Actually, the Powerbook is moving at the same speed as always; it’s the applications that are slowing down; later (more modern) software versions tend to be just a wee bit more resource intensive than previous versions, and more developers are beginning to simply drop support for the G4 series of processors in favour of Intel-exclusive applications. The last G4s were released in 2005; it’s already been over three years since Apple switched from PowerPC chips to Intel chips.

The most recent and relevant example of software evolving beyond the capabilities and hardware of the Powerbook is, unfortunately, my favourite piece of software: Adobe Lightroom. Version 3 of Lightroom will run reasonably well on my Pentium 4, apparently…but the Mac version only supports Intel-based Macs.

I suppose I could just get by on the Pentium 4, rather than investing in new hardware. But then, I don’t usually have a lot of time to sit down at home and work on photos. More to the point, in my day-to-day routine and career, I tend to lead a fairly “mobile” life, one that rather lends itself to (and is suited by) the use of a portable computer. There’s also the matter of my plan to return to school in September, to become a teacher. I am reliably informed that having a laptop — and then one that can run Windows, unfortunately — is practically a requirement (in this province, at least).

At the same time, I’d like to find something that can run OS X, Apple’s operating system, as well. Granted, when we’re talking about non-Apple hardware, that requires the use of hackint0sh tools…but that’s a length I’d be willing to go to.

So I have been looking at…possibilities. Which is actually a lot more difficult than I would have expected. The main concerns I have in selecting a new laptop are battery life and LCD quality; I’d like to find something with decent battery life and a screen that offers a decent contrast ratio and good colour. It’s this latter point that’s often problematic, especially when one is looking for a laptop — most laptops tend to have…er…sub-par screens.

Option #1: Asus G51 Series

Specs:

• 1 GB nVidia GeForce GTX 260
• 2.1 GHz Intel Core™2 DuoT6600 processor
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• 500 GB hard drive
• 15.6″ HD (1366 x 768) LED backlight LCD

Price: $1,429 at Memory Express (special order)

Pros: This computer is quite the powerhouse; it boasts an impressive hardware setup and would serve well in almost any capacity, especially for graphics-intensive operations like gaming and photo editing. From what reviews I can find, the G51 series offers decent colour and contrast in its LCD, although I can’t find actual numbers to get a feel for just how good it might be.

Cons: Well, let’s be realistic: balls-to-the-wall graphics performance and a higher-end processor are rather…power intensive. The battery life on the G51 series is pretty dismal. The price is also pretty steep (though it’s not the worst offender on this list). Finally, for me at least, the decorations on the LCD cover are kind of…well, let’s just say that I’m not in the market segment such things are meant to appeal to.

OS X Compatibility: Apparently quite decent; the wireless card seems to be non-functional under OS X, though everything else seems to be supported.

Thoughts: I’d probably give the G51 a pass under most circumstances, unless I really get into gaming again in any meaningful sense. Which I don’t anticipate doing.

Option #2: Asus UL80vt

Specs:

• 512 MB nVidia GeForce G210M & Intel GMA4500HD
• 1.3 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• 320 GB hard drive
• 14″ HD (1366 x 768) LCD

Price: $999.99 at Memory Express (special order), ~$825 at Amazon.com

Pros: The battery life on this series of laptop is nothing short of insane; eleven to twelve hours under normal circumstances, and nine hours under a fairly heavy graphics load. This longevity comes from the fact that the laptop has been optimized for ultra-low power consumption; it uses an Intel CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) processor. Now, granted, CULV processors typically offer lower clock and bus speeds, but Asus has overclocked this particular processor to offer a respectable 1.73 GHz clock speed and a 1066 MHz bus.

The other interesting and helpful aspect of this laptop is that it boasts two graphics processors — an integrated Intel graphics processor for lower-power operations that don’t require any heavy lifting, and an nVidia G210M which, while not as powerful as the G51’s graphics card, is no slouch either. It’s not a serious gaming card, but it will holds its own for casual gamers like myself. Switching between graphics processors is accomplished with the touch of a button.

Finally, there’s the price. For a not unsubstantial amount of long-lived power in a slim, attractive case, the UL80vt is a hard one to beat.

Cons: The LCD isn’t all that great. In fact, it’s really not that good at all. The build quality is also a bit sub-par; parts of the laptop are evidently quite easy to flex, which…should not be.

OS X Compatibility: No information at this time.

Thoughts: I’d be tempted to go for this laptop if I could be sure that I could get OS X working on it. The battery life is a huge draw, almost enough to make me forget that the LCD is quite sub-par.

Option #3: Asus UL30vt

Specs:

• nVidia GeForce G210M & Intel GMA4500HD
• 1.4 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor
• DDR3 RAM
• 13.3″ LCD

Price: No information at this time, probably $1,000 or less.

