''Ultima'' is a series of

open world In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the Gamer, player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Notable games in this category include ''The Legend of Zelda (video game ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s from Origin Systems, created by Richard Garriott.

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

has owned the brand since 1992. The series had sold over 2 million copies by 1997. A significant series in computer game history, it is considered, alongside ''

Wizardry Wizardry may refer to: * ''Wizardry'' (video game series), role-playing video game series, originally published by Sir-Tech ** '' Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'', the first game of the series, released in 1981 * ''Wizardry'' (The ...

'' and '' Might and Magic'', to be one of the norm-establishers of the computer role-playing game genre. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre, and the early installments especially introduced new innovations which then were widely copied by other games. The Ultima games take place for the most part in a world called Britannia; the constantly recurring hero is the

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

, first named so in ''Ultima IV''. They are primarily within the scope of fantasy fiction but contain science fiction elements as well.

Games

The main ''Ultima'' series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "

Age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone has been alive or something has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

s": The Age of Darkness (''Ultima I-III''), The Age of Enlightenment (''Ultima IV-VI''), and The Age of Armageddon (''Ultima VII-IX''). The last is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a resident of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

was referred to as "the Stranger", but by the end of ''Ultima IV'' he becomes universally known as the

Main series

The Age of Darkness: ''Ultima I–III''

In '' Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness'' (

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

), the Stranger is first summoned to Sosaria to defeat the evil wizard Mondain who aims to enslave it. Since Mondain possesses the Gem of

Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

, which makes him invulnerable, the Stranger locates a time machine, travels back in time to kill Mondain before he creates the Gem, and shatters the incomplete artifact. '' Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress'' (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

) details Mondain's secret student and lover Minax's attempt to avenge him. When Minax launches an attack on the Stranger's homeworld of Earth, her actions cause doorways to open to various times and locations throughout Earth's history, and brings forth legions of monsters to all of them. The Stranger, after obtaining the Quicksword that alone can harm her, locates the evil sorceress at Castle Shadowguard at the origin of time and defeats her. '' Ultima III: Exodus'' (

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

) reveals that Mondain and Minax had an offspring, the eponymous Exodus, "neither human, nor machine", according to the later games (it is depicted as a computer at the conclusion of the game, and it appears to be a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ic, self-aware

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

). Some time after Minax's death, Exodus starts its own attack on Sosaria and the Stranger is summoned once again to destroy it. ''Exodus'' was the first installment of the series featuring a player party system, which was used in many later games.

The Age of Enlightenment: ''Ultima IV–VI''

'' Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

) marked a turning point in the series from the traditional "

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

vs.

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

" plots, instead introducing a complex alignment system based upon the Eight Virtues derived from the combinations of the Three Principles of Love, Truth and Courage. Although Britannia now prospers under Lord British's rule, he fears for his subjects' spiritual well-being and summons the Stranger again to become a spiritual leader of Britannian people by example. Throughout the game, the Stranger's actions determine how close he comes to this ideal. Upon achieving enlightenment in every Virtue, he can reach the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom and becomes the "Avatar", the embodiment of Britannia's virtues. In '' Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' ( 1988), the Avatar returns to Britannia to find that after Lord British had been lost in the

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

, Lord Blackthorn, who rules in his stead, was corrupted by the Shadowlords and enforces a radically twisted vision of the Virtues, deviating considerably from their original meaning. The Avatar and his companions proceed to rescue the true king, overthrow the tyrant, and restore the Virtues in their true form. '' Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' (

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

) details the invasion of Britannia by

Gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s, which the Avatar and his companions have to repel. Over the course of the game, it is revealed that the Gargoyles have valid reasons to loathe the Avatar. Exploring the themes of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

, the game tasks the Avatar with understanding and reconciling two seemingly opposing cultures.

