🚀 go-pugleaf

No, my name is not Fulghum and I don't play him on TV. 
However... the new, improved, Ultima 9 suggestion list.
 
I.  Interface suggestions
II. Content suggestions
 
I.  Interface suggestions
 
1.  No arcade sections.  No arcade sections.  No arcade sections.
2.  Pathfinding function (as in U7) is a must.
3.  Lots of hotkeys.
4.  Special inventory for "typed" items (esp. reagents).
5.  Idiocy-free combat.  
6.  View rotation.
7.  Automapping and/or lots of premade maps.
8.  Text optionally visible during speech.
9.  Full speech is NOT necessary.
10.  SVGA would be nice.  Marketing may make it necessary.
11.  Keep the U8-style cut scenes.
 
II.  Content suggestions
 
1.  Game flags must make sense.  Game flags must make sense. 
          Game flags must make sense.
2.  Satisfying resolutions.
3.  Evil people should be evil.
4.  Evil people should be evil during the game, too.
5.  No unjustified red herrings.
6.  No scavenger hunts.
7.  Lots of small figure-it-out-yourself puzzles.
8.  Lots of common knowledge.
9.  Lots of [well-justified] surprises and mysteries.
10.  Lots of dynamism in the world.
11.  Genuine time pressure.
12.  Rewards for the clever and alternatives for the rest.
13.  Avoid artificial / physical puzzles.
14.  Give the player an advising companion to keep him going.
15.  Motivation, motivation, motivation.
16.  A positive ultimate goal.      
17.  A hidden ultimate goal.
18.  Do trick me.  But make it serious and fair.
19.  A BIG world.
20.  Remake Britannia with magic.
21.  Lots of toys.
22.  Make quests implicit, not explicit.
23.  Make quests meaningful to the player.  (Down with Widgets!)
24.  Make required quests attractive to the player.
25.  Make side quests diverting.
26.  Script the enemies' actions, not the player's.
27.  No unjustified formulaic quest patterns.
28.  End with the player enacting a lingering, meaningful ritual.
                
I.  Interface suggestions
 
1.  No arcade sections.  No arcade sections.  No arcade sections.
     "Arcade section" = any obstacle that a typical player has to
try more than three times to get past.  Maybe even two times. 
Absolutely the most annoying part of U8.
 
2.  Pathfinding function (as in U7) is a must.
     The second most annoying part of U8 was trying to find the
one tiny spot on the ledge where the game would let one climb.  I
want to be able just to click where I want to be and let the
computer find the appropriate route.  (This includes jumping.)
 
3.  Lots of hotkeys.
     I want to be able to hit (C) to get a list of spells to Cast
and (R) to Rest and so on.  I do not like mouse-only interfaces. 
And I'm tired of mucking about through my inventory all the time. 
Speaking of which --
 
4.  Special inventory for "typed" items (esp. reagents).
     If I pick up yet another piece of sulphurous ash, I want the
game to automatically put it with the rest.  In general I want as
much inventory handling automated as possible.  Let there be a
"Reagent bag", "Weapons sack", etc.  
 
5.  Idiocy-free combat.  
     I do not ever again want to see my character sheath his
sword in the middle of combat in order to move.  If I click on an
enemy, I want to move up to him and swing.  If I click on a
location, I want to dash over there.  I want my relevant objects
and a list of spells available by hotkeys, no inventory-mucking
required.  If it makes the player look stupid or feel clumsy, get
rid of it.  And please inform my companions when NOT to use area-
effect and missile weapons!
 
6.  View rotation.
     I'm tired of not being able to see what's going on.  And
it's very aggravating to knock a chest where you can't see it.
Alternatively a hotkey to turn all walls to transparent glass
would work quite well.
 
7.  Automapping and/or lots of premade maps.
     Do you have any idea how big those isometric places feel?  I
want a nice 2D automap, or else a regular supply of 2D map
vendors and dead bodies with maps on them.  Or both.
 
8.  Text optionally visible during speech.
     It was impossible to make out what Hydros was saying...
 
9.  Full speech is NOT necessary.
     Not if the storage required gets in the way of a rich,
multiple-paths, highly dynamic world.
 
10.  SVGA would be nice.  Marketing may make it necessary.
     The figures would be a lot sharper in SVGA -- I second the
example of December's PC Gamer CD-ROM "Relentless" demo.  Ask
marketing how many games will have SVGA by Christmas '95.
 
