Ultima Ultima IV Interview and NPC Creation Sheet from 1984

[Infinitron]

Kenneth over at the Ultima Codex has gotten his hands on a nice piece of archaeology: http://gallery.ultimacodex.com/rich...ma-4-npc-creation-sheet-from-wizards-journal/

Richard Garriott Interview and Ultima 4 NPC Creation Sheet, From Wizards Journal
WtF Dragon February 19, 2014 Gallery

This is an interesting find.

Odkin, whilst going through boxes in his garage, came across a copy of Wizards Journal — really, a four-page newsletter — that he was sent, unsolicited, back in 1984.



You see, back in 1984, a much younger Odkin sent a letter to Richard Garriott and Origin Systems, announcing his completion of Ultima 3 in 564,796 steps. He didn’t ever get a completion certificate for it, but he suspects that it was as a result of sending this letter that he was then sent a copy of Wizards Journal.

The interview with Richard Garriott that fills the first page (and change) of the newsletter doesn’t reveal anything we don’t now already know; in it, Lord British recounts his history as a game developer, from Akalabeth onward, and talks briefly about his reasons for leaving California Pacific and signing on with Sierra On-Line. The interview actually breaks off shortly after the Sierra On-Line discussion, and a footnote promises its completion in the next issue of Wizards Journal.

What follows, however, is rather more interesting. Because, you see, the second and third pages of this issue are taken up by a form that allows readers to submit NPCs for possible inclusion in Ultima 4. This includes several instructions — written by Richard Garriott himself, apparently — about what NPCs should and should not include. Historical references, for example, were disallowed, and each NPC was required to have two pieces of knowledge that the player could somehow deduce that the NPC knew. A third NPC response type, a special response given if a threshold sum of money is offered to that NPC, can also be submitted via the form.

The actual form appears on the third page, accompanied by a brief introduction that outlines Garriott’s intention to include more varied NPCs, NPCs who were unique individuals, in Ultima 4. The introduction also disclaims that Origin Systems reserves the right to edit a submitted NPC slightly in order to better fit the setting of the game, and that the submission of an NPC does not guarantee its use in the game. And naturally, all submissions become the property of Origin Systems proper.

I actually reached out to Richard Garriott for confirmation that the form was legitimate, and he confirmed that it did in fact seem to be. He couldn’t recall off the top of his head which NPCs in the game were included as a result of submissions via the form, however.

At any rate, enjoy! This is a neat glimpse into the development of Ultima 4, and gives us some idea of the design and thought that went into Ultima 4′sNPCs. The Ultima Codex is grateful to Odkin for sharing this bit of history.

Yep, crowdsourcing was already a thing in the 1980s. Interesting to learn that he was originally planning to have multiple fantasy races in Ultima 4, like in Ultima 3.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

The original 8 classes were fighter, magician, tinker, paladin, lark, alchemist, ranger and serf? Makes more sense to me.

 

[Marquis de Lirium]

GENDER: You know, male or female.

We were promised flying cars and all we got is Tumblr.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Fun thing. I started playing Ultima IV for the first time like 3 days ago.... It's the first Ultima game and a first pre-Daggerfall rpg I ever played. And it's interesting so far,at least after I learned that it is necessary to ask for job in order to get anything proper from npcs.

 

[Excidium]

That was p. cool.

Different times, nowadays you have to pay a large sum for that privilege.

 

[:Flash:]

Fun thing. I started playing Ultima IV for the first time like 3 days ago.... It's the first Ultima game and a first pre-Daggerfall rpg I ever played. And it's interesting so far,at least after I learned that it is necessary to ask for job in order to get anything proper from npcs.

That is on the player reference card. Reading through all the material is essential to Ultima IV.
The other keywords are "name", "health" and "give" (in order to give money). Interestingly this corresponds exactly to the creation sheet from this topic.

 

[:Flash:]

GENDER: You know, male or female.

We were promised flying cars and all we got is Tumblr.

"You know" is a bit rich coming from Richard Garriot. Ultima III had "other".

