I’ve been a busy little beaver, and have manged to get the Ultima 4 downloads working again in addition to the Ultima 3 downloads that were repaired earlier this week.
Go me.
Anyhow, good reader: check thou them out!
Well, after my Friday fretting, I managed to rally a little bit and get the downloads for Ultima 3 working again. Which, I must say, was no small task, given how disorganized the relevant files were.
Anyhow, the Ages of Darkness are now complete, at least in terms of restored download functionality. I still need at make sure that I have the most up-to-date files for each project, but that shouldn’t be a terribly Herculean undertaking.
Tags: Ultima 3
Ideally, I will have them done, but I can make no promises. “Real life” has gotten staggeringly busy in the last few days, to the point that I’ve found no time at all for any web work beyond a bare minimum standard that I try and maintain (basically: Pics of the Day on my “main” blog).
So if I don’t get around to fixing the downloads, I apologize. Hopefully next week will be calmer.
Tags: Ultima 3
Ergonpandilus Dragon alerted me to the existence of this one, conducted by the folks at CrispyGamer! The topic of discussion seems to be Ultima 7, for the most part:
Crispy Gamer: Ultima VII is one of my favorites in the series because it’s so immersive, interactive and easy on the eyes, but it is also very dark. To me it felt like you were tearing down what you created in the first six games. Would that be a fair statement?
Garriott: Ah, yes. Here’s how I would frame it. The first three Ultimas were really when I was, frankly, learning how to create a game. Ultima I was written in basic, Ultima II was the first assembly language program I ever wrote, and Ultima III was really the first time I felt that I had succeeded at creating a game, despite its level of sophistication. Ultima VI, V and VI were created at a time when I was learning the process of being a storyteller. They introduced things like the Virtues, etc. I began to pay much more attention to the craft of storytelling.
Frankly, Ultima I, II and III weren’t related to each other at all, in the sense that their stories weren’t connected. Ultima IV, V and VI were only related to each other in that I kind of realized that the series was going to go on for awhile, so I tried to pick up where I left off with each game.
Ultima VII (for me, the most important moment for the series since Ultima IV) was the first time I really sat down and said, “OK, what am I really trying to accomplish with this game?” I was trying to do things like set up stories and characters that would survive for more than one product. I had seen how people were reading into the philosophy I had put together with Ultima IV, V and VI, and so I was trying to — what you describe as “tearing down” — open it up, and say there are lots of other forms of thought that are either just as good or positive, or that might also seem good or positive but are actually quite dark. So I was trying to drive what I call alternatives.
Ultima IV, Ultima VII and Ultima Online are my favorites. And for me, the reason why VII that was true for was because it was a game where I most completely realized the virtual world I was trying to create. In other words, the depth of interaction and responsiveness of the world it played in.
As the bloggers say, read the whole thing!
And while you’re there, don’t forget to check out another interesting Ultima-themed feature currently underway at CrispyGamer: The Black Gate Murders — an “alternative” play-through of Ultima 7 in which the object is to a) kill everyone apart from respawning characters, and to b) pass the game. At the very least, this implies a rather careful methodology in regard to the order in which NPCs are dispatched, and I for one would be curious as to whether the blogger can pull it off.
He’s already done Trinsic, the Road to Paws, and Paws proper…
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Tags: Ultima, Ultima 1, Ultima 2, Ultima 3, Ultima 4, Ultima 5, Ultima 6, Ultima 7, Ultima Online
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Does anyone have any idea how to contact the developer of this collection of remakes — PalmOS-compatible versions of Ultima 1, Ultima 2, and Ultima 3?
I’ve been trying to figure out how to resolve a support question that a Reader came to me with some months ago, but all I seem to be hitting are brick walls.
Feel free to drop any helpful information into the comments form below.
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.
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
Petrell alerted me to the existence of an Ultima 4 Gold, by the same developer (MagerValp) who produced Ultima 3 Gold. I have added an entry for this project at Aiera, and it can be downloaded from there. As with its Ultima 3 counterpart, it is an optimized version of the game for the Commodore 64.
It would seem that I need to begin assembling lists of game-mods related to Ultima and posting/hosting these on Aiera as well. Frilly Wumpus alerted me to the existence of yet another Neverwinter Nights content package, this time for NWN 2: Ultima-like Moongates, a transportation package for the game that attempts to replicate the behaviour of the moongates in Ultima Online (yes, yes, I know).
