- 15.1 U9 General Questions:
-
15.1.1 | Q: | When will this game be out? | | A: | It has already been released in the United States, and has made it to many other nations. If it hasn't made it to your location by now, it probably won't be available there. | -
15.1.2 | Q: | Where do I find more information about UA? | | A: | The official Ultima Ascension website isn't updated often, but has a little information. <http://www.ultima-ascension.com/> At present it would be better to check for current information on the Ultima Ascension Online Community web boards. There is still some information there although Origin shut down the boards just before they planned on releasing the European version. <http://boards.owo.com/> For some years the best source of information about Ultima IX: Ascension was the FAQ originally compiled by Sagacious Dragon, and later by Sith Dragon. Now Terilem Dragon has gained permission to maintain it. This is the first place to look for any U9 information. <http://www.powerup.com.au/~gjdanger/Terilem/faqindex.html> Another good news site is Terilem Dragon's site. It also has the screenshot archive that was formerly on Sith Dragon's site. <http://www.powerup.com.au/~gjdanger/Terilem/> | -
15.1.3 | Q: | Is there going to be a special edition? | | A: | Yes. The Dragon Edition is available via internet ordering. It's also available in shops in North America, contrary to the information available before release. The Dragon Edition may or may not be available for retail purchase in other countries - it depends on the local distributers, who may cut down on the contents to save costs. Note: There is an Asia-Pacific version of the Dragon Edition, featuring a silver Ankh but only having a paper map, not a cloth one. | -
15.1.4 | Q: | Where can I order a copy, either of the regular release or of the Dragon Edition of Ultima Ascension? | | A: | There is a list of online stores put together by Neocryte. <http://ultima9.8m.com/preorder.html> Note that it is possible to make international purchases from the Electronic Arts store, but you have to email them for details. | -
15.1.5 | Q: | Where are some good sites relating to this game? | | A: | The Wayward Avatar has a walkthrough and a lot of other information. <http://www.rpgplanet.com/ultima9/> | -
15.1.6 | Q: | I've heard about replacement CDs being sent out. When do they arrive? | | A: | Origin has promised that those who register the game before March 21, 2000 will be sent replacement CDs with the latest patch and a debugged installer. As of the 17th of March people were reporting that they had received their CD, along with a free copy of Ultima Online: The Second Age. I would expect international shipping to take longer though. | -
15.1.7 | Q: | I did register before March 31, and still haven't got a new CD. How do I get EA to respond to me? | | A: | By this point you should have if you were going to get one without making a fuss to Electronic Arts about the matter. So it's time to do that. Start by emailing them at support@ea.com with a short note about your problem. This will get you a form letter back with a whole lot of useful tips for getting the game to run and about bugs and other problems. This is where the fun begins. Reply to the message you got back. Snip everything except the stuff about what to do if you haven't got the replacement CD, and describe your problem. Be sure to note that you did register before the March 31 time limit as well as the fact that you haven't got the CD yet. Now wait for a few days for any response. You might actually get one saying that the CD is on its way. Or you might not. In that case send another reply to the original tech support response back to Electronic Arts. Once again only put the relevant info in, making sure that the fact you registered is noted. However also send a copy to the Electronic Arts Warranty Department at cswarranty@ea.com along with a note saying that you did not receive a response the last time you emailed the Support Department. This should get a reply fairly quickly, from one or the other of the two departments. | | - 15.2 U9 Gameplay Questions:
-
15.2.1 | Q: | How can I buy and sell items? | | A: | When the screen showing the items to be included in the transaction appears, click on the small '+' and '-' signs near the prices to alter the numbers of each item included in the transaction. When you are finished click on the red seal to make the trade. | -
15.2.2 | Q: | How do I get through the second locked door in Despise? | | A: | Cast the Ignite spell on the torch that isn't lit. | -
15.2.3 | Q: | How do I get the key behind a locked portcullis? | | A: | Look in the room opposite at the Attractor. Walk around the back of it, then turn it on. | -
15.2.4 | Q: | Where is the Red Kiran Stone? | | A: | Read the book in the chamber where the stones are to be placed. This opens a passage leading past a fountain into an underground lake. In the lake there is a lever underwater near a waterfall. Pull the lever and the Stone will be revealed. | -
