DOUG the Eagle Dragon’s Ultima 6-inspired RPG creation software is once again available for download.

In his latest news post, Dino mentioned this interesting-looking new project, which aims to craft an RPG maker that features Ultima 7-ish graphics and no need for programming skill.

It seemed worth a project entry.

Produced by: Fahed “Foody” Al Daye
Website: Foody’s Blog at Indie DB

Though it has yet to produce any releases, this interesting-looking RPG maker software, presently under development, was announced on a short-lived thread in the Exult forums, and is obviously quite heavily influenced by Ultima 7 (indeed, it would appear to be using a colour-shifted version of the golden doors from Serpent Isle as its door graphics in the screenshot above).

Foody’s desire is to create an RPG maker that requires no programming knowledge on the part of the user, which suggests (to me, at least) that he will be coding all manner of wizards to assist with scripting events, encounters, and what-have-you.

Some of you may recall that Aiera did in fact play host to a demo version of Arkane Studios‘ epic, Ultima Underworld-inspired RPG Arx Fatalis. Also to be found were a handful of update patches in various languages.

I rather doubt that the collection of files was ever all that complete; the demo was available in English, German, and French, while the update patches were available in English, Italian, and French (so I’m missing, at minimum, one demo version and one patch). Be that as it may: what files I did have are once again available for download.

Because I’m a horribly forgetful person, I failed to post this news when it was at its freshest. Firstknight left a comment on his project’s entry to bring us all up to speed on the status of the project and the progress he’s made on it:

Sorry, but I haven’t had the time to create a homepage so far, so I want to provide some quick info on the actual project state here:

Currently (after being offline for about 6 months) I continue working on basic tasks, like categorizing items and upgrading the creation tools. When this is done, the next step will be adding bigger objects (mainly rocks and trees) onto the Britannia overworld (which invovles pure hexcoding) Both of these tasks will take until approximately Summer 2011.

After that I will have something new to show (which is not really the case ATM), so this will be a good time for providing a homepage. Also, a new demo is planned for late 2011 (I hope that I get the .NET Launcher done before then).

Furthermore, I’m sorry to say that there will be no way to remove the fogging on overworld maps in Windows 7, but it doesn’t make much sense to do so anyway, simply because a MiddleClip value higher than 6000 makes the game unstable.

Long-term goals for Beautiful Britannia:

• Providing many more details for the Britannia overworld
• Making several unsued maps (overworlds and dungeons) playable
• Shortening the linear parts of the game and adding nonlinear elements instead

So there you have it, folks.

I have to confess a certain particular affinity for this project, in no small part due to the fact that it makes use of the original Ultima 9 game engine. Even in this day and age, that engine stacks up not badly against more modern systems, at least to my thinking.

Yes, the engine doesn’t do as well with DirectX (it was built in the era of Glide), and yes, the polygon counts are lower and the textures are low-resolution. But equally, the world of Ascension was far more interactive than most 3D RPG game worlds are these days (at least if one does an “out of the box” comparison), and few games these days do as well making a world feel truly seamless (many don’t even try). Many of the game’s systems (its conversation engine, for example) were quite well-implemented.

And while I’m not exactly the biggest fan of jumping puzzles, I actually rather miss the ability to jump and climb objects in many of the games I enjoy today. In Ascension, it was no big deal to jump across a small chasm or climb up a ledge…and I can think of a good half-dozen situations in Mass Effect 2 where I would have killed to have either ability.

I suppose, where fantasy RPGs are concerned, I’m something of a purist. I love Ultima, and quite frankly cannot stand nor abide and Final Fantasy title. As in: at all.

Thus, I cast my lot in (albeit only in this case) with the Philosoraptor:

And if that doesn’t start a flame war in the comments, I don’t know what will.

I was always a big fan of Syndicate when I was a kid; I spent countless hours in front of my friend Tiago’s Mac LCIII laying into mercenaries (and sometimes civilians…who am I kidding?) with the Gauss Gun.

So you can imagine that this news caught my eye:

A modern update of isometric cyborg sim Syndicate is presumed to be the surviving half of a planned two-game collaboration between EA and Starbreeze Studios. As noted by Superannuation, EA filed three new “Syndicate” trademark registrations in August concerning “video game software,” “electronic computer games” and, in one case, “collectable toy figures.”

