0
*Unofficial* TROUBLESHOOTING Ultima IX: Ascension FAQ
Authors: Windforce Dragon & DarkSharp
Release-Date: 99-12-02
Version: 1.3beta
current version URL: http://www.gulbsoft.de/faq1.3.txt (on 99-12-2, 19:00h)
Latest version URL: http://www.gulbsoft.de/faq.latest.txt (on 99-12-2,
19:00h)
For changes check the revision history!
Many people are experiencing problems running Ultima IX: Ascension. In the
interest of consolidation, we have scanned the forums of the UIX/OSI
official
boards, Horizons and EA support culling these bits of information into a
FAQ. Sorry, we forgot to credit many of the posters, we figured getting the
information into the hands of players quickly was more important than
credits.
Caveat: These are nothing more than suggestions and are not guaranteed to
work. Use them at your own risk. we do not even have the game yet (lousy EB)
Note: We would love for someone with serious knowledge of API's, Win
98/2000k
to take this over and embellish it with their knowledge and experience. If
you are interested, contact us: (mailto:darksharp@bendcable.com) or
Windforce
Dragon (mailto:windforce@gulbsoft.de)
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US REGARDING QUESTIONS ON HOW TO FIX
YOUR PROBLEMS. As we are not techical wiz's, your questions will be
ignored.
Sorry.
Note: THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE FAQ (Except Gameplay issues which might be
considered to have some very minor spoilers).
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DISCLAIMER
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The author of this FAQ is not liable for any damage that may occur to your
hard or software by using any of the tips in this FAQ. Use at your own risk
Ultima IX Ascension (UIXA, UA, UIX,U9) is a registered trademark of Origin
Systems and EA.
All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
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INDEX
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---- NEW NEW NEW ----
Revision History, check here for the latest tips!
0. Patch Information
1. Installation Issues
2. Speed/Performance Issues
2.1. Journal Options
2.2. Hardware and Windows Tuning
2.3. The Hardware Setup Program
2.4. Specific 3dfx solutions
2.5. Specific D3d solutions
2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
2.7 CD-ROM Problems
3. Movies Issues
4. Sound Issues
5. Options.ini / Keymap file
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
7. General Gameplays Issues
7.1. Plot related issues (plotstopper bugs, etc)
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks
7.3. Gameplay issues
7.4. Savegame issues
7.5. Misc.
8. Additional help/Links
8.1. Unofficial Support Sources
8.2. Official Support Sources
8.3. Hardware and Driver Support
9. Credits
10. Easter Eggs, Cheats and Ultima historical related *SPOILERS*
10.1. Cheats
10.2. Easter Eggs
10.3. Things from older Ultimas
10.4. Interesting Places
10.5. Interesting Things to do
10.6. General Knowledge
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REVISION HISTORY
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FAQ 1.3 1999-12-02
- Added the information from CapnBills daily report (1999-12-01)
- Added Easter Eggs, cheats and ultima historical section (changes will not
be
listed in the revision history for they may contains spoilers).
- Put some order in section 5 (options.ini).
- Added 2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches section
- There are now ~50 configurations described at the tech survey board at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
- Added Section 8.3 Hardware and Driver Support Sources
- Added Section 2.7 CD-ROM Problems
- New Issues:
1. Installation Issues:
1.5 (Install does'nt run)
2.5. Specific D3d solutions
2.5.8. (8bit not working on d3dcard), 2.5.9. (Setup detecting wrong
videocard)
2.5.10.(Viper550 speedup), 2.5.11. (TNT Speedup)
2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
2.6.1. (Unfiltered Textures), 2.6.2 (pixelated toolbelt)
4. Spound issues.
4.6. (Sb-Life unload fonts)
5. Options.ini file
Added some comments
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
6.8. (unable to move), 6.9. (Bagpack crash bug)
7.1. Plot related issues
7.1.7. (Alphawolf Bug),7.1.8 (Elevator Bug, Hyloth)
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks:
7.2.6.(Game crashes on first start), 7.2.7.(frequent game crashes)
7.2.8. (Crash to desktop on start)
7.3. Gameplay issues:
7.3.7. (vanishing items) 7.3.9 (swimming), 7.3.10 (falling damage),
7.3.11 (hovering Npcs), 7.3.12 (hovering objects), 7.3.13.(Unlimmited
Ammo bug)
7.1.9. (Hyloth Gate Crashbug), 7.1.10 (Hyloth Dialog Bug)
- Updated Issues:
0.1. Patch Information
Added some more information on the upcoming patches
2.2. Hardware and Windows Tuning
2.2.2 (Swapfile)
2.2.4.(MipMapping off)
2.2.12(DMA)
2.2.14.(killing task)
2.5. Specific D3d solutions:
2.5 (Updated Notes)
2.5.4. (Invalid Pixel Format on TNT cards)
2.5.7. (AGP Aperture Size)
8. Additional Help/Links
8.2 Added some newsgroups and links
8.3 Section added
----
FAQ 1.2 * Reorganized the FAQ * 1999-12-01
- Added Hardware Comparison Board at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
- Added Option.ini Section
- Added Credits Section
- Created Interface/UI/Controlling Section
- Added link for removing DirectX
----
FAQ 1.1 German translation released at
http://www.gulbsoft.de/u9techfaq/indexger.html
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0. PATCH INFORMATION (as 12-01-99)
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0.1 Patch Availability (as 12-01-99)
----------------------------
>From the official boards:
- Patch #1, currently being QA'd, includes the fix for the TNT(2) / GeForce
driver problem, the blocked tunnel problem, and some other crashes.)
QA will take several days at least.
- The next patch will address D3D performance more aggressively, to the
best of our ability; it'll also fix any crashes & plot problems we find
between now & then. That one will take some time, since our D3D
performance issues are really a research task. If we knew exactly what
changes to make, we could provide an accurate estimate. The majority of
the time will be spent determining what change(s) to make to the renderer.
QA must play through the game every time we change the map data or the
engine, to be sure we haven't introduced new problems even worse than the
ones we fixed.
We wish we could just ship out a patch right now; but that
isn't possible, and it wouldn't be wise.
- The following note was dropped by CapnBill (LeadProgrammer) on
the official boards (11-30-99):
Game design issues: The problems we'll be looking to fix in
future patches won't be related to game design, unless they're
plot-stoppers. In other words, there isn't much we can do about
requests for more NPC schedules, etc. But, there are things we
can do about blatant bugs (creatures standing still while you
hit them, plot-stoppers, etc).
Before we shipped, all our testers played through the game
in its entirety; we fixed every plot problem we identified.
We never had any intention of treating you like Beta testers!
So, the game is play-through-able as is..and, it's getting
better, largely as a result of all the feedback here. So,
thanks, and please be patient!
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1. INSTALLATION ISSUES
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NOTE from CapnBill: Performance perception issue: The Install scales the
game
engine's settings up, based on the type of CPU you have. So, if you have a
fast CPU, you'll have more bells & whistles than others, but at the cost of
speed.
You probably don't notice the fact that your game looks better
than someone else's (because you can't see their screen), but you do
notice that it doesn't seem to run faster. So, you can just scale
down your Journal Options settings for
more speed.
1.1. Q: I chose to install compressed textures but when I check this in the
Hardware Options the compressed textures setting is not selected.
A: When installing Ultima IX Ascension be sure to choose a custom
install
and select compressed textures
1.2. Q: During installation, I reached the point where the program asks for
an
installation directory. Pressed the "Browse..." button and got an
invalid page fault.
A: This is a problem with some video drivers, and not specific to UIX:
A
(It's actually the installshield application that's crashing here,
and
other apps will crash if you hit the 'browse' button). You should
be
okay if you manually type in the path rather than using the browse
functions.
1.3. Q: I have chosen a custom install of Ultima IX Ascension and the
installer
reported that zero kilobytes were installed. The installed used 480
MB
of hard drive space? What is taking up so much space?
A: The hard drive space is not missing. Even though there was nothing
selected in the custom install it still copies over the core of the
program resulting in used hard drive space.
Q: What version of DirectX comes with Ultima IX Ascension?
A: Ultima IX Ascension includes DirectX 7. An option to install DirectX
7
appears upon installation of the game. Many TNT2 and GeForce users
are
expericiencing problems with DirectX 7. Consider using DirectX 6.1.
A tool for removing your current DirextX version can be found here:
http://www.ebrink.com/dxun/downloads.html
1.4. Q: The install program does not run for my system (Voodoo)
A: If you have a DirectX5 driver for your Voodoo card, Install
won't run (since Installing DirectX6 or 7 doesn't remove
that driver). Remove the hardware device from your system and
re-add it, then re-install DirectX7. Install should run then.
(from CapnBill)
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2. IMPROVING SPEED/PERFORMANCE
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2.1 Journal and Ingame Options
--------------------------------
2.1.1. A: Tips from the official webpage for performance tuning:
Journal Options are the best way to affect performance.
To maximize your frame rate, set both clipping plane sliders
("Viewable Item Distance" and "Additional Terrain Viewing" all
the way to the left. Then, select the left-most checkbox in the
"Performance vs Quality" section. Close the Journal to save your
settings.
Note: if you run the Hardware Setup program after you set your
journal
options, you must repeat this step.
2.1.2. A: Try turning down the details and the viewable distance located in
the
options menu in your Journal. There is also the option to turn off
Mip
mapping. This can be found by clicking on the Start menu >
Programs >
Ultima 9 > Hardware options.
TNT1 (maybe also 2, but untested) Owners:
Install the 3.34 Detonator Drivers. Go to Display
Properties|Settings|Advanced|
RIVA TNT|Additional Properties|Direct3d Settings. Make sure
"Automatically
generate [text box] mipmap levels." has a value of zero. If it
doesn't,
your hardware is automatically using up valuable texture memory on
mipmaps...
Infos from the Capn: mip-mapping: Mipmap level of 0 turns
mip-mapping
off; only the highest detail level is used for textures. Level 1
is
on, with the nearest textures being the highest detail level.
Level 2
is on, with nearest being the next-lowest detail level, etc.
2.1.3. A: Try bringing the camera closer into the Avatar using Crtl + Page
up.
This author has experienced very good results with this technique.
2.2 Hardware and Windows Tuning Options
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GENERAL Official Tips from the Development team:
- Run Scandisk/Defrag
- Tip 2.2.4
- Setup a 500 MB Swapfile -> 2.2.2
- Tip 2.2.14
NOTE on MINIMUM SPECS:
The minimum specs on the U9 box are a joke. After watching the
boards
for some time now it seems clear that how U9 runs is very system
dependant
there have been reports from people running the game fair well on
an
P 200 (overclocked). Anyway in most cases you definitly want a
much
more powerful system than the minimum. Remember, it is an ultima.
NOTE: To allow you to compare your systems performance with the
performance
other users get with their system, I've set up a messageboard at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
It can also be used to find out what hardware will give you the
best
performance when upgrading. (currently 99-12-01 there are approx.
50
posts in the forum. If you want to help, please add you own system
and your performance to the board. Thank you.
2.2. Q: I am getting terrible framerates in UIX, is there any way to
improve
my framerate
2.2.1. A: Try setting your desktop resolution to the same size as the game
resolution (i.e.800x 600). This may also be the reason some people
can not get their mouse to work in some areas of the screen.
2.2.2. A: Try changing your computer to a file server. Go to
Settings/Control
Panel/System/ Performance tab, at the bottom, click on "file
system".
Change your HD to be treated like a "network server".
2.2.2. A: Virtual memory
Rules of thumb regarding virtual memory:
1. In almost every case, you will want to multiply the amount of
ram on your system by 2 to get your virtual memory size. (ex.
64
megs of ram = 128 meg swap file for virtual mem, 128 megs of
ram
= 256 meg swap file for virtual memory)
2. A system with over 64 meg of ram should be set to "network
server" under control panel/system/performance/file system.
This
is the "typical role" setting.
3. You should create your own swap file by going to control
panel/system/performance/ virtual memory and specifying your
minimum and maximum the same size. This creates a permanent
swap
and keeps windows from expanding and contracting the amount of
space allowed for swap. Letting windows specify on a
fragmented hard drive will really put a hit on performance.
4. When creating a swap file (changing virtual memory) if possible,
Specify a drive other then your C: drive, BEST ANOTHER PHYSICAL
drive (meaning a partition on another hdd). Also, you should
defrag before and after you set your permanent swap file.
5. There is a such thing as too much virtual memory when running
certain processes including games. For gaming purposes, you
shouldn't need more then twice the amount of system ram as
stated
before.
2.2.3. A: Close all non essential programs including ICQ. If you have things
like "crash guard" running in the background this will hurt your
performance and probably also cause other problems with the game,
the
best bet is to close all non critical programs before running U9
check task manager by hitting ctrl-alt-delete there should really
only be two things listed here. explorer and systray ...and I've
heard
you can do without systray as well.
2.2.4. A: Try turning off mipmapping with the Hardware Setup of UIX.
(Official)
Selecting a lower detail level for mip-mapping can improve D3D
performance. Lower detail levels require less video memory, and
take
less time to load from disk. But, they look a bit blurrier.
You can also turn mip-mapping off. This also reduces your video
memory
requirements, and can improve performance.
2.2.5. A: Defragment your hard drives. There is a built-in utility in
Windows
98. Go the Help file and lookup Defragment under the Index tab. A
thing to consider is the Windows 98 utility does not defrag your
VM
swap file, consider using Norton Disk Doctors Speed Disk.
2.2.6. A: Purchase more RAM if you have less than 128megs. Many people
report
good results with 128 and even better results with 256 megs. You
can
never have TOO much RAM.
2.2.7. A: If you own a Glide card yet have D3D card installed..try
reinstalling
your Glide Card.
2.2.8. A: Play around with your resolution settings. Many people experience
better framerates at higher levels.
2.2.9.A: If the game runs slow with 16-bit textures, consider reinstalling
using 8-bit textures.
2.2.10.A: Since ram is the big factor in this game, you need to make sure
you
have as MUCH free as possible when loading into the game. There is
a
great program found at:http://tweakbase.gxnetwork.com called
Cacheman.
It allows you to change some internal settings in windows (min/max
file cache sizes, etc) that free up ram considerably, AS WELL AS
HELP
DISK PERFORMANCE. Try using these settings with it:
Min / Max cache 1mb / 6mb
ChunkSize 256 (helped disk performance alot)
FileCache 2048
DirCache 64
For those that are scared to mess with these things, these
settings
are extremely conservative, only a shade lower than the original
settings. However, after doing this,normally my system on bootup
would have approx 30mb of the 64mb free (cacheman can tell you
this).
After doing the changes, it went up to 43mb free.
2.2.11.A: If you have Office 97 installed it can take up huge amounts of
system
resources... To increase your speed follow this procedure:
1. Open control panel2. Run Find Fast3. Press the menu called
'Index'
2. Press 'Delete Index...'
3. Delete all of the indexes, you should only have one on your
'C:'
4. Press 'Ok'
5. Press the menu called 'Index' again8. Press 'Close and Stop'
Reboot your system and then try Ultima IX again
You can also remove findfast.exe from the autostart by using
msconfig.exe
2.2.12.A: Change your hard Drives to DMA. Some people have experienced less
HD
swapping by doing this. Go to windows control panel/system/device
manager then click on the disk drives folder..find the folder that
most resembles your hard drive (ex. GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47) then
click on that and hit the properties button at the bottom. Under
settings you will see a list of settings, some will have check
marks
others will not. Some boxes may be greyed out (unavailable). You
"should" see a box that says dma. If its not greyed-out check it
and
restart your computer. If it's greyed out or there is no box..
chances are your hard drive does not support it.
