3D Action & Classic Games/NEW.iso/gamedoc/disk#3/ultima2.sol

Text File | 1990-01-17 | 12.5 KB | 228 lines

                                 ULTIMA II

STRATEGY

Ultima  II  (The  Revenge  of  the  Enchantress) is Lord British's exciting
sequel to Ultima I. In Ultima II, you are challenged to discover the secret
of  Minax,  the  evil  apprentice of Mondain whom you defeated in Ultima I.
Once  again,  you  must  create a player character who will roam land, sea,
air,  and  even outer space, battling strange creatures and increasing your
character's  attributes  and  possessions.  However, in Ultima II, you must
also unlock the mysteries of the Time Doors. The strategy tips presented in
this file should assist you in your difficult quest.

I.CREATING A CHARACTER

By  allocating  90 points among 6 attributes and choosing race, profession,
and  sex,  you  may  create a player character who is initially powerful or
weak.  For  example,  relatively  high strength is the key to being able to
wear  certain  armour;  high  agility  will  allow  your character to wield
certain  weapons  and  steal more easily. I had good luck with my Elf Thief
("Bugsy")  who  was  able  to  steal  plenty  of food, weapons, and armour.
However,  the  Dwarf  Wizard  ("Hirsutus")  I  created endured a long, slow
battle to merely stay alive. Experiment with different combinations to find
out which is more successful and enjoyable for you.

A  note  about  spellcasters:  Clerics  and  Wizards may purchase spells in
Villages.  However,  spells are both very expensive and relatively useless.
Spells  can only be cast within Dungeons and Towers and, unfortunately, you
can easily win the game without ever entering either of those places.

II.BEGINNING THE QUEST

You  start  out with 400 hit points, 400 foods, and 400 gold. This may seem
like  plenty,  but  it  isn't. Your food disappears quickly as you explore,
your  hit  points  diminish rapidly when you are attacked by creatures, and
your gold pieces must be exchanged for supplies and equipment. However, you
can  always attempt to steal, and you can purchase additional hit points by
transacting with a King.

Your  first  task is to obtain a weapon and armour. From where you are when
you  boot the game diskette, walk west and south into Towne Linda (it looks
like  a  cloverleaf).  You  will  find both an armoury and a weapons vendor
there.  After  leaving  Towne Linda, travel south until you reach Le Jester
Village (it looks like 5 small circles). Villages are the only places where
you  can  obtain  additional  food.  Now  you're  ready  to do some serious
adventuring.  But,  before  you  begin your campaign in earnest, be sure to
save  the  game. It's very easy to get killed, and you will want to be able
to return to the status quo ante.

A  word  of  advice: This game has an annoying "feature" involving the save
game  function.  First  of all, unlike Ultima I, Ultima II has no provision
for  two  disk drives, so be prepared for frequent disk swaps. Secondly, if
your  character  enters  a  Town, Village, Castle, Dungeon, or Tower (i.e.,
there  has  been  interaction  with  the player diskette), and you are then
gravely  injured  or,  perhaps,  have  spent  money  on an item you are not
allowed  to  use,  and  you  then  leave  that location (i.e., another disk
interaction),  you  will not be able to turn off your machine and reboot to
find  your  earlier  (healthier!)  save game position. The solution to this
problem is this: When you realize that your character has lost a lot of hit
points  while within one of those locations, turn off your machine then and
there.  Since  no  writing to the diskette is involved, you can then reboot
and  recover  your  earlier position. [My first player character lost 2,000
hit points in one Town before I learned this little trick.]

III.THE INHABITANTS

In order to gain experience points, valuable items, and gold, you must slay
many  creatures.  The  universe  of Ultima II is populated by Orcs, Devils,
Daemons,  Thieves,  Fighters,  Clerics,  Wizards,  Balrons,  Sea  Serpents,
Guards,  Merchants,  Jesters,  Seers, Oracles, Kings, Queens, and, finally,
Minax.  Some  you  must  simply  kill;  others  you  must not kill but must
transact with.

