Ultima II
Encyclopedia
Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, released on August 24, 1982 (USCO
# PA-317-502), is the second computer role-playing game in the Ultima series.
It was also the only official Ultima game published by Sierra On-Line. Controversy with Sierra over royalties for the IBM PC
port
of this game led the series creator Richard Garriott
to start his own company, Origin Systems
.
In the game, the player has to travel to several different time periods of Earth, using time doors. The periods are the Time of Legends (a mythological period), Pangea (about 300 to 250 million years ago), B.C. (1423, "before the dawn of civilization"), A.D. (1990), and the Aftermath (after 2111). The player also has to travel to space, where all the planets in the solar system can be visited.
Minax, is threatening Earth
through disturbances in the space-time continuum. The player must guide a hero through time and the solar system
in order to defeat her evil plot.
The young Minax survived her mentor's and lover's death at the hands of the Stranger (in Ultima I
) and went into hiding. Several years later, Minax got older and very powerful, more so than Mondain once was. Minax wanted to avenge the death of her lover, so she used the time doors created by Mondain's defeat to travel to the Time of Legends, a place located at the origin of times. From there, she sent her evil minions to all the different time eras; she also used her dark powers to disturb the fabric of time and influence men, who ultimately destroyed each other in the far future, nearly wiping out humanity.
Lord British called for a hero to crush Minax's evil plans. The Stranger once again answered British's call. The game begins with the Stranger starting his quest to defeat Minax. Minax's castle, named Shadowguard, can only be reached through time doors (similar to moongates in the later games); even then an enchanted ring is required to pass through the force fields inside. The war against Minax's vile legions is long and hard, but eventually the hero hunts down the sorceress to the Time of Legends, pursues her as she teleports throughout the castle, and destroys her with the quicksword Enilno (online backwards).
It's interesting to note that this game is set on Earth. Even though Ultima I is set on the fictional land of Sosaria, Ultima II borrowed characters and the story of Ultima I, but relocated them to Earth with no explanation. Later games in the Ultima series ret-conned this, and assumed that Ultima II actually happened on Sosaria, not Earth, to create a continuity among the games.
rather than in interpreted BASIC
. Playing speed and reaction time were vastly improved over the original release of Ultima I. Since Richard Garriott was attending college at the time, it took him almost two years to create Ultima II.
Ultima II was the first game in the series to include a cloth map inside the box, which would become a staple of the franchise. This map, which illustrated how the time doors were linked, was inspired by the one seen in the film Time Bandits
. Two versions of this map were produced. The first version is of a heavier and thicker material. This map can be found in the large boxed (8"x11") Apple II
and Atari 800 versions of the game. Later production runs of the game featured a much smaller box and a lighter weight map.
It was also the first game to be officially ported to platforms other than the Apple II. Versions for the IBM PC with CGA
graphics, Commodore 64
, Atari ST
and Atari 800 were published. (An Atari 800 version of Ultima I was published in 1982, some considerable time after Ultima IIs release; the Atari ST version of Ultima II was published in 1985.)
The original Apple Ultima II received an audiovisual upgrade in 1989, bringing its graphics up to date with more recent games in the series much as was done with Ultima I. This "enhanced" version was only available as part of the Ultima Trilogy I-II-III box set released that year and discontinued only months later, and is considered exceptionally rare today. (The Commodore and IBM versions of the Ultima Trilogy include the original, unenhanced versions of the game for their respective platforms.)
The game was re-released several times later in CD-ROM
PC compilations, including 1998's Ultima Collection. All these re-releases are missing necessary map files for most planets other than Earth; however, the map for "Planet X" is intact and the game is still winnable. Modern computers also generate a divide by zero error when attempting to run the game. These issues are addressed with a patches created by Voyager Dragon, a fan of the series, and are available on his website the Exodus Project. The game is known to run without errors and at an acceptable speed in a DOSBox
environment, provided the missing map files are present.
gave Ultima II a glowing review, noting its vast improvements over the original, particularly in the amount of detail. CGW also praised the great scope of the work, even though little of it is necessary to complete the game; it was suggested that additional scenarios would continue to be added leading up to an "Ultimate" quest.
Ultima II sold over 50,000 in 1982, and over 100,000 copies to date.
United States Copyright Office
The United States Copyright Office, a part of the Library of Congress, is the official U.S. government body that maintains records of copyright registration in the United States. It is used by copyright title searchers who are attempting to clear a chain of title for copyrighted works.The head of...
