Ultima 1: A Legend is Reborn/ERA
[flickr size=”small” float=”left”]5143194681[/flickr]
Produced by: Peroxide
Website: Peroxide
Releases:
* Tech Demo v1.0 (3.7 MiB, 346 hits)
* Tech Demo v2.0 (18.0 MiB, 366 hits)
* Tech Demo v2.5.1 (Windows) (29.3 MiB, 415 hits)
* Tech Demo v2.5.1 (Linux) (28.6 MiB, 380 hits)
This project began as an ambitious remake of Ultima 1. However, due to the fact that Peroxide couldn’t get formal permission from Electronic Arts to make an actual Ultima game (not that this should have ever been a condition that Peroxide imposed on its development), the project ceased to be a formal Ultima remake in January 2003.
However, Peroxide kept their stunning custom-made 3D engine alive a bit longer for a new, somewhat Ultima-inspired project: ERA: The Arken Throne. This was supposed to be a published game, inspired by (but not actually) Ultima 1.
Sadly, Peroxide has shut ERA down. The team’s website contained, for a time, a message that seemed to promise that they would reappear, with the ERA engine still in development and ERA under a new name. Nothing seems to have come of that over the last few years, sadly.
Fortunately, Voyager Dragon managed to grab copies of the Ultima 1 remake’s tech demos. Thanks also goes to Dino the Dark Dragon, who found a copy of the 2.0 version of the game’s tech demo.
[…] that is left of the game are a few tech demos, which can be downloaded via the project entry in the […]
I don’t know if it’s my download but it seems that demo 2.5.1 for Windows contains a corrupted sound file. So the game is crashing just after starting.
Linux 2.5.1 seems corrupted too
I’ll investigate in a bit here.
I remember this coming on the CD with a gaming magazine, in 2001 I think. I played the demo and it was a wonderful experience, the world seemed really alive. And for that time, the graphics were breathtaking. I remember playing the demo for a while and then, going outside (I was living in the countryside), I found myself looking at the trees nearby and thinking, “man, these are some nice graphics! How many polygons would take to render these?” ha ha ha, good times
Too bad they didn’t finished it.
There is a non-corrupted version of the 2.5.1 demo on the “Ultima: The Reconstruction” website.