15.2.5 | Q: | I have the Glyph, so why won't Raven accept it? | | A: | Raven requires the Rune, not the Glyph, While the Glyph was the Rune once, you have to restore it. That means you need to cleanse the Shrine, using the Sigil and the Glyph, then take the newly reformed Rune to Raven. | -
15.2.6 | Q: | How do I bind spells? | | A: | There is a mage outside the magic shop in Britain who can help. The procedure is simple. Put the Scroll with the spell into the center of a binding pentagram. Put the correct reagents down with the scroll (note that the printed manuals have the odd typo, but the ingame spellbook has the correct listings) then cast Ignite on the pentagram, not the individual candles. If all is correct you will be asked to type in the words of the spell. Do so and you will bind the spell. If you get the response that the 'Circle is not open' then you are trying to bind a spell from a higher level than you are allowed to use currently. The level of spells you can bind is equal to the number of Shrines you have cleansed. | -
15.2.7 | Q: | How do I deal with the New Magincia quest to get the Sigil from Katrina? | | A: | There are multiple problems with this quest. The Alpha Wolf is in a dome on the southern island. It's bigger than the other wolves. The Vulture's nest is found by climbing onto then ascending a leaning pillar near where you meet Katrina. The 'campfire' at the top is actually the nest. You need to cast Ignite on it to get rid of the vultures. Sometimes the Ignite spell will not work, so you need to try it again. If you have done both these things then Katrina should give you the Sigil. However a bug corrected only in the 1.07 patch means that quite often she will not realise the quest is done. To avoid it you should do the following: 1) Kill the Alpha Wolf. 2) Ignite the Vulture's Nest. 3) Go to the Shrine of Humility and meditate. This sends you to a new quest area. | -
15.2.8 | Q: | Where is the Green Statue in Hythloth? | | A: | After entering the dungeon proper from the cavern you appear in, take the first passage to the right. On the far wall is a slider which you use. This opens a door into another passage, at the end of which is a chest. The green Statue is in the chest, but look carefully as it blends into the bottom very well. | -
15.2.9 | Q: | I've just appeared in prison after heading back to see Samhayne. My stuff's all gone too. What happened? | | A: | You've missed a cutscene, something that seems to occur a fair bit with this particular scene. After you returned to Samhayne, Blackthorn appeared, captured you with spells, and stole the Codex as well. You've been thrown into his dungeon, Deceit. For more info on how to get the scene working, check out Question 15.3.3: How do I get the videos to play? | -
15.2.10 | Q: | So how do I get my stuff back after Blackthorn got me? | | A: | When you have escaped Deceit and cleansed the Shrine of Honesty, Raven will meet you at the docks to return your stuff. | -
15.2.11 | Q: | Where is the Staff of Wisdom? I've searched the cave where Tydus sent me, but can't find it. | | A: | Remember who sent Duncan to kill you? Do you really trust any mage in Moonglow to tell the whole truth? Go back to Tydus and he will send you to another cave. The inhabitant is quite a bit more honest than Tydus... | -
15.2.12 | Q: | I fell out of the moving boat. Now what? | | A: | It has been reported that firing arrows at the boat can sometimes get it moving again. Then you can get ahead of it on it's circuit of Moonglow and jump back on. Otherwise I hope you have a recently saved game. | -
15.2.13 | Q: | Where is the Sigil of Justice? I can't find anything NE of Yew. | | A: | It's a case of bad instructions. :-( The Sigil is found a long way EAST of Yew. Follow the long path leading from Yew to Wrong. Near the eastern end you will see a signpost with a green Justice banner on it. Follow the path behind the banner up the mountain to the one who can give you the Sigil. | -
15.2.14 | Q: | Where is Vasagralem? I've looked under every bridge near Yew. | | A: | Origin's badly vague instructions strike again. Vasagralem can be found under the bridge between the mainland and the Dungeon Wrong. That is a long way east of Yew... | -
15.2.15 | Q: | Where is Gringolet? | | A: | Take a swim in the lake with the waterfall by the Gypsy encampment. There is a cave in the water, which you can swim through. Near the far end, on a ledge above the water is the Gringolet. | -
15.2.16 | Q: | Why won't Dupre appear at the Shrine of Honor? I've put the Ashes on the altar, but nothing happens. | | A: | Some people have reported that it takes a long time for him to appear. A little patience may be in order. Unfortunately people have also reported that if you get the Ashes before being told you need to place them on the Altar then Dupre will not appear. In this case an earlier saved game might be required. | -
