Editing Category:Ultima

{{Series
|name=Ultima
|image=Ultima logo.png
|developer=[[Origin Systems]]
|publisher=[[Electronic Arts]]
|year=[[1980]]
|genre=[[RPG|Role-playing]]
}}
Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from [[Origin Systems]], Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, alias Lord British. Several games of the series are considered seminal games of their genre. Today, [[Electronic Arts]] holds the brand.

The main Ultima series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is further divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": The Age of Darkness (Ultima I-III), The Age of Enlightenment (Ultima IV-VI), and The Age of Armageddon (Ultima VII-IX). The latter is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief antagonist. The first trilogy is set in a fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a canonically male resident of Earth who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the player character was referred as to "the Stranger", but by the end of Ultima IV he becomes universally known as the Avatar.

Many innovations of the early Ultimas, in particular [[Ultima III: Exodus]] (1983), eventually became standard among later RPGs in both the console (if somewhat simplified to fit the gamepad) and the personal computer markets, such as the use of tiled graphics and party-based combat, its mix of fantasy and science-fiction elements, and the introduction of time travel as a plot device. The game was also revolutionary in its use of a written narrative to convey a larger story than the typically minimal plots that were common at the time. Most video games, including Garriott's own Ultima I and II and Akalabeth, tended to focus primarily on things like combat without venturing much further. In addition, Garriott would introduce in Ultima IV a theme that would persist throughout later Ultimas: a system of chivalry and code of conduct in which the player, or "Avatar", is tested periodically (in both obvious and unseen ways) and judged according to his or her actions. This system of morals and ethics was unique, in that in other video games players could for the most part act and do as they wished without having to consider the consequences of their actions.

Ultima III would go on to be released for many other platforms and influence the development of such console role-playing games as Excalibur and Dragon Quest; and many consider the game to be the first modern computer RPG.

== Game list ==
The vast majority of ''Ultima'' games belong to the [[:Category:RPG|computer role-playing genre]] (where the genre is not specified).

Sorting the table by Number ('''N.'''), the games will be listed according to continuity.
{|{{prettytable|sortable=1}}
! N. !!width=35%| Title !! Year !! Genre !! Systems
|-
| 0 ||''' [[Akalabeth: World of Doom]]             '''|| 1979 ||  || {{icon|us}} [[Apple II]]
|-
!colspan=5| Age of Darkness
|-
| 1 ||''' [[Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness]] '''|| 1981 ||  || {{icon|globe}} Apple II, [[Atari 400|A400]], [[C64]] <br/>'''Remakes:''' [[MS-DOS]], [[Apple IIGS]] <br/>{{icon|jp}} [[MSX2]], [[NEC PC-8801|PC-8801]], [[PC-9801]]
|-
| 2 ||''' [[Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress]] '''|| 1982 ||  || {{icon|globe}} Apple II, [[Atari 8-bit|A8]], MS-DOS, C64, [[Atari ST|ST]], [[Macintosh|Mac]] <br/>{{icon|jp}} [[Fujitsu FM-7|FM-7]], PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2
|-
| 3 ||''' [[Ultima III: Exodus]] '''|| 1983 ||  || {{icon|globe}} Apple II, C64, [[Amiga]], A800, ST, MS-DOS, Mac <br/>'''Remake:''' [[NES]] <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-7, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, [[Sharp X1|X1]]
|-
!colspan=5| Age of Enlightenment
|-
| 4 ||''' [[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar]] '''|| 1985 ||  || {{icon|globe}} Apple II, C64, [[Amiga]], A800, ST, MS-DOS, Mac <br/>'''Remakes:''' NES, [[SMS]] <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-7, [[FM-Towns]], PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, X1, [[X68000]]
|-
| 5 ||''' [[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny]]  '''|| 1988 ||  || {{icon|globe}} Apple II, C64, Amiga, ST, MS-DOS, ([[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (NES)|NES]]) <br/>'''Fan-made remake:''' MS-Win (Lazarus) <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-Towns, PC-9801, X68000
|-
| 6 ||''' [[Ultima VI: The False Prophet]]   '''|| 1990 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS, ST, Amiga, C64, [[SNES]] <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-Towns, PC-9801, X68000
|-
!colspan=5| Ultima 6 spin-offs
|-
| 6.2 ||''' [[Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire]]  '''|| 1990 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS <br/>{{icon|jp}} SNES, X68000
|-
| 6.3 ||''' [[Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams]] '''|| 1991 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS
|-
| 5.8 ||''' [[Ultima: Runes of Virtue]]   '''|| 1991 || Action-adventure || {{icon|globe}} [[GB]]
|-
| 5.9 ||''' [[Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2]] '''|| 1993 || Action-adventure || {{icon|globe}} GB, SNES
|-
| 6.4 ||''' [[Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss]] '''|| 1992 || Action-RPG || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-Towns, PC-9801, [[PS1]]
|-
| 7.1 ||''' [[Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds]] '''|| 1993 || Action-RPG || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS <br/>{{icon|jp}} FM-Towns, PC-9801
|-
!colspan=5| Age of Armageddon
|-
| 7  ||''' [[Ultima VII: The Black Gate]]         '''|| 1992 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS, ([[Ultima VII: The Black Gate (SNES)|SNES]]) <br/>'''Fan-made remake:''' MS-Win (Exult)
|-
| 7.2 ||''' [[Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle]]  '''|| 1993 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS <br/>'''Fan-made remake:''' MS-Win (Exult)