WARNING. Some overclocked systems may not be handle DMA correctly.
If you have overclocked you CPU activating DMA may lead
to
Data corruption on the HDD
2.2.13 A: Try shutting down USB to improve performance.
2.2.14.A: This tip was grapped from the official boards and confirmed later
by
Origin as performance tip:
- Start the game:
- Once you're in the game, press Alt+Esc to go to the desktop.
- Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once to pull up the list of running
programs.
- There is two entries, Ultima 9 and U9.
- End Task on U9. It'll come back saying not responding, so End
Task
again.
- Then just go back to the game.
If you are not able to do alt-esc check section 6 on how to
activate.
Looks like this u9 process is the copy protection and consuming
some
amount of performance. Is I understand this kind of cp it is used
once
to decrypt u9.exe which is encrypted on the cd. Maybe it respawns
when
you are reloading while in the game.
Especially users with a geforce256 and 2.08 drivers seem to be
have
a performance gain on that
2.2.15.A: Try setting the Maxlight setting in options.ini (section 5) to 2.
Users
report that this does not affect the visual qualtiy very much.
2.3. HARDWARE SETUP PROGRAM
----------------------------
2.3.1. NOTE from the DevTeam:
We've identified another bug in the Hardware Setup program;
it over-writes any settings you made in your Journal Options.
So, if you set your Journal to make the game run faster,
then run the Hardware Setup program, you game will probably
run slower. To fix this, just change the Options in your
Journal again. We're fixing the Hardware Setup program;
it'll appear in a future patch.
2.4. 3DFX/GLIDE ISSUES/SUGGESTIONS
----------------------------
NOTE: Make sure you have the latest drivers from www.3dfx.xom
2.4.1. First you want to try the following tips from the official webpage
1. Make sure you install and run with 8-bit textures.
2. Run the game, and use your in-game Journal to change your game
Options
for maximum speed
2.4.2. One user suggested the following settings for a Voodoo 3 under the
system.ini
[vcache]
Chunksize=12288
MinFileCache=8192
MaxFileCache=8192
2.4.3. Q: I have a Voodoo 3 and I am running in Direct 3D but It does not
look
as good as Glide.
A: Select Glide as the API
2.4.4. Q: I see rainbow textures at lower resolutions.
A: Try a higher resolution
2.4.5 Another author has found that a single V2 (8 megs) works better than a
v3
2000 on a comparable system. Go figure. Sigh. (:P
2.5. D3d ISSUE/SUGGESTIONS
---------------------------
*** NOTE: OSI has repeadetly emphasized that UIX is specifically optimized
for
GLIDE. You may want to consider buying one or two Voodoo 2 Cards and run
them in
SLI Mode (Richard Garriots prefered config) or a Voodoo3 2000 for $75.
Go to pricewatch.com for the best prices. ***
NOTE on TNT and DX7
(DevTeam) We found an issue with the 3.53 drivers and DirectX 7 when it
was
too late to fix before shipping. As some of the players have discovered,
the
older (2.08 or 2.40) drivers work well with DirectX 6.1
Note on DirectX7:
DirectX 7 is still fairly new. Hardware manufacturers have not had time
to
optimize their drivers fully yet. So, older DirectX 6.1 drivers may give
you
better performance. Contact your video card manufacturer for these
drivers.
Yet more on performance differences between DX6 and DX7 from CapnBill:
providing native DX7 support was something we never had time for.
When we implemented our D3D pipeline, we only had DX6 available.
DX7 became available in beta form before we shipped, and in final form
only a couple of weeks before we shipped (remember, we had to code
freeze in early October and only fix bugs from that point forward). We
tested the product with DX7, but were unaware of a performance difference
between DX6 & DX7; we tested mainly for functionality and crashes. I'll
be
interested to learn, over the next few days, why there is a performance
difference. We're not "blaming" DX7 for performance, any more than we're
"blaming" our own code. The fact that there is a difference, however,
needs to be communicated to the customer base.
Note on Running Win2k from CapnBill:
Win2k (builds 2153? and greater) *require* DX7 drivers
for D3D. There is a list of currently supported cards and cards with
support forthcoming, but I'm not aware of what they are. Anybody who
plays
Ascension here at the office under Win2K is most likely running Glide
on a Voodoo[1,2,3] card.
Note on Windows 98 and TNT cards :
If so, did you re-install DirectX as part of the game's install? We've
had
similar problems with TNT cards and Win98. Sometimes, Win98 suddenly
starts
crashing constantly, usually in an app called MPREXE or something like
that;
that's part of explorer. Sometimes this would happen even without
changing
the Windows configuration in any way; it suddenly just decided it hated
the
video driver. If this is the problem you're having, it's related to the
TNT driver, not the game. I'll pass this on to customer service--they
should
be able to recommend a fix. I think you may need to re-install your
video
driver. (Capn Bill)
2.5.1 A: First you want to try this tips from the official website:
Quick Help: Running faster with D3D
1. Install the game with 16-bit textures. The "Compressed for D3D"
textures require less disk space, but run slower.
2. Use the Hardware Setup program to select Mip-Map Detail Level
"Medium"; or, select this option when you install the game.
3. Also using the Hardware Setup program, select a 32-bit screen
resolution for your D3D card, if any are available. You can tell a
32-
bit screen resolution because it'll say, for example, "800 x 600 x
32"
instead of "800 x 600 x 16".
4. Run the game, and use your in-game Journal to change your game
Options
for maximum speed.
5. If your performance is still extremely slow, try installing
different
drivers for your video card.
2.5.2. Q: I have CL TNT card and I see transparent textures that shouldn't
be
transparent.
A: Go to the Creative Labs -Blaster TNT website. Get the new Bios
Software update, and the latest TNT Drivers.
2.5.3. Q: When will there be a D3d patch?
A: Check out the Patch Section at the beginning of this Document
2.5.4. Q: I get an invalid pixel format with my TNT card
A: Use the 2.08 drivers. A user reported that this is not an option
for
GeForce users. Also this does NOT solve the problem if you still
have
DX7. Maybe the 2.08 drivers work with DX6.X. Check the
Installation
Section for tips to remove DX7. Origin is working on this issue.
A: The following possible solution was posted by a user on the Q&A
Board:
Problem: Unknown Pixel Format or Ultima 9 Wont run. Note: If your
computer
illiterate, doing the following can "wreck" things. If you know
what your
doing, its easy.
Step 1: Uninstall DirextX and all your video card drivers in the
Control Panel
under Add/Remove Software.
Step 2: Go into your c:/windows/system/ directory and scroll down
to the
files starting with NV. Delete all the NV... files that
you find,
will be about 8 in all. This is the most important steps.
These
files are why it wont run.
Step 3: Restart your system and then install DirextX7.0 from the
U9 CD.
Just go into the DirectX7 folder of your U9 Install CD and
click on
/directx7/DXsetup.exe file. Now reinstall DirextX7.0. and
then reboot.
Step 4: Download the 2.08 Detonator drivers for your TNT1/2 card
and reinstall
them on your system. Cant find 2.08 files? Type this into
your Browser
URL area: These
are the
Hercules Dynamite TNT drivers but will work with any TNT
card.
I believe they will work with a TNT2 as well but I have
not tried them
on my other system with a Xentor TNT2 so Im not sure.
Step 5: Go into Properties on your Desktop and reset all your
previous settings for
your display adapter. If you do all these steps correctly,
U9 should work.
2.5.5. Q: Hello, I have a problem with Ultima IX. I have a STB Velocity
4400 16 MB card. No matter what settings I use, there are no
walls,
floors, ect. Everything just breaks up, I can't see where I'm
going in
the game. The opening cinematic ran fine. What should I do? Any
help
will be greatly appreciated.
A: Sounds like a driver, perhaps Direct X issue. Anyone experiencing
the
same?
2.5.6. Q: Where to find current drivers for my D3dcard.
A: Check the hardware links in section 8
2.5.7. TNT: Try playing around with your AGP Apertures Size setting in BIOS.
Some
users reported much less swapping for their TNT systems after
setting
it to a very large (256) value setting. Can any hardware
guru have a look at this. Its possibly connected with your ram.
2.5.8. Q: My D3d Card does not run with 8 bit textures.
A: --> 2.6.1
2.5.9. Q: Setup detect a wrong video card.
A: Make sure that you have a video Card listed as compatible with the
game.
Some users reported that setup detected a board, which they had
previously in their
system but had removed thereafter, instead of their actual video
board.
Somehow the deinstallation of the previous card was not clean.
Ensure in the
system manager that there is no trace left of your old video card.
Reinstalling
windows is also an option if you don't get rid of the thing.
2.5.10 SPEED:If you are using a Diamond Viper 550 with diamond drivers, try
this for more performance
Go to Display Properties|Settings|Advanced|Diamond and
disable "Software Anti-aliasing".
This results in a slight quality loss, due to aliasing, and a
slight performance increase,
due to lower polygon render time. It will, obviously, not
dramatically affect hard drive
banging.
2.5.11. SPEED: If using TNT2 (1?) and 2.08 drivers:
in the 2.08 detonator driver d3d properties, set the mip type to
8-tap anistrophic, and best quality.
Don't ask me why. I don't know. I also set the hardware
anti-aliasing to the max. And for these,
u9 suddenly running the speed in should, for me, in my machine.
Click on Riva TNT 2 Click on Additional Properties Click on Direct
3D Settings Click on Auto-mipmap
method
2.6 Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
-------------------------------
2.6.1 Q: Some textures in the game seem unfiltered. Also: My D3d Card does
not run
8 bit textures
A: (CapnBill) You're right! The "bilinear filtering" effect that
smooths
textures out as you get closer to them had to be turned off for
textures
that had "holes" in them, for non-8-bit draw modes. I'll attempt
to explain:
Our art database was mainly developed and established in the
days before D3D
was accepted; we primarily had Glide to work from, and our
effects & art
were based on that (ie 3 years ago). All our art which had
"holes"
(ie windows, and irregular shapes like tree leaves) used a
technique called
"chromakey" to set certain pixels to transparent.
Over the next year and a half, a large staff of artists cranks
out huge volumes
of art; and D3D advances to the point where we can start adding
support for it.
Ah, now it's time to add D3D support. Lo & behold, D3D doesn't
support chromakey.
Also, most D3D drivers don't support 8-bit. So, we ended up
requiring D3D to
run in 16-bit, and for 16-bit textures to not use chromakey any
more; we converted
them to use an alpha bit to set those pixels to transparent.
Enter bilinear filtering: Bilinear filtering, which smooths the
colors in textures,
also would smooth the alpha for the shut-off pixels, causing
horrible artifacts along
the edges of tree leaves & windows. To circumvent this, we
enabled an "alpha threshold"
check, that would set a pixel to transparent only if its alpha
were below a certain
value; this got rid of the edge artifacts, but the alpha
threshold ruined our "fuzzy
clipping plane" effect for any textures that used the alpha
threshold, where vertex
alpha was used to blur the edge of the ever-offensive clipping
plane. The fuzzy clipping
plane required a full range of alpha to look right; the edge
artifacts required that we
eliminate the full range of alpha. The result was that all trees
ended up looking horrible
when they were at the edge of the clipping plane. So, we ended up
shutting off bilinear
filtering for 16-bit modes for textures that require transparent
pixels. Grrr.
This is just one aspect of our D3D development that ended up
killing our schedule...there
were lots of others, believe me.
2.6.2 Q: When running on higher resolutions the interface (toolbelt, etc)
seems very pixelated.
A: Thats by design, nothing you can do about.
2.7 CD-ROM Problems
-------------------------------
NOTE: As U9 makes use of the SafeDisk copyprotection scheme you may
encounter some problems.
SystemShock and C&C:TS used this kind of protection too and users
complaint about several problems related to this. SafeDisk uses an
encrypted EXE on the
CD and a seperate EXE is used each time you call the original exe to
decrypt its contents
into RAM (or something the like). These problems are the price we
all pay for piracy. On
the other hand I like to add that using SafeDisk is kind of pathetic
since it has been broken
long ago (perhaps EA payed a lot of money for this).
2.7.1 Q: UA does not like to run from my 2nd CDROM/CD-Burner.
A: Most likely it is the SafeDisk Protection. Try running it from
your FIRST CD-ROM.
Also you might like to try removing or disabling your second
cdrom.
2.7.2. Q: After starting U9.exe nothing happens for 20 seconds. Then the
game starts
A: Possibly SafeDisk related. Nothing you can do.
2.7.3. Q: Setup does not recognize my CD-ROM correctly. It tells me that I
have a 5x CD-ROM
but I sure have NO 5x CD-ROM
A: Some people experienced this (and a crash to desktop on
system-start thereafter).
Probably driver issue. Try removing WinDVD or PowerDVD from your
system if installed.
After that the game should work fine.
you have no DVD-Software on the system or the above trick does not
give you any
results, try this one.
Go to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Windows
Media Player
Click View (at the top)/ Click Options /Click Format (Top Right)
/Uncheck all the boxes
(This incapacitates Media Player, you can re-enable those later) /
Click Apply Click Ok Run U9 Enjoy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
3. MOVIE ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
3.1. SUGGESTION: If your movies are not playing (i.e. Intro, cut-scenes) try
removing your DVD software. Also try installing the movies on your hard
drive and changing the "MoviePath" setting in options.ini to point to
the
directory on the hard drive instead of the cd/dvd drive?
3.2. SUGGESTION: if your movies aren't playing and you didn't put them on
your
HD then try changing CDs. The movies are on the second CD and they
wont
play (or give an error!) if you have disk 1 still in there.
3.3. Q: I get sound but a black screen when the movies play
A: Make sure you installed Quicktime during the install process
3.4. A: An other user reported this: Apparently, U9 doesn't like dual
CD-ROMs.
I installed it off the E drive, and the game runs fine off it, but it
still
put the D drive as my path for the movie files - hence, no movies.
Simply hacking the .ini to the right path fixed it no problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
4. SOUND ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
Note: It has been confirmed by the DevTeam, that your sound performance may
be
somewhat linked to the overall performance of the game. If you get sloppy
framerates
you will most likely get choppy sound
4.1. Q: The sound stutters
4.1.1. A: Try turning down the acceleration on the sound and possibly
lowering
the amount of Voices in the options.ini
4.1.2. A: If you are experiencing audio stuttering, try upping your Stream
Duration to 3000 under your options.ini
4.1.3. A: Triple check under your options.ini that your Speaker
Configuration is
not 5= Surround. For some reason this slows down the game. Set it
to
stereo. Or if using headphones to the appropriate config.
4.1.4. A: Try turning off EAX support (Suggested by CapnBill, Lead
Developer)
4.1.5. A: Reduce the CD-Rom supplemental cache-size:
1)Alt+2click "my computer"
2)click "performance" tab (top right) then click "Filesystem"
3)Click the CD-ROM tab, then click in the "Optimize access
pattern for:" box, choose QUAD-SPEED OR HIGHER.
4)Move the "Supplemental cache size:" slider to "small" then click
apply.
4.2. Q: I am getting an annoying pause before the music starts up, anyway
to
get rid of this?
4.2.1.A: This problem is caused by the Audio Cache, CD spinning-up and
loading
the music off your HD. Try doing a full install or turn off music
altogether.
