAL_ conference...
To ask a question of our guest(s), please type a ?...
You will be placed in the queue. When your turn comes...
I will call your name. You may ask one question, and...
one follow-up. Depending on the time, we may be able to...
accomodate a second, or third round of questions.
When typing your questions, use ... to denote an...
unfinished line. Type GA (Go Ahead) at the end of your...
question and DONE at the end of your turn.
Whew! <Blowing smoke off fingers>
(9-9,Nick Nova) ?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Before we start the questions and answers...
I would like to introduce our honored guest tonight: Lord British.
Our guest, Lord British, is the founder of Origin...
as well as the chief designer of the Ultima series.
Ultima 1 set the standards for computer role-playing...
games in terms of graphics and game play back in...
the early 1980s. Since then, each Ultima release...
(9-30,John) <clap> <clap>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) has been a major event in the computer gaming...
industry and has helped to redefine the state of the art.
It is indeed a great honor tonight, to have Lord British...
himself as our conference guest.
(9-1,Dave Timoney/ADV SL) <applause>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <Loud applause>
(9-30,John) Welcome.
(9-17,Stephen N Freed) <bow>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Thank you for taking the time to be here, Lord
British...
Would you care to make any opening statement?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) <trumpet fanfare>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes...
First of all, let me thank you for inviting me here...
It's been a fair bit of time since I was last on...
Too long, in fact...
But I'm sure glad to be here and...
We here in this room are just about recovered...
from our Ultima VII experience to begin thinking again. ga
(9-12,hercules/HOST) I'll bet you folks were swarmed by the responses.
<grin>
(9-30,John) john
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes...
In fact, Ultima 7 rolled out with the largest rollout...
in company history to date, totalling 75,000 units worldwide...
As many of you already know, Ultima 7 represents the first
installment of
the third trilogy...
and this game represents a much darker story than was found in the
previous trilogy...
Tonight, I would be happy to discuss Ultima 7, Underworld, Forge of
Virtue, Ultima 7: Part 2, and future Ultimas. ga
(9-10,Michelle) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) ?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Excellent. Thank you, Lord British. And now, folks,
let's
see some ?s!
(9-17,Stephen N Freed) ?
(9-30,John) john
(9-2,Levendis) ?
(9-25,Belisana) ?
(9-9,Nick Nova) ?
(9-30,John) ?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Nick, though you jumped the gun a bit earlier...
You are hereby recognized to have the faster finger in the west...
Fire your first salvo. GA
(9-18,David Brown) hello
(9-9,Nick Nova) Lord British. I was wondering about fighting in you games
as
of late....
Since 6 I have found it to be lacking in strategic possibilities....
Any chance of a throwback to 3,4, and 5 types of combat?
ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Before I answer the question, let me also mention
that
I have many members of the Development Team...
as well as Customer Service and PR here, so they may be helping me
with
some of the answers...
Yes, I agree with the issue of personalizing combat more than was
found in
some of the recent Ultimas...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <Welcome! Origin Development Team!>
(9-30,John) <loud applause!>
(9-28,Blackclove) (?)
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) One of the problems has been with the fact that we
played recent Ultimas with a party of 4-8 characters...
Personally, I like games which continue in real time as opposed to a
"turn" basis...
when you are in activities other than combat...
I also do not like switching back and forth from real time to a turn
basis
within a single product...
So what that leaves us with is a problem with which way to go...
In Ultima 8, it's our intention to allow the player to do much more
than
they could in previous Ultimas...
with their main character being able to jump, crawl, fly and other
detailed activities in real time...
so therefore, it is likely that we will reduce the party size to a
single
character. ga
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Nick, Follow up?
(9-9,Nick Nova) I have been with you since the early 80's...
and you blew my socks off with U1 on my atari...
Since then I have been a loyal fan and will continue so. ...
Thanks for years of Ultima entertainment. By the way...
What is that forge thing mentioned? Thanks again.ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) First, let me thank you for your years of
support...
Well, glad that you asked...