15.2.17 | Q: | Where is the back entrance of Destard? | | A: | It's up in the mountains behind the village of Dawn, near the Column. The area is covered in snow and protected by ice hounds. The actual entrance is a white square formation on the ground at 25°45' South, 44° 47' West. You can open it with repeated fireball spells directed at it's center. | -
15.2.18 | Q: | Where is the shipwreck mentioned in Jordan's journal? | | A: | The shipwreck is on the outer reef, just south of the palisade protecting the entrance to Valoria. The exact coordinates are 80°'40 S, 53°0' W. However there is an unusual problem here. When tested, the shipwreck was not present until after the Avatar had been to Destard. Before then the beach was empty, but afterwards the ship was there. | -
15.2.19 | Q: | How do I get into the altar room in Destard? | | A: | You have undoubtedly pressed the buttons on the pillars to each side of the blocked doorway. Now go into the small chambers to each side of the entrance and push the buttons that are above the doorway. | -
15.2.20 | Q: | Where is the Sigil of Valor? I've killed the daemon, but it isn't there. | | A: | Did you find the Book of Demonology and recruit assistance to deal with the three daemons? If not then you've hit a bug. The daemon should be invulnerable until you get help, but in the unpatched game it is possible to kill it, so the Dagger of Valor can't be retrieved. You need to reload a saved game... | -
15.2.21 | Q: | OK. Now how do I kill the daemon at the Shrine of Valor? Now it's invulnerable even when I've got help. | | A: | This is a bug in one of the patches (1.07). In contrast to the previous problem where the Daemon could be killed before the plot dictated, the daemon now can not be killed by most players. You can either install the v1.18 patch which is supposed to fix the problem or deinstall U9, reinstall the game without the patch then play out the scene. | -
15.2.22 | Q: | How do I retrieve the Book of Truth? I gave the wrong answer the first time. | | A: | Enter the Well of Souls and talk to the spirit standing just outside the Temple exit in the spirit world. This is a former thief named Calan, and if you can convince him of the error of his ways he will tell you of the Book of Truth at the Lycaeum, and warn you that you need to face unpleasant truths about yourself in order to read it. After he vanishes you should be able to go back to the Lycaeum and give the correct answer of 'I am responsible' to the Oracle in order to get the Book. If this does not work you have a bug, and either need to reload from before you answered the question, or find a saved game where the Book has been retrieved. | -
15.2.23 | Q: | Where exactly is Serpent's Hold? | | A: | There is a small island marked on the map southeast of Trinsic, at 75° 58' south, 7° 1' east. Note that a bug with the sextant is likely to result in it saying North instead of South. The island is also distinguished by being only sand with a ruined wall on it, and being guarded by a hostile ghost. Standing on the island, look southwest into the water to see a ruined tower below the surface. The entrance to Serpent's Hold is a hole in the former roof of the tower. Once in the passage, you need to swim down it and get through the force field quickly before you run out of breath. A blue potion or the Mana Breath spell helps here. The force field only blocks the passage of air and water, not the Avatar. | -
15.2.24 | Q: | How do I free Shamino? I've done what he's told me, but nothing happens. | | A: | There are two possible causes of this problem. The first is that you have placed the three items around the statue on Skara Brae, rather than around Shamino's real body in the Well of Souls. The dialogue is a bit ambiguous there. If you have placed the items correctly around Shamino's real body then you probably haven't ignited all the braziers in the cavern beforehand. This is supposed to be mentioned in his Journal on the table in the room, but it has been reported that the instruction was omitted from the German translation of the game. | -
15.2.25 | Q: | How do I get to the Isle of the Avatar to summon Pyros? | | A: | After you release Shamino, he is supposed to tell you that you need to go to the Isle to cast the ritual to summon Pyros. Unfortunately there is a bad bug. While some people have found that if they avoid speaking to people inside the Well of Souls they can avoid it, others have been forced to use other means to get around the problem. Some have sailed to the Isle of the Avatar manually, then used the Teleport spell to get past the force field preventing access. Others have used the Fly cheat (see 15.4.1). Origin representatives suggested the latter course until the final patch (v1.18) was released. Reports suggest it is at least partially caused by the 1.07 Patch. Some people have found that by reinstalling the game, then replaying the Well of Souls sequence with the unpatched game they can avoid the bug. The v1.18 patch fixes the problem for most people, under certain circumstances. Provided that the Avatar has not entered the Well of Souls, then the patch is supposed to prevent the problem occuring. This seems to be the case for most people, but not all... Good luck. | -
