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Maps
Everyone loves the cloth maps. If you're buying an old Ultima, be
sure to ask whether it still has the map (if it had one to begin
with), so you won't be disappointed.
- Ultima I: The original game didn't have a map; Richard
Garriott's first map came with Ultima II. The only maps released
with Ultima I were with the later editions. The '86 era remakes had
four separate, cardboard maps. The Ultima I-VI collection had one
paper map, with all four lands listed on it. But the original game
didn't have a map of any sort.
- Ultima II: There are at least three different versions
of the cloth map for Ultima II. Two versions are 22"x17", and have
slightly different versions of the Sierra logo, with a "bat" symbol
in the top center. Later releases (1985 and on) featured a smaller
(16"x12") map without the Sierra logo or bat symbol, on a thinner
synthetic material. This could have been because Sierra ran out of
the earlier maps and they were too expensive to reproduce. Or,
maybe after Origin obtained the rights to Ultima II they made
Sierra take their logo off the maps, though that seems unlikely;
after all, they didn't take the logo off the boxes, manuals or
disks.
- Ultima III: Maps included with some of the later ports
of Ultima III were different in at least two ways: the inking for
that later maps had a distinctly more reddish-orange tint, and they
were missing the cotton lining sewn on the back of the earlier
versions, giving them a flimsier feel.
- Ultima IV: As with Ultima III, there were apparently two
different runs of the Ultima IV maps. The Apple II maps were mostly
bluish, but maps included with some of the ports had a more reddish
tint to them, and were on slightly different material. If your map
looks or feels different than you remember, that may be why. Also,
there is another slight difference in that some of the bluer
versions have the words "Cape of Heroes" printed in Runic below
Trinsic, and some do not.
- Ultima VI: The original games contained cloth maps, but
the later GT Interactive version had a paper one, as do the Ultima
I-VI collections.
- Ultima VII: Same as above; some of the later
distributions, including the non-US ones, contained paper maps
instead of cloth. Be sure you know what you're getting.
- Collections: None of the collections had cloth maps,
except for the "special" cases that came in original boxes to begin
with. If you want the real cloth maps, you'll have to find and buy
original copies of the games.
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