Forge of Virtue is in fact what you might think of as a "data disk"
for
Ultima 7...
When you install Forge of Virtue, a new island will rise out of the
sea in
the midst of Britannia...
On this island, you, will go on quests in order to increase...
your character's abilities well beyond that of mere mortals...
and finally forge yourself the ultimate weapon called the Shade
Blade...
a blade made of an alloy of black rock...
So, in a sense, Forge of Virtue could be considered a character
editor/enhancer. ga
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Interesting concept!
Next up is Daniel&Wendy. Go right ahead.
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) Hello, we're another pair of oldtimers (myself
(daniel) since II, wendy since III)...
and we've loved your games... my comment/question: I found Ultima 7
as
story wonderful, as puzzle simplistic...
once you've talked to Margareta, you're essentially lead around like
a
trained...
dog by one guide after another (Mordra, Time Lord, Penumbra, etc.)
who
always...
tells you more or less precisely what to do and where to go...
I miss Ultima V, where one could choose which things to do (Crown,
Scepter, Shards...)
and Ultima IV, where one actually figured things out on ones own
(e.g."INFINITY")...
will Ultima 8 have (please!) more opportunity to make priority
decisions
and...
solve puzzles by the player himself instead of his too-helpful
guides? ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Old timers, indeed!!!...
And, by the way, great comments...
To some degree, I would have to agree with the things you pointed
out...
With the system we used in Ultima 7, it was our first time to
exercise
a new method of interface...
I, too, think that we did not have as much freedom of action
conversationally...
but this was our first "non-typing" approach...
We already have many ideas as how to improve Ultima 8 in the ways you
suggested...
Thanks again for the nice comments and years of support. Ga
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Follow-up, Daniel&Wendy?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) I suppose our other burning question is: what
sort of
new technology...
can we look forward to in the future, especially...
when will we actually see SVGA and/or CD-ROM (!)...
and are there any other neat rabbits in hats we should look forward
to...
PS The games are regardless of chrome wonderful. Keep it up! :) GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) With the size of our games already over the 20
megabyte
limit...
and with digitized speech wishing to eat 100's of megabytes...
CD-ROM would not only be nice, but essential for future development
of
ORIGIN products...
In fact, we have Ultima 6/Wing Commander out already...
and will soon be taking full advantage of CD-ROM...
On the subject of SVGA...
we have the following problem...
Consider this: Ultima 1 was written on ...
a 1 MHz machine with 64K of memory, 140K disk drive and 8K graphics
screen...
Ultima 7 was for a...
10MHz with 640K ofloppies and a 64K graphics screen...
You will notice if you compare these numbers that if you are moving
around
10 times as much art, it will take 10 times as much memory and
...and a 10 times faster processor to keep the same frame rate...
SVGA takes so much extra memory to store the art for...
and so much extra processor power to animate the screen at the same
rate...
the game would take about 10 times as much memory and be 10 times
slower...
so it will be some time before we support SVGA with a full-screen
scrolling game. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) That really is a big hurdle, and the hardware prices
will
have to come down...
a lot before SVGA games can attain the sales figures they require.
<sigh>
Next in line is Michelle. All yours, Michelle!
(9-10,Michelle) First of all I will like to say that I am delighted by the
fact
that...
Lord British will answer my questions...
I appreciate your appearance in public (CIS)...
Ultima Underworld was a work of art, a masterpiece...
Never seen something so outstanding in my 15 years of computer
programming..
But I personally thought Ultima 7 was a HUGE disappointment...
too slow, many bugs, and inaccurate release date(s)...
My 2 questions are : ...
1-) How can you guys release a "GOD" game as Ultima Underworld and
then
U7?
2-) Any Plans for Ultima Underworld 2 ? Thank you! <GA>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Okay...
Well, quite frankly, I'm glad to see you enjoyed Underworld so
much...
but also sorry to see that you seem not to have enjoyed Ultima 7...
They are two _completely_ different types of games...
They appeal to very different kinds of people...
and were intended for different audiences...