15.2.26 | Q: | Where do I get a red candle for the Summon Pyros ritual? | | A: | If you missed the one in Dungeon Destard, there is a candle on the Isle of the Avatar. It is in a small box just underwater near the south end of the beach down the east side of the Isle, at 87° 18'S, 57° 41'E. | -
15.2.27 | Q: | I've just cleansed a shrine, but I can't find my Rune or Sigil. | | A: | This is a comparitively new bug, having first appeared several years after the release of the game. It is conjectured that the faster computers give trouble to the games physics engine. The Rune and Sigil are high in the air above the Shrine. Possible methods of regaining them are to use the fly cheat to fly up to them, build a bridge of objects to jump up to them, or if you can see them, to use the Gust spell to nudge them and make the game realise that they are in the air with no support and cause them to fall. | -
15.2.28 | Q: | I'm at the end, but where's the Crook of Humility gone? | | A: | A number of people have asked this question, uncertain just what they did with the Crook. There have been enough similar questions to give cause to suspect the operation of a bug in the vanishing of the essential item. If you have lost the Crook and don't know where to start looking for it, there is a set of cheats which can help. Open up the 'default.kmp' file in your U9 directory, and under cheat commands add the lines 'ctrl+1 = spells_0-2', 'ctrl+2 = spells_3-5', and 'ctrl+3 = spells_6-8'. Save the file then run the game. Your next task is to drop everything you are carrying, from within the backpack, on your toolbelt, and being worn. Then use any one of the new commands, drop any of the new equipment that you feel you don't need, and pick up your old items. You should of course have kept the new Crook of Humility. | -
15.2.29 | Q: | What are the weapons damage values and the armour protection values? | | A: | There is a list compiled from the Official Guide online. <http://www.ultimainfo.net/Downloads/U9Statistics.txt> [Thanks to MizzTV and Henri Enkleweis for posting the data to rgcus.] | -
15.2.30 | Q: | Oh God. That was the plot? Is there anything to make it better? | | A: | You might try Grandor Dragon's Dialogue patch. It changes the text so that it is more connected to the history of the Ultima series rather than ignoring it. <http://www.fansforultima.com/u9downloads.htm> | | - 15.3 U9 Technical Problems:
-
15.3.1 | Q: | How do I get this game to run? | | A: | Good question. I had to manually shut down most processes to get the game going, notably including the virus checkers. There is an unofficial technical FAQ at <http://www.gulbsoft.de/faq.latest.html> There is also Origin's own official site, which may also be of some assistance. <http://www.ultima-ascension.com/support.html> Make sure you have set the game's colour depth and resolution to match those of your desktop. Cancel all processes running in the background, especially virus checkers. Use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to bring up the 'Close Program' dialogue box and cancel everything except 'Systray' and 'Explorer'. This gives more memory for the game to play with. If you're using a D3D card, download and install the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft. <http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.asp> | -
15.3.2 | Q: | What do I do about an 'Invalid Pixel Format Error'? | | A: | The usual cause is that you are using texture files incompatible with your video card, Make sure you are using 16 bit uncompressed textures. The compressed textures appear to be designed for only a very small range of cards, not including (for example) the GeForce. | -
15.3.3 | Q: | How do I get the videos to play? | | A: | The first thing to do if the video clips aren't playing is to open the file 'options.ini' in the Ultima 9 directory, and check the line 'MoviePath=C:\Ultima9\Movies' and check that the directory given is the correct one where the movies have been stored. The next thing to check if you are playing them off the CD is that you have the correct U9 CD in the drive. The game just doesn't play them and gives no other error if you have put in the installation CD instead of the game CD. Make sure you have the latest version of the Windows Media Player from Microsoft. Older versions don't always have the correct codecs to play the more recent format used in the U9 movies. <http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/Download/default.asp> If you have a DVD player, try removing the software and drivers for it. In some cases incompatibilities result in the game crashing instead of movies playing. | -
