• Re: I just played Ultima 7....my opinions on why game consoles are SOmuch better....

    From Jay Roi@jeremyroy2005@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Sat Apr 16 10:41:45 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Tuesday, June 18, 1996 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+9, Ranzer L. Averon wrote:
    Wow I can't believe a retard like this guy posted this stupid shit way back when I was 5 years old. I was smarter than this idiot even then hahaha
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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Sun Apr 17 19:17:22 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Sat, 16 Apr 2022 10:41:45 -0700 (PDT), Jay Roi
    <jeremyroy2005@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Tuesday, June 18, 1996 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+9, Ranzer L. Averon wrote:
    Wow I can't believe a retard like this guy posted this stupid shit way back when
    I was 5 years old. I was smarter than this idiot even then hahaha

    And yet, it was /you/ who revived a 26-year old thread* ;-)

    But, of course, out of curiosity, I had to go back and read what the
    original poster wrote.** It's an... intriguing diatribe; a long and
    meandering post without too-few paragraph breaks that indicate a lack
    of concern about the readability of his writings.

    First impressions suggest it's a trollish shit-post, but I think the
    author was being earnest, if impolite and unable to distinguish that
    just because he didn't like a game didn't meant it wasn't any good.
    His assumptions that Ultima VII was awful because it isn't linear, or
    emphasis character and world interaction over combat were matters of
    personal taste. I mean, he does make some valid criticisms of the
    game; for all that I love Ultima VII, it's combat was the weakest part
    of the game, and its constant insistence that you nanny your followers
    quickly became tiresome. But its other strengths - while not focused
    on the sort of gameplay he preferred - are what made the game so
    memorable to so many others..

    Actually, what I disliked most about his post was that it failed to
    address how Ultima VII proved console superiority (as per his post's
    subject line). That he disliked the game was clear, but that was a
    subjective opinion. Nowhere did he provide convincing evidence that
    console RPGs were better on any objective way.

    It was all the more glaring failure since even at the time there were
    numerous CRPGs on PCs that were thematically and mechanically similar
    to console RPGS (Knights of Xentar, for instance), and as many console
    RPGs that were similar to their PC cousins (in fact, a port of Ultima
    VII was available on the SNES for two years). His argument only
    reinforced how few games he had actually played. It says more about
    his youth and how narrow his viewpoint actually was.

    Still, I can't fault the original poster too much. Inexperienced and
    unpolished as his remarks may have been, I think he spoke with an
    emotional honesty that's almost refreshing compared to the usual
    quiet, almost contemplative discussions on Usenet today. Of course, I
    can say this only now, more than a quarter of a century later. Had I
    read that post back in '96, I would surely have responded with as much
    vitriol as the original poster.

    And I can almost understand his frustration; coming from a background
    of playing less-sophisticated action/RPGs, he'd probably heard the
    virtues of Ultima VII extolled repeatedly (computer RPG fans had an
    almost cult-like obsession with it... and I say that as one who still
    drinks the Kool-Aid when it comes to that game) and decided to give it
    a try... only to be sorely disappointed when it didn't match his
    expectations of what a 'real' CRPG should be. I wonder what became of
    him, and how (or if) his tastes in games have changed over the
    years...







    -----------------------------
    * then again, I'm responding to your necropost, so who am I to talk?
    ;-)

    ** The original post, for those who are interested:

    Posted by: Ranzer L. Averon
    Date: Jun 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM
    I just played Ultima 7, and I think it sucks. I hate that shit where the
    story line is non-linear. I get so lost when I can go anywhere I want at >anytime. I play games to beat it....NOT wander aimlessly for hours on
    end, accompishing nothing that has anything to do with the storyline or
    the plot. Why are there so many missions I have to accomplish just to
    help someone out. And what the fuck, I don't want to read about every
    single characters' life story. I don't like reading, I like to play. I want to
    kill and get experience points and gold for it. RPGs are not about >interaction, it's about fighting. And how come when I do fight in Ultima, >it's in realtime. That sucks. I can't keep track of all the characters on the >screen at once. Also, this game is extremely slow on my 486/33. And
    what's with this shit about being GOOD in the preceeding games (which
    I've given up on because of the poor graphics). I want to go hack-n-slash, >kill, and steal anything that crosses my path. I don't want to worry about >pleasing that stupid confounded king, Lord British. Screw him! Although
    i think the game suck, there are some good points about Ultima that I
    must give it credit for. The graphics of Ultima 7 are superb. If only the >game was half as good as the graphics, then I would like it. I want >graphics, not some stupid story to follow that I don't care about. What
    the fuck's with constantly feeding those people?! Why don't they go eat >automatically like on the game consoles I play. What's wrong with the >Fellowship, I didn't see anything wrong with them. But apparently, Lord >British and the Avatar did. Why do I always have to light a tourch when
    I enter a dungeon?! I don't care about light, I care about fighting the bad >NPCs. I'm sick and tired of collecting reagents for some stupid spells, >which isn't graphically pleasing when casted. The RPGs I play are visually >impressive, just like Ultima 7, and should remain that way. RPGs should
    have good graphics like Ultima 7 and 8 for that matter. Even though I
    have a sound card, I can't use it because of this game's damn Voodoo
    memory crap. When I beat Ultima, I expect a great ending like all those
    game consoles, not short ones. But I must say the ending was visually >impressive but too damn short. I don't like being called an Avatar. What
    the fuck does that mean. Is it like some ancient name from the game?
    Why the hell do I have to wear swamp boots so I won't get poisoned
    when I walk over or in a swamp?! Don't you think that's going overboard
    with the realism. I walked on swamp in real life, and I never have
    gotten sick or anything cloese to that. Speaking of realism, or the lack
    of it, why do my characters never have to sleep yet they have to
    complain that they're hungry. Also, when I do sleep, why do my
    companions stand there like morons for eight hours? If the game was
    so realistic, shouldn't my companions carry a sleepingbag also? And
    when I DO give it to them, they don't use it. There are some other
    things about this game that I DID find better than most game
    consoles, the graphics. RPGs are meant to have good graphics! And
    some other things I find unrealistic witht he storyline is the part
    where I have to serach for two people who work for the Fellowship,
    Elizabeth and Abraham(I think those were their names). Anyway,
    why are they always ONE town ahead of me? A person tells me to
    goto one town, and when I get there, they're not there, and I'm told
    to goto another town. Game console RPGs will never do that to me.
    They'll never lead me running around searching for someone I can't
    catch. And why does the Guardian need the help of Batlin? I never
    understood why an all powerful demon would need a human to help
    him out.