The current sales levels of Ultima 7 would indicate that there are
many
people who enjoy Ultima 7...
We are trying to produce games which appeal to both markets, and
yes...
there will be Underworld 2, already in the works. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) The next batter is Stephen. Take it away!
(9-17,Stephen N Freed) Okay. I enjoyed Ultima7, and especially liked the
evilness of The Guardian...
But the game was to much conversation and not enough puzzles for my
taste
...
But i am wondering about how the next Ultima will solve these
problems...
And when you said earlier that Ultima8 may be only one party
member...
I truely do not like that idea, because of the recent role party
members
have played in conversation. GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) To address your first question...
In Ultima 8, we intend to increase the density of puzzles...
by first of all compressing the world into a much smaller physical
area...
animation will be increased to something comparable to "Prince of
Persia,"
if you rmember that game...
Local spot animations akin to Monkey Island 2, one of my favorite
games...
and the reason for one player is to allow you to do things like jump
out
of a window, which we could not do in Ultima 7...
because it was too difficult to determine what your party members
would
do...
but we do plan to keep up th interaction you noticed between party
members
and the other NPCs...
as you saw in Ultima 7, but that characters you might have considered
party members...\
will be more transitory, or at least differently dealt with. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Now it's Levendis' turn. Go ahead please.
(9-2,Levendis) I noticed in Ultima7 that the shrines and the virtues played
a
much smaller role, are you phasing out that part of the game? ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes, in fact, Ultima 8...
takes place in an entirely different world...
The mythology and the science and geography of Britannia are not to
be
found in Ultima 8...
Ultima 8: Pagan - is a whole new world with a new mythology, etc. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Follow-up?
(9-2,Levendis) no, thanx
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, next up is Belisana and that concludes the first
round
of questioning....
I'll take more ?, starting now.
Belisana, go ahead.
(9-21,CAROL) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) ?
(9-24,Lance) ?
(9-17,Stephen N Freed) ?
(9-16,RON) ?
(9-25,Belisana) Thanks herc...and thanks, LB, for giving me many hundreds
of
hours...
(9-2,Levendis) ?
(9-25,Belisana) of class entertainment. However, I'm kinda in the same
boat...
as Michelle with respect to Ultima 7....
I thought Ultima Underworld was just about the best game I've seen in
years....
But with Ultima 7, I thuink i hit just about every, ah, technical
difficuylty...
in the book. Toward the end, it became more like work than play....
My questions are: will you continue to use your proprietary memory
manager...
in future Ultimas? And will you change your approach to testing...
to try to avoid some of the problems I saw in Ultima 7? GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Belisana, you are quite welcome...
It's no wonder that anyone who encounters a significant number of
problems, as you appear to have had...
would have a less than wonderful opinion of their experience...
As with any product, some people will encounter some problems...
and not trying to discount any problems which I know you obviously
did
have...
I can assure you that we did do more extensive testing on this
product
than on any other in company history...
Yet, it is also true that testing can still use a great deal of
improvement...
out of house testing is one of the many ways which is currently under
consideration...
and seems to have a great deal of merit...
(9-25,Belisana) Bravo!
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Part of the problem is that the PC platform is
entirely
non-standardized and no matter..
how many hours of testing we put in...
and machines we try it on...
it is a miniscule fraction of the time put on it in the first few
days of
a 75,000 unit release...
Ultima 7, in fact, went through 3-4 person years of testing...
and did honestly appear to be bug-free at the time of release...
(though no product ever is)...
and to date, we have only discovered 4 issues of consequence, all of
which
have been addresses...
addressed, that is...
I'm sure we'll continue to improve in the future...
About memory management...
The 386 processor was designed to address up to 4 gigabytes of memory
directly...
the EMS standard was developed for the 286 to be able to address more
than
1 megabyte...
but will only let you address past 1 megabyte in small, 64K pages...
and at a very slow rate of speed...
Since Ultima 7 drew upon more than 8 MB of art in a continuously
scrolling
world...
we could not sacrifice the speed or technical issues associated with
EMS...
by a long shot...
