Just got this in my inbox last night, and I see it has gone live over at the Ultima 6 Project website:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon’s next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 6 for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Some things to look forward to in this release:

• Nearly the entire world is now available for players to explore:
  • Brand new dungeons have been added and existing dungeons have been expanded or improved. This includes Pirate Cave, Covetous/Wrong, Shame, Crypts, Cyclops Cave, Destard, Heroes’ Hole, Ant Mound, Hythloth, and Stonegate
  • Gargoyle lands are in place, including the Gargoyle Shrines and Tomb of Kings
• Many new NPCs have been added, including all the Gargoyle NPCs, a favorite talking horse and an exiled Gargoyle
• More quests have been implemented, and one quest which players were unable to finish in the original game can now be completed. Many more quest related items are now available to the player
• Numerous enhancements to the core game play have been made, including improved animations and textures for the Gargoyles, and many small tweaks and improvements
• Additional enhancements to existing areas

You can find the download links on the Official Website:

http://www.u6project.com

You can post comments, suggestions, and request help on the Milestone 6
board on our forums at the PB Britannia site:

http://www.projectbritannia.com

I’m obviously still working on getting the downloads back in order, so there won’t be downloads of M6 mirrored here for a while yet. But all the same, good reader: check thou it out! This is a very exciting, long-anticipated project (especially for me, being that Ultima 6 was my favourite Ultima title), and this latest example of the progress the team has made is just staggering.

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Tags: Dungeon Siege, Ultima, Ultima 6, Ultima 6 Project

I see that Dino’s Ultima Page has posted some news concerning a couple of new file releases from different projects. Notably, Ranman’s Ultima V for TI Calculators has released a beta version of that port for the TI-92 and V200 calculators. This download has already been added to the project entry here at Aiera.

Also, the full version of a patch translating Ultima 7 to Spanish has been released. Following up on this lead led me to translation patches for Serpent Isle, Ultima 9, and Ultima Underworld about which I had previously been unaware, and these have all been added to Aiera.

• Ultima 7 Spanish translation
• Serpent Isle Spanish translation
• Ultima Underworld Spanish translation
• Ultima 9 Spanish translation

Additionally, the Ultima 6 Project Development Tools Package has been released, which enables the user to edit and compile conversations, edit game objects, edit game logic, and provides a host of other functions as well. It can be downloaded from the Project Britannia website, or from the Ultima 6 Project entry here at Aiera.

Other Ultima-related news I found whilst wandering through the Internet today includes:

Aklabeth

The web home of this remake of Akalabeth seems to be offline. I hope it’s just a temporary thing.

Ultima Underworld for Pocket PC

Conversely, this port of Ultima Underworld to the PocketPC seems to be back online again. Nice to see. That means that I get to move this project out of the cemetery!

Exult

This port of The Black Gate and Serpent Isle to…well…pretty much every operating system one could dare to think of…doesn’t look as though it’s been updated, by its website. But I noticed that the Windows and PocketPC snapshots were updated earlier this month, as was the snapshot for Exult Studio. All of these can be downloaded through the project entry here. The chief modification seems to concern a bug with multiracial Avatars.

Ultima: Iris

This 3D frontend for Ultima Online has been updated recently, to build version 2365. Linux and Windows source, and the Windows installer, can all be downloaded via the project entry here, or at the project website.

Finally, I was contacted by Yannick “Alcibiade” Kirschhoffer regarding a new piece of Ultima-related material he has produced. I’ll let him explain it in his own words:

I’ve been huge fan of the second Ultima trilogy. In 2003, I began work on writing guitar arrangements of most of this era’s music. I did the Ultima 6 score almost entirely, and some of U4 and U5 too. Then I compiled these in a songbook that I illustrated with artwork and quotes from the games.

It is available for download in PDF format at www.alcibiade.org

This is a handy little creation, beautifully arranged and attractively compiled into one volume. I’ve added a project entry for it under the category of “General Utility”, and it can be downloaded from there as well.

Well done, Yannick!