The Age of Armageddon: ''Ultima VII–IX''

'' Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) sees the Avatar entangled in the plan of an ostensibly virtuous and benevolent organization named the Fellowship (inspired by

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

) to create a gateway for the evil entity known as the Guardian to enter Britannia. Though all of the main line of ''Ultima'' games are arranged into trilogies, Richard Garriott later revealed that ''Ultima VII'' was the first game where he did any sort of planning ahead for future games in the series. He elaborated that "the first three didn't have much to do with each other, they were 'Richard Garriott learns to program'; IV through VI were a backwards-designed trilogy, in the sense that I tied them together as I wrote them; but VII-IX, the story of the Guardian, were a preplanned trilogy, and we had a definite idea of where we wanted to go." An

expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...

was released named '' Forge of Virtue'' that added a newly arisen volcanic island to the map that the Avatar was invited to investigate. The tie-in storyline was limited to this island, where a piece of Exodus (his data storage unit) had resurfaced. To leave the island again, the Avatar had to destroy this remnant of Exodus. In the process of doing so, he also created The Black Sword, an immensely powerful weapon possessed by a demon. '' Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'' (

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

) was released as the second part of ''Ultima VII'' because it used the same game engine as ''Ultima VII''. According to interviews, Richard Garriott felt it therefore did not warrant a new number. Production was rushed due to deadlines set to the developers, and the storyline was cut short; remains of the original, longer storyline can be found in the database. Following the Fellowship's defeat, its founder Batlin flees to the Serpent Isle, pursued by the Avatar and companions. Serpent Isle is revealed as another fragment of former Sosaria, and its history which is revealed throughout the game provides many explanations and ties up many loose ends left over from the Age of Darkness era. Magical storms herald the unraveling of the dying world's very fabric, and the game's mood is notably melancholic, including the voluntary sacrificial death of a long-standing companion of the Avatar, Dupre. By the end of the game, the Avatar is abducted by the Guardian and thrown into another world, which becomes the setting for the next game in the series. '' The Silver Seed'' was an expansion pack for ''Ultima VII Part 2'' where the Avatar travels back in time to plant a silver seed, thus balancing the forces that hold the Serpent Isle together. Like ''Forge of Virtue'', the expansion contained an isolated sub-quest that was irrelevant to the main game's storyline, but provided the Avatar with a plethora of useful and powerful artifacts. In '' Ultima VIII: Pagan'' (

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

), the Avatar finds himself exiled by the Guardian to a world called "Pagan". The Britannic Principles and Virtues are unknown here. Pagan is ruled by the Elemental Titans,

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

-like servants of the Guardian. The Avatar defeats them with their own magic, ascending to demi-godhood himself, and finally returns to Britannia. A planned expansion pack, ''The Lost Vale'', was canceled after ''Ultima VIII'' failed to meet sales expectations. '' Ultima IX: Ascension'' (

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

), the final installment of the series, sees Britannia conquered and its Virtues corrupted by the Guardian. The Avatar has to cleanse and restore them. The Guardian is revealed to be the evil part of the Avatar himself, expelled from him when he became the Avatar. To stop it, he has to merge with it, destroying himself as a separate entity. The unreleased version of the plot featured a more apocalyptic ending, with the Guardian and Lord British killed, Britannia destroyed, and the Avatar ascending to a higher plane of existence.

Collections

* ''Ultima Trilogy'' (1989) – an early compilation of the first three ''Ultima'' games released for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and DOS by Origin Systems. * ''Ultima: The Second Trilogy'' (1992) – a later trilogy of the second three ''Ultima'' games released by Origin Systems for Commodore 64 and DOS. * ''Ultima I–VI Series'' (1992) – a compilation of the first six ''Ultima'' games and published for DOS by Software Toolworks. Includes reprints of the instruction manuals and original maps. * ''Ultima Collection'' (February 1998) – a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

collection of the first eight ''Ultima'' computer games published for DOS and Microsoft Windows 95/98, including their expansion packs. Includes a complete atlas of each game's map, a PC port of ''Akalabeth'', and a sneak preview of ''Ultima IX''.

