Ultima VII

"Ultima VII" is the seventh of the "Ultima" series of computer role-playing games.

The game was released in two parts, "Ultima VII: The Black Gate" (1992), and "Ultima VII, Part Two: Serpent Isle" (1993). Aside from the direct continuation of the plot and using essentially the same engine, the two parts are independent of one another. There are also respective expansion disks, "Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue" and "Ultima VII, Part Two: Silver Seed". Since the mid-1990s, all releases of the game have included both parts and both of the expansion disks.

The events of "" take place between the two parts of "Ultima VII". While that sidequest is referenced in "Serpent Isle", it is not mandatory to play that game to follow the plot.

"The Black Gate" and "Serpent Isle" were both critically and commercially successful, and widely considered as a high point in the series. In an interview with GameSpot, Richard Garriott stated that "Ultima VII" "was the most masterfully executed of the Ultima series." [ cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/tabularasa/news.html?sid=6143760 | title=Tabula Rasa: Questions and Answers | accessdate=2006-11-05 | last=Garriott | first=Richard | publisher= NCSoft ] He has also often stated that the game was, along with "Ultima IV", his own favorite part overall. [cite web|url=http://www.playtr.com/team/team_bios.html#biosTop |title=Tabula Rasa Team Bios: Richard Garriott |accessdate=2006-10-02 |last=Garriott |first=Richard |publisher= NCSoft ]

Gameplay

Game system

"Ultima VII" introduced major changes in the "Ultima" series. The most important change was that, as far as the player is concerned, the world is no longer tile- and grid-based; tiles were still used internally (in a largely improved way where the tiles themselves are smaller and frequently grouped), but they no longer affected character and monster movement or the item placement the same way. The maps are also more visibly multi-layered, and objects and things can be stacked on top of each other. This can also affect movement, and be part of puzzles; some places are inaccessible unless the player stacks items to form stairs.

The game was the first in the series that was entirely mouse-driven, with optional keyboard hotkeys for some common actions. This was in contrast to earlier parts that were entirely keyboard-driven, and to "Ultima VI" which supplemented keyboard commands with on-screen command icons. While in "Ultima VI", the player has to specifically use a "move" command to move an item from place to place, or "drop" to drop it on the ground, in "Ultima VII", items are simply dragged and dropped in their desired locations.

"Ultima VII" introduced "gumps", on-screen representations of containers, later also used in "Ultima VIII" and "IX"; For example, clicking on a drawer or backpack will show the contents of the container on screen, allowing the items within arranged freely with the mouse. Gumps were also used for books, scrolls, the spellbook, the status display, maps, and character equipment management; double-clicking on the Avatar opens his or her inventory, after which the inventories of other party characters can be opened by double-clicking them in turn. In "Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle", the inventory view uses a paper doll concept: equipping items will change the character inventory display to show the worn or held items in place. In "Serpent Isle", there is also a serpent jawbone, the teeth of which can be added or removed.

Another major change was that the game was now completely real-time, and only paused when the inventory, the menu, or a dialogue is open. This particularly affected combat. The combat system was changed accordingly: every party character was controlled by AI, and the desired behavior could be chosen for each character (for example, stronger characters can be ordered to attack the big monsters, while weakened characters can be ordered to flee), and there was also the option to choose manual control for the Avatar. Even when the combat was real-time and AI-controlled, using items was still possible; for example, the game pauses while the player picks and uses the item from the backpack.

"Ultima VII: The Black Gate" is the first game in the mainline "Ultima" series to use dialogue trees. The first trilogy only allowed simple interaction while the second trilogy used a keyword-based dialogue. "Ultima VII" retains the old keywords themselves, but uses a dialogue tree where dialogue options are picked with a mouse rather than entered on keyboard; previously, the players had to learn a keyword from other dialogues, which allowed the player, if so desired, to find out the keyword from other sources (such as walkthroughs). Now, the keywords only appear when they are actually learned beforehand in the game due to the plot. (For example, "thief caught" dialogue option won't actually appear until a thief is actually caught.) The game also features a lot more dialogue than the previous parts; most of the characters have extensive dialogues.

