Vermillion Dragon's Ultima Stuff

DnD#1 Competition

This page has been static for several years, but now there is something new to add to it: my entry to Richard Garriott’s Dungeons and Dragons #1 competition is here: DnD1-js

As a quick background, DnD #1 is a text-based Dungeons and Dragons style role playing game that Richard Garriott wrote in 1977 on a PDP-11, using BASIC. As part of the Shroud of the Avatar launch, there has been a competition to port it to web browsers and/or Unity (an in-game scripting environment).

I ported it to the browser by writing a translator that translated the BASIC code into Javascript. I added a few library functions to support printing, input, BASIC functions, etc, but the Javascript that runs the logic of the program is translated directly from the original BASIC, so very true to the original in that sense.

Collecting

Over a period of a few years I have been trying to buy all of the Ultima series of games, complete with manuals, maps and of course trinkets. The final one that I bought was Ultima I in 2012, but is not in the picture below. Obviously I need to take a newer picture! My collection is complete apart from the little bag of coins that came as a trinket in the Ultima I re-release.

Playing

This collection was also a precursor to re-playing games that I had not played in the past, or had started but not completed. As of April 2014 I have now completed all of the main series of Ultima games (I to IX) and both of the Ultima Underworld games (I and II). Next up are the “Worlds of Ultima” titles, i.e. Savage Empire and Martian Dreams. I have just started Savage Empire, but then got distracted by the competition above and other things. I will pick it up again soon!

Copied from my udic.org profile:

Ultimas played: Ultima, Revenge of the Enchantress, Exodus, Quest of the Avatar, Warriors of Destiny, The False Prophet, The Black Gate, Serpent Isle, Pagan, Ascension, The Stygian Abyss, Labyrinth of Worlds, Savage Empire

Ultimas won: Ultima, Revenge of the Enchantress, Exodus, Quest of the Avatar, Warriors of Destiny, The False Prophet, The Black Gate, Serpent Isle, Pagan, Ascension, The Stygian Abyss, Labyrinth of Worlds

Martian Dreams is currently missing from both lists, but it will be on them soon. Something that is unlikely to be on either list is "A Nintendo Ultima"...

Old Maps

Ages ago I generated some maps from the Ultima 4 and 5 map files, done with a program I wrote. If done one pixel to one map square, the maps come out really small. Unless otherwise mentioned, all the maps here are done double sized.

Ultima 4

Ultima 5


Send me email if you'd like... Stephen Tjasink (stephen@tjasink.com)