POP-UP HELP
Holding your cursor over many of the objects in the game gives you a brief description of the object. Pop-Up Help can be turned off or reconfigured via the Option Menu.
Moving and Communicating
Just like in the real world, the first thing you should learn in Ultima Online is how to walk and talk. Everything else follows from there.
Starting Off
When you first arrive in Britannia, you will be in a public area of the city you selected. Your initial possessions will be a shirt, shoes, a pair of breeches or a skirt (depending on your character’s gender), a Backpack, a candle, a blank book (your “diary”), and basic equipment for your starting skills. Initial objects have no monetary value to any of the merchants in the game. You will also receive 100 gold pieces in “seed money” to help you get started. Any weapons you receive are classified as “practice weapons,” and do only very limited damage.
The first thing you’ll want to do is learn how to move around, as described below. Practice in the starting area and in the street outside. You can also familiarize yourself with your Character Window and practice picking up and moving around objects.
Walking Around
You move by right-clicking. Place your cursor over a point on the screen and right-click. You will face and take a step towards the cursor. (Note that throughout this document, “click” or “double-click” refers to a left-click, while right-clicks and double-right-clicks are so identified.)
Continual Movement
If you need to go more than a few steps in a given direction, you’ll want to move continually. Place your cursor some distance away in the direction you want to go and right-click-and-hold. You will move off in that direction and keep moving until the click is released (or until you run into something). You can change direction by rotating the cursor around your position while holding a right-click.
Opening Doors
Before you can move through a doorway, the door must be open. To open a door, double-click on it. If the door is locked, the game will tell you so.
Pathfinding
Pathfinding is a movement option that lets the computer do some of the maneuvering for you, making it easier to get around simple obstacles. Place the cursor where you want to go, and double-right-click. The computer will figure out the most direct route to the spot and you will walk there, moving around simple obstacles like corners or tables. Pathfinding will not automatically open closed doors or move obstacles for you, but it will take you through a door that’s already open. (Some players prefer to have the Pathfinding option disabled. It can be toggled on and off from the Options Menu.)
Keyboard Movement
You can also move using your keyboard. Hold the arrow keys or the outer numbers of the numeric keypad, and you will move in the corresponding direction.
Running
You can run during continual movement. The farther the cursor is from you, the faster you move. To move at a slow stroll, keep the cursor just an inch or so away. To sprint, move the cursor out to the edge of your window.
Following
Hold a and left-click on another character to follow that character wherever he goes. Note that if you fall too far behind the other character (due to crowds, combat or rough terrain) the Follow command will cancel itself automatically. To stop following, hold a and click on yourself.
Overhead View
Sometimes, particularly in cities, you need a wider perspective than a single screen offers in order to get your bearings. As an aid to navigation, alt-R will call a scrolling overhead map of the immediate area. Pressing alt-R again makes the map larger (you can change this key command using the “overview” option in your Macros). This map shows buildings and terrain, but not individuals or creatures.
