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:''For other uses of 'Ultima', refer to Ultima (disambiguation).''
'''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. With more than twenty-five titles, it is considered the longest running RPG franchise, as well as one of the longest running - if not the longest - video game series.
''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 Garriott or EA to create a new ''Ultima'' game without first getting permission from the other, which is unlikely.
★ ''Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness'' (1980)
★ ''Ultima II:The Revenge of the Enchantress'' (1982)
★ ''Ultima III: Exodus'' (1983)
★ ''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' (1985)
★ ''Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' (1988)
★ ''Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' (1990)
★ ''Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' (1992)
★
★ ''Ultima VII: Forge Of Virtue'' (Expansion Pack) (1993)
★ ''Ultima VII Part 2: Serpent Isle'' (1993)
★
★ ''Ultima VII Part 2: The Silver Seed'' (Expansion Pack) (1993)
★ ''Ultima VIII: Pagan'' (including Speech Pack) (1994)
★ ''Ultima IX: Ascension'' (1999)
★ ''Akalabeth: World of Doom (a.k.a. Ultima 0)'' (1980)
★ '' (1983) — not considered canonical part of the series, as it was produced by Sierra On-Line without any authorization from Garriott and has little in common with the other games of the series. Highly sought after by collectors due to extreme rarity.
★ Ultima: Worlds of Adventures (a.k.a. Worlds of Ultima):
★
★ ''Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire'' (1990)
★
★ ''Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams'' (1991)
★ Ultima Underworld:
★
★ '' (1992)
★
★ '' (1993)
★ ''Arthurian Legends'' (cancelled in 1993)
★ '' (expansion pack, cancelled in 1994)
★ '' (a.k.a. ''Ultima Online 2'', cancelled in 2001)
★ '' (cancelled in 2004)
:''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: '' (cancelled in 2001, though the game's storyline was published in the Technocrat War trilogy.) and '' (cancelled in 2004). However, several expansions were released for ''Ultima Online'', adding new features and areas to be explored. They are '', '', '', '', '', '', and ''.
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 ''Ultima'' manga.
In most cases, gameplay and graphics have been changed significantly.
★ ''Ultima: Exodus'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima: Quest of the Avatar'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima IV : Quest of the Avatar'' (Sega Master System) — A faithful port of the original. Only released in English.
★ ''Ultima: Warriors of Destiny'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima: Runes of Virtue'' (Game Boy) — Non-canonical, action based gameplay and puzzle solving. The game's antagonist is called the "Black Knight." This is Garriott's favourite console-based ''Ultima''.[1]
★ ''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) — Uses 3D models rather than the 2D sprites of the original. Released only in Japan.
★ The Avatar
★ The Companions of the Avatar
★
★ Dupre
★
★ Gwenno
★
★ Iolo
★
★ Jaana
★
★ Katrina
★
★ Shamino
★ Batlin
★ Lord Blackthorn
★ Lord British
★ Chuckles
★ Exodus
★ The Guardian
★ Mondain
★ Minax
★ Smith, Iolo's talking horse
★ Dr. Johann Schliemann Spector, a.k.a. Zipactriotl
★ The Time Lord
★ '''The Ultima Saga''', by Lynn Abbey (Warner Books)
★
★ ''The Forge of Virtue'' (1991)
★
★ ''The Temper of Wisdom'' (1992)
★ '''Ultima: The Technocrat War''', by Austen Andrews (Pocket Books)
★
★ ''Machinations'' (2001)
★
★ ''Masquerade'' (2002)
★
★ ''Maelstrom'' (2002)
★ ''Ultima: EXODUS No Kyoufu'' (The Terror of EXODUS)
★ ''Ultima: Quest of the Avatar''
★ ''Ultima: Magincia no Metsubou'' (The Fall of Magincia)
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:
★ 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 (also supports ''The Savage Empire'' and ''Martian Dreams'').
★ Exult (website) - An open-source, portable ''Ultima VII'' engine (supports all four ''Ultima VII'' titles).
★ Pentagram (website) - An open-source, work-in-progress, portable ''Ultima VIII'' engine (may later work with the ''Crusader'' series).
★ '' - A remake of ''Ultima V'' by volunteer programmers using the ''Dungeon Siege'' engine. The final version of the game, ''Ultima V: Lazarus'' v1.2, was released on April 1, 2006. (website)
★ ''The Ultima 6 Project'' - A remake of ''Ultima VI'' also using the ''Dungeon Siege'' engine. Currently in development, with three demos released.
★ ''Titans of Ether'' merges two former development efforts, both originally based on 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 Elder Scrolls' ''Oblivion'' game engine.
★ ''Ultima Dark Core'' is a post Ultima 8 game made for web browsers by Michael D. Hilborn.
