Free Ultima IV Released

[Jun 02, 2011, 7:33 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The Ultima Forever Website now offers free downloads of the PC edition of Ultima IV, celebrating 30 years of games in this classic RPG series originated by Lord British. This follows speculation that something like this might be happening when a couple of Flash-based Ultima IV remakes recently received DMCA takedown notices. Here's word on the festivities, which also include the release of updated versions of Ultima Underworld 1+2 on GOG.com:

EA and BioWare Mythic are celebrating 30 years of the Ultima Franchise by offering a free PC download of the classic Ultima IV, one of the most heralded RPGs in gaming history. The download is available at the newly launched Ultima heritage site www.UltimaForever.com.

Stretching across dozens of games, multiple platforms and three decades, millions of people from all over the world have set out on great adventures in the world of Ultima. Beginning with the classic Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, they have braved perilous dungeons, faced off against fearsome enemies, conquered lands and saved the world. The original Ultima series includes some of the most beloved fantasy games of all time and helped set the stage for the pioneering Ultima Online, which launched more than a decade ago and was recognized with the inaugural GDC Online Hall of Fame award in 2010.

Continuing the celebration, the classic PC editions of Ultima, Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II have been re-mastered for current PC operating systems and are available today on GOG.com. Stay tuned for more information about additional re-mastered Ultima titles in the future.

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25.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 4, 2011, 10:36

Surf

Prob just marketing hype. At the 3 game companies I worked at, and the other 2-4 more that I didn't but have friends that do, the marketing dept. at video game companies usually consists of about 4-8 females and one 1 male that is usually gay. What I am getting at is when was the last time you saw or knew a girl that played video games that actually knew what the fuck she was talking about? Instead when you pass by the marketing dept. everyone is talking about the last 30 Rock episode and not getting any work done. Anyways, never trust marketing "whores" as the name suits them quite well.

24.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 4, 2011, 03:08

Shadowcat

Continuing the celebration, the classic PC editions of Ultima, Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II have been re-mastered for current PC operating systems and are available today on GOG.com. Can anyone elaborate on the "remastered" in that quote? For the moment I'm assuming that the author doesn't know what they're talking about, and that these are the original games being run via DOSBox, just like the majority of the older GOG titles, but if that's somehow not the case, I'd love to know about it.

23.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 13:31

Vid Hivaza

Has anyone actually been able to DL Ultima IV from the site? I just get redirected to the same page.

22.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 12:02

wonkawonka

Creston wrote on Jun 3, 2011, 11:11: wonkawonka wrote on Jun 3, 2011, 00:04: VERAMOCOR If after 26 years I can still remember it, that was a memorable game INFINITY :p Creston I can still see the screen slowly drawing the 3 circles and lines culminating into that. Garriott was the man!

21.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 11:11

Creston

wonkawonka wrote on Jun 3, 2011, 00:04: VERAMOCOR If after 26 years I can still remember it, that was a memorable game INFINITY :p Creston

20.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 09:22

Surf

I missed the Atari ST and Amiga era, well, that is not really fair. I went with an Apple ][e and Commodore 64. I played AR on both but the C64 had save issues, so I stuck with the Apple. The Atari and Amiga always had the best sound and graphics, but their system cost was so high. You really had to make a choice back then as all systems were about $2000 or more! Apple and C64 were so common and mainstream, that's why I went that way, which I don't regret. But I clearly admit the Amiga and Atari were really the better systems. You guys have been here right? http://www.virtualapple.org/ ALL the Ultimas, on the Apple 2 and every game ever made, in your browser, above. Top that!

19.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 04:12

LittleMe

Surf wrote on Jun 2, 2011, 22:23:
Alternate Reality sucked my life away like a 16 year old Brazilian prostitute. God damn it was good stuff.

I have the original boxes of those too! Mint condition and with the original and extremely rare clue books! Solved both, really fun games, the Dungeon was WAY better than The City, but it is one of the first games that let you import your character from the previous games. Maybe, Wizardy and I believe Bards Tale did that.

Ya AR is SWEET! I think that Bethesda is probably the only company that has tried to repeat all that AR had accomplished. Very underated game!

++RESPECT!

