Ultima Underworld Special Items Tables

This page lists all the inventory items in Ultima Underworld with special properties.

Description

The Ultima Underworld game engine has 512 slots for in-game objects. Less than 461 of those are actual in-game objects. Every base object has 11 bytes of data stored in the comobj.dat file. Certain objects have additional data stored in tables in the objects.dat file. This page is a repository of most of those tables. The notable exception is for critters, which get their own page.

Notes

• Data on this page was retrieved from the game engine's data files. Data has not officially been published and has been deciphered by observation. Information may have been read/intrepreted incorrectly.
• The value parameter is not understood. This is not the value that Shak appraises things at. It may be an internal value used for NPCs trading items.
• An object with a durability of 255 is indestructable

Melee Weapons

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Damage				Charge			Type	Durability
				Slash	Bash	Stab	Best	Min	Speed	Max
	hand axe	2.4	20	6	4	2	6	90	25	160	axe	10
	battle axe	4	60	14	7	2	14	70	5	220	axe	34
	axe	3.2	100	10	6	8	10	80	13	190	axe	25
	dagger	0.8	20	4	2	5	5	100	30	145	sword	5
	shortsword	1.6	50	6	3	6	6	90	20	170	sword	18
	longsword	2.4	80	10	4	8	10	80	15	190	sword	28
	broadsword	3.2	100	13	6	10	13	70	9	205	sword	34
	cudgel	1.6	15	3	6	2	6	95	20	145	mace	2
	light mace	2.4	55	6	10	4	10	85	15	175	mace	15
	mace	3.2	90	8	16	5	16	75	9	190	mace	25
	shiny sword	3.4	0	14	7	11	14	70	11	190	sword	255
	jeweled axe	3.2	250	13	8	5	13	75	8	200	axe	255
	black sword	3.6	200	15	7	12	15	60	5	200	sword	255
	jeweled sword	2.8	250	14	7	11	14	70	11	190	sword	255
	jeweled mace	2.8	250	9	17	5	17	65	6	220	mace	255
	fist	0	0	2	4	3	4	90	15	140	unarmed	255

Notes

• The fist has a graphic that is used internally but never shown in-game
• The Best Damage column isn't in the game, it is here to show the best of the three damage types for easy comparison of weapons
• The exact calculation for weapon charge speed isn't known, but generally the higher the value the faster the charge. Notice the battle axe at 5 and dagger at 30

Takeaways

• The dagger's strongest attack is stab, the shortsword's slash and stab are its equally strongest attacks. No other weapon has stab as its strongest attack.
• The fist does indeed have all three attack types, although the POV animations are the same for all three.
• Slash is the strongest attack for all axes and all swords except the dagger.
• Bash is the strongest attack for all the maces and the fist.
• The artifact sword is the same as the jeweled sword, just heavier.
• The jexeled mace is the top tier of the maces and the highest damaging weapon of the game, but the jeweled sword and axe are not the the highest of their categories.
• If starting the game with a character without a weapon skill, which weapon to pick? The tier one weapons (cudgel, hand axe, shortsword) all can do 6 points of damage, but the hand axe is the fastest. The tier two weapons (axe, light mace, longsword) can all do 10 points of damage, but the axe is the slowest.
• The jeweled sword is agruably the best weapon in the game. It does just slightly less damage than the black sword, but it's slightly lighter and more than twice as fast. The mace does slightly more damage at almost the same speed, but the jeweled sword is both lighter and industructable. The jewled mace does the most damage but it's nearly twice as slow.
• The jeweled sword has a durability of 255, but it is damagable when used against doors. Perhaps 255 just means industructable in normal combat? Some more testing is required to make some conclusions.

Ranged Weapons & Projectiles

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Ammo	Durability
	sling stone	0.1	1
	crossbow bolt	0.2	4
	arrow	0.1	2
	stone	0.4	0
	sling	0.4	10	sling stone
	bow	1.2	50	arrow
	crossbow	2.4	70	crossbow bolt
	jeweled bow	1.6	150	arrow

Notes

• As of this writing the file formats document contains missing and incorrect information on how to read data about this item category, thus the data present here is limited
• All projectiles (such as fireballs and acid blobs) are listed in this table but since they aren't obtainable by the player they are not included on this page.

Takeaways

• The stone item is declared in this table but doesn't appear to be used anywhere in the game

Armour & Wearables

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Protection	Durability	Slot
	leather vest	2	20	2	8	chest
	mail shirt	4	45	4	22	chest
	breastplate	8	70	6	34	chest
	leather leggings	1.6	15	2	4	legs
	mail leggings	3.2	35	4	12	legs
	plate leggings	6.4	60	6	20	legs
	leather gloves	0.8	10	1	2	hands
	chain gauntlets	1.2	20	3	9	hands
	plate gauntlets	1.6	30	5	15	hands
	leather boots	1.2	12	1	3	feet
	chain boots	1.6	25	3	10	feet
	plate boots	2	40	5	17	feet
	leather cap	0.8	15	2	6	head
	chain cowl	1.2	30	4	15	head
	helmet	1.6	50	6	24	head
	pair of dragon skin boots	3.2	150	3	255	feet
	crown	0.4	90	0	255	head
	crown	1.6	120	0	255	head
	crown	1.6	120	0	255	head
	iron ring	0.1	0	0	255	ring
	shiny shield	4.8	0	3	255	none
	gold ring	0.1	60	0	255	ring
	silver ring	0.1	40	0	255	ring
	red ring	0.1	25	0	255	ring
	tower shield	4.8	50	3	30	none
	wooden shield	2.8	35	1	5	none
	small shield	2.2	20	2	17	none
	buckler	2.8	15	1	9	none
	jeweled shield	5.2	150	2	255	none

