A “continuation” to Ultima 4, this is Chris Hopkins’ take on an Ultima spoof. As there is some plot to the game, it proposes to answer several key questions that arose in the interim period of Britannian history between Ultima 4 and Ultima 5, such as why the various dungeons were sealed, why Lake Generosity dried up, how Blackthorn was able to take over, why the Shadowlords were drawn to Britannia, and exactly how the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom was raised out of the Stygian Abyss.

Along the way, it pokes fun at a number of Ultima conventions and bits of Ultima history, such as the true fates of Mondain, Minax, and Exodus, the sudden cessation of space travel, the origin of the Guardian, the connection between Lord British‘s Castle and Hythloth, and a bunch of other stuff.

Be thou forewarned: to play this game requires version 3.2 of Hopkins’ Adventure Creation Kit. DOSBox may also be of use.

Apparently, if the burst of related Tweets is anything to go by, Lord British is the subject of a new documentary called “Man On a Mission.”

It’s not available to the public yet, according to Garriott himself, but that will hopefully change soon. From what I can gather, “Man On a Mission” focuses on Garriott’s recent trip to space, his preparation therefore, and his ongoing advocacy for space exploration.

GameDaily has an exclusive interview with Richard Garriott — the creator of the Ultima series — in which he laments the end of Tabula Rasa (the MMORPG he helped create) and hints at a return to the gaming business in the wake of his departure from NCSoft.

Apparently, some of the “new interests” that he suggested that he wanted “to devote [his] time and resources to,” following “the unforgettable experience” of space travel, includes the possibility of a return to gaming.

And just to sweeten the pot:

BIZ: If you did return to games, would it definitely be an online game?

Garriott: I wouldn’t use the word definitely. I think that if it were today, it’s most probable. That’s just what I find the most interesting, still. That being said, I am still a huge fan of solo-player games as both a player, and as a storyteller. I just think there’s an intimacy in solo-player games that is much easier to do in a solo-player environment than it is to shoehorn it into a multiplayer environment. One of the things we were trying with Tabula Rasa was to offer more storytelling in an MMO setting. And we made some strides in that direction. But I still don’t think it was nearly to the level that the middle Ultimas did.

BIZ: If Electronic Arts wanted you to return and author a single-player Ultima for the consoles, would you do that?

Garriott: Conceptually? Sure. The property Ultima is still very near and dear to my heart. I think that if, by hook or by crook, I had access to that property, either in solo-player or multiplayer, I would absolutely love to continue to play in the Ultima universe.

Yeah, I know…it’s not a formal announcement of his triumphal return to the Ultima franchise in the wake of recent shifts in EA‘s game development strategies and policies. It’s still interesting, all the same, to see just what Lord British is up to these days, and what his vision for the future might just be.

You totally didn’t read it here first, but there it is: Ultima series creator Richard Garriott has parted ways with Tabula Rasa (also his creation) publisher NCSoft in order to pursue new interests.

Apparently, his recent trip into space (a “lifelong dream” of his) has prompted him to look for a change:

“Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.”

Well, here at Aiera, we wish Lord — now General — British all the best in whatever new venture he strikes out toward, whether those interests exist within, or outside of, the gaming industry.

Interesting factoid I did not know previously: Lord British is apparently the son of an astronaut.

(thanks to Reader mageguru for the link to this article)

Well, isn’t this just a banner week for news posting? Two updates in the span of three days. I should be careful, lest I set some manner of record.

Anyhow, the first two updates come to us courtesy of Petrell, who is guest-posting news at Dino’s Ultima Page.

Ultima IX: Redemption

In addition to the previously mentioned updates, there is also a new development diary to be found at the website of this remake of Ultima 9. This one is by Sage, one of the dialogue writers.

As usual, you must be registered at the Redemption forums to check the diary out.

Ultima V for TI Calculators

Ranman has uploaded new screenshots demonstrating Lord Blackthorn and the results of the entire party dying in his port of Ultima 5 to the Texas Instruments calculator. I don’t have a current percentage-completeness for his project, but a later post in the forum indicates that he’s finished the final cutscene with Lord British, which sounds promising!

Update: In the comments below, Ranman lets us know that:

Ultima V for TI calcs is 96% complete.

I was reaching critical mass again — the 64Kb barrier. I had to work in some more size optimizations. I managed to knock off another 2.3Kb.

The light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel.

Worlds of Ultima: Lost Sosaria

Over at the website for Lost Sosaria, I’ve posted news that within the next week, I hope to have uploaded the work-in-progress module for the project, along with hak files. Pace Project Britannia, it is my hope that updates to the project can be tracked in a very transparent way, giving interested parties a chance to download the “latest and greatest” in the module’s development, and to give feedback and report problems.

Produced by: C.J. Ellsworth, Norwick, Origin Systems, and/or Micro Dragon
Releases:
* The Avatar Font (v1) (0 bytes)
* The Avatar Font (v2) (0 bytes)
* Britannian Runes Font (0 bytes)
* Ultima Normal Font (0 bytes)
* Ultima Runes and All Caps (0 bytes)
* Ophidian Font (0 bytes)
* All the Ultima Fonts (0 bytes)*

The famous Ultima fonts — the Avatar font used in (some of) the titles, and some of the various runic fonts used in the games — rendered in TTF format. Just install these in your fonts directory and submit your next term paper in a font to make Lord British proud!

* except for Avatar (v1) and the Ophidian font