[jefklak]

in reply to: Final Thoughts #9264

Yeah the standing jump helps. Sometimes 😅

I did a playthrough report on Mastodon and gathered my thoughts here in case anyone is interested; https://jefklakscodex.com/games/pc/ultima-underworld/

[jefklak]

in reply to: The Engine #9261

Here’s some more info about how tiles/3D rendering is interleaved from one of the original devs: http://www.peroxide.dk/underworld.shtml

[jefklak]

in reply to: Final Thoughts #9260

Woah it’s just past half December and you’ve finished both games? Nice job!

I’m a first-time player and How Long To Beat says I should be done in 20 hours, but it feels more like 30 to me. I keep a personal (analog) journal, as it’s clear to me that without scribbling down all notes the game is indeed unwinnable.
There are so many useless items/skills in this game! And so many items that are needed like 6 levels down and if you throw them in the water you’ll never be able to finish it 🤣

My nearly-final thoughts: it’s amazing that this game came out a month before Wolf3D. Not just because of the engine. I wish I discovered this sooner. It’s an amazing experience and yes there’s a lot of jank or bullshit stuff (platforming? endless dead ends in lvl7? etc) but that doesn’t overshadow the greatness of it in my view.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Absolute beginner tips #9248

Thanks firefyte, that helps. With the JohnGlassmyer/UltimaHacks the map has a dedicated quick access key (z), which is great!
I did notice that the orientation in the map (the arrow of the player) doesn’t seem to adjust or am I doing it wrong?

[jefklak]

in reply to: Before playing(for the GOG version) #9247

On the other hand, https://github.com/JohnGlassmyer/UltimaHacks seems to be a good alternative? I’ll give that one a go now.

Edit: that mouselook + wsad controls is a lifesaver (for me, at least).

[jefklak]

in reply to: DOS Game Club Level Pack! #9182

Just came here to thank you for the level pack, it’s great fun to see these levels skinned like that! I was too late for the wolf3d month and am working my way through it now so thought why not try this, it was mentioned on the podcast, great!!

[jefklak]

in reply to: Who uses real hardware? #9167

Great pics and stories in here, I love that kind of stuff!

I have three old PCs in my mini home office: a 486, a win98 Athlon PC, and a winXP early Core2Duo one I built in 2005-ish. The 486 is of course my most precious one and comes from parts of my late father-in-law.

The setup is detailed here: https://brainbaking.com/post/2021/02/my-retro-desktop-setup/ and I occassionally blog about that old hardware stuff like when I finally managed to revive him after the motherboard gave up (https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/10/replacing-a-baby-at-motherboard/)

It’s difficult to keep that hardware going, that new (old) mobo cost me $100 on eBay without even knowing whether it’ll properly work… I don’t have space/width for a proper CRT hence the flatscreens. The DELL in the middle has VGA (win98) and DVI (winxp) I can switch between which is very handy.

Attachments:

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[jefklak]

in reply to: Unity Source Port #9165

Not sure, the Unity version is abandoned in favor of the Godot one that’s currently in pre-alpha:

> This is currently pre-alpha. No support is provided for it and usage is at your own risk. Please don’t download this version and expect it to be usable in anyway.

I’m not touching that for such a cool game to ruin my playthrough 😉

[jefklak]

in reply to: Three months #9164

I presume we’re taking three months ’cause it’s a lot to get into and get used to compared to other games done in less than 10 hours with much simpler mechanics?

Like you said, either way, I’m down with this, as making time is difficult and I really want to play and actually finish it!

[jefklak]

in reply to: Final(ish) thoughts #9158

Okay so I also finished the game (the original three episodes, that is) and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I never got beyond level 1 back in the shareware days when I was 10 or so so I don’t have any immediate nostalgia for the game, and I know it’ll probably always live in DOOM’s shadows, but the music, the level design, and the powered up weapons that at least try to differentiate were great.

I did a quick write-up here: https://jefklakscodex.com/games/pc/heretic/

I tried playing it on my DOS PC but the smooth mouse movement and controls of modern source ports make it hard to revisit the original. Beyond that, the gameplay/levels have aged quite well, I think.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Comparing Heretic to DOOM #9146

Is there anyone actually preferrig the Firemace above the Hellstaff? For being a semi-secret weapon I was kind of disappointed after trying it out.

Actually, my most used weapons are the bow, the hellstaff/dragon’s claw depending on what/how much ammo I have left, and the bazooka-erm, the yellow thing that goes boom.

[jefklak]

in reply to: New Rendering Options? #9106

Has anyone got crispy-heretic to work on macOS without having to compile it from source?
Brew install crispy-doom is not crispy-heretic it tells me when feeding it the WAD…

I’m using GZDoom for now but wanted to explore the crispy thing.

Edit: for GZDoom MacOS users: where is the save data and screenshot folder? Can’t find it 🙃

[jefklak]

in reply to: Which DOS games do you have on your Topsters 25 list? #7952

Excellent list, thanks for sharing!

If you would ask the 28 year younger version of myself to compile such a list, Bio Menace, the original Duke Nukum and Monster Bash would also be on that list. But now that I played the platformers on the NES, SNES, and MegaDrive that inspired these games, I just can’t overlook the fact that these are just much better. And that’s not because of the controller.