4.3. Soundblaster-Live: After trying EVERYTHING, and editing every possible
line in the options.ini file, I finally found the one. I did two
things,
although it is the second that fixed the problem (the first doesn't
hurt,
and is a good idea, anyway):
Both are under the {sound} section:
1) Change the UseNotify from UseNotify=0 to UseNotify=1
2) The second is the most ironic. It involves chnages the "rolloff"
value for the 2D and 3D sounds (yeah, the one that the comment
line
says is NOT a good idea to touch to tweak the sound
performance...).
Anyway, the default is Rolloff=1.0. Instead, change the value to
read
"Rolloff=0.0". And then voila! Sounds and EAX galore!
4.4. With EAX, one user reported that with OSR2 he could not get the SFX
to
unless he set the the USENOTIFY and ROLLOFF setting in options.ini.
Additionally the SFX worked fine every time when the game was loaded
in
His regular 98 boot. So he installed a bare-bones 98 and installed
the
Drivers and SFX worked fine again with both DX6 and DX7.
4.5. Q: Does this Rule Britannia Soundtrack play forever?
A: Its a bug, confirmed by OSI and possibly taken care of in the
patch.
--> 7.3.8
4.6. SoundBlaster-Life owners:
You can free up system RAM by going to AudioHQ|SoundFont|Configure
Bank,
selecting any SoundFonts in the Synth bank, and selecting clear. If
you
are using one of the included SoundFonts, this will free up anywhere
from
2 to 8 megs of system RAM. Of course, it will also make your MIDI
sound
terrible... remember to set the SoundFonts back where they were before
playing
MIDI games again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
5. Options.ini / Keymap file
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
If you have any information on this file you think important or interesting,
please mail them
This is a example system posted by CapnBill on the official Boards:
specs: PII 400
128 MB RAM
Windows 2000 Professional, build 2114
Voodoo 2 with WinNT 4 Glide 2.x
Awe64 sound card
SCSI hard drives
OPTIONS settings that matter:
Clipping planes: 2000 middle, 4000 far
Lighting SkipFrames: 4
TreeShadows: 1
WaterShading: 1
ASoundCount: 5
NASoundCount: 3
8-Bit textures
800x600 resolution
Frame Rate in Britain: 12-15
On earth: 25
This options.ini was posted by Kelendral on the official boards. I've added
some comments from CapnBill.
Origin will soon post a guide on how to edit this file for performance
tuning.
;************************************************************************
;
; Ultima IX - Option settings file
;
; This file should be modified only by experinced users
; Incorrect entries can cause game errors and failures
; Please be careful when adjusting these settings!
;
; Please use semi-colons to mark
; comment lines as is done with these lines
;
;*************************************************************************
[Interface]
; Current keymap
Current_Keymap=default.kmp
; Spells are cast as soon as key is hit
QuickSpellTargeting=1
[Performance]
; Camera focal length
CameraZoom=600
; Camera distance from Avatar
CameraDistance=400
;______________________________________________
; Recommended Performance Settings:
; CPU Speed MiddleClip FarClip WarnPolyLimit
; P200/233: 2500 2500 2000
; P266: 2500 3500 2500
; P330/333: 2750 4000 3000
; P400+: 3000 5000 3500
;______________________________________________
; Clipping planes
FarClippingPlaneDistance=5500
MiddleClippingPlaneDistance=3300
; Default clipping plane setting for underground maps
DungeonClippingPlaneDistance=2200
; Screen radius of objects culled, and distance culling
;starts
MaxObjCullSize=10
CullStartDist=1000
; Enables 16-bit texture maps
Use16BitTextures=1
; Use S3 Savage4 Texture Compression or not
UseCompressedTextures=0
; The range through which windows can be seen through
MaximumPortalRange=770
; Are particle-system flames allowed?
PoofFlames=1
; Poof optimization level:
; 0=no optimization
; 1=non-critical particles calculated but not transformed
; 2=non-critical particles are neither calculated nor
;transformed
; 3=non-critical particles cease incepting children
PoofOptimize=0
; High Resolution Sky Textures
HiResSky=1
; Default is 0
; Unknown - Assuming max processor percentage
; MaxProcessPercent=?; CapnBill;We have a debug screen (not in the final
; game) that shows %CPU usage of various Processes in the our
; engine--this value affects that debug screen
[Sound]
; Sound Device configured for Use
; Default is the Primary DirectSound Device Found
DeviceName=DirectSound (SB Live! Wave Out [B400])
; Turn Sound On/Off
SoundEnabled=1
; SpeakerConfig has the following values:
; 1 - Headphones
; 2 - Mono
; 3 - Quad
; 4 - Stereo
; 5 - Surround
;
; Note from windforce: Mode 5 is known to eat up performance.
SpeakerConfig=4
; SpeakerGeometry specifies the angle
; between speakers if you choose Stereo
SpeakerGeometry=20
; The number of simultaneous non-associated (2D, or "faked" 3D) sounds
; allowed at one time
NASoundCount=4
; The number of simultaneous associated (3D) sounds allowed at one time
ASoundCount=9
; Enables virtual 3D sound effexts
Enable3D=1
; The fall off rate with distance of non-associated sounds
; (this is the number of world units at which the sound will
; be muted - linearly falls off from 0 to this number)
Falloff2D=2200
; The amount to quiet the Avatar's own sounds so they aren't too loud
; (in %. 0=full volume, 100 = mute)
AvatarOffset=8
; The # of milliseconds to load from CD per frame
StreamDuration=5000
; Turn on and off EAX environmenta audio extensions (Echo's etc)
; Note from windforce: Try to disable if you experience random crashes
EnableAcoustics=1
; Master volume, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
MasterVolume=100
; Volume of music, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
MusicVolume=60
; Volume of speech, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
SpeechVolume=85
; How many frames must pass before updating 3D values (position,
; orientation, velocity, etc.)
SkipFrames=0
; Use the DirectSound "notification interface" to let the sound
; system know when to update (rather than polling the play position).
; Default is '0' (This will theoretically be fixed/work better
; in DirectX 8)
UseNotify=1
; For debugging, use a streamer that reads the *entire*
; sample at once.
DebugStreamers=0
; To get around a bug in Win98 Gold (our famous "crackle" problem),
; offset the "bad" frequency by this amount. It also doubles as
; the "range around the bad frequency" that we wish to monitor.
; (Ie, using 50 here would make any frequency from 22000kHz to
; 22050kHz be 22000kHz, and any frequency from 22050kHz to
; 22100kHz be 22100kHz.)
CrackleOffset=1
; This value overrides the "minimum perceptible attenuation" distance
; for 3D sounds. At distances less than this number (meters), the
; sounds will get no louder. (Increasing this number in effect makes
; all 3D sounds appear louder at the same distance from you.) The
; dialog that adjusts this value for individual templates ranges from
; 1.0 to 25.0, so I'd recommended playing in the 1.0 to 5.0 area.
; Default 1.0MinDist=1.0
; This value specifies how "fast" 3D sounds "roll off" to silence.
; The default (recommended) is 1.0. Less than that means roll off
; "slower", greater means "faster". Don't go less than 0.0, and
; I'd advise not to go greater than 1.0, as our balance issue is
; already apparent enough (greater than 1.0 will amplify the issue).
; However, the *A/V guys* (read as "not designers, programmers, or
; anybody else") should tweak this value in attempt to better
; balance 2D and 3D audio.
; Default 1.0
Rolloff=0.9
[Conversation]
EnableAudio=1
; Start of game settings
EnableText=0
; 0=Audio off, 1 = On
EnableConvoReplies=1
; 0=Avatar doesn't echo chosen responses, 1 = does
[Lighting]
; Allows flickering lightsources
Flicker=1
; Max distance flickering lights effect
FlickerRange=500
; Max # of lights used at any time (sorted by distance from camera)
MaxCount=100
; How many frames between each lighting system update
SkipFrames=0
AvatarSkipFrames=0
; How far a light moves before it relights its area
MoveDelta=5
; 3=Highest, 2 = Regular, 1 = Low, 0 = Poor
LightQuality=3
; Allows water depth to affect lighting
WaterShading=1
; Allows trees to cast shadows
TreeShadows=1
[Demo]
; testingMoongates=1
; CapnBill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
[Game]
; 0=Run, 1 = Walk
DefaultToWalking=1
; 2400 clock
StartTimeOfDay=600
; Lag before tool tips shows up
TooltipDelayTime=0
; Durration of tool tip
TooltipDisplayTime=999999999
; 2=D3D, 3 = Glide
Game Rasterizer=2
PromptForDevice=0
GameScreenWidth=1280
GameScreenHeight=1024
GameScreenDepth=32
GameMipMapLevel=1
DDGUID=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
D3DGUID=2229681632,18090,4559,129,111,0,0,192,32,21,110
; Game starts with 2=None, 1 = Minimum, 0 = Full
Show GUI=0
; Where to find the Flics
MoviePath=c:\gamez\ultima ix\Movies
; Are LOD levels set by distance from the Avatar, or camera?
LODsFromAvatar=0
; Is Z ignored for LODs?
IgnoreZforLODs=1
;??
AttackHoldDuration=5000
Start=0
SaveStatePath=0
; Language
Language=En
; Speed Factor
SpeedFactor=5
; Set to disable Windows Key, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc
DisableWinKey=0
; Set to 1 to force alpha textures to draw as 4444 (for 3dfx in D3D)
Force4444Alpha=0
[System]
; 1=allow exception handling (traps errors), 0 = just crash
TrapErrors=0
; 1=After trapping an exception, show the crash; 0 = just say "game
over"
ShowErrors=0
; AutomaticMonoScreen=???
; CapnBill: useful only if you have an MDA (Mono Display Adapter).
; Shows a frame-rate counter if set to 1.
; MoveSysMonoType=???
; Capn Bill: Another debug screen option
; drawCollisionCylinders=???
; CapnBill: if enabled, will draw the "collision
; cylinder" for every creature in the world. We use it for
; debugging. Slows the game way, way down.
; WarnSpeedLimit=???
; Capn Bill: if on, stop signs appear on the screen in
; areas that are too slow. We used this for tuning the speed
; of various areas of the game.
; WarnPolyLimit=???
; CapnBill: WarnPolyLimit: stop sign for too many polys
; WarnMeshNumLimit=???
; CapnBill: WarnMeshNumLimit: stop sign for too many meshes
; WarnMeshRAMLimit=???
; CapnBill: stop sign for too much RAM used by meshes
; TerrainGridColor=???
; CapnBill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
; TerrainLODTextures=???
; CapnBill: enables custom textures for far-away
; terrain. Should be 1.
; TintProblemChunkCrossingItems=???
; Capn Bill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
[Video]
GammaRed=1.0
GammaGreen=1.0
GammaBlue=1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
6.1. Q: My armor/weapon bar suddenly disappeared
A: Try picking something up
6.2. Q: I can not scroll left or right and up or down while in hand mode.
A: Depending on where the Avatar is standing the scroll feature will
not be made available at times. Approach the object from a different
angle then enter hand mode again.
6.3. Q: I am in the water next to a wall when I get stuck inside the wall
after casting a spell.
A: You will be able to free yourself from the wall by pressing the
Escape key.
6.4. Q: Where is the in game options menu?
A: At first, there are no options due to the fact that the options for
The game are located in the Journal that is located in the
downstairs
Living room. Once this Journal is acquired the -in game options-
will
Become available by clicking on the Journal now located in the
bottom
right next to your tool belt.
6.5. Q: How can I skip past repeated audio of NPCs?
A: Hit ENTER or click on the subtitle text.
6.6. Q: How to enable/disable the windows keys (alt-tab, etc)
A: Hack Options.ini as follows (Section [Game])
DisableWinKey=0
6.7. Q: Can I get item descriptions
A: There sure is. First, go into object/hand mode (press the '~' key).
Then, move the cursor over the item/icon you wish to examine, and
hold
down the 'X' key. If the designers gave the item a description, it
should show up (from CapnBill)
6.8. Q: My character has lost the ability to move.
A: Possibly an issue with collission detection. Try Saving and
reloading (
but I would use a new savegame-slot...). Also try pressing ESC
6.9. backpack bug: This is a known bug that is fixed in the patch, which
should be available shortly. Somehow multiple items are incorrectly
sharing the same inventory slot, and this causes a crash when the
backpack is full. The patch rectifies this removing these "stacked"
items
and attempting to place them elsewhere in your inventory (belt, bag,
etc.), or on the ground if no suitable place occurs.
Until the patch is available, you could try loading your most
current
non-crashing savegame and double-checking all your inventory slots.
If
you find items that are overlapping, remove both/all of them and put
them
in the world. Then close all your invetory gumps (backpack, bags,
etc.)
and save. Then attempt to re-place the items back into your
inventory and
save again. This might/should solve the crash.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
7. GENERAL GAMEPLAY ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
*Warning this area contains VERY MINOR SPOILERS
7.1. Plot related issues
----------------------------
7.1.1. Q: I'm stuck somewhere in the game and...
A: If really desperate, try Jeff Allens Walkthrough at
http://www.mindspring.com/~allenhouse1/ultima9
or maybe you want to consider using one of the cheats (Argh)
-> Section 10
Read from end to beginning to translate (No, its not german :-))
Plot related bugs:
////////////////////// reversed to hide spoiler
/////////////////////////////
7.1.2 Q: kcorkcalb fo seceip eerht ym ezingocer tnow cisnirT
ni htimskcalb ehT. (Trinsic)
A: Bug confirmed by Capn Bill and adressed in the next patch
7.1.3 Q: dellacer eb tonnac dna esuoh a otno tuo bmuj ro ffo llaf uoy fi
kcuts
steg taob gniylf eht(Moonglow)
A: Reported, You can try the Fly cheat. -> Section 10
7.1.4 Q: deerf eb tonnac ociN dna dellik eb tonnac eh snaem sihT .sraeppasid
evoC fo nezitic tsrif ehT (Cove)
A: Reported, no answer yet
7.1.5.Q: nam netaeb eht ot klat ot gniyrt nehw potksed eht ot sehsarc emag
eht
noitcua lrigevals eht ta nam eht gnitaeb etarip eht gnillik retfA
(Bucs Den), reproduced 5 times in a row by DarkSharp)
A: Nothing yet.
///////////////////////////END POSSIBLE
SPOILER////////////////////////////////
7.1.6 A: telescope bug in Britannia: This bug is caused in LB's castle, up
on
the. "patio"? where the telescope is. If you happen to use the
telescope at night to look at the moons, you will introduce the
Hail
Britannia bug. The only current way to avoid this bug is to back up
to
a previous savegame (before the telescope) and either NOT use the
telescope, or only use the telescope during the day. This will be
fixed
in the (second?) patch. The bug itself is fixed, and there will be
a
new keyboard command you can use to "fix" Hail Britannia if you
saved
after the bug occurred, but before you installed the patch.
7.1.7. BUG: Known as "Alphawolf Bug"
Upon entering New Magincia, and meeting it's only inhabitant, the
Avatar
will be given a quest with two tasks. Apparantly, if one completes
only one
of the tasks, leaves for another quest, then comes back to complete
the
other task, a major plot item will be unattainable due to a bug.
The moral
of the story - finish both of the tasks of the only person on New
Magincia
first thing unpon entering the island, then return to the
quest-giver for
the quest item, no matter what, then continue on to other things.
7.1.8 BUG: "Elevator Bug" (Hyloth)
Some people seem to have problems with some elevator in Hyloth.