Tags: Aiera, Akalabeth, Aklabeth, Dino's Ultima Page, Dungeon Siege, Exult, Exult Studio, Linux, Pocket PC, PocketPC, Project Britannia, Serpent Isle, Texas Instruments, The Black Gate, translation, Ultima 4, Ultima 5, Ultima 6, Ultima 6 Project, Ultima 7, Ultima 9, Ultima Online, Ultima Underworld, Ultima: Iris, Windows

I was contacted a while back (an inexcusably long while back, as it happens — my apologies!) by Zen, who passed along a bit of an addon module for Dungeon Keeper based on the first level of the Abyss in Ultima Underworld.

As Zen doesn’t have a website to host the project at for himself, he has made it available to the world via Aiera, and I have (finally!!) created a project entry for it. Check thou it out, O Reader, if you’ve still got those Dungeon Keeper discs tucked away in a drawer or closet!

Also, I have added a download for the Ultima 6 Project’s Milestone 5 release to that project’s entry, so if you haven’t grabbed it from somewhere else already, you can now get it here as well.

Also, other news, courtesy of Dino’s Ultima Page:

Ultima V: Lazarus

Cheerful Dragon has released version 1.29 of his various mods and bugfixes for this remake of Ultima 5. These can be downloaded either at the previous forum link, or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Seven Towers Exult Mods

Marzo has released updates to his mods for Exult, for both The Black Gate (Keyring) and Serpent Isle (Fixes). The latest revisions of both can be downloaded through their respective project entries here at Aiera:

• Black Gate Keyring
• Serpent Isle Fixes

Ultima: Iris

Apparently, the project’s developers took home first prize at the Dusmania 10 hobby game development meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. Congrats!

Ultima 5 for TI Calculators

Ranman has released version 1.01 of his port of Ultima 5 to the Texas Instruments calculator. The up-to-date download can be found via the project entry here.

Exult

This Ultima 7 remake has been updated recently — or, rather, the unstable 1.4 version has been updated, as has Exult Studio and its accompanying tools. The Exult team’s plugins for GiMP have also been updated this month, and the whole mess of things can be downloaded via the project entry here.

EUO

This Ultima-inspired game has seen the release of version 0.16 of its rudimentary 3D client, which can be downloaded via the project entry here at Aiera.

Ultima Restoration

This comprehensive multi-project has released screenshots of the Kilrathi space station from their remake of Ultima 1. With this completed, they now have all the cities, dungeons, and space stations fully mapped in the game — which, if I do say so myself, is damn good progress!

They’ve also added links to a good couple-dozen Neverwinter Nights modules that I’m going to have to sort through in short order, so…well, it’s nice to know in advance what I’ll be up to for at least part of next week.

Also, the Wing Commander CIC team are attempting to back up what remains of the Origin Systems data library. They are looking for people with experience with this sort of thing, so if you’re one of those people who lives and breathes in backup tapes, you might want to check their project out.

Tags: Aiera, Dino's Ultima Page, Dungeon Keeper, Dungeon Siege, EUO, Exult, Exult Studio, Frankfurt, Germany, Neverwinter Nights, Serpent Isle, Texas Instruments, The Black Gate, Ultima 1, Ultima 5, Ultima 6, Ultima 6 Project, Ultima 7, Ultima Online, Ultima Underworld, Wing Commander

Produced by: Exodus Project
Website: Archon
Releases:
* Milestone 1 (0 bytes)
* Milestone 2 (0 bytes)
* Milestone 3 (0 bytes)
* Milestone 4 (0 bytes)
* Milestone 5 (0 bytes)

Tools:
* Font Builder (0 bytes)
* Interface Designer (0 bytes)
* Dev Tools (0 bytes)

Tech Demo:
* Tech Demo (0 bytes)

Another Dungeon Siege remake, this high-profile (and high-tech) project aims to re-create Ultima 6, adding many of the same features to that game as Lazarus promises for Ultima 5: enhanced music, expanded storyline, new characters and additional side quests.

