First, let me just remark that all the Online Remakes are once again available for download, and in fact have been so available since last Friday. The reason for the delay was the fact that I had mis-categorized Dransik as a remake, which it is not (though it is an online game).

From here, there are three main categories to restore: Spin Offs, General Utilities, and Joke Remakes. There’s also the Orphanage and Cemetery…but I’m (understandably, I hope) not in as much of a rush to get those categories up and running again.

Broadly, my plan is that the General Utilities section will be pared back, somewhat, because some of the downloads in there (DOSBox, for example) are hopelessly out of date and not particularly Ultima-specific anyhow. I’ll replace the actual downloads with links to the project’s downloads page, where appropriate. The Joke Remakes section will remain much the same as it is, though I believe there is one addition I need to make to it. And come to think of it, neither the Orphanage or the Cemetery will change all that much, if at all.

However, the Spin Offs section will be completely overhauled.

For example, I think the Inspired Works section needs to be expanded and given a little more of its own visibility. I also need to start tracking those projects better.

Moreover, I want to start looking for other projects that, if they aren’t directly inspired by Ultima, are at least inheritors of Ultima traditions in some way. These won’t be categorized as Inspired Works, but will fall under a new and somewhat related category. I’ve already begun looking at a handful of iPhone games, some of which will probably be featured. Sergorn Dragon has put me on to a couple of mainline PC titles that will probably also qualify. The Exult Total Conversions category will probably disappear, since two of its three entrants are remakes, and the third is basically an Inspired Work.

And to be fair, the Spin Offs category will not disappear entirely; there are a few projects which fit that label and will keep it as a result.

The area of the site that will see a lot of change, however, is the Engines section. For starters, it will be expanded to include discussion about 2D and 3D engines which are not tied to any specific game (e.g. Unity, Torque) and are available for free. It will also expand to include discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of using each platform, the pros and cons of each.

More than that, however, I want to expand Aiera into something akin to a “developer connection”, which exists as a place where past project developers can share created media content — 2D art, 3D models, music, and suchlike — with the Ultima community, so that other developers can make use of these things in their projects. Because really, it’s daunting at the best of times to take on the task of creating an Ultima-like game, and the sheer volume of stuff that a development team needs to create for its project can be overwhelming…and thus the death of an otherwise promising effort.

I’d like to position Aiera in such a way as to help aspiring devs get past those pitfalls.

Fundamentally, I think there’s more stories that could be told by the fan community. In part, that’s why I signed on to work on Return to the Serpent Isle…because it isn’t a remake, but is in fact a new story set in the Ultima universe, and which will strive to remain faithful to the universe that Origin built for our minds to play in. And I think there’s an argument to be made that indie devs can turn out amazing work given time and enthusiastic support from an engaged community.

And I don’t believe that Ultima is dead. My site traffic logs would seem to support that belief, as would the overwhelming response to the release of the Ultima 6 Project just recently, and to Lazarus before it.

So in the weeks to come, expect to see this all getting built. And hopefully, once it’s built, we can get a little Field of Dreams action going on here.

May I also offer an extra-special huge-frigging-big “thank you” to Aletys from the Ultima 6 Project for her supportive donation to the site. I will be adding a Sponsorship page to Aiera once I finalize the new design; expect that she will be right at the top of it.

Aletys, you might have made my wife cry, just a little bit. It was that stunning, and I am duly humbled by it.

That’s right…it’s been nearly a decade in the making, and it comes out today!

On this, the 20th anniversary year of the release of Origin Systems Ultima 6, it is with much pleasure that we announce the 1.0 release of Team Archon‘s Ultima 6 Project, for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Players will find a huge and exciting world waiting to be discovered:

• Travel throughout the lands of Britannia, exploring dark forests with bandits lying in wait, deserts and swamps teeming with monsters, and peaceful towns and villages filled with shops, old friends, and interesting people just waiting to give the player numerous and exciting quests to solve.
• Explore deep and dangerous caves and caverns full of treasure and hidden surprises. Bring your breadcrumbs to mark your trail, or be prepared to be thoroughly and completely lost, with your remains left to be found by future explorers.
• Sail the savage seas to explore remote islands, but be vigilant for there are sea monsters lying in wait for the careless traveler.
• Discover a hidden new world, far from Britannia.
• Encounter strange and exotic races, including the mysterious Gargoyles.
• Fight fearsome monsters, find pirate loot, solve a murder, and discover the truth behind the numerous attacks on Britannia’s towns.
• Learn the commerce of the land for fun and profit.
• Learn magical spells, search for magic reagents, and join guilds to gain special benefits.
• Those players with proclivities to the dark side can follow an “evil path”.
• And, last, but not least, ferret out the hidden Easter eggs.