Righteous DragonThe posted on the official boards that saving and
reloading
thereafter may fix this problem.
7.1.9. BUG: "Gate Bug" in (Hyloth)
I am unable to continue playing. I am currently in Hythloth, and
//// reversed to hide spoiler ///
sehsarc emag eht etag tsal eht guorht klaw ot yrt I sa ,revewoH
.setag ruof
lla desiar evah.
////end reversed part///
A: This bug was experienced by several users. No fix available
7.1.10. BUG: "Dialog Bug" (Hyloth)
//// reversed to hide spoiler ///
...yek eht gnitteg dna nevaR eucser retfA
////end reversed part///
... I loose my mouse functions in the dialog thus and cannot answer
the questions
A: Try the keyboard (Key 1 for the first answer, 2 for the
second,...) and save thereafter.
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks
----------------------------
7.2.1. Q: I crash every time I open a book or my Journal
A: Save game may be corrupted. Go back to an earlier saved game.
7.2.2. Q: When I try to use the "game" cd to play the game, the game would
crash at certain places in the game. (such as when I enter the
moongate, 1st meet Raven. . .etc) However, thegame plays fine
with the install disk.
A: No answer yet.
7.2.3. Q: If I play the game for (X) hours straight, the game gets slower
and
slower.
A: Apparently this is a memory leak due to Win 95/98 and Win2k
Recommend rebooting your Ultima and if that does not work, reboot
your PC.
7.2.4. Q: When I enter the Moongate with my sword drawn the game crashes
A: DO NOT enter the Moongate with your weapon drawn
7.2.5. Q: Sometimes when I try to drag an item the game will crash
A: CapnBill reported some bugs regarding this issue are fixed with
the
patch
7.2.6. Q: When I start the game it immediately crashes to the desktop
A: If you're crashing when you're first trying to run the game, the
culprit may
be the movie that's trying to play. Make sure Media Player runs on
your system
and can play MPG movies. We haven't experienced that here, but
enough of you
have having this problem for me to seriously suspect something
about DirectX.
We use the DirectMedia component of DirectX to play our movies,
which are just
MPGs. You can turn off movies if you want, by setting MoviePath in
your
OPTIONS.INI file to NONE, or to a path that doesn't exist.
Also check Section 2.7 CDROM issues
7.2.7. Q: The game crashes quite often on my system.
A: Hints on crash-prone-ness: try updating sound drivers. Try
updating video
drivers (except the TNT).
7.2.8 Q: After starting the game the last thing I see is the spinning 3dfx
logo. It then
crashed to desktop. Non-3dfx Users may experience a immediate
crash to desktop
A: Probably related to -->2.7.3, ---> 2.5.9. Remember also that on
the first start the
game tries to play a video. So be sure to check out the movie
issues also
7.3. Gameplay issues (Bugs)
----------------------------
7.3.1. Q: Do the NPC have schedules as promised?
A: Apparently most of the NPCs DO NOT have schedules or have very
limited schedules contrary to what was promised by Richard
Garriot
and OSI.
7.3.2. Q: I didn't see the movie that came with the demo after I enter the
Moongate, instead it jumped straight to stonegate.
A: See the MOVIE ISSUES section
7.3.3. Q: I am inside Lord British's Castle and when I double click on the
bag
located on the bed that Lord British has prepared for me I lose
my
keyboard functions.
A: Pick the bag up first and place it in either your tool belt or
your
backpack then double click on it to place or view contents of the
bag.
7.3.4 Q: Why does it rain inside LB's Castle?
A: Unknown at this time. Sloppy collision detecting is this authors
guess.
7.3.5 Q: Why does the AI not work most of the time?
A: Unknown at this time. Probably OSI ran out of time. Supposed to
be
fixed in the upcoming patch
7.3.6. Q: Those spectres keep killing me, they're invulnerable
A: No, they're not. Try magic.
7.3.7. BUG: Items vanish when inventory full
Fill your inventory to the max, and make sure you have a single
handed weapon
and a shield. Now pick up a double handed weapon and equip it as
your weapon.
poof - your first sword and shield disappear.
7.3.8. castle music bug: We have a bug in our save/load that causes this
problem.
I can't recall currently if we've fixed it in the patch; if not,
we'll
look into fixing it (if we can reproduce it). We had this problem
before
we shipped, and thought we'd fixed it....grr.
You can go to an earlier savegame that doesn't play this music; or
you can
travel the world until another piece of music replaces this one
(this can
be hard to do). (Capn Bill)
7.3.9. Q: When swimming the Avatar is fairly hard to navigate.
A: CapnBill: Why is swimming so hard? I guess we all just got used to
it, but many of you have having trouble with it. The Avatar's
collision
cylinder stays set to his full body height (vertically) even
while you
swim; so, his invisible cylinder is taller than his body looks
like,
so he doesn't seem able to fit through things like he should.
I can work on a fix for this, but all the fixes I can think of
involve
dynamically changing his collision cylinder size, which is very
dangerous!
Hmm...
Update: Today, I found & fixed a bug related to swimming, that was
making it
difficult to negotiate the Avatar around. With the fix, swimming
is much better!
7.3.10. Q: The Avatar seems to be impervious to falling damage.
A: From CapnBill: Here's an interesting note (just to clear up any
misunderstanding):
The fall rate of NPCs, creatures, and the Avatar in our world is
exactly and
precisely 9.81 m/s^2, which is of course the gravitational
constant for our
planet earth. As for the Avatar not being damaged enough, well,
mostly that's by
design--Richard & Seth, in the spirit of not wanting this to be
an action game,
didn't want falling to be a major risk component to the game
dynamic. But,
we'll re-evaluate the amount of damage it does.... 'nuff said.
7.3.11. Q: Some NPCs seem to hover above the ground.
A: CapnBill: Why do NPCs or creatures hang in mid-air? I've seen
this, and
it's an artifact of the way our creatures do collision. Creatures
have an
invisible "cylinder" that follows them around; this is their
"collision shape".
The cylinder for many creatures is larger than their body shape.
If the creatures
walks to the edge of a ledge, his body will hang off the edge;
sometimes, this is
so extreme that it looks like he's floating in mid-air. We always
wanted to fix
this, but this is one we'll just have to live with....
7.3.12. Q: When killing a monster the contents don't drop on the ground?
A: Capn Bill: Why do some objects hang in mid-air? Because having
every object in the
world fall continually is just way too expensive. Objects try to
fall initially;
if something blocks them, they "give up". Result: some objects
end up stuck in the
air. Bummer.
7.3.13.BUG:Unlimmited Ammo
Endless arrows: you need to know the triple-bow shot for this
one. Fire all your
arrows except your last one using single shots. on your last
arrrow, use the triple shot.
and yup, 3 arrows come out, your backpack says you have 1 arrow
left, and from that point on,
you can keep firing arrows.
7.4. Savegame issues
----------------------------
Note: U9 tends to corrupt its savegames sometimes. To protect your savegames
from being corrupted make sure you copy your savegames to a different folder
i.e. after you leave the game
7.4.1 Q: When I open U9 it starts to load the most recent save, like it
should.
It loads the music successfully and then as soon as I get an
image,
The program closes. I tried moving the most recent savegame file
out
of the directory, but then it loads the beginning of the game
instead
of the next most recent save! What can I do!?
A: When it starts a new game, run downstairs and pick up your journal
and
then try to load a game. It will probably show you a list of games
you
can load then choose one other than the one that keeps crashing on
you.
7.5. Misc.
--------------------------
Q:: Whats this file collis.log
A: Debug infos forgotten to take out. Taken care of in the patch.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
8. ADDITONAL HELP
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
8.1 Official Support Sources
----------------------------
Electronic Arts Official Support:
http://www.ea.com/tech_support/index.html
By Fax 650-628-5999 Our fax machine receives faxes 24 hours a day. Faxes are
answered only during working hours (M-F, 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m., PST) and are
answered in the order they are received.
Ultima Ascension Official Boards
http://boards.owo.com/
The QA Board is most likely the best place to ask about technical related
questions.
Ultima Ascension Official Webpage
http://www.ultima9.com
http://www.ultima-ascension.com
Watch here for official informations and performance tips
8.2 Unofficial Support Sources
---------------------------------
Ultima Horizons
http://www.allgaming.com/ultimaix
Ultima Horizons discussion board:
http://server5.ezboard.com/fultimahorizonsmain.html
http://216.151.221.145/cgi-bin/index.pl
Ultima Dragons Newsgroup
rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons
Ultima Series Newsgroup
rec.games.computer.ultima.series
This is not an official support source, but anyway. LBs (public)
available email-adress is: lordbritish@origin.ea.com
8.3 Hardware and Driver Support
---------------------------------
8.3.1 Popular Chipset manufactures:
nvidia: http://www.nvidia.com
Reference Drivers for Riva128, TNT, TNT2, M64, GeForce
3dfx: http://www.3dfx.com
Reference Driver for Voodoo1,2,3+, Banshee
8.3.2 Vendors:
Diamond Multimedia: http://www.diamondmm.com
Graphic Boards (Viper, etc) and Sound Boards
Creative Labs: http://www.creative.com
Graphic Boards and Sound Blaster Cards
8.3.3 Tunning and Support Sources
RivaZone: http://www.rivazone.com
Source for Riva Chipset related news, tools, etc
3dfx.org : http://www.3dfx.org
Glide engine newspage
8.3.4.Other Sources
Microsoft DirectX Page: http://www.microsoft.com/directx
Latest DirectX runtime and developer information and download
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
9. CREDITS (in non specific order)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
AvatarQ3
Frank Thoennes
KnightBK
Binaryz
Brock
Jason "loonyboi" Bergman
Jeff Allen
RighteousDragon
Lucas, Perry P
Tom Grandgent
CoconutDaemon
Kelendral
Ryan Fenton
Stupid1
Arcardio
sdiver
TonySawyer
And:
The U9 Development Team, especially CapnBill and Amy "Cynthe" Sage
and all other people who submitted to this faq and were forgotten here.
Mail (mailto:windforce@gulbsoft.de) if you think you should be included
here.
***************************************************************************
.
.
.
.
. /\
. / \
. / !! \ S P O I L E R A R E A
. /______\
.
.
.
.
.
. -------------- END OF TECHNICAL FAQ. SPOILERS DOWN
ERE --------------
.
. WARNING: If you intend to play the game without hints then don't scroll
any further
. The following section contains spoilers like easter eggs, links
to historical
. Ultima information, cheats and places to visit. You have been
warned
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
10. EASTER EGGS, Cheats and historical Ultima Section SPOILERS !!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
NOTE: Sensitive spoiler information is ** written from right to left. **
10.1. Cheats
-------------------
10.1.1.Q: Are there any cheatcodes
A: I (windforce) still don't have the game but found some cheats in
the demo exe
Invulnerability: elbarenluvni_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy
ni
yek a ot gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
Flying: ylf_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy ni yek a
ot
gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
Haste (?): tsaf_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy ni yek a
ot
gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
There are some more commands like this one but I don't know what
they are doing:
smrots_elggot, dniw_elggot, nus_elggot, tesnus_esirnus,
etunim_eno_ssap, ruoh_eno_ssap,
etunim_eno_ssapnu, ruoh_eno_ssapnu
10.1.2. These are EXPLOITS which will *ruin* your game experience and create
a super-avatar.
(posted by Ryan Fenton)
1. Reducing the need for reagents
emag eht ni slleps lla dnib ot tnegaer hcae fo eno ylno deen lliw
uoy suhT .
yrotnevni ruoy otni tsnegaer eht dna llorcs eht keat nac uoy
lleps eht fo sdrow
eht retne ot pu semoc yrtne txet eht nehw ,slleps gnidnib nehW
2. Turning "invisible" for monsters.
...nur nac uoy os uoy erongi lliw esrutaerc yrotnevni eht nepo
uoy nehW
3. Getting unlimited mana.
semit detimilnu enod eb nac sihT .cigam ni esiar ll'uoy esufer
uoy fI
.thgif a uoy reffo ,dekovorp fi,lliw ohw namrehsif a si ereht
enirhs eht
gnisnaelc erofeb ,cisnirT nI
10.2. Easter Eggs
------------------
10.2.1 Avatars House (On earth): hctaw dna semit lareves rotagirfer eht nepO
Maybe this will cool down some of the people ranting about low fps?
10.2.2 Q: Can I kill Lord British (IN THE GAME) (...for releasing the game
too early;-/)
A: Yes, here's how:
yrgnuh teg ot mih rof tiaw tsuj nehT ...etalp eht no daerb rennid
sBL
ecalper dna (rood terces) niatirB eltsac ni nehctik eht retne
,ereht ecnO.
(etagnoom eht evivrus lliw ti) ainnatirB ot ti ekaT .(rotagirfer
eht ni)
noitop nosiop eht htiw ti nosiop dna erkamdaerb eht ni ruolf fo
gab a
gnippord yb gnisu daerb a etaerc htraE nO
10.2.3 Q: Richard Garriot mentioned someday that he would be in the game in
a way no one
would expect. Is he?
A: Sure he is: ...yromra eht ni retropelet eht ghuorht nosirp niatirB
eltsac eht retnE
10.3. Things from older Ultimas
------------------
10.3.1 Q: Anyone seen Smith the Horse ?
A: swap raen tsopngis a no gnignah si ssacrac sih dna daed si htimS
10.3.2 Q: Is Sherry the mouse in the game?
A: Don't know yet.
10.4. Interesting Places
------------------
10.5. Interesting Things to do
------------------
10.5.1. Gypsy wagon (On earth): Read the book in the back of the wagon.
10.5.2. Moonglow, (Joshua's house): Read the book on the floor.
10.5.3. (?? Where is it ???): Have a silent prayer at Lord Brinnes grave.
10.6. General Knowledge
---------------------------------
10.6.1. HOWTO create a potion:
A: To Create a Potion, place the reagent and an empty flask on a
table
with an alchemy lab, then click the lab and POOF! Potion ready.
10.6.2. HOWTO Character Classes.
To achive a certain character class, just select the corresponding
virtue
whenever possible in the gypsys questions.
Starting Equipment Note:
All character classes have a Fireball scroll, a Light scroll, 1
White potion and
a bag containing 1 orange and 2 yellow potions in the Stonegate
chest)
Compassion-Bard-Weak,Proficient,Dim-30HP,15 mana target bow, arrows,
map of Paws
Honesty-Mage-Weak,Clumsy,Brilliant-30HP,35 mana Arms of the Magi,
map of Moonglow
Valor-Fighter-Powerful,Clumsy,Dim-90HP,15 mana Scimitar, map of
Valoria
Sacrifice-Tinker-Strong,Nimble,Dim-60HP,15 mana Buckler, map of
Minoc
Honor-Paladin-Strong,Clumsy,Smart-60HP,25 mana Chain Coif, map of
Trinsic
Justice-Druid-Weak,Nimble,Smart-30HP, 25 mana Gnarled Staff, map of
Yew
Spirituality-Ranger-Strong,Nimble,Smart-60HP, 20 mana Sextant, Gold
Key
Humility-Shepherd-Weak,Clumsy,Dim-30HP,25 mana Crook of Charming
10.6.3. HOWTO bake bread.
Way 1: Drop a flourbag on the breadmaker
Authors: Windforce Dragon & DarkSharp
Release-Date: 99-12-02
Version: 1.3beta
current version URL: http://www.gulbsoft.de/faq1.3.txt (on 99-12-2, 19:00h)
Latest version URL: http://www.gulbsoft.de/faq.latest.txt (on 99-12-2,
19:00h)
For changes check the revision history!
