Time Immortal

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 at Aiera. I’ve also updated Aiera’s copy of the Pentagram source code.

While the Ultima series began as a typical hack’n’slash computer game series, in which the objective was simply to kill as many monsters as possible, it eventually diverged from this path. Noted in later years for cutting-edge graphics (for its day) and plotlines that put the emphasis on social justice/moral issues and reason, rather than swords and experience levels, the series introduced and perfected many conventions that persist, and many more that are sorely missed, in current RPGs.

In homage to the Ultima series, many developers have made upgrades and/or undertaken remakes of the various games in the series. I have recently assembled an archive of all of these that I could find, called Ultima: Aiera. You will also find official and unofficial patches and bug-fixes for most Ultima titles there.

Akalabeth: World of Doom

The Ultima series of games began with a game called Akalabeth back in 1980. Written then in BASIC, it was a relatively simple game in which the character wandered around and killed the monstrous henchmen of an evil wizard, Mondain. But from these humble beginnings was spawned what is unquestionably one of the best RPG series ever made.

Interestingly, the name Akalabeth is a term from the intricate legends woven by J.R.R. Tolkein.

If you want to play this classic game, check out this page at Ultima: Aiera. There are several versions of the game available there for download.

Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness

Ultima 1 was little more than a reworked version of Akalabeth, but this time the goal of the quest was to slay the wizard Mondain. Written again in BASIC, this game saw several releases, the final version coming out in 1986.

Ultima 1 can only be played if purchased. I would recommend consulting your local computer games store to see if they have any copies of the Ultima Collection available, as this will give the most up-to-date version of the game.

Ultima 2: Revenge of the Enchantress

By far the strangest Ultima, and the only ‘canon’ Ultima that is ommitted from serious canonical analysis of the series, this game was an attempt to fuse many different genres of adventure and RPG games together. Into a fairly typical sword’n’shield adventure it introduced time-travel, futuristic weapons, and a rather mind-bending plotline that involved having to find and kill the former lover and protoge of the wizard Mondain, the sorceress Minax.

This game must also be purchased to play, and is also available on the Ultima collection.

Ultima 3: Exodus

Exodus, the not-entirely-machine, not-entirely-living spawn of Mondain and Minax, returns in this third installment to avenge the death of its parents, and once again the player must find the big bad guy and kill it. There’s not much to tell beyond that.

Ultima 3 must also be purchased to be played.

The preceeding three Ultimas, and Alakabeth as well, form the tale of what is called the Three Ages of Darkness, and relate the adventures of one or potentially four different heroes in the land known as Sosaria. In Ultima 1, that land comprised four continents, but following the death of the wizard Mondain, some manner of ‘doomsday device’ tore the continents asunder, and only one was apparently left. Called ‘The Lands of Lord British‘ (Lord British being the recurring character in all Ultimas, the lord and king of Sosaria, later Britannia), this land comes finally to prosper following the death of Exodus and the end of the Ages of Darkness.

Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar

Marking the departure of the Ultima series from the trappings of the basic hack’n’slash RPG style, Ultima 4 told the tale of Lord British’s desire to unite the lands of Sosaria into the kingdom of Britannia, and the struggle of the Stranger from Another World to embody each of his proposed Eight Virtues and become an Avatar, the living embodiment of the Virtues in Britannia.

Richard Garriot was so impressed by the moral philosophy and design skill evident in this game that he arranged for it to be released for public download in later years. It is now hosted at more than a dozen Ultima fan-sites, including Aiera.

Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny

One of the darker Ultimas, this tale relates the downfall of Britannia in the absence of Lord British, who is captured by three sinister Shadowlords spawned from the shards of Mondain’s shattered Gem of Immortality. The Avatar returns to a Britannia made corrupt under the rule of Lord Blackthorn, once a trusted friend of Lord British, now corrupted to evil by the Shadowlords. Through many struggles, and with a little help from the Resistance, the Avatar defeats the Shadowlords, and Blackthorn is exiled from Britannia when Lord British is restored to the throne.

Ultima 5 must be purchased to be played, but a very high-profile remake using the Dungeon Siege 3D engine is scheduled for release in May of this year. Check Aiera for details.

Ultima 6: The False Prophet

My personal favourite of the Ultima games, this excellent entry in the series can be passed without ever gaining an experience level. What is more, you can pass the game and only have to kill about three enemies in total - one or two gargoyles at the beginning and the Hydra on the pirate island.

The game chronicles the invasion of Britannia by the Gargoyles, who are seeking to destroy the Avatar (whom they call the False Prophet) for the theft of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom (the book discovered by the Avatar near the end of Ultima 4). The whole game is about finding a peaceful resolution to a racial conflict, and it is my favourite because wanton killing actually works against you when you play.

Ultima 6 can only be played if purchased. There is Dungeon Siege-based remake in the works, and also an online client for the game. See Aiera for details.

Ultima Underworld 1: The Stygian Abyss

Though not strictly considered part of the Ultima canon, this game does fit into the storyline of Ultima - albeit in such a way that it adds nothing special to it, nor detracts from it. This game was the first foray of the Ultima developers into the realm of first-person 3D gaming, and told the tale of the Avatar returning to Britannia only to stand accused of the kidnapping of a lord’s daughter. Thrown into the depths of the Stygian Abyss, the Avatar must brave the remnants of a forgotten exploration colony there to do battle with the evil wizard Tyball and the demon called the Slasher of Veils.

