FRUA redirects here. For the Italian coachbuilder, see Pietro Frua

Pietro Frua

Pietro Frua was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early years:...

Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures, also known as Unlimited Adventures, or by the acronyms FRUA or UA, is a computer game originally released on March 17, 1993, by Strategic Simulations, Inc.

Strategic Simulations, Inc.

Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...

 for the IBM PC

IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...

 and Apple Macintosh.

The chief feature of interest in this computer role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 is that it contains an editor that allows the user of the game to create new adventures that anyone else who owns the game can play. The game uses a variant of TSR, Inc.'s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 rules in the gameplay. The engine within which adventures are played is based on the "Gold Box

Gold Box

Gold Box is the name for a series of computer role-playing games produced by SSI. The company won a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc...

" engine that made its debut in the game Pool of Radiance

Pool of Radiance

Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...

, although some improvements have been made (for instance, the color depth

Color depth

In computer graphics, color depth or bit depth is the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmapped image or video frame buffer. This concept is also known as bits per pixel , particularly when specified along with the number of bits used...

 has been increased from 4 bits to 8 bits). Despite possessing features that, today, are considered limited (such as a 320×200 pixel

Pixel

In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....

 resolution), the versatility and ease of use offered by this engine have created a community of users who remain active to the present day.

The original game allowed the user to create dungeon

Dungeon

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...

 modules, some editing and renaming of monster

Monster

A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...

s and characters, and to import pictures and monster sprites. However, some art, such as walls, combat backdrops, and title screens, could not be changed in the unmodified game.

Those deficiencies have been overcome by a now fairly extensive library of hacks, which allow the designer to change things not changeable in the game out of the box. Other hacks allow the designer to alter the game play itself: to create new weapons and other items, to alter spells, and to change other aspects of gameplay. The availability of these hacks has led to the creation of a number of comprehensive "worldhacks", designed to allow the creation of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

, Western

Western fiction

Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...

 and Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

adventures, among others. A program called "UASHELL" applies and manages these hacks and enables the player to apply them. The fanmade game design program Dungeon Craft (originally called UA Forever) is a standalone program that partially emulates FRUAs engine, but with a greater ease of user modification.

More than seven hundred adventure designs have been created for this game. They vary widely in quality, and the best of them are comparable in depth to the original commercial releases.

External links

• The Magic Mirror: The largest FRUA resource online
• UA Mailing List
• FRUA Forum
• Dungeon Craft at Sourceforge
• Dungeon Craft at The Ironworks
• Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures WIKI