SalaciousCrumb on 4/11/2005 at 22:22
I have never gotten far through Ultima Underworld - The Stygian Abyss, but yesterday I wanted to test the DOS-Box a bit, so I went to explore the first level of the Abyss.
Soon after my first goblin encounter I was nearly death so I thought a little rest might help. Impatient as I am, I decided one night of healing sleep had to be enough, so I went on until there was that door with the weird looking skull on it...
I had figured out some minutes ago that it was possible to bash doors in.
Two destroyed weapons later and with only a dagger in my bag left I had persuaded the door to let me in.
[SPOILER]Red brick walls gave me a warm feeling because I remembered the green goblin area had such walls when I played that game some months ago.
So there I was expecting to encounter a nice friendly goblin. As I saw a human-like shape some metres ago I walked towards it in a happy mood.
Finally a nice person after this hostile dungeon.
As the goblin came nearer it actually turned out to be a skeleton![/SPOILER]I tried to run away but got stuck in a corner for a moment.
[SPOILER]As the skeleton hit me lowering my health to about 1 Point and the combat music began to play I ran like a bunny for my puny life.[/SPOILER](Short afterwards I died while jumping from pillar to pillar, bashing into a wall...)
I am really amazed how this game scared me even today. The today awkward creature graphics wouldn't have done much harm to my mental stability but the atmosphere is created so well my imagination let me think I was meeting one of the most horrifying creatures in existance.
Just my thoughts about Ultima Underworld.
(Maybe the spoiler tags were a bit overused by me but I don't want to spoil anyone's first playing experience.)
Shadowcat on 5/11/2005 at 00:52
Cool story :)
Quote:
I am really amazed how this game scared me even today.
Yup, Underworld is still great!
ToxicFrog on 5/11/2005 at 01:03
If only I could get it working. :erg:
jermi on 5/11/2005 at 11:28
I just finished Underworld a couple of weeks ago, for the first time. The game is way too complicated for me without a walkthrough, so back in 1992 I gave up somewhere on level 5. Playing it now, that wonderful feeling of exploring an entire populated world is still there. It's amazing how much Underworld has in common with Thief, then again I've been playing Thief so much that everything seems to have something in common with Thief so maybe it's just me.
Maybe back in 1992 Underworld was a bit scary, as in "A goblin - run away!" Not anymore, though. The spiders make me flinch, pixelated as they are.
Ajare on 5/11/2005 at 12:33
Quote Posted by SalaciousCrumb
I had figured out some minutes ago that it was possible to bash doors in.
Two destroyed weapons later and with only a dagger in my bag left I had persuaded the door to let me in.
Unless the door is 'massive' (and you can't bash it), always use your fists! It may take longer, but it doesn't damage your weapons.
piln on 6/11/2005 at 20:37
Got some tough old knuckles, that Avatar.
I remember when I replayed this recently, someone urged me to make sure I got the music working too. I did (with VDMSound, in XP) and was really impressed; obviously the sound is dated, but I don't think I've heard a better example of dynamic music adapting to the situation. Games usually flip between "battle music" and "non-battle music" at most (often with an obvious break), but this game seems to have quite a lot of different pieces depending on what you're doing, nearby danger, how bad your health is, etc. and I remember the changes being pretty smooth, not jarring.
I got a bit of an unexpected result by throwing a sling stone at a wall; it bounced right back and hit me just below the camera (oof! :eww: ) and the fight music kicked in.
SalaciousCrumb on 6/11/2005 at 21:19
I must admit, I knew the doors are breakable with just the fists. Must have been the Pen-and-Paper-Roleplayer in me. (Somebody can't just smash a door without taking damage, I must use weapons of course to make the game experience more realistic.) ;)
On the other hand, I couldn't wait to see some non-hostile creatures. (Behind a door with a skull on it...)
Thanks for rating it a cool story Shadowcat. :)
Strange...VDMSound runs slower than DOS-Box with my old games and Ultima Underworld won't even start with VDM due to the lack of EMS memory.
Shadowcat on 7/11/2005 at 01:24
I never bashed down doors with my fists, either. I can't recall whether it ever occurred to me to try! I do remember that I used to carry around damaged weapons so I didn't damage my best one in such endeavours :)
Looking Glass were good with dynamic music. Terra Nova in particular had really excellent transitions between 'exploration', 'peril' and 'battle' circumstances.
piln on 7/11/2005 at 17:41
I'm afraid was one of the cheapskates who used to put my precious weapon away and beat down locked doors with my unbreakable fists. Shameful behaviour, I know. :tsktsk:
Arx Fatalis impressed me with the ability to thrust or chop instead of swinging horizontally, so you could avoid hitting the walls in tight spaces and scuffing your tool. How much of this was present in Underworld? I remember you could perform different moves, and of course that you could turn a perfectly good sword into a piece of tinfoil by hitting the scenery too often - but say if you were fighting in a narrow corridor, could you hit your opponent and the wall in one swing?
Shadowcat on 7/11/2005 at 20:52
IIRC a low attack is a thrust, a middle attack is a horizontal slash, and a high attack is an over-head strike, so you definitely have options in confined spaces.
(edit: or, to more succinctly answer the question, that feature you liked in Arx was exactly the same in Underworld :)
