Once again not AR related :)

Indeed I did find the samurai sword. I wholeheartedly agree that KF1 was
much better than KF2. Largely it was because KF2 limited the playing field
to 2 dimensions to make the automap work. KF1 with no automap had corridors
and caves in complex overlapping layers making the environment very rich and
fun to explore.

If you missed it Kingsfield IV came out on the Playstation2 about 3 years
ago. It follows quite closely in the footsteps of KF1 but the graphics are
far far better (not to mention the framerate is almost always perfectly
smooth). The feeling of immersion and the level design truly stand out.
The only complaint I have about the aesthetics in KFIV is that the
environments feel a bit claustrophobic. Wide open spaces don't have the
appearance of being expansive enough. That is a shortcoming I felt in Arx
Fatalis as well.
http://kingsfield.agetec.com

BTW if you are wondering why there is no mention of Kingsfield 3 it is
because the real KF1 was never released outside of Japan. Here's a list.

KF1 Japan= Not released U.S./Europe
KF2 Japan= KF1 U.S./Europe
KF3 Japan= KF2 U.S./Europe
KF4 Japan= KF4 U.S./Europe

That should keep everybody nice and confused :P

Thank you,
-Darryl Giors

Mindsync Post Production
www.MindsyncPost.com
9507 Olema St.
Temple City, CA 91780

Voice: (626) 254-1590
Cell: (626) 665-1590
darryl--mindsyncpost.com

Digital Video Editing Post
effects, titling, compositing, sound for picture
DVD, Tape & Web-based entertainment.
Computer system service and repair.

-----Original Message-----
From: cdabladerunner--aol.com [cdabladerunner--aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: Ultima Underworld I & II


I am a big fan of the kingsfield games I liked 1 better than 2 Did you
ever find the samurais sword on his grave?

-----Original Message-----
From: Darryl Giors <darryl--mindsyncpost.com>
Sent: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 18:00:31 -0700
Subject: RE: Ultima Underworld I & II

I played through Arx Fatalis a little over a year ago. It was fun but
I had
a few complaints about it after playing games such as Morrowind and the
Kingsfield series on PS1/PS2. I can draw parallels between Arx and the
other games mentioned from experience but I never did play the UU
games.
Perhaps I felt that playing Arx would clue me in to what I had been
missing.
Ultimately I felt it was a mixed bag.

Thigs I loved about Arx:
Single player character RPG. I dislike party RPGs in general and the
focus
on a single character was nice.
Immersive environments (similar to Kingsfield)
Huge variety of food and herbal items.
Ability to grind certain items into powder which then could be made
into
potions (however much more limited than the Alchemy in Morrowind).
Symbol based magic system (hard to learn but "writing" runes with the
mouse
to cast spells gives the magic system a "hands on" feel missing in
almost
every other game)

Things I disliked about Arx:
No random encounters (this made a cieling to how far you could level
up plus
once areas were cleared there was not much fun in revisiting them)
No outdoor environments making day/night cycles and weather
non-existent.
Claustrophobic linear environments and frequent load times between
somewhat
small areas of exploration (Kingsfield I, and IV had similar
claustrophobic
environments but they were far more non-linear and the environments
were
streamed so you never broke from the action unless you visited a save
game
station or brought up a menu)
Limited selection of weapons. It seemed most weapons were quite
generic and
there was small variety to be found in armor as well.
Fairly limited character creation. Compared to the likes of Morrowind
your
character creation and development was very limited.

Hopefully if you are familiar with UU I&II you will be able to glean
from
what I've said if Arx Fatalis is similar.

Also although they are console games I've been a long time fan of
Kingsfield. They are very slow paced and suffer many limitations but
the
atmosphere in them is amazing. Few games have ever given me the sense
of
"being there" as these have. Overall I was hoping Arx Fatalis would be
more
akin to these games but was somewhat disappointed.

-Darryl Giors

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Platt [eplatt314--yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 11:28 AM
Subject: Ultima Underworld I & II


I just finished UUW II again. I just love the 2 UUW
games. (I like Ultima I & Ultima III - VII also.)

Are there any games out there that are similar to UUW
and AR that anyone would recommend? I have heard
things about the game Arx Fatalis, and have even heard
it compared to an UUW III.