Many people are experiencing problems running Ultima IX: Ascension. In the
interest of consolidation, we have scanned the forums of the UIX/OSI
official
boards, Horizons and EA support culling these bits of information into a
FAQ. Sorry, we forgot to credit many of the posters, we figured getting the
information into the hands of players quickly was more important than
credits.
Caveat: These are nothing more than suggestions and are not guaranteed to
work. Use them at your own risk. we do not even have the game yet (lousy EB)
Note: We would love for someone with serious knowledge of API's, Win
98/2000k
to take this over and embellish it with their knowledge and experience. If
you are interested, contact us: (mailto:darksharp@bendcable.com) or
Windforce
Dragon (mailto:windforce@gulbsoft.de)
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US REGARDING QUESTIONS ON HOW TO FIX
YOUR PROBLEMS. As we are not techical wiz's, your questions will be
ignored.
Sorry.
Note: THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE FAQ (Except Gameplay issues which might be
considered to have some very minor spoilers).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
DISCLAIMER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
The author of this FAQ is not liable for any damage that may occur to your
hard or software by using any of the tips in this FAQ. Use at your own risk
Ultima IX Ascension (UIXA, UA, UIX,U9) is a registered trademark of Origin
Systems and EA.
All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
INDEX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
---- NEW NEW NEW ----
Revision History, check here for the latest tips!
0. Patch Information
1. Installation Issues
2. Speed/Performance Issues
2.1. Journal Options
2.2. Hardware and Windows Tuning
2.3. The Hardware Setup Program
2.4. Specific 3dfx solutions
2.5. Specific D3d solutions
2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
2.7 CD-ROM Problems
3. Movies Issues
4. Sound Issues
5. Options.ini / Keymap file
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
7. General Gameplays Issues
7.1. Plot related issues (plotstopper bugs, etc)
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks
7.3. Gameplay issues
7.4. Savegame issues
7.5. Misc.
8. Additional help/Links
8.1. Unofficial Support Sources
8.2. Official Support Sources
8.3. Hardware and Driver Support
9. Credits
10. Easter Eggs, Cheats and Ultima historical related *SPOILERS*
10.1. Cheats
10.2. Easter Eggs
10.3. Things from older Ultimas
10.4. Interesting Places
10.5. Interesting Things to do
10.6. General Knowledge
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
REVISION HISTORY
--------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAQ 1.3 1999-12-02
- Added the information from CapnBills daily report (1999-12-01)
- Added Easter Eggs, cheats and ultima historical section (changes will not
be
listed in the revision history for they may contains spoilers).
- Put some order in section 5 (options.ini).
- Added 2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches section
- There are now ~50 configurations described at the tech survey board at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
- Added Section 8.3 Hardware and Driver Support Sources
- Added Section 2.7 CD-ROM Problems
- New Issues:
1. Installation Issues:
1.5 (Install does'nt run)
2.5. Specific D3d solutions
2.5.8. (8bit not working on d3dcard), 2.5.9. (Setup detecting wrong
videocard)
2.5.10.(Viper550 speedup), 2.5.11. (TNT Speedup)
2.6. Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
2.6.1. (Unfiltered Textures), 2.6.2 (pixelated toolbelt)
4. Spound issues.
4.6. (Sb-Life unload fonts)
5. Options.ini file
Added some comments
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
6.8. (unable to move), 6.9. (Bagpack crash bug)
7.1. Plot related issues
7.1.7. (Alphawolf Bug),7.1.8 (Elevator Bug, Hyloth)
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks:
7.2.6.(Game crashes on first start), 7.2.7.(frequent game crashes)
7.2.8. (Crash to desktop on start)
7.3. Gameplay issues:
7.3.7. (vanishing items) 7.3.9 (swimming), 7.3.10 (falling damage),
7.3.11 (hovering Npcs), 7.3.12 (hovering objects), 7.3.13.(Unlimmited
Ammo bug)
7.1.9. (Hyloth Gate Crashbug), 7.1.10 (Hyloth Dialog Bug)
- Updated Issues:
0.1. Patch Information
Added some more information on the upcoming patches
2.2. Hardware and Windows Tuning
2.2.2 (Swapfile)
2.2.4.(MipMapping off)
2.2.12(DMA)
2.2.14.(killing task)
2.5. Specific D3d solutions:
2.5 (Updated Notes)
2.5.4. (Invalid Pixel Format on TNT cards)
2.5.7. (AGP Aperture Size)
8. Additional Help/Links
8.2 Added some newsgroups and links
8.3 Section added
----
FAQ 1.2 * Reorganized the FAQ * 1999-12-01
- Added Hardware Comparison Board at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
- Added Option.ini Section
- Added Credits Section
- Created Interface/UI/Controlling Section
- Added link for removing DirectX
----
FAQ 1.1 German translation released at
http://www.gulbsoft.de/u9techfaq/indexger.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
0. PATCH INFORMATION (as 12-01-99)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
0.1 Patch Availability (as 12-01-99)
----------------------------
>From the official boards:
- Patch #1, currently being QA'd, includes the fix for the TNT(2) / GeForce
driver problem, the blocked tunnel problem, and some other crashes.)
QA will take several days at least.
- The next patch will address D3D performance more aggressively, to the
best of our ability; it'll also fix any crashes & plot problems we find
between now & then. That one will take some time, since our D3D
performance issues are really a research task. If we knew exactly what
changes to make, we could provide an accurate estimate. The majority of
the time will be spent determining what change(s) to make to the renderer.
QA must play through the game every time we change the map data or the
engine, to be sure we haven't introduced new problems even worse than the
ones we fixed.
We wish we could just ship out a patch right now; but that
isn't possible, and it wouldn't be wise.
- The following note was dropped by CapnBill (LeadProgrammer) on
the official boards (11-30-99):
Game design issues: The problems we'll be looking to fix in
future patches won't be related to game design, unless they're
plot-stoppers. In other words, there isn't much we can do about
requests for more NPC schedules, etc. But, there are things we
can do about blatant bugs (creatures standing still while you
hit them, plot-stoppers, etc).
Before we shipped, all our testers played through the game
in its entirety; we fixed every plot problem we identified.
We never had any intention of treating you like Beta testers!
So, the game is play-through-able as is..and, it's getting
better, largely as a result of all the feedback here. So,
thanks, and please be patient!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
1. INSTALLATION ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
NOTE from CapnBill: Performance perception issue: The Install scales the
game
engine's settings up, based on the type of CPU you have. So, if you have a
fast CPU, you'll have more bells & whistles than others, but at the cost of
speed.
You probably don't notice the fact that your game looks better
than someone else's (because you can't see their screen), but you do
notice that it doesn't seem to run faster. So, you can just scale
down your Journal Options settings for
more speed.
1.1. Q: I chose to install compressed textures but when I check this in the
Hardware Options the compressed textures setting is not selected.
A: When installing Ultima IX Ascension be sure to choose a custom
install
and select compressed textures
1.2. Q: During installation, I reached the point where the program asks for
an
installation directory. Pressed the "Browse..." button and got an
invalid page fault.
A: This is a problem with some video drivers, and not specific to UIX:
A
(It's actually the installshield application that's crashing here,
and
other apps will crash if you hit the 'browse' button). You should
be
okay if you manually type in the path rather than using the browse
functions.
1.3. Q: I have chosen a custom install of Ultima IX Ascension and the
installer
reported that zero kilobytes were installed. The installed used 480
MB
of hard drive space? What is taking up so much space?
A: The hard drive space is not missing. Even though there was nothing
selected in the custom install it still copies over the core of the
program resulting in used hard drive space.
Q: What version of DirectX comes with Ultima IX Ascension?
A: Ultima IX Ascension includes DirectX 7. An option to install DirectX
7
appears upon installation of the game. Many TNT2 and GeForce users
are
expericiencing problems with DirectX 7. Consider using DirectX 6.1.
A tool for removing your current DirextX version can be found here:
http://www.ebrink.com/dxun/downloads.html
1.4. Q: The install program does not run for my system (Voodoo)
A: If you have a DirectX5 driver for your Voodoo card, Install
won't run (since Installing DirectX6 or 7 doesn't remove
that driver). Remove the hardware device from your system and
re-add it, then re-install DirectX7. Install should run then.
(from CapnBill)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
2. IMPROVING SPEED/PERFORMANCE
--------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 Journal and Ingame Options
--------------------------------
2.1.1. A: Tips from the official webpage for performance tuning:
Journal Options are the best way to affect performance.
To maximize your frame rate, set both clipping plane sliders
("Viewable Item Distance" and "Additional Terrain Viewing" all
the way to the left. Then, select the left-most checkbox in the
"Performance vs Quality" section. Close the Journal to save your
settings.
Note: if you run the Hardware Setup program after you set your
journal
options, you must repeat this step.
2.1.2. A: Try turning down the details and the viewable distance located in
the
options menu in your Journal. There is also the option to turn off
Mip
mapping. This can be found by clicking on the Start menu >
Programs >
Ultima 9 > Hardware options.
TNT1 (maybe also 2, but untested) Owners:
Install the 3.34 Detonator Drivers. Go to Display
Properties|Settings|Advanced|
RIVA TNT|Additional Properties|Direct3d Settings. Make sure
"Automatically
generate [text box] mipmap levels." has a value of zero. If it
doesn't,
your hardware is automatically using up valuable texture memory on
mipmaps...
Infos from the Capn: mip-mapping: Mipmap level of 0 turns
mip-mapping
off; only the highest detail level is used for textures. Level 1
is
on, with the nearest textures being the highest detail level.
Level 2
is on, with nearest being the next-lowest detail level, etc.
2.1.3. A: Try bringing the camera closer into the Avatar using Crtl + Page
up.
This author has experienced very good results with this technique.
2.2 Hardware and Windows Tuning Options
-----------------------------------------
GENERAL Official Tips from the Development team:
- Run Scandisk/Defrag
- Tip 2.2.4
- Setup a 500 MB Swapfile -> 2.2.2
- Tip 2.2.14
NOTE on MINIMUM SPECS:
The minimum specs on the U9 box are a joke. After watching the
boards
for some time now it seems clear that how U9 runs is very system
dependant
there have been reports from people running the game fair well on
an
P 200 (overclocked). Anyway in most cases you definitly want a
much
more powerful system than the minimum. Remember, it is an ultima.
NOTE: To allow you to compare your systems performance with the
performance
other users get with their system, I've set up a messageboard at
http://server5.ezboard.com/fgulbsoftforumu9techforum.html
It can also be used to find out what hardware will give you the
best
performance when upgrading. (currently 99-12-01 there are approx.
50
posts in the forum. If you want to help, please add you own system
and your performance to the board. Thank you.
2.2. Q: I am getting terrible framerates in UIX, is there any way to
improve
my framerate
2.2.1. A: Try setting your desktop resolution to the same size as the game
resolution (i.e.800x 600). This may also be the reason some people
can not get their mouse to work in some areas of the screen.
2.2.2. A: Try changing your computer to a file server. Go to
Settings/Control
Panel/System/ Performance tab, at the bottom, click on "file
system".
Change your HD to be treated like a "network server".
2.2.2. A: Virtual memory
Rules of thumb regarding virtual memory:
1. In almost every case, you will want to multiply the amount of
ram on your system by 2 to get your virtual memory size. (ex.
64
megs of ram = 128 meg swap file for virtual mem, 128 megs of
ram
= 256 meg swap file for virtual memory)
2. A system with over 64 meg of ram should be set to "network
server" under control panel/system/performance/file system.
This
is the "typical role" setting.
3. You should create your own swap file by going to control
panel/system/performance/ virtual memory and specifying your
minimum and maximum the same size. This creates a permanent
swap
and keeps windows from expanding and contracting the amount of
space allowed for swap. Letting windows specify on a
fragmented hard drive will really put a hit on performance.
4. When creating a swap file (changing virtual memory) if possible,
Specify a drive other then your C: drive, BEST ANOTHER PHYSICAL
drive (meaning a partition on another hdd). Also, you should
defrag before and after you set your permanent swap file.
5. There is a such thing as too much virtual memory when running
certain processes including games. For gaming purposes, you
shouldn't need more then twice the amount of system ram as
stated
before.
2.2.3. A: Close all non essential programs including ICQ. If you have things
like "crash guard" running in the background this will hurt your
performance and probably also cause other problems with the game,
the
best bet is to close all non critical programs before running U9
check task manager by hitting ctrl-alt-delete there should really
only be two things listed here. explorer and systray ...and I've
heard
you can do without systray as well.
2.2.4. A: Try turning off mipmapping with the Hardware Setup of UIX.
(Official)
Selecting a lower detail level for mip-mapping can improve D3D
performance. Lower detail levels require less video memory, and
take
less time to load from disk. But, they look a bit blurrier.
You can also turn mip-mapping off. This also reduces your video
memory
requirements, and can improve performance.
2.2.5. A: Defragment your hard drives. There is a built-in utility in
Windows
98. Go the Help file and lookup Defragment under the Index tab. A
thing to consider is the Windows 98 utility does not defrag your
VM
swap file, consider using Norton Disk Doctors Speed Disk.
2.2.6. A: Purchase more RAM if you have less than 128megs. Many people
report
good results with 128 and even better results with 256 megs. You
can
never have TOO much RAM.
2.2.7. A: If you own a Glide card yet have D3D card installed..try
reinstalling
your Glide Card.
2.2.8. A: Play around with your resolution settings. Many people experience
better framerates at higher levels.
2.2.9.A: If the game runs slow with 16-bit textures, consider reinstalling
using 8-bit textures.
2.2.10.A: Since ram is the big factor in this game, you need to make sure
you
have as MUCH free as possible when loading into the game. There is
a
great program found at:http://tweakbase.gxnetwork.com called
Cacheman.
It allows you to change some internal settings in windows (min/max
file cache sizes, etc) that free up ram considerably, AS WELL AS
HELP
DISK PERFORMANCE. Try using these settings with it:
Min / Max cache 1mb / 6mb
ChunkSize 256 (helped disk performance alot)
FileCache 2048
DirCache 64
For those that are scared to mess with these things, these
settings
are extremely conservative, only a shade lower than the original
settings. However, after doing this,normally my system on bootup
would have approx 30mb of the 64mb free (cacheman can tell you
this).
After doing the changes, it went up to 43mb free.
2.2.11.A: If you have Office 97 installed it can take up huge amounts of
system
resources... To increase your speed follow this procedure:
1. Open control panel2. Run Find Fast3. Press the menu called
'Index'
2. Press 'Delete Index...'
3. Delete all of the indexes, you should only have one on your
'C:'
4. Press 'Ok'
5. Press the menu called 'Index' again8. Press 'Close and Stop'
Reboot your system and then try Ultima IX again
You can also remove findfast.exe from the autostart by using
msconfig.exe
2.2.12.A: Change your hard Drives to DMA. Some people have experienced less
HD
swapping by doing this. Go to windows control panel/system/device
manager then click on the disk drives folder..find the folder that
most resembles your hard drive (ex. GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47) then
click on that and hit the properties button at the bottom. Under
settings you will see a list of settings, some will have check
marks
others will not. Some boxes may be greyed out (unavailable). You
"should" see a box that says dma. If its not greyed-out check it
and
restart your computer. If it's greyed out or there is no box..
chances are your hard drive does not support it.
