Ultima Forever

[Rotnefson]

I just recently found out EA has been developing another Ultima game, Ultima Forever ( http://ultimaforever.com/ ). It will be a "free to play" multiplayer game for PC and iPad. I'm a long time fan of the single player games, and did play the online game briefly. I know many die-hard fans already hate the game, but somehow I feel that anything that keeps the Ultima brand alive is welcome at this point. It has been such a long time since we got a "real" Ultima game that I have pretty much given up all hope for a serious game. Instead I'm looking forward to it as another silly curioisity of the series. And if it turns out to be a good game, all the better. What do you think?

[leshpar]

EA screwed over the Ultima series. Back when it was Origin Systems the games were good, but EA (like they've done with almost everything they've touched) managed to mess it up and make it not anywhere near as fun. If you want to see a whole retrospective watch this guy's commentary on it (he goes through all of em from Alkabeth to Ultima 9, but beware, you're looking at about 4 hours worth of video, so you probably won't be able to watch it all in one sitting).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roBfUPdxeIk&feature=plcp

[Lord_P]

Agree with you leshpar. If anyone is interested to see the last "good" Ultima game from Origin, try Ultima VII (complete with hidden EA=evil symbolism!)

[SpottedShroom]

Agree with you leshpar. If anyone is interested to see the last "good" Ultima game from Origin, try Ultima VII (complete with hidden EA=evil symbolism!)

And it's easily playable on modern hardware! http://exult.sourceforge.net/

[Rotnefson]

I have nostalgic memories playing EXULT Ultima VII about a decade ago I think. It's funny how the nostalgy thing works sometimes.

[leshpar]

So true. Ultima 6 was the first RPG I ever seriously played. I still haven't beaten it to this day, but back when it was new I used to sit in front of the computer for hours running around and seeing what I could get, exploring new areas, and just generally having a good time. I remember one time I grabbed a ring of invisibility from somewhere and went into a dragon's cave alone leaving my other party members outside the cave. Luckily invisibility had no chance of being seen through in that game cause pretty much anything in that cave could one shot me if I had been seen. ^_^

[SpottedShroom]

U6 was such a great game. After just screwing around in it a lot as a kid, I did eventually go back and beat it as an adult. The fact that you could bypass large sections of plot if you knew the right keywords to say to people didn't hurt.

Oh, and I also did a speed run, completing the game in less than one day of in-game time. Good times.

[Rotnefson]

Well it looks like the Ultima Forever is going to be more iphone & ipad game than a regulard pc rpg. But luckily Richard Garriot seems to have something in his sleeve. http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/

I don't even care about the games anymore. The waiting is so much better.

[IJBall]

Well it looks like the Ultima Forever is going to be more iphone & ipad game than a regulard pc rpg. But luckily Richard Garriot seems to have something in his sleeve. http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/

So, does this mean that the game won't be playable on a regular Mac or PC?
Or just that the game's "style" will be more like "an iPad/iPhone game"?

I really hope the latter, because I would definitely like the chance to play a new Ultima game on my Mac...

[Rotnefson]

Ultima Forever is going to be iOS only, initially. Other platforms may be considered later, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Richard Garriot on the other hand, is most likely to develop for PC and possibly for mac and Linux. Based on the domain name I'm guessing his announcement is related to his "Ultimate RPG" project. I certainly hope it is not another poker game.

[IJBall]

Well it looks like the Ultima Forever is going to be more iphone & ipad game than a regulard pc rpg. But luckily Richard Garriot seems to have something in his sleeve. http://www.lordbritishpresents.com/

Huh, "Shroud of the Avatar", huh? Looks interesting. (And I like that the gameworld is virtually Sosaria from Ultima III! heh...) And glad to see this is another project that will be Mac, PC, and Linux.

[Rotnefson]

It does look interesting doesn't it? And the kickstarter is at the moment already at $257,163 (I have to admit I chipped in) just a few hours from his presentation.

I think the presentation concentrated too much on the personal exploits of the man himself. I mean I love the guy, he is the founding father of all computer RPGs and all, but I think his last really great work was Ultima 7 and Ultima Online, almost two decades ago and some of his later projects have not lived up to the standard he himself set up. Still, it will be great to see yet another "Ultima" game.