All there is to our use of memory is to put the 386 processor back to
its
normal mode...
which is not compatible with EMS, but will be the method used by all
products sometime in the future...
Ultima 7 is just one of the first 386-specific applications...
More people will have the same problem in the future...
We will continue, however, to look for ways to make things easier for
the
user. GA
(9-25,Belisana) Thanks. DONE
(9-12,hercules/HOST) I'm going to abuse my priviledge here and sneak in a
couple
of quickies...
These are question from members who just couldn't make the con for
one
reason or another....
First question: Will the sequels to Ultima VII deal with the growing
hostility...
Between the humans and gargoyles that was shown in U7? GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Not as a principal point...
but the lack of trust between these two peoples..
will likely carry on into future games. GA
(9-21,CAROL) i want to apoligize for the earlier noise.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Second question: Are there plans to port Ultima VII
and
Underworld to the Amiga Platform...
The questioner said he wouldn't take no for an answer. <grin> GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) (Whole room here at ORIGIN) - We were waiting for
this
question...
(9-21,CAROL) I want to apoligize for the earlier noise...
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) We get this question about every machine platform
at
every event we attend...\
Any platform which can accept a 20 MB game and sufficient sales and
is
sufficiently powerful will be supported...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <We don't want you to feel missed out>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Right now, the PC platform is the only obvious
platform
which fits this description in the U.S....
but, in other countries, like Europe, the Amiga is a much stronger
platform...
if piracy weren't such a bad issue over there...
If our European counterparts both fund and are successful in the
creation
of Ultima 7 for that platform...
we will also release it over here....
But I have no definite answer. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) European counterparts?? Very interesting. Thanks for
the
reply.
And now, CAROL will kick off the second round of questioning. Go
ahead.
(9-21,CAROL) first time in conf. I am an 0Isorry about the noise earlier;
first
time in conf...
I want to ask what hardware will run Ultima 8. We have played all
the
Ultima games except 7. In 6
off the world and had my party turned
into furniture Objects were lost in a party of 8. Thanks. GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Ultima 8 will require a 50 MHz 486 with 32 MB of
RAM...\
No, not really (grin)...
(9-1,Backup) hee hee
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Ultima 8 should require about the same as Ultima
7...
something like a 16 MHz 386 with 2-4 MB of memory and a mouse. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Whew, got my heart pumping there for a second. <g>
CAROL, follow-up?
(9-21,CAROL) no, thanks, respectd to LB ga
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, Daniel&Wendy, you're up!
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Thanks, Carol. GA
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) Well, two things: on the earlier comment on
"increased puzzle density"...
we'd like to cast a big vote in favor of mental puzzles ("INFINITY",
...
anything where one figures something out never explicitly stated)...
as opposed to physical puzzles (games with levers and switches,
etc.)...
the latter are just much less interesting and much more artificial...
question: is Origin producing anything in the future besides
"Ultimas"...
and "Commanders"... esp., what the heck is "The Next Frontier"? GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes, I'd have to agree. Many more intellectual
puzzles..
although I also like the mechanical puzzles...
in the works are some new types of products...
including one which some of the staff in this room are working on...
called "Bounty Hunter," (which I can't say much about right now)...
and the title "Next Frontier" is not currently being used...
but some of the staff's research is still progressing. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Follow-up?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) Perhaps a brief one: can you give any kind of
tentaive dates for the upcoming stuff...
Ultima 8, UW2, (even Bounty Hunter)? (REALLY TENTAIVE, I know) :) GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Ooohh, a dangerous thing for _any_ developer to
talk
about...
Forge of Virtue will be out in a few months...
Ultima 7: Part 2 The Serpent Isle will be out for X-mas...
Strike Commander had better be out before X-mas...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <heh!>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Ultima 8 will be out for the next X-mas...
Bounty Hunter to follow soon thereafter...
This year, we also have "in the works" ...
a project we started to type the name of, but public relations
stopped
me...
but it should be out in a few months...
Ask for it by mane!
name, that is...
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) HMPH!