Spin-offs and other games

'' Akalabeth: World of Doom'' was released in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and is sometimes considered a precursor to the ''Ultima'' series. Sierra On-Line also produced '' Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash'' in

. The maze game has nothing in common with the others, but is highly sought after by collectors due to extreme rarity. The ''Worlds of Ultima'' series is a spin-off of ''Ultima VI'' using the same

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...

, following the Avatar's adventures after the game's conclusion: * In '' Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire'' (

), a failed experiment transports the Avatar to the Valley of Eodon, a

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

world populated by thirteen primitive tribes whom he must unite against a common enemy, the insectoid Myrmidex. * '' Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams'' (

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) takes place after ''The Savage Empire'' and sees the Avatar travel back in time to the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and eventually land on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

to rescue humans stranded on it by accident and to restore the native Martian civilization. * The third game, ''Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 3: Arthurian Legends'', was planned to be set in the times of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

but was canceled in

. The second spin-off series, ''Ultima Underworld'', consisted of three games with a first-person perspective: * Set after ''Ultima VI'', '' Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (

) sees the Avatar descending into the Great Stygian Abyss to rescue a Britannian

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

's kidnapped daughter and prevent the summoning of a powerful

. * '' Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds'' (

) is set between the two parts of ''Ultima VII'' and starts with the Guardian trapping Lord British, the Avatar and his companions within an impenetrable barrier in their castle. To free them, the Avatar has to travel through several parallel universes looking for a way to undo the spell. * '' Underworld Ascendant'' (

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

), the third in the series, licensed the lore and characters for the Underworld setting, but did not allow use of the ''Ultima'' brand. The Avatar has been transported to the Underworld and works with local factions. A group of volunteer programmers created '' Ultima V: Lazarus'' in 2005, a remake of ''Ultima V'' using the ''

Dungeon Siege ''Dungeon Siege'' is an action role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft in April 2002 for Microsoft Windows and the following year by Destineer for Mac OS X. Set in the pseudo-medieval kingdom of Ehb, the high ...

'' engine.

Console games

Console versions of ''Ultima'' have allowed further exposure to the series, especially in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where the games have been bestsellers and were accompanied by several tie-in products including ''Ultima'' cartoons and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

. In most cases, gameplay and graphics have been changed significantly.

Console ports of computer games

* ''Ultima III: Exodus'' ( NES) * ''Ultima: Quest of the Avatar'' (NES) - Remake: includes plot and gameplay changes. * ''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' (

Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...

) — A faithful port of the original. Only released in Europe and South America. * ''Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' (NES) * ''Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' (

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

) — Gameplay adapted for the game pad. * ''Ultima: The Black Gate'' (SNES) — Action-adventure remake. * ''Ultima: The Savage Empire'' (SNES) — A graphical update using the ''Black Gate'' engine for the SNES. Japan only, canceled in the US. * ''Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

) — Uses 3D models rather than the 2D sprites of the original. Released only in Japan.

Original console games

* '' Ultima: Runes of Virtue'' (1991) (

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

) — Non-canonical, action-based gameplay and puzzle solving. The game's antagonist is called the "Black Knight". * '' Ultima: Runes of Virtue II'' (1993) (Game Boy, SNES)

''Ultima Online'' MMORPG

'' Ultima Online'' (

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

), a

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

spin-off of the main series, has become an unexpected hit, making it one of the earliest and longest-running successful MMORPGs of all time. Its lore

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

ned the ending of ''Ultima I'', stating that when the Stranger shattered the Gem of Immortality, he discovered that it was tied to the world itself, therefore its shards each contained a miniature version of Britannia. The player characters in ''Ultima Online'' exist on these "shards". Eight expansion packs for ''UO'' have been released ('' The Second Age'', ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'', '' Third Dawn'', '' Lord Blackthorn's Revenge'', '' Age of Shadows'', '' Samurai Empire'', '' Mondain's Legacy'' and '' Stygian Abyss''). The aging ''UO'' graphic engine was renewed in 2007 with the official '' Kingdom Reborn'' client. ''Ultima Online 2'', later renamed to '' Ultima Worlds Online: Origin'' and canceled in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, would have introduced