Game world

Both parts of "Ultima VII" allow free exploration of the game world, featuring a main plot and several other major subquests and tasks for the player to complete. "Ultima VII: The Black Gate" is a relatively open-ended game where following the main plot is less integral to the play, while "Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle" is stricter when it comes to the plot, is more quest-oriented and only becomes open-ended toward the end of the game.

"Ultima VII" features less emphasis on behaving 'virtuously' than other installments in the Ultima series. The Avatar can steal and murder to his or her heart's content, without making the game impossible to finish; however, the Companions may leave the group if they witness too much bloodshed and larceny and will refuse to join the party until the player redeems themselves. Also, in "Black Gate", the Guardian sometimes mocks the player when he commits a criminal act.

In "Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle", however, not even the companions take issue with theft or murder - the only punishment for such behavior is if characters outside the party witness it.

"Ultima VII" is the first game since "" where characters witnessing criminal behavior may attack or arrest the Avatar and his companions.

"The Black Gate" features a deed system, where The Avatar must purchase and carry a title to any horse-and-carriage or ship that he or she wishes to board.

Part One: "The Black Gate"

Infobox VG| title = Ultima VII: The Black Gate


developer = Origin Systems
publisher = Origin Systems
designer = Richard Garriott
engine = "Ultima VII" Engine
version =
released = 1992
genre = RPG
modes = Single Player
ratings = ESRB: T (13+)
USK: 12+
platforms = DOS and others through Exult
media = 5.25" or 3.5" floppies; later releases on CD-ROM
requirements =
input = Keyboard and Mouse"Ultima VII: The Black Gate" (1992) is the first part of the game.

Plot

The game begins with what appears to be the game introduction on the Avatar's own computer screen. Suddenly, the screen is filled with static, and a red creature who calls himself The Guardian, proclaims:

The Orb of the Moons glows, and the Avatar finds that a red moongate has appeared behind the house.

The Avatar thus returns to Britannia through the moongate, and arrives in Trinsic, where he [For clarity, it should be noted that the Avatar character can be of either gender.] meets Iolo. Iolo tells him that two centuries have passed since he left. The whole town is shocked due to a ritualistic murder that occurred the preceding night - the body of the blacksmith Christopher was found in the stable. Finnigan, Mayor of Trinsic, asks the Avatar to investigate the incident.

It is soon revealed that the murderer is a man with a hook, apparently accompanied by a gargoyle, and they fled the city at dawn, sailing to Britain. (Much later, it turns out their names are Hook and Forskis, respectively.) The Avatar also meets Spark, Christopher's son, who joins them.

In Trinsic, the Avatar gets to meet several members of a new religious organization called the Fellowship. Eventually, in Britain, he meets Batlin, one of the founders of the Fellowship. He also meets Lord British, who urges the Avatar to join the Fellowship, which, according to him, has done a lot of good things. It also turns out most of the mages of the realm have gone completely insane without any good explanation, and magic doesn't work as it should.

Batlin first conducts a rigged personality test and comes to the conclusion that the Avatar is certainly in need of joining the Fellowship. He asks the Avatar to complete several tasks before being inducted into the Fellowship. First, he asks the Avatar to deliver a sealed message to Minoc branch of the Fellowship; while in Minoc, he learns another two ritualistic murders have been committed. In Minoc, the Avatar also meets the gypsy fortune-teller Margareta, who tells him that he needs to investigate the Fellowship, learn about the astronomical event that is to occur in near future, and seek to contact the Time Lord - the Wisps know how to contact him.

Next, Batlin wants the Avatar to recover Fellowship funds that are stored in a chest in the Dungeon Destard. After a fruitless search, and finding the supposedly deserted dungeon full of monsters, Batlin finally allows the Avatar to join the Fellowship. He's inducted in a nightly ceremony.

In Moonglow, the scholars tell the Avatar of an Astronomical Alignment that is supposed to happen very soon. In Yew, the monks of Empath Abbey tell the Avatar how to locate the Emps, who in turn are integral in making a contact with the Wisps. The Emps only agree to help after the Avatar persuades a logger to stop cutting down the silverleaf trees. The Avatar receives a whistle that allows him to talk to the Wisps.

