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1. What is Ultima?
- The name "Ultima" refers to a series of computer games created
by Richard Garriott, and the software company he founded, Origin
Systems, Inc. If you haven't heard of Ultima before... well my
goodness, you need to read this list and find you an Ultima to play
right now! The Ultima games have, since the beginnings of the
personal computer revolution, practically defined the computer
role-playing game genre. There are a lot of fans of this series,
including a large Internet-based fan club known as the Ultima Dragons.
2. What is this site?
- This is a complete (or as close as possible) listing of all
Ultima-related software and other commercial products which have
been released either by Origin Systems, Inc. or other companies.
The primary purpose of this site is to give a source of information
for what products exist, where they might be available, and how
collectible (or collected) those products are.
There are two intended audiences for this information. First are
the fans of the Ultima games, who will enjoy reading this
information from pure fan interest. Second are the collectors. Some
people collect old computer games or other items for their market
or historical value, while some (like myself) collect the games and
books simply as a hobby. Either way, this site should make it
easier to learn about what items exist and where they might be
found. It also should give you a "gee whiz" feeling as you
look back over more than 15 years of Ultima. And maybe it will
bring a smile to your face, too. At least, I hope so!
I should also note that this site is not officially endorsed by
Origin, and that there's no affiliation between Origin and myself
or this site. It's strictly a fan thing. ;-) The information here
is as accurate as I can make it within the limits of my time,
resources and sources. If you're buying or selling Ultima products,
or anything else, you should always take care with the person
you're dealing with that you know exactly what you're getting
into.
3. How can I navigate around?
- Most of the pages on this site have links to other
appropriately relevant pages. A navigation bar at the bottom of
each page provides links to the major sections. Many of the images
you see also contain links, some to other pages on this site, and
some to relevant resources elsewhere on the Internet. There's a lot
of fun stuff, so explore! One important graphic is the site logo:
you can return to the main page at any time by clicking on the logo
at the top of each page.
4. Where did the information on this list come from?
- Several different sources. It started with Ultima products I
personally either owned or knew about, and grew from there. Many,
many individuals on the Internet have helped contribute. Some
friendly folks that have worked at Origin lent their hands to the
task as well. See the credits section
for more details.
5. How can I use this list?
- The information you find here has two purposes - to show what
products exist, and for as many of the products as possible, to
help find them. The most useful way to uniquely identify most
Ultima items is by UPC number. If you are wondering about a given
Ultima product, you can find its UPC number on that product's page
and use that to get more information from potential sellers. For
example, if you are considering purchasing an Ultima game across
the Internet, it would behoove you to check the UPC number of the
product you are buying, and check that item on this site to
guarantee that you know exactly what you should be getting. For
many of the earlier products, there is no UPC number; for these you
are on your own to tell whether what you have matches an item in
this site, but I have tried to provide as much information as
possible. Note that the entries in this site are not exhaustive;
rather than list every piece of paper that might be included with
an Ultima, I have tried to focus on the major collectible items a
fan might be interested in, such as cloth maps, trinkets,
etc.
6. Why do my games differ slightly from what you have listed?
- There are some slight differences in the various versions that
I ignored for simplicity. For example, Origin uses the last digit
of the UPC number to indicate the media format the game was
delivered on. So if your games aren't on 5.25" low-density disks,
the last digit of your UPC number will probably differ from what I
have listed. Nevertheless, I went ahead and listed a 0 for most of
the numbers just for simplicity's sake. I have also left out some
minor items included with the games (like installation guides and
command summaries) that haven't really been considered
"collectible" up to this point. Another difference is that I have
focused primarily on the American (US) versions of things, except
in special cases. Some of the European versions of the games were
distributed by different parties and had different size boxes,
materials in different languages, and so on.
7. So, what are these Ultima Dragons you mentioned?
- The best way to find out about the Dragons is either to visit
their Web site, or to read their
newsgroup. And
remember, Dragons are large reptiles that like to breathe
fire.
8. Wasn't there a text version of this site?
- Indeed there was. For a couple of years I posted the Ultima
Collectibles List on Usenet and maintained it on my web site as
a straight text list. It can still be found on this site, but I no
longer maintain it separately. Maintaining this site is enough! ;-)
However, if all you're looking for is a text list of what products
exist without the pretty pictures, the text list version might suit
you.
9. Wow, cool site dude. You must be, like, a pro. How can I write
HTML like you?
- Er.. hehheh.. okay, so, nobody has really ever asked me this.
But I have tried to make this site reasonably professional. Being a
professional programmer, I like to write HTML that is reasonably
consistent with standards, readable, maintainable, etc. Makes site
maintenance ever so much easier that way. If you are
interested in being a Web author, I strongly urge you to consider
membership in the HTML Writer's
Guild. They have one of the most impressive sites I've seen to
teach new users and old surfers the tricks of the trade. It's
comprehensive, it's highly professional, and - best of all - it's
free!
10. Are all these old games still under copyright? Can I download
them from the Web? Can I use things from this site?
- Yes, ALL of the games and other softare products listed on this
site are under copyright by either Origin, Richard Garriott, or in
some cases, both. So are the artwork, text, and music from the
games. If you're going to download old games from "warez" sites or
emulator archives, especially just to play them, be aware that
technically, you'll be breaking the law. If you're wanting to use
materials from the old games for a fan effort like this site, it
may or may not fall under the "fair use" clauses of the copyright
code. It's all still pretty fuzzy.
Instead of arguing over it though, if you're wanting to use
Origin's stuff, why not just ask their permission? :-) Origin isn't
merely a company - it's people, and some pretty nice and talented
ones to boot. If it's something you think they'd like, odds are
they won't mind. If you're just wanting to play the games without
owning them, of course, they'd likely make frowny and pouty faces
at you and send you to bed without din-din.
Most of the pictures, screenshots and music here (except for the
backgrounds and logos) are from Origin's products, so you're
welcome to them, as I have no particular claim over them. The
background and site logos were created by me. The MIDI
interpretations of the music came from Televar Dragon. The text and
site itself, of course, were my creation. If you'd like to use part
of this site, you're welcome to make use of what you can, but
please let me know what you're doing with my work, and give me an
appropriate level credit on your site somewhere. And now, back to
our tour of Ultima...
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