Let's remake Ultima IX.

Greetings,

As some of you know probably, the Ultima IX we got was very different of the one that was originally planned. Over the years, things leaked : a synopsis of the original plot ( http://www.rpgplanet.com/ultima9/extra_stuff/original_plot.shtml ) , old trailers, cutscenes, design docs, things like that. Everything that was in those docs was simply awesome.

The game we got was shit. Nonsensical story, bugged and dumbed down gameplay, and that's only from the top of my mind. Not a true Ultima.

A few years ago, me and a couple of other guys attempted to remake Ultima IX. This didn't happen for a couple of reasons : the main one was : too small a team, and real life. After a while, we gave up.

The releases of Lazarus and the U6 project, as well as seeing a Let's Play of the thing in SomethingAwful, emphasizing how much a disaster was Ultima IX, made me wonder : how about trying it again? This time with a new team, this time, SERIOUSLY, FOR REAL.

Well, I'm willing to give it a try again.

Would people be interested in an Ultima IX remake?

It depends on the engine, you will probably say. And that is true. Early attempts were made with RPGMaker (yes, I know), and then we switched to NWN. Prodding on some other places, it appears that NWN2 appears to be the most feasible, as there is already a lot of mods to make the world appear alive and apparently, someone made an Ultima ruleset mod.

Do you think this would be a good idea, or do you have any other engine of preference ? Dungeon Siege would also appear to be a good choice considering the recent remakes, however, it would also probably complicate a lot more development, and we want... something that comes out.

So here am I, posting this idea in this forum (and in a couple of others, I will admit it) to see what comes out of it.

Gentlemen, let your heart out.

Oh, if some of you would want to join... drop me a mail : mickmils@gmail.com

None of my business, but I think you're better off creating something unique - out of your own creative wellspring.

Don't bother with ancient lost games that could have been.

Oh, and for the record - I actually liked Ultima 9

Aside from the clunky controls/combat, I also liked U9. I thought it was a fun world to explore, even though I never finished it. I never really got into the older games in the series, which is probably one reason why I liked 9 more than the old-school Ultima fans seemed to.

Sadly, I would have to agree that it probably wouldn't be worth your time at this point. I just don't think enough people would fully appreciate the amount of work that it would take to remake a game like U9.

It definitely had some serious issues and clunkiness.

I also came late to the Ultima series - if you discount my short stints with the very first ones as a pre-teen. It was not until Ultima 8 and my first PC - that I got the opportunity to really try the series. I'm still really sad I missed out on U7 back then, because I have a feeling I'd have truly loved that game.

I remember Ultima 8 being quite fantastic, but I also came from the Amiga. Every other Amiga game was some kind of platformer, so the jumping thing never bothered me much. But today I can see why the new Ultimas weren't popular with fans - but I certainly found them quite appealing.

To me, what really stands out with U9 - is that it was probably the first "modern" 3D game to present a fully explorable open world, before Gothic came along and showed how it should really be done.

Beyond that, it truly has the most fantastic dungeons I know of, in a game that doesn't entirely focus on them. Sure, Ultima Underword and the old Dungeon Master clones have better dungeons - but U9 showed that it's fully possible to have great puzzles and diverse underground environments within an open world.

It has yet to be surpassed in that one area.

Not by the PB games, and not by the Bethesda games.

I REALLY miss that kind of dungeon design in modern open worlders.

DS is probably not a good idea simply because the game is getting harder and harder to find. NWN2 might be a good option. The group doing Return to Serpent Isle have done a ton of work modifying the engine to fit the Ultima rule set (http://www.ultima-return.com/), plus some of the graphical assets from both it and the overall NWN2 community could be used to help with development.

I'd certainly be interested in helping out if you could get the project off the ground. I've been learning the NWN2 modding tools the last year or so (still have a long way to go). I've always felt that as awesome as U5: Lazarus and U6: Project were, the efforts of those people would have been better served making a new U9 instead.

There have obviously been a few attempts at making a better U9, but none ever seem to have really taken off. It would be nice to have a proper end to the series and erase the stench of my memory of Ascension.

Greetings.

This is spam, in a way, but spam that might interest some people here.
An Ultima IX remake project, using the original plot (which can be found here http://www.rpgplanet.com/ultima9/extra_stuff/original_plot.shtml ) is entering development and is looking for people who can contribute.

The game is built using the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset.

If you are interested, and are looking to provide whatever you want, whether it is maps, code, writing&dialogs, ideas for quests, feel free to drop us a mail at (mickmils@gmail.com) !

You and I will have some fun together here in Britannia !

Blog : http://eriadain.blogspot.com
Forum : http://eriadain.freeforums.org/

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Thanks a lot for the time you wasted reading this, and maybe see you soon !

-Moa Dragon