Ultima II™ By Lord British Documentation by Mary Taylor Rollo
Disclaimer This document is a word-for-word digital copy of the printed Ultima II manual that came with the original Ultima 2. It is intended to accompany the Ultima 1-6 CD compilation. Origin apparently decided that this document was not necessary for redistribution when putting the CD together. However, there's a wealth of information about the world of Ultima 2 within the pages of this document. I find the exclusion of this document from the Ultima 1-6 CD to be an oversight.
ULTIMA II WELCOME Welcome to the universe of Ultima II. In your package, besides the handbook you’ re reading, you’ ll find a warranty return card, two disks and three program sides, a player reference card, and a cloth time map of the world according to Lord British. THE WARRANTY CARD Sierra On-Line, Inc. wants your continued business. If you fill out the enclosed product registration card and return it to us (we have already paid the postage), you are covered by our warranty.
NOTE: This section originally referred to Apple and Atari setup information. Instead, this section will briefly describe the IBM version of Ultima II that came with the Ultima 1-6 CD and patches necessary to play it properly. Don’ t bother running Ultima II from the CD. Instead, make a directory on your hard drive (U2 is a good name) and copy the contents of the U2 directory on the CD-ROM to your hard drive. Then (from DOS because it’ s easier) go to the Ultima II directory and type: attrib -r *.
THE ATTRIBUTES STRENGTH determines the damage you can inflict on a foe in a fight. Naturally, each foe’ s attributes will also influence the relative success of your attack. AGILITY influences your skill at wielding a weapon; some weapons require a considerable amount of agility in order to use them at all. The higher your points the more agile you are. Of course, you would never think of using it this way, good agility also increases your chances of success at stealing.
points because males are usually stronger. If you choose to make it a female, your character will gain charisma points. Male Female +5 +10 Strength Charisma All you character needs now is a name, and the only stipulation here is that the name be no longer than Rumpelstiltskin. If you try to make it longer, you might upset the program. Look! You have a new friend. He/she will become your faithful comrade in arms. He/she will do your bidding, fight your fights and find your treasures.
P)ass Q)uit R)eady S)teal T)ransact U)nlock V)iew X)it Y)ell Z)tatus Space Bar offering to has nothing to give in return, it will accept your offer as a generous gift. Allows one game turn to pass without doing anything. However, others will not pass their turns. Pressing the spacebar accomplishes the same thing. Saves the game; allows you to continue, or turn off your computer. When you turn it on again, you’ ll pick up where you left off.
Prayer tower or dungeon. Calls for divine intervention to destroy your foe. Results simulate reality. SPELLS ONLY WIZARDS CAN USE: Magic Missile Offensive magic weapon with strength geared to the level of the caster. Blink Teleports you randomly anywhere on the same level. Kill Attempts to obliterate your foe by magic. In the universe of Ultima, acquiring spells is simple: you simply purchase them at the appropriate stores. Their cost rises as their power increases.
If either hits or food reaches zero, you’ re out of luck. Hits can be replenished, but you must discover how to accomplish that. Food is pretty easy to replace; all it takes is money to buy it and a store that sells it. Look for food stands in villages. WHAT YOU GET The third line, “experience,”increases as you fight. Every encounter has the potential to add to your experience and most do; occasionally you’ ll take on a foe who’ s a real wimp and get no experience from it though.
Transacting is also how you communicate with storekeepers to make purchases. Most such transactions are self-evident, but a few use abbreviations for products, and you may need clarification. So it’ s time to identify weapons and armour; then lets meet in the pub. CHOOSE YOUR POISON The weapons dealer will ask you to choose between 1)DA 2)MA 3)AX 4)BO 5)SW 6)GR 7)LI 8)PH. These represent respectively, dagger, mace, ax, bow, sword, greatsword, light sword, and phaser.
Don’ t wait, attack! There are no friendly wayfarers in the countryside. There’ s some timing to work on in battle. You may press [A] for “attack”as soon as you’ ve finished your last turn, but don’ t press a direction until you’ re asked for it. If you do, the computer will pay attention only to the last command and try to move in the direction of the monster, which is, of course, blocked; then you miss your turn in that all you get for it is the message that you can’ t go that way.
ON THE TOWN Learn to make your way around the land and then through time. Seek out towns, villages, and castles and talk to everyone. Pay attention to the items you get from the monsters you overcome; look at your “ztatus”often. Learn where to get food and hit points and figure out the best places and methods for getting the most money. As you gather tactical information and become reasonably comfortable with your environment, you’ ll begin picking up clues about your quest.