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

elements to the game world, following Lord British's unsuccessful attempt to merge past, present, and future shards together. ''UO'' spawned two sequel efforts that were canceled before release: '' Ultima Worlds Online: Origin'' (canceled in

, though the game's storyline was published in the Technocrat War trilogy) and '' Ultima X: Odyssey'' (canceled in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

). ''Ultima X: Odyssey'' would have continued the story of ''Ultima IX''. Now merged with the Guardian, the Avatar creates a world of Alucinor inside his mind, where the players were supposed to pursue the Eight Virtues in order to strengthen him and weaken the Guardian. ''Ultima X'' was developed without participation of the original creator Richard Garriott and he no longer owns the rights to the series. However, he still owns the rights to several of the game characters so it is impossible for either him or

to produce a new ''Ultima'' title without getting permission from each other.

''Lord of Ultima''

Lord of Ultima ''Lord of Ultima'' is a defunct free-to-play, browser-based, massively multiplayer real-time strategy (MMORTS) video game by Electronic Arts. The game started a beta test on April 20, 2010 and was developed by EA Phenomic. While it is, tech ...

'' is a defunct free-to-play browser-based MMORTS released in 2010 by EA Phenomic. It was the first release in the ''Ultima'' series since ''Ultima Online'', and also the first title to have no involvement from series creator Garriott or founding company Origin. It has been criticized for having slow-paced gameplay and very weak connections to the Ultima franchise lore. EA announced on February 12, 2014 that ''Lord of Ultima'' would be shut down and taken offline as of May 12, 2014.

''Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar''

Announced in summer 2012, '' Ultima Forever'' is a defunct free-to-play online action role-playing game. In contrast to ''Lord of Ultima'', ''Ultima Forever'' returns to the lore of the original game series. As of August 29, 2014. Ultima Forever's servers were shut down.

Other media

Several novels were released under the ''Ultima'' name, including: * ''The Ultima Saga'' by Lynn Abbey (

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Kinney National Company acquired the New York City-based Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publis ...

) ** ''The Forge of Virtue'' (1991) ** ''The Temper of Wisdom'' (1992) * ''Ultima: The Technocrat War'' by Austen Andrews (

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...

) ** ''Machinations'' (2001) ** ''Masquerade'' (2002) ** ''Maelstrom'' (2002) In Japan, various novels, multiple gamebooks, a soundtrack CD, two kinds of wrist watches, a tape dispenser, a pencil holder, a board game, a jacket, and a beach towel were released. There were rumours of an ''Ultima'' anime cartoon, but its existence has been described as unlikely. Four main manga comics were released in Japan: * ''Ultima: EXODUS No Kyoufu'' (The Terror of EXODUS) * ''Ultima: Quest of the Avatar'' * ''Ultima: Magincia no Metsubou'' (The Fall of Magincia) * ''Ultima: The Maze of Schwarzschild

Packaging

''Ultima'' game boxes often contained so-called " feelies"; e.g. from ''Ultima II'' on, every game in the main series came with a cloth

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

of the game world. Starting with ''Ultima IV'', small trinkets like pendants, coins and magic stones were included. Made of metal or glass, they usually represented an important object found within the game itself. Not liking how games were sold in zip lock bags with a few pages printed out for instructions, Richard Garriott insisted ''Ultima II'' be sold in a box, with a cloth map, and a manual. Sierra was the only company at that time willing to agree to this, and thus he signed with them.