The Wisps agree to help make contact with the Time Lord, but they require the information from Alagner's notebook. Alagner agrees to give the notebook if the Avatar finds out the answers to life and death, which can be learned from the Tortured One.

Cain, the Tortured One, is one of the ghostly inhabitants of Skara Brae. It turns out the town has been destroyed. The city is ruled by the mage Horance, now possessed by liche, and the previous attempt to create a potion to destroy the liche destroyed the whole town, when the mayor Forsythe relayed Cain the wrong proportions for the ingredients. The Avatar forges a new Soul Cage, makes a new potion, and destroys the liche, bringing Horance's old self back. Horance tells that the Well of Souls has to be destroyed, and to do that, a willing soul has to sacrifice itself; Mayor Forsythe's ghost is the only one who turns out to be capable of that. With some hesitation, he sacrifices himself. Cain then tells Avatar that there are no answers of life and death, only questions.

Horance, in his liche form, also hints that the key to ruling Britannia is within a substance called Blackrock, a magically impenetrable material. The Fellowship appears to be involved in mining it, and the Avatar meets a mage Rudyom in Cove, who, prior to going insane, was researching its properties. Rudyom only succeeded in creating a magic wand that makes blackrock explode.

Alagner is satisfied with the answer and gives the notebook to the Avatar - recovering the book from his storehouse is a puzzle in itself. The Wisps tell how to reach the Time Lord in the Shrine of Spirituality; meanwhile, Hook and Forskis kill Alagner.

Time Lord tells the Avatar of the three evil Generators that the Guardian has created. The first of these is a giant Sphere, located in Despise, used to trap the Time Lord and disturb the operation of the moongates, but it cannot be approached without Nicodemus' Hourglass. The hourglass cannot be re-enchanted unless the magical Ether is fixed.

A mage called Penumbra tells that the Tetrahedron Generator, which disturbs the magical ether, has to be destroyed. An Ethereal Ring that is required to destroy it, and it is found in the island of Spektran. The Avatar defeats an ethereal creature and destroys the Tetrahedron Generator, and acquires a tetrahedron made of blackrock.

After the Avatar destroys the Sphere Generator, and acquires a blackrock sphere, it turns out the Orb of the Moons and the Moongates no longer work. The last generator is the Cube Generator, through which the Guardian can get into the minds of the Britannians. In order to get close to the Cube Generator, the party has to fashion helmets out of caddellite, a meteor mineral found in lost isle of Ambrosia. When the Avatar destroys the Cube Generator, he gets the Cube of blackrock, which also forces all Fellowship members to speak truth in his presence.

In Buccaneer's Den, the Avatar and the party finds some more incriminating evidence. They follow the lead to the Isle of Avatar, where the founders of the Fellowship - Batlin, Elizabeth and Abraham - are waiting, along with Hook and Forskis. The Fellowship has fashioned a black moongate out blackrock on this island, which allows the Guardian to enter Britannia when the Astronomical Alignment happens.

After they're defeated, Batlin flees. The Astronomical Alignment draws near, but the Avatar destroys the gate just in time, by neutralizing the force field by using the blackrock sphere, tetrahedron and cube, and destroying the gate itself with Rudyom's wand.

Technical

The gameworld is renowned for its interactivity: virtually everything not nailed to the ground can be moved, taken, or interacted with in some fashion. It is possible, for instance, to bake bread, to forge weapons, to milk cows, to play musical instruments, and even to change a baby's swaddling. The Avatar and his companions will complain of hunger pains and severe thirst, and will even die if these matters are not attended to properly. If they come across a disgusting or gruesome scene, they may groan and vomit.

The game is also highly nonlinear; although there is a linear storyline, this is countered by the ability to explore the map in any order when coupled with the many sub-quests, including one that parodies ["The Trivial ULTIMA", [http://www.notableultima.com/trivia/OldTrivia.html Old Trivia Answers] , Retrieved 29 October 2006.]

In "Ultima VII", the virtue system was not enforced as strictly as it was in "Ultima IV". Instead, the game simulated a society that sticks to some of the virtues: the NPCs — either the party members or the people of Britannia — reacted to killings of innocents and stealing whenever they became aware of it. Also the combat system was changed due to the change to real-time gameplay. The new AI system allowed the player to choose general tactics for party members. The AI was not perfect, but it saved the player the need to micromanage up to eight different characters in battle.

