From: kkaiser@marvin.ag.uidaho.edu (Kraig Kaiser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: finished UW2, comments
Date: 26 Jan 93 16:49:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: marvin.kkaiser.9.728066952
Organization: College of Agriculture, University of Idaho

In article <106547@netnews.upenn.edu> glaz@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Alexander Glazamitsky) writes:

*** Spoiler alert ***


Hints deleted to save bandwidth.

> 
>(Flame on)
> 
>Some items are either random or semi-random.  E.g.  A lich on level 3 of pits 
>had Flam and Hur runes and a wand when I killed it.  When I restored the game
>and went through the fight again all I got was a wand.  I know there are other
>places where I can get these runes, but things like that still shouldn't happen.
>Either lich has the runes or it doesn't.  Also, Mani rune on castle first level 
>would not appear until I rolled a character with mana 11.  Apparently, game 
>decided that if I don't have 11 mana I am not enough of a mage to deserve Mani. 

I noticed that I didn't get a mani stone until I was a mage.  But I did get 
a short sword when I was a fighter.  I'm not sure of this but it could be 
that depending on which is higher, Intelegence or Strength, you get an extra 
rune stone or a shortsword.

>Will Origin put references to Wing Commander into every Ultima product?  There
>was spaceship in U7 and here we have intelligent felines which used to fly the 
>stars firing at humans and if you rearrange the letters in the name of these
>cats you can almost spell Kilrathi. 

I think now that they started putting in the references some people are going
to be expecting to see more of them in future games. (Unfortunately)
 
>Just like U7, the individual side-quests are well developed and interesting
>but the main story sucks.  Most James Bond villains exhibit more realistic 
>behavior than Guardian (starting with the fact that any being who can use 
>magic to create a castle-sized structure out of material which inhibits magical
>energy can most certainly just crush the castle).  UW2 is a hokey story wrapped
>in the best RPG game engine there is.

I think the Guardian's problem is that he's trying to be sneaky.. and trying 
to scare people into following him.  Supposedly he feeds off of their fear.
But even at that it is still a hokey storey.
 
>The game has a fair number of bugs most of which I encountered in the Void.
>When a section of the games violates as many rules of the engine as Void 
>probably does you have to pay the penalty.  The game would often freeze, it
>would corrupt the display, it changed the palette a few times to the blue only
>(not just in blue world), etc...  Bugs, taking damage for no good reason, not
>being able to map or even to figure out general outlay of the place earns Void
>my vote as the worst level of the game (right after mage test 7).

I'm pretty sure that those "bugs" in the Void were actually a hostile brain 
creature attacking you from a distance.  They cause you to take damage, they 
drain your mana, and they mess with your mind.  The same mind altering 
effects can be found if you drink basilisk oil, or green potions, or eat a
mushroom.  These effects include pallet shifts, fuzzy vision, and shifting 
your vision to looking up or down.  As for the mapping.. you're in the void!
You expect a compass to work in the void? :)  You are supposed to be unsure 
of your surroundings and dis-oriented.  I'm pretty sure they didn't violate 
any rules of their engine, they just made all the walls and ceilings and 
even some of the floors solid black.

Personally this level has my vote for "Most Challenging"

> 
>(flame off)
> 
>But all in all, a great game.

I agree!  I tried going back and finishing Legends of Valor...
It just can't compare.  
 
>BTW, if you want to flame back, don't email me - just respond online.

DITTO!