Tags: Dungeon Siege, Ultima 5, Ultima 6, Ultima 6 Project

Produced by: Team Lazarus
Website: Lazarus
Releases:
* Lazarus 1.2 (Windows) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus 1.2 (Mac) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus 1.2 French Patch (Windows) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus German Patch v1.0 (0 bytes)
* Blink Activation Patch (0 bytes)
* Difficulty Override (0 bytes)
* Font Patch (0 bytes)
* Portrait Patch (0 bytes)
* Lazarus Editing Environment (Windows) (0 bytes)
* Chronicle of Lord British's Expedition (0 bytes)
* Lazarus Game Manual (0 bytes)
* Map of Britannia (0 bytes)
* Lazarus Soundtrack (0 bytes)

Patches and Upgrades
* Enhanced Graphics (0 bytes) – (pictured) from 3DWorx
* Looking Up Camera Mod (0 bytes)
* Grail Quest's Mods (0 bytes) – see this text file (0 bytes) for details
* Bugfixes and Modifications (0 bytes) – see the Lazarus forums for details
* Project Britannia Compatibility Mod (0 bytes)
* Comfortability Mod 1 (0 bytes) – start with a bedroll
* Comfortability Mod 2 (0 bytes) – start with a bedroll and the sextant (may break a later quest)
* Comfortability Mod 3 (0 bytes) – reduced daily food consumption rate
* Comfortability Mod 4 (0 bytes) – adds hotkey support for the pocketwatch (if the party has it)
* Regeneration Ring Health Loss bugfix (0 bytes)

Spell-related Mods
* Spell Scroll Icon Mod (0 bytes) – (pictured) replaces the default icons for spell scrolls with graphics that make it easier to identify which spell is on which scroll. Only works on new scrolls added to inventory, not scrolls already held
* Spell Scroll Icon Mod with Chuckles Scroll Changer (0 bytes) – adds to the above mod the ability to talk to Chuckles the Jester and have him “exchange” all your current spell scrolls for new ones, thus updating their icons

Weapon Mods
* Magic Weapon Fix (0 bytes) – fixes an issue with weapon enhancement damage not being applied. See this post on the Lazarus forums
* Magic Axe Redux v1.1 (0 bytes) – uses spell damage to cause the magic axe’s bonus damage
* Magic Axe Redux v2 (0 bytes) – addresses balance issues with the previous version of the mod
* Cheerful's weaponfixes (0 bytes) – fixes some scripting and bug issues with weapon-based spells
* Flint Item Changer (0 bytes) – talk to Flint to “upgrade” your magic weapons to bug-fixed, modded versions

Cheerful Dragon’s Weapon Addons
* Undead-slaying Silver sword and Stronger glass sword (0 bytes)
* Ranged throwing axe (0 bytes)

Lazarus 1.0
* Lazarus (Part 1) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 2) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 3) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 4) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 5) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 6) (0 bytes)
* Lazarus (Part 7) (0 bytes)

Demos:
* Alpha Demo 1.0 (Win/Mac) (0 bytes)
* Alpha Demo 2.0 (Win) (0 bytes)
* Alpha Demo 2.0 (Mac OSX) (0 bytes)
* French Patch 2.0 (Win) (0 bytes)
* German Patch 2.0 (Win) (0 bytes)

One of the most high-profile remakes during its development, Ultima V: Lazarus is a Dungeon Siege-based remake of Ultima 5 led by Tiberius Moongazer. It was completed and released in the early part of 2006.

Lazarus features an enhanced and expanded musical score, additional plot elements, many new and exciting characters and side quests, and fully rendered cut scenes.

The project is available for download in its entirety here, and in addition there are available for download several mods, patches, and bug-fixes; Lazarus has spawned a modding community of its own.

Tags: Dungeon Siege, Ultima 5, Ultima V: Lazarus

I just got this notice in my email inbox, and it’s a hute announcement indeed: Milestone 5 of the Ultima 6 Project has been released!