Transact  with  everyone you find in Towns, Villages, and Castles. Clues to
solving  the  game will be revealed to you (occasionally, however, you have
to  offer  gold  to  purchase a particularly valuable hint or item). In one
Town, you will discover that offering gold results in significant increases
to your character's attributes. As I mentioned earlier, you can obtain more
hit  points  by  transacting  with  a King (he pockets some of your gold as
payment for this service). Be aware, however, that after 99 your attributes
will  roll over to 0! (Rollover occurs as well when any of your possessions
total  more  than  99 and when your hit points, experience points, food, or
gold climb above 9999). Don't be too greedy!

IV.ITEMS

Utilize  the  "Z"  (status)  command  frequently, especially after you have
slain  a  creature.  You  will  notice that there are certain items in your
inventory  which were not there before the battle. You will learn what each
of  these items is for (e.g., magical boots save you from a paralysis spell
and  tools  allow you to escape from traps in Towers or Dungeons), and will
discover which creatures are more likely to possess something you need.

There  are a total of 20 objects for you to find, including: Torches, Keys,
Tools,  Quick Swords, Wands, Staffs, Boots, Cloaks, Helms, Gems, Ankhs, Red
Gems,  Skull  Keys, Green Gems, Brass Buttons, Blue Tassles, Strange Coins,
Green  Idols, Tri- Lithiums, and Rings. Once you've obtained a particularly
precious item (such as blue tassles which you'll need to board a frigate or
strange  coins  which  allow  you  to  stop time), be sure to save the game
state.  Thieves  just  love  to steal from you, and you may want to recover
your  earlier  position. You will encounter an individual who claims to own
"one of everything." Offer him gold and find out!

V.TRANSPORTATION

You  may  buy  a horse in a Town in order to conserve food as you travel by
land.  However,  frigates and planes are needed to traverse the oceans. You
will need a rocketship to enter space.

Frigates may be boarded (as they pass by you on a coastline) if you already
possess  a set of blue tassles. However, planes and rockets must be stolen.
Planes  are available in only one Town; you'll need brass buttons and skull
keys  in  order  to  fly  a plane. Once you have a plane, you can "walk" it
through  a  Time  Door  (Time Doors are discussed in the next file entitled
"Ultima II -- Layout").

Rockets  are  found  only  in one Town and you'll need a number of items in
order  to blast off (if you need extra Tri-Lithiums, you can find hordes of
the  stuff  on  the  highest  level  of  a  Tower  or the lowest level of a
Dungeon).  Once  in  space,  explore  and  transact  until you discover the
mysterious  Planet X and the kindly Father Antos. A note about spaceflight:
Landing  is  the trickiest part of this task; be extremely careful that you
land on the grass, otherwise you'll be killed.

VI.DEFEATING MINAX

Ah,  yes,  the  dread enchantress! She rules time and the universe, ever so
confidently, from her chambers within her Castle on Legends. Do not attempt
to  destroy  her  until  you  have  spent  many, many hours developing your
character's  abilities  and  have  obtained  weapons,  armour, and valuable
items.  One  item  in particular, a ring, must be in your possession if you
wish  to  pass  unscathed through Minax's force fields. She is unwilling to
die  easily  and  leads you on a not-so-merry chase from chamber to chamber
while  her  minions  attempt  to kill you. You can deal with her lackeys by
stopping time, but only if you have sufficient quantities of strange coins.
Persist  in  your  attack;  she will ultimately succumb and she and all her
works will be destroyed!

                          ULTIMA  II: THE  LAYOUT

The  cloth  map  and the pamphlet that come with the game are very helpful.
Study  both  and  make  your  own notes as you continue your quest. The map
shows  the  world  as  it  appears  in  the  A.D.  time period with symbols
representing the 20 Time Doors that exist. The Time Doors take you from one
time  period to another, and there are five such periods: B.C. (1423 B.C.);
A.D.  (1990  A.D.);  Pangea  (9  million  B.C.); Aftermath (2112 A.D.); and
Legends  (no  time).  Once  you  obtain a magical helm, you will be able to
"V"iew  your  exact location (note, however, that your helm disappears when
you  "V").  The following is an outline of the various time periods and the
locations of their Time Doors.