Pros: Still a bit too early to tell.

Cons: Still a bit too early to tell.

OS X Compatibility: No information at this time.

Thoughts: This sleek laptop was only just announced, so information on it is understandably scarce. I’ve no idea what its particular strengths and weaknesses are, though I would assume that they would be much the same as with the UL80vt (above). The key difference between the UL30 and UL80 is that, not unlike the MacBook Air, the UL30 lacks an optical drive. This isn’t actually a “con” in my books, though I can understand how some might find it off-putting.

Option #4: MacBook Pro

Specs:

• 256 MB nVidia GeForce 9600M GT & nVidia GeForce 9400M
• 2.66 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo processor
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• 320 GB hard drive
• 15″ HD (1366 x 768) LCD

Price: $2099 for a new one, but you can find refurb/clearance models for as low as $1,499. Granted, the refurb models usually offer a lower processor speed (2.4 GHz in this case)…but for most applications and most users, the difference won’t be noticeable.

Pros: Well, it’s a Mac, which means it’s got style and design coming out of every…erm…port. And MacBook Pros are known for their exceptional displays, which offer excellent contrast and colour. The system as a whole doesn’t compare to the Asus G51 for sheer power, but would easily outshine both the UL80vt and UL30vt. Battery life is also decent, especially now that Apple has switched to integrated batteries; Apple claims the laptop gets 7 hours of battery life, and I’d wager that the laptop would probably offer not less than 5 hours of decent performance under “heavy use” conditions.

The dual graphics processors also offer a certain appeal, both because the 9400M chipset is pretty darn powerful for an integrated chipset (it compares favourably with the G210M, in fact), and because the 9600M GT is even better. Granted, 256 MB is not all that much for a modern graphics card, but it’s still enough for the sort of gaming I’d be doing, and for the graphics/photography work as well.

Finally, there’s Boot Camp, Apple’s dual-booting platform which allows for Windows to be installed alongside OS X. Boot Camp doesn’t currently support Windows 7, but I’m still a Windows XP guy myself, so this too is not something I’d view as an obstacle.

Cons: Well, it’s a Mac, which means it’s pricy. To get a MacBook Pro in the same price range as the other laptops on this list, your only option is to buy a refurb/clearance model, which I will grant is sometimes a dicey proposition. (Equally, I will note that I trust Apple refurbs more than I would trust any other company’s refurbs; my iPod Touch is a refurb, and it works like a charm.)

OS X Compatibility: D’uh.

Thoughts: Style, power…and, for me at least, consistency are what the MacBook Pro has to offer. My current laptop is a Mac, and I have greatly enjoyed the use of it. It would make sense to get another Mac to replace it. For me, the only drawback is that I’d be buying a refurb model…and thus running the risk of acquiring a lemon.

Option #5: Dell Studio XPS 16

Specs:

• 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670
• 2.53 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo P8700 processor
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• 320 GB hard drive
• 16″ FullHD (1920 x 1080) RDBLED LCD

Price: $1,199 for the base model, $1,499 with the RGBLED upgrade.

Pros: I wouldn’t have thought to even look twice at a Dell laptop until I discovered the one thing that is the real selling point of this laptop: the RGBLED display. Indeed, I wouldn’t have ever thought to look at a laptop offering a screen size above 15″, until I discovered the RGBLED display. That display is more than enough to make me want this laptop…pretty much above all others, even overlooking the fact that its OS X compatibility is currently quite poor, and the fact that its battery life is nowhere near what most of the other laptops discussed above can crank out.

The RGBLED is really that awesome: it offers a 500:1 contrast ratio (much higher than on most laptops, save for the ultra-high-end ones) and a colour gamut that covers 108% of the Adobe RGB colour space.

Most desktop LCD monitors can’t match that sort of performance.

Granted, the colour accuracy of the display doesn’t quite match what desktop LCD monitors can produce, but that’s a complaint applicable to all laptop displays. Short of shelling out in excess of $3,000 for a Lenovo W700 series rig, you’re just not going to find a laptop display that produces the sort of high-resolution, contrasty, accurate colour that the Dell RGBLED offers.

The graphics card is pretty decent as well; not quite as good as the 9600M GT, but more than enough for what I’d be using it for.

Cons: As noted, the battery life is nowhere near what some of the other entrants on this list offer, and in some cases is almost as dismal as the battery life of the Asus G51. This can be mitigated by upgrading the baseline 6-cell battery to a 9-cell battery, though doing so increases the cost of the system somewhat. With the 9-cell battery, the Studio XPS 16 offers about 3 hours of battery life under “heavy load” conditions.