Once again, this game must be bought to be played. It can often be difficult to find, but if you’re curious about the development of 3D engines then this is a must-have, because for a game as old as it is, it incorporates a number of more advanced 3D features.

The previous three games came to be known as the Age of Enlightement trilogy of Ultima. These three titles didn’t deal so much with fighting and killing, as many modern RPGs do, as they did with morality and social justice issues, and are considered by many to be among the most influential RPGs of the past 15 years.

Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate

Widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, Ultima title ever released, this revolutionary game set a standard for world interactivity and immersiveness that has not been exceeded by any PC RPG title to my knowledge.

This first entry in what came to be known as the Guardian Saga (trilogy might technically be an applicable term, but since there were more than three standalone games…) told the tale of the Avatar returning to a Britannia in a time of change, when the people have fallen away from the practice of the Eight Virtues of Lord British. A new orginization called the Fellowship, which at first seems benign and soon becomes very sinister, has emerged, and is attempting to construct a massive portal for a being of great evil known as the Guardian to enter Britannia through.

This game must be purchased to be played, but as it is one of the most staggeringly popular Ultima titles it is relatively easy to find with only a little bit of effort. Also, one of the most well-known Ultima remakes, Exult, is an engine that will allow this game and Serpent Isle to run on modern operating systems.

Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds

This second foray into first-person 3D, unlike its predecessor, told a continuation to the Ultima canonical storyline that had a direct influence on the canon plot of the series. Defeated for a time, the Guardian entombs the leaders of Britannia, and the Avatar as well, in Lord British’s castle beneath a dome of the mystical mineral called blackrock. The Avatar, exploring further, finds in the castle a portal to another realm. The adventure continues from there, as the Avatar finds portal after portal leading to other worlds dominated by the Guardian.

This game provides valuable information about the Guardian and his intentions. As well, it introduces both the Atarkans (who will feature in the Ultima 9 remake Redemption) and the Blackrock Serpent statue, which is a critical piece of the puzzle in the next Ultima title, Serpent Isle.

This Ultima title must also be purchased to be played, and is a little difficult to find.

Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle

This continuation to the cliffhanger ending of Ultima 7 picks up the story of the Avatar and friends 18 months after the destruction of the Black Gate and the downfall of the Fellowship. Batlin has fled, and a scroll found among his belongings points to the Serpent Isle. Following him there, the Avatar and companions are stricken by the Storms of Imbalance - they are seperated from one another and their posessions scattered all over the continent…a continent that is strangely familiar.

Bringing back elements from some of the oldest Ultima games (1 and 3), and tying up many loose ends, this game turned out to be the game that Ultima 9 should have been. It is regarded as another of the greatest Ultima games ever made. It is curious to note, however, that it does leave a few major questions unanswered…especially concerning the Guardian. Veterans of the game question what the role of “Big Red” was in all of it, because it is not readily apparent.

This game must be purchased to be played, and it can be run on modern operating systems through the use of Exult. See Aiera for details.

Ultima 8: Pagan

This game, one of the first Ultima titles produced exclusively by an EA-owned Origin systems, was not well-received by the Ultima community. Picking up where Serpent Isle left off, it tells the tale of the Avatar (who, unlike in previous Ultimas which gave the player the choice, was only playable as a male) cast into a strange world, Pagan, which ahs been devastated by the Guardian.

This game had many morally grey areas, and in some places forced the Avatar to perform objectively evil actions in order to get through it - murder, for example, was usually necessary in one part of the game. This darker nature wasn’t universally popular with Ultima fans, and neither were the game’s new interface and control features. The graphics were more isometric and to many looked odd, and the addition of jumping turned many of the in-game puzzles into jumping marathons. The game showed the effects of being rushed out the door by EA, but still offered its share of enjoyable moments and rich plot aspects.

Ultima IX: Ascension

This game brought the Ultima series to a screeching halt, and caused many an Ultima fan to fall away from the series entirely. Numerous errors in continuity and a truly prodigious number of bugs, all consequences of being rushed out into release by EA, vastly reduced the enjoyment most people experienced in the game.

It told the tale of the Avatar finally returning to Britannia only to find it conquered by the Guardian. The Virtues have been corrupted, and the Avatar must first cleanse each shrine of virtue to restore the land and liberate its people.

The original Ultima 9 plot, also called the ‘Bob White Plot’ after the developer who released details of it to the public, was a massive tale that told of a brewing civil war between three factions in Britannia, and ended with the destruction of the world. Ascension ended with the self-sacrifice of the Avatar to destroy the Guardian, who turns out the be the Avatar’s ‘evil half’ that was cast off by the process of becoming the Avatar in Ultima 4 (one of many errors in continuity). However, there were some positive aspects to it - with a little bit of reasoning, the tie-in to Ultima 6 is easily seen: the False Prophet of the Gargoyles, the Avatar, did by his sacrifice save the Gargoyle people.

Ultima 9 is not hard to find for purchase, and was released recently as a bonus game with the 7th Anniversary Edition of Ultima Online. The game is also being remade using a brand-new plot under the working title Redemption.

While the Guardian Saga ended disappointingly, the Ultima series as a whole has proven to be one of the most compelling and influential RPGs of the past 20 years. Its titles, from Ultima 4 onward, focus less on the hack’n’slash aspects of RPG development and put the emphasis on morality and social justice in many respects. Despite occasional (or frequent) errors, the stories that are woven are intricate and engaging, and the characters are memorable.