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Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2019 6:00 pm
by intric8
I wanted to share a new acquisition of mine with you guys, as I know a lot of you here are big Ultima fans. This thing is so pristine, I feel like I should wear gloves.
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It's easily the most immaculate version of any installment of Ultima in my collection. And it could only be better if it had the shrink-wrap still on it. It's complete, and it's perfect.
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The corners are pure black. This box has been sitting quietly waiting to live in my house for over 30 years. Tito, get me some tissue!

Ultima V is a technical marvel for the C128 as it plays the exact same game as the C64 but adds music thanks to its extra RAM. The Amiga, of course, does it all with no shortcuts. The only "downside" is it was designed to be played off the floppies (just like Ultima IV), and the disks have copy protection. You're actually told to move the Write Enable tab on your floppy so it can save games to your original disks! Total jaw-dropper. But it is what it is.
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Behold every single item made for the Amiga version, including a special card that explains the differences in this version, as well as its own unique Player Reference Card.

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I have another copy of Ultima V, and almost every corner is solid white from Real Life. This one is insane, like I just walked out of Babbages or Software, Etc. at the mall and opened the thing at the food court!

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No outer box warping at all.

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Don't copy that floppy! Because, you can't. Not these. At least, not by normal means. I should try Marauder II really quick...

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Oh yeah. It works. =)


Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:29 am
by Zippy Zapp
Wow that thing is near mint. I didn't realize Mindscape was distributing the amiga version over here. I bought the C64 version back then and was bummed out that I had sold my 128 at the time and the 64 version has no music. The music was always a large part of Ultima for me.

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:18 am
by obitus1990
I still have my original copy for the C64 from way back when it was released, with all the parts (codex of ultimate wisdom, map, and all documentation and a nicely maintained box). I have no idea if it still reads or not, as I haven't tried it in one of my 1541s. The only issue with the package is that the disk labels are starting to fall off...hopefully the media itself isn't deteriorated.

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:40 pm
by intric8
I've got a complete C64/C128 version as well, and the contents look great. But the box isn't like this. I need to ping the seller to ask how he stored it so pristinely for so long. It's tough because I want to put it on my shelf for display, but I also don't want to hurt the box in any way.

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:41 am
by BloodyCactus
I dont think I've ever see the Amiga version differences card before in Ultima V.

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:02 pm
by rpiguy9907
Played it first on the C64 then again on the Amiga. Amazing game. The improved loading times alone made it worth it to me :-)

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 8:49 pm
by Peckerwoods
Beware of playing a copy. The Amiga version of Ultima III Exodus had a wicked copy protection scheme. Everything would play perfectly except deep into the game you would be unable to obtain the mark of Kings required to finish the game.

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 8:52 pm
by golgotha
I would love to get a copy of those original floppies (you can't find them online anywhere).

You think a nibble copy with xcopy might work?

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:05 am
by intric8
You think a nibble copy with xcopy might work?
Great question. A normal copy didn't do the job (I tried) but maybe? What is your favorite version of Xcopy, by the way? Certainly willing to give it a shot. It would be nice to figure out, as you have to write directly to these disks iirc (which is just criminal that they copy protected them).

Re: Ultima V for Amiga: So Good You Won't Believe It

Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 2:25 pm
by JazzyTech
intric8 wrote:
Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:05 am
You think a nibble copy with xcopy might work?
Great question. A normal copy didn't do the job (I tried) but maybe? What is your favorite version of Xcopy, by the way? Certainly willing to give it a shot. It would be nice to figure out, as you have to write directly to these disks iirc (which is just criminal that they copy protected them).
Moments like these I wish I had easy access to my Amiga gear. I have the original and I did manage to copy it with X-Copy (pretty sure it was nibble) but I don't recall which version I used. I kept notes on special cases and remember this one being particularly difficult at the time. If I still remember correctly, there was a secondary copy program that could be used to target/copy sector ranges (otherwise you'd be copying for many hours) but it's name has been lost due to my faulty memory. I still have that as well I'm certain. *grumbles again about storage and age*