WoundedKnight
Warlord
- Joined
- May 28, 2002
- Messages
- 253
Lands of Ultima: Play the World Version
Thanks to General Maximus for the map, as the map was borrowed from his Ultima X save game scenario at Apolyton (http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?sid=210324383&id=2220&t=reviews&toprate=5.0000&tophits=3985&cat=51). Full credit to him for this. Everything else is was done from scratch.
This scenario is completely different, however, and is based on Ultima series, with elements from Ultima 1, 4, 5, and 7.
THE STORY
The lands of Britannia have again become dangerous. Lord British has been captured by Mondain and the Shadowlords, while Blackthorne rules the three citadels of the virtues and the small hamlets of Britannia with an iron fist. Monsters from the underworld pour into Britannia through the eight dungeons. Bandits roam the land, while pirates infest the seas. Only the eight independent city-states of Britannia resist Blackthorne's rule.
OBJECTIVE
Play one of eight groups (Bards, Paladins, Tinkers, Mages, Fighters, Tinkers, Druids, Shepherds) trying to defeat Mondain and Blackthorne. Build up your armies, defeat the enemies of the free peoples, and reunite the lands of Britannia! Regain control of the three citadels of the virtues (Empath Abbey, Serpent Hold, and the Lycaeum), liberate the hamlets of Britannia (Paws, Vesper, Buccaneer's Den, and Windemere), kill Blackthorne and conquer his castle, and conquer or destroy the eight dungeons which connect to the underworld. You must also regain the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the Temple of the Codex on the Isle of the Avatar and destroy Mondain to free Lord British.
THE ENEMY
The bandits and monsters (governed by Mondain) are very dangerous. They start out in Tyranny (communism) to combat the corruption of their far-flung empire. They also send multiple types of "hidden-nationality units" (Goblin warriors, Mounted Orcs, renegade mages, etc.) which will attempt to destroy the Britannian resistance. The Three Shadowlords, Minax, and Batlin and his companions roam the land plundering and killing as minions of Mondain -- and rest assured that they are not as inexperienced as your humble heroes!
CITY-STATES OF THE VIRTUES
The only unique unit the eight free cities can build is the Britannian Guard (aka Hoplite). Each of the free cities is ruled by a hero and former companion of Lord British and the Avatar. Each hero is represented by a hero unit with extra hit points which can train from conscript up to elite to represent gaining experience with adventuring. Once you learn advanced military training, you will be able to produce more heroes, but they are very expensive (150 shields) and most powerful in the early game (A/D/M 4/4/2, starting with 6 hit points, can advance to 9). The resistance cities start out with only two techs each (as the cities suffered severe damage in the revolt), while Blackthorne's empire and the bandits and monsters have a significant tech lead.
While all of the eight cities of the virtue start out with 2 techs in the dark age, not all civs are created equal because of location, wonders, and civ attributes. The easiest civs to play as (but still providing some challenge) are the Bards, the Paladins, the Druids, the Tinkers, and the Rangers. For a more challenging game, play as the Fighters, Mages, or Shepherds. These groups start out on islands. The Mages share their island with Blackthorne's minions in the Lycaeum, the other two are by themselves but on small islands with no contact with other civilizations, making it difficult for them to expand their civilizations in the early phases of the game.
ABOUT THE GAME
City names for each group, leader names, improvements, and wonders are renamed in harmony with the Ultima series. Modern resources have been added to the map. The road network of Britannia has also kept its infrastructure.
The dungeons all start out as population size 2 and have a barracks, courthouse, walls, and a moongate. The eight independent cities of the virtues start out at size four, while the three citadels of virtue are size three. The hamlets of Britannia (Paws, Vesper, Buccaneer's Den) start out as size two with a granary, courthouse, walls, and marketplace. All of the eight cities of the virtues have standard buildings (palace, marketplace, granary, temple, barracks, walls, harbor (if appropriate). A few wonders are distributed throughout the land (Empath Abbey, Serpent's Hold, Lycaeum, Temple of the Codex) to correlate with their appropriate location in the Ultima world. Everyone can build wonders except for the Brigands, as it wouldn't make sense to have great Britannian wonders in dungeons. The map scrolls both North/South and East/West just like the real Ultima map. The location of Windemere (which appeared only in Ultima 5) has changed due to the restrictions of map size, but other locations are (roughly) accurate.
There is no communication trading, although techs and maps may be traded. As in the original Ultima series, exploring the world (on your own) is a big part of the game. The number of civilizations is finite and map size is medium, so it should be possible for you to make face to face contact with all other civilizations.
Almost all wonders, techs, and buildings (and many units) have been renamed in line with the ultima series. The wonders (Pillars of the Avatar -- aka Colossus, High Court of Justice -- aka Hanging Gardens, etc.) do not expire in harmony with the plot of the Ultima series, with the exception of the Great Walls of Trinsic and the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom (which do expire -- the game would be unbalanced if the Codex (Great Library) applied up to the end of the game, but it does last until mid-3rd age). However, I have tried to leave tampering with the rules to a minimum and have allowed the scenario player to customize a wide range of options in order to allow the experience to be tailor-made for the player in recreating the open-ended nature of the Ultima universe.
Overall difficulty of this scenario is high. You may need to forge alliances with the other free city-states to survive. Regent (or Monarch) settings are recommended due to the scenario's force allocation.