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Oh, please, tease us some more. <g>
Ok, Lance. Batter up!
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Privateer, a Wing Commander-style game in which
you
can customize your own ships...
(9-24,Lance) Hello. As an aspiring game designer want-to-be, I have always
admired...
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) and Phoenix Force, a Strike Commander sequel. GA
(9-24,Lance) origin's commitment to bleeding edge technology. My questions
are...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) (They both sound really neat. Thanks!)
(9-24,Lance) somewhat technically geared. Regarding the EMS problem, will
you...
be switching to 32-bit compilers?...
Also, what are the chances of origin providing hardware assitance to
...
their products. Like graphic accelerator boards to do bitblt
operations ect. Thanks. ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes...
32-bit compilers are the holy grail which we seek...
but currently, most on the market are not sufficient for our needs...
It is our dire hope that within the next 12 months, someone...
hopefully Borland, will release a 32-bit compiler which meets our
needs...
Support of other things like bitblts are less likely. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, Ron, you're up. Take it away.
(9-16,RON) LB, first, I very much enjoyed Ultima I - IV on my ...
Atari 800. You earlier answered the "port" question for the Amiga,
but
can you. . .
give an explicit answer about the Macintosh? Or will I have to wait
until
. . .
clones are available at Wal-Mart for @249.95? <g> GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Th is the "Computer of the Gods."...
I wish very much to support...
no, not support...
to design directly for the Mac and not the PC>>>
but alas, right now, there is not a sufficient entertainment software
market..
on the Mac...
However, with the new low-priced Macs, it appears to be growing...
and I hope that in the near future, we will be able to...
(by the way, piracy is still a major problem for entertainment
software on
the Mac). GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ron, follow up question?
(9-16,RON) Follow up comment - I do not believe that you or anybody. . .
else should lose money on making a product availble, so I totally
understand. . .
your position. But the thought of buying a clone . . .
is really disheartening. Thanks for your insight on this. GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) I appreciate that and hope to be developing for
the
Mac soon...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, the folks from Origin have graciously agreed to
stay a
bit longer...
So I'm accepting ? for a third round...
(9-6,Dietmar Bos) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) ?
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes, I agree with your feelings. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) In the mean time, Levendis is up. Go Ahead.
(9-2,Levendis) The residents of Serpent's Hold were a surprise to me as
well
were the two miners in Minoc and the Kilrathi fighter...
Can we look forward to future invasions of the "real world" into
Origin
products? ga
(9-2,Levendis) ?
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) I'm just curious...
Did you find them a "good surprise" or a "bad surprise?"...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <I enjoyed finding the WC ship myself.>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) so that I know whether to fire the person behind
me
or give him a big bonus? GA, Levendis.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <person behind LB, you owe me one!>
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) <WC was marvelous!!!!! :) >
(9-2,Levendis) Oh, good surprise, definitely. It's always good to take a
step
back
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) <Mack's ship, that is>
(9-2,Levendis) from gaming and laugh. ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) (Big hurray in this room)...
Yes, whereas I like to keep Ultimas very true to themselves and the
fiction of Britannia...
most of us here also like to put shadows of our favorite real-world
things
into the world of Britannia...
Just as there are shadows of ourselves in there and shadows of many
of
you...
By the way, Jeff here requests that you kill Jesse and look in his
inventory...
and try to kill Lord British as well. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) (Someone has reported that LB could be killed in this
game)
(9-2,Levendis) Kill Lord British?! Never!
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Levendis, followup?
(9-2,Levendis) That would be wrong! ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) In fact, there is a secret way to kill Lord
British in
Ultima 7...
though our representative from Customer Service says she will _not_
answer that question. GA
(9-2,Levendis) Oh, yes. Speaking of shadows of ourselves, who were the U6
contest winners? ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) There are about 10 Ultima 6 contest winners in
Ultima
7...
Some of them are...
a girl named "Wench" (in the game, of couse)...
a boy and his dog, who both made it in...
a self-proclaimed Hermit...
and even an infant, but their names elude us right now. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok. That concludes our second round of questions. I am
still taking ? for the...
third round.
