Posted April 23, 2012
SPOILERS - Be warned I talk about quests and whatnot so just in case you don't want to know anything that happens in Ultima 1, be forewarned.
Tonight I had my second session of playing Ultima 1. At this point after reading I have figured out I need to build up my character before going anywhere. So I've visited Lord British and got his quest but am ignoring it for now. I next ventured North and found the Lost King and got his quest. I know I need to descend to level 3 in any dungeon and kill a Gelatinous Cube to satisfy him. I haven't attempted that yet either though. Doing those things, a little dungeon delving along with buying a dagger and leather armor plus some food was about all I accomplished during my first playtime.
Tonight things got more interesting and fun. Nearby The Lost King's place I found Dungeon Mondor and began farming it for hit points, cash and xp. I kept at it until I had over 2000 coin and 1000 xp and had made level 3. My character is a Dwarf Fighter by the way. During this I took a couple breaks to go to a nearby town and visit the merchants for food and upgrades. I got chainmail and an axe doing that. Once I'd later hit the goal of reaching over 1000 hit points, I went back to the merchants and at level 3 noticed they had a more extensive selection of wares for sale. Fortunately for me, I had also earned the money to buy a lot of them.
So I got myself a vacuum suit (because I thought I need this for space travel later on), a reflect suit because I think that is the best armor in the game? I am looking forward to trying that armor out next time and hope it makes me much tougher than the chainmail. That would be very sweet. I also bought a sword that cost more than the axe so I hope it is better and a bow and arrow so I can try out ranging monsters, especially outdoors where you can see them from farther away. Then I bought an aircar but I am not really sure what I need it for. I had the money and it was there so I figured well maybe it will be handy getting around to distant places later on. I noticed there was one more expensive space shuttle to buy which I think I need to get to space later on but I can earn the money for that with some more dungeon work. Lastly, I got 10 ladder up spells and 5 unlock spells which will probably come in handy I expect later on. I've already hit on some trapped chests I couldn't open which for all I know had good stuff in them so we'll see if the unlock spell helps me out next time.
I have to confess that at first try, I was thinking oh, this is too old and dated. I was initially a little put off by the ancient graphics even though my gaming dates back to those days. Something made me want to persist though being a fan of later Ultima games. I'm glad I have now because it's gotten to be fun the more I've played it. The same RPG stuff that keeps me hooked is there - killing monsters, exploring and advancing my character from humble beginnings to being powerful and questing. Ultima 1 has all that going for it and somehow the look and even the way you control it becomes endearing in a way if you give it a chance I am finding. I'm glad about this because I really had this thing where I wanted to play the whole series from start to finish.
Some questions have come up that I haven't seen answered in my reading. I'm not sure how to use a bow and arrows is one thing. I know I have to Ready them and I'm guessing you press A to attack and a directional key to indicate direction to fire? I hope it doesn't move my character too because I don't want to close in on the monster. I want to fire on it from range and kill it hopefully before it ever reaches me. That would be niceness.
I'll have to hop into my aircar and go for a ride to see what that is about. I am hoping that when I travel on it I cannot be attacked by ground monsters. It would be nice to travel about unhindered exploring sometimes, like when I am searching for a quest location.
I'm not sure if I need a boat or where to get one if I do. Maybe it has to be a seaside town where you would buy one? I guess that would make good sense. I wonder if the aircar can travel over water so I wouldn't need a boat. I guess I can try that out and see.
Do better and better weapons become available as you level up? Are they found exploring dungeons in chests or maybe in other places? I'm not sure if I should be doing anything in particular to seek a better weapon beyond checking with the local shopkeeper for it.
As I write these questions it occurs to me I can probably find out all the answers just by playing and exploring further. Still, I'd welcome any answers, advice or tips for going from here. I've wondered how many hit points I should have before getting serious about the quests, particularly the first dungeon one that requires you to go three levels deep. I noticed when I went down to level 2 in Mondor the monster spawns seem more frequent. It seemed more dangerous than the 1st level. I am guessing the dungeons become increasingly dangerous the deeper you go in them.
I guess that's all I can think of for the moment and plenty wall of text as it is. Thanks for reading if you got this far. I'll probably come back and post more about my exploits in Sosaria later.