Copy protection measures

In the Atari 8bit version of ''Ultima IV'' one of the floppy disks had an unformatted track. In its absence the player would lose on every fight, which would not be obvious as a copy protection effect right away as one could assume that this was just due to either lack of experience or proper equipment. The protection mechanism was subtle enough to be overlooked by the German distributor that originally delivered Atari 8bit packages with floppies that were formatted regularly, and thus these paid copies acted like unlicensed copies, causing players to lose every battle. In ''Ultima V'', there were one or two instances where ostensibly insignificant information found in the accompanying booklet were asked by person(s) encountered in the game. The game also used runic script in some places and a special language for spell names, for both of which the necessary translation tables / explanations were provided in the booklet. These can be seen as subtle copy-protection measures, well fitted for the context of history and fantasy so that a casual player didn't take them for copy protection. ''Ultima VI'' introduced a more systematic use of copy protection in the form of in-game questions, preventing the player from progressing any further if the questions were answered incorrectly. In ''Ultima VII'', this practice was continued, although in both games the player had an unlimited number of tries to answer the questions correctly. Answers could be obtained by consulting the manual or cloth map, although the manual released with the ''Ultima Collection'' contained all copy protection answers for every game. In ''Ultima VII Part 2: Serpent Isle'', the copy protection was changed slightly. Players were asked questions at two points in the game, and if they could not answer after two attempts, all NPCs said nothing but altered versions of famous quotes. Everything would also be labeled "Oink!", preventing the game from being played. From Ultima VIII onward, copy protection questions were discontinued.

Common elements

Setting

Originally, the world of ''Ultima'' was made up of four continents. These were Lord British's Realm, ruled by Lord British and the Lost King; The Lands of Danger and Despair, ruled by Lord Shamino and the King of the White Dragon; The Lands of the Dark Unknown, ruled by Lord Olympus and the King of the Black Dragon; and The Lands of the Feudal Lords, ruled by the lords of Castle Rondorin and Castle Barataria. After the defeat of Mondain and the shattering of his Gem of Immortality in ''Ultima I'', there was a cataclysm that changed the structure of the world. Three of the four continents seemingly disappeared, leaving only Lord British's realm in the world. This remaining continent was referred from then on as "Sosaria". The Lands of Danger and Despair were later rediscovered as the Serpent Isle, which had been moved to a different dimension or plane, so it seems likely that the other two continents still exist. ''Ultima II'' shows Castle Barataria on Planet X, suggesting that the Lands of the Feudal Lords became this planet; ''Ultima Online: Samurai Empire'' posits that the Lands of the Feudal Lords was transformed into the Tokuno Islands by the cataclysm. After the defeat of Exodus in ''Ultima III'', Sosaria became Britannia in order to honor its ruler, Lord British. Serpent Isle remained connected with Britannia via a gate in the polar region. The Fellowship leader, Batlin, fled here after the Black Gate was destroyed in ''Ultima VII'', preventing the Guardian's first invasion. Ninety percent of the island's population was destroyed by evil Banes released by Batlin in a foolish attempt to capture them for his own use in ''Ultima VII Part 2''.

Virtues

In Ultima, the player takes the role of the Avatar, who embodies eight virtues. First introduced in Ultima IV, the Three Principles and the Eight Virtues marked a reinvention of the game focus from a traditional role-playing model into an ethically framed one. Each virtue is associated with a party member, one of Britannia's cities, and one of the eight other planets in Britannia's solar system. Each virtue also has a mantra and each principle a word of power that the player must learn. The Eight Virtues explored in ''Ultima'' are Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility. These Eight Virtues are based on the Three Principles of Truth, Love, and Courage. The Principles are derived from the One True Axiom, the combination of all Truth, all Love, and all Courage, which is Infinity. The virtues were first introduced in '' Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' (1985), where the goal of the game is to practice them and become a moral exemplar. Virtues and their variations are present in all later installments. Richard Garriott's motives in designing the virtue system were to build on the fact that games were provoking thought in the player, even unintentionally. As a designer, he "wasn't interested in teaching any specific lesson; instead, his next game would be about making people think about the consequences of their actions." The original virtue system in Ultima was partially inspired by the 16 ways of purification ( sanskara) and character traits ( samskara) which lead to Avatarhood in Hinduism. He also drew on his interpretation of characters from '' The Wizard of Oz'', with the Scarecrow representing truth, the Tin Woodsman representing love, and the Cowardly Lion representing courage. Ultima_codex_symbol