11.  Keep the U8-style cut scenes.
     As another pointed out, those were well done and a lot of
fun.  Probably the best technical U8 feature after the basic
graphics, physics and sound engines.
 
II.  Content suggestions
 
1.  Game flags must make sense.  Game flags must make sense. 
          Game flags must make sense.
     Whenever the game won't let one do X until one has done Y a
reason must be explicitly given.  Nothing does more to destroy
the suspension of disbelief than a senseless requirement.  "What,
if the dog sniffs the medallion the barrier around the castle
disappears?  What the heck?"  [In U8:  Why wouldn't Hydros speak
to me until after I completed the Shrine of the Ancient Ones? 
Why did I have to free Pyros before I could get the Ethereal
Travel spell?  Stupid, stupid, stupid.]
 
2.  Satisfying resolutions.
     If I kill a local dragon I want every single villager to
thank me for it when they see me and most of them to have changed
habits as a result.  If I save the world I want a big, flashing
YOU HAVE SAVED THE WORLD sign and I want every single citizen to
come up and shake my hand and tell me a personal anecdote about
how I have made their lives better.  The closing animation should
be blindingly explicit and triumphant, and resolutions during the
game should be similarly direct.  Don't assume I know I've done a
good deed, don't just tell me "You have done a good deed", SHOW
ME.  There should be no doubt about the consequences of my
actions.
 
3.  Evil people should be evil.
     I want motivation.  I want dead bodies and crying widows
strewn in the wake of my enemy.  I want lots of HATE and MISERY
and ANGUISH to lay at the feet of my enemy.
 
4.  Evil people should be evil during the game, too.
     I want to make good friends and useful allies only to have
them kidnapped with taunting notes left behind.  I want to see
innocents taken away screaming.  I want Blackthorn and the
Shadowlords (U5) -- enemies who make my quest difficult on a
personal, direct and regular basis.  I want personal reasons to
be upset with the enemy.  
 
5.  No unjustified red herrings.
     No "tomb of Moriens" nonsense, please.  If there are going
to be red herrings, put them in a situation where it's clear
there are false as well as true leads.  If characters are going
to lie, their motivations should be made clear later on.  Never,
ever assume the player will figure out why so-and-so did X.  Make
it explicit.
 
6.  No scavenger hunts.
     The Avatar is a hero, not a catspaw.  Don't give me lots of
directions -- give me clues I put together myself.  Avoid: "You 
got the blackrock?  Good.  Now go to the Wisps with this book..."
 
7.  Lots of small figure-it-out-yourself puzzles.
     Using brain = fun.  Give me lots of opportunities to piece
information together.  I'm investigating the Widgets, say:  an
apprentice says the Mage of Veils was interested in Widgets but
has now "vanished, I know not where"; but the innkeeper says that
a bard told him there was a carnival with caged Widgets in North
Vespers.... so where might the Mage of Veils be, hmm?
 
8.  Lots of common knowledge.
     Everyone in town should be able to give me directions to
buildings in town; and if there's a plague, everyone should have
something to say about it.  "No man is an island."
 
9.  Lots of [well-justified] surprises and mysteries.
     If I want "Kill Foozle" I'll go play an SSI game :)  There
should be multiple twists and turns -- as long as they are
properly explained afterwards.  And make sure the player doesn't
have an opportunity to kill anyone ahead of schedule...
 
10.  Lots of dynamism in the world.
     Gypsies and bards who move from town to town.  Roving
brigands.  Armies on the march.  Lots of things to keep the
Avatar on his toes.  Just don't make any obvious links to
unrelated game events -- if the army marches into York right
after I free the Princess, every single time, it looks stupid. 
Instead, try "The army will march into York as soon as the player
has completed one of plot objectives A, B, and C and has visited
1-6 (random) more cities."  (Time-based flags don't work too well
if the player works quickly.  Instead, increment the counter each
time the player goes into a city different from the last city
visited.  Or count the number of conversations.  Or both.)
 
11.  Genuine time pressure.
     Repeatedly emphasize the urgency of the situation - "The
BigNastyFolks take more of us away each day."  Count the number
of visits I've made to cities so far.  Trigger something
upsetting every N+(1-4) visits.  An army blockade?  A fire?  Lots
of ways to make players' lives unpleasant without making the game
unwinnable.  Just make sure we know the time pressure exists.
 
