As the author of the Flash version of Ultima 4, I just want to thank zzajin for posting a link to my game. The game is actually up to version 1.0.10 now. I'm currently getting ready to deploy this as a Facebook app, so I'm hoping to get people reaquainted with this GREAT game from the past.
Ergonpandilus, I've been aware of the Java version (in fact it was the inspiration to try to redo the game in Flash), but I found that the game always crashed when I entered a city. Perhaps you've had better luck with it?
I know that there's quite a bit of difference of opinion about which version was better for playing the game: the classic computer version, or the console version. I myself grew up playing the original game on the Apple IIe, so I went for the 'classic' style. That's why I chose that particular gameplay version because I wanted to be faithful. to my original memories of the game.
If you're interested… I have included beautiful scans of the original manuals inside the game. So if you need to look up spell formulae it's only a button click away (which is kinda cool IMHO).
I've also put the following features into the game to try to improve on the basic gameplay. I'd luv for you guys to give it a try and let me know what you think:
Features :
•Play Ultima IV online with no further downloads required. Use any of the current browsers to play: Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or IE.
•Save your game data right into your browser.
•Dropped chests have four different levels according to monster difficulty. Thus there's more incentive to take down Gazers or Balrons versus Giant Rats.
•There are now nine different chest traps: Acid, Arrow, Bomb, Blades, Death Bolt, Gas Cloud, Mana Drain, Poison, and Sleep.
•Random world monsters are specified by region, so you are more likely to encounter undead in the Fens of the Dead, or Pirates in the vicinity of Buccaneer's Den.
•Ultima V style reagent mixing. Specify how many cures you want to make, enter the reagents, and then be told if you were successful or not.
•Ultima V style camping. Specify how may hours you want to sleep and who would like to stand guard.
•See monsters, chests, and transports on view spells or peer gems.
•Resize the browser window to play in full-screen mode.
•Removed sleep exploit to remove poison.
•To be able to search for objects, players need to talk to people first. You can't just wander into Lord British's castle and search in the treasure room.
•Multiple keywords can be used to trigger conversation topics: e.g. you can ask about black or stone at the Britain pub.
•Different cursors let players know when there is more pages of text to be read in a conversation response.
•Dungeon fields appear as transparent coloured barriers so you can see any monsters hiding behind them.
•Game has different combat animations to differentiate between attacks of poison, sleep, electricity, and flame.
•There are now 20 different wandering storm monsters that obscure player vision in the world. Watch out for a dragon hiding behind that passing twister.
•Winds are 'less random', and more likely to stay in one direction for a given period of time with less periods of CALM WINDS.
•The original game data has been completely transferred into XML making the game almost completely data driven.
Again, thanks for all the comments and I hope you are all able to enjoy my 'revisioning' of this great and classic RPG of the past,
Blair Leggett