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Ultima is an epic and, in many respects,
inspirational RPG classic. Is it any surprise, then, that several
private individuals, teams of individuals, and even software
companies have time and again turned to Ultima for inspiration?
There are 7 known game engines, 5 known inspired works, and
3 known spin-off fan-fiction games in various stages of completion.
All of these take as inspiration the Ultima tradition, and seek
to either give it homage or enhance it and take it in a new
direction never before explored. |
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Project Britannia
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Produced by: Team Lazarus/Team Archon
Website: Project Britannia
Downloads:
* Project Britannia (1 of 3)
* Project Britannia (2 of 3)
* Project Britannia (3 of 3)
This ambitious project, a joint venture arising from the copperative developments of Ultima 5: Lazarus and Ultima 6: Archon -- both Dungeon Siege-based remakes of their respective Ultima titles -- aims to create a platform for the easier creation of Ultima remakes (and, one would assume, spinoffs).
It's "short list" of features is really too long to name here, but includes dynamic weather, ship navigation (a feature lost in many modern RPGs), complete day/night cycle, NPC scheduling, reagent-based spellcasting, moongates, dynamic factions, and a custom-build branching conversation system.
Or, to sum it all up in three words: it looks cool.
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Ultima: The New King
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Produced by: Titans of Ether
Website: Titans of Ether
Corv has been sparse on the details surrounding this new project, so there's not much we can tell you about it. What is certain is that it is set after Ultima 9, and could perhaps be called Ultima X - although Corv discourages the use of this name as he wants to distance this project as much as possible from the now defunct UXO.
From the map, it looks like the game will feature the land of Britannia, circa roughly Ultima 7. However, in what is sure to be an interesting plot twist, the map screenshot on their site appears to imply that Britannia is not actually the Lands of Lord British from Ultima 1.
NOTE: As of Sept. 18, 2004, this project and Ultima IX: Redemption have become one unified effort under the direction of Corv. The New King will be the direct sequel to Redemption.
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Ultima - The Dark Core
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Produced by: A New Breed of Dragon
Website: The Dark Core
Mere seconds after the Avatar arrives back in Britannia, freshly escaped from Pagan, he finds himself standing before a huge statue of the Guardian. Suddenly, he is granted a vision of the Dark Core of Exodus, and finds that he is being drawn into the core. Complicating matters, it seems that the Guardian is also being drawn in...
...or is he using this vision to deceive the Avatar?
An interactive game in the style of Myst, this web-based remake is a truly amazing Ultima spin-off!
WARNING: You must have a version of Netscape less than 4.3 in order to play this game!
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Ashes
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Produced by: Andrea B. Previtera
Website: Ashes
Ashes is a 3D RPG inspired by, and using similar textures to, Ultima VII. The author is aiming to create a game that has a very similar feel to the classic Ultima title in terms of graphics, world interactivity, and other aspects.
Not to be confused with Exult 3D, which is a 3D visual environment for the actual Ultima VII world, Ashes is definitely a spin-off that has been inspired by the Ultima tradition. It looks very promising, and should be very interesting to play when completed!
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Escape from Mount Drash
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Produced by: Telemachos
Website: Peroxide
Releases:
* Mount Drash
Ultima: Escape from Mount Drash is not a canon Ultima, and bears only a passing relevance to the Ultima storyline. It was not a Richard Garriot game, and it seems likely that, at the time, Sierra just slapped the Ultima label onto another game in order to boost its sales.
Telemachos, formerly of Peroxide, ported the game from the VIC 20 to the PC about a year ago, and Warwon Dragon graciously provided me with his copy of the port for inclusion on the site.
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Nazghul
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Produced by: Gordon McNutt
Website: Nazghul CRPG
Releases:
* Source 0.4.0
* Windows Binary 0.4.0
Still in development (although you can download and compile the source, which is currently at version 0.4.0), Nazghul is a 2D single-player CRPG in the grand tradition of Ultimas 1 through 5.