12.  Rewards for the clever and alternatives for the rest.
     Let there be a wandering Oracle who requires onerous tasks
in return for hints.  If you can't figure out where the Mage of
Veils is, you go hunt down the Oracle.  This lets there be
serious brain-working puzzles without making the game impossible. 
Just heavily advertise the Oracle, and make the tasks harder each
time.  "Back again so soon?  Good -- I need the skulls of three
dragons from the northern mountains..."
 
13.  Avoid artificial / physical puzzles.
     Lever puzzles and logic puzzles and word puzzles look and
feel contrived and have no role-playing in them at all.  BORING. 
Give me puzzles in the form of problems natural to the world --
"How can I find where the Mage of Veils has gone?"  "Who killed
the smith?  Why?"  "What will persuade the Baron that I'm on his
side?"  Puzzles should center around people, not things.  Puzzles
should be solved by talking to and investigating people and
making deductions based on the results.
 
14.  Give the player an advising companion to keep him going.
     Let one or more of the NPCs have a ready answer to "what the
heck should I do now?" so that there's never any confusion. 
"Well, I think we ought to try and find out where the Mage of
Veils went.  Probably we should talk to and investigate the
townsfolk.  If we can't figure it out ourselves, we should
probably seek the Oracle."  Such an NPC could also serve as a
note-taker.
  
15.  Motivation, motivation, motivation.
     Why do I have to do X to win the game?  Has this been made
clear to me?  Why did Joe do Y?  Has this been explained to me?
 
16.  A positive ultimate goal.
     The unique charm of U4 and U5 was the goal: not merely to
destroy an enemy but to accomplish something good.  U9 should do
the same.  Perhaps one seeks to heal a cataclysm-wracked land? 
To revitalize the Way of the Avatar?  (To do the first, and
discover this requires doing the second?)  Of course, the
Guardian et al should stand squarely in the way of this goal...
 
17.  A hidden ultimate goal.
     Games that hide my final goal until late are much more
effective than ones that announce "You must kill Foozle the Bad"
during the intro.  I'm not talking about "This Widget lets you
win the game" [Serpent Isle, U8], but about a fundamental new
direction -- not to destroy a people but to save it, not to find
a temple but to build it oneself, not to cure a plague but to
lead a migration.  U6 and Wasteland come to mind.
 
18.  Do trick me.  But make it serious and fair.
     Raise your hand if you really thought the Fellowship was
nice in U7....  Surprises like Ultima 6's are great, U9's
technology could make them extremely potent, and guilt is a
terrific motivation.  But don't expect me to fall for the
obvious, and don't expect me to feel guilt over something
required to win the game.  (U8:  "Stellos, if you have a problem
you can take it up with Lord British.  They're his game flags,
not mine.")  It won't affect me unless I realize I had a way to
find out the truth and avoid it.  Don't _force_ me to be a
dupe... just make it very attractive, and the result ghastly.  :)
"Lord Draxinusom, here is the last piece of the Portal of
Powerful Popsicles."  "My thanks, Avatar.  Now..."  "Lord
Draxinusom -- your face, it's -- oh my..."
 
19.  A BIG world.
      Pagan's most serious content problem was that there wasn't
enough content.  U9 should be as big as U5, in both population
and geography.
 
20.  Remake Britannia with magic.
      I don't want to see the same old Britannia; I do want to
see some form of Britannia; I don't want to see technology and
the Industrial Revolution.  Instead, let the writers come up with
some nifty ideas for a Magical Revolution.  Is there a flying
carpet taxi service?  Do the rich have roofs that vanish during
sunshine but reappear in the rain?  Do debutantes apply
costume-enhancement potions before going to the ball?  (Just
don't put in a blatant environmentalist message -- moral
questions should be subtle.)
 
21.  Lots of toys.
      One of the best parts of an RPG is playing with an
environment -- that's what distinguishes it from a straight
adventure in the first place.  We want flying carpets, floating
glow-bulbs, self-guided butterfly nets, magic tape recorders,
anything and everything.  (Just as long as they're cheap to
program.)  Cool weapons are especially appreciated.  And I second
the posters who wanted to see Smith the talking horse and the
moon-based moongates again.  A Wing Commander ship is optional.
 