But of course each list is subjective, that’s why it’s so much fun to share with others I think.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Which DOS games do you have on your Topsters 25 list? #7929

For me such a top25 is highly personal, of course it makes sense to include deeply flawed games (objectively speaking). It’s a subjective list! It should contain games you enjoyed the most. Most topx lists from IGN, Edge, Eurogamer, … are just rubbish precisely because of that: everyone played different games and has different experiences.

I noticed that most of my entries are from release year < 2007 when I started working so there’s plenty of nostalgia bias present. I’ll try making a new list with recent ones, although that’s going to be more difficult since I stopped playing on PC!

[jefklak]

in reply to: Other DOS podcasts #7919

New Game, Old Flame regularly has DOS games on the table: https://www.newgameoldflame.com/

[jefklak]

in reply to: Thoughts #7756

I really hate those turtoise tanks! So many cheap deaths!
Thanks for your analysis taxalot, I think I agree. I’ve still got a few more episodes to explore but won’t expect to see a radical difference in gameplay.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Thoughts #7750

I gave the shareware episode another go today and have to agree with everything you’ve said.

That soundtrack, though. Even more banging than Sonic 2/3 at some points (tubelectric, anyone?)

My strategy is also blindly shooting ahead but sometimes even that doesn’t work as it seems that Jazz even catches up with his own bullets!
I prefer Jazz 2 as the resolution and size of Jazz have changed giving the player the advantage of the overview instead of the cramped resolution. This feels like playing a Sonic game on the Game Gear.

The problem with speeding through things and bumping into enemies is solved with Sonic’s spinning: just press down and everything dies (except if you land on spikes). No cigar here.

If you manage to find the bird in the levels, that thing does start hawking and “warns” you of enemies ahead, just a milisec before I see them!

[jefklak]

in reply to: Stumbling around in Albion #7025

I did a write-up on my thoughts of the game: https://jefklakscodex.com/games/pc/albion/

I realize it’s perhaps a bit harsh, but while playing it, I just missed the clearly superior games it’s based on such as Might & Magic. I might go ahead and replay one of those. That said, I highly enjoyed exploring the world and doing it together with you folks, thanks!

[jefklak]

in reply to: Stumbling around in Albion #6957

Okay, I tried it one more time, but the druid dungeon is just too much without that frost avalanche spell. I’m on the verge of giving up. I’m still underleveled and I don’t feel like running around in the jungle looking for trouble to fix this (which takes a long time, BTW). My guys constantly die and it sucks the fun out of it. And yes, Tom got sick and permanently lost skill points. Great!! 😡

One of my 2023 resolutions is not making myself finish a book or game I don’t enjoy. I’m afraid about 7 hours in, I’m gonna have to throw the towel…
I tried a god mode cheat (http://albion-hra.wz.cz/?page=cheaty) but without clipping it’s kind of useless. I’ll watch a few YouTube videos to see what I missesd.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Bio Menace #6938

Love this one as well. Never got past the first few levels, it’s insanely difficult at times – the hair-tugging head-bashing kind of insane. But hey, I’d love to replay those first levels! 😆

[jefklak]

in reply to: Stumbling around in Albion #6935

All right I got to another island by boat today!

Things already were tough but are only getting tougher. I grinded a bit before leaving but apparently not long enough. The enemies in the druid’s ruins are mark III of those flying poison things and simply decimate my party. Everyone is just a useless meatshield except for Tom and Drirr. The bow constantly breaks, bolts and arrows constantly miss or do like 1 damage, and after casting one or two spells with moderate success, the casters are sitting ducks.

Money is a big problem. I gobble up potions like mad, and 10 healing ones cost 100gp!! Trying to rest to heal doesn’t always work due to “nobody is tired yet”. I’m constantly poisoned and have to run back to the healer. My big axe broke and it cost 150gp to repair, wtf? That’s a friggin’ fortune! I can’t afford anything shiny in shops.

To be honest I’m getting a bit hung up on the lackluster RPG mechanics of Albion. Doing battle or grinding in general isn’t fun, it’s a rightclick-fest. If one enemy dies but that was also the target of another character, he/she simply stumbles and does nothing. Is there a way to see how much HP an enemy has? Is there a way to see how mechanics of weapons work? Why does equipping my axe increase damage (visible) but decrease both total and current close combat skills (???)? Why do NPCs walk around like lunatics while I have to aim my rightclick since it can’t reach far for some reason?

I guess I’ll give it another shot in the coming days.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Stumbling around in Albion #6928

Thanks all for your help! I’ve played a bit more today and found the dungeon and got Rainer incapacitated lol. We also ran out of torches which was kind of stupid. We barely made it back but sold a lot of stuff. I’ve finally been able to buy the compass (and music crystal thing) which should help with navigation.

Behind the corpse in the dungeon is another locked chest but my lockpicks were used up. I tried “examining” and using the lock a few times and got a message we escaped a trap and after 3 tries it opened. Is it worth it to go back and give the crystal? I have no idea why I bought that thing for 80gp!

IS4, your map link unfortunately doesn’t seem to work…

The murder quest is solved now but I’ll hang around a bit until I can max out the combat skills like everyone suggests.

[jefklak]

in reply to: Stumbling around in Albion #6924

Played another hour, finishing the basement thing, and for some reason, I now *can* pick “Rest” in the menu. I have no idea why. I also bought the equipment and a bow and feel a bit more capable of dealing out damage, although it’s still difficult. The healer gives potions if you say you need healing but can’t afford it.

I see very nice gear in the arms seller and there’s talk about a way to “steal” some of that, but haven’t tried that yet.