Rumors of a new Syndicate sprang up over a year ago, and a document from the U.S. Copyright Office recently linked the Syndicate name to both EA and Chronicles of Riddick developer Starbreeze Studios. While the publisher has never made an official announcement, original Syndicate designer Sean Cooper stated in June 2009 that several “misguided” attempts to revisit the sci-fi franchise had been made since it debuted in the early 90s.

Syndicate isn’t particularly related to Ultima in any meaningful sense, though it did boast an isometric game engine that would be instantly familiar to any fan of Ultima 7 or Ultima 8. The linear, mission-based storyline was far from an Ultima-like RPG experience (indeed, I don’t think you could classify Syndicate as an RPG, at least not one in the same category as Ultima), although the squad controls were somewhat tighter than even those offered by Ultima 6.

And if not: have you been living under a rock, and/or what colour is the sky on your planet, and also…welcome to Earth.

Okay, somewhat more seriously, Portalarium is “an online ecosystem of shared relationships, connecting endless gaming experiences, via seamless portals,” a social-networking gaming platform and development company co-founded by several people whose names should be familiar to Ultima fans, including none other than Richard Garriott.

You can read their founding press release…here.

There’s really not a lot more that can be said about this initiative for the moment, apart from the fact that it certainly represents a very new gaming frontier for Garriott. Social networking games — think FarmVille — are inherently browser-based games, dependent as they are on social networking frameworks like Facebook or Twitter.

At the same time, there’s a fair bit of potential for some truly interesting games to emerge from this. One notes that the company’s first title is using a web-based version of the Torque 2D engine; their information page about the “Portalarium Player” also mentions Unity 3D and a couple of other frameworks. Those are pretty powerful development toolsets; one could craft a web-playable RPG of Garriott’s caliber using Unity, for example.

Is that the direction that the company is going to go? Who knows at this early stage. With that many former Origin guys at the helm, though, there might just be a glimmer of hope.

(hat tip)

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.

Produced by: Chgowiz
Website: Chgowiz’s Old Guy RPG Blog
Releases:
* Rulebook (390.2 KiB, 125 hits)
* Game Referee's Guide (378.3 KiB, 109 hits)
* Hawkwind's Gazeteer: Perinia (470.1 KiB, 117 hits)

A pen-and-paper RPG inspired by the first three Ultima titles, Siege Perilous is not (according to its author) a faithful representation of the canonical timeline — it is instead a “hybrid” game that can represent any point within the Ultima timeline, or serve as the foundation for a completely new, “off the cuff” Ultima adventure.

It was developed from an adaptation of the Swords & Wizardry White Box, in addition to several other sources.

The game is complete to the point that it can be playtested; Chgowiz has additions to make to the list of magic items (including potions and spells), character creation rules, and game setting information. Reviews of the game are welcome.

Michael Shorten has released “Siege Perilous,” his Ultima-inspired tabletop RPG.

“Siege Perilous” is an RPG based on the Ultima Age of Darkness CRPG games – #1 through #3. It is developed from an adaptation of the Swords & Wizardry White Box (1st printing) and uses several other sources – Skathros’s S&W Companion Rules, a magic system developed by Arminath, the Minimal Space Combat system by Timoth Swenson and a lot of glue, rewriting, adaptation and content by myself. This game uses names, monsters, spells, settings and features from all 3 of the games.

…

It’s not a faithful representation of the “canon” timeline – I had to make a hybrid game that a Game Referee could use to represent any point in time with the established Ultima universe. It’s also adaptable enough that a Game Referee can make their own Ultima. Future settings information is going to assume the state of Sosaria in Ultima 1, based on my campaign world.

Released for download are the game’s rulebook, the game referee’s guide, and something called “Hawkwind’s Gazeteer: Perinia,” which is evidently just an outline of some kind at present.

If you’re a fan of pen-and-paper RPGs, good reader, do consider giving this one a try; it looks rather promising! At present, it must be downloaded from Michael’s site; I will add an entry for it to Aiera shortly.

And if there’s someone put there who’d be willing to review the game, please contact me and let me know!