22.  Make quests implicit, not explicit.
      Whenever someone says "Avatar, you must fetch X", I think
"Oh, boy, another hoop to jump through.  What fun."  Instead, let
me deduce from peoples' conversation and from books that
_someone_ must fetch X, and then decide to do it for myself.  If
I don't know what to do next, I can always ask my adviser
companion (see #14) for a nudge.
 
23.  Make quests meaningful to the player.  (Down with Widgets!)
      Avoid "Fetch the Wondrous Widget of Subplot Solving".  The
"Doohickey of Doom" means nothing to me.  While problems should
be epic (war, plague, eruptions, demons, curses) they should have
practical ramifications and solutions.  E.g., go find a healer /
negotiate peace / delve into the volcano / close the demon-portal
/ appease the witch.  These engage my imagination and make the
world more real to me; widgets don't.  And if you have to make up
a whole song and dance to explain the seriousness of the
situation, skip it.  ("Oh, Avatar, the Bannner of Boondock has
been in our family for centuries and I simply can't run the
ceremony without it and...") 
 
24.  Make required quests attractive to the player.
      I and everyone else were absolutely eager to destroy the
Shadowlords in Ultima 5, because the Shadowlords were such a pain
to the Avatar.  In a long game, just advancing the plot can be a
very unrewarding reward; I'll enjoy each subplot much more if I
can expect a practical result to show for it.   (E.g.: the dragon
no longer swoops down to torch me every 3-6 cities.  The Sword of
Seven Seals is a great weapon.  The smiths of Moria, with their
mithril weapons, are now reopened for business.  The Sodenburg
militia can now join the war effort, pushing the enemy back and
making the Silver Tower accessible to me.) 
 
25.  Make side quests diverting.
     Make sure the script is sufficient to make the player want
to take time out to do the side quest.  Beware of quests that are
pathetic in context:  "Oh, Avatar, I know the world will end in
three days, but could you please rescue my baby in the far-off
Dungeon of Doom?"  Really, non-dramatic side quests are best --
romance, comedy, or a nifty treasure.  There's already plenty of
drama on the Avatar's plate.
 
26.  Script the enemies' actions, not the player's.
     Exploration is half the fun of an RPG, and the sequence of
the player's quests should be the player's decision.  At all
costs avoid Serpent Isle's convenient shipwrecks, kangaroo courts
of unresistable mages, and blatant travel restrictions.  Let me
do the subplots in any order I want -- do you really, really need
to force a particular order?  Why?  Let independent enemy actions
raise tension (see "Genuine time pressure", #11).  Make the
obstacles to "improper" success practical instead of arbitrary. 
In Ultima 5, descending into Doom without the Crown or Scepter
would get you fried by fireballs and forcefields long before you
got to Lord British.  This is good:  I am the hero, I get to make
the decisions, stupid or not!
 
27.  No unjustified formulaic quest patterns.
      No nine map pieces.  No "each town has its own unique,
self-contained problem to solve".  No prescripted wild goose
chases.  These reek of artificiality.  In real life problems
sometimes come two to a city or zero to a city and more often
than not involve more than one city.  If the player has enough
work to do and if every place affects the main plot somehow,
that's sufficient.  (The exception is where the division is
natural -- a quest assigned by each of eight shrines, say.)
 
28.  End with the player enacting a lingering, meaningful ritual.
      This is Ultima!  This is the last great adventure of the
Avatar!  We don't need a final battle.  We need a closing of the
circle with U4; let the player enact a ritual of significant
length, with meaning for the series as well as U9.  Perhaps with
a final scene in a dark, abandoned temple... where a hollow voice
utters, "Wilt thou lie?"  "Nay."  "Wherefore?"  "Honesty."  "Wilt
thou give aid?"  "Aye."  "Wherefore?"  "Compassion." ... and as
he spoke the runes on the seal of the temple floor began to glow,
one by one... ...and... [roll triumphant endgame animation] 
[roll credits]

-- 
Daniel Starr           |  Graphics CPU demand will peak in 1995;
starr-...@yale.edu  |  AI is the processor hog of the future.
                       | --------------------------------------------------    
"Scuppers. Hosepipe."  |  PC with 10^10 neurons: 40-80 years. (Moore's law)