I guess it’s time for me to stop messing around and admit to myself what I really want.
So what is it I really want? Well, let’s see. Exactly what projects have I undertaken since I started this blog back up two years ago?
I wrote an rpg.
I wrote an rpg team-based combat prototype.
I wrote a little arcade game.
I tried to write an RPG in one page. (That’s on permanent hiatus by the way; RPGs are just too information-dense to do in one page of source. I might try to write one in two pages later, we’ll see.)
And now I’m writing a 3D engine with a fixed 3/4 perspective.
Let’s face it; I want to write a 3D RPG.
Specifically, I want to write this 3D RPG:
There’s a hole in my soul, and it’s Ultima IX-shaped. This Wikipedia article goes over the basic facts that lead up to the train wreck that Ultima IX became.
The version of Ultima IX I am referring to is the second design mentioned in the Wikipedia article, the one Mike McShaffry was working on. The one before the entire team got pulled off to finish Ultima Online and before that team subsequently quit and before EA execs started saying things like “It will be our Tomb Raider 2” and before the game was redesigned five times by people who knew nothing about Ultima.
(calmblueoceanscalmblueoceanscalmblueoceans)
But back when I was still working at Origin and the game was still in development, the mantras going around were “The plot is going to be a remake of Ultima IV” and “The engine is going to be Ultima VII in 3D”. The early screenshots certainly seemed to bear that out, and my anticipation was palpable. It led me to my doom at Origin, when I decided I wanted to test Ultima IX instead of Ultima Online.
There were four aspects of the original design of Ultima IX that I felt were vital to the game’s appeal.
* The game was fully 3D.
* The game utilized a fixed isometric perspective.
* The game had a streaming world.
* The game was party-based rather than a single-character game.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen another game with all four features. The closest I’ve ever seen was Dungeon Siege, which was much closer to Diablo than Ultima.
So I guess if I want to play such a game, I’ll have to make it myself. The problem, of course, is that such a game is way to big for me to make myself. And yet, looking back over the work I’ve actually done over the last year, it’s obvious that I’ve been subconsciously making sure that everything I did somehow contributed to the overall goal of making a 3D RPG. So I may as well just come out and admit it.
Now, this does not mean that I won’t finish Planitia. Quite the opposite; I intend to make all my newbie 3D mistakes on Planitia instead of on my 3D RPG. But after that…well, there’s no sense putting it off any more. It may not be a big 3D RPG; it may not be a very full-featured 3D RPG; but for cryin’ out loud, I need to write this 3D RPG if only to get it out of my system.
Ahh. Ultima Quest of the Avatar completely blew me away when I was a kid playing it for the first time. I had beforehand been in the Dragon Warrior – Final Fantasy realms and playing QotA was a completely different experience. The last ultima I played was Ultima VII?? Pagan or something like that.
Call me a delusional Ultim-ite, but Ultima IX still wasn’t *that* bad. Yes there were some big problems with the game, but overall I still really enjoy it (still on my hard drive).
I bought the Dragon Edition and still have the Ankh and map stuck on my wall. 🙂
Besides the technical issues, my only beef with the game was some of the writing. You’ve been in Britannia forever up to this point, and it felt like people were treating you as if this is your first time there…and I don’t mean NPC shopkeepers, I mean some of the actual characters like Gweno!
But all that being said, I haven’t bought a single EA game since they absorbed and gutted Origin.
I’m getting into the RPG scene as well, but at this point I have no $$$ available for anything close to 3D even though it would be awesome to do.
good luck Viridian!
(calmblueoceanscalmblueoceanscalmblueoceans)
I had to laugh when I read that. You’re just too cool for words!
I think you have a wonderful idea. Make it so.
Keep up with the practice. I think eventually, something like Ultima (or perhaps better than Ultima) will arise. Who knows? Maybe an RPG studio will open here in town and want to make something like a 3D Ultima.
Casey: I can only imagine what it must have been like to play what is widely regarded as the best Western RPG of all time after playing a bunch of Eastern RPGs. I’m glad it was a great experience for you; it’s a shame that nowadays Ultima IV simply cannot have the impact that it did back then. Too many other games have stolen from it and honestly, the interface is terrible 🙂
Wazoo: I would have forgiven the Tomb Raider-style gameplay if the plot just were not so terrible.
WARNING. I AM ABOUT TO SPOIL ULTIMA IX, IF SUCH A THING IS POSSIBLE.
I was living with it; really I was. And then I got to Magincia and spoke to the Oracle. She asked me if I knew what the Guardian really was. One of the possible responses was “The evil I cast off during the Quest of the Avatar”. I didn’t pick that one, I picked another one and watched as my karma went down.
A cold chill went through me. I reloaded the game and picked a different option. No go. Finally I picked the option listed above and was congratulated. And that was the point that the published version of Ultima IX ceased to exist for me.
Making the Guardian the evil that the Avatar “cast off” when he undertook the Quest of the Avatar means that Britannia would have been better off if the Avatar had never become the Avatar! The final message of Ultima IV was “Try to make yourself better”. The final message of Ultima IX was “Don’t try to make yourself better; you’ll just make everything worse.” That’s a message I expect from frigging’ Fight Club, not an Ultima.
