For all you "Ultima" fans

Hey everyone.  A little more gaming info I ran across for anyone that may be interested.

I've always been a big fan of the Ultima series of games..(yes I know they are way "old school", but these are what I grew up with, so I'm kinda excited about it), so now that Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) has decided to get back into the RPG world, I'm excited....and wanted to pass this along.

I would like to say...and stress, that this is not Ultima Online 2, (even though I would love to see such a game made, I'm not sure it could capture the essence of the original).  This is mostly a single player RPG with multi-player options.  I wont go into what all that means, because it's rather a lengthy thing to explain, and all of the details are still vague and being worked out.  Best thing I could suggest is reading a bit up on it on the Kickstarter page, and their webpage.

Anyway, here is the link for anyone interested.  They have already reached their Kickstarter goal, but have their stretch goals up and working on them. :)

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/

www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0

» Edited on: 2013-03-20 09:31:47

» Edited on: 2013-03-20 09:33:49

» Edited on: 2013-03-20 09:36:41

Ok, I messed up the first link, but I think I have it fixed now. Sorry about that folks.

When I was a manager for Game stop many moons ago I had the chance to meet Richard Garriot. He actually got me into the CoH beta.I'm extremely exited to see him back in the gaming world.

Um. Let me put it this way: Richard Garriott on why “most game designers really just suck” “I think most game designers really just suck” - Richard Garriott “I’ve met virtually no one…who I think is close to as good a game designer as I am.” - Richard Garriott “If you’re not a good artist and not a good programmer, but you still like games, you become a designer.” - Richard Garriott “And every designer that I work with…I think, frankly, is lazy.” - Richard Garriott “I think that the design talent in our industry is dramatically lower than we need.” - Richard Garriott Yeah. Good luck with that Richard. I've got 2 words for you but they aren't family friendly. You can expect that I will never support the expansion into any game he touches. His shear disrespect towards game developers and designers is dwarfed by his massive ego. This guy takes it to a whole new level.

Wow...I had no idea. I'm speechless. I didn't know that was his attitude toward the industry. I feel kind of uneducated...

» Edited on: 2013-03-20 12:25:34

That was from an actual interview with PC Gamer Magazine. I mean he actually sat down with these people to promote his game and this vomit came out of his mouth.... His PR Agent should be fired hard core.

I don't know, I don't think he is too far off. For one, his games (especially Ultima Online) remain at the top of my all-time-best games list. Many have tried, and literally none have succeeded in coming close to Ultima Online; admittedly the single player games in the Ultima universe have been surpassed by Skyrim for sure, so I'm not biased. I know he is a bit "off" and has kind of an odd reputation, but the guy is a visionary, and takes his work seriously. As for his comments, all of them are clearly opinionated, and I don't begrudge anyone their opinion. Is it a bit bold, arrogant, and just plain rude to say it like that? Certainly. I'm not sure that makes him wrong. One thing I do feel sure about is any game he decides to become involved in will be worth playing. He may be extremely egotistical, but the guy is awesome at what he does. Luckily, I don't need to have personal contact with him to enjoy the fruits of his labor :-D

So Ralcore, what was the excuse with Tabula Rasa? ;)

Ooh, I don't even know what Tabula Rasa is, did I stand up for him too soon? lol

lol. Tabula Rasa has gone down in history as one of the fastest mmo flops. Fortunately APB stole that limelight just a couple years later by surviving just 1 month.

Yes, I got a free copy of Tabula Rasa because Gamestop wanted us to promote it..the game was trash. It was a far cry from UO.

This is just something Ultima related I found recently. We can't blame the never released Ultima X MMO on Garriott (It was started and cancelled after he had left Origin). Part of the game was actually finished, the soundtrack. It turns out it was composed by Chris Fields, who also composed music for the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean films, and that it was recorded with an 81 piece orchestra at the Bastyr Chapel in Seattle. I stumbled on this article http://vgmdaily.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/ultima-x-odyssey-soundtrack-chris-field/ a little while ago that gives a nice overview of it. The link just under the CD cover is a free download of the entire 33 song soundtrack (in .rar file form). The link to the FLAC version does not work. I found it to be definitely worth a listen.

I agree he should practice a little "humility" (perhaps a lot of humility :P), but he may not be to far off the mark in terms of how games are produced today. Most are of a "cookie-cutter" variety with only a few variations thrown in, in attempt to make something original. Following the same path, but never wandering far from it, hardly produces something original. I did find this interesting though. This is more than likely an attempt at crowd control after his previous statements, but it's worth a read anyway. http://www.portalarium.com/images/docs/Words%20Taken%20Out%20of%20Context.pdf

I think we are actually sitting in a renaissance of gaming in this day in age. I mean you can hardly say everything is "cookie-cutter". Guild Wars 2 attempted to throw out convention for some innovation. The Uncharted Series brought Cinematic Gaming to the reality. Heavy Rain brought a whole new emotion engine to gaming Doom 3 brought near sphere polygons Defiance is the first game to tie Game and Television together Skylanders Connects Toys To Gaming and defines a new style of game connectivity Wii, Sony Move, and XBOX Kinect bring movement into gaming Elder Scrolls Online is debuting a single mega server architecture. The list goes on and on and on. Every year at pax there is new tech, new concepts, new innovation. We've seen more advancement in gaming in the past 5 years than we have in the decades before. Quite honestly if you look at the Ultima series there is actually very limited advancement in the quality of product. Hell Ascension was a title a ton of people bought and very few could play. The minimum specs were underestimated and people bought the game thinking they could play when their computers couldn't handle it. It was one of the greatest flops of all time at the time. Sure Ultima Online brought the franchise back from the dead and still holds a small following but if you bought Ultima 1 and Ultima 5 there was very little difference between the two. Before madden there was ultima. Yearly versions spit out with new stories but pretty much the same game. Ultima 1: 1981 Ultima 5: 1988 Tomb Raider Underworld 2008: Tomb Raider 2013: 7 years of Ultima Innovation.... 5 Years of Tomb Raider Innovation.

» Edited on: 2013-03-21 13:26:12

» Edited on: 2013-03-21 13:27:36

My point is that for a guy like him to say everyone else is crap, when he in fact has not innovated at all over the years is really baffling. Look at his new game. The Graphics look sub par to DAOC. It better have one hell of a story cause at this point Shroud of the Avatar looks like a mobile game more than a pc game.

All I got out of this thread is that you don't need to be an artist or know code to be a game designer. Now I want to be a game designer, how do I do this!

Ultima Online was crap. I wouldn't even touch it and I was invited to Beta test it, through some dev contacts back in the day. If I went on about my opinions on UO, I'd be insulting its fanbase, and I really don't want to do that. As far as Richard Garriott is concerned, he's his own biggest fan. If he wasn't so confident that he was a great game designer, he'd be mediocre. Oh wait...