🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <bmartin.2...@origin.ea.com>,
Brian Martin <bma...@origin.ea.com> wrote:
>Hello There,
>
>My name is Brian, and I am one of the many Ultima 9 team members. Right now, 
>U9 is in the early developemental stage, and we want to know what you, the RPG
>fan, would like to see in the next Ultima. 
>
>Please post any suggestions to this board.
>


For those who have read article 38849 please ignore the following

-------------
Plot development
-------------

Since when was the Avatar the official courier service provider and the
lost-and-found clerk of Britannia?  The search for the air balloon plans
in Ultima V - Warriors of Destiny,  collecting the nine pieces of a map in
Ultima VI - The False Prophet and the finding of materials required to
enter Penumbra's house in Ultima VII - The Black Gate were all a waste
of time.  Some ominous force that threatens to "rule the world" is another
boring plot idea...

Unfortunately, many computer role-playing games end once the 
main conflict has been resolved.  We are given this pleasant animated 
sequence at the end and suddenly the DOS prompt appears.

In such a context, the Avatar reminds me of shoe salesmen.  They go
to work and once a day's task is accomplished, they go home -- end
of story.  With the proliferation of add-on disks, why not have an light-
hearted attempt to market an option to have the Avatar remain on
Britannia for a little while after the quest is done and interact with the
populace.  There is much that we, as players, do not know about the society
in which were are called so often to save.


------
Combat
------

One deficiency that I noticed in Ultima VII was that of Dungeon Destard.  To
defeat the dragons all a party had to do was to place caltrops on the ground 
and lure the creatures onto the metal spikes.  What I fail to understand is 
why such a formidable opponent would be so foolish.  Similarly, the NPC
parties that you would encounter in either forest, cavern or grassland also
lacked any sense of strategy.  I noticed only two rules of engagment: attack 
the nearest opponent and flee when appropriate.

To simulate combat options, it should be a trivial exercise to build and
maintain an active AVL tree.  Each front and back child of some root node would
be two general actions.  Subsequent traversals in either subtree expands
the options available.  Deciding which path to take along the tree would 
be akin to assigning some number to each node.  A clever strategy involving an 
attack with missile weapons from a group of concealed archers would have a
much higher priority number than a strategy where the same archers, surrounded
by a group of thugs attack, en masse, on a clear, sunny morning in the middle
the some dirt road leading to the vineyards of Empath Abbey.

Having such a data structure can also simulate a "learning process".  Since
inserting a strategy option (i.e. a node) into an AVL tree preserves balance,
why not do this in real-time?  In most cases, all operations are, at worst, of
O(1.44 log n).  Future encounters with the same group (provided that someone
flees the battle, manages to escape captivity or successfully negotiates their
freedom) would not only have an expanded array of tactical options to
choose from but also a node combination (a failed strategy) to avoid.   

For non-human encounters, you can sort and therefore arrange the strategy
options in terms of the time of day, feeding cycle, breeding season,
environment and current weather conditions.  A hungry troll on a chilly morning
having lost a territorial battle with another troll would not be patient enough
to wait beneath a bridge for a hearty morning meal to just stroll by. 



------------
NPC interaction
------------

One can safely assume that those who use, and in many cases own, a
computer have acquired the basic skill of typing.  As such, there should be
an option for players to type their queries instead on choosing one from a
listing.  Why restrict players in terms of what they can ask a particular
character? The language parser in Ultima VI - The False Prophet was nice, 
but still somewhat restrictive; we were still "encouraged" to ask the
highlighted words.


---------
The Avatar
---------

The inclusion of a choice of gender and ethnic background was a welcome
surprise in Ultima VII - Part 2.  I sincerely hope that this option will be
available in Ultima IX - Ascension.


---------
Lord British
---------

Having ruled Britannia for several years why is he still single?  With 
advancing age, old LB should be thinking about who will be heir to the throne.


-----------------------------------------------------------

.Hin.