|-
| 8  ||''' [[Ultima VIII: Pagan]]   '''|| 1994 ||  || {{icon|globe}} MS-DOS
|-
| 9  ||''' [[Ultima IX: Ascension]] '''|| 1999 || Action-RPG || {{icon|globe}} [[Windows|MS-Win]]
|-
!colspan=5| Online
|-
|<font color="white">99</font>||''' [[Ultima Online]]  '''|| 1997 || MMO RPG || {{icon|globe}} MS-Win (1997-today)
|-
|<font color="white">99</font>||''' [[Lord of Ultima]] '''|| 2010 || MMO strategy || {{icon|globe}} MS-Win (2010-2014)
|-
|<font color="white">99</font>||''' [[Ultima Forever: Quest of the Avatar]] '''|| 2013 || MMO RPG || {{icon|globe}} Mobile phones (2013-2014)
|}

=== Related games ===
Many games are referenced throughout the series. They are other games by [[:Category:Origin Systems|Origin Systems]] or older games developed by Origin members before they joined the company.
* '''Gorn''', a playable character in ''Ultima V'' and ''VI'', was actually one of the main characters in [[The Quest]] (1983) and [[Ring Quest]] (1985).
* '''Seggallion''', a playable character in ''Ultima VI'', was actually one of the main characters in [[Knights of Legend]] (1989).
* A non-playable character in ''Ultima VI'' was actually the main character in [[The Caverns of Freitag]] (1982).
* Many games by [[:Category:Origin Systems|Origin Sys.]] are referenced (advertised?) in ''Ultima games'':
** A non-playable character in ''Ultima V'' says he is developing [[Times of Lore]] (1988), that will be released the same year.
** Plot summaries of [[Windwalker]] (1989) and [[Twisted Tales]] (1989) can be read in the library in ''Ultima VI'', alongside the summaries of aforementioned [[Knights of Legend]] and [[The Caverns of Freitag]]. 
** A non-playable character in ''Savage Empire'' comments [[Knights of Legend]] (1989) and [[Bad Blood]] (1990).

As a final note, ''[[Space Rogue]]'' is often referred to as "Ultima in Space"; gameplay-wise, it's the link from the ''Ultima'' to the ''[[:category:Wing Commander|Wing Commander]]'' series.

== Ports ==
=== Computer ports ===
Every Ultima game up to the 6th one was released for several different computer systems. The following table does not list all existing ports, but only the original and the most advanced ones. For a detailed list of all the ports, see the individual game guides.