WARNING. Some overclocked systems may not be handle DMA correctly.
If you have overclocked you CPU activating DMA may lead
to
Data corruption on the HDD
2.2.13 A: Try shutting down USB to improve performance.
2.2.14.A: This tip was grapped from the official boards and confirmed later
by
Origin as performance tip:
- Start the game:
- Once you're in the game, press Alt+Esc to go to the desktop.
- Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once to pull up the list of running
programs.
- There is two entries, Ultima 9 and U9.
- End Task on U9. It'll come back saying not responding, so End
Task
again.
- Then just go back to the game.
If you are not able to do alt-esc check section 6 on how to
activate.
Looks like this u9 process is the copy protection and consuming
some
amount of performance. Is I understand this kind of cp it is used
once
to decrypt u9.exe which is encrypted on the cd. Maybe it respawns
when
you are reloading while in the game.
Especially users with a geforce256 and 2.08 drivers seem to be
have
a performance gain on that
2.2.15.A: Try setting the Maxlight setting in options.ini (section 5) to 2.
Users
report that this does not affect the visual qualtiy very much.
2.3. HARDWARE SETUP PROGRAM
----------------------------
2.3.1. NOTE from the DevTeam:
We've identified another bug in the Hardware Setup program;
it over-writes any settings you made in your Journal Options.
So, if you set your Journal to make the game run faster,
then run the Hardware Setup program, you game will probably
run slower. To fix this, just change the Options in your
Journal again. We're fixing the Hardware Setup program;
it'll appear in a future patch.
2.4. 3DFX/GLIDE ISSUES/SUGGESTIONS
----------------------------
NOTE: Make sure you have the latest drivers from www.3dfx.xom
2.4.1. First you want to try the following tips from the official webpage
1. Make sure you install and run with 8-bit textures.
2. Run the game, and use your in-game Journal to change your game
Options
for maximum speed
2.4.2. One user suggested the following settings for a Voodoo 3 under the
system.ini
[vcache]
Chunksize=12288
MinFileCache=8192
MaxFileCache=8192
2.4.3. Q: I have a Voodoo 3 and I am running in Direct 3D but It does not
look
as good as Glide.
A: Select Glide as the API
2.4.4. Q: I see rainbow textures at lower resolutions.
A: Try a higher resolution
2.4.5 Another author has found that a single V2 (8 megs) works better than a
v3
2000 on a comparable system. Go figure. Sigh. (:P
2.5. D3d ISSUE/SUGGESTIONS
---------------------------
*** NOTE: OSI has repeadetly emphasized that UIX is specifically optimized
for
GLIDE. You may want to consider buying one or two Voodoo 2 Cards and run
them in
SLI Mode (Richard Garriots prefered config) or a Voodoo3 2000 for $75.
Go to pricewatch.com for the best prices. ***
NOTE on TNT and DX7
(DevTeam) We found an issue with the 3.53 drivers and DirectX 7 when it
was
too late to fix before shipping. As some of the players have discovered,
the
older (2.08 or 2.40) drivers work well with DirectX 6.1
Note on DirectX7:
DirectX 7 is still fairly new. Hardware manufacturers have not had time
to
optimize their drivers fully yet. So, older DirectX 6.1 drivers may give
you
better performance. Contact your video card manufacturer for these
drivers.
Yet more on performance differences between DX6 and DX7 from CapnBill:
providing native DX7 support was something we never had time for.
When we implemented our D3D pipeline, we only had DX6 available.
DX7 became available in beta form before we shipped, and in final form
only a couple of weeks before we shipped (remember, we had to code
freeze in early October and only fix bugs from that point forward). We
tested the product with DX7, but were unaware of a performance difference
between DX6 & DX7; we tested mainly for functionality and crashes. I'll
be
interested to learn, over the next few days, why there is a performance
difference. We're not "blaming" DX7 for performance, any more than we're
"blaming" our own code. The fact that there is a difference, however,
needs to be communicated to the customer base.
Note on Running Win2k from CapnBill:
Win2k (builds 2153? and greater) *require* DX7 drivers
for D3D. There is a list of currently supported cards and cards with
support forthcoming, but I'm not aware of what they are. Anybody who
plays
Ascension here at the office under Win2K is most likely running Glide
on a Voodoo[1,2,3] card.
Note on Windows 98 and TNT cards :
If so, did you re-install DirectX as part of the game's install? We've
had
similar problems with TNT cards and Win98. Sometimes, Win98 suddenly
starts
crashing constantly, usually in an app called MPREXE or something like
that;
that's part of explorer. Sometimes this would happen even without
changing
the Windows configuration in any way; it suddenly just decided it hated
the
video driver. If this is the problem you're having, it's related to the
TNT driver, not the game. I'll pass this on to customer service--they
should
be able to recommend a fix. I think you may need to re-install your
video
driver. (Capn Bill)
2.5.1 A: First you want to try this tips from the official website:
Quick Help: Running faster with D3D
1. Install the game with 16-bit textures. The "Compressed for D3D"
textures require less disk space, but run slower.
2. Use the Hardware Setup program to select Mip-Map Detail Level
"Medium"; or, select this option when you install the game.
3. Also using the Hardware Setup program, select a 32-bit screen
resolution for your D3D card, if any are available. You can tell a
32-
bit screen resolution because it'll say, for example, "800 x 600 x
32"
instead of "800 x 600 x 16".
4. Run the game, and use your in-game Journal to change your game
Options
for maximum speed.
5. If your performance is still extremely slow, try installing
different
drivers for your video card.
2.5.2. Q: I have CL TNT card and I see transparent textures that shouldn't
be
transparent.
A: Go to the Creative Labs -Blaster TNT website. Get the new Bios
Software update, and the latest TNT Drivers.
2.5.3. Q: When will there be a D3d patch?
A: Check out the Patch Section at the beginning of this Document
2.5.4. Q: I get an invalid pixel format with my TNT card
A: Use the 2.08 drivers. A user reported that this is not an option
for
GeForce users. Also this does NOT solve the problem if you still
have
DX7. Maybe the 2.08 drivers work with DX6.X. Check the
Installation
Section for tips to remove DX7. Origin is working on this issue.
A: The following possible solution was posted by a user on the Q&A
Board:
Problem: Unknown Pixel Format or Ultima 9 Wont run. Note: If your
computer
illiterate, doing the following can "wreck" things. If you know
what your
doing, its easy.
Step 1: Uninstall DirextX and all your video card drivers in the
Control Panel
under Add/Remove Software.
Step 2: Go into your c:/windows/system/ directory and scroll down
to the
files starting with NV. Delete all the NV... files that
you find,
will be about 8 in all. This is the most important steps.
These
files are why it wont run.
Step 3: Restart your system and then install DirextX7.0 from the
U9 CD.
Just go into the DirectX7 folder of your U9 Install CD and
click on
/directx7/DXsetup.exe file. Now reinstall DirextX7.0. and
then reboot.
Step 4: Download the 2.08 Detonator drivers for your TNT1/2 card
and reinstall
them on your system. Cant find 2.08 files? Type this into
your Browser
URL area: These
are the
Hercules Dynamite TNT drivers but will work with any TNT
card.
I believe they will work with a TNT2 as well but I have
not tried them
on my other system with a Xentor TNT2 so Im not sure.
Step 5: Go into Properties on your Desktop and reset all your
previous settings for
your display adapter. If you do all these steps correctly,
U9 should work.
2.5.5. Q: Hello, I have a problem with Ultima IX. I have a STB Velocity
4400 16 MB card. No matter what settings I use, there are no
walls,
floors, ect. Everything just breaks up, I can't see where I'm
going in
the game. The opening cinematic ran fine. What should I do? Any
help
will be greatly appreciated.
A: Sounds like a driver, perhaps Direct X issue. Anyone experiencing
the
same?
2.5.6. Q: Where to find current drivers for my D3dcard.
A: Check the hardware links in section 8
2.5.7. TNT: Try playing around with your AGP Apertures Size setting in BIOS.
Some
users reported much less swapping for their TNT systems after
setting
it to a very large (256) value setting. Can any hardware
guru have a look at this. Its possibly connected with your ram.
2.5.8. Q: My D3d Card does not run with 8 bit textures.
A: --> 2.6.1
2.5.9. Q: Setup detect a wrong video card.
A: Make sure that you have a video Card listed as compatible with the
game.
Some users reported that setup detected a board, which they had
previously in their
system but had removed thereafter, instead of their actual video
board.
Somehow the deinstallation of the previous card was not clean.
Ensure in the
system manager that there is no trace left of your old video card.
Reinstalling
windows is also an option if you don't get rid of the thing.
2.5.10 SPEED:If you are using a Diamond Viper 550 with diamond drivers, try
this for more performance
Go to Display Properties|Settings|Advanced|Diamond and
disable "Software Anti-aliasing".
This results in a slight quality loss, due to aliasing, and a
slight performance increase,
due to lower polygon render time. It will, obviously, not
dramatically affect hard drive
banging.
2.5.11. SPEED: If using TNT2 (1?) and 2.08 drivers:
in the 2.08 detonator driver d3d properties, set the mip type to
8-tap anistrophic, and best quality.
Don't ask me why. I don't know. I also set the hardware
anti-aliasing to the max. And for these,
u9 suddenly running the speed in should, for me, in my machine.
Click on Riva TNT 2 Click on Additional Properties Click on Direct
3D Settings Click on Auto-mipmap
method
2.6 Visual Quirks, Graphical glitches
-------------------------------
2.6.1 Q: Some textures in the game seem unfiltered. Also: My D3d Card does
not run
8 bit textures
A: (CapnBill) You're right! The "bilinear filtering" effect that
smooths
textures out as you get closer to them had to be turned off for
textures
that had "holes" in them, for non-8-bit draw modes. I'll attempt
to explain:
Our art database was mainly developed and established in the
days before D3D
was accepted; we primarily had Glide to work from, and our
effects & art
were based on that (ie 3 years ago). All our art which had
"holes"
(ie windows, and irregular shapes like tree leaves) used a
technique called
"chromakey" to set certain pixels to transparent.
Over the next year and a half, a large staff of artists cranks
out huge volumes
of art; and D3D advances to the point where we can start adding
support for it.
Ah, now it's time to add D3D support. Lo & behold, D3D doesn't
support chromakey.
Also, most D3D drivers don't support 8-bit. So, we ended up
requiring D3D to
run in 16-bit, and for 16-bit textures to not use chromakey any
more; we converted
them to use an alpha bit to set those pixels to transparent.
Enter bilinear filtering: Bilinear filtering, which smooths the
colors in textures,
also would smooth the alpha for the shut-off pixels, causing
horrible artifacts along
the edges of tree leaves & windows. To circumvent this, we
enabled an "alpha threshold"
check, that would set a pixel to transparent only if its alpha
were below a certain
value; this got rid of the edge artifacts, but the alpha
threshold ruined our "fuzzy
clipping plane" effect for any textures that used the alpha
threshold, where vertex
alpha was used to blur the edge of the ever-offensive clipping
plane. The fuzzy clipping
plane required a full range of alpha to look right; the edge
artifacts required that we
eliminate the full range of alpha. The result was that all trees
ended up looking horrible
when they were at the edge of the clipping plane. So, we ended up
shutting off bilinear
filtering for 16-bit modes for textures that require transparent
pixels. Grrr.
This is just one aspect of our D3D development that ended up
killing our schedule...there
were lots of others, believe me.
2.6.2 Q: When running on higher resolutions the interface (toolbelt, etc)
seems very pixelated.
A: Thats by design, nothing you can do about.
2.7 CD-ROM Problems
-------------------------------
NOTE: As U9 makes use of the SafeDisk copyprotection scheme you may
encounter some problems.
SystemShock and C&C:TS used this kind of protection too and users
complaint about several problems related to this. SafeDisk uses an
encrypted EXE on the
CD and a seperate EXE is used each time you call the original exe to
decrypt its contents
into RAM (or something the like). These problems are the price we
all pay for piracy. On
the other hand I like to add that using SafeDisk is kind of pathetic
since it has been broken
long ago (perhaps EA payed a lot of money for this).
2.7.1 Q: UA does not like to run from my 2nd CDROM/CD-Burner.
A: Most likely it is the SafeDisk Protection. Try running it from
your FIRST CD-ROM.
Also you might like to try removing or disabling your second
cdrom.
2.7.2. Q: After starting U9.exe nothing happens for 20 seconds. Then the
game starts
A: Possibly SafeDisk related. Nothing you can do.
2.7.3. Q: Setup does not recognize my CD-ROM correctly. It tells me that I
have a 5x CD-ROM
but I sure have NO 5x CD-ROM
A: Some people experienced this (and a crash to desktop on
system-start thereafter).
Probably driver issue. Try removing WinDVD or PowerDVD from your
system if installed.
After that the game should work fine.
you have no DVD-Software on the system or the above trick does not
give you any
results, try this one.
Go to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Windows
Media Player
Click View (at the top)/ Click Options /Click Format (Top Right)
/Uncheck all the boxes
(This incapacitates Media Player, you can re-enable those later) /
Click Apply Click Ok Run U9 Enjoy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
3. MOVIE ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
3.1. SUGGESTION: If your movies are not playing (i.e. Intro, cut-scenes) try
removing your DVD software. Also try installing the movies on your hard
drive and changing the "MoviePath" setting in options.ini to point to
the
directory on the hard drive instead of the cd/dvd drive?
3.2. SUGGESTION: if your movies aren't playing and you didn't put them on
your
HD then try changing CDs. The movies are on the second CD and they
wont
play (or give an error!) if you have disk 1 still in there.
3.3. Q: I get sound but a black screen when the movies play
A: Make sure you installed Quicktime during the install process
3.4. A: An other user reported this: Apparently, U9 doesn't like dual
CD-ROMs.
I installed it off the E drive, and the game runs fine off it, but it
still
put the D drive as my path for the movie files - hence, no movies.
Simply hacking the .ini to the right path fixed it no problem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
4. SOUND ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
Note: It has been confirmed by the DevTeam, that your sound performance may
be
somewhat linked to the overall performance of the game. If you get sloppy
framerates
you will most likely get choppy sound
4.1. Q: The sound stutters
4.1.1. A: Try turning down the acceleration on the sound and possibly
lowering
the amount of Voices in the options.ini
4.1.2. A: If you are experiencing audio stuttering, try upping your Stream
Duration to 3000 under your options.ini
4.1.3. A: Triple check under your options.ini that your Speaker
Configuration is
not 5= Surround. For some reason this slows down the game. Set it
to
stereo. Or if using headphones to the appropriate config.
4.1.4. A: Try turning off EAX support (Suggested by CapnBill, Lead
Developer)
4.1.5. A: Reduce the CD-Rom supplemental cache-size:
1)Alt+2click "my computer"
2)click "performance" tab (top right) then click "Filesystem"
3)Click the CD-ROM tab, then click in the "Optimize access
pattern for:" box, choose QUAD-SPEED OR HIGHER.
4)Move the "Supplemental cache size:" slider to "small" then click
apply.
4.2. Q: I am getting an annoying pause before the music starts up, anyway
to
get rid of this?
4.2.1.A: This problem is caused by the Audio Cache, CD spinning-up and
loading
the music off your HD. Try doing a full install or turn off music
altogether.