Now, of course, it is possible in all times. THE TIME MAP The few returning time travelers tell us that the time corridors are connected with five distinct time periods, but not one of them has been able to determine, with a semblance of precision, exactly when or how it happened. Their experiences do appear to confirm the existence of intelligent life forms in many eras previously thought to be supporting of primitive life only, or no life at all.
and all that led to it. Note that much of the land mass has been wiped out, especially the key centers and most troublesome hotspots of the great Sino-RussoAmerican Era. The time doors of all time periods are shown on a map of the world as it is in A.D. Accurate maps of most other times do not yet exist. You will have to extrapolate the location of other time period doors as they would appear in their own time periods.
THE NATIVES OF ULTIMA II EVERYWHERE ORC More pest than peril, the not-bright orc is the prolific product of a foolish experimental genetic mating of human and boar. THIEF An ordinary human pickpocket, the thief would rather snitch than fight. He may take something very important from you. Always check your inventory (Z) after being confronted by a thief. FIGHTER Humanoid and strong, fighters carry something you need.
SEA MONSTER If it weren’ t so big it might be a swan— until it takes after your frigate. It will also attack you while you are on land if you are near water. IN TOWNS, VILLAGES, AND CASTLES GUARDS Chosen for their brawn, guards are mindlessly loyal to their governments; they’ re generally harmless unless you break the rules— they’ re extremely strong. MERCHANTS Unarmed and mild, the grassroots of Ultima II, merchants rarely fight.
PLANES No jets in Ultima II, but these little singe prop jobbies are just the ticket for hotfooting it around the world and through time— if you’ re prepared. ROCKETS Probably by the time you find one, surely by the time you figure out how to procure one, you won’ t need a manual to deal with the situation. It takes proper armour to launch one and survive. ULTIMA II TERRAIN Throughout the Ultima II universe, five natural terrains and two created terrains exist.
WALLS Impenetrable. If you’ re flying and so much as touch one, the Great Mover of Ultima II assumes you want to get out of town and escorts you there. VILLAGES In Countryside villages live the simple folk, selling their simple wares to wayfarers and sharing their lore. TOWNS With the greater sophistication of a cosmopolitan atmosphere come the products of human innovation; the sword, the mail, and the tankard of ale.
ULTIMA II GALACTIC MAP OF KNOWN SPACE * A B C D E F G H I Xeno Sun 4 Mercury 5 Venus 3 Earth 6 Mars 6 Jupiter 1 Saturn 2 Uranus 9 Neptune 4 Pluto 0 Yako 4 4 3 6 2 3 8 4 0 1 Zabo 4 5 4 6 3 4 5 6 5 4 Life N ? N Y Y ? N Y ? Y Terrain None Water, swamp Water, swamp, grass All varieties Mountains Water, grass Water, grass Forest, grass Grass Mountains Space travel continues, and the courageous and creative space explorer may discover unknown planets to add to this map.
THE STORY OF MINAX When the archevil Mondain was finally overcome by a gallant knight (was it you?), rumors abounded. The most fearful one was that, at the time of his demise, Mondain had been training an apprentice, a protegee with amazing powerful, natural, magical abilities. The rumor was squelched when colleagues of his conqueror entered his castle and found no sign of anyone. Life during Mondain’ s time of power was terrible; never had a prince of darkness wielded so brutal a stick.
For Minax was not content to spread evil among the good, causing misery and pain; she preferred to sow seeds of evil in the good, and thus set the good against good leaving no person untouched. Destruction abounded and guilt and self-hatred tainted the Earth.
Richard Garriott Keith Zabalaoui Atari Conversion: Chuckles Game Design: Helen Garriott Owen Garriott Howard Makler Mary Taylor Rollo Inspiration: Susan Davis Debra Del Nero Linda Garriott Christine Hanson Sherri McAdams Special thanks to all personalities found within Ultima II. Author’ s Note: I spent more than 14 months creating the Ultima II universe. If you have half the fun playing Ultima as I had writing it, my time was well spent. Wishing you wonderful weeks of fantasy.
Ultima II™ Quick Reference KEY LETTER COMMANDS A)ttack B)oard C)ast D)escend E)nter F)ire J)ump K)limb L)aunch/Land M)agic N)egate O)ffer S)teal T)ransact U)nlock V)iew W)ear X)it P)ass Q)uit R)eady G)et H)yperspace I)gnite Y)ell Z)tatus MAGIC SPELLS Clerics and Wizards 1. Light 2. Ladder Down 3. Ladder Up Clerics Spells 4. Passwall 5. Surface 6. Prayer Wizards Spells 7. Magic Missile 8. Blink 9.
