Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Studio	Blue Sky Productions
Publisher	Origin Systems
Senior Developer	Paul Neurath , Doug Church
Erstveröffent- lichung	March 1992 (DOS) March 14, 1997 (Playstation) May 29, 2002 (Windows Mobile)
platform	DOS PlayStation (Japan only) Windows Mobile FM Towns
genre	Computer role playing game
Subject	Fantasy
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard , mouse
medium	3.5 ″ diskette , CD-ROM , download
language	English, Japanese
Current version	General MIDI patch, Windows NT patch ( fan patch )
Age rating	USK

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss ( English for "The Dark Abyss" - although "stygian" is obviously derived from " Styx ", it also stands for dark , gloomy and indistinct ) is a computer role-playing game by the development studio Blue Sky Productions ( later Looking Glass Studios) from 1992 and the first title in the Underworld RPG series of the same name , an offshoot of the Ultima series . The game is one of the first to feature textured, real-time 3D graphics. It originally appeared for DOS and was later ported to PlayStation , FM Towns and for cell phones with Windows Mobile . In 1993 the successor Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds appeared .

Backstory

In the intro of the game, the player first becomes a witness and then a suspect in the case of the kidnapping of a princess. The fair maiden is kidnapped in the Stygian Abyss, a cave complex within a volcano. A little later the player involuntarily ends up in the grotto, a heavy gate is locked behind him. If he wants to save his life and that of the princess, the avatar must face the challenges of the Abyss.

In Ultima Underworld there are many tongue-in-cheek allusions to other computer games built in: Among other things, the player is given the task of collecting lumps of gemstone in a corridor system, with colorful ghosts standing in his way. In short: The player plays Pac-Man from the first person's point of view - even the layout of the labyrinth matches the original.

Gameplay

Both Ultima Underworld parts are largely about communication. As usual in computer role-playing games, a large number of computer-controlled characters ( NPCs ) populate the game world. They can and must be spoken to using a multiple choice system of questions and answers. Barter in food, weapons and equipment is also possible. The player can not only walk, run and jump, but also swim and, with magical help, even fly; There are five different types of weapons and dozen of spells for combat.

Ultima Underworld can be controlled almost completely with the mouse, text entries are only necessary in a few places to solve puzzles. The spells work on the basis of 24 runes, which the player gradually finds, and which are combined using a simple but effective system of meanings (for example the runes with the meaning "great", "damage" and "life" result in together the magic spell "kill").

development

The game cost around $ 400,000 to develop. The title only adheres to the laws of the Ultima universe to a limited extent , as it was not initially planned as an Ultima game. For example, lizard people are introduced that do not exist in the main strand of the series. In line with the series, however: the player embodies the avatar , the guardian of the eight virtues .

In 1997, The Stygian Abyss was the only Ultima game to be ported to Sony's PlayStation , but only in Japanese. This is superior to the PC original in one point: unlike the original version, monsters and other characters on the PlayStation are three-dimensional, textured polygon bodies, not flat bitmaps . Another implementation of the game appeared for Pocket PC .

Ultima Underworld was never translated into German. For newbies, the echoes of ancient Shakespeare English - an integral part of almost all Ultima parts - may seem strange.

technology

Ultima Underworld was the first role-playing game that displayed three-dimensional, textured graphics in real time , inspired by the predecessor Dungeon Master . