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Produced by: kingspud
Website: Ultima 1 Revisited
This is an intriguing project which, for legal reasons, will probably never release a public download of its work. That is because the goal of the project is to re-create Ultima 1, using the original programming language the game was written in, on an Apple IIe. The project’s mastermind, kingspud, gives a basic synopsis of his intentions with Ultima 1 Revisited here:
…today I embark on a journey to bring back those wonderful days when life was simple and all I worried about was playing and trying to program Richard Garriott’s Ultima 1 adventure.
I dusted off my old Apple IIe computer and pulled out all the old Apple programming books and manuals that I could find. To my ultimate surprise, “no pun intended”, the old girl sparked to life with a single flick of the switch. Once I slid in my DOS 3.3 disk and Reset the system, I was presented with the ultimate gift, “again, no pun intended” the magical ] symbol.Now that I know I have a working Apple IIe computer I plan on reliving, no… revisiting if you will, those magical days when Richard Garriott had a dream to programming a game unlike no other game out there. Ultima 1 was that game! Those days when he sat in his closet programming in Applesoft Basic to the wee hours of the night! I shall be embarking on the same journey, to not only relearn the Apple IIe computer but to relearn to program in Applesoft Basic and Machine Language! My goal is to recreate the entire Ultima 1 program in Applesoft Basic on my Apple IIe computer! I hope to relive the excitement of creating a masterpiece of code and adventure.
I will be blogging about my progress with learning Basic and Machine Language again. I will be reviewing some of the old Apple programming books that Richard may have read to increase his knowledge in the art of programming. I will also be posting my code and examples as I travel along this quest to recreate the entire Ultima 1 game from scratch.
No code has ever been available on the web and no information has been posted regarding the Applesoft basic code for the Ultima games. I do know that Richard programmed all three of the first Ultima games using only Applesoft Basic. This is what I will follow and will only be using the same Basic and some machine language codes.
So far, in five months, kingspud has made excellent progress, although he has departed somewhat from his goal; the last update to the site for August 2011 demonstrated an improved graphical look for his version of the game.