(9-24,Lance) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) ?
(9-2,Levendis) ?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Dietmas Bos. Please do us the honors and start up the
third
round. GA
(9-6,Dietmar Bos) (hopefully not breaking any rules <g>) In UU I just
lurked
into the credit page and saw ...Martin Galway on it. I think of him
...
(9-22,The Editor) good evening all
(9-6,Dietmar Bos) as one of the best sound and music programmers on
computers.
Are there any plans to involve him in more complicated parts, than
...
just sound effects ther <g>? Or was it just a 'special gest star'
visit ?
GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes, Martin is one of the principal members of our
sound department...
He has done...and will continue to do...
both composition as well as sound effects and programming...
He's a rather multi-talented fellow, but we won't tell him that. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Follow up question?
(9-6,Dietmar Bos) Great info. Really wished his 'return' for _years_ and it
seems, that it's with Origrin and th Ultima-Crew. Good stuff. I
have..
no further question. thanx. GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Thanx. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, last call for questions. If you want to get in
line,
type ? now.
Daniel&Wendy, your turn. GA
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) Interjection: we like the "surprises", but
please
keep them subtle (Tseramed)...
(9-9,Game Bytes) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) or off the track of the main quest (Mack's
ship)...
Two quick questions: 1) do you read your fan mail? :)...
2) Will you be supporting the next generation of sound cards now
coming...
(9-34,Crusader) ?
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) We are thinking especially of Turtle Beach's
music+digitized sound card "Multisound"...
but also of the Roland SCC-1 and the MediaVision P.A.S. GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) First, let me compliment your detailed knowledge
of
Ultima 7...
Yes, Customer Service forwards all of that mail to me...
in fact, I have a letter here in front of me from Gregory Haines...
(9-22,The Editor) ?
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) which was brought to me when Customer Service came
over
to help with this conference...
On the subject of sound boards...
We intend to support any sound board with a sufficiently-large
installed
base...
The Roland SCC-1 will be supported with future products...
but those others I'm not familiar enough with to respond. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok. Lance, your turn has come. Step forward please.
(9-24,Lance) MAJOR kudos on the moral dilemas found in Ultima VII. Way to
stick
by...
your guns after taking so much heat on the child/monster dungeon
room...
I felt perfectly justified in robbing the bath house!....
Also, while I am straight (sexually), I was pleasantly pleased to...
find that U7 allowed for a homosexual encounter. My only
suggestion...
is that the documentation be more clear as to what may penalize you
in..
the game. I have often got ethics confused with the morals in
ultima...
games. Please keep up the adult themes. Thanks. ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) First of all, thank you for the kind commentary...
and yes, I do plan to continue to stand by my guns on the subject you
so
eloquently mentioned...
I agree that the documentation could, and perhaps should, be more
explicit...
on the points of ethics...
But let me take this opportunity to note that in Ultima...
I intend for there to be no "morals," only ethics...
and how I define the difference is that ethics are rational...
such as if I am nice to you, you are more likely to be nice to me...
Morals are artificial dogmatic constraints established by a
society...
such as "flag burning is immoral."...
or (going out on a limb)...
pre-marital sex is immoral...
GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, Lance Who Is Straight. That was a _long_ question.
<Lecherous but adult grin>
Any follow up?
(9-24,Lance) NO, thanks. ga.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Next, we have Game Bytes. Go ahead please.
(9-9,Game Bytes) [sorry I'm late!!] First a big thanks for appearing in
our
second issue, mug shot and all.. One of the items you mentioned
in the interview was future technologies related to interacting in
the..
(9-34,Crusader) Is multi-player Ultima in the future (I seem to remeber
this
as...
<woops> <sorry>
(9-9,Game Bytes) Ultima world, such as VR goggles, etc. Can you elaborate
where
you see this going from a developer standpoint, and what can
"citizens of Brittania" expect to see Origin do with these types of
technologies? ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) I, hmmmm....