.]

"The Black Gate" was released in English, German, French and Spanish.

Rating

The first release of the game pre-dates the ESRB, and as such, was not rated by them. The game credits do include the warning "Voluntarily rated MP-13 (For Mature Players)". The game credits have been made to look as movie-like as possible, with all of the standard disclaimers and elements found in movie end credits. The credits, notoriously, also included the mention that a soundtrack CD is available from Origin, while it actually wasn't until 1993 (as "Origin Soundtrack Series volume 2" [cite web|url=http://www.notableultima.com/collectibles/Audio.html |title=Audio |accessdate=2006-10-02 |author=Underworld Dragon |publisher= Collectible Ultima ] ); "Ultima VII Part 2: Serpent Isle" credits actually said "Soundtrack CD NOT available from Origin, so don't ask!"

When it was later released on CD as the "Complete Ultima VII" it was rated T for Teen by the ESRB for "Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence".

"Forge of Virtue" expansion

"Forge of Virtue" was an expansion pack that adds a quest to "Ultima VII" in which the Avatar must pass a series of tests to revalidate himself in the three principles of Truth, Love, and Courage, and destroy the last remnants of Exodus.

The player is rewarded with a powerful weapon, The Black Sword. The Avatar also gains maximum strength, intelligence, and dexterity in the course of the tests, and Lord British grants the player double strength on top of that.

In later releases of "Ultima VII" this add-on was always included.

Part Two: "Serpent Isle"

Infobox VG| title = Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle


developer = Origin Systems
publisher = Origin Systems
designer = Warren Spector, Richard Garriott
engine = "Ultima VII" Engine
version =
released = 1993
genre = RPG
modes = Single Player
ratings = ESRB: T (13+)
USK: 12+
platforms = DOS and others through Exult
media = 5.25" and 3.5" floppies; later releases on CD-ROM
requirements =
input = Keyboard and Mouse"Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle" was released in 1993. While the Avatar destroys the Black Moongate that the Guardian was coming through, Batlin flees to Serpent Isle. The Warriors of Destiny pursue the rogue fanatic and find a strange land that has many very different customs than Britannia: a large, icy island, only lately recolonized by men, with many remains of an ancient culture where serpents played a central role.

This is the first game in the series to take place outside Britannia as it has been known since "Ultima III". It is also more linear than the earlier parts — unlike the earlier games where the order in which sub-quests were completed was of little concern; the new approach makes it possible to give the game a more carefully plotted storyline, while at the same time somewhat limiting the players choice.

Since most of the game's code was recycled from "The Black Gate", it was decided not to call it "Ultima VIII"; Richard Garriott had stated in interviews around 1988 that no two "Ultimas" shared the same source code, unlike the then-competing "The Bard's Tale" series, and he may have felt bound by this statement.

"The Silver Seed" expansion

"The Silver Seed" expansion adds the Silver Seed story arc to the game, in which the party visits a subterranean keep in the ancient civilization of Serpent Isle (centuries in the past, during the war between the two sects of Ophidians). Powerful magic items, including a keyring, a ring of unlimited reagents, and an enchanted belt can be found in this area and in nearby dungeons. In later releases of the game, the expansion pack was included, and released as "The Complete Ultima VII".

Technical issues

Both parts of "Ultima VII" used a non-standard DOS memory management extension, called Voodoo Memory Manager. This was not a typical DOS extender; while DOS extenders typically provide protected mode features, Voodoo provided unreal mode features (flat memory model for real mode). This setup often needed different memory settings than most other games.

Later, when DOS started to fall into disuse, Voodoo started to become somewhat of a stress test for DOS compatibility. Notably, Windows 95 and later are completely incompatible with the game in its original form, unless rebooted into DOS mode.