{|{{prettytable|notwide=1|sortable=1}}
! Title        !! Original port   !! Most advanced English port
|-
| [[Ultima 1]] || [[Apple II]] (1981) || 1986: [[MS-DOS]] <br/>1994: [[Apple IIGS]] ''(harder gameplay)''
|-
| [[Ultima 2]] || Apple II (1982) || 1983: [[Commodore 64|C-64]]
|-
| [[Ultima 3]] || Apple II (1983) || 1986: [[Commodore Amiga|C-Amiga]] <br/> 1988: [[NES]] ''(modified sub-quests)''
|-
| [[Ultima 4]] || Apple II (1985) || 1988: C-Amiga & [[Atari ST]] <br/> 1990: NES ''(modified sub-quests)''
|-
| [[Ultima 5]] || Apple II (1988) || 1989: Atari ST <br/> 2001: MS-DOS w/ fan-made music patch
|-
! Title          !! Original port     !! Most advanced English port
|-
| [[Ultima 6]]   || [[MS-DOS]] (1990)     || 1990: MS-DOS
|-
| [[Ultima 7]]   || MS-DOS (1992)     || 2008: Exult (fan-made)
|-
| [[Ultima 7 Part 2|Ultima 7.2]] || MS-DOS (1993)     || 2008: Exult (fan-made)
|-
| [[Ultima 8]]   || MS-DOS (1994)     || 1995: MS-DOS w/ 2 official patches
|-
| [[Ultima 9]]   || [[Windows|MS-Windows]] (1999) || 2001: MS-Win w/ 1 official & 2 fan-made patches
|}

=== Console ports ===
Five ''Ultima'' games were ported to Nintendo consolles, and one to the Sega Master System. Obviously, changes had to be made for two main reasons: (1) consolles use joypad instead of keyboard; (2) consolle cartridges have limited memory.

In general, ports developed in Japan managed to be more faithful to the original than the ports developed in the USA. Indeed, the US-made Nintendo ports of ''Ultima V'' and ''VII'' are so different from the original versions that separate guides are necessary on StrategyWiki.

Sorting the table by '''R.''' (Rate), the games will be listed from the most faithful to their original.

{|{{prettytable|sortable=1}}
!width=210px| Game !! Port !! Development and main differences !! R
|-
! [[Ultima III: Exodus]]
| NES || 
* Developed in Japan;
* Greatly improved graphics; full-screen field of view;
* Added quests to supply the lack of keyboard commands.
| 3
|-
! [[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar]]
| NES || 
* Developed in Japan; actually a '''remake''';
* Greatly improved graphics; full-screen field of view;
* Random encounters with enemies invisible on the field (as in ''[[:Category:Final Fantasy|Final Fantasy]]'' and ''[[:Category:Dragon Quest|Dragon Quest]]''); 
* Simplified sea travel.
| 4
|-
! [[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar]] <br>([[Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES)|NES guide]])
| [[SMS]] || 
* Developed in Japan by [[Sega]]; 
* The '''most faithful''' consolle port of an Ultima game;
* Top-down perspective in dungeons, instead of first-person (it is the only real change).
| 1
|-
! [[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny]] <br/> ([[Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (NES)|NES guide]])
| NES || 
* Developed in USA, never exported; considered '''the worst''' consolle port;
* Sluggish commands, non-existing music and sounds;
* Developers tried to recreate ''Ultima 6'' graphics and gameplay with hardware and software limited to the level of ''Ultima 4''.
| 6
|-
! [[Ultima VI: The False Prophet]]
| SNES || 
* Developed in Japan; 
* Full-screen field of view;
* Due to memory limits: no character portraits, no character creation, 50 spells instead of 80, party of 6 instead of 8.
| 2
|-
! [[Ultima VII: The Black Gate]] <br/> ([[Ultima VII: The Black Gate (SNES)|SNES guide]])
| SNES || 
* Developed in USA; actually a '''remake''';
* No party: the Avatar travels alone;
* Simplified magic system: 16 spells instead of 72, no purchasing, no reagents;
* Extra dungeons.
| 5
|}

{{Ultima}}