Michael Shorten, tabletop RPG enthusiast and authour of an Ultima-themed pen-and-paper RPG, did an interview with Denis Loubet — game, box, and manual art illustrator for many of the Ultima games — back in May. Though not terribly long, it offers some insightful reflections from Loubet, and an interesting glimpse at his history with Origin Systems.

Those of you who have undertaken to read the Bible in its entirety may be familiar with the fact that most Biblical “reading programs” do not recommend attempting a cover-to-cover read-through. Indeed, many such programs do not necessarily recommend beginning with the Book of Genesis! The Bible is a complex book, and reading its every word typically requires a fair bit of thinking ahead and preparation on the reader’s part.

I mention this here because a reader sent me a request over the weekend that is kind of an analog to the above. For some of us, Ultima is a game which predates us; perhaps we were born after the first one was released, or perhaps we did not come to be gamers until the series had achieved a level of maturity. This is certainly the case for me: the first three games I ever played, in order, were a Winnie the Pooh puzzle solver/RPG, Sierra‘s Mixed-Up Mother Goose, and Ultima 6…all within the span of about 18 months. If I was 7 years old by the time U6 and I first met, I’d be surprised.

But it got me hooked, and I’ve played most of the other Ultima titles since that time. (U6 remains my favourite, though.)

The last Ultima game released a decade ago. Think about that for a moment. Even Ultima 9 represents a bygone era of gaming…or, perhaps, several eras; game-related technologies move ahead with truly alarming speed.

If someone wanted to get into the Ultima series today, where would they begin? Is it still best to start at the beginning, with Akalabeth, and from there to play through all the games in game-chronological order? Or is this not the right approach? Should a person instead begin somewhere in the middle, then move to earlier titles, and then play through the Guardian saga? And should one play through the originals? Or the remakes?

That is what reader Lance wondered in his email:

Between 2000 and 2003 I played a lot of Ultima Online on various free shards; before that I hadn’t played any Ultima Games. Since then I’ve put a couple hours into the following: U1, U7 (in Exult), U8 (in the other Exult-like project) and U9 (completely patched up and using the developer-released patch).

In each I lost interest: U7, U8 & U9, I was obsessed with going into every
house and stealing useless junk like candles, cutlery and bananas…which meant the locals would eventually get angry at me.

I’m thinking about starting with U1 again and working my way up to U9, but I’m not sure if I should play the remakes instead of the originals in
DOSBox, or maybe start with U9 and work my way down to U1.. or even put Ultima’s best foot forward and start from there and work my way to the worst in the series (maybe U7, then U8, U9, then U6 etc)?

To be honest, I’m not sure what sort of answer to give him, apart from recommending beginning with U6; that is the best starting point, as far as I’m concerned. From there, the order I suspect might work best would be: U4, U5, U8, U9, U1, U2, U3, the Underworld games (optional), Akalabeth (optional), and then U7 (both parts, in order). This balances higher quality against lower, modern against classic; to my mind, it should work for the average gamer.

But what do you all think? Recommendations can be left in the comments (please give explanations for your suggestions, as well).

Produced by: Max Breedon
Website: EUO
Releases:
* EUO Installer (3.5 MiB, 20 hits)
* EUO Patching Utility (99.7 KiB, 17 hits)
* Launcher Client (24.7 KiB, 17 hits)
* EUO Map Editor (158.8 KiB, 16 hits)
* EUO 3D Client (253.3 KiB, 15 hits)

Borrowing a fair bit from other RPGs, EUO is intended to be a real-time, single/multi-player, persistent-world RPG…one that looks and plays much like Ultima 4 or Ultima 5.

The project site proudly proclaims that those looking for mouse support and Diablo 3-style graphics should seek their fix elsewhere.

EUO uses an Ultima Online-like skill system, without player classes. Combat is based on D&D dice rolling like in Neverwinter Nights (with additional Ultima Online influences, apparently). Although the original EUO did feature a U4-like tileset, the current iteration is completely original (although most monsters and traps will be familiar to Ultima 5 fans). Spells can be cast using either the Ultima 5 runes, or through a simpler list for the less-than-Ultima-proficient.

Also, the game now incorporates the LUA scripting language, meaning that the player can influence the dungeons to a greater degree through certain key actions. Leveling is done at shrines, with stats being upgraded along the same lines as happened in Ultima 6.

