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Ultima 9: Ascension was
in many respects the most controversial Ultima game released.
To some Ultima fans, it is not even an Ultima. To others, it
is not a canonical Ultima. What is generally beyond question
is that the game was buggy and incomplete, with several plot
aspects that contradicted (or outright flew in the face of)
previous Ultimas. There were also numerous continuity failures,
and the ending was almost universally considered disappointing.
That said, it did feature exceptional sound editing and a marvelous
3D world that showed Britannia in unparalleled detail.
In Ultima 9, the Avatar is sent to Britannia by the spirit
of Hawkwind, only to find the land invaded by the Guardian and
on the verge of being torn asunder by 8 massive columns. The
Virtues have been corrupted by these columns, and the people
of the land have become cold and cruel. The Avatar, assisted
by the mysterious lady pirate Raven, must solve the mystery
of the Columns and defeat the Guardian once and for all, even
if it costs him his life.
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Ultima 9 Redemption
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Produced by: Titans of Ether
Website: Titans of Ether
Ultima 9 Redemption is being developed with the Morrowind engine, featuring a totally original plot, and original gameplay. The remake is planned to live up to the Ultima greatness that the original game failed to achieve. It will feature total freedom of doing good or evil (which the original didn't grant) as well as multiple endings.
NOTE: As of Sept. 18, 2004, this project and The New King 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 IX - Infinity Eternal
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Produced by: Thepal
Website: Ethereal Software
Releases:
* Buccaneer's Den Demo (requires the official plugins, Bloodmoon and Tribunal)
This remake is being made by a former member of Redemption. Like Redemption, it is being made with the Morrowind engine, but Infinity Eternal is being made to be more faithful to the plot of the original Ultima 9 while adjusting those things which irritated many Ultima fans. The most interesting thing about this remake seems to be that it will feature travelling to other worlds, including Serpent Isle and other familiar worlds.
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Alter U9
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Produced by: Moa Dragon
Website: Eriadain
Releases:
* RPG-Maker 1995 Version
* RPG-Maker 2000 Version
Moa Dragon initially worked with Avatus Kingsman and Chlorthos Dragon on this remake of Ultima 9, which was supposed to have been based on the Bob White plot. There were two demo versions of the game released before the team split up and Moa kept up the project under the Neverwinter Nights engine and the name Eriadain: an RPG-Maker 1995 version and an RPG-Maker 2000 version.
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Forgotten World
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Produced by: FIrstkniGHT
Website: Forgotten World
Releases:
* Freedom Mod 1.0
Forgotten World started as a 'Freedom Mod' for Ascension, assembled by Michael Menapace in response to the rather absurdly linear feel to the plot of this last Ultima title. The mod doesn't do much to alter the order of events in the game, or to change at all the inconsistencies encountered in its plot. What it does do, however, is alter some aspects of the structure of Britannia, eliminating obstacles that previously prevented you from roaming the land of Britannia freely.
Eventually, the project grew and a team joined FIrstkniGHT, who eventually left the project as he could no longer work on it. The project got its own website and grew more ambitious, decoding Ascension game files to provide players with a better experience.
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Ultima 9 Combined Patch
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Produced by: Grandor Dragon, Novum Dragon
Releases:
* Combined Patch
* Monster/Economy Patch Only
Ultima 9 left a lot of disgruntled fans in its wake. Some of those who weren't repulsed from the Ultima series as a whole by it decided to make it better for themselves and others, and these two patches are the fruits of their efforts!
The Combined Patch offers three patches: the Dialogue Patches, the Monster Patch, and the Economy Patch. The Monster and Economy patches respectively tweak the monster stats and the economic system in Ultima 9, making it a little more realistic and true to how Ultima typically works.
The Dialogue patch puts you in a whole new version of Ascension. While it robs you of voiced dialogue (because so much of the game dialogue is changed in the patch), it re-works much of the game's plot and dialogue to better take past Ultimas into consideration...and remove some of the inconsistencies as well.
If you don't want the Dialogue patch, there is also a standalone Monster/Economy combination patch.
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Ultima 9 Unofficial Patch
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Releases:
* 1.19f Patch
This patch, rumoured to have been written by one of the developers of Ascension in an act of frustration, offers further improvements to the D3D support that the 1.18f patch touched on. It also adjusts the spell damages a little bit, removes the "too many items" bug, and removes the SafeDisc protection on the game.
Note: this patch requires the 1.18f patch to be installed, so get that one first.
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Ultima 9 Official Patch
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Produced by: Origin Systems Inc. (defunct)
Website: Origin Systems (redirects to UO site)
Releases:
* 1.18f Patch
This was the last of the patches Origin released for Ultima 9, and it really is the only patch worth using. It corrects a lot of the bugs that plagued the game, removed many plot-stopping errors, and offered marginal improvement to the D3D graphics performance of the game.
It is highly recommended that you install this patch if you plan to play Ascension.
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