Re: Popcorn Time Ultima Version
Garcia Miller
Released in 1992, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a first person RPG. Assuming the role of the Avatar, you attempt to find and rescue a baron's kidnapped daughter in a large, multi-level dungeon, before having to prevent a demon from taking over the world. The game is rather realistic, with players required to eat and rest, light sources can burn out and torches may be used on corn to create popcorn.
Huge credits to Gammadragon (the previous best time) and Lag.com on the SDA forums for their contributions of ideas and runs. I followed Gammadragon's final route with a couple of additional deathwarps and cleaner execution. Their planning for that run can be found on the SDA forums here: _underworld_1.html
Timing for the run begins after character creation, allowing me to re-roll several times before the run starts to get a good (randomly-generated) character. Timing ends when I run into the green moongate at the end of the run, starting the ending cutscene.
This run abuses glitches/bugs:
* Magical scrolls and potions that are burned to debris by a fireball retain their magical properties, but have unlimited uses.
* A big shortcut in the Ethereal Void (colourful final area) that should probably have invisible walls around it
* In room where you're told to flip four levers in a certain order (to get the 'Ring of Humility'), the first lever isn't required.
* You don't need to rescue the Baron's Daughter (the whole reason he threw you in the abyss in the first place). She still appears in the endgame though!
Using Shift+(W/A/S/D/X) ("easy-move" keys) makes you move a tile at a time. This travels at walking speed, even while swimming and flying (which otherwise make you move slower). When you see the movement go juddery it is because of this. However, if you try to do this when flying over a monster on the ground you will stop.
Run commentary:
* Level 1: The only thing of importance in this level is the silver sapling. You can plant this anywhere and it acts as a respawn point if you die, which is very useful for deathwarps. We take this and immediately go to the staircase to level 2. I run into the wall by the staircase fast to take a small amount of damage for a deathwarp later.
* Level 3: I poison myself in a pond near the beginning to take more damage, and plant the silver sapling to let me respawn close to level 4. I use the "Easy-Move" keys to swim quickly to one half of the "Sword of Justice". I then jump into walls to kill myself and pick up the sapling.
* Level 4: In a secret room by a waterfall I pick up a flute and 'Scroll of fireball' for a glitch later. I also pick up the 'Ring of Leap' to let me jump higher. I hug the wall near the warrior Rodrick to skip a cutscene, plant the sapling near him and continue to the Bullfrog Puzzle. I raise two platforms and jump into a secret room with a wand of fireball. I use this on my scroll to create "Debris of Fireball" that can be used infinitely, and then jump my way to level 5.
* Level 5: Running past the spiders I flip the three levers to get the "Ring of Humility". Luckily the spiders did not get in my way on the way out. I plant the sapling to the south and find a 'Scroll of Gate Travel'. This teleports me to the moonstone on level 2.
* Level 2: The moonstone acts as another warp point, but instead of having to die you use a spell instead. I pick it up as well as the scroll next to it (another scroll of Gate Travel). I ready up a fireball to kill Ironwit (whose door we opened earler) and I burn his Potion of Fly and the scroll. I throw the moonstone closer to the stairs to level 3 for later and make my way to Shak who repairs the "Sword of Justice" as I sleep. I then teleport to the moonstone and continue to level 3.
* Level 3: I place the moonstone at the start and collect two talismans: The "Cup of Wonder" (from playing the song in the right place) and the "Taper of Sacrifice" (from Zak). I teleport to the moonstone and go to level 4.
* Level 6: I drop the moonstone on my way to the Golem (Who gives you the "Shield of Valor" when you defeat him). I go to a shrine which I use to level up my attack and sword stats, and also chant "fanlo" to get one part of the "Key of Infinity". I then fly to the "Book of Honesty", burning a 'Scroll of Reveal' along the way. This is used immediately afterwards to open the way to the "Wine of Compassion", which after collecting I teleport to the moonstone and go to level 7.
* Level 7: I go straight to 'Tyball', on the way using Reveal to open the path and burning a 'Scroll of Freeze Time'. I drop the moonstone just before his room, and hack at him until he dies (He is immune to magic!), taking his keys. The maze I then run past has some instant-death tiles, and others that deal a lot of damage. I run through one damaging tile and drink my Potion of Greater Heal, then flying north-west to the prison. The fire elementals below get in the way when trying to use the "Easy-move" keys, so the flight is somewhat slow. In the prison I get a picture and a key, which opens a door nearby to another part of the "Key of Infinity". After getting this I teleport back to the moonstone and unlock the door to level 8.