Click on through to continue reading the press release. If you just can’t wait and have to start downloading the project package, click here for the project entry at Aiera, or visit the project website for additional download links.

(more…)

Well, today is an exciting Monday, isn’t it? That’s right…the newest Beta release of the Ultima 6 Project is available for download:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of the Beta 3 Release of Team Archon’s Ultima 6 Project, for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Some things to look forward to in this release:

• Many bug fixes have been implemented since the Beta 2 release.
• All NPC’s are in place, and all the quests have been implemented.
• Those players with proclivities to the dark side can now follow an “evil path”.
• Additional enhancements have been made to the map and journal systems, and the Compendium is now complete.
• Performance improvements have been implemented

It should be noted that anyone using a previous version will have to uninstall it prior to installing the Beta 3 Release, and start a new game,

While this is not the final release of the game, we feel that it is reasonably polished, enough for public consumption (read: scrutiny). We still expect that there will be some bugs, and are soliciting your help in finding them.

If you find problems with the release, want to exchange play hints with other players, want to give us kudos, or (heaven forbid) want to tell us what you really think, join us at our forums.We have set up a special forum for the Beta 3 Release on the Project Britannia forums.

To download the Beta 3 Release, go to the Ultima 6 Project web site.

You’re still here, good reader? Get thee to the project website and download that Beta! Or, if you like, you can get it from the project entry here; Aiera is pleased to serve as a download mirror for the U6P team.

Not that I mourn its passing, exactly. It was a pretty darn ancient system, my old AMD Athlon XP 1800+ that I bought in 2003. Clocking in at about 1.18 GHz and backed up by 1.25 GB of RAM, it wasn’t exactly the powerhouse of the house. It did have a pretty decent video card, though. But anyhow, the system would appear to have well and truly “snuffed it”, as they say. The power supply is fine and everything is connected, but neither the processor nor the hard drives show any sign of life when the system is powered on.

So I’m thinking it might just be time to upgrade. As such, let’s haul out the old format for a bit and contemplate options. I’m thinking it’d be sweet to hook her up with one of these new “mini” computers that are becoming quite common these days. She doesn’t exactly need the computing horsepower, since she doesn’t use the computer for much more than a bit of music playback, checking her email, and checking various newsfeeds. Once in a while, she’ll watch an episode of House online.

Netbook guts!

Specs:

• nVidia ION graphics chipset
• Intel Atom N330 Dual Core 1.6GHz processor
• 2 GB DDR2 RAM
• 160 GB 5400RPM SATA II hard drive

Price: $429 (Memory Express)

Pros: Asus Eee computers are pretty well-known as far as miniature PCs and netbooks go. Asus itself makes pretty reliable hardware, in my experience, and the Eee Box itself can be fitted almost anywhere, so as to be unobtrusive.

Cons: Price, primarily. Though not the most expensive unit on this list, the Eee Box does cost $80 more than the Acer Aspire Revo, despite having essentially identical specs thereto. We can argue over brands, but since I’ve personally no objection to either Acer or Asus, I don’t exactly see why — if I am to choose between just the two — I should opt for the Asus.

Also, as Petrell pointed out in the comments, there’s no optical drive. I don’t see this as being the biggest obstacle, and I don’t imagine Grace would either…but you never know. It’s worth consideration.

Also netbook guts!

Specs:

• nVidia ION graphics chipset
• Intel Atom N330 Dual Core 1.6GHz processor
• 2 GB DDR2 RAM
• 160 GB 5400RPM SATA II hard drive

Price: $349 (Memory Express)

Pros: Price, for one; the Revo 3610 is identical to the Eee Box (above) in terms of specifications, yet comes in at a lower price. That’s an important consideration for me these days! Personally, I’ve only ever had good experiences with Acer computers. And the size of the thing…sheesh, it’s tiny! I could hide it almost anywhere near Grace’s monitor, and clean up the cable mess I made when I set up her tower, and she’d have a better computer at the end of it.