The Virtues have become a frequent theme in the Ultima games following '' Ultima IV'', with many different variants used throughout the series. '' Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' saw Lord Blackthorn turn the virtue system into a rigid and draconian set of laws. The rigid system of Blackthorn unintentionally causes the Virtues to actually achieve their polar opposites, in part due to the influence of the Shadowlords. This shows that the Virtues always come from one's own self, and that codifying ethics into law does not automatically make evil people good. '' Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' confronted the Avatar with the fact that, from another point of view, the Avatar's quests for Virtue may not appear virtuous at all, presenting an alternative set of virtues. In '' Ultima VII'', an order known as the Fellowship displaced the Virtues with its own seemingly benevolent belief system, casting Britannia into disarray; and in '' Ultima IX'', the Virtues had been inverted into their opposite anti-virtues. Ultima's virtue system was considered a new frontier in game design, and has become "an industry standard, especially within role-playing games." The original system from ''Ultima IV'' has influenced moral systems in games such as '' Black & White'', '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' and the ''

Fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

'' series. However, Ultima can only be won by being virtuous, while other games typically offer a choice to be vicious. Mark Hayse specifically praises Ultima's virtue system for its subtlety. The game emphasizes the importance of virtue, but leaves the practice ambiguous with no explicit point values and limited guidance. This makes the virtue system more of a "philosophical journey" than an ordinary game puzzle.

Characters

Artificial scripts and language

The ''Ultima'' series of computer games employed several different artificial scripts. The people of Britannia, the fantasy world where the games are set, speak English, and most of the day-to-day things are written in Latin alphabet. However, there still are other scripts, which are used by tradition. Britannian

rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...

s are the most commonly seen script. In many of the games of the series, most signs are written in runic. The runes are based on

Germanic runes Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...

, but closer to Dwarven runes in Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', which creator Richard Garriott has stated he has read. They gained steadier use since '' Ultima V'', which was the first game in the series to use a runic font for in-game signs. Runes in earlier games were mostly found in hard copy materials, such as maps and the decorative covers of booklets. Runes appear less in '' Ultima VII'' and in later games. Gargish is the language of the gargoyles of Britannia and the language used in spellcasting within the game. Unlike the runic script, which is usually used simply as a visual cipher for English, the Gargish script encodes a genuine

constructed language A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...

, based on (but expanding greatly upon) the magical words of power that first saw use in '' Ultima V'', as well as the mantras for each of the Shrines of Virtue, which had remained consistent since '' Ultima IV''. The lexicon mostly comprises deformed or truncated Latinate stems (''flam'' "fire" ← Latin ''flamma''; ''lap'' "stone" ← Latin ''lapis''; ''leg'' "to read" ← Latin ''legō''), but other origins are also apparent (''uis'' "wisdom" ← English ''wise''; ''kas'' "helmet" ← French ''casque''). But the grammar is ''de novo'' and bears little resemblance to Latin, being largely analytic in structure instead. Gargish uses suffixes to denote

grammatical tense In grammar, tense is a grammatical category, category that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their grammatical conjugation, conjugation patterns. The main tenses found ...

and aspect, and also in some forms of derivation. The Gargish alphabet is featured in '' Ultima VI'', though it is seen only in specific game contexts. '' Ultima VII'' and onward does not feature anything written in the alphabet, with the sole exception of some books to be found in the gargoyle colony in the underwater city of Ambrosia in '' Ultima IX''. The Gargish language and alphabet were designed by Herman Miller. The Ophidian alphabet, featured in '' Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'', was used by the Ophidian civilization that inhabited the Serpent Isle. It is based on various snake forms. Ophidian lettering was quite difficult to read, so the game included a ''Translation'' spell that made the letters look like Latin letters.