And, well…it’s a Dell. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Dell.

OS X Compatibility: Spotty, at best. It’s mostly an issue of finding drivers for the various hardware elements in the laptop (the graphics card, network cards, etc.); at present, one can get OS X running on the Studio XPS 16, but one shouldn’t expect all of the on-board hardware to be supported.

Thoughts: Allowing for the fact that I’d purchase a MacBook Pro refurb, the Studio XPS 16 is (with the RBBLED upgrade and the 9-cell battery) the most expensive laptop on this list, coming in north of $1,500. That said, it’s also the laptop that has the highest appeal for me, for several reasons. Obviously, the display quality is chief among these, but there’s also a more general consideration.

In Closing

Many people approach the issue of buying a new computer from the perspective of getting as much performance as they can for under a certain price point. This is not quite a “most bang for your buck” calculus; it’s a “most bang for this many bucks” calculus. They will set a maximum price, and buy the best system (according to what criteria are most important to them) that can be obtained for that price, or for less if possible.

To be fair, there’s a certain merit to that sort of strict budgeting.

But equally, there’s a certain merit to not imposing a strict dollar limit at the outset, because “most bang for this many bucks” isn’t the best calculus to leverage when selecting a new computer system. Nor is “most bang for your buck,” for that matter. No, when buying a new computer, the ideal calculus to employ is “most bang for your buck over the longest period of time possible.”

That is to say: you want to buy a system that will deliver excellent performance for a reasonably low price, but you also want to buy a system that will still kick a reasonable amount of ass three, four, or even five years from now. There’s longer-term merit to spending a bit more now to ensure that you’ll still have a reasonably powerful system later on.

In that regard, the three systems on the list here that are worth investing in are the G51, the MacBook Pro, and the Studio XPS 16 (although we can more or less strike the G51 off for its low battery life). The UL-series laptops are pretty darn cool for as much as they do, but they’re also underpowered…deliberately so, in order that they might offer insane battery life. One could reasonably expect to get five good years of service out of the MacBook Pro or Studio XPS 16 without fearing that the software one uses most often would move on beyond the limits and capabilities of the laptop’s technology; I can’t express the same level of confidence when considering the UL30 or UL80, even though they are very nice, sleek laptops offering quite a bit for a tantalizingly low price.

No, I’m not going to come out in favour of any one laptop at this time; I’m still mulling things over in my head. Granted, the Studio XPS 16 is the current favourite…but nothing is set in stone yet.

I’ll get downloads for both up on the site as soon as I am able. Which might be today, or might be in a few days…I’m in Wyoming at present, so it’ll depend on my free time and the speed of the hotel wireless.

Update: as Tim informs us in the comments, Nazghul is not his project. He is only the messenger…and a fine messenger indeed.

Additional Files
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
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* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* [drain file 407 url Nokia 770/M800 - Data] ([drain file 407 size])
* [drain file 403 url Nokia 770/M800 - Music (mono, low quality)] ([drain file 403 size])
* [drain file 404 url Nokia 770/M800 - Music (stereo, higher quality)] ([drain file 404 size])

Exult 1.4 (unstable)
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
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* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
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* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
* SDL 1.2 Libraries

An amazing remake, Exult is a cross-platform reworking of the Ultima 7/Serpent Isle engine that allows the game to be run on modern operating systems with expanded memory environments. This is not the same as a Voodoo memory-manager wrapper program, and it works on many systems apart from Windows.

Exult 1.2 is the latest “stable” release – Team Exult is making massive engine changes, and subsequent releases are expected to have instabilities as a result. It has Windows, Mac OS X, Sharp Zaurus, and Fedora builds available. Also avaliable is the source code, so that people running other systems can compile and build Exult. ]]> http://www.ultimaaiera.com/ultima7/exult/feed/ 21 http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/pentagram-updated-2/ http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/pentagram-updated-2/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:57:22 +0000 wtf_dragon http://www.ultimaaiera.com/?p=344 Pentagram, the remake that does for Ultima 8 what Exult did for Ultima 7, has posted news of their development progress for the first time since last December. The team, it seems, has been busy indeed!

In the last few months, interest in Pentagram seems to have picked up again. A number of bugs were fixed since the last update, including camera fixes, key handling, containers (backpack, barrels, etc.), and a fix for a problem in the German versions of the U8. The default key binding for stasis moved from ‘S’ to ‘F10′. The build should now properly support versions of autoconf greater than 2.60.

Mac OS X builds also received a lot of attention. They build system switched from XCode to a makefile-based system that builds Pentagram and dependencies using their traditional configure script and make methods. This allows us a greater amount of control over the builds and should help prevent changes to Pentagram for unix systems that break OS X builds and vice versa.