I don’t imagine she’d complain.

Also, the Revo boasts one additional USB port. That sounds trivial, and I would generally agree that it is…but at the same time, I think we’ve all been in that situation where we have one more device to connect than we have ports available. Am I right? Nevermind.

Cons: The lack of an optical drive, again, as Petrell pointed out.

I look like a Mac Mini!

Specs:

• ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics chipset
• AMD Athlon 2650e 1.6GHz processor
• 3 GB DDR2 RAM
• 250 GB 7200RPM SATA II hard drive

Price: $399 (Dell.ca)

Pros: This system offers more memory than either the Revo or the Eee Box, and a larger/faster hard drive as well. The hard drive capacity is a worthwhile consideration, since Grace is always happy to have more space to work with; the extra RAM would certainly improve system performance a little bit.

Cons: For one, the HD 3200 graphics chipset…isn’t really that good. In fact, as a general rule, it’s worse than the ION chipset. For $99 more, I could jump that to the HD 4330 chipset, which is markedly better (heck, Grace could probably run Mass Effect, which I’ve been encouraging her to play lately).

But that would of course boost the price of the unit from something that falls happily between the Revo and the Eee Box to something that far exceeds both units. And considering the fact that this unit boasts what appears to be a single core processor, rather than a dual core, it doesn’t seem to be that great of a deal overall.

I *am* a Mac Mini!

Specs:

• nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics chipset
• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz processor
• 2 GB DDR3 RAM
• 160 GB 5400RPM hard drive

Price: $649 (Apple.ca)

Pros: Well, it’s a Mac, for starters, which means the beautiful, easy-to-use thing that is OS X. Overall, this is a much higher-performance system than any of the other entries on this list, and yet is quite compact (smaller than the Dell, I think). The processor is a Core 2, rather than a netbook Atom-type chip, and the 9400M graphics are…decent.

Cons: The hard drive is nothing special. And then there’s the price. The Mac Mini is easily the most expensive computer on the list here (not that I’m surprised), and probably the hardest overall to cost-justify. Yes, it’s a beefier system overall, but does Grace need the power? Given her current usage profile, I’m doubtful.

In Closing

My gut feeling is to go with the Revo, both because it’s the cheapest system on the list and because it offers what will probably be the best system overall for Grace’s needs. Still, I’m open to some debate on the matter, so if anyone wants to chime in with a suggestion, please do so.

That’s right: hot on the heels of their Milestone 8 (Beta 1) release, the U6 Project team have released their second beta, which features:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of the Beta 2 Release of Team Archon’s Ultima 6 Project, for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). Some things to look forward to in this release:

• Many bug fixes have been implemented since the Milestone 8 (Beta 1) release.
• Weapon and armor restrictions have now been applied, by class.
• The entire world is complete, and ready for players to explore.
• All NPC’s are in place, and all the quests have been implemented.
• Those players with proclivities to the dark side can now follow an “evil path”.
• Hydras are now in game, and should pose a nasty surprise to unwary travelers.
• Additional enhancements have been made to the map and journal systems, and the Compendium is now nearly complete.
• Minor performance improvements have been implemented
• It should be noted that anyone using a previous version will have to uninstall it prior to installing the Beta 2 Release, and start a new game.

While this is not the final release of the game, we feel that it is reasonably polished, enough for public consumption (read: scrutiny). We still expect that there will be some bugs, and are soliciting your help in finding them.

If you find problems with the release, want to exchange play hints with other players, want to give us kudos, or (heaven forbid) want to tell us what you really think, join us at our forums. We have set up a special forum for the Beta 2 Release on the Project Britannia forums (http://www.projectbritannia.com/index.php).

To download the Beta 2 Release, go to the Ultima 6 Project web site at: http://www.u6project.com/ where you can also check out profiles of the Project team members.

If you like what you see, and would like to contribute to this great game (and help us get it out faster), the team is looking for additional 2D artists to help with completing the portraits. And, of course, we’re always looking for play-testers to help us find and eliminate any remaining bugs. Contact any of the team members on the forums if you’d like to join the team.

