Ultima IV 4 Quest of the Avatar c64 Commodore 64

[storrs19]

This brings back so many memories. I received this game for Christmasn 1985 for my C64 and played it to completion over the next several months with no help at all. Quite a daunting task.

[Tsubaki24]

This game makes my panties wet

[Jhae2009]

I would play this game for hours when I was a kid... Every time I died, I was resurrected.

[bosox1086]

Played this game for hours and hours as a kid.

[verite]

This perfect game came around when I was the perfect age. Probably spent way too many saturday afternoons indoors with friends trying to solve this game. Loved the way 'ethics' played into the game. The world was so deep and complex, even by today's standards. I'm sure for some folks raised on Final Fantasy or Zelda or Warcraft might argue, but for it was : Best game Ever.

[jvemPiRe14]

the sound effects.... so raw.

[ronaldsanfran]

I loved this game when I was a kid, though I didn't get too far. When I entered Magincia I immediately thought those were monsters and never talked to them! lol

[TacomaPaul]

Wow...  summer of '85... too fun. ;-)

[koky5150]

A truly awesome game! In a way, the simple graphics pulled you even farther into the story and your own imagination.

[TheRealTeaRex]

IN ANOTHER WORLD, IN A TIME TO COME is actually a quote from a Paul McCartney solo song ("Tug of War", 1982) as I found out just lately. Although I had the game when it was new in 1985.

[dsbiehl]

Seeing the disk swapping on the emulator brought back some endearing memories.

Back in the 80s when I'd get home from school I'd put the disk in and get it loading Then I'd go to the kitchen and get my snacks ready. When I got back the game would be loaded and ready to go. When it was time to swap disks it was usually time to refresh my drink or get more snacks.

This never did seem to bother me that much and when I hear the chattering of the 1541 it never fails to make me smile.

[mappam]

The music from the opening screen often pops into my head still, 20+ years later.

[loxixedo]

I say, this is the best game ever.

[dcc1974]

Classic! My buddy and I won this game while in HS back in maybe 1991, after at least two years of trying. We even sent in our results and got a letter of congrats from Lord British (Richard Garriott ?)

Loved the music, and the old school graphics allowed much to the imagination, which I prefer.

[hoques1432]

Amazing game. The only thing I don't like about it is the reagent mixing, which leads to the loss of the ability to weave any spell you want at any time (that really rocked about Ultima III), but great anyways. Conversations are cool as well. Regard the "bad graphics" as an "interface to interact with another world through your keyboard and screen" :)

[randy0987]

Is this the one where you are looking for 'reagents' or something?

[TheRealTeaRex]

@randy0987 yep, that's the one. I never found Mandrake Root, actually solved the game without it. HARD. Especially the infamous "Reaper Room" in the Abyss. But Flaming Oil does the trick too... I definitely played this game waaaaay to much when I was a kid....

[Whatever4690]

I have this game still with box

[Scottyl35]

This game had such an ADVENTURE feel to it. It's something I think is lost nowadays with games. To those who were to young to play this game when it was released, these games are harder than what u guys play. No automaping, no quest highlights to make everything easy. Pad and pen baby!

[HardWarUK]

As good on C64 as PC!!!!! Still have my Commodore 64 and sill play cRPG's on it like this, Dragon Wars, Legacy of the Ancients and Wasteland, etc!

[revrondog]

Damn! I haven's seen this for 20+ years. Brings back some memories from my  128. Thanks

[psyjax]

does the music normaly stop when you talk to folks in this version? Poor commodore and it's 64k of RAM :(

[DamoclesAlpha]

@psyjax If I remember correctly, the music stops also in the Amiga version, which loads both the town and discussion related data into memory at once when player enters the location. It probably is deliberate stylistic choice, since the C64 version clearly keeps the music in memory even during the conversation (you can see from the video that the game doesn't load the music after finishing the conversation).

[psyjax]

@DamoclesAlpha Also, I just noticed that the music works along side the sound effects in combat. So you are probably right. I have recently purchased a C64 to play the Ultima games, trying to get a copy of Ultima IV right now.

[storrs19]

This is the game that started me on Ultima. I got it in November 1985 at Target and then picked up Ultima III at Sears in January 1986. From then on I was buying each new Ultima as it came out all the way through Ultima IX. I loved them all but for story I liked Ultima V the best. That was one long and difficult game closely followed by Ultima IV. Thank God for emulators as I can now play all of them again.

[nexusdawn]

Started out on Ultima IV for the amiga, and fell in love with a rich deep world. Next to Ultima V, my favorite version.

Just the intro screen, with the overhead lanscape animation, awakes fond memories.

Youre right about emulators, thankfully we have them. I would suggest however playing the PC versions on an emulator like DOSBox, since they offer the full experiences & content.

c64, amiga, atari, snes, etc versions Have plot, characters, music, graphics, etc removed to save space.