The game features over 100 NPCs and over 50 quests, with more being added all the time. And now, a 3D client is even available!

It’s been another good week for news — things are busy. It seems to be a busy time in general, actually…even I’m embroiled in a project — redesigning the website of the company that I work for (I cannot stress enough the utter need for such a redesign), which has certainly been eating up a goodly chunk of my time.

But let’s see what’s going on in the community. First, some submissions by email.

Ultima 1 Reverse Engineering

Tim Carlsen pointed out (just before Christmas) — sorry, again, for the delay, Tim! — to me that Dino the Dark Dragon has had the files from his reverse-engineering of the Ultima 1 engine online for a while now. While he hasn’t worked on it (or, at least, hasn’t updated it) all that much in the last few months, I’ve decided to give Dino’s project its own entry here at Aiera

Adventure Creation Kit

Joshua Lawrence got in touch with me regarding the release of ACK 3.0, the latest version of one of the original “build your own Ultima-like game” utilities. It features a host of improvements, including:

• experience levels
• bitmap skinning of main play screen and dialogs
• improved day/night cycle with event triggering
• a new Launcher allows for the use of ACK “right out of the box” in Windows and Mac OS X
• a new ‘Ultima Kit’ with tiles, objects, and moongates from Ultima 5

I have updated the project entry with the latest downloads, and have also removed the commands reference (it’s outdated as of this version of the Kit) and the registration code (which is unnecessary). It can also be downloaded from the project website.

Ultima V for TI Calculators

Ranman dropped a comment on this news post to inform us that he has completed implementation of the special abilities associated with each of the Crown Jewels in his remake of Ultima 5. Very cool!

I also noticed a few updates while cruising around the various Ultima-related websites that I check on a regular basis.

Lost Sosaria

A downloads page has been put up at the Lost Sosaria website. I have also added download links to the project entry here at Aiera.

Savage Empire Total Conversion

We haven’t heard from this project in a while, but Scythifuge has recently posted some updates to a discussion thread in the Exult forums detailing his progress on the module. Currently, he’s working on bits and pieces of art to insert into the game, to increase its immersiveness and improve the feel.

He has also started a “sample art” discussion thread.

Ultima 7 (Exult) for Nokia Phones

Arnim Sauerbier released, at some point this month, updated mp3 versions of the Ultima 7 music files for his port of Exult to the Nokia 770, correcting a volume-control issue that had cropped up in the previous version of the files.

I have updated the download at the project entry here at Aiera.

And finally, some additional news courtesy of Dino’s Ultima Page.

Ultima IX: Redemption

Corv has posted a huge update to the website of his remake of Ultima 9. Among other things, the team has released twenty-seven new screenshots (showing off some amazing scenery and architecture) and five new music tracks. Additionally, the project status bars have been updated, and a few changes have been made to the team roster.

EUO

An updated version (0.13) of the beta-stage 3D for EUO, the Ultima-like online RPG, has been released. The look and playability are still rudimentary, but this is certainly an interesting development for this fun little project.

Downloads and installation instructions are available at the EUO forums, and the downloads are mirrored through the project entry here at Aiera.

Seven Towers Exult Mods

In the latest posting at Dino’s Ultima Page, Petrell makes a note that updated versions of the various Exult Mods that can be found at Seven Towers have been released. However, I notice this morning that the project website has been replaced by a subdomain placeholder page — most troubling. Let’s hope this is only temporary.

Produced by: Chris Hopkins
Website: 80s Gaming
Releases:
* ACK v3.2 (Windows) (20.5 MiB, 110 hits)
* ACK v3.2 (Mac) (23.1 MiB, 81 hits)
* ACK v3.2 (other systems) (18.4 MiB, 87 hits)

This is a comprehensive top-down 2D game development tool that allows for the creation of tiled RPG-type games, similar to Ultima 1 through to Ultima 5. It is now fully operable under both Windows and Mac OS X without need for emulation of any kind.

The Kit was completed in 1995, and was intended as Mr. Hopkins’ update to the classic Adventure Construction Kit of the 1980s. In about 2000, the Kit was released as freeware, and Joshua Lawrence has taken it upon himself to maintain a web presence for the Kit. The ‘v3′ update was released in early 2008.

