The Abysmal Engine is an attempt to create an Ultima Underworld 1/2 and System Shock engine for modern operating systems. It will still require the original Ultima Underworld or System Shock data files to run.

Abysmal is a successor to previous such attempts at creating an engine for the Underworld games, and builds on the work done by The System Shock Hack Project, Underworld Adventures and Underworld 2 Revival projects.

It is still at a very early developmental stage (the author warns that none of the games are actually playable), but seems to be making decent progress. An iPhone 3GS version even appears to be in the works!

This remake of Ultima Underworld for the PocketPC seems to work fairly well on most main-line PocketPC models. While the developer, ZIO Interactive, doesn’t seem to feature the game for purchase or download anymore (that I can tell — the site is in Chinese), the game itself is still available for purchase from PocketGear.

A “demo” of sorts is available, although it is little more than a slide-show of in-game screenshots and graphics.

This is a multiplayer Dungeon Keeper level based on the first level of Ultima Underworld. While Dungeon Keeper doesn’t do sloped surfaces the layout is otherwise very close.

Since much of the level is impenitrable rock much of the challenge in designing this level (and, presumably, subsequent levels also based on Underworld) came from managing the space for rooms well.

The map replaces level 61 (multiplayer map 7) in the game, and is for 3 players (but it can be played by one player against the computer). The developer doesn’t have a website at which to host it, so this offering is more or less exclusive to Aiera at present.

To play the level:

1. extract the file into the Dungeon Keeper ‘level’ directory
2. Start Dungeon Keeper with the 1-player option
3. choose multiplayer, then 1 player, and finally level 61

Much like Exult and Nuvie, this project aimed to re-create an engine for an Ultima game that ran on modern operating systems without the use of patches. In this case, the game was Ultima Underworld. and the results looked promising. This engine, like Exult and Nuvie, used the original game data files.

Sadly, as of February 2007, Vividos has stopped development on Underworld Adventures.

I contemplated for a while the idea of moving this remake to the Orphanage, but decided against it for the moment; with Mojito, the remake had come fairly far along, enough so that I’m content to leave it in UW Remakes section for the time being.

A remake of Ultima Underworld by Twister Software which would have added OpenGL support and improved graphics to the classic Origin game. This one may soon have to be moved to the Orphanage, given that Twister’s website seems to have gone the way of the dodo.