apdenton on 10/2/2012 at 05:16
and were they similar? i ask because i want to learn about the LGS legacy roots.
Renzatic on 10/2/2012 at 05:42
Ahh Google and Wikipedia, how I love you so.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_(series)) Akalabeth: the precursor to the Ultima series - 1980
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry) Wizardry - 1981
So if you consider Akalabeth as part of the Ultima series, then...Ultima. If not, then you'll have to do a bit more research, since Ultima I and Wizardry I both came out in '81. As for their similarities. They...kinda were. I think Ultima had an overworld perspective to go along with its first person dungeon crawling. Which, as the series progressed, became the default perspective, along with a more NPC driven, storied style of gameplay. Wizardry has been and always will be about beating up monsters from a first person perspective.
edit: ...registered Feb. 2012? This better not be a clever spambot ploy. :mad:
apdenton on 10/2/2012 at 05:46
Quote Posted by Renzatic
So if you consider Akalabeth as part of the Ultima series, then...Ultima. If not, then you'll have to do a bit more research, since Ultima I and Wizardry I both came out in '81.
i already google/wiki researched and saw they both came out in 81, thats why asked here. and what kinda spambot ploy? what do you mean? i must learn stuff dammit!
and thanks for the reply, ultima it is. so did the devs of wizardy steal alakabeth/ultima devs design ideas then? if they are similar games that is.
Renzatic on 10/2/2012 at 06:36
The spambots. We're all suspicious of anyone with a recent registry date. You might end up spamming us with viagra advertisements or something. :P
As for the games. Eh. they're similar enough. Dunno if one aped from the other so much as they're both based off old D&D rules and mechanics, translated to something that could be run on an old Apple II. The technology of the time pretty much limited any implementation thereof to stat based gameplay and wireframe graphics. Because of that, you're bound to have people coming up with similar ideas around the same time.
Thirith on 10/2/2012 at 09:29
I'm waiting for spambots to become Eliza 2.0, where they can hold up their end of a conversation more convincingly than some of the non-English speaking posters - and then, wham! they hit us with penis enlargement spam.
On topic, though: Renzatic definitely has it right - both Ultima nor Wizardry were highly derivative, so I think you're barking up the wrong tree asking whether one stole its ideas from the other. Both stole their ideas from D&D and their ilk.
I don't know Wizardry particularly well (I think I only played VII and never got very far into it), but arguably Ultima only became semi-original with its fourth instalment and storyline about becoming an embodiment of virtue rather than slaying some Big Bad.
Al_B on 10/2/2012 at 14:19
Quote Posted by Renzatic
The spambots. We're all suspicious of anyone with a recent registry date.
It's a real shame that this is the case. Don't take it personally, apdenton, but there's also another member called (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/member.php?u=12139) pdenton who's been around for quite a while so it does raise a red flag or two.
Anyway - good to have you on the forum. As for your question, I'm not sure that whether Wizardry or Ultima came first really has an influence on LGS. Although one of their first games was an Ultima game, it wasn't originally developed to be one.
Phatose on 10/2/2012 at 15:02
They weren't really all that similar, as I recall. Ultima was played from a top down viewpoint, didn't have levels, spells were essentially one shot throwaway items, and it diverged from pure fantasy pretty heavily towards the end. Wizardry was a first person dungeon crawler where you had to draw your own maps, a more traditional leveling and magic system.
icemann on 10/2/2012 at 15:06
The easiest way to know if he's a spam bot or not, is if he replies to this thread again. If not, then he is quite likely.
Odd choice of words if it is a bot though.
Thirith on 10/2/2012 at 15:17
@icemann: He's already posted twice, the second time in response to Renzatic. Unless he is the next big thing in spambot AI (not saying anything about linguistic AI...), he's for real, yo.
Al_B on 10/2/2012 at 15:31
Quote Posted by Phatose
They weren't really all that similar, as I recall. Ultima was played from a top down viewpoint
Ultima 1 was top down until you went into a dungeon - then it had a 3D view similar to wizardry.