4.3. Soundblaster-Live: After trying EVERYTHING, and editing every possible
line in the options.ini file, I finally found the one. I did two
things,
although it is the second that fixed the problem (the first doesn't
hurt,
and is a good idea, anyway):
Both are under the {sound} section:
1) Change the UseNotify from UseNotify=0 to UseNotify=1
2) The second is the most ironic. It involves chnages the "rolloff"
value for the 2D and 3D sounds (yeah, the one that the comment
line
says is NOT a good idea to touch to tweak the sound
performance...).
Anyway, the default is Rolloff=1.0. Instead, change the value to
read
"Rolloff=0.0". And then voila! Sounds and EAX galore!
4.4. With EAX, one user reported that with OSR2 he could not get the SFX
to
unless he set the the USENOTIFY and ROLLOFF setting in options.ini.
Additionally the SFX worked fine every time when the game was loaded
in
His regular 98 boot. So he installed a bare-bones 98 and installed
the
Drivers and SFX worked fine again with both DX6 and DX7.
4.5. Q: Does this Rule Britannia Soundtrack play forever?
A: Its a bug, confirmed by OSI and possibly taken care of in the
patch.
--> 7.3.8
4.6. SoundBlaster-Life owners:
You can free up system RAM by going to AudioHQ|SoundFont|Configure
Bank,
selecting any SoundFonts in the Synth bank, and selecting clear. If
you
are using one of the included SoundFonts, this will free up anywhere
from
2 to 8 megs of system RAM. Of course, it will also make your MIDI
sound
terrible... remember to set the SoundFonts back where they were before
playing
MIDI games again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
5. Options.ini / Keymap file
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
If you have any information on this file you think important or interesting,
please mail them
This is a example system posted by CapnBill on the official Boards:
specs: PII 400
128 MB RAM
Windows 2000 Professional, build 2114
Voodoo 2 with WinNT 4 Glide 2.x
Awe64 sound card
SCSI hard drives
OPTIONS settings that matter:
Clipping planes: 2000 middle, 4000 far
Lighting SkipFrames: 4
TreeShadows: 1
WaterShading: 1
ASoundCount: 5
NASoundCount: 3
8-Bit textures
800x600 resolution
Frame Rate in Britain: 12-15
On earth: 25
This options.ini was posted by Kelendral on the official boards. I've added
some comments from CapnBill.
Origin will soon post a guide on how to edit this file for performance
tuning.
;************************************************************************
;
; Ultima IX - Option settings file
;
; This file should be modified only by experinced users
; Incorrect entries can cause game errors and failures
; Please be careful when adjusting these settings!
;
; Please use semi-colons to mark
; comment lines as is done with these lines
;
;*************************************************************************
[Interface]
; Current keymap
Current_Keymap=default.kmp
; Spells are cast as soon as key is hit
QuickSpellTargeting=1
[Performance]
; Camera focal length
CameraZoom=600
; Camera distance from Avatar
CameraDistance=400
;______________________________________________
; Recommended Performance Settings:
; CPU Speed MiddleClip FarClip WarnPolyLimit
; P200/233: 2500 2500 2000
; P266: 2500 3500 2500
; P330/333: 2750 4000 3000
; P400+: 3000 5000 3500
;______________________________________________
; Clipping planes
FarClippingPlaneDistance=5500
MiddleClippingPlaneDistance=3300
; Default clipping plane setting for underground maps
DungeonClippingPlaneDistance=2200
; Screen radius of objects culled, and distance culling
;starts
MaxObjCullSize=10
CullStartDist=1000
; Enables 16-bit texture maps
Use16BitTextures=1
; Use S3 Savage4 Texture Compression or not
UseCompressedTextures=0
; The range through which windows can be seen through
MaximumPortalRange=770
; Are particle-system flames allowed?
PoofFlames=1
; Poof optimization level:
; 0=no optimization
; 1=non-critical particles calculated but not transformed
; 2=non-critical particles are neither calculated nor
;transformed
; 3=non-critical particles cease incepting children
PoofOptimize=0
; High Resolution Sky Textures
HiResSky=1
; Default is 0
; Unknown - Assuming max processor percentage
; MaxProcessPercent=?; CapnBill;We have a debug screen (not in the final
; game) that shows %CPU usage of various Processes in the our
; engine--this value affects that debug screen
[Sound]
; Sound Device configured for Use
; Default is the Primary DirectSound Device Found
DeviceName=DirectSound (SB Live! Wave Out [B400])
; Turn Sound On/Off
SoundEnabled=1
; SpeakerConfig has the following values:
; 1 - Headphones
; 2 - Mono
; 3 - Quad
; 4 - Stereo
; 5 - Surround
;
; Note from windforce: Mode 5 is known to eat up performance.
SpeakerConfig=4
; SpeakerGeometry specifies the angle
; between speakers if you choose Stereo
SpeakerGeometry=20
; The number of simultaneous non-associated (2D, or "faked" 3D) sounds
; allowed at one time
NASoundCount=4
; The number of simultaneous associated (3D) sounds allowed at one time
ASoundCount=9
; Enables virtual 3D sound effexts
Enable3D=1
; The fall off rate with distance of non-associated sounds
; (this is the number of world units at which the sound will
; be muted - linearly falls off from 0 to this number)
Falloff2D=2200
; The amount to quiet the Avatar's own sounds so they aren't too loud
; (in %. 0=full volume, 100 = mute)
AvatarOffset=8
; The # of milliseconds to load from CD per frame
StreamDuration=5000
; Turn on and off EAX environmenta audio extensions (Echo's etc)
; Note from windforce: Try to disable if you experience random crashes
EnableAcoustics=1
; Master volume, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
MasterVolume=100
; Volume of music, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
MusicVolume=60
; Volume of speech, 0=silent, 100 = max (in percent)
SpeechVolume=85
; How many frames must pass before updating 3D values (position,
; orientation, velocity, etc.)
SkipFrames=0
; Use the DirectSound "notification interface" to let the sound
; system know when to update (rather than polling the play position).
; Default is '0' (This will theoretically be fixed/work better
; in DirectX 8)
UseNotify=1
; For debugging, use a streamer that reads the *entire*
; sample at once.
DebugStreamers=0
; To get around a bug in Win98 Gold (our famous "crackle" problem),
; offset the "bad" frequency by this amount. It also doubles as
; the "range around the bad frequency" that we wish to monitor.
; (Ie, using 50 here would make any frequency from 22000kHz to
; 22050kHz be 22000kHz, and any frequency from 22050kHz to
; 22100kHz be 22100kHz.)
CrackleOffset=1
; This value overrides the "minimum perceptible attenuation" distance
; for 3D sounds. At distances less than this number (meters), the
; sounds will get no louder. (Increasing this number in effect makes
; all 3D sounds appear louder at the same distance from you.) The
; dialog that adjusts this value for individual templates ranges from
; 1.0 to 25.0, so I'd recommended playing in the 1.0 to 5.0 area.
; Default 1.0MinDist=1.0
; This value specifies how "fast" 3D sounds "roll off" to silence.
; The default (recommended) is 1.0. Less than that means roll off
; "slower", greater means "faster". Don't go less than 0.0, and
; I'd advise not to go greater than 1.0, as our balance issue is
; already apparent enough (greater than 1.0 will amplify the issue).
; However, the *A/V guys* (read as "not designers, programmers, or
; anybody else") should tweak this value in attempt to better
; balance 2D and 3D audio.
; Default 1.0
Rolloff=0.9
[Conversation]
EnableAudio=1
; Start of game settings
EnableText=0
; 0=Audio off, 1 = On
EnableConvoReplies=1
; 0=Avatar doesn't echo chosen responses, 1 = does
[Lighting]
; Allows flickering lightsources
Flicker=1
; Max distance flickering lights effect
FlickerRange=500
; Max # of lights used at any time (sorted by distance from camera)
MaxCount=100
; How many frames between each lighting system update
SkipFrames=0
AvatarSkipFrames=0
; How far a light moves before it relights its area
MoveDelta=5
; 3=Highest, 2 = Regular, 1 = Low, 0 = Poor
LightQuality=3
; Allows water depth to affect lighting
WaterShading=1
; Allows trees to cast shadows
TreeShadows=1
[Demo]
; testingMoongates=1
; CapnBill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
[Game]
; 0=Run, 1 = Walk
DefaultToWalking=1
; 2400 clock
StartTimeOfDay=600
; Lag before tool tips shows up
TooltipDelayTime=0
; Durration of tool tip
TooltipDisplayTime=999999999
; 2=D3D, 3 = Glide
Game Rasterizer=2
PromptForDevice=0
GameScreenWidth=1280
GameScreenHeight=1024
GameScreenDepth=32
GameMipMapLevel=1
DDGUID=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
D3DGUID=2229681632,18090,4559,129,111,0,0,192,32,21,110
; Game starts with 2=None, 1 = Minimum, 0 = Full
Show GUI=0
; Where to find the Flics
MoviePath=c:\gamez\ultima ix\Movies
; Are LOD levels set by distance from the Avatar, or camera?
LODsFromAvatar=0
; Is Z ignored for LODs?
IgnoreZforLODs=1
;??
AttackHoldDuration=5000
Start=0
SaveStatePath=0
; Language
Language=En
; Speed Factor
SpeedFactor=5
; Set to disable Windows Key, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc
DisableWinKey=0
; Set to 1 to force alpha textures to draw as 4444 (for 3dfx in D3D)
Force4444Alpha=0
[System]
; 1=allow exception handling (traps errors), 0 = just crash
TrapErrors=0
; 1=After trapping an exception, show the crash; 0 = just say "game
over"
ShowErrors=0
; AutomaticMonoScreen=???
; CapnBill: useful only if you have an MDA (Mono Display Adapter).
; Shows a frame-rate counter if set to 1.
; MoveSysMonoType=???
; Capn Bill: Another debug screen option
; drawCollisionCylinders=???
; CapnBill: if enabled, will draw the "collision
; cylinder" for every creature in the world. We use it for
; debugging. Slows the game way, way down.
; WarnSpeedLimit=???
; Capn Bill: if on, stop signs appear on the screen in
; areas that are too slow. We used this for tuning the speed
; of various areas of the game.
; WarnPolyLimit=???
; CapnBill: WarnPolyLimit: stop sign for too many polys
; WarnMeshNumLimit=???
; CapnBill: WarnMeshNumLimit: stop sign for too many meshes
; WarnMeshRAMLimit=???
; CapnBill: stop sign for too much RAM used by meshes
; TerrainGridColor=???
; CapnBill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
; TerrainLODTextures=???
; CapnBill: enables custom textures for far-away
; terrain. Should be 1.
; TintProblemChunkCrossingItems=???
; Capn Bill: unknown, lost in the mist of time
[Video]
GammaRed=1.0
GammaGreen=1.0
GammaBlue=1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
6. Interface/Controlling/UI issues (Mouse/Keyboard function)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
6.1. Q: My armor/weapon bar suddenly disappeared
A: Try picking something up
6.2. Q: I can not scroll left or right and up or down while in hand mode.
A: Depending on where the Avatar is standing the scroll feature will
not be made available at times. Approach the object from a different
angle then enter hand mode again.
6.3. Q: I am in the water next to a wall when I get stuck inside the wall
after casting a spell.
A: You will be able to free yourself from the wall by pressing the
Escape key.
6.4. Q: Where is the in game options menu?
A: At first, there are no options due to the fact that the options for
The game are located in the Journal that is located in the
downstairs
Living room. Once this Journal is acquired the -in game options-
will
Become available by clicking on the Journal now located in the
bottom
right next to your tool belt.
6.5. Q: How can I skip past repeated audio of NPCs?
A: Hit ENTER or click on the subtitle text.
6.6. Q: How to enable/disable the windows keys (alt-tab, etc)
A: Hack Options.ini as follows (Section [Game])
DisableWinKey=0
6.7. Q: Can I get item descriptions
A: There sure is. First, go into object/hand mode (press the '~' key).
Then, move the cursor over the item/icon you wish to examine, and
hold
down the 'X' key. If the designers gave the item a description, it
should show up (from CapnBill)
6.8. Q: My character has lost the ability to move.
A: Possibly an issue with collission detection. Try Saving and
reloading (
but I would use a new savegame-slot...). Also try pressing ESC
6.9. backpack bug: This is a known bug that is fixed in the patch, which
should be available shortly. Somehow multiple items are incorrectly
sharing the same inventory slot, and this causes a crash when the
backpack is full. The patch rectifies this removing these "stacked"
items
and attempting to place them elsewhere in your inventory (belt, bag,
etc.), or on the ground if no suitable place occurs.
Until the patch is available, you could try loading your most
current
non-crashing savegame and double-checking all your inventory slots.
If
you find items that are overlapping, remove both/all of them and put
them
in the world. Then close all your invetory gumps (backpack, bags,
etc.)
and save. Then attempt to re-place the items back into your
inventory and
save again. This might/should solve the crash.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
7. GENERAL GAMEPLAY ISSUES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
*Warning this area contains VERY MINOR SPOILERS
7.1. Plot related issues
----------------------------
7.1.1. Q: I'm stuck somewhere in the game and...
A: If really desperate, try Jeff Allens Walkthrough at
http://www.mindspring.com/~allenhouse1/ultima9
or maybe you want to consider using one of the cheats (Argh)
-> Section 10
Read from end to beginning to translate (No, its not german :-))
Plot related bugs:
////////////////////// reversed to hide spoiler
/////////////////////////////
7.1.2 Q: kcorkcalb fo seceip eerht ym ezingocer tnow cisnirT
ni htimskcalb ehT. (Trinsic)
A: Bug confirmed by Capn Bill and adressed in the next patch
7.1.3 Q: dellacer eb tonnac dna esuoh a otno tuo bmuj ro ffo llaf uoy fi
kcuts
steg taob gniylf eht(Moonglow)
A: Reported, You can try the Fly cheat. -> Section 10
7.1.4 Q: deerf eb tonnac ociN dna dellik eb tonnac eh snaem sihT .sraeppasid
evoC fo nezitic tsrif ehT (Cove)
A: Reported, no answer yet
7.1.5.Q: nam netaeb eht ot klat ot gniyrt nehw potksed eht ot sehsarc emag
eht
noitcua lrigevals eht ta nam eht gnitaeb etarip eht gnillik retfA
(Bucs Den), reproduced 5 times in a row by DarkSharp)
A: Nothing yet.
///////////////////////////END POSSIBLE
SPOILER////////////////////////////////
7.1.6 A: telescope bug in Britannia: This bug is caused in LB's castle, up
on
the. "patio"? where the telescope is. If you happen to use the
telescope at night to look at the moons, you will introduce the
Hail
Britannia bug. The only current way to avoid this bug is to back up
to
a previous savegame (before the telescope) and either NOT use the
telescope, or only use the telescope during the day. This will be
fixed
in the (second?) patch. The bug itself is fixed, and there will be
a
new keyboard command you can use to "fix" Hail Britannia if you
saved
after the bug occurred, but before you installed the patch.
7.1.7. BUG: Known as "Alphawolf Bug"
Upon entering New Magincia, and meeting it's only inhabitant, the
Avatar
will be given a quest with two tasks. Apparantly, if one completes
only one
of the tasks, leaves for another quest, then comes back to complete
the
other task, a major plot item will be unattainable due to a bug.
The moral
of the story - finish both of the tasks of the only person on New
Magincia
first thing unpon entering the island, then return to the
quest-giver for
the quest item, no matter what, then continue on to other things.