This is not the only bit of Ultima-related content available for NWN and/or NWN2, and I’m sure there’s related development out there for a few other modable RPGs. So perhaps I should begin compiling a list.
Leave any thoughts or opinions in the comments.
Tags: Aiera, Commodore 64, Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2, Ultima, Ultima 3, Ultima 3 Gold, Ultima 4, Ultima 4 Gold, Ultima Online
One of the great things about running this site is how the community members often jump in and try to help out by providing bits of news, or by spotlighting new discoveries they’ve made of new projects or ports of existing ones. It’s a valuable contribution they make, and I’m indebted to everyone who drops me an email (whether in person or via the contact form) to let me know what’s happening out there.
That’s been especially true lately; this entire update is populated with news that has landed in one of my inboxes or another. And there’s been a fair bit of news, to be sure!
Forgotten World
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Hawkwind dropped me a copy of the second news update for Forgotten World, the remake of tag]Ultima 9[/tag] using the original engine of that game. He writes:
this Hawkwind again, from Team Forgotten World. We have just put up a new entry in our screenshot gallery, which is a render shot this time. It shows a scene that has been assembled using original Ultima 9 textures and models only.
And it has to be seen to be believed — it’s just a simple shot of a mill, with a dragon flying in the background, but it looks spectacular (nothing at all like it would have in Ascension).
Thanks for the update, Hawkwind, and good work!
hack4u
Tim Carlsen wrote me to let me know of the existence of this project, which is a program to “edit the save games of Ultima: Quest of the Avatar for the NES.” Any or all of the three games saved in the SRAM file (I trust that NES users who will be interested in this program know what that means) can be edited.
I have created an entry for hack4u on Aiera, and version 1.2 of the program can be downloaded there for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (or you can get the source code).
Ultima III Gold
Tim Carlsen also informed me of the existence of this project, which is an improved version of Ultima 3 for the Commodore 64.
I have created an entry for U3 Gold on Aiera, and the latest version of it can be downloaded from there.
Infinity Eternal
Thepal dropped me a note as well to let us all know that his remake of Ultima 9 using the Oblivion engine has not perished. Apparently, he’s having some trouble with the domain name, an error in the renewal process that he is in the process of correcting with the registry company.
And in fact, the site is back online.
Ultima Engine Ports for Nokia Internet tablets
I got the most amusing email from Arnim Sauerbier concerning several ports he has made of different [tag]Ultima[t/tag] engines. Specifically, he has ported the following Ultima titles:
It serves to note that these ports are ongoing works, and it further serves to note that some of the projects that have been ported (Pentagram, for an easy example) are themselves incomplete. However, O Reader, if you use a Nokia 770/N800 internet tablet, and would like to be able to play some classic Ultima titles whilst on the go, this is likely a project for you!
I’ve added a project entry at Aiera for all of the above, and each of the original projects will also feature a download link.
By request, I’ve made the hyperlink colour a bit darker, a minor update to the site face that I hope everyone can appreciate. Minor bits of Aiera are still under development, and will be tweaked and corected periodically as I can find time to do it all in.
And also, the wedding is in all of nine days (October 20th), so forgive me if the next update is a bit late in arriving. Grace and I will be honeymooning in Greece until November 2nd.
Update: Courtesy of Dino, there is news of a couple more updates.
Black Gate Keyring
A minor update has been made to Marzo’s mod for Exult, fixing the death bolt spell’s performance and a bug with resurrection obtained from Lord British.
As usual, you can download the latest version of Keyring from its entry here at Aiera.
Nazghul
Gordon has posted news that he is planning to release version 0.6.0 of his Ultima-like engine very soon.
Also, Dino has found another Ultima blogger, Rotting Dragon, who is currently playing his way through Ultima 6 as he voyages through the Ultima series in view of the world.
Tags: Aiera, Commodore 64, Exult, Forgotten World, hack4u, honeymoon, Nazghul, NES, Nokia, Oblivion, Pentagram, The Black Gate, Ultima, Ultima 3, Ultima 3 Gold, Ultima 9, Ultima IX: Infinity Eternal, Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, wedding