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The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:36 am
by Starkweather
Hi there! As this is my first post here (lurked on and off for years though), I figured I'd start it off with a bang. I've been working on my own mod for the past two weeks. Been sick with the flu and I've always wanted to make my own Ultima style adventure, so here I go. It will cover the events that transpired just before and after the Imbalance War broke out between Order and Chaos, a war which began when Exodus ripped the Great Earth Serpent from the void.

The premise is that you are an elite warrior in the ranks of the Order faction, a veteran of the Goblin Wars that took place when SI was known as the Lands of Danger and Despair.
For three days, the southern Chaos outpost of Issantir has been strangely silent. The doors have been magically sealed and all attempts to breach it with magic have failed.

You are summoned by Ssithnos, the Great Hierophant, to investigate the cause. Together with a combined squad consisting of fellow Warriors, an Acolyte of Balance and a Chaos Mage, you will travel to the Issantir via a Serpent Gate to find the cause of the problem.

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The World Map. It is still incomplete though. Needs more cowbell.

Large version with labels is here :

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/1183/silmap.jpg
Blue = Order territory
Red = Chaos territory
Purple = Balance territory
White = Independent\abandoned territory

Being that I've always wanted to make an Ultima mod, I figured it would be easier to try and recreate the war and delve a little deeper into the history of Serpent Isle and the Ophidians rather than, say, taking on the mammoth task of making an entirely new game by myself. It's far more interesting as well because the Ophidians were bad ass. Plus, I have 90% of the map already created for me. That's a big plus.

It'll probably be only a few hours long if I ever manage to finish it, and it takes place almost entirely in the northern region of SI as well. You won't be able to travel beyond the Ophidian tunnel that leads to the southern lands, because my brain could possibly explode if I am forced to edit all those tiles. You'll be teleported to important locations now and then though.

Not much to show yet as I'm still in the early stages. Still changing the landscape. No more ice and, best of all, no more filthy, diseased penguins bent on pecking out your eyes. Yay.

Oh, here's a pic of the conversation system. Gone is the "Name, Job Bye" dialogue trees, giving you the potential to treat people like a total and utter ass. Blatant rip off of Bioware style RPG's, but there you go.

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And last but not least, here's a TLDR type document on a Pastebin that explains the entire history of the Ophidians, leading up to the current age in which the game takes place. Be aware that much of it is added flavor and speculation on my part simply because a great deal of the Ophidian's history is lost after the War of Imbalance. It's also long winded, drawn out and potentially snore inducing, so be ye cautious if you intend to read it. That said, I'll post more actual screenies once I've fixed up some of the cooler areas.

http://tinypaste.com/f21b9

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:18 am
by agentorangeguy
Wow, very cool idea!

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:09 am
by Starkweather
Thanks :)

Couple of screens. It's actually really fun rebuilding the Ophidian's temples and outposts, though it takes a long time...

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Venture forth...
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Your Chaos Mage having an argument with a priest of Order in a rebuilt temple. Portraits and party members at fillers for the moment....

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:45 am
by Tribun Dragon
Wow, that's a lot of work you're about to do.

I noticed an error on the map, though. Furnace is actually the great city of Balance (everything in the game points to it), so it should be Balance territory.

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:33 am
by Starkweather
*slaps forehead*

You're right. Thanks for that. Also, the mountain that I placed between Skullcrusher and Spinebreaker shouldn't be there, as it's an ice cave in U7:SI.

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:58 pm
by Scythifuge
Awesome. I like the conversation trees! Ultima VIII had them, and I was wondering for S.E. if they could be implemented due to the story additions. I'm glad to see that they work, and that people are ramping up the Ultima projects with E.S.!

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:26 pm
by Zacros
This looks awesome mate. Like Scythifuge said, it's great to see some more projects being created. Keep up the good work!

Re: The War of Imbalance - WIP

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:56 am
by torgus dragon
Looks awesome can't wait to play it!