 

[dragonbait]

Nice article. I played a bit of one of the Ultima games back in the 80's, but back then, I was too focused on the Bard's tale series and Might and Magic II and eventually Curse of the Azure Bonds that I never really gave the Ultima series a serious playthrough. Now that there are very few games that interest me, perhaps I'll start a new Ultima playthrough. I think I would start with Ultima III, but I might opt for IV. Graphics do not concern me. How do Codexians feel about the early Ultima games? Should I start with III or IV or just go ultra retro with I?

 

[Daemongar]

Interesting to hear about Ultima IV and the contest. Never knew about that. I still remember a contest with Ultima VII: Serpent Isle to include your picture in the game. I always assumed that heavy guy (Fedabiblio?) who runs the store in Moonshade was a contest winner, but I don't know about any others. Anyone have any idea on that?

 

[Daemongar]

Nice article. I played a bit of one of the Ultima games back in the 80's, but back then, I was too focused on the Bard's tale series and Might and Magic II and eventually Curse of the Azure Bonds that I never really gave the Ultima series a serious playthrough. Now that there are very few games that interest me, perhaps I'll start a new Ultima playthrough. I think I would start with Ultima III, but I might opt for IV. Graphics do not concern me. How do Codexians feel about the early Ultima games? Should I start with III or IV or just go ultra retro with I?

There needs to be more Bard's Tale love around here, so please post more. If I was going to start with III, well, I'd start with Ultima I, if that makes sense. Start at the first and work through them up to IV. You get the progression and I & II are quick games anyhow. But either way, play IV.

 

[RK47]

Nice article. I played a bit of one of the Ultima games back in the 80's, but back then, I was too focused on the Bard's tale series and Might and Magic II and eventually Curse of the Azure Bonds that I never really gave the Ultima series a serious playthrough. Now that there are very few games that interest me, perhaps I'll start a new Ultima playthrough. I think I would start with Ultima III, but I might opt for IV. Graphics do not concern me. How do Codexians feel about the early Ultima games? Should I start with III or IV or just go ultra retro with I?

They're banal shit boring.
Combat is ass and tedious.
The only thing going for it is the 'open world' but even then the whole populace are robots waiting for keywords.
I'd say skip 1234.
Start from 5.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Nice article. I played a bit of one of the Ultima games back in the 80's, but back then, I was too focused on the Bard's tale series and Might and Magic II and eventually Curse of the Azure Bonds that I never really gave the Ultima series a serious playthrough. Now that there are very few games that interest me, perhaps I'll start a new Ultima playthrough. I think I would start with Ultima III, but I might opt for IV. Graphics do not concern me. How do Codexians feel about the early Ultima games? Should I start with III or IV or just go ultra retro with I?

Start with Ultima IV and play through the series until Ultima VI. Then you can choose to continue with Ultima VII (way too dumbed down but with an awesome gameworld), Ultima: Underworld (FP RT dungeon crawler, atmospheric as hell), the Worlds of Ultima spin-offs (Ultima VI in different settings and less combat) or back to play the original trilogy (Ultima III being the best of the bunch).

Unless you're a combatfag, in that case you should start with Ultima III (if you want to make your own party from scratch and a Wizardry feel to the experience) or V (if you prioritize tactical combat and a good encounter design). If you are a storyfag, you may want to start with Ultima VI or VII.

 

[Lhynn]

They're banal shit boring.
Combat is ass and tedious.
The only thing going for it is the 'open world' but even then the whole populace are robots waiting for keywords.
I'd say skip 1234.
Start from 5.

Isnt spoony ultima retrospective fairly good to get most of whats important/good about those games?

 

[RK47]

probqbly yes

 

[Infinitron]

Here's a transcript if you don't like reading from images: http://ultimacodex.com/2014/02/tran...s-were-part-of-the-early-design-for-ultima-4/

 

[RK47]

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[Infinitron]

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Works for me. Probably regional proxy shenanigans.

 

[RK47]

:racist:

 

[Marquis de Lirium]

I think I would start with Ultima III, but I might opt for IV. Graphics do not concern me. How do Codexians feel about the early Ultima games? Should I start with III or IV or just go ultra retro with I?

Start with IV. Ultima 1-3 are really only interesting if you already know the series and want to know how it all began. Lore-wise, the following games have only a loose connection to the first ones and the gameplay is totally different (and better).