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Ultima (series)

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For other uses of Ultima, refer to Ultima (disambiguation).
The Ultima logo

Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc.. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British. Several games of the series are considered seminal games of their genre. Today, Electronic Arts holds the brand. It is considered the longest running RPG game franchise, as well as being one of the longest running, if not the longest, video game series.

Overview

Ultima tells the story of a hero who would be summoned by the ruler of a fantasy world, known first as Sosaria, later as Britannia, whenever troubles would arise. The ruler of that world is called Lord British, and his pleas would be answered by a stranger coming from another world known only as Earth through a magical portal. As time passed, that hero would overcome several obstacles and fight several entities (both in Britannia and in other planes), and gain the title of Avatar, becoming the embodiment of the Virtues.

The Ultima series is divided in three parts. The first three games (Ultima I-III), the Age of Darkness trilogy, are the typical "kill the evil overlord" fantasy games. The antagonists of the first three games reside in their castles, but have summoned forth legions of monsters that make prey of the land; the protagonist must defeat them, but does have the option of stealing and murdering. The next three games (Ultima IV-VI), the Age of Enlightenment trilogy, add a revolutionary moral element into the fantasy game genre. The character had to attain the eight virtues of honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. The eight virtues are loosely based on the Hindu concept of Avatarhood, which involves sixteen paths of purification, with the final (sixteenth) path being to become one with God (according to 'the Official Book of Ultima' by Shay Addams.) The three principles of Truth, Love, and Courage echo the quests of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion from The Wizard of Oz; though Garriott denies that they were the original source. The three principles are also linked in the game to the symbols of the bell (Bell of Courage), book (Book of Truth) and candle (Candle of Love), which are the objects that were expended in the Catholic excommunication ceremony. In general, the Ultima games take symbolism from many different religious and philosophical sources. The third and final trilogy (Ultima VII-IX), the Age of Armageddon (also known as The Guardian Saga), pits the Avatar against an anti-virtue deity known as the Guardian.

Ultima I-V were originally developed on and released for the Apple II family of computers. All the games from Ultima VI on were developed on IBM PC compatible machines. The earlier Ultima games were ported to many computer types, including 8-bit Atari (Ultima I-IV), Atari ST (Ultima II-VI), Commodore 64 (Ultima I-VI), Commodore Amiga (Ultima III-VI, VII Part 1) and IBM PC (Ultima I-V).

The Ultima games were also famous for the trinkets included in the game boxes. From Ultima II on, every main Ultima game came with a cloth map of the game world. Starting with Ultima IV, small trinkets like pendants, coins and magic stones were found in the boxes. Made of metal or glass, they usually represented an important object also found within the game itself. Originated in Infocom games, these trinkets were called feelies.

The creator, Richard Garriott, no longer owns the rights to the game, nor participates in the development, however he still owns the rights to several of the characters from the game. Due to this, it is impossible for either Richard Gariott or EA to create a new Ultima game without first getting permission from the other, which is unlikely.

The games

The original series

The Age of Darkness

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Armageddon (The Guardian Saga)

Other Ultima games

Unreleased Ultima games

Ultima Online series (1997)

File:Ultimaonline1.jpg
Ultima Online on the IBM PC
See the main article Ultima Online

A MMORPG version of the world of Britannia. In Ultima Online, thousands of players interact online in Britannia. See Ultima Online for more information.

UO spawned two sequel efforts that were cancelled before release: Ultima Worlds Online: Origin (cancelled in 2001, though the game's storyline was published in the Technocrat War trilogy.) and Ultima X: Odyssey (cancelled in 2004). However, several expansions were released for Ultima Online, adding new features and areas to be explored. They are The Second Age, Renaissance, Third Dawn, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge, Age of Shadows, Samurai Empire, and Mondain's Legacy.

Console games

Console versions of Ultima have allowed further exposure to the series, especially in Japan where the games have been bestsellers and were accompanied by several tie-in products including manga based on Ultima. In most cases, gameplay and graphics have been changed significantly.

  • Ultima: Exodus (NES)
  • Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (NES, Master System)
  • Ultima: Warriors of Destiny (NES)
  • Ultima: Runes of Virtue (Game Boy) — Non-canonical, action based gameplay and puzzle solving. The antagonist is called the "Black Knight."
  • Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 (Game Boy, Super NES)
  • Ultima VI: The False Prophet (SNES) — Gameplay adapted for the game pad. Includes plot changes and reduction in violence.
  • Ultima VII: The Black Gate (SNES) — Gameplay adapted for the game pad. Includes plot changes and reduction in violence.
  • Ultima: The Savage Empire (SNES) — A graphical update using the Black Gate engine for the SNES. Japan only, cancelled in the US.
  • Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PlayStation) — Released in Japan only.

Major and recurring characters

Novels

Manga

  • Ultima: EXODUS No Kyoufu (The Terror of EXODUS)
  • Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
  • Ultima: Magincia no Metsubou (The Fall of Magincia)

Ultima Dragons

The Ultima Dragons Internet Chapter is a large fanclub of Ultima devotees. Some members have been honored with tributes to them in various games in the Ultima series, and the Dragon Edition of Ultima IX was named in their honor.

Many communities of dedicated programmers have taken it upon themselves to patch the old Ultima games to run under modern operating systems, or to remake and/or revise their cherished series with modern gaming engines. This is a partial listing of them:

Engine rewrite projects

  • Ultima Classics Revisited - An open-source, work-in-progress portable engine, currently covering Akalabeth (complete) and Ultima I (partial).
  • u3project - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima III engine.
  • xu4 - An open-source, portable Ultima IV engine.
  • nu5 - A planned open-source, portable Ultima V engine.
  • Nuvie (website) - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima VI engine (works with Savage Empire and Martian Dreams, too).
  • Exult (website) - An open-source, portable Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Serpent Isle engine (works with the expansions as well).
  • Pentagram (website) - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima VIII engine (may later work with Crusader games, too).
  • Underworld Adventures - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima Underworld engine.
  • The System Shock Hack Project - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima Underworld (and System Shock) engine. Currently abandoned.

Remakes and new games

  • Ultima V: Lazarus - A remake of Ultima V by volunteer programmers using the Microsoft Dungeon Siege engine. The final version of the game, Ultima V: Lazarus 1.2, was released on April 1, 2006. (website)
  • The Ultima 6 Project - a remake of Ultima VI also using the Dungeon Siege engine. Currently in pre-alpha, but they have released a demo of their technical systems.
  • Titans of Ether merges two former development efforts, both originally based on the The Elder Scrolls' Morrowind game engine. Ultima IX: Redemption is an effort to create an alternative to Ultima IX: Ascension, writing a new ending to the Age of the Guardian saga of the Ultima series. Production is approximately 65% completed as of January 2007. Ultima X: The New King, a sequel to Ultima IX: Redemption, will be created by the same team and will likely feature the The Elder Scrolls' Oblivion game engine.
  • EUO - An Ultima themed MMORPG with similar gameplay and graphics as Ultima V.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Ultima.
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