And as if that weren’t bad enough, the ending was TERRIBLE. There were two requirements that I had for the ending of Ultima IX:
1. The Guardian gets reduced to subatomic particles, preferably as slowly and painfully as possible.
2. We see Britannia restored to its previous glory.
The Ultima IX we got didn’t fulfill either of them. No, no, we have to merge with the Guardian and then ascend with him so that neither of us will ever threaten Britannia again.
WHAT THE HELL?!
(calmblueoceanscalmblueoceanscalmfuckingblueoceans)
Okay, I am now listening to Final Fantasy VIII OST – CD 1 – 02 – Balamb Garden.mp3. It’s helping.
Wazoo, it’s okay if you liked the shipped Ultima IX. It just didn’t work for me.
Warren: Thanks! Nice to hear from you, since you aren’t hanging out in #poweruser any more. Figured you were busy.
Dave: Thanks, I will.
Great comments Viridian! 🙂
I guess I was looking at it from a perspective of the concept of an Avatar being nonexistant without the Guardian.
In other words, without something evil to compare our “good deeds” to, then there is no benchmark to determine how “good” is “good”.
I guess I meant to articulate in my first comment that the execution of UltimaIX had definite problems, but my brain was trying to focus my attention on the premise that evil cannot be destroyed so long as good exists:
The only way for Britannia to return to its former glory was to remove the two “extremes” of good and evil in the world, the Avatar and the Guardian.
I have NO idea if that’s what the point was, that’s just how I interpreted it. And who am I? Just one Ultim-ite..*bow*
But to add more fuel to the fire, isn’t that what commonly happens to us in Real-Life? I confess I’m a “do-gooder” type, but there has been many times where I’ve set out to do the Right Thing, and it ends up hurting the very people I’m trying to help…*sigh*
Would their lives not be better if I had not tried to do “good”?
Back to UltimaIX, if you know the secret of that damn light-switch puzzle in the Dungeon Hythloth, then I implore you to share the secret! 🙂
They put in some teleporter pads so that you can bypass it, but I’d still like to one day return and figure what the hell it’s about…
Hey, your interpretation is as valid as anyone else’s.
About Hythloth…I’m sorry, but at that point I was just using a walkthrough to get through it as quickly as I could. I’m sure someone on GameFAQs.com knows.
Heheh. *grin*
oh and for the record I wasn’t a fan of the Tomb Raider approach either. 🙂
Hmm looking at your fine progress during your 40-hour self-challenge, I wonder what I could accomplish in the same timeframe?? Interesting…
Serpent Isle is, for me, a benchmark game, unsurpassed even now. VIII was great too with the isometric view (and loads more, like the Golem for example). And IX, it was OK you know, not as good as those other two in atmosphere, and maybe I didn’t take in every plot loophole/continuity error (like a Star Wars geek), but it was enjoyable all the same. Also, of course, UW and UWII were total classics.
Anyhow, if you think you can do better, I really encourage you to find a way, I’ll buy it! I look forward to seeing it this decade, please start now.
Interesting. I’ve never played any of the Ultima games. Never really played much rpg’s, however I did a while back get the ultima collection, not sure if it included 9 or not, it went up to 8 though. I tried playing akalbeth a little. However now i’ve got dosbox and this current computer, I think I could run them even better than when I did get them at first. Maybe I should try them?
Been a straight adventure nut myself, specifically sierra and lucasarts, as other companies graphic adventures were non-existant to me at the time.
Well make the game you always wanted to make.
Keith
“WAAHH!–Ultima IX is awful–They ruined my game!”
…ENOUGH ALREADY!
It’s been 7 years, and I still hear mostly negativity toward this game. I apologize for using this forum to vent, but being that Veridian actually worked for Origin, I feel that I could at least get the benefit of the doubt here. My experience with U9 was a good one, and it holds a very special place in my heart for a number a resons. The game is still on *my* harddrive too, and I still find myself going back to it time and again.
It’s always the case that the negative voice is strongest, so let me go on record as being the first one to say–I found no major crash bugs in Ultima IX. Now, I think that’s because I was an Origin fan for years, and I was already used to heeding their words–when they said ‘UPGRADE’, I followed their advice as law, and I was never disappointed (well, there *was* that ‘Cyberman 3-D controller’ recommendation…but I’m not gonna get into that right now) 🙂
Having all the required CPU, RAM, and Video Card recommendations, there were no speed issues either, although I (unlike the nay-sayers) did not expect 30fps in an RPG. I glided thru Britian with a very respectable 9 FPS, and was delighted that I could set the view/graphics distances at maximum.
The plot-stopping bugs were fixed by the time I got to them, and I patched, and had NO PROBLEMS. There was a crash here and there, but I expected that from such a state-of-the-art game.
I will admit that the voice acting for the Avatar could’ve been a bit better, and that the plotline was not as deep as other games in the series, but I submit that U9 WAS and Ultima, and better than most computer gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
Joe Garrity