Some fans of the game have worked on improving the situation. Currently, there are several ways of playing the game:

* The game can be run from a DOS boot disk, or by booting Windows 9x in DOS mode.
* Under Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP, the game can be run with [http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~rsd/ultima7.html fan-made patches.]
* The game is playable in x86 DOS emulators such as DOSBox.
* With Exult, a free and almost complete cross-platform recreation of the "Ultima VII" game engine for modern computers. There are some features of the original game still to be implemented (for example, the way NPCs interact with the game world is not fully recreated) and some extra features added by the Exult team.

Releases of the games

The various parts of "Ultima VII" have been published in at least the following forms [cite web|url=http://www.notableultima.com/collectibles/Title_U7.html |title=Ultima VII |accessdate=2007-05-25 |author=Underworld Dragon |publisher= Collectible Ultima ] :

* "Ultima VII: The Black Gate" (1992) The original release, available on 5.25" and 3.5" floppies.
* "Ultima VII: Forge of Virtue" (1992) The original release, available on 5.25" and 3.5" floppies.
* "Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle" (1993) The original release, available on 5.25" and 3.5" floppies.
* "Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed" (1993) The original release, available on 5.25" and 3.5" floppies.
* "Ultima VII: Complete Edition" (1993) Has both games and both expansion disks, available on 3.5" floppies only.
* "The Complete Ultima VII" (1994) Has both games and both expansion disks, on CD-ROM.
* "Electronic Arts CD-ROM Classics: The Complete Ultima VII" (1994) Budget release that has both games and both expansion disks, on CD-ROM. Aside of a brief installation and quick-start guide, no printed documentation or trinkets; all documentation is on CD-ROM in PDF format.
* "Ultima: The Black Gate" (1994) The original SNES version.
* "Electronic Arts CD-ROM Classics: The Complete Ultima VII: Gold Edition" (1996) Same as the 1994 release, but with gold-edged box.

In addition, it has been published as part of collections:

* "Origin Top Ten Pack" Includes "Ultima VII: The Black Gate". (pre EA buyout)
* "EA Compilation", bundled with some Creative Labs sound cards.
* "Ultima Collection" (1996) Contains all cardinal Ultima games between "Ultima I" and "Ultima VIII", and also "Akalabeth".

uper Nintendo version

FCI / Pony Canyon published the SNES version of "Ultima VII", simply titled "Ultima: The Black Gate", which was created by a small team inside Origin Systems.

This version was largely different from original since the PC version of the game was a then-huge twenty megabytes, yet this translation could use only one megabyte of memory for all of the game data and program. The maps and many usable items and plotlines had to be redesigned from scratch, and the game program had to be rewritten entirely in assembly language.

The game was largely real-time action, similar to "The Legend of Zelda" series. The 'party' system was scrapped; instead, the Avatar journeyed alone. Also, the story was largely changed due to Nintendo of America's censorship policies at the time: instead of murders, the Avatar is asked to investigate "kidnappings".

PSP version

In August 2006, GameSpot reported that Electronic Arts would be porting "Ultima: The Black Gate" (the SNES version of "Ultima VII") to the PlayStation Portable as part of "EA Replay". [Cite web
last = Sinclair | first = Brendan | title = EA confirms retro Replay | work = GameSpot | accessdate = 2007-08-25 | date = 2006-08-31 | url = http://www.gamespot.com/news/6156902.html ] It was released in the United States on November 14, 2006.

Fan projects

"Exult" is a recreation of the "Ultima VII" engine, which allows the game to be played on modern machines and across different operating systems. Exult's array of tools have enabled fans to take the game apart and modify it. It has enabled several fan translation projects. Exult contributors have also expanded the game by enabling "Serpent Isle" paper doll graphics in "Black Gate", and fixed some of the bugs and design flaws found in "Serpent Isle", which were originally left in due to the rushed release.

There have been a few projects to make "Ultima VII" fan remakes in other game engines, but so far the majority of these projects have not been successful.

ee also

* Exult, a game engine for running "Ultima VII" on modern systems.
* Usecode

References

External links

* [http://www.uo.com/archive/ultima7/ Ultima VII] and [http://www.uo.com/archive/ultima72/ Ultima VII Part Two] on Origin/EA's Ultima Web Archive
* [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/14/4/ The Conquest of Origin] Background information on the Origin Systems / Electronic Arts conflict and takeover.
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