15.3.4 | Q: | Is there an addon for Ultima 9? | | A: | No. It seems likely that there won't be an addon, as Origin has stated that U9 will be their last single player game for some time, and since the release of the last patch the team has been assigned to other projects. | -
15.3.5 | Q: | Are there any patches for this game? | | A: | Yes. Origin has released three patches to date. The first one is v1.05. It fixed some bugs and improved D3D support. The second was v1.07. It fixed more bugs, but went out of it's way to create new problems in the plot. The third (and final?) patch is v1.18. It is supposed to fix still more problems and finish the D3D optimisation. However many people are finding that bugs (including plot ones) are not fixed, or graphics displayed in D3D mode are worse than in the unpatched game. Game speed results range from no improvement to significant improvements. Good luck with it. Also note that games saved using the latest patch are somewhat incompatible with the unpatched game, although there are no problems loading older saved games after the most recent patch. Patch 1.18 <ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/ua/patch/u9patch118.exe> Some people have graphics problems caused by the later patches. If you have not got the latest patched version on CD (v1.18) you could try using the earlier patch versions to see if they make the game run better. While Origin has removed them, they are still available from sites such as GameSpot. <http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/downloads/0,11095,53709,00.html> There is a completely unofficial version 1.19 patch which gives further improvements to the D3D support and fixes other bugs, in particular the 'Too many objects' saved game loading error. It needs to have the prior patches installed in order to work. <http://www.fansforultima.com/u9downloads.htm> | -
15.3.6 | Q: | How do I check the framerates I'm getting? | | A: | You can open up the file 'options.ini' in your U9 directory, and find the line that says 'DisplayMetrics=0'. Change the line to read 'DisplayMetrics=1' and save the file. When you next load the game you will have a framerate display at the top of the screen. This overwrites the weapon and armour display bars at the top, so is best used simply for testing. There is also a saved game set up as a standardised test for framerates. Instructions are in the zip file. <http://old.fileplanet.com/dl/dl.asp?RPGPlanet/ultima9/fpstest501.zip> | -
15.3.7 | Q: | I've installed the game, but now the CD isn't recognized. | | A: | Welcome to the wonderful world of CD copy protection schemes. Some people's drives just won't work with SafeDisk or other copy protection methods, even if they do have a legal copy of the game. There are NoCD cracks for U9 on the GameCopyWorld site. The game actually seems to run faster using a cracked version for many people. <http://www.gamecopyworld.com/> | -
15.3.8 | Q: | Where did the status bars go? | | A: | There are keys set in the default keymap to toggle them on and off for the purpose of taking screenshots. Shift E toggles the weapons and armour bars at the top of the screen, and Shift Q toggles the interface tools and health/mana status bars at the bottom. If you have altered the keymap file to reassign these functions, you need to use the new keys to toggle the displays. | | - 15.4 U9 and Cheating:
-
15.4.1 | Q: | How do I use cheats? | | A: | The cheats that are currently known are all keyboard initiated. You bind them to specific key combinations in the file 'default.kmp' as you do any other command. The known functions are listed: toggle_avatar_fly toggle_avatar_invulnerable pass_one_hour unpass_one_hour sunrise_sunset pass_one_minute unpass_one_minute toggle_sun toggle_wind toggle_storms toggle_avatar_fast recharge_mana fill_spellbook The following functions are noted as doing unpleasant things to the inventory when used. They reset it back to the beginning of the game, then add quest items. spells_0-2 spells_3-5 spells_6-8 [Some of these cheats were found on Spanky's Ascension Spoiler Ho-down site, now defunct.] | -
15.4.2 | Q: | Are there any other useful tips? | | A: | Yes. When binding spells, once the candles are ignited you can remove the reagents and the scroll and put them back into your backpack for later use. Don't just move them onto the floor or they might still disappear. Also if you are training at the arena in Bucanneer's Den or are captured by the guards in Wrong while you have a full inventory you get given an extra bag so that your weapon (and shield) will fit. This bug is infinitely exploitable. | | |