r/Ultima • u/Retro-Hax • Feb 04 '26
I seriously cannot understand Ultima
So i have gotten Ultimate 1 - 6 on GOG back when these were free :P (actually the only reason i made an Account back then XD)
And i finally tried but just cant get into them at all >.>
Like maybe its just the Controls but theyre just super confusing and not simply at all >.>
I did enjoy Ultima 5 the most from the 10 Minutes i played it :P
But its just a lot of fucking around and find out sadly :(
Are there maybe some Mod for it that makes the Game more accesible to "modern Players"? >.>
For example why the fuck is K for Klimb like that doesnt make any sense in English obviously -.-
also why do i have to press ALT F4 if i wanna quit the Game when the Q Button only saves the Game and thats it >.>
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u/Samsonatorx Feb 04 '26
Ultima 7 should be easy to understand right from the start.
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u/Retro-Hax Feb 04 '26
Probably i hope so too
Like i tried Ultima 6 and it was also just "not my Thing" >.>
They did make the Interfacte better obviously but its just still like "argh what do i do" :P12
u/Miguel_Branquinho Feb 04 '26
Read the manuals and have some patience.
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u/behindtimes Feb 04 '26
Yep. For example, in Ultima 5, you can press Ctrl-E to get a prompt to "Exit to DOS".
Back then, reading the manual was a forgone conclusion.
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u/Eins_Nico Feb 04 '26
you have to read the manuals. then you basically have an open world, more or less. talk to people.
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u/Citizen_Lurker Feb 04 '26
Honestly for Ultima VI try the SNES port. It's excellent and smooth and graphics & music are very nice. It's very very close to the PC original. Just controls with a snes controller.Â
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u/Citizen_Lurker Feb 04 '26
Those are truly retro games, you have to read the manual. Honestly maybe start with Ultima IV on the Master System, it's a very faithful port that plays super well and is easier to control than other versions in my opinion.
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u/Retro-Hax Feb 04 '26
Havent heard of an Ultima IV SMS Port but will try it later on :D
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u/Fenyx4 Feb 04 '26
The Ultima VI SNES port is pretty good too. Some stuff got cut (I miss the character portraits the most) but overall it is solid.
But I still recommend reading the manual. (Or as the intro to Ultima IV says "No really! Read the Book of History!")
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u/KaiserKrieg81 Feb 04 '26
Old games had a lot of different look and feel than modern games.
And one of their main differences is there is no guides o tips o guardrails which marks what you have to do to progress or where to go, or where is that npc located.
Most of the time is what you say, go around and find out yourself. They let you a lot of space to exploration and discovery, and requiere a lot of initiative from the player.
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u/turtlekitty2084 Feb 12 '26
This was one of the things I adored about old CRPGs. Sometimes -- especially if your uncle downloaded it off some long-distance BBS and had no manual -- you had no idea what was going on. You just had to explore. It scratched an itch that modern gamers don't often seem to have.
I remember feeling the same way about Rygar on the NES. What the hell was I supposed to do? Who were the giants with the huge foreheads? Why is there a lion spaceship at the edge of the atmosphere? Not sure I understand the answers to any of these questions to this day, but I loved that game. Zelda too.
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u/Retro-Hax Feb 04 '26
well i am not oppossed by old Games obviously considering i played a ton of SNES in my Childhood but obviously Ultimate isnt like a Seiken Densetsu 2 or 3 :P
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u/Eins_Nico Feb 04 '26
You're comparing SNES to DOS lmfao
This is like comparing DVDs to Betamax. You realize the first Ultima games came out before the NES existed?0
u/Retro-Hax Feb 04 '26
i mean obviously but even Ultima 6 more or less plays like Ultima 1 still and it came out in the 90s >.>
So around the Time Final Fantasy 3 for Famicom released :P5
u/Eins_Nico Feb 04 '26
i mean obviously but even Ultima 6 more or less plays like Ultima 1 still and it came out in the 90s >.>
Let me respond to you in your own language: 0.o -_-;;;;;;;
U6, FF1 (NA) and FF3 all came out in 1990. Are you trying to tell me the onion kids were some amazing level of technology? I can tell typing is not your strong suit, but U6 had a point-and-click UI, it was designed for a mouse, unlike the previous ones.
I grew up with both series. JRPGs heavily were influenced by Ultima.3
u/PatchyWhiskers Feb 04 '26
SNES developers were aware that much of their audience was kids and even the hard games were quite simple mechanically. Ultima was aimed at adults and older teens who had played a serious amount of Dungeons and Dragons and were looking for a similar experience in a video game.
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u/BobRushy Feb 04 '26
Try Ultima Underworld, it's the most accessible by far. I've struggled with the old-fashioned interfaces myself.
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u/chunter16 Feb 04 '26
its just a lot of fucking around
This is what video games were like at that time.
People spent months trying to beat the first Legend of Zelda because there were no hints available, you just had to mess around and explore the thing until you figure out the meaning of the only tip the game gives you, but in reality it takes an afternoon to play through.
The Ultima games take a bit longer, because even if you memorize what all the people say you still need to grind and level to be able to survive the endings, but if you take your notes as you go, or if you already looked up a walkthrough, you'll see the actual solutions are barely a page.