[DamoclesAlpha]

@nexusdawn Actually the first five games in Ultima series were originally developed for Apple II and as far as I know, the versions for other computers didn't usually have any major removals (although the Amiga version of U5 suffered from other problems). Interestingly the PC versions of Ultima II-V went through some technical compromises (most notably the removal of music in III-V and CGA graphics in II-III), although these can be fixed with fanmade patches. (continued)

[DamoclesAlpha]

@nexusdawn (continued from previous post)

Ultima VI was the first game in the series, which was developed specifically for IBM and compatibles. So, while PC may be the best choice for VI-IX (although FM Towns version of VI may be even better than the original PC version), the choice of platform for I-V may be closer to matter of taste.

However, some console versions of the games in Ultima series went through drastic changes/removals. U5 for NES and U7 for SNES are infamous for this.

[sableghost]

@storrs19 Yeah, I loved Ultima 5 best as well. The reunions with all the companions was a really nice touch.

[darkambientt]

you need to change emu

[Anom4le]

emu?

[darkambientt]

i mean emulator ,it's abreviation... i think:)

[VGHell]

They won't make games like this ever again.

Breaking out the graph paper for dungeons, a notebook to write clues down in, and mixing your own potions that was time consuming to manage ingredients and whatnot.

One of the best games ever! It holds a place in my heart until I die.

[xraycat30]

Ah...the memories. This game was epic for it's time. Amazing how much has changed in so little time. I can't imagine a kid today even looking more than once at this game. There was nothing more fun than exploring the world of Ultima when I was in 5th grade.

[VGHell]

It was good times, good times...

[UrbanTiger74]

@VGHell Hell yes it was. Loved this game. Still have the original with box in my garage. LOL!

[Arkhandroid]

thats because kids today are retarded and want spoon fed games.

I played this for the first time when in the 3rd grade. I preferred 5. (had the Ultima Collection)

my friends were unimpressed and went back to their SNES and stuff. lol

[xraycat30]

@Arkhandroid yeah...it's all going to hell

[SiGhast]

@Arkhandroid Unnecessarily offensive there, boy.

[DamoclesAlpha]

@Arkhandroid While Ultima V is better game, Ultima IV may be better choice for a beginner. I personally remember how U5 seemed to be somewhat confusing in the beginning and how it was easy to wander aimlessly around Britannia. After playing U4 the system of U5 made much more sense and the familiarity of setting and elements worked in favour of the story. Importing the character from U4 didn't hurt, either. ;)

[Darkfire9189]

@Arkhandroid yes kids today somehow are dumber. But kids in your time were all geniuses who played deep and complex RPGs and could write giant essays on it. Fuck you.

[Arkhandroid]

@Darkfire9189

Protip: Learn how to perform math. If I was playing Ultima Collection and SNES in like the 3rd grade, how old do you think I am?

Hint: You're an idiot.

[Darkfire9189]

@Arkhandroid Yes, I'm an idiot for not mindlessly hating on modern day gamers like you. I don't care how old you are, it has nothing to do with this. The topic was how older gamers from the land before pretend they're so high and mighty and oh so superior. Hence: fuck you.

[Arkhandroid]

@Darkfire9189 yknow if the numbers in your name indicate your birthday, you're a year younger than me.

lol. way to fail.

Looking back, it may have been 4th grade, not 3rd grade that I played this. Not that it matters.

Modern day gamers still blow. I can tell your angry about me saying that because you know it's true. Now run along and go play a game where it tells you exactly where to go to complete everything.

[Darkfire9189]

@Arkhandroid Indeed I am somewhat upset. Don't get me wrong I find most gamers to be morons. It's never changed. Back in our gen kids would rather play Mario or Sonic and never touched classics like Stonekeep.

>Ignore argument

>insult person

>make silly generalizations about modern day gamers

>why did i waste my time

Also, Ultima VII was the best Ultima game, with Ultima Online in a close second.

[Arkhandroid]

@Darkfire9189 I like generalizing about modern day gamers because the majority of them are idiots.

Gamespot and IGN are basically a bunch of idiots complaining and sucking. That's it.

I like 5 the most for the old style games, and Serpent Isle for the new style games. The first part of Ultima VII was kind of boring. The only thing making it interesting was the forge of virtue

[Bastiest]

@Darkfire9189 We just used to have more time in our hands on solving things on our own and we loved the freedom and puzzles withouth "MEGAMAN! THERE'S A PIT OF SPIKES IN THERE, IF YOU FALL DOWN YOU DIE!!" bullshit.

Possibly newer generation kids would be smarter if Game developers weren't treating them like idiots.

[Darkfire9189]

@Bastiest Only newer generations aren't dumber. it's bullshit like this that makes video gaming no fun. Dehumanizing people because they like something you don't. It's annoying as fucking shit that older gen gamers are so elitist and so stuck up they refuse to treat modern gamers as human. And they see nothing wrong with hating people because of they enjoy a game they don't.

[Bastiest]

@Darkfire9189 Wasn't talking about liking something you don't.

But game devs heavy need to underestimate the gamers intelligence.

[Bastiest]

@Arkhandroid Too much "Yeah, we get it!" in games of these days.

Gotta admit, game developers doesn't even attemp to take gamers intelligence seriously.

You don't even need to attemp to solve the puzzle when game already had told you the answer.

[f1lupo]

spent 2 full damn summers playing this game!..ah 85 and 86 them were the days :-)