    Now, if you think of me as troller, keep in mind that I played Ultima
    7 till it's conculsion. I expect a good ending, but was sorely
    disappointed. Also, I could've used some title like "Ultima 8 is better
    than Ultima 7" but I didn't. Even though though the Ultima 8
    sucked, I did like the music on my scc-1.

    One more thing before I'm finished with my ramblings, why the hell
    is the box nothing but black. I mean come on people, are the artists
    too lazy or something? I'm talking about the old box, not the new one.

    I'm going to stick with game consoles. I like the graphics better.
    I think I've said enough.


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  • From Trimble Bracegirdle@wimbatstrim@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Wed May 4 09:31:00 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Monday, 18 April 2022 at 00:17:30 UTC+1, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    On Sat, 16 Apr 2022 10:41:45 -0700 (PDT), Jay Roi
    <jeremy...@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Tuesday, June 18, 1996 at 4:00:00 PM UTC+9, Ranzer L. Averon wrote:
    Wow I can't believe a retard like this guy posted this stupid shit way back when
    I was 5 years old. I was smarter than this idiot even then hahaha
    And yet, it was /you/ who revived a 26-year old thread* ;-)

    But, of course, out of curiosity, I had to go back and read what the original poster wrote.** It's an... intriguing diatribe; a long and meandering post without too-few paragraph breaks that indicate a lack
    of concern about the readability of his writings.

    First impressions suggest it's a trollish shit-post, but I think the
    author was being earnest, if impolite and unable to distinguish that
    just because he didn't like a game didn't meant it wasn't any good.
    His assumptions that Ultima VII was awful because it isn't linear, or emphasis character and world interaction over combat were matters of personal taste. I mean, he does make some valid criticisms of the
    game; for all that I love Ultima VII, it's combat was the weakest part
    of the game, and its constant insistence that you nanny your followers quickly became tiresome. But its other strengths - while not focused
    on the sort of gameplay he preferred - are what made the game so
    memorable to so many others..

    Actually, what I disliked most about his post was that it failed to
    address how Ultima VII proved console superiority (as per his post's
    subject line). That he disliked the game was clear, but that was a subjective opinion. Nowhere did he provide convincing evidence that
    console RPGs were better on any objective way.


    I'm currently playing ULTIMA VII in DOSBOX
    There don't seem to be any working remakes and this DOSBOX is very jerky
    I notice this "in the style of"
    http://www.lycantic.com/
    (\__/)
    (='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
    (")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.
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  • From Mike S.@Mike_S@nowhere.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Wed May 4 14:05:10 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Wed, 4 May 2022 09:31:00 -0700 (PDT), Trimble Bracegirdle <wimbatstrim@gmail.com> wrote:

    I'm currently playing ULTIMA VII in DOSBOX
    There don't seem to be any working remakes and this DOSBOX is very jerky

    Google 'Ultima 7 Exult'.
    --- Synchronet 3.19c-Linux NewsLink 1.113
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Wed May 4 23:42:47 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Wed, 04 May 2022 14:05:10 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
    wrote:

    On Wed, 4 May 2022 09:31:00 -0700 (PDT), Trimble Bracegirdle ><wimbatstrim@gmail.com> wrote:

    I'm currently playing ULTIMA VII in DOSBOX
    There don't seem to be any working remakes and this DOSBOX is very jerky

    Google 'Ultima 7 Exult'.

    Exult was a miracle in code when it was first released. "Ultima 7"s
    unique memory handling routines were a headache even during the DOS
    days, but with the rise of Windows95 and XP, it literally was a
    showstopper; thanks to the Voodoo memory manager, the game wouldn't
    even start*. Exult fixed that, and made the game playable again. Even
    knowing how it worked, it still seemed like magic; a C++ resurrection.

    These days, with DOSBox being a perfectly viable option, Exult is no
    longer quite as necessary (the only stuttering I get playing it on
    DOSBox are stilted animations that were naturally part of the game),
    and there's something to be said about playing the game from DOS.
    Still, Exult has one really awesome feature that rarely gets
    mentioned:

    You can change the fucking font.

    I love Ultima 7; I really do. And I've played the game at least a
    dozen times. But, oh my god, the font the game shipped with -
    especially when played at 320x200 resolution - was horrid; it
    literally was became painful to play because of the necessary
    eyestrain.

    Exult fixed that. Maybe its not as earth-shaking a change as the
    getting it to run under Win32s, but it made a huge difference
    nonetheless.







    ---------------
    * Yes, technically with Windows95 and 98 you could still drop to DOS,
    but that wasn't considered a reasonable option for the majority of
    gamers
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  • From Mike S.@Mike_S@nowhere.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Thu May 5 09:16:36 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Wed, 04 May 2022 23:42:47 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    You can change the fucking font.

    Seriously, I very recently watched someone who was playing this game
    on Youtube and he was having trouble reading the text. So yeah
    Trimble, Spalls is not kidding. The default font can be a nightmare to
    deal with.
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