No, the combat really is messy, in case one is looking for a more strategic combat. IIRC it is a bit like Baldur's Gate combat without auto-pause, and the option to switch off party AI (so that you can control each party member yourself).

So yeah, lots of "another party member stupidly casting a fireball to rest of your party because they happen to be too close to the enemies", etc.

Ultima VI: The False Prophet had a very workable turn-based system so it's not like they didn't know how to make a good combat system; it seems they thought a completely seamless experience was more important than having complex combat (the game doesn't revolve around combat anyway).

Ok now I've finally tried out Exult as well. My main point was to find out how good (and true to the original) audio it has.

Installing Exult was easy, just install GOG versions first, then install Exult, telling it where your GOG Ultima 7 and Serpent Isle are installed.

After that Exult gives many options for audio:

1. Use the default sound options (GM).

This basically translates the original Roland CM-32L music to General MIDI format on the fly, apparently. The music sounds pretty good overall, but if you are a purist, it is not the same as the original Roland music. Also, with it you will be missing many sound effects that are there with real Roland, e.g. during the intro (the "TV static" sound, or the sound of Guardian's face appearing on the screen; and I presume many latter sound effects too).

2. Use Exult's internal Roland MT-32 emulator

For this you need the same, original Roland MT-32/CM-32L ROM files as with Munt. Put them into Exult data directory, the documentation says CM-32L ROMs are preferred (so maybe Ultima 7 music actually is more correct on Roland LAPC-1/CM-32L, than the older MT-32?).

Exult's Roland synthesizer doesn't appear to be up to same level as Munt's. To me it sounded somewhat like some old version of Munt, with wrong and erratic sounds here and there. Also, I think this was also missing some of the sound effects from the original.

3. Digitized Roland music

For this you also need to download and install the all-in-one audio data pack from Exult site. It includes all the Roland MT-32 music in digital OGG files, which play during the game. So you must set in Exult audio setup digitized music as "enabled", and also remember to set SFX as enabled.

With this you seem to get fully correct Roland music, after all they are recorded from a real Roland unit. Unfortunately, some Roland sound effects play wrong or not at all. Like again in the intro, you get the TV static sound for awhile, but it isn't synchronized with what you see on the screen. And the "Guardian head appearing" sound seems to be missing altogether. But at least the music appears correct.

There were other audio options too, but I think those three above are the relevant ones.


So my verdict is that if you want the best possible audio for Ultima 7 and are a purist, it means the GOG version with Munt emulator. But if you want to use Exult for its alleged gameplay enhancements and such, play Exult with either the digitized Roland music, or even with the default General MIDI music (which sounds ok, albeit different).

How do you control party members in Ultima 6?

Elmofongo: You've played U4 and/or U5, I think - it's similar to those, but characters' actions have a lot more flexibility. Also, the battle takes place in the normal world (like U7) rather than switching to a battle map.

Charon121: Baking bread, making cloth, and various other things stand out a little in U7 because (aside from the fact that other games made in 1991 didn't even try implementing such things) they're a seamless part of what's going on in the world already rather than punting you to some disconnected 'crafting interface' that's reliant on a mind-numbing skill grind. Likewise, the stuff you make is mundane but actually useful (especially since you don't have to grind out piles of junk to get to something that's only semi-junk as with most games).

While I like Ultima 8, the fact that to truly progress in the game, unless you are using walkthrough, you need to read a lot of the books. And also, sometimes the conversation have a lot of red herrings. And sometimes, it trial and error.

- birthplace of moriens is one thing ( originall a bug)

the other problem is that if you use recall item to return to the city (which have unlimited use with the patch i think) you will not active the fisherman (devon) in jail thing. You have to walk through a guard to cause it to happen.

If you are going to play Ultima 7 you may want to look into a thing called Exult (http://exult.sourceforge.net/) since vanilla game engine stutters like a worn out diesel engine.