# PA-317-502), is the second computer role-playing game in the Ultima series.
It was also the only official Ultima game published by Sierra On-Line. Controversy with Sierra over royalties 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...
port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of this game led the series creator Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
to start his own company, Origin Systems
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very similar to the previous game in the series, Ultima. The scope of the game is bigger, in that there are several more places to explore, even though some of them (like most of the solar system planets and the dungeons and towers) are optional and not required to complete the game.In the game, the player has to travel to several different time periods of Earth, using time doors. The periods are the Time of Legends (a mythological period), Pangea (about 300 to 250 million years ago), B.C. (1423, "before the dawn of civilization"), A.D. (1990), and the Aftermath (after 2111). The player also has to travel to space, where all the planets in the solar system can be visited.
Plot
From the game's story, we learn that the lover of the dark wizard Mondain, the enchantressEnchantress
Enchantress may refer to:*Magician , a magician or spell-caster, sometimes called an enchantress or witch when female*Seduction, the enticement of one person by another, called a seductress or enchantress when it is a beautiful and charismatic woman-Literature:*"The Enchantress of Venus", a 1949...
Minax, is threatening Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
through disturbances in the space-time continuum. The player must guide a hero through time and the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
in order to defeat her evil plot.
The young Minax survived her mentor's and lover's death at the hands of the Stranger (in Ultima I
Ultima I
Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of computer role-playing games. It was first published in the United States by California Pacific Computer Company, which registered a copyright for the game on September 2, 1980...
) and went into hiding. Several years later, Minax got older and very powerful, more so than Mondain once was. Minax wanted to avenge the death of her lover, so she used the time doors created by Mondain's defeat to travel to the Time of Legends, a place located at the origin of times. From there, she sent her evil minions to all the different time eras; she also used her dark powers to disturb the fabric of time and influence men, who ultimately destroyed each other in the far future, nearly wiping out humanity.
Lord British called for a hero to crush Minax's evil plans. The Stranger once again answered British's call. The game begins with the Stranger starting his quest to defeat Minax. Minax's castle, named Shadowguard, can only be reached through time doors (similar to moongates in the later games); even then an enchanted ring is required to pass through the force fields inside. The war against Minax's vile legions is long and hard, but eventually the hero hunts down the sorceress to the Time of Legends, pursues her as she teleports throughout the castle, and destroys her with the quicksword Enilno (online backwards).
It's interesting to note that this game is set on Earth. Even though Ultima I is set on the fictional land of Sosaria, Ultima II borrowed characters and the story of Ultima I, but relocated them to Earth with no explanation. Later games in the Ultima series ret-conned this, and assumed that Ultima II actually happened on Sosaria, not Earth, to create a continuity among the games.
Development and versions
Ultima II was the first game of the series to be coded completely in assembly languageAssembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
rather than in interpreted BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
. Playing speed and reaction time were vastly improved over the original release of Ultima I. Since Richard Garriott was attending college at the time, it took him almost two years to create Ultima II.
Ultima II was the first game in the series to include a cloth map inside the box, which would become a staple of the franchise. This map, which illustrated how the time doors were linked, was inspired by the one seen in the film Time Bandits
Time Bandits
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...
. Two versions of this map were produced. The first version is of a heavier and thicker material. This map can be found in the large boxed (8"x11") Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
and Atari 800 versions of the game. Later production runs of the game featured a much smaller box and a lighter weight map.
It was also the first game to be officially ported to platforms other than the Apple II. Versions for the IBM PC with CGA
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
graphics, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Atari 800 were published. (An Atari 800 version of Ultima I was published in 1982, some considerable time after Ultima IIs release; the Atari ST version of Ultima II was published in 1985.)
The original Apple Ultima II received an audiovisual upgrade in 1989, bringing its graphics up to date with more recent games in the series much as was done with Ultima I. This "enhanced" version was only available as part of the Ultima Trilogy I-II-III box set released that year and discontinued only months later, and is considered exceptionally rare today. (The Commodore and IBM versions of the Ultima Trilogy include the original, unenhanced versions of the game for their respective platforms.)
The game was re-released several times later in CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
PC compilations, including 1998's Ultima Collection. All these re-releases are missing necessary map files for most planets other than Earth; however, the map for "Planet X" is intact and the game is still winnable. Modern computers also generate a divide by zero error when attempting to run the game. These issues are addressed with a patches created by Voyager Dragon, a fan of the series, and are available on his website the Exodus Project. The game is known to run without errors and at an acceptable speed in a DOSBox
DOSBox
DOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
environment, provided the missing map files are present.
Reception
Upon its initial release, Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave Ultima II a glowing review, noting its vast improvements over the original, particularly in the amount of detail. CGW also praised the great scope of the work, even though little of it is necessary to complete the game; it was suggested that additional scenarios would continue to be added leading up to an "Ultimate" quest.
Ultima II sold over 50,000 in 1982, and over 100,000 copies to date.