Enjoy!
WoundedKnight
Thanks to General Maximus for the map, as the map was borrowed from his Ultima X save game scenario at Apolyton (http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?sid=210324383&id=2220&t=reviews&toprate=5.0000&tophits=3985&cat=51). Full credit to him for this. Everything else is was done from scratch.
This scenario is completely different, however, and is based on Ultima series, with elements from Ultima 1, 4, 5, and 7.
THE STORY
The lands of Britannia have again become dangerous. Lord British has been captured by Mondain and the Shadowlords, while Blackthorne rules the three citadels of the virtues and the small hamlets of Britannia with an iron fist. Monsters from the underworld pour into Britannia through the eight dungeons. Bandits roam the land, while pirates infest the seas. Only the eight independent city-states of Britannia resist Blackthorne's rule.
OBJECTIVE
Play one of eight groups (Bards, Paladins, Tinkers, Mages, Fighters, Tinkers, Druids, Shepherds) trying to defeat Mondain and Blackthorne. Build up your armies, defeat the enemies of the free peoples, and reunite the lands of Britannia! Regain control of the three citadels of the virtues (Empath Abbey, Serpent Hold, and the Lycaeum), liberate the hamlets of Britannia (Paws, Vesper, Buccaneer's Den, and Windemere), kill Blackthorne and conquer his castle, and conquer or destroy the eight dungeons which connect to the underworld. You must also regain the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the Temple of the Codex on the Isle of the Avatar and destroy Mondain to free Lord British.
THE ENEMY
The bandits and monsters (governed by Mondain) are very dangerous. They start out in Tyranny (communism) to combat the corruption of their far-flung empire. They also send multiple types of "hidden-nationality units" (Goblin warriors, Mounted Orcs, renegade mages, etc.) which will attempt to destroy the Britannian resistance. The Three Shadowlords, Minax, and Batlin and his companions roam the land plundering and killing as minions of Mondain -- and rest assured that they are not as inexperienced as your humble heroes!
CITY-STATES OF THE VIRTUES
The only unique unit the eight free cities can build is the Britannian Guard (aka Hoplite). Each of the free cities is ruled by a hero and former companion of Lord British and the Avatar. Each hero is represented by a hero unit with extra hit points which can train from conscript up to elite to represent gaining experience with adventuring. Once you learn advanced military training, you will be able to produce more heroes, but they are very expensive (150 shields) and most powerful in the early game (A/D/M 4/4/2, starting with 6 hit points, can advance to 9). The resistance cities start out with only two techs each (as the cities suffered severe damage in the revolt), while Blackthorne's empire and the bandits and monsters have a significant tech lead.
While all of the eight cities of the virtue start out with 2 techs in the dark age, not all civs are created equal because of location, wonders, and civ attributes. The easiest civs to play as (but still providing some challenge) are the Bards, the Paladins, the Druids, the Tinkers, and the Rangers. For a more challenging game, play as the Fighters, Mages, or Shepherds. These groups start out on islands. The Mages share their island with Blackthorne's minions in the Lycaeum, the other two are by themselves but on small islands with no contact with other civilizations, making it difficult for them to expand their civilizations in the early phases of the game.
ABOUT THE GAME
City names for each group, leader names, improvements, and wonders are renamed in harmony with the Ultima series. Modern resources have been added to the map. The road network of Britannia has also kept its infrastructure.
The dungeons all start out as population size 2 and have a barracks, courthouse, walls, and a moongate. The eight independent cities of the virtues start out at size four, while the three citadels of virtue are size three. The hamlets of Britannia (Paws, Vesper, Buccaneer's Den) start out as size two with a granary, courthouse, walls, and marketplace. All of the eight cities of the virtues have standard buildings (palace, marketplace, granary, temple, barracks, walls, harbor (if appropriate). A few wonders are distributed throughout the land (Empath Abbey, Serpent's Hold, Lycaeum, Temple of the Codex) to correlate with their appropriate location in the Ultima world. Everyone can build wonders except for the Brigands, as it wouldn't make sense to have great Britannian wonders in dungeons. The map scrolls both North/South and East/West just like the real Ultima map. The location of Windemere (which appeared only in Ultima 5) has changed due to the restrictions of map size, but other locations are (roughly) accurate.
There is no communication trading, although techs and maps may be traded. As in the original Ultima series, exploring the world (on your own) is a big part of the game. The number of civilizations is finite and map size is medium, so it should be possible for you to make face to face contact with all other civilizations.
Almost all wonders, techs, and buildings (and many units) have been renamed in line with the ultima series. The wonders (Pillars of the Avatar -- aka Colossus, High Court of Justice -- aka Hanging Gardens, etc.) do not expire in harmony with the plot of the Ultima series, with the exception of the Great Walls of Trinsic and the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom (which do expire -- the game would be unbalanced if the Codex (Great Library) applied up to the end of the game, but it does last until mid-3rd age). However, I have tried to leave tampering with the rules to a minimum and have allowed the scenario player to customize a wide range of options in order to allow the experience to be tailor-made for the player in recreating the open-ended nature of the Ultima universe.
Overall difficulty of this scenario is high. You may need to forge alliances with the other free city-states to survive. Regent (or Monarch) settings are recommended due to the scenario's force allocation.
Enjoy!
WoundedKnight
