Thanks for asking! Mostly, I’ve been busy at work, and with being a husband and father, and I was just in Wyoming, and…

…oh, wait. You’d probably rather hear about the updates to the site, wouldn’t you, good reader?

Well, you’re in luck! There’s been a few.

Firstly, I’ve updated the Joke Remakes section. I know, I know…the Ultima 6 section was the next one in line, and should have been done. And indeed, with a bit of luck, I may even get to it by the end of the week (although there are a number of…erm…large files that need to be uploaded). But in truth, I needed a bit of a change in pace, and I also wanted to experiment with the CSS a bit…and I figured that the Joke Remakes were a better test-bed for such adventures.

And in the process, I restored to working order those downloads.

What is more, and this with apologies to Chris Hopkins for the delay, there’s an entirely new joke remake available for download: Ultima IV Part 2: “Dude, Where’s My Avatar?”. In concert with this update, Hopkins’ Adventure Creation Kit has also been updated to its latest version (which is required to play his spoof). The DOSBox entry was also updated, for similar reasons.

Finally, I have added an entry for The Siege Perilous, the release of which was discussed in this news post. This is a pen-and-paper RPG that takes Ultima as its inspiration.

That’s all of what’s new for right now, good reader, but keep checking back; little by little, the site is getting back to full working order.

I’ve been away too long.

The downloads don’t work. The news hasn’t been updated in over a month. And don’t even get me started about Lost Sosaria. I’ve been away from Ultima too long, and Aiera has suffered for it.

So here’s the deal, the changes that will be made.

First, the template. It’s time to strike a more…classical…tone, so I’ve changed the site template. This being WordPress, everything else should still function more or less the same. If something does suddenly come up broken, let me know. This site is useless if I do nothing. It is almost as useless if the community does nothing.

Second, the downloads. These need to be restored, and they also need to be updated. Dead projects need to be pruned. Living projects need to be highlighted. And the way in which such things are displayed — which has served me well since the days of Aiera’s inception — could use a bit of an overhaul, if for no other reason than that it’d be nice if the CSS was…you know…modern. So, starting next week, and going (ideally) week by week from there, I’m going to work to get yet another section of downloads re-established.

Third, the news. This will resume — mark my words.

And fourthly, Lost Sosaria. I’d be kidding myself if I said that Lost Sosaria, in its current form, was still alive. But by the same token, I’d be lying if I said the project was dead. I have a couple of ideas that I’m toying with for what to do with everything that has been developed thus far, and I hope to have something to show for all my ruminations by the summer.

But more on that later. For now, the template has been changed, and will see some further revision in the near future. Downloads and news will resume presently.

Sorry for my absence.

What is it about the Microsoft Internet Explorer (6 and/or 7, it seems) that renders it completely unable to correctly parse a CSS file?

Wait, don’t answer that.