Full Suit Comparison Table

Material	Mass	Protection
Leather	6.4	8
Chain	11.2	18
Plate	19.6	28

Notes

• the Slot tells where on the paperdoll to equip the item. Since shields don't go on the paperdoll, they go in an equipment slot alongside the doll, their slot is "none"

Takeaways

• There are 2 points of protection of difference between the leather, chain, and plate armour pieces.
• Unenchanted rings and crowns offer no armor protection.
• Dragonskin boots are much heavier than plate boots but offer only chain boots level of protection.
• The buckler offers the same protection as the wooden shield and the same weight, but almost twice the durability and less than half the value.
• Ths small shield not only offers better protection than the wooden shield and the buckler, but it's also lighter than them.
• The jeweled shield is not the highest tier shield.
• The jeweled shield offers the same protection as the small shield but with more than double the weight.
• The artifact shield is the same as the tower shield, just indestructable.

Containers

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Capacity	Cap/Mass	Restriction
	sack	0.2	4	12.5	62.5
	pack	0.4	8	25	62.5
	box	0.6	6	12.5	20.833
	pouch	0.1	3	2	20
	map case	0.1	3	3	30	scrolls
	gold coffer	1.2	40	12.5	10.417
	urn	1.2	5	20	16.667
	quiver	0.8	10	0		ammo
	bowl	0.4	3	5	12.5	food
	rune bag	0.4	0	0		runes

Notes

• The capacity/Mass ratio isn't stored in-game, it's provided in this table for convience
• The urn is defined in this table although it can't be picked up. The other containers that can't be picked up are the chest, barrel, and couldren, and they are not defined in this table.

Takeaways

• The Pack has the best capacity and also the best ratio of capacity to weight.
• The sack, box, and gold coffer have the same capacity, but different weights.
• If the value field is for bartering, it's strange that these items have values, as containers can't be bartered.

Light Sources

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Duration	Brightness
	lantern	0.6	30	10	4
	torch	0.2	5	3	2
	candle	0.1	2	12	1
	taper	0.4	1	0	3

Spells for reference

Spell	Brightness
Light	3
Magic Lantern	4
Night Vision	5
Daylight	7

Notes

• Light spell brightnesses aren't know for sure, values here are guessed based on observation

Takeaways

• Although documentation says the the light spell emits lights similar to a torch, it is actualy a step brighter, similar to the taper.

Food Items

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Nutrition	Nut/Mass
	piece of meat	0.7	4	64	91
	loaf of bread	0.5	3	16	32
	piece of cheese	0.2	2	12	60
	apple	0.1	2	6	60
	ear of corn	0.1	2	25	250
	loaf of bread	0.4	2	12	30
	fish	1	3	48	48
	bunch of popcorn	0.1	1	2	20
	mushroom	0.2	1	0	0
	toadstool	0.2	1	6	30
	bottle of ale	0.4	5	253
	red potion	0.3	20	129
	green potion	0.3	20	129
	bottle of water	0.4	3	255
	flask of port	0.4	5	248
	bottle of wine	0.4	0	0

Notes

• The Nutrition/Mass ratio isn't stored in game, it's provided in this table for convinience of comparison. Ratios for beverages weren't provided because the numbers don't seem to be correct.
• The beverages all have a high nutrition value, over 128. It's possible that the high bit of this byte is a flag for some special handling.
• There are a few more ediable items, such as the plants (with and without red berries) and the rotworm stew, that are not in this table. Their nutrition values are unknown at this time.

Takeaways

• The ear of corn has by far the highest nutrition to weight ratio, and loses it significantly when changed to popcorn

Treasure Items

Icon	Name	Mass	Value	Value
	coin	0.1	3	0
	gold coin	0.4	3	2
	ruby	0.1	25	4
	red gem	0.1	15	5
	small blue gem	0.1	20	1
	large blue gem	0.1	30	7
	sapphire	0.1	40	6
	emerald	0.1	35	0
	amulet	0.4	60	0
	goblet	0.8	50	0
	sceptre	1.2	50	0
	gold chain	0.8	75	0
	gold plate	1.6	100	0
	ankh pendant	0	25	0
	shiny cup	0	0	0
	large gold nugget	1.6	50	0

Notes

• It is unclear what this new value category is used for

Takeaways

• It's interesting that the coin and gold coin have the same value, and the gold coin is 4x as heavy