Tags: Ultima IX: Ascension; Ultima IX: Forgotten World
The Ultima Codex has talked to the team behind Ultima IX: Forgotten World, "an ambitious project to create a series of patches to expand the world of Ultima IX, as well as upgrade the graphics and fix a number of bugs in the original". Have a taste:
To read the interview in full, click here.
Thanks Infinitron
The Ultima Codex has talked to the team behind Ultima IX: Forgotten World, "an ambitious project to create a series of patches to expand the world of Ultima IX, as well as upgrade the graphics and fix a number of bugs in the original". Have a taste:
Dungy: Can you tell us briefly about the different projects your team is involved in, and what are the eventual goals of Ultima IX Patches, Forgotten World, and Beautiful Britannia.
Iceblade - I’ll start us off by describing the Ultima IX Patches. The main goal of this project is to ‘fix’ Ultima IX by eliminating as many bugs as possible and minimizing the frequency of crashes in the original game. Essentially we are picking up where the original developers left off with patching Ultima IX. We want the experience of playing the original game to be less frustrating from a technical standpoint. As the necessary tools for advanced modding of Ultima IX are being developed, I will be spending most of time focused on the Ultima IX patches project. In the long run, I want Ultima IX to become a bug-free base from which to fully develop BB and FW.
The cornerstone project of our team is Forgotten World, which is by far the most ambitious project we are undertaking. FW seeks to remake much of Ultima IX with the intended final plot rather than the apparent, stripped version originally released. In the process, the project will rebuild most of the world from scratch with an all new overworld and significant changes and additions to the various dungeons. Overall, FW will be significantly larger with numerous quests, limited bugs and crashes, and plenty of areas to explore. All of this while keeping with the Ultima spirit and lore.
I’ll leave FirstKnight to discuss Beautiful Britannia, but I will mention that much of the improved graphics (textures and models) of BB will made compatible with Ultima IX patches and later incorporated into Forgotten World.
FirstKnight- Yes, as Iceblade mentioned, the main focus of Beautiful Britannia is in the visual experience. Specifically, Beautiful Britannia will have improved textures with a final release of more than 500 newly designed textures in 256×256 resolution. In addition and as shown with the upcoming Cove expansion, several areas (not just Cove) will be expanded and given room for added exploration especially in regard to side quests. Another aspect that BB will focus on is added realism. In the later releases (and based on the extended areas), it will be possible to fix some of the “environmental bugs” and change parts of the environment so that certain details are more realistic and do not break the immersion of the player. An example of one possible change might be the direct teleporter from the wilderness around Stonegate into Lord British’s Castle.
Dungy: Many fans were unimpressed by the story of the original Ultima IX. Are there any plans to modify the original story, plot, or conversations?
Iceblade – Well, the overarching story of Ultima IX will remain essentially the same; however, the execution and overall dialogue will be miles better and present a much more coherent and thought-out plot. While I won’t get into too much detail here, I will give you a basic introduction to the story in FW.
The Guardian has entered Britannia several months before your arrival. He has corrupted the Runes into Glyphs, which now power the eight monolithic columns of blackrock that he has created. The resulting seismic cataclysm was enough to split Britannia apart and cut off many of the cities from each other. Goblins control passage to Northern Britannia, mountains block access to the Eastern Peninsula, Southern Britannian is now an island, and the seas have gradually become a near-death sentence with whirlpools forming across the entirety of the ocean. The columns themselves have corrupted the 8 shrines and are slowly eroding the virtue and will of Britannia’s citizens. Some have twisted the virtues in their own minds to justify their actions while others are out-right abandoning the virtues in the name of self-interest. Only a few of those who live within the range of a column’s influence can resist it. However, only those in Skara Brae and Castle British are truly protected against these columns. All attempts by Lord British thus far have failed to mitigate this crisis. Lord British, himself, remains in his castle drained of hope and moping on his throne.
Much of the above information will be presented to the player in the first few hours of play, so I don’t feel like I’m really giving much away. As you can see, some things have remained the same, but the real changes are in the details. I will add that we are going with the Richard Garriott’s explanation of the Guardian’s origins going back to Ultima I.
Iceblade - I’ll start us off by describing the Ultima IX Patches. The main goal of this project is to ‘fix’ Ultima IX by eliminating as many bugs as possible and minimizing the frequency of crashes in the original game. Essentially we are picking up where the original developers left off with patching Ultima IX. We want the experience of playing the original game to be less frustrating from a technical standpoint. As the necessary tools for advanced modding of Ultima IX are being developed, I will be spending most of time focused on the Ultima IX patches project. In the long run, I want Ultima IX to become a bug-free base from which to fully develop BB and FW.
The cornerstone project of our team is Forgotten World, which is by far the most ambitious project we are undertaking. FW seeks to remake much of Ultima IX with the intended final plot rather than the apparent, stripped version originally released. In the process, the project will rebuild most of the world from scratch with an all new overworld and significant changes and additions to the various dungeons. Overall, FW will be significantly larger with numerous quests, limited bugs and crashes, and plenty of areas to explore. All of this while keeping with the Ultima spirit and lore.
I’ll leave FirstKnight to discuss Beautiful Britannia, but I will mention that much of the improved graphics (textures and models) of BB will made compatible with Ultima IX patches and later incorporated into Forgotten World.
FirstKnight- Yes, as Iceblade mentioned, the main focus of Beautiful Britannia is in the visual experience. Specifically, Beautiful Britannia will have improved textures with a final release of more than 500 newly designed textures in 256×256 resolution. In addition and as shown with the upcoming Cove expansion, several areas (not just Cove) will be expanded and given room for added exploration especially in regard to side quests. Another aspect that BB will focus on is added realism. In the later releases (and based on the extended areas), it will be possible to fix some of the “environmental bugs” and change parts of the environment so that certain details are more realistic and do not break the immersion of the player. An example of one possible change might be the direct teleporter from the wilderness around Stonegate into Lord British’s Castle.
Dungy: Many fans were unimpressed by the story of the original Ultima IX. Are there any plans to modify the original story, plot, or conversations?
Iceblade – Well, the overarching story of Ultima IX will remain essentially the same; however, the execution and overall dialogue will be miles better and present a much more coherent and thought-out plot. While I won’t get into too much detail here, I will give you a basic introduction to the story in FW.
The Guardian has entered Britannia several months before your arrival. He has corrupted the Runes into Glyphs, which now power the eight monolithic columns of blackrock that he has created. The resulting seismic cataclysm was enough to split Britannia apart and cut off many of the cities from each other. Goblins control passage to Northern Britannia, mountains block access to the Eastern Peninsula, Southern Britannian is now an island, and the seas have gradually become a near-death sentence with whirlpools forming across the entirety of the ocean. The columns themselves have corrupted the 8 shrines and are slowly eroding the virtue and will of Britannia’s citizens. Some have twisted the virtues in their own minds to justify their actions while others are out-right abandoning the virtues in the name of self-interest. Only a few of those who live within the range of a column’s influence can resist it. However, only those in Skara Brae and Castle British are truly protected against these columns. All attempts by Lord British thus far have failed to mitigate this crisis. Lord British, himself, remains in his castle drained of hope and moping on his throne.
Much of the above information will be presented to the player in the first few hours of play, so I don’t feel like I’m really giving much away. As you can see, some things have remained the same, but the real changes are in the details. I will add that we are going with the Richard Garriott’s explanation of the Guardian’s origins going back to Ultima I.
To read the interview in full, click here.
Thanks Infinitron