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EUO
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Produced by: Max Breedon
Website: EUO
Releases:
* EUO Installer
* Patcher Update (use only if needed)
* Launcher (Client Configurator)
* Map Editor
Borrowing a fair bit from other RPGs, EUO is intended to be a real-time, single/multi-player, persistent-world RPG...one that looks and plays much like Ultima 4 or 5. The project site proudly proclaims that those looking for mouse support and Diablo 3-style graphics should seek their fix elsewhere.
EUO uses a Ultima Online-like skill system, without player classes. Combat is based on D&D dice rolling like in Neverwinter Nights (and with more Ultima Online influences, apparently). The game features what looks suspisciously like the Ultima 4 tileset inside the Ultima 5 interface, with randomly-generated dungeons and a wide range of magical spells.
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Dransik
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Produced by: Asylumsoft (TKO Software)
Website: Dransik @ FileFront
Releases:
* Client 1.03
Dransik apparently began as an Ultima 5-like online MMORPG, as a project supposedly headed by former Ultima 8 developer Jason Ely. However, our recent research has shown that the game has evolved somewhat, having taken on a more isometric graphics set with some very beautiful special effects.
Apparently this is a free game (let us know if you discover that is not the case), so we are hosting it here so you don't have to download it from sites that ask you to subscribe to them.
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Arx Fatalis
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Produced by: Arkane Studios
Website: Arx Fatalis Online
Releases:
* English Demo
* German Demo
* French Demo
Arkane Studios developed this game in honor of the Ultima Underworld series, out of recognition of the superior gameplay style of those games. Featuring a strong plot with many subquests, multiple NPC races - each with different dialogue styles, character customization, exceptional world interactivity and even runic magic, this game could very well have been titled "Ultima Underworld 3".
NOTE: Since Arx Fatalis' demos are large (157 MB), Ultima: Aiera will not be hosting them for the time being. This may change in the future, provided we can get permission from the developer.
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BritanniaMOD
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Produced by: Odorous Rex
Website: CJ McCaulay
Releases:
* BritanniaMOD
This is not so much an engine as it is a total conversion (TC) for Morrowind (TES3) that was intended to be the continent of Britannia (circa Ultimas 4 to 7), and was to serve as a possible base for Ultima-inspired mods for Morrowind.
To my knowledge, it is incomplete, and the developer's web-page has been "working to restore normality" for over a year now. That said, as a starting point for an Ultima mod, it may serve well, and so is hosted here.
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Ultima 3 Online
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Produced by: GM Draugr
Website: Soznet
This intriguing project is making use of an Ultima Online FreeShard to re-tell the story, in an online-game format, of Ultima 3.
As proven by Ultima Legacy, which I have yet to add to this page, the Ultima Online world can be modified easily enough, and so this development team has changed the landform to be Britannia, circa Ultima 3, and has begun implementing the plot of that classic game into their world.
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Ultima 4 Multiplayer
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Produced by: Shattered Moon
Website: U4 Multiplayer
This promising reworking of the Ultima 4 engine does what U6 Online did for Ultima 6 - launches the classic single-player RPG into the realm of online gaming!
The project team have recently found a host for the alpha server, so expect the game to enter its initial testing phase shortly!
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Ultima 6 Online
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Produced by: Galleon Dragon
Website: Galleon Dragon
Releases:
* Client
* Client (RAR)
Galleon Dragon's ambitious re-creation of Ultima 6 takes the game into the online realm, allowing you to play against other Ultima fans. It also implements many of the quest features of the game.
As with most remakes that use the original graphics for the game, this remake requires the original game data files to be installed on your hard drive.
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Dragon Engine
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Produced by: Litmus Dragon
Releases:
* Beta Version 1.0
An engine that looks very much like that of Ultima 4 and 5. Litmus Dragon is no longer developing the project, although I am attempting to contact him/her in connection with the project to see if its source files are perhaps still available. A Beta version of the engine was released, and it is hosted here.
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Blackrock Engine
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Produced by: S. Outman, B. Silva, J. Kind
Website: Blackrock @ Sourceforge
Releases:
* Client 0.2.3
While development on this project appears to have halted, it is a Sourceforge project so all the code should still be online. What Blackrock was supposed to be, and may one day be, was an online client for Ultima 7, much as Galleon Dragon has created for Ultima 6.
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