This was a brutal takedown of Garriott, which I think is fair. The guy was a visionary, but lost touch with what made Ultima great after Ultima VII.
What's not mentioned is that Ultima Online destroyed any chance that the Ultima franchise would ever come back as a single player game. So much was left on the table after Ultima VII that this is really a shame.
I'm working on something that is highly inspired by Ultima 6 & 7, but is it's own thing. These are my takeaways of what I set out to share and improve upon (from the U7 model):
- shares the skewed 45* orthographic view... I love this perspective.
- world is much larger than Ultima 7's, underworld is substantially larger.
- NPCs have needs (think Tropico) and that will influence what they do
- story driven, but many in game events are unscripted
- similar inventory style to Ultima 7 (bag if items), but much easier to organize
- everything is interactive (bake bread, forge a sword) but not streamlined like a modern crafting system
- camera view is further out, so the game feels much larger than Ultima 7 ever did
- more consistent pixel art (not a mix of scanned graphics and hand drawn pixel art)
- real-time pausable combat- combat un U7 is terrible and a step back. I'm attempting to make it less chaotic, but not take away from the immersion.
- the world has a stability factor, so good and bad events can happen if the conditions are right
I think, if done right, one can take the spirit of the Ultima series forward from where Ultima 7 left off. What I'm doing is currently at the stage of mechanics building, but I encourage anyone to make the development effort if they are so inclined. There's a great game to be made if someone can take the torch from Ultima 7 and made a proper modern inspired game.
Also, another thing is how almost everything was able to be put into your inventory and moved around. Forks, Plates, Curtains, Candleholders, Chairs, etc.
I remember taking over a house in the first town and stealing so much stuff from everywhere to decorate it.
I haven't seen that kind of dynamic item management in a game engine I don't think ever since. The worlds have become super static.
I think that lent a lot of magic to the game as well.
This was a core feature in Ultima Online as well as Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar. I'm not going to Criticize Ultima Online, but it was never my thing as pivotal as the game was.
Garriott tried to create this level of immersion in Shroud of the Avatar, but it was absolutely done to a fault. I hated going into towns, everyone's houses looked silly and out of place. Cities just looked like giant swap meets. Gamers are terrible designers.
In Ultima 7, it was single player so you weren't there to impress anyone or get a laugh. It was pure immersion. I had such a fun time as a kid discovering all of the weird things I could do in the game.
What's not mentioned is that Ultima Online destroyed any chance that the Ultima franchise would ever come back as a single player game. So much was left on the table after Ultima VII that this is really a shame.
I'm working on something that is highly inspired by Ultima 6 & 7, but is it's own thing. These are my takeaways of what I set out to share and improve upon (from the U7 model):
- shares the skewed 45* orthographic view... I love this perspective.
- world is much larger than Ultima 7's, underworld is substantially larger.
- NPCs have needs (think Tropico) and that will influence what they do
- story driven, but many in game events are unscripted
- similar inventory style to Ultima 7 (bag if items), but much easier to organize
- everything is interactive (bake bread, forge a sword) but not streamlined like a modern crafting system
- camera view is further out, so the game feels much larger than Ultima 7 ever did
- more consistent pixel art (not a mix of scanned graphics and hand drawn pixel art)
- real-time pausable combat- combat un U7 is terrible and a step back. I'm attempting to make it less chaotic, but not take away from the immersion.
- the world has a stability factor, so good and bad events can happen if the conditions are right
I think, if done right, one can take the spirit of the Ultima series forward from where Ultima 7 left off. What I'm doing is currently at the stage of mechanics building, but I encourage anyone to make the development effort if they are so inclined. There's a great game to be made if someone can take the torch from Ultima 7 and made a proper modern inspired game.