
Main
Contents
- Plot
- Features
- Running U8 on modern machines
- Remakes
- This Guide
- Other Guides
- Music
- Pictures (in-game screenshots, Lost Vale pictures, box cover scans and never-seen-before screenshots)
- Credits
- Disclaimer
Plot
The plot in Ultima VIII - Pagan is probably one of the best. It features a desperate attempt of trying to escape the Guardian's world, after having been banished there by the Guardian. With few allies, the Avatar must make his way through numerous trials in order to learn the magic of the four elemental titans and finally overthrow them to use their power to form a Black Gate that can take him away from the world of Pagan.
Read more plots and reviews here:
- Auric's Ultima Moongates have a brief explanation of what the Avatar's adventure in Pagan is all about.
- Terilem Dragon's Ultima Webpage contains a more detailed explanation of the Ultima 8 plot.
- Prescient Dragon's Complete Guide to Ultima 8 features a very good introduction to Ultima 8.
- The Dragon's Ultima Page features a brief plot explaining the situation and the technical comparisons to older Ultimas.
- Gamespot: The Ultima Legacy has a plot among its summary of Ultima 8 and its comparison to the rest of the series.
- MobyGames has the plot and description of Ultima 8.
The above listed links are external, and thus I hold no power over their content. Be warned that there may be mistakes in the plots at the above links.
Features
Gone is the inability to enter water, as well as the necessity to eat. The Avatar now is totally alone, but is capable of jumping and climbing. This game features numerous trials over water, in which a fall would be fatal. Many people complained that this game required too much saving and reloading because of various attempts required to overcome each obstacle, so a patch was issued to allow the player to enjoy the plot more.
Running U8 on modern machines
Ultima 8 is one of the hardest games to get to run on modern computers. You can try Ultima 8 in Windows to make it run, but it is not guaranteed to run. If it does, it may crash often, so be warned. I also recommend keeping a backup copy of the "Ultima8" folder, as sometimes, in my case at least, it crashes and does something that does not allow me to run the game any more from the particular executable. So what I do is copy the savegames to my backup folder and run it from there, throwing away the old folder and making a new copy.
Places where to download Ultima 8 in Windows:
- Here from the Ultima 8 in Windows homepage
- Here from Arcana Dragon's Ultima Files
- Here from Ganesh's Bootstrike
Remakes
The project currently aiming to remake Ultima VIII - Pagan is Ultima VIII - Exile. This remake will be using the Neverwinter Nights engine, so you will need that to play it. I am on the team, so if you have any questions, you can mail me. The website is kindly hosted by Exodus Machine.
This Guide
This Guide consists of:
- Main - contains introductory information, as well as places to find utilities, music and other things.
- Walkthrough - a guide to finishing the game along with useful help that is not found on other guides. There are also links to other such walkthroughs that may help.
- General - contains information about times of day, directions and attributes.
- Items - a complete guide to the items of Pagan, including weapons, armour, special items and tips on stealing.
- Bestiary - Information about the various creatures inhabiting Pagan.
- People - Information about the inhabitants of Pagan.
- Writings - Books and scrolls
- Dialogues - NPC dialogues and scripted scenes.
- Maps & Places - Maps and information about places.
- Magic - a guide to spellcasting.
- Landscape - information about your surroundings that can either help or harm you.
- Utilities - about the programs used on Ultima 8, such as map viewers and shapes viewers.
- Technical - technical information.
- Patch - about the patch.
- Opinions - what people think about the game, and you can submit your own opinion.
- Mistakes - Bugs and plot mistakes.
- The Lost Vale - about the add-on for Ultima 8 that was scrapped.
- Fun - fun things to do and find out.
- Hidden Things - things hidden from common sight.
- Omissions - explains what was left out of the game.
- Cheating - all about cheating.
Other Guides
Other sites, or sections of sites, dedicated to Ultima VIII - Pagan can be found at:
- The Complete Guide to Ultima VIII - Pagan, part of Prescient Dragon's Hint Network, features probably the best and most complete guide to Ultima 8.
- Pentology: Ultima VIII Cluebook, hosted by Kravlor Dragon, contains information from the Ultima 8 Cluebook.
- The Other Codex: Ultima VIII - Pagan, part of The Other Codex, contains information about Ultima 8 as well as links to more info.
- Avocet Dragon's Journey to Sosaria features an Ultima 8 page. It is contained within frames, so I cannot link to it directly.
- Ganesh's Bootstrike features a few pages dedicated to Ultima 8.
Music
You may download the music of Ultima 8 from one of the following locations:
- Here from Sergorn Dragon's La Legende d' Ultima
- Here from Ganesh's Bootstrike
- Here from Telavar's Mysterious Sosaria
- Archives 1 and 2 from Blackshadow Dragon's Ultima Warehouse
- Here from the World of Ultima
- Here from the Ultime Web Archive
On the subject of music, the answers to Evil_Freak Dragon's quiz (number 5 to be specific) mention that the music of the Shrine of the Ancient Ones seems to be a modified version of the Kotl theme of The Savage Empire.
Pictures
If you want to see pictures of the game in action, consider the following links:
- The Ultima VIII Graphics and Pictures on the Ultima Web Archive include the zipped Lost Vale screenshots (which are also available in a gallery on Dino's Guide to Ultima VIII - Pagan), and also some endgame pictures as well as the Ultima VIII title.
- There are 52 Ultima VIII screenshots on the World of Ultima.
- Avocet Dragon's Journey to Sosaria has a nice gallery, featuring all sorts of screenshots, including pictures of the titans.
I found a little trick how to take your own screenshots of the game. First, run Ultima 8. Press the start button on your keyboard to go back to your desktop, and Ultima 8 should be frozen. Now click on Ultima 8 on your taskbar to go back to the frozen game, and press Print Screen on your keyboard. The screenshot is taken, now to paste it somewhere. Open your favourite graphics program and press Ctrl + V to paste the picture.
I know this works for me, but I don't know if it will work for anyone else because I don't know of anybody who tested it. Alternatively, to take screenshots, you can grab a screenshot program from the World of Ultima's Files. I haven't tried it myself.
If you would like to see scans of the box cover, visit the following places:
- The opening page for the Guardian Trilogy at the Ultima Web Archive has a small picture of the box cover
- Auric's Ultima Moongates has one big picture of the box cover
- You can find a picture of the box cover of every Ultima 8 release at the Ultima 8 Collectibles page at Underworld Dragon's Notable Ultima
- Check out a picture with the box, diskettes, manuals and all! Thanks Hacki for pointing it out
There are a couple of Ultima 8 screenshots on Gamespot: The Ultima Legacy which don't seem to feature anywhere in the game:
- The picture of the Avatar in trouble shows two Vardions, among other beasts and people. The Avatar has his back to the wall and is in big trouble.
- The picture of the Great Pentagram, if you notice, has all five Acolytes around it. If you think about it, the summoning of Pyros happened after either Bane or Vardion was killed and the Avatar took her/his place.
Credits
I must thank the following people:
- Xe Dragon, who runs the HRUMP, for providing me with a world map
- Ivor Lungaro Mifsud (a local friend) for scanning my map of the forcefield maze in the Hall of the Mountain King
- Edbgon for the webspace
Disclaimer
All contents, including graphics and text information, are copyright by me unless otherwise stated. The only graphic that comes from another source is the world map which was given to me by Xe Dragon who runs the HRUMP, and is therefore used with permission. All content in this site may not be reproduced in any way without my permission.
© Daniel D'Agostino 2002-2003