Just prior to this news update, I noticed that the Pentagram team had released updated snapshots of both their Windows and Mac builds of the game, and both of these updates have been added to the project entry. I’ve also updated the local copy of the Pentagram source code.

Produced by: Pentagram Team
Website: Pentagram
Releases:
* [drain file 28 url Windows Binary] ([drain file 28 size])
* [drain file 24 url OS X Universal Binary] ([drain file 24 size])
* [drain file 91 url Mac libPNG Libraries] ([drain file 91 size])
* [drain file 109 url Source Code] ([drain file 109 size])
* [drain file 410 url Nokia 770/M800 - Program] ([drain file 410 size])
* [drain file 408 url Nokia 770/M800 - libSDL] ([drain file 408 size])
* [drain file 409 url Nokia 770/M800 - INI file] ([drain file 409 size])

Pentagram Map Viewer
* [drain file 27 url Pentagram Map Viewer] ([drain file 27 size])
* [drain file 26 url Source Code] ([drain file 26 size])

What initially began as a map viewer for Ultima 8 has evolved into a full-on cross-platform engine remake in the spirit of Exult. Although no official demo has yet been released, there are up-to-date releases of source code available, as well as Windows and Mac OS X Universal binaries.

The best aspect of this is that Pentagram runs very smoothly and without an intense CPU load, unlike when Ultima 8 is run under DOSBox.

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!

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.

http://www.komen.org/

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.

EUO

This Ultima-like project reached its fifth year just recently, and to celebrate the occasion they threw a number of bonuses and extra stuff into the game — experience bonuses, prizes & giveaways, DM-hosted events, special in-game drinks (eggnog, for example), and even a few new bosses.

Also, a “Newbie Island” tutorial map has been added to the game to help new players ease in.

Ultima 6 Project

A new press release from this promising-looking remake of Ultima 6 has been released at RPGWatch. It has some details about new cities and places in the pending fifth milestone release (Nicodemus’ keep, for example), and also informs us that the team is always in need of world builders, 3D modelers, artists, and musicians.

So, O Reader, if you fall into any of those categories, you might want to swing by the Ultima 6 Project website and drop someone a line.

Additionally, project developer Nicodemus has posted another update to his worldbuilding Dev Diary with some cool new screenshots of his work (Jhelom and Skara Brae).

Ultima: Iris

A new build — build 2010 — of this 3D client for Ultima Online has been released. It can be downloaded from the project’s homepage, or via the project entry here at Aiera.

xu4

A new snapshot of the Mac version of this Ultima 4 remake is available for download either through the project website or via the project entry here at Aiera. A new Windows snapshot is also available.

Ultima V for TI Calculators

Ranman has posted additional news about his project that has ported Ultima 5 to the Texas Instruments calculator. He lets us know, firstly, about some special item capabilities that he as implemented. Secondly, he talks about killing NPCs, lock picking, and guard behaviour — rather a “law and order” sort of post.

The project is still in beta testing.

I also took a bit of a wander around the Ultima community myself, and noticed a few other odds and ends that the Reader might be interested in.

Savage Empire for Exult

Scythifuge is always looking for people to help out with his ambitious goal of porting the Savage Empire storyline into Exult.

Exult

Speaking of Exult, I notice that the Windows snapshot of Exult 1.4 has been updated recently (April 14th), as have the snapshots for Exult Tools and Exult Studio. These can be downloaded from the project website, and I have added them to the project entry here at Aiera.

Project Britannia

I noticed that the britannia_art.dsres and britannia_logic.dsres resource files for this Ultima world framework were updated at the beginning of April. Changes since the previous revision include the addition of a new lockpick texture, a ferry, and two new light textures, as well as changes to melee attack logic, the lockpick’s shape, and a bunch of other things.

The updated files can be downloaded from the Project Britannia site, or via the project entry here at Aiera.

Also, I’ve made a few minor changes to the site here. For starters, I have added a module to the site sidebar to track the ten most downloaded files in the last 30 days. Initially, I wasn’t going to clear the statistics for the download manager with any sort of frequency, but after a bunch of Ultima 9-related downloads surged ahead (in some cases, to over 3,000 downloads!), it seemed reasonable to give some of the other files a chance to make the top spot.

So it’s there, and I won’t be putting a “top five” list onto news posts anymore.

And of course, there’s the gallery and Ultima art repository. I do encourage any interested users to register a user account there and begin uploading any Ultima-related art they can find so that it can be preserved for posterity. This includes scans of art from the manuals, which won’t be around forever.

Oh, and I’ve added another countdown to the sidebar. Only 190 days (roughly — could change in either direction) until Grace and I welcome our little one into the world!

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.