The "Bounty Hunter" project I referred to earlier...
contains technology innovations much along the lines to which you
referred...
but I can't speak in much detail about it...
And though I know you did not ask it...
Ultima 8 is being developed with multi-player use in mind...
though it would be premature to speak with much confidence as to what
form
it will take...
The single player aspect we referred to earlier will help with this
as
well. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Would you like to ask a follow up question, Game
Bytes?
(9-9,Game Bytes) No further questions. Kudos to your staff, Galen in
particular. and DAvid Taylor sends his regards! ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Thanks, and best of luck...
with the new mag. It looks great. GA, Hercules.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Ok, next up is Mr. ButterFinger himself, Crusader. <g>
Take it away, Cru.
(9-34,Crusader) So you are not sure if Multi-player will be direct
connect...
Network (eg. Novell) or custom network (a-la CIS)? GA
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Yes...
We are having to develop our editors to be multi-user over a Novell
network...
so that will be the default support...
Beyond that, how we will try to make it available to the public would
truly be nothing but speculation. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) One more, Crusader?
(9-34,Crusader) I note you didn't mention UW2 on your
sort-of-this-may-be...
when-we-release-this-stuff list... but I hear a rumor that...
it will be in Feb of next year, is that about right? Ga
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Right now, it is tracking towards before-Xmas,
though
the official release date, for safety's sake, by February. GA
(9-34,Crusader) Thanks. Done.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) The Editor now has the honor to ask the last questions
in
this conference.
Go ahead, please.
(9-22,The Editor) thank you herc. and of course thank you richard et al...
for visiting us tonight. there are quite a large number of folks...
who think Origin creates the best gaming experiences...
available. I arrived late, so please forgive if this question...
is repetitive.
After playing U6, it was hard to imagine how you would...
improve on the world you created. Frankly, now that I've
played Ultima Underworld, and now that I'm in the middle
of Ultima 7, I can't help but feel that UW provides the
more engrossing, more involving game world play...
Is UW fated to be a tributary...
or can we expect it to become the mainstream that the...
Ultima world evolves into. Thanks again for the hours of...
enjoyment... GA>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Okay...
At this time, the 3D technology seen in Underworld cannot quite give
you
the holistic world view and interaction...
that we enjoy in Ultima 7...
The number of items to interact with must be kept low to keep
performance
high in a game like Underworld...
but the gap closes...
I am sure that not too far in the future, these two product lines
will
merge...
in a completely virtual world in a game already in development. GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Follow up, Editor?
(9-22,The Editor) god, i hope so... i only hope i can afford the machine
...
it will take to play it on! even on my 486/33 ultima 7 is...
a bit pokey in some places... minor complaint. kudos and ...
congrats!
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Thanks.
(9-22,The Editor) GA
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Well, that just about wrapped it up. M'Lord, do you
have
any closing remarks?
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Sure...
Once again, let me thank you all for having us...
There were many good comments and suggestions...
which we will take with us back into Ultima 8 design meetings...
and I'm sure that we have some products coming up in the near
future...
which will excite you...
Goodnight, all!
GA
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) Long live Ultima! May your profits ever grow!
(9-2,Levendis) It's been a great pleasure to talk to you, hope to do it
again
sometime!
(9-22,The Editor) huzzah huzzah
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Thank you Lord British and the rest of the crew in
Origin
for taking the time...
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Thank you, thank you.
(9-34,Crusader) <clap, clap, CHEER!>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) and effort to be here and answer our questions.
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <clap clap>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <applause>
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) You're welcome.
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) <applause> <applause!>
(9-22,The Editor) so herc. will the transcript be available tomorrow?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) And Before I declare the formal part of the this
conference
over, I have an announcement to make:
(9-1,Backup) Nite LB and CO
(9-12,hercules/HOST) THERE WILL BE AN ULTIMA UNDERWORLD CONFERENCE...
(9-1,Backup) Jonathan - wait!
(9-22,The Editor) YES!
(9-22,The Editor) UW UW UW UW !
(9-25,Belisana) Outstanding!