* Level 8: I drop the moonstone down here and collect Garamon's bones. With the Freeze Time spell active, a fireball that I cast stays suspended in the air which kills me very quickly, returning me to level 5.
* Level 5: I give Judy the picture to get the final part of the "Key of Infinity", which I assemble on my way to Garamon's grave. When I get there I bury his bones and talk to him, before teleporting back to level 8.
* Level 8: I run to the chamber in the middle and open it with the completed key. I then throw all the talismans in the lava, teleporting me (and the Slasher of Veils in the center of the chamber) to the 'Ethereal Void'.
Ultima Underworld has been cited as the first role-playing game to feature first-person action in a 2.5D environment. Its design combines simulation elements with concepts from earlier role-playing video games, including Wizardry and Dungeon Master, which led the game's designers to call it a "dungeon simulation". As such, the game is non-linear and allows for emergent gameplay.
Ultima Underworld is a role-playing video game (RPG) that takes place from a first-person perspective in a three-dimensional environment.[1] The player's goal is to adventure through a large, multi-level dungeon, in which the entire game is set.[2] The player uses a freely movable mouse cursor to interact with the game's world, and with the icon-based interface on the heads-up display (HUD). Each icon has a specific effect; for example, the player uses the Look icon to examine objects closely, while the Fight icon causes the player character to ready their weapon.[1][3] The player's progression through the game is non-linear: areas may be explored, and puzzles and quests finished, in any order.[2] An automatically filling map, to which the player may add notes, records what the player has seen above a minimum level of brightness.[4] The player character may carry light sources to extend the line of sight in varying amounts.[2] Exploratory actions include looking up and down, jumping, and swimming.[5][6]
Combat occurs in real-time, and the player character may use both melee and ranged weapons. The player attacks by holding the cursor over the game screen and clicking, depressing the button longer to inflict greater damage.[1] Some weapons allow for different types of attacks depending on where the cursor is held; for example, clicking near the bottom of the screen may result in a jab, while clicking in the middle produces a slash.[2] Simulated dice rolls occur behind the scenes to determine weapon accuracy.[7] Enemies sometimes try to escape when near death,[5] and the game's stealth mechanics may occasionally be used to avoid combat altogether.[8] The player may cast spells by selecting an appropriate combination of runestones. Like mantras, runestones must be found in the game world before use. There are over forty spells, some undocumented;[9] their effects range from causing earthquakes to flight.[1]
The developers intended Ultima Underworld to be a realistic and interactive "dungeon simulation", rather than a straightforward role-playing video game. For example, many objects in the game have no actual use,[4] while a lit torch may be used on corn to create popcorn.[9] Weapons deteriorate with use, and the player character must eat and rest; light sources burn out unless extinguished before sleeping.[2] A physics system allows, among other things, for items to bounce when thrown against surfaces.[5][7] The game contains non-player characters (NPCs) with whom the player may interact by selecting dialogue choices from a menu. Most NPCs have possessions, and are willing to trade them.[1] The game was designed to give players "a palette of strategies" with which to approach situations, and its simulation systems allow for emergent gameplay.[8][10]
Ultima Underworld is set in Britannia, the fantasy world of the Ultima series. Specifically, the game takes place inside a large, underground dungeon called the Great Stygian Abyss. The dungeon's entrance lies on the Isle of the Avatar, an island ruled by Baron Almric. The Abyss first appeared in Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, in which it contains the player's final goal, the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom.[11]
Ultima Underworld is set after the events of Ultima VI: The False Prophet; in the time between the two games, a man named Cabirus attempted to create a utopian colony inside the Abyss. The eight settlements of the Ultima series each embody one of eight virtues, and Cabirus wished to create a ninth that embodied all virtues. To achieve this, he united diverse cultures and races in peaceful co-existence and planned to promote harmony by giving each group one of eight virtue-imbued magical artifacts. However, he died before distributing the artifacts, and left no instructions for doing so. As a result, the colony collapsed into anarchy and war, and the artifacts were lost.[11] At the time of Ultima Underworld, the Abyss contains the remnants of Cabirus's colony, inhabited by fractious groups of humans, goblins, trolls and others.[11][12]
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