It IS a dissapointment that modern RPG's don't try to, at least, match what the deeper RPG's of the 80's like AR did. Btw, I hope you played the Atari8bit versions of AR. C64 doesn't count. j/k




Perpetual debt is slavery.

18.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 03:32

PENIF

http://www.ultimaforever.com does not exist. What gives?

17.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 01:45

Silicon Avatar

Yeah, it's been given away before. It's been on magazine give-away CDs, it's been given to certain fan sites... It's been given away so many times that this isn't much of an announcement. Now if they'd give away U5 that'd be nice.

16.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 01:40

Tanto Edge

Am I the only one who remembers when 'they' did this years ago?
Hasn't this game been freely available for over a decade now?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=705LEH3j2g0&t=0m24s http://www.youtube.com/user/tantoedge

15.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 3, 2011, 00:04

wonkawonka

VERAMOCOR If after 26 years I can still remember it, that was a memorable game

14.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 23:23

Creston

Ultima 4 was absolutely BRILLIANT when it was released. A (functional) morality system, great tactical, turn-based combat, an entire open world to run through, a dialogue system in which you could type whatever you wanted, fantastic dungeons. It wasn't until the entire Ultima 7 series that it was actually bettered. It's absolutely worth playing, even now. See why Richard Garriot was once considered one of the absolute visionaries of the (fledgling) gaming industry. <3 Ultima forever. Creston

13.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 22:23

Surf

Alternate Reality sucked my life away like a 16 year old Brazilian prostitute. God damn it was good stuff. I have the original boxes of those too! Mint condition and with the original and extremely rare clue books! Solved both, really fun games, the Dungeon was WAY better than The City, but it is one of the first games that let you import your character from the previous games. Maybe, Wizardy and I believe Bards Tale did that. Ya AR is SWEET! I think that Bethesda is probably the only company that has tried to repeat all that AR had accomplished. Very underated game!

12.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:58

JohnBirshire

Haha, I lol'ed... Agreed. Congrats on the collection. Another game that was, and still is ahead of its time in some important ways, is Alternate Reality. LittleMe is the Kayne West of bluesnews. A lot of younger gamers throw a lot of credit to the Final Fantasy series as the father of many RPGs. The part that was always cool to me is that Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, actually credited the earlier Ultima games as his inspiration.

11.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:32

LittleMe

Surf wrote on Jun 2, 2011, 21:07:
Man, this series was so ahead of its time!

Agreed. Congrats on the collection. Another game that was, and still is ahead of its time in some important ways, is Alternate Reality. There is a man remaking these for modern PC's and it looks absolutely true to the original. Alternate Reality Remake Project.

There are all sorts of subtle aspects to Alternate Reality that added a whole lot of depth. I specifically like the potion system, which is, as far as I know, unrivaled in depth to this day. But also the time of day affected monster types, shops would offer unique or rare items, weather effects (also effected encounters), etc..

The true depth of the game can be learned in the FAQ.

This comment was edited on Jun 2, 2011, 21:40.




Perpetual debt is slavery.

10.

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:25

Vach

I have no doubt the old versions will work with Dosbox (running under Windows7). =)

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:23

DrEvil

looks at original box on shelf Big whoop. Although I suppose I should at least give them a slow clap. I might have been impressed if they released it no strings attached and in a pre-configured dosbox archive like gog.com provides. In addition to that, my copy has no EULA to speak of

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:07

wtf_man

Ultima Underworl 1 & 2!!! YEAH!!!! Orderd them even though I have the orriginals zipped up. If these newer versions work on Win 7 with no hassle... it's worth the 6 bux!




"Did you even read cutters post or are you just suffering from rectal cranial inversion." - RedEye9

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 21:07

Surf

Man, this series was so ahead of its time! I still have in my garage pristine boxes of Ultima 1-9, with Ultima 2 (Sierra!) being the most expensive. All the cloth maps, gems, jewels, rocks, coins, so fucking cool! And I got the boxes for Moebius 1 and 2, Autoduel, 2400 AD, Ogre.... i don't count the offshoot Ultima games as Ultimas, like that one with the dinosaurs. Ultima Underworlds are fucking KICK ASS, man were they great games. I was hooked on them for weeks!

Re: Free Ultima IV Released

Jun 2, 2011, 20:53

Wolfen

Gonna take 30 years to be able to download it now. Page wont respond in any way haha.

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