(9-12,hercules/HOST) It is currently scheduled for NEXT WEDNESDAY, JULY
15th...
(9-18,jonathan) yes
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Same bat time, same bat channel.
(9-34,Crusader) Cool deal!
(9-8,Daniel S. & Wendy S) LB & co., the games really are works of art...
you
should be proud! !!!
(9-22,The Editor) herc: can jonathan talk with you?
(9-18,jonathan) HEE
(9-22,The Editor) <g>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Hope to see the UW fans here again. (Danny Low will be
hosting that one!)
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Now I declare the formal portion of the
conference......
OVER!
(9-22,The Editor) danny? does that mean we'll have to talk about ad&d also?
(9-12,hercules/HOST) <taking off tuxedo and tie.>
(9-18,jonathan) herc may i talk to you
(9-34,Crusader) <unriveting formal armor>
(9-22,The Editor) wtg herc!
(9-18,jonathan) herc wait!
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Editor, probably. <g>
(9-22,The Editor) hey! i've got a great idea. how about if jonathan and
herc
had a conversation.
(9-25,Belisana) <still laughing about ad&d!>
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Jonathan, What can I do for you?
(9-22,The Editor) <g>
(9-13,Axeman) finally
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Editor, you think we should?
(9-18,jonathan) well it is a question for iindy4
(9-22,The Editor) oh go ahead! we'll wait!
(9-34,Crusader) Bel - I must have missed something...
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Go ahead, Jonathan.
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) Goodnight, all!
(9-18,jonathan) herc im stuck at the pedistool
(9-22,The Editor) nite lb
(9-12,hercules/HOST) Lord British, will you be at next week's con?
(9-34,Crusader) Bye LB and Co. Thanks.
(9-4,Lord British & Co.) *POOF*
From this point on, the conference degenerated into an Indiana Jones
hint giving session, but that's another story.
Fortran Dragon
In article <01bd61da$c9613e00$d8bedfcf@widdershins>,
dev...@ix.takethisout.netcom.com says...
[Snip]
> (9-4,Lord British & Co.) One of the problems has been with the fact that we
> played recent Ultimas with a party of 4-8 characters...
> Personally, I like games which continue in real time as opposed to a
> "turn" basis...
> when you are in activities other than combat...
> I also do not like switching back and forth from real time to a turn
> basis
> within a single product...
> So what that leaves us with is a problem with which way to go...
> In Ultima 8, it's our intention to allow the player to do much more
> than
> they could in previous Ultimas...
> with their main character being able to jump, crawl, fly and other
> detailed activities in real time...
> so therefore, it is likely that we will reduce the party size to a
> single
> character. ga
Well, that philosophy seems to be prevailing in Ultima IX. <sigh>
[Snip]
> (9-4,Lord British & Co.) Old timers, indeed!!!...
> And, by the way, great comments...
> To some degree, I would have to agree with the things you pointed
> out...
> With the system we used in Ultima 7, it was our first time to
> exercise
> a new method of interface...
> I, too, think that we did not have as much freedom of action
> conversationally...
> but this was our first "non-typing" approach...
> We already have many ideas as how to improve Ultima 8 in the ways you
> suggested...
> Thanks again for the nice comments and years of support. Ga
So much for the concept of non-linear Ultimas...
[Snip]
> (9-4,Lord British & Co.) Th is the "Computer of the Gods."...
> I wish very much to support...
> no, not support...
> to design directly for the Mac and not the PC>>>
> but alas, right now, there is not a sufficient entertainment software
> market..
> on the Mac...
> However, with the new low-priced Macs, it appears to be growing...
> and I hope that in the near future, we will be able to...
> (by the way, piracy is still a major problem for entertainment
> software on
> the Mac). GA
<chuckle> Even LB disses the PC.
--
Fortran Dragon -==(UDIC)==- | "There isn't enough darkness in the world
-=={MDLAM}==- | to quench the light of one small candle."
Hidalgo Trading Company: http://home.earthlink.net/~fortran/index.html