Reception

In the United States, the first five ''Ultima'' games had collectively sold more than copies for home computers by 1990. In Japan, total sales of

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

's Japanese versions of the ''Ultima'' series had reached nearly 100,000 copies on home computers and over 300,000 units on the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

(Nintendo Entertainment System), by 1990. In 1996, '' Next Generation'' ranked the ''Ultima'' series as collectively the 55th top game of all time, commenting that, "While the graphics and playing style change with the technological leaps of the day, thas been the most consistent source of roleplaying excitement in history." In 1999, '' Next Generation'' listed the ''Ultima'' series as number 18 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that, "Most PC RPGs are about hacking and slashing through anything that moves, usually while crawling through a dungeon. The ''Ultima'' series, however, has always been firmly grounded in a world where a character's virtues are as important as their armor class in determining success." In 2000, Britannia was included in

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

's list of the ten best game worlds, called "the oldest and one of the most historically rich gameworlds."

Impact and legacy

Many innovations of the early ''Ultimas'' – in particular '' Ultima III: Exodus'' (1983) – eventually became standard among later RPGs, such as the use of tiled graphics and party-based combat, its mix of fantasy and science-fiction elements, and the introduction of

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

as a plot device. In turn, some of these elements were inspired by ''Wizardry'', specifically the party-based combat. ''Exodus'' was also revolutionary in its use of a written narrative to convey a larger story than the typically minimal plots that were common at the time. Most video games – including Garriott's own ''Ultima I'' and ''II'' and ''Akalabeth'' – tended to focus primarily on things like combat without venturing much further. In addition, Garriott would introduce in ''Ultima IV'' a theme that would persist throughout later ''Ultimas'' – a system of chivalry and code of conduct in which the player, or "Avatar", is tested periodically (in both obvious and unseen ways) and judged according to his or her actions. This system of morals and ethics was unique, in that in other video games players could for the most part act and do as they wished without having to consider the consequences of their actions. ''Ultima III'' would go on to be released for many other platforms and influenced the development of such RPGs as ''

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

'', ''

The Legend of Zelda is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...

'' and ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

''; "A devoted gamer could make a decent case for either of these Atari titles founding the RPG genre; nevertheless, there's no denying that Dragon Quest was the primary catalyst for the Japanese console RPG industry. And Japan is where the vast majority of console RPGs come from, to this day. Influenced by the popular PC RPGs of the day (most notably Ultima), both Excalibur and Dragon Quest "stripped down" the statistics while keeping features that can be found even in today's most technologically advanced titles. An RPG just wouldn't be complete, in many gamers' eyes, without a medieval setting, hit points, random enemy encounters, and endless supplies of gold. (...) The rise of the Japanese RPG as a dominant gaming genre and Nintendo's NES as the dominant console platform were closely intertwined." and many consider the game to be the first modern

computer role-playing game A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', w ...

. On June 30, 2020, Garriott said he was turned down by EA for any attempts to revive or remaster the Ultima series.

''Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues''

Richard Garriott's new company Portalarium developed an RPG/

that Garriott has described as a clear

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

of the ''Ultima'' series. On March 8, 2013, Portalarium launched a Kickstarter campaign for '' Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues''. ''Forsaken Virtues'' is the first of five full-length episodic installments in ''Shroud of the Avatar'' and was designed as a "Selective Multiplayer Game". This allowed the player to determine his or her level of multiplayer involvement that ranges from MMO to single player offline. Despite original plans to launch in Summer 2017, with Episodes 2 through 5 estimated for subsequent yearly releases, the first episode would ultimately be released on March 27, 2018, to mixed reception. Further episodes have not yet been released.

References

Sources

* * * *

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
The Codex of Ultima Wisdom (Ultima Wiki)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultima (Series) Constructed fictional scripts Open-world video games Electronic Arts franchises Lists of video games by franchise Video game franchises introduced in 1981 Video games adapted into comics Video games adapted into novels Video games developed in the United States Richard Garriott