You’re still here, good reader? Get thee to the Ultima 6 Project website and grab that download.

Or, you can grab it from the project entry here at Aiera.

From the U6P team:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon’s next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 8 (M8) for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). This is the beta release for the project, which will be followed shortly by the 1.0 release. Some things to look forward to in this release:

• The entire world is now complete, and ready for players to explore.
• All NPC’s are in place, and all the quests have been implemented.
• New weapons are available for the player to discover.
• Tangle Vines are now in game, and should pose a nasty surprise to unwary travelers.
• Enhancements have been made to the map and journal systems, and the Compendium is now available as part of the Journal.

This is not the final release of the game, but we feel that they are reasonably polished enough for public consumption (read: scrutiny). If you find problems with the release, want to exchange play hints with other players, want to give us kudos, or (heaven forbid) want to tell us what you really think, join us at our forums. We have set up a special forum for the Milestone 8 Release on the Project Britannia forums.

To download the M8 release, go to the Ultima 6 Project web site at: http://www.u6project.com/ where you can also check out profiles of the Project team members.

If you like what you see, and would like to contribute to this great game (and help us get it out faster), the team is looking for additional 2D artists to help with completing the portraits. And, of course, we’re always looking for play-testers to help us find and eliminate any bugs. Contact any of the team members on the forums if you’d like to join the team.

About The U6 Project

The Ultima 6 Project was formed in 2001 by Sliding Dragon to develop a remake of Origin’s Ultima VI: The False Prophet with newer graphics and a more immersive engine. Soon assembled under the banner Archon, the team members, who hail from all over the globe, have set about recreating the world of Britannia, adding an enhanced storyline to bolster intraseries continuity and building on the Ultima legacy in a way that will please fans new and old.

I haven’t added the download to the project entry yet (that will happen tonight), but Team Archon were gracious enough to release the Milestone 8 download to me a bit early.

Sadly, something seems to have gone wrong with my upload of the project file. I’m working on getting a new download in place right now!

Apologies!

Update: Okay, I think the file DOWNLOADED successfully this time, which is good. But as I am currently in a hotel in Rock Springs, Wyoming, sharing an internet connection with God knows how many other people, the process of getting it UPLOADED has crossed from being a mere annoyance to a full-on pain in the ass. By which I mean: 5:35:22 remaining on the counter, with 1:55:29 elapsed already.

Painfully slow!

Anyhow, with nothing better to do on the site at the moment, I think I might take a stab at cleaning up the timeline. Which, I remind myself, still needs to have all the various remake projects included in it. Or at least the ones that make it to final release!

From Aletys:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon’s next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 7 (M7) for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). This is the alpha release for the project, which will be followed shortly by the beta and 1.0 releases. Some things to look forward to in this release:

• The entire world is now available for players to explore, and players will be able to complete the game, though some elements will be further enhanced in the beta and 1.0 releases.
• New NPCs have been added, including a certain Cyclops family and a two-headed llama.
• Additional enhancements have been made to existing areas.
• More quests have been implemented, including the entire main quest.
• The Journal system has been greatly enhanced, and players will be able to track their progress with it.

This is not a final release of these sections of the game, but we feel that they are reasonably polished enough for public consumption (read: scrutiny). If you find problems with the release, want to exchange play hints with other players, want to give us kudos, or (heaven forbid) want to tell us what you really think, join us at our forums. We have set up a special forum for the Milestone 7 Release on the Project Britannia forums.

To download the M7 release, go to the Ultima 6 Project web site, where you can also check out profiles of the Project team members.

You’re still here, good reader? Get thee to the project website!

Update: A download is now available via the project entry here.

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!

Produced by: Telemachos
Website: Peroxide
Releases:
* Mount Drash (459.5 KiB, 18 hits)

Ultima: Escape from Mount Drash is not a canon Ultima, and bears only a passing relevance to the Ultima storyline. It was not a Richard Garriot game, and it seems likely that, at the time, Sierra just slapped the Ultima label onto another game in order to boost its sales.

Telemachos, formerly of Peroxide, ported the game from the VIC 20 to the PC about a year ago, and Warwon Dragon graciously provided me with his copy of the port for inclusion on the site.