★ Artificial scripts in Ultima series
★ Britannia
★ Codex of Ultimate Wisdom
★ Felucca
★ Gargish
★ List of characters based on developers in Ultima series
★ List of Ultima series characters
★ Moongate
★ Richard Garriott
★ Sosaria
★ Stones (song)
★ Trammel
★ Timeline of the Ultima Universe
★ Virtues of Ultima
★
★ Origin Systems, Inc. (redirects to the ''Ultima Online'' website)
★ The official Ultima WWW Archive - Information and files concerning the entire saga
★
★ The Ultima Legacy from GameSpot - A historical overview of the series
★ Ultima Dragons Internet Chapter
★ The Codex of Editable Wisdom (Ultima Wiki)
★ Ivanhoe's Ultima Universe Fan Site
'''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. With more than twenty-five titles, it is considered the longest running RPG franchise, as well as 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 Garriott 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
★ ''Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness'' (1980)
★ ''Ultima II:The Revenge of the Enchantress'' (1982)
★ ''Ultima III: Exodus'' (1983)
The Age of Enlightenment
★ ''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' (1985)
★ ''Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' (1988)
★ ''Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' (1990)
The Age of Armageddon (The Guardian Saga)
★ ''Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' (1992)
★
★ ''Ultima VII: Forge Of Virtue'' (Expansion Pack) (1993)
★ ''Ultima VII Part 2: Serpent Isle'' (1993)
★
★ ''Ultima VII Part 2: The Silver Seed'' (Expansion Pack) (1993)
★ ''Ultima VIII: Pagan'' (including Speech Pack) (1994)
★ ''Ultima IX: Ascension'' (1999)
Other ''Ultima'' games
★ ''Akalabeth: World of Doom (a.k.a. Ultima 0)'' (1980)
★ '' (1983) — not considered canonical part of the series, as it was produced by Sierra On-Line without any authorization from Garriott and has little in common with the other games of the series. Highly sought after by collectors due to extreme rarity.
★ Ultima: Worlds of Adventures (a.k.a. Worlds of Ultima):
★
★ ''Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire'' (1990)
★
★ ''Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams'' (1991)
★ Ultima Underworld:
★
★ '' (1992)
★
★ '' (1993)
Unreleased ''Ultima'' games
★ ''Arthurian Legends'' (cancelled in 1993)
★ '' (expansion pack, cancelled in 1994)
★ '' (a.k.a. ''Ultima Online 2'', cancelled in 2001)
★ '' (cancelled in 2004)
Ultima Online series (1997)
:''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: '' (cancelled in 2001, though the game's storyline was published in the Technocrat War trilogy.) and '' (cancelled in 2004). However, several expansions were released for ''Ultima Online'', adding new features and areas to be explored. They are '', '', '', '', '', '', and ''.
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 ''Ultima'' manga.
In most cases, gameplay and graphics have been changed significantly.
★ ''Ultima: Exodus'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima: Quest of the Avatar'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima IV : Quest of the Avatar'' (Sega Master System) — A faithful port of the original. Only released in English.
★ ''Ultima: Warriors of Destiny'' (NES)
★ ''Ultima: Runes of Virtue'' (Game Boy) — Non-canonical, action based gameplay and puzzle solving. The game's antagonist is called the "Black Knight." This is Garriott's favourite console-based ''Ultima''.[1]
★ ''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) — Uses 3D models rather than the 2D sprites of the original. Released only in Japan.
Major and recurring characters
★ The Avatar
★ The Companions of the Avatar
★
★ Dupre
★
★ Gwenno
★
★ Iolo
★
★ Jaana
★
★ Katrina
★
★ Shamino
★ Batlin
★ Lord Blackthorn
★ Lord British
★ Chuckles
★ Exodus
★ The Guardian
★ Mondain
★ Minax
★ Smith, Iolo's talking horse
★ Dr. Johann Schliemann Spector, a.k.a. Zipactriotl
★ The Time Lord
Related media
Novels
★ '''The Ultima Saga''', by Lynn Abbey (Warner Books)
★
★ ''The Forge of Virtue'' (1991)
★
★ ''The Temper of Wisdom'' (1992)
★ '''Ultima: The Technocrat War''', by Austen Andrews (Pocket Books)
★
★ ''Machinations'' (2001)
★
★ ''Masquerade'' (2002)
★
★ ''Maelstrom'' (2002)
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.
Related projects
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
★ 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 (also supports ''The Savage Empire'' and ''Martian Dreams'').
★ Exult (website) - An open-source, portable ''Ultima VII'' engine (supports all four ''Ultima VII'' titles).
★ Pentagram (website) - An open-source, work-in-progress, portable ''Ultima VIII'' engine (may later work with the ''Crusader'' series).
Remakes and new games
★ '' - A remake of ''Ultima V'' by volunteer programmers using the ''Dungeon Siege'' engine. The final version of the game, ''Ultima V: Lazarus'' v1.2, was released on April 1, 2006. (website)
★ ''The Ultima 6 Project'' - A remake of ''Ultima VI'' also using the ''Dungeon Siege'' engine. Currently in development, with three demos released.
★ ''Titans of Ether'' merges two former development efforts, both originally based on 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 Elder Scrolls' ''Oblivion'' game engine.
★ ''Ultima Dark Core'' is a post Ultima 8 game made for web browsers by Michael D. Hilborn.
See also
★ Artificial scripts in Ultima series
★ Britannia
★ Codex of Ultimate Wisdom
★ Felucca
★ Gargish
★ List of characters based on developers in Ultima series
★ List of Ultima series characters
★ Moongate
★ Richard Garriott
★ Sosaria
★ Stones (song)
★ Trammel
★ Timeline of the Ultima Universe
★ Virtues of Ultima
★
External links
★ Origin Systems, Inc. (redirects to the ''Ultima Online'' website)
★ The official Ultima WWW Archive - Information and files concerning the entire saga
★
★ The Ultima Legacy from GameSpot - A historical overview of the series
★ Ultima Dragons Internet Chapter
★ The Codex of Editable Wisdom (Ultima Wiki)
★ Ivanhoe's Ultima Universe Fan Site
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psst.. try this: add to faves
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