Case in point: out of nowhere, some six years after its initial release, Glastenel Dragon has released an update for Ultima IV Reborn, one of the two Neverwinter Nights-based remakes of Ultima 4.

Based on player feedback, Glastenel has evidently gone and corrected a number of bugs and errors in the remake. So if you still have that old copy of NWN laying around, good reader, this one might be worth checking out.

You can check it out via its entry here at Aiera, or at Master System 8.

This is a flash-based, online-playable version of the Sega Master System version of Ultima 4, which Ergonpandilus Dragon (who informed me of its existence) asserts is “the best version of U4 to play.”

I was never a console gamer myself, but if you were and if you enjoyed/treasured this version of Ultima 4, then by all means do check it out. The controls seem fairly simple, and the game itself seems fairly responsive.

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.

Do you know where I might find technical information about how the tile shape data is stored/encoded on Commodore 64 disks? The graphics for the tiles for the C64 version of Ultima 4 are mono-coloured. i.e. a single coloured. Therefore, I suspect the characters do not follow the same encoding format as was is used for the DOS version in shapes.ega.

I recently discovered that the map data is actually stored as 256 chunks of 16×16 data. (the DOS EGA version uses 64 chunks of 32×32 data)

To be honest, I haven’t the first clue about how to answer this question. The C64 predates my first foray into computing by a few years, and I’ve no “hands on” experience with that system, nor with the Ultima 4 version released for it. I had perhaps thought that Nodling Dragon would be a good resource to ask, and have suggested that the reader try and contact him…but any input from the community at large would be much appreciated!

Update: I love this community. Thanks everyone for helping George out! (see the comments)

Go me.

Anyhow, good reader: check thou them out!

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…

Powered by ScribeFire.

Produced by: Max Breedon
Website: EUO
Releases:
* [drain file 77 url EUO Installer] ([drain file 77 size])
* [drain file 76 url Patcher Update (use only if needed)] ([drain file 76 size])
* [drain file 16 url Launcher (Client Configurator)] ([drain file 16 size])
* [drain file 75 url Map Editor] ([drain file 75 size])
* [drain file 103 url 3D Client] ([drain file 103 size])

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 a Ultima Online-like skill system, without player classes. Combat is based on dice rolling like in Neverwinter Nights (and with more 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!

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!

Produced by: Alcibiade
Website: Alcibiade’s e-Den
Releases:
* [drain file 542 url Ultima Songbook (PDF)] ([drain file 542 size])

This is a neat little “utility” (sorry — couldn’t think of a better way to categorize it) for the budding musician out there to make use of. It is a compilation of guitar arrangements for the various tunes that make up the score of Ultima 6, with a few tunes from Ultima 4 and Ultima 5 also included. They have been compiled into a single e-book, and dressed up with artwork and quotes from the games as well.