Tonight I had my second session of playing Ultima 1. At this point after reading I have figured out I need to build up my character before going anywhere. So I've visited Lord British and got his quest but am ignoring it for now. I next ventured North and found the Lost King and got his quest. I know I need to descend to level 3 in any dungeon and kill a Gelatinous Cube to satisfy him. I haven't attempted that yet either though. Doing those things, a little dungeon delving along with buying a dagger and leather armor plus some food was about all I accomplished during my first playtime.
Tonight things got more interesting and fun. Nearby The Lost King's place I found Dungeon Mondor and began farming it for hit points, cash and xp. I kept at it until I had over 2000 coin and 1000 xp and had made level 3. My character is a Dwarf Fighter by the way. During this I took a couple breaks to go to a nearby town and visit the merchants for food and upgrades. I got chainmail and an axe doing that. Once I'd later hit the goal of reaching over 1000 hit points, I went back to the merchants and at level 3 noticed they had a more extensive selection of wares for sale. Fortunately for me, I had also earned the money to buy a lot of them.
So I got myself a vacuum suit (because I thought I need this for space travel later on), a reflect suit because I think that is the best armor in the game? I am looking forward to trying that armor out next time and hope it makes me much tougher than the chainmail. That would be very sweet. I also bought a sword that cost more than the axe so I hope it is better and a bow and arrow so I can try out ranging monsters, especially outdoors where you can see them from farther away. Then I bought an aircar but I am not really sure what I need it for. I had the money and it was there so I figured well maybe it will be handy getting around to distant places later on. I noticed there was one more expensive space shuttle to buy which I think I need to get to space later on but I can earn the money for that with some more dungeon work. Lastly, I got 10 ladder up spells and 5 unlock spells which will probably come in handy I expect later on. I've already hit on some trapped chests I couldn't open which for all I know had good stuff in them so we'll see if the unlock spell helps me out next time.
I have to confess that at first try, I was thinking oh, this is too old and dated. I was initially a little put off by the ancient graphics even though my gaming dates back to those days. Something made me want to persist though being a fan of later Ultima games. I'm glad I have now because it's gotten to be fun the more I've played it. The same RPG stuff that keeps me hooked is there - killing monsters, exploring and advancing my character from humble beginnings to being powerful and questing. Ultima 1 has all that going for it and somehow the look and even the way you control it becomes endearing in a way if you give it a chance I am finding. I'm glad about this because I really had this thing where I wanted to play the whole series from start to finish.
Some questions have come up that I haven't seen answered in my reading. I'm not sure how to use a bow and arrows is one thing. I know I have to Ready them and I'm guessing you press A to attack and a directional key to indicate direction to fire? I hope it doesn't move my character too because I don't want to close in on the monster. I want to fire on it from range and kill it hopefully before it ever reaches me. That would be niceness.
I'll have to hop into my aircar and go for a ride to see what that is about. I am hoping that when I travel on it I cannot be attacked by ground monsters. It would be nice to travel about unhindered exploring sometimes, like when I am searching for a quest location.
I'm not sure if I need a boat or where to get one if I do. Maybe it has to be a seaside town where you would buy one? I guess that would make good sense. I wonder if the aircar can travel over water so I wouldn't need a boat. I guess I can try that out and see.
Do better and better weapons become available as you level up? Are they found exploring dungeons in chests or maybe in other places? I'm not sure if I should be doing anything in particular to seek a better weapon beyond checking with the local shopkeeper for it.
As I write these questions it occurs to me I can probably find out all the answers just by playing and exploring further. Still, I'd welcome any answers, advice or tips for going from here. I've wondered how many hit points I should have before getting serious about the quests, particularly the first dungeon one that requires you to go three levels deep. I noticed when I went down to level 2 in Mondor the monster spawns seem more frequent. It seemed more dangerous than the 1st level. I am guessing the dungeons become increasingly dangerous the deeper you go in them.
I guess that's all I can think of for the moment and plenty wall of text as it is. Thanks for reading if you got this far. I'll probably come back and post more about my exploits in Sosaria later.
Post edited April 23, 2012 by dirtyharry50
