Petrell alerted me to the existence of an Ultima 4 Gold, by the same developer (MagerValp) who produced Ultima 3 Gold. I have added an entry for this project at Aiera, and it can be downloaded from there. As with its Ultima 3 counterpart, it is an optimized version of the game for the Commodore 64.

It would seem that I need to begin assembling lists of game-mods related to Ultima and posting/hosting these on Aiera as well. Frilly Wumpus alerted me to the existence of yet another Neverwinter Nights content package, this time for NWN 2: Ultima-like Moongates, a transportation package for the game that attempts to replicate the behaviour of the moongates in Ultima Online (yes, yes, I know).

This is not the only bit of Ultima-related content available for NWN and/or NWN2, and I’m sure there’s related development out there for a few other modable RPGs. So perhaps I should begin compiling a list.

Leave any thoughts or opinions in the comments.

Produced by: MagerValp
Website: Ultima IV Gold
Releases:
* Ultima IV Gold (1.03 MB)

This project is an improved version of Ultima 4 for the Commodore 64. Notably, it features optimized code and no disk swapping (1541 users will have to flip the disk once only), and the save system has been revamped (saving is now possible in dungeons). Trainers have been improved, and even little fixes have found their way in — the music, for example, no longer interrupts when you are walking around in Britannia.

One of the great things about running this site is how the community members often jump in and try to help out by providing bits of news, or by spotlighting new discoveries they’ve made of new projects or ports of existing ones. It’s a valuable contribution they make, and I’m indebted to everyone who drops me an email (whether in person or via the contact form) to let me know what’s happening out there.

That’s been especially true lately; this entire update is populated with news that has landed in one of my inboxes or another. And there’s been a fair bit of news, to be sure!

Forgotten World

Hawkwind dropped me a copy of the second news update for Forgotten World, the remake of tag]Ultima 9[/tag] using the original engine of that game. He writes:

this Hawkwind again, from Team Forgotten World. We have just put up a new entry in our screenshot gallery, which is a render shot this time. It shows a scene that has been assembled using original Ultima 9 textures and models only.

And it has to be seen to be believed — it’s just a simple shot of a mill, with a dragon flying in the background, but it looks spectacular (nothing at all like it would have in Ascension).

Thanks for the update, Hawkwind, and good work!

hack4u

Tim Carlsen wrote me to let me know of the existence of this project, which is a program to “edit the save games of Ultima: Quest of the Avatar for the NES.” Any or all of the three games saved in the SRAM file (I trust that NES users who will be interested in this program know what that means) can be edited.

I have created an entry for hack4u on Aiera, and version 1.2 of the program can be downloaded there for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (or you can get the source code).

Ultima III Gold

Tim Carlsen also informed me of the existence of this project, which is an improved version of Ultima 3 for the Commodore 64.

I have created an entry for U3 Gold on Aiera, and the latest version of it can be downloaded from there.

Infinity Eternal

Thepal dropped me a note as well to let us all know that his remake of Ultima 9 using the Oblivion engine has not perished. Apparently, he’s having some trouble with the domain name, an error in the renewal process that he is in the process of correcting with the registry company.

And in fact, the site is back online.

Ultima Engine Ports for Nokia Internet tablets

I got the most amusing email from Arnim Sauerbier concerning several ports he has made of different [tag]Ultima[t/tag] engines. Specifically, he has ported the following Ultima titles:

• Akalabeth - a port of Paul Robson’s SDL version of the game
• Ultima 4 - a port of xu4
• Ultima 5 - a port of Nazghul/Haxima
• Ultima 6 - a port of Nuvie
• Ultima 7 - a port of Exult
• Ultima 8 - a port of Pentagram

It serves to note that these ports are ongoing works, and it further serves to note that some of the projects that have been ported (Pentagram, for an easy example) are themselves incomplete. However, O Reader, if you use a Nokia 770/N800 internet tablet, and would like to be able to play some classic Ultima titles whilst on the go, this is likely a project for you!

I’ve added a project entry at Aiera for all of the above, and each of the original projects will also feature a download link.

By request, I’ve made the hyperlink colour a bit darker, a minor update to the site face that I hope everyone can appreciate. Minor bits of Aiera are still under development, and will be tweaked and corected periodically as I can find time to do it all in.

And also, the wedding is in all of nine days (October 20th), so forgive me if the next update is a bit late in arriving. Grace and I will be honeymooning in Greece until November 2nd.

Update: Courtesy of Dino, there is news of a couple more updates.

Black Gate Keyring

A minor update has been made to Marzo’s mod for Exult, fixing the death bolt spell’s performance and a bug with resurrection obtained from Lord British.

As usual, you can download the latest version of Keyring from its entry here at Aiera.

Nazghul

Gordon has posted news that he is planning to release version 0.6.0 of his Ultima-like engine very soon.

Also, Dino has found another Ultima blogger, Rotting Dragon, who is currently playing his way through Ultima 6 as he voyages through the Ultima series in view of the world.

Produced by: MagerValp
Website: Ultima III Gold
Releases:
* Ultima III Gold (170.75 KB)

This project is an improved version of Ultima 3 for the Commodore 64. Notably, it features optimized code and fits on a single disk side, and the save system has been revamped. Trainers have been improved, and even little fixes have found their way in — it is possible, for example, to buy more than one dagger at a time.

Produced by: Nodling Dragon
Website: Ultima Tech Info and Patches
Releases:
* u5tech.txt (15.68 KB)
* u5_c64.txt (9.68 KB)
* u5_sharp_x86000.txt (4.4 KB)
* u5_saved_gam.txt (32.46 KB)
* u5_ega_drv.txt (1.85 KB)

A comprehensive collection of technical information from Nodling Dragon concerning the Ultima 5 game data files. It includes a description of the PC version of the game’s file formats (u5tech.txt), and a description of the file formats from the Commodore 64 version as well (u5_c64.txt). It also includes a description of the file formats from the Sharp X86000 (u5_sharp_x86000.txt), an incomplete description of the EGA driver that the game uses (u5_ega_drv.txt), and a description of the PC version’s savegame format (u5_saved_gam.txt).