Re: Ultima IV wanted

[fishern3485@cobra.uni.edu]

>>>>>you DO realize it's impossible to solve, right?
>>>> 
>>>> Au contraire!  I helped my brother solve it once.
>>>> 
>>>> Of course, we did have to use a sector editor to raise our stats to superhuman
>>>> levels in order to survive the Abyss...
>>>
>>>ok even with that..... who told you the answer to the riddle??
>>
>>Nobody had to tell us the answers to the riddles, because the answers
>>permeate the entire game.  If memory serves, you just get asked about the
>>eight virtues in the standard order, and then the three qualities.  The
>>final riddle is answered by the word spelled out in runes that you see when
>>you meditate at shrines.
> 
> Yup.  Took me a while to put two and two together, tho.

Allow me to let you all in on the secret.  Go boot up U4 and go to
Iolo's hut, go talk to Mr. Ed. (the horse)  When you talk to him, he
says "A".  If you ask him about "A", he says "A", and asks you "A?"
If you respond "Y" or "N", he'll say "A"!  This was a biiiiig oops.

The above is the default conversation each character was set to upon
insertion into the game.  THEY FORGOT TO PROGRAM HIS DIALOGUE!!!!
He is the one the guy outside the castle walls tells you to go ask
about the riddle.  he was supposed to tell you "INFINITY", but didn't.

If you play U5, go talk to Mr Ed there!  He'll even tell you he 'forgot'
to tell you the answer to the riddle in U4!!!

To my knowledge, the Apple II version is the only one with this oversight.



> Uh, maybe I'm missing something, but I played Ultima IV to completion without
> cheating.  Multiple times.  Took a while to build stats up, but I didn't even
> max out all characters at Level 8.  

You had to guess the answer to the riddle.  Me?  I just did some intense
disk searching and found the riddle ("INFI", only four letters required)
in near the mantras I think.

> 2)  Before entering the Abyss, build up spell components AND crucial spells
> (<H>eal, <T>remor, <R>esurrect, <V>iew, <D>ispel, <K>ill, <Q>uickness) to
> 99; ditto for gems.

Also save the potions and such!  They come in VERRRRY handy when your
spellcasters are "down for the count."

> 3)  Mystic Armour helps.  However, Mystic Swords are probably THE most
> overrated item in the game; other than the Shepherd and the Fighter, I sell
> all of them off.  Any missile weapon with "Magic" in the title -- this means
> Bows, Axes and Wands -- WILL work in the Abyss.  Put your sword-swingers in
> the back, nuke anything that moves with Tremor, then pick 'em off from afar
> with wand and bow blasts.  You can sell off Swords for quite a lot of cash;
> excellent for affording the finer weapons at Buccaneer's Den.

yup.  BTW, what good was the glass sword???  Mine always shattered... (or
was that in Ultima V?)

> 6)  Does the Skull of Mondain make any difference?  Perhaps tossing it into
> the Abyss makes travels easier; never tried it without tossing it first.

I think i tried that -- as I recall, you can't get in without tossing it.


BTW, if anyone wants (or NEEDS) the editor, I have made a fairly good
editor for both Ultima IV and V, and would post them up on request.


Nathan Fisher
  FISHERN3485@COBRA.UNI.EDU