Ultima VII Part II - Interview @ Ultima Codex

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Ultima Codex has an interview with Bill Armintrout, the Project Leader for the Serpent Isle games. The reason for the interview: On the 26th of March, 20 years ago, the game; Ultima VII, Serpent Isle, Part Two, was released. The interview is fairly lengthy, but very informative, so it is a good read. A quote then on this:
UC: What do you think made Serpent Isle stand out from other RPGs and other Ultima from its time?
BA: First of all, the Serpent Isle team was almost entirely green (new to the software industry) - in some ways, that made us want to work hard as a team to make a great game. Second - and the credit for this primarily goes to Jeff George - we had a heck of a talented team, even if we were inexperienced as a group. Third - and this was mostly by accident - our team had an unusually long period to prepare, as we had to wait for Ultima VII to finish before we could really begin work. This meant we had an in-depth understanding of what the game engine and its tools could do. And lastly, we had a friendly rivalry with the Ultima VII team (Lord British's team), and we were eager to "beat them" if we could.
Ultima Codex also talked to Bill Armintrout in October 2010 about Ultima VII.
You can find this interview here
.
Thanks to Infinitron who posted this news at the RPG Codex in this thread.


More information.
 
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Aww Serpent Isle will always have a very special part in my heart. I loved the entire theme and game. It was very special and one of the best Ultimas. :)

I recall how I got the box with the Great Earth Serpent on it. Man, I can't believe it has been 20 years! ^^
 
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It is amazing how they managed to produce the two best games ever and make it into one package..... if only today's games could be anywhere close.
 
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As you may know, Jeff George originally wanted to do a pirate game, but was told that the next game had to be a direct sequel to Ultima VII. So the first Serpent Isle design work was about pirates in the Ultima world, with the “surprise” being that the players discover in the end that the winding continent they’re on is actually The Great Earth Serpent.

/me wants this :(
 
In what I like to think of as The Night the Directors Left, three of the directors (project leads) at Origin quit all at once

I woner what that was all about.
 
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