I've never played this game before but always heard how wonderful it is. But I am confused....

I did everything in Trinsic and was on my way to Britain. I went through Paws. Somehow I got a yellow aura around myself and randomly started taking damage. What gives? I passed through a swamp; did I get poisoned or something? I did not encounter any enemies....

How do I see how much health I have anyway?

This game seems really cool but I am VERY inexperienced when it comes to PC games of that era and the mechanics of them are sometimes mysterious to me. I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

Yes you got poisoned. You need to avoid walking in the swamp areas without swamp boots (stick to the path). I believe if you bring up the character screen you can see your hit points there.

I highly suggest at least browsing through the manual before playing the game.

Thanks for the help! I saw that Iolo said something about swamp boots but I had no idea what that meant....

I will be sure and read everything. I don't always download all the "extras" with games I get here on GoG - it's probably a bad habit.

The only other thing I have had a problem with so far is keys/locked doors. I purchased a room for the night at the inn in Paws but I could not figure out how to open the door with the key the innkeeper gave me.

You have to 'use' the key (check the manual, I think you can hit U on the keyboard, then click on the key in your backpack then on the door, but its been a loooooong time). Keys are a pain in the game because there are a ton and you have to select the right one when you're trying to open a door. In U7 part 2, there is a keyring which makes life a lot easier. If you are using Exult, there is a mod that brings the key ring into the Black Gate.

Also, do you have the bedroll? If so, save your coin and use that to sleep. You have to do it outside of town IIRC. There is always a chance you'll get attacked during your sleep, but its pretty small and you can usually survive it.

Dude, I been playing the ultima's since the mid '80s and I still get as confused as you! Some people can flow with it and then there's people like me, I spend half of my time in confusion and the rest trying to enjoy the game despite.

One tip for inventory management (and that will make keys easier to deal with in part 1): try to find enough bags to put a couple in the backpack of every party member, and designate each of those to hold a particular type of item or items.

IE: Iolo gets one bag for healing potions/bandages/other restoratives, and a second bag for harmful/miscellaneous potions. Spark has one bag for keys that have been used, and another bag for keys whose lock hasn't been found yet. You can also have a food bag, a gold bag, a jewelry/nuggets bag, etc, being carried by whomever. (The Avatar usually needs one for his reagents and spellbook, and a second one for important plot items is also a good idea.)

Serpent Isle has a few additional features (like the keyring, and an item that removes the need for food management) that reduce the number of item categories that you'll need to manage, but it can still be useful for the rest of your supplies.

Thanks for the pointers folks. I really am enjoying the game quite a bit. There's just a good bit of time-travel shock involved for me. Back when the Ultima series was going strong I was a console-only gamer. I have been enjoying going back and finding out what I missed!

Hahaha swamp boots FTW !

I think riding a horse carriage will prevent you from being poisoned no matter where you are. That's what I've done to get past the swamp. Though, they cost money and take up 80% of the screen.

It's possible to navigate most swamp paths without getting poisoned. You just have to be careful about where you step when moving.

Of course, beyond the initial phase of the game it usually stops being an issue: just stride through and cast Mass Cure afterward.

I seem to recall that using the hotkey to feed your party members in SI can lead to the destruction of a plot item (the bottle of ice wine you're left with after the storm at the start).

Yes, although this doesn't have a significant effect, since everyone you can ask about it will instead say that "that sounds like a bottle of..." rather than "that is a bottle of..."

Potentially more problematic is that they can end up chowing down on your garlic - not so entertaining if you discover you're out when you need to cast a spell that uses it! IIRC, this only happens if you're out of other food types at the time, though.

However, SI also has an item (not just a hotkey) that pretty much negates the need to carry food around, unless you need it for some other purpose (NPC X wants some cheese, etc).