7.1.8 BUG: "Elevator Bug" (Hyloth)
Some people seem to have problems with some elevator in Hyloth.
Righteous DragonThe posted on the official boards that saving and
reloading
thereafter may fix this problem.
7.1.9. BUG: "Gate Bug" in (Hyloth)
I am unable to continue playing. I am currently in Hythloth, and
//// reversed to hide spoiler ///
sehsarc emag eht etag tsal eht guorht klaw ot yrt I sa ,revewoH
.setag ruof
lla desiar evah.
////end reversed part///
A: This bug was experienced by several users. No fix available
7.1.10. BUG: "Dialog Bug" (Hyloth)
//// reversed to hide spoiler ///
...yek eht gnitteg dna nevaR eucser retfA
////end reversed part///
... I loose my mouse functions in the dialog thus and cannot answer
the questions
A: Try the keyboard (Key 1 for the first answer, 2 for the
second,...) and save thereafter.
7.2. Gameplay crashes and quirks
----------------------------
7.2.1. Q: I crash every time I open a book or my Journal
A: Save game may be corrupted. Go back to an earlier saved game.
7.2.2. Q: When I try to use the "game" cd to play the game, the game would
crash at certain places in the game. (such as when I enter the
moongate, 1st meet Raven. . .etc) However, thegame plays fine
with the install disk.
A: No answer yet.
7.2.3. Q: If I play the game for (X) hours straight, the game gets slower
and
slower.
A: Apparently this is a memory leak due to Win 95/98 and Win2k
Recommend rebooting your Ultima and if that does not work, reboot
your PC.
7.2.4. Q: When I enter the Moongate with my sword drawn the game crashes
A: DO NOT enter the Moongate with your weapon drawn
7.2.5. Q: Sometimes when I try to drag an item the game will crash
A: CapnBill reported some bugs regarding this issue are fixed with
the
patch
7.2.6. Q: When I start the game it immediately crashes to the desktop
A: If you're crashing when you're first trying to run the game, the
culprit may
be the movie that's trying to play. Make sure Media Player runs on
your system
and can play MPG movies. We haven't experienced that here, but
enough of you
have having this problem for me to seriously suspect something
about DirectX.
We use the DirectMedia component of DirectX to play our movies,
which are just
MPGs. You can turn off movies if you want, by setting MoviePath in
your
OPTIONS.INI file to NONE, or to a path that doesn't exist.
Also check Section 2.7 CDROM issues
7.2.7. Q: The game crashes quite often on my system.
A: Hints on crash-prone-ness: try updating sound drivers. Try
updating video
drivers (except the TNT).
7.2.8 Q: After starting the game the last thing I see is the spinning 3dfx
logo. It then
crashed to desktop. Non-3dfx Users may experience a immediate
crash to desktop
A: Probably related to -->2.7.3, ---> 2.5.9. Remember also that on
the first start the
game tries to play a video. So be sure to check out the movie
issues also
7.3. Gameplay issues (Bugs)
----------------------------
7.3.1. Q: Do the NPC have schedules as promised?
A: Apparently most of the NPCs DO NOT have schedules or have very
limited schedules contrary to what was promised by Richard
Garriot
and OSI.
7.3.2. Q: I didn't see the movie that came with the demo after I enter the
Moongate, instead it jumped straight to stonegate.
A: See the MOVIE ISSUES section
7.3.3. Q: I am inside Lord British's Castle and when I double click on the
bag
located on the bed that Lord British has prepared for me I lose
my
keyboard functions.
A: Pick the bag up first and place it in either your tool belt or
your
backpack then double click on it to place or view contents of the
bag.
7.3.4 Q: Why does it rain inside LB's Castle?
A: Unknown at this time. Sloppy collision detecting is this authors
guess.
7.3.5 Q: Why does the AI not work most of the time?
A: Unknown at this time. Probably OSI ran out of time. Supposed to
be
fixed in the upcoming patch
7.3.6. Q: Those spectres keep killing me, they're invulnerable
A: No, they're not. Try magic.
7.3.7. BUG: Items vanish when inventory full
Fill your inventory to the max, and make sure you have a single
handed weapon
and a shield. Now pick up a double handed weapon and equip it as
your weapon.
poof - your first sword and shield disappear.
7.3.8. castle music bug: We have a bug in our save/load that causes this
problem.
I can't recall currently if we've fixed it in the patch; if not,
we'll
look into fixing it (if we can reproduce it). We had this problem
before
we shipped, and thought we'd fixed it....grr.
You can go to an earlier savegame that doesn't play this music; or
you can
travel the world until another piece of music replaces this one
(this can
be hard to do). (Capn Bill)
7.3.9. Q: When swimming the Avatar is fairly hard to navigate.
A: CapnBill: Why is swimming so hard? I guess we all just got used to
it, but many of you have having trouble with it. The Avatar's
collision
cylinder stays set to his full body height (vertically) even
while you
swim; so, his invisible cylinder is taller than his body looks
like,
so he doesn't seem able to fit through things like he should.
I can work on a fix for this, but all the fixes I can think of
involve
dynamically changing his collision cylinder size, which is very
dangerous!
Hmm...
Update: Today, I found & fixed a bug related to swimming, that was
making it
difficult to negotiate the Avatar around. With the fix, swimming
is much better!
7.3.10. Q: The Avatar seems to be impervious to falling damage.
A: From CapnBill: Here's an interesting note (just to clear up any
misunderstanding):
The fall rate of NPCs, creatures, and the Avatar in our world is
exactly and
precisely 9.81 m/s^2, which is of course the gravitational
constant for our
planet earth. As for the Avatar not being damaged enough, well,
mostly that's by
design--Richard & Seth, in the spirit of not wanting this to be
an action game,
didn't want falling to be a major risk component to the game
dynamic. But,
we'll re-evaluate the amount of damage it does.... 'nuff said.
7.3.11. Q: Some NPCs seem to hover above the ground.
A: CapnBill: Why do NPCs or creatures hang in mid-air? I've seen
this, and
it's an artifact of the way our creatures do collision. Creatures
have an
invisible "cylinder" that follows them around; this is their
"collision shape".
The cylinder for many creatures is larger than their body shape.
If the creatures
walks to the edge of a ledge, his body will hang off the edge;
sometimes, this is
so extreme that it looks like he's floating in mid-air. We always
wanted to fix
this, but this is one we'll just have to live with....
7.3.12. Q: When killing a monster the contents don't drop on the ground?
A: Capn Bill: Why do some objects hang in mid-air? Because having
every object in the
world fall continually is just way too expensive. Objects try to
fall initially;
if something blocks them, they "give up". Result: some objects
end up stuck in the
air. Bummer.
7.3.13.BUG:Unlimmited Ammo
Endless arrows: you need to know the triple-bow shot for this
one. Fire all your
arrows except your last one using single shots. on your last
arrrow, use the triple shot.
and yup, 3 arrows come out, your backpack says you have 1 arrow
left, and from that point on,
you can keep firing arrows.
7.4. Savegame issues
----------------------------
Note: U9 tends to corrupt its savegames sometimes. To protect your savegames
from being corrupted make sure you copy your savegames to a different folder
i.e. after you leave the game
7.4.1 Q: When I open U9 it starts to load the most recent save, like it
should.
It loads the music successfully and then as soon as I get an
image,
The program closes. I tried moving the most recent savegame file
out
of the directory, but then it loads the beginning of the game
instead
of the next most recent save! What can I do!?
A: When it starts a new game, run downstairs and pick up your journal
and
then try to load a game. It will probably show you a list of games
you
can load then choose one other than the one that keeps crashing on
you.
7.5. Misc.
--------------------------
Q:: Whats this file collis.log
A: Debug infos forgotten to take out. Taken care of in the patch.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
8. ADDITONAL HELP
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
8.1 Official Support Sources
----------------------------
Electronic Arts Official Support:
http://www.ea.com/tech_support/index.html
By Fax 650-628-5999 Our fax machine receives faxes 24 hours a day. Faxes are
answered only during working hours (M-F, 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m., PST) and are
answered in the order they are received.
Ultima Ascension Official Boards
http://boards.owo.com/
The QA Board is most likely the best place to ask about technical related
questions.
Ultima Ascension Official Webpage
http://www.ultima9.com
http://www.ultima-ascension.com
Watch here for official informations and performance tips
8.2 Unofficial Support Sources
---------------------------------
Ultima Horizons
http://www.allgaming.com/ultimaix
Ultima Horizons discussion board:
http://server5.ezboard.com/fultimahorizonsmain.html
http://216.151.221.145/cgi-bin/index.pl
Ultima Dragons Newsgroup
rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons
Ultima Series Newsgroup
rec.games.computer.ultima.series
This is not an official support source, but anyway. LBs (public)
available email-adress is: lordbritish@origin.ea.com
8.3 Hardware and Driver Support
---------------------------------
8.3.1 Popular Chipset manufactures:
nvidia: http://www.nvidia.com
Reference Drivers for Riva128, TNT, TNT2, M64, GeForce
3dfx: http://www.3dfx.com
Reference Driver for Voodoo1,2,3+, Banshee
8.3.2 Vendors:
Diamond Multimedia: http://www.diamondmm.com
Graphic Boards (Viper, etc) and Sound Boards
Creative Labs: http://www.creative.com
Graphic Boards and Sound Blaster Cards
8.3.3 Tunning and Support Sources
RivaZone: http://www.rivazone.com
Source for Riva Chipset related news, tools, etc
3dfx.org : http://www.3dfx.org
Glide engine newspage
8.3.4.Other Sources
Microsoft DirectX Page: http://www.microsoft.com/directx
Latest DirectX runtime and developer information and download
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
9. CREDITS (in non specific order)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
AvatarQ3
Frank Thoennes
KnightBK
Binaryz
Brock
Jason "loonyboi" Bergman
Jeff Allen
RighteousDragon
Lucas, Perry P
Tom Grandgent
CoconutDaemon
Kelendral
Ryan Fenton
Stupid1
Arcardio
sdiver
TonySawyer
And:
The U9 Development Team, especially CapnBill and Amy "Cynthe" Sage
and all other people who submitted to this faq and were forgotten here.
Mail (mailto:windforce@gulbsoft.de) if you think you should be included
here.
***************************************************************************
.
.
.
.
. /\
. / \
. / !! \ S P O I L E R A R E A
. /______\
.
.
.
.
.
. -------------- END OF TECHNICAL FAQ. SPOILERS DOWN
ERE --------------
.
. WARNING: If you intend to play the game without hints then don't scroll
any further
. The following section contains spoilers like easter eggs, links
to historical
. Ultima information, cheats and places to visit. You have been
warned
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
10. EASTER EGGS, Cheats and historical Ultima Section SPOILERS !!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
NOTE: Sensitive spoiler information is ** written from right to left. **
10.1. Cheats
-------------------
10.1.1.Q: Are there any cheatcodes
A: I (windforce) still don't have the game but found some cheats in
the demo exe
Invulnerability: elbarenluvni_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy
ni
yek a ot gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
Flying: ylf_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy ni yek a
ot
gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
Haste (?): tsaf_ratava_elggot :elif pmk.luafed ruoy ni yek a
ot
gnirtsdnammoc gniwollof eht dniB
There are some more commands like this one but I don't know what
they are doing:
smrots_elggot, dniw_elggot, nus_elggot, tesnus_esirnus,
etunim_eno_ssap, ruoh_eno_ssap,
etunim_eno_ssapnu, ruoh_eno_ssapnu
10.1.2. These are EXPLOITS which will *ruin* your game experience and create
a super-avatar.
(posted by Ryan Fenton)
1. Reducing the need for reagents
emag eht ni slleps lla dnib ot tnegaer hcae fo eno ylno deen lliw
uoy suhT .
yrotnevni ruoy otni tsnegaer eht dna llorcs eht keat nac uoy
lleps eht fo sdrow
eht retne ot pu semoc yrtne txet eht nehw ,slleps gnidnib nehW
2. Turning "invisible" for monsters.
...nur nac uoy os uoy erongi lliw esrutaerc yrotnevni eht nepo
uoy nehW
3. Getting unlimited mana.
semit detimilnu enod eb nac sihT .cigam ni esiar ll'uoy esufer
uoy fI
.thgif a uoy reffo ,dekovorp fi,lliw ohw namrehsif a si ereht
enirhs eht
gnisnaelc erofeb ,cisnirT nI
10.2. Easter Eggs
------------------
10.2.1 Avatars House (On earth): hctaw dna semit lareves rotagirfer eht nepO
Maybe this will cool down some of the people ranting about low fps?
10.2.2 Q: Can I kill Lord British (IN THE GAME) (...for releasing the game
too early;-/)
A: Yes, here's how:
yrgnuh teg ot mih rof tiaw tsuj nehT ...etalp eht no daerb rennid
sBL
ecalper dna (rood terces) niatirB eltsac ni nehctik eht retne
,ereht ecnO.
(etagnoom eht evivrus lliw ti) ainnatirB ot ti ekaT .(rotagirfer
eht ni)
noitop nosiop eht htiw ti nosiop dna erkamdaerb eht ni ruolf fo
gab a
gnippord yb gnisu daerb a etaerc htraE nO
10.2.3 Q: Richard Garriot mentioned someday that he would be in the game in
a way no one
would expect. Is he?
A: Sure he is: ...yromra eht ni retropelet eht ghuorht nosirp niatirB
eltsac eht retnE
10.3. Things from older Ultimas
------------------
10.3.1 Q: Anyone seen Smith the Horse ?
A: swap raen tsopngis a no gnignah si ssacrac sih dna daed si htimS
10.3.2 Q: Is Sherry the mouse in the game?
A: Don't know yet.
10.4. Interesting Places
------------------
10.5. Interesting Things to do
------------------
10.5.1. Gypsy wagon (On earth): Read the book in the back of the wagon.
10.5.2. Moonglow, (Joshua's house): Read the book on the floor.
10.5.3. (?? Where is it ???): Have a silent prayer at Lord Brinnes grave.
10.6. General Knowledge
---------------------------------
10.6.1. HOWTO create a potion:
A: To Create a Potion, place the reagent and an empty flask on a
table
with an alchemy lab, then click the lab and POOF! Potion ready.
10.6.2. HOWTO Character Classes.
To achive a certain character class, just select the corresponding
virtue
whenever possible in the gypsys questions.
Starting Equipment Note:
All character classes have a Fireball scroll, a Light scroll, 1
White potion and
a bag containing 1 orange and 2 yellow potions in the Stonegate
chest)
Compassion-Bard-Weak,Proficient,Dim-30HP,15 mana target bow, arrows,
map of Paws
Honesty-Mage-Weak,Clumsy,Brilliant-30HP,35 mana Arms of the Magi,
map of Moonglow
Valor-Fighter-Powerful,Clumsy,Dim-90HP,15 mana Scimitar, map of
Valoria
Sacrifice-Tinker-Strong,Nimble,Dim-60HP,15 mana Buckler, map of
Minoc
Honor-Paladin-Strong,Clumsy,Smart-60HP,25 mana Chain Coif, map of
Trinsic
Justice-Druid-Weak,Nimble,Smart-30HP, 25 mana Gnarled Staff, map of
Yew
Spirituality-Ranger-Strong,Nimble,Smart-60HP, 20 mana Sextant, Gold
Key
Humility-Shepherd-Weak,Clumsy,Dim-30HP,25 mana Crook of Charming
10.6.3. HOWTO bake bread.
Way 1: Drop a flourbag on the breadmaker