For almost thirty years, the Ultima series of computer games – based loosely on the pen-and-paper RPG world of lead programmer Richard “Lord British” Garriott and his SCA experiences, plus healthy doses of Gygax and Tolkien influences – has captivated gamers of all ages, genders, and beliefs. Even today, almost eight years after the last game in the series hit store shelves – sorry, kids, but Ultima Online doesn’t count – its legend continues to grow amongst hardcore gamers and those who know of the legend but not necessarily the reality of what is truly one of the most influential series of games ever made.

For the next several columns, Retro-Active is going to be taking a fond look back at the Ultima series – its hits, its misses, its lofty triumphs and crushing defeats. And through it all, we’ll be examining the evolution of this groundbreaking series, and its influences that are still being felt throughout the gaming industry today. (Just for a teaser: Without Ultima, there’s no Dragon Quest. Without Dragon Quest, there’s no Final Fantasy. Without Final Fantasy… well, you get the idea.)

Before we begin, a disclaimer. I’m primarily concerned here with the cardinal, mainline Ultima games. While I may make mention of the spinoff series (Ultima Underworld and the short-lived Worlds of Ultima range), I’m not as familiar with those as I am the nine games that comprise the core of the Britannian experience. And as I’ve already hinted, I’m at best ambivalent about the existance of Ultima Online, which is pretty much in-name-only by now. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to talk about the NES and SNES ports of some games, which have an interesting story of their own to tell. As usual with this feature, I’ll just “wing it” and see what happens.

And so, with that, let’s travel through the Moongate back to the dawn of the home computer… but there is one quick stop to make before we join the Ultima series itself.

Before the Beginning: Akalabeth (1980): This was Richard Garriott’s first published game, released for the Apple II in those halcyon days of programmers self-publishing their own work and selling it in Ziploc bags in their local computer shop. Garriott’s big break came when a copy fell into the hands of a major software house of the day (California Pacific), who offered to take Akalabeth to the national Apple market. It became a best-seller in those early days of gaming, ultimately selling enough copies to indicate that every Apple owner in the country had the game. Not bad, considering that Garriott had never intended this game to be more than a programming exercise!

The plot? Minimal. You’re a wannabe Knight of the Realm, and to attain that status you must locate and kill ten monsters as directed by Lord British, each one more dangerous and deadly than the last. Kill all ten in the perscribed order, and you win. That’s all.

Extremely simple and crude by even 1980 standards, Akalabeth would be completely forgotten today had it not directly led to the first Ultima, ensuring this primitive game of at least a footnote in history. It is an impressive programming feat considering it was coded entirely in Applesoft BASIC, with not a single line of machine code (which even by this point was the norm). And what, pray tell, could you do with 16K of BASIC code in 1980? How about randomly-generated dungeons, rendered in wireframe 3D, and ten different monster types each with its own unique abilities? Pretty amazing, all things considered.

Today, Akalabeth is officially considered a prequel to Ultima I; some, including Garriott himself, have even designated it as “Ultima 0.” Although never officially released for any other platform, many fans of the series have written clones for modern computers and OS’s (the version included in 1998’s Ultima Collection is one such remake), keeping Lord British’s origins (so to speak) alive into the 21st century.

Ultima (1980; rereleased in 1986 as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness): The success of Akalabeth surprised Garriott, who had never intended the game for publication; it was instead a pet project he thought he could make a few bucks from while still learning the ins and outs of programming. Buoyed by this unexpected hit, his next goal was to see how well he could do when he was actually trying to write a game for the commercial market. The result: Ultima, a game that would go on to legendary status in the history of computer entertainment.

Initially using a similar engine to Aklabeth (indeed, the first-person dungeon module was exactly the same code from the earlier game), Garriott greatly expanded the scope of his earlier effort with Ultima. Most notably, he created a method by which the Apple could generate simple graphical squares to represent different forms of terrain, which were then placed together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create full-fledged terrain maps that the player could traverse. In essence, this was the first mainstream use of “tile-based” graphics, which would go on to become a staple of the RPG genre in later years.