It hasn’t been a tremendously busy couple of weeks, but several projects have posted significant updates.

Ultima IX: Redemption

There is a lot of news from this promising, Morrowind-based remake of Ultima 9 this week. Firstly, “de facto” project spokesperson Direhaggis writes in to inform us all of the following:

Our team has stayed consistently productive for the last year, especially making gains in exterior cell worldbuilding (which is nearly done) and 3D models. I myself write the main quest and it’s 80% complete, with a word count of approximately 180,000 (where U7:BG had ~175,000). Overall, production is 75% done. With our current team roster, the game itself will definitely be completed–it’s just a question of time.

On that note, we are right now looking for more worldbuilders for interior cells, as well as dialogue writers. There’s also a position for a 2D artist to help create more cutscenes for the game.

Our director, Corv, is going to update the status page fairly soon. He has recently become a new father, though, so I am acting in his stead to spread the news far and wide.

I would dearly appreciate your sharing this news with your readership. Thank you for your time, thought, and especially your dedication to keeping Ultima alive and well.

And to Direhaggis, I can only say: no problem at all, good Ultima fan and true!

It is indeed the case that the Redemption team are looking for worldbuilders to help with interiors, as well as dialogue writers and (possibly) even a 2D artist. If, O Reader, you feel you could fit into one or any of those categories, pop on over to the Ultima IX: Redemption website and drop Direhaggis a private message in the forums there.

PT-BR Translation for Ultima Underworld

I was informed via the contact form that a Portuguese translation of Ultima Underworld is available for download as well:

We have a small group with a project, its about 90%, but we have a lot of work like font editing and replay the game to check any flaw.
There is alreadly a patch avaliable.

I have created a project entry for this translation here at Aiera, and have uploaded the current version of the patch (v0.2) for download. If, O Reader, you would be interested in helping this small team with font editing and playtesting, you can contact then through their website/forum.

Exult 3D

From his comments at the end of this discussion at the Exult forums, it appears that Sam Matthews has stopped work on his 3D re-interpretation of the Ultima 7 engine. If so, that’s a pity.

For the moment, the project entry here at Aiera won’t be changed, as the project had come a fairly long way and could conceivably be used to play through Ultima 7. It won’t look terribly pretty in places, but that’s an aesthetic concern as opposed to a technical one.

EUO

Speaking of 3D, it appears that a beta-stage 3D engine has become available for EUO, the Ultima-like online RPG. The look and playability are still rudimentary, but this is certainly an interesting development for this fun little project.

Downloads and installation instructions are available at the EUO forums, and the downloads are mirrored through the project entry here at Aiera.

Realms of Ultima

This promising, Neverwinter Nights 2-based set of “prefabs” has just released its latest content — New Magincia. It’s not a completed release just yet, and will soon see the addition of caves, house interiors, and the Gargoyles that live there, but it’s enough to wander around in…and it’s spectacular.

(My wife bought me NWN2 a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve had a bit of a look at the town…it’s top-notch work)

The prefab can be downloaded either from its entry at the Neverwinter Vault, or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Produced by: DOUG the Eagle Dragon
Website: IT-HE Sofware
Releases:
* Demo v0.93 Flat Datafiles (2.5 MiB, 1 hits)
* Game & Editor (Mandrake 8.1) (2.1 MiB, 1 hits)
* Game & Editor (Windows) (1.7 MiB, 1 hits)
* Game & Editor (DOS) (2.5 MiB, 1 hits)
* IRE Source (2.6 MiB, 2 hits)
* Allegro Source (needed) (3.3 MiB, 1 hits)
* Allegro OGG Library (58.9 KiB, 1 hits)
* JPEG Library Source (744.7 KiB, 1 hits)

DOUG the Eagle Dragon has developed an RPG engine in the spirit and style of Ultima 6. The game and editing tools are cross-platform, currently available on Linux, DOS, and Windows. The source is available to compile and build the software on other systems.

He has also made available downloads of Reign of the Just, a game of his creation and the first to be produced using IRE.

Current Game Modules
* Reign of the Just (Windows) (30.2 MiB, 2 hits)
* Reign of the Just (Mandrake) (30.2 MiB, 1 hits)

IRE requires the Allegro libraries and the JPEG library (above) as well.