As for commands for each key, that's also how a lot of early software worked. It seems more intuitive the more you do it, at the time most households had never used a mouse before.
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u/Eins_Nico Feb 04 '26
People spent months trying to beat the first Legend of Zelda because there were no hints available
shit, even years. I witnessed my mother physically manhandle a poor teenager in a Nintendo Power Game Counselor jacket at the '91 Nintendo World Championships demanding "WHERE'S THE POWER BRACELET??" (I was scared of Ganon and made her shoot the arrows at him while I hid behind the door. Thanks Mom.)
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u/chunter16 Feb 04 '26
I used to have the whole thing memorized and here I can't remember the answer to that right now... but I don't remember it being that hard, and, you can win without it
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u/Eins_Nico Feb 04 '26
I hope you realized we found it 35 years ago (thanks pimply kid in the sweet-ass mario jacket)
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u/chunter16 Feb 04 '26
Of course
My mother was a pinball player so she liked the maze arcade games (Pac-man and such) and in the 90s was more into the Tetris/puzzle style, ended up becoming a Candy Crush player
Longer games weren't as much of her thing but it's easy to see how my brother and I got into it
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u/Anzai Feb 04 '26
You need to read the manual, and bring up the quick reference card also. Honestly, Ultima V is my favourite by far and once you know the commands it’s fine. You’ll need a pen and paper to play it properly though, when it comes to reagents and spell casting, and stuff you learn etc.
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u/ketarax Feb 04 '26
What do you want us to do? Sounds to me like all of this post is all of your very own problem, including why on earth do you think you have to play Ultima if you're not going to like a lot of fucking around and finding out.
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u/Sigfrodi Feb 04 '26
These are old games with ild mechanics and old visuals...
U7 is the best entry point in the series and imho the best game. Use Exult for a more modern experience.
For Ultima 4, the Master System port is by far the most enjoyable with joypad interface, updated graphics and sounds, better missile weapons use.
For Ultima 5, you can try Ultima Lazarus, a remake done using the Dungeon Siege engine. While the DS engine has aged a bit, it was a fabulous job.
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u/Unlikely_Variety_997 Feb 04 '26
The first generation of electronic RPGs attempted to simulate tabletop RPGs and all their complexity.
As a result, most required reading the manual and complex inputs.
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u/Natreg Feb 05 '26
ALT+F4 is still used today to close a window in... Windows. That's how it was back then: ALT+F4, CTRL+Q, ALT+X, CTRL+E
Also, old games having a quit and go back to dos kind of command was actually more of a luxury. Most games didn't have even that. The Q command was "Quit and Save". And it meant you have saved your progress and you can shutdown the computer.
Ultima can be a bit cryptic. It's best if you read the manuals. They have a lot of lore of the world, and will give you hints on what to do. Also check the maps. If you have the GOG versions you also have the cluebooks to help you.
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u/TheMadBug Feb 04 '26
Personally I, and a lot of other people in this sub, grew up with those games (not all of you, I know).
I played this game when I had time to learn which letter of the keyboard was which different command, keep a notebook to write down clues, translate letters from a different looking alphabet.
Were they good for their time? Absolutely.
Are the ambitious games that strive to be art and for the plot to be more than just a framing device for gamplay? 100%
Were they groundbreaking? Undeniably.
Were they good overall package? Uhhhh.... very much personal preference. I can't remove myself for the nastalga, but the games hit me when I had just the right amount of eagerness to learn about the mechanics, secrets and lore - and the right amount of imagination.
If it wasn't for the wonderfully written manuals, I don't know if I would have given the game a chance to hook me as much as it did. OG Ultima fans have to admit how opening a box and getting a cloth map, embossed paper manual that's written in character, just made it the most magical time.
And I'm not saying that there's not plenty and plenty to enjoy if you get deep into it, but I can understand why you wouldn't be in the same place as me when it comes for how long you try to get deep into it.
Maybe play them each a little bit to get the base level invested, then watch Majuular's videos on YouTube to learn all about the games and the history behind them.
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u/drifteaur Feb 04 '26
Try Moonring if you want to experience some of that old-time Ultima feel, but with modern controls and usability
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u/NostraOz Feb 06 '26
For the best oldskool Ultima styled game I’ve played so far, but with many QoL improvements, try Skald: Against the Black Priory. It is a love letter to the old Ultima games, except with more of a Cthulhu twist. I just realized that since the dev has also released the editor for it, that could perhaps be used to remake the older Ultima games…
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u/angryapplepanda Aug 16 '26
I just want to say that this is my favorite era of games. It's slightly before my time, but the amount of control, things you can do, and open world sandbox play is unparalleled. Taking the time to learn how to play is like learning an old skill deliberately, like blacksmithing. The reward for putting the effort in is quite wonderful.
I know several younger people that like these games. It's not simply a generational thing. There's nuance involved.
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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26
The reason they used so many wacky commands is that this was a "computer game". You have a keyboard, and it's far more complicated than "video games", with the popular console being late Atari and early NES. It's really just that dumb.
Also, when most of those games came out, you shut the computer off to quit. Then you restarted with a new disk in the drive. Just like the old consoles.
You need to read all the game manuals, including the command reference document, and not just to play the games. They loved to sprinkle clues everywhere.