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon’s next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 5 for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Some things to look forward to in this release:

• New areas to explore (Trinsic, Jhelom, Moonglow, New Magincia, Serpent’s Hold, Skara Brae, Sutek’s Castle, Trinsic)
• Enhancements to existing areas
• New plot details and quests and other subtle refinements
• Numerous enhancements to the core gameplay such as:
  • The Journal system now records may quest details automatically, but still allows the player to make their own notes
  • A new “Event Console”, which can be toggled on and off, and which will help you keep track of what’s happening during play
  • Many more tunings and tweaks to the core Project Britannia systems ( for the nitty gritty details, check the change log )

You can find the download links on the Official Website:

www.u6project.com

I will be sure to add a download for this to Aiera just as soon as I am able. In the meantime, O Reader…check thou it out!

Tags: Aiera, Dungeon Siege, Mac, PC, Ultima 6, Ultima 6 Project

I apologize for the gap in news updating; both my job and my home life have been rather busy these last few weeks, and I’ve had precious little time to stroll through “the Ultimasphere” to see what has transpired in terms of project developments and file updates.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the news!

PT-BR Underworld Translation

This translation of Ultima Underworld to Portuguese is now 100% complete, with all text strings in the game fully translated.

They are seeking testers to look for errors in grammar and spelling. So if you, O Reader, are conversant in both Portuguese and English, and wouldn’t mind playing through Ultima Underworld again, be sure to visit the project website and drop them a line.

The patch can be downloaded from that same website, or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Exult

I noticed that the unstable Exult 1.4 build for Windows had been updated on May 3rd. The notable correction in this release deals with a crash that could be caused by a trap’s projectile effect.

As usual, the snapshot can be downloaded from the Exult website or from the project entry here at Aiera.

Pentagram

There hasn’t been any news from the Pentagram team since December of last year, but they are obviously still working on the project itself; the Windows snapshot that is available for download was updated on April 23rd, and can be downloaded either from the project website or via the project entry here at Aiera.

EUO

As of May 5th, the 3D client for EUO has been updated, and can be downloaded either the project website or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Notable changes in this release are the addition of “popups” (I assume this is in reference to either in-game dialogues or message windows?), a help screen, the ability to re-map keys, and a few other odds and ends.

Project Britannia

The britannia_art.dsres and britannia_logic.dsres files have been updated. Changes this go-round include the addition of GUI elements for several throwable weapons, shoes(!!), and a bunch of new textures and meshes. Also, a Yew tree for Ben to chop has been added (methinks this is derived from the Ultima 6 Project?).

The updated files can be downloaded from the Project Britannia wiki or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Though not specifically an update to the actual remake project, the folks at the Ultima 6 Project would like to draw our attention to a charity group that they would like to encourage would-be donors to the project to support instead:

As many of you know, the U6 Project has been going strong for several years now, and it’s cost us a fair amount of cash to keep it going. Every once in a while we’ll get someone asking us if they can donate some money to the project. Well, since it’s an all-volunteer project and not a commercial venture, we can’t accept money. However – we’ve recently realized that there’s no reason in the world we can’t suggest a charity to which you could donate instead. While gaming is certainly a worthy cause, we think that it would be even better to give the gift of life and donate to the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research.

http://www.komen.org/

Please note: The U6 Project is not affiliated with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization in any way, shape or form. We’d just like to recommend that you give your money to them instead of offering it to us. Thank you.

So maybe, just maybe, O Reader, go forth and make a bit of a donation in the names of the folks of Team Archon. I’m sure they’d appreciate it!

One last note: someone by the name of Chris (with an email address at grimmstudios.com) contacted me in regard to Ultima 3. Chris, if you’re reading this, I just sent my reply to you again; the last few attempts have resulted in the message bouncing back to me. I apologize for the delay, and would encourage you — if this latest attempt doesn’t get through — to contact me again and provide an alternative email address.

Tags: 3D, Dungeon Siege, EUO, Exult, Pentagram, Portuguese, Project Britannia, Ultima 3, Ultima 6 Project, Ultima 7, Ultima 8, Ultima Underworld, Windows