I played Ultimas 2 through 7 years ago and am playing 1 now. I have all four gems and bought a shuttle, but when I bring up the screen with all the H letters on it (sector scan) I don't see how to select one. The arrows keys don't work for it. I have managed to get to the battles screen and it seems impossible, I will never kill enough alien ships to advance the game. My agility is a bit low,in the 50s, could that be why? My strength is almost max, intelligence is max. Also, how do I get back to the dock to refuel and later, how do I get back to earth? Garriott is a great designer but he has done a few things over the years that have driven me nuts in a bad way.

H works only in the cockpit view
and you will travel 1 zone in the direction you were facing in the zone screen (top down view)

to land on the planet again you will need to be in the zone of space with the planet,
and MUST be using the shuttle

docking is done by bumping into a spacedock at the slowest speed while aligned with the docking port

oh and cockpit view is only for fighting and initiating hyperjump and your actions here wot affect your heading

refuelling is done by buying a new ship when docked so bring lots of cash





hope your space adventure goes well

Thanks, I still need a lot of help. I don't see how to get back to the dock and refuel. The sector scan screen seems like a mess to me, still don't see how it works. I managed to hit four aliens then I needed to refuel. But how do I get back to that screen? Combat seems really hard, sluggish and not fun.

on sector scan screen
h are fights
+ are stations
diamond are stars
and 2 dots mark empty zones

these are listed in the order of prirority

btw dont use the shuttle for fighting since it has the worst fuel capacity
(especially since hyperjumps cost 100 fuel ...ouch)
i believe that it only costs 500 money to change ships at a dock station
which resets fuel and shields to full for the ship you choose

as for combat itself i tend to ignore an enemy if its too far from the target cursor and just move back to center of screen

also keep on mind that if you die all progress is lost so it could help to go back to the planet occasionally to save
also the planet is always in the centre of the sector scan

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. I watched a youtube walkthrough and it cleared up my questions. The spaceship on the screen with the sun has to be moving in the direction you want to hyperjump. That is so opposite of any space operas I've played. All the input should be handled at the sector screen. And how was I supposed to know that? But it was 1981, so I gotta cut Garriott some slack, I guess.

I still wonder if the agllity stat affects space combat. The guy on the YT vid sure could aim and fire better than I can. Not sure I can finish the game, 20 ships seems unattainable as things stand.

Thanks again. : )

You are absolutely correct about that. Yeah, he threw everything at us, just to see what would stick to the wall. No, it does not. It's all your own skill. Don't give up hope. I am the world's worst at shoot-em-ups, and I managed to get through. Just follow Vyraexii's advice:

1) Bring plenty of money.

2) Switch ships; by cutting down on the number of runs you'll need to make, it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

3) After you've killed a few, make your way back, switch back to a shuttle and land. You just have to get 20 total, not all 20 at once.

One more protip: go up there with the intent of practicing until you die. Let yourself play until you run out of fuel, just to get the hang of what else you need to do to learn how to hit your targets.

Best of luck.

Thanks, 2H Sword, you saved me some time wasted on getting my agility stat to max. I'll give it another go and we'll see what happens.


Bob