Ultima IV - Remake from BioWare Mythic?

Just a short news for you guys : Browser is the next platform

Originally Posted by Twotricks
Just a short news for you guys : Browser is the next platform

For some things perhaps, such as remakes/ports of older games and also for casual games, but I just can't see browsers being used exclusively for every PC game as a primary platform. (if I'm not mistaking what you mean by "Browser is the next platform.")

This is a cheap cash grab and people are excited?

Originally Posted by curious
can someone point out to me an in-depth quality based browser game in the first place?

Minecraft.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
For some things perhaps, such as remakes/ports of older games and also for casual games, but I just can't see browsers being used exclusively for every PC game as a primary platform. (if I'm not mistaking what you mean by "Browser is the next platform.")

That's just a pile of crap. Anything can run "in" the browser, in the form of the plugin. For example - Quake live.

Well, there is also unity… but as of yet for example Unreal engine 3 games can't run in the browser.. so that is not true.

Just some news relating to browser games. Gamasutra has got an article on the future of 3d games using a browser. The fight is between Adobe and Unity. Haven't a clue as to what that means for Ultima, but there it is.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
For some things perhaps, such as remakes/ports of older games and also for casual games, but I just can't see browsers being used exclusively for every PC game as a primary platform. (if I'm not mistaking what you mean by "Browser is the next platform.")

No. Really - this is new target market. Browser unite all platforms , from mac,pc to phones and ipads. They all have it and use it.

I read that number of companies are working hard to make 3D drivers that work efficiently under web browser.

And rest is cakewalk.

Originally Posted by Twotricks
No. Really - this is new target market. Browser unite all platforms , from mac,pc to phones and ipads.

I doubt it. Doesn't most of these browser games require Flash? Flash doesnt work on Ipad, Iphone etc, i think the Flash support on Mac is quite bad too.

Would like to see som pics.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
This is a cheap cash grab and people are excited?

Its more exciting than the last ultima news that was the Lord of ultima -browser game. That was ultima in name only.

Originally Posted by bemushroomed
I doubt it. Doesn't most of these browser games require Flash? Flash doesnt work on Ipad, Iphone etc, i think the Flash support on Mac is quite bad too.

There are alternatives, especially ones that don't require any plugin at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_game#Technologies

I have had a look at The Settlers Online (in German) and that is for example a very good online browser game with aceptable garphics. Another example would be Quake Live.

A very big advantage of browser based games is that they should work no matter if you run Windows, Linux or Firefox, Opera, IE, etc. How this development continues remains to be seen but for now I think Browser Games have a future.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
This is a cheap cash grab and people are excited?

I think it may have something to do with it being an U4 remake.

Looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by pibbur
I think it may have something to do with it being an U4 remake.

Looking forward to it.

That's because people forget that the game is so old that it will never be anything but one of two things:

1. Cute nostalgia.

2. Something entirely different, which can never - ever - be what the game was at release.

They do this kind of thing EXCLUSIVELY to profit from the name - to get a little sales boost. It's not like Ultima 4 is going to help bring casuals - so we're not talking big money.

Pure opportunism.

It's just a greedy little way of ensuring profit and investing minimally.

If only it was a design that would work with a modern treatment, like X-Com or Master of Magic - that would be one thing, but this is an archaic design that can never work with just updated visuals. So, they're obviously going to add some modern aspects to make it marketable. If people truly believe they're going to do something that takes the genre forward in a similar way, they're more naive than I thought.

Oh well. I hope I'm wrong

Originally Posted by RampantCoyote
There's precedent. Not from EA, but there's precedent:

Monkey Island.

The "remakes" were excellent. They were literally the same games, running on the same scripts, but with new graphics, sound, and voice-overs. And commentaries, even, from some of the original developers.
.

Excellent? Perhaps, especially if you`ve never played them before. For me they`re best left in original form (and so is Ultima & others). Graphics were beautiful then - and are still, you just need to adjust your mindset a bit. It`s a bit like with vintage music or film…

What annoys me the most are voiceovers - they`re hardly ever done right, and anyway, I liked to fill blanks with this lil` thing called imagination. Same goes for visuals…

Anyway, good luck/little hope is how I see this project. "Browser based"….yea, right.

@Dartagnan: I don't forget anything about the age of U4 and what we can expect, and I'm not naive, thank you.

I'd like to play it again in a modified version. If it strays too far from the original, I will be disappointed. We'll see. I have no illusions, but here and now I welcome the initiative, and I look forward to it.

Originally Posted by pibbur
@Dartagnan: I don't forget anything about the age of U4 and what we can expect, and I'm not naive, thank you.

I'd like to play it again in a modified version. If it strays too far from the original, I will be disappointed. We'll see. I have no illusions, but here and now I welcome the initiative, and I look forward to it.

Let's see when it's out - and then you can compare your excitement with reality.

Then let's talk about whether you're naive.

If the game lives up to your excitement, I'll go sit in a corner - and you can call me what you wish!

The deal of a lifetime!

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
…If the game lives up to your excitement, I'll go sit in a corner - and you can call me what you wish!

The deal of a lifetime!

Now you've got me even more excited. Yay!

Originally Posted by pibbur
Now you've got me even more excited. Yay!

I'm a sweet man in every conceivable way!

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
This is a cheap cash grab and people are excited?

They do this kind of thing EXCLUSIVELY to profit from the name - to get a little sales boost. It's not like Ultima 4 is going to help bring casuals - so we're not talking big money.

Pure opportunism.

Don't you think it's a *little* early for you to start spitting your usual bile? Maybe we should wait until there are actual facts about the project on the table? If it even kicks off…

I know you're a cynical bastard, and refuse to believe that devs *ever* do anything out of honest interest/passion, but isn't this maybe taking things a bit too far?

IMHO what you're saying doesn't make any sense at all. Why would a guy at Bioware pitch for such a small project to make small money - for the company! And why would Bioware need to do things like this, if money was their only interest? I think they can manage to make money on their own IPs.

Me, naive or not, I still believe that the guy honestly wants to remake the game. And have some ideas for how to make it really cool - if nothing else then in his own mind and eyes.

Originally Posted by KasperFauerby
Don't you think it's a *little* early for you to start spitting your usual bile? Maybe we should wait until there are actual facts about the project on the table? If it even kicks off…

I know you're a cynical bastard, and refuse to believe that devs *ever* do anything out of honest interest/passion, but isn't this maybe taking things a bit too far?

IMHO what you're saying doesn't make any sense at all. Why would a guy at Bioware pitch for such a small project to make small money - for the company! And why would Bioware need to do things like this, if money was their only interest? I think they can manage to make money on their own IPs.

Me, naive or not, I still believe that the guy honestly wants to remake the game. And have some ideas for how to make it really cool - if nothing else then in his own mind and eyes.

Hmm…

If I felt you weren't a bit one-sided and extreme in terms of how you see my "cynicism" - I might believe in having a debate.

But you seem determined to see me in the worst possible light, and as such it won't help when trying to clarify my point of view - which isn't quite as cynical as you seem to think.