Plot-wise, Ultima recycled Akalabeth’s core idea of having the player accept commissions from kings to kill selected dungeon nasties. This time, however, each kill was worth considerably more than just experience and gold; after certain kills, the player recieves one of four Gemstones, which when brought together in a certain place will open the door to the evil wizard Mondain, whom the player must battle and kill to win the game.

Finding Mondain is the major puzzle to be solved in Ultima, and clues are few and far between. There are eight Princesses that know exactly how to locate the wizard; however, for reasons that probably made perfect sense at the time, each Princess is locked in the prison of her own castle. You must stage a jailbreak with at least one of them, fighting your way past nearly-invincible guards in the process, to attain this critical info. There’s just one catch: Unless you’ve become an “Ace,” a rescued Princess will merely give you gold and EXP, then hie her regal butt back into her cell without telling you what you need to know. Royalty… go fig.

And how does one become an Ace, you would do well to ask? Why, by climbing into a spaceship and shooting down alien fighters, how else? That’s right, friends – Ultima, a game of high fantasy set in a traditional D&D/Tolkien-inspired millieu, includes a non sequitur section where it becomes a first-person space shooter. After destroying twenty enemy ships (that look suspisciously like TIE Fighters), you will earn the Ace distinction, and Princesses will do more than just give you the time of day when you rescue them. (I mean they’ll tell you how to get to Mondain, you pervs!)

It may have far more scope and breadth than Akalabeth ever did, but the fact remains that the inaugural Ultima game is still a very simple and primitive RPG by today’s standards. Garriott was still testing the limits of his programming ability at this point, and not giving much regard to the world he was creating; that would only come later, with experience. There is very little character interaction, and there really isn’t a whole lot to do. Most gameplay sessions consist of buying (or stealing) food and supplies in town, diving into a nearby dungeon, going on a killing spree, returning to ground level to gain bonus HP, returning to town for more supplies, lather, rinse, repeat. Only when you think you’re strong enough do you attempt to take on one of the quests necessary to complete the game. Although there are different dungeons and towns scattered on the map, in truth you don’t need to visit different ones; most towns offer the same services (the one nearest where you start has most of what you need), and all the dungeons, while differing in layout, are identical in terms of monsters encountered. You need only explore the other continents when you seek out the other Kings for their quests.

Originally released only for the Apple II in 1980, Sierra Software published a port to the Atari 800 about two years later, after Ultima had established itself as a “name” in the marketplace. In late 1986, Origin (Garriott’s company, and keepers of the Ultima flame until 1999), flush with the success of the Ultima series as well as other titles (including an outstanding computerized version of the classic tabletop wargame Ogre), decided to re-release the original Ultima in an enhanced version for more modern computers, including the Commodore 64 and PC platforms. It is this version of the game that is most recognizable today (and the one used to generate these screenies), due to its inclusion in various Ultima anthology collections over the years; sadly, the original Apple/Atari version from 1980 is mostly lost to history, save in the emulation community.

If all you’re looking for is some quick and cathartic monster-bashing, Ultima I will provide you with hours of fun. However, do not go into this expecting to find anything resembling the complexity and depth of later games in the series, as it is not to be found here. On the other hand, if you’re a stat munchkin and power-leveler at heart, it’s Heaven on a floppy disk.

Next time: Following a strong showing out of the blocks, Ultima takes a bit of a stumble at the first turn in the track. Fortunately, it’s able to recover and claim the lead soon thereafter. Stay tuned…

If you liked that, try...

1. Retro-Active Special: Rule Britannia! The History of Ultima (Part the Second)
2. Retro-Active: The Better-Late-Than-Never History of Ultima, Part IX: Super Avatar Bros.?
3. Retro-Active: The History of Ultima, The Finale: Stark Raven Mad
4. Retro-Active: The History of Ultima, Part VI: Prophet Motive
5. Retro-Active Special: The History of Ultima, Part V: Lord British Takes a Holiday

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