I.1423 B.C.

This  is  where you begin your adventure. You will find yourself in Eurasia
with  connecting  passages  by  land  to  North  America, Africa, and South
America.  Locations  you'll  visit  include Towne Linda in Italy, Le Jester
Village  in  Africa, a Tower in South America, a Dungeon in Greenland, Lord
British's  Castle  in  England, and a Signpost in Australia (islands may be
reached once you board a frigate).

There  are 4 Time Doors: 1) The NW Time Door in Europe takes you to England
in  1990  A.D.;  2)  The North Central Time Door in Europe takes you to the
eastern  peninsula  in 9 million B.C.; 3) The NE Time Door in North America
takes you to Legends; and 4) The SE Time Door in South America takes you to
the north of North America in 2112 A.D.

II.1990 A.D.

Here you will visit Lord British's Castle and Port Bonifice in England, New
San  Antonio  in  North America, a Tower in Africa, a Dungeon in Greenland,
and a Signpost in Australia.

There  are  4  Time  Doors:  1) The Time Door in South America takes you to
North  America  in 2112 A.D.; 2) The Time Door by the Signpost in Australia
takes  you  to  the eastern part of the continent in 9 million B.C.; 3) The
Time Door near Lord British's Castle in England takes you to Europe in 1423
B.C.;  and  4)  The  Time Door by the Dungeon in Greenland takes you to the
east of the continent in 9 million B.C.

III.9 MILLION B.C.

In  this  ancient  time,  the  continents  as  we  know  them  have not yet
separated.  This  land  mass appears to be one great island. You will visit
Baradin's Town, a Dungeon, and a Signpost.

There  are  4  Time  Doors: 1) The NE Time Door by the Dungeon takes you to
Legends;  2) The eastern Time Door takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) The
southern Time Door near the Signpost takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; and
4) The north central Time Door (north of Baradin's Town) takes you to North
America in 1990 A.D.

IV.2112 A.D.

This  is  the  world  of  the  Aftermath,  a  time  of  high technology and
destruction. Nothing remains in North America, South America or Africa, but
there  is  a  Town  (Pirate's  Harbour)  in  northern  Europe, a Dungeon in
Greenland,  and a Signpost in Australia. You will need to bring an airplane
through the Time Doors in order to fly from North America to Eurasia (where
you will find a rocketship).
There  are 4 Time Doors: 1) In North America, the NW Time Door takes you to
South  America in 1990 A.D.; 2) The SE Time Door in North America takes you
to  Legends; 3) In Eurasia, the southern Time Door takes you to the east of
the  continent  in 9 million B.C.; and 4) In eastern Eurasia, the Time Door
takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.

V.LEGENDS

You  will visit Legends often in an attempt to break through Minax's armies
and into her sanctum. Her Castle in located in the center of the continent;
besides numerous creatures, there is only a Signpost on Legends.

There  are  4  Time Doors in a row south of the Signpost. Starting from the
west:  1)  This  Time Door takes you to the northeast of the continent in 9
million  B.C.;  2)  This  one takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) This one
takes  you  to England in 1990 A.D.; and 4) The eastern Time Door takes you
to  North  America  in  2112  A.D. [Note: Dates and Time Door locations may
differ in various versions of Ultima II.]

VI.SPACE
Use  your  galactic  map to plot the coordinates for space travel. You will
know  you have reached the planet you are seeking when you find Towne Basko
and Castle Barataria. Be prepared to fight; the inhabitants are belligerent
and  the thieves tend to steal from you. Remember also to take extreme care
in landing your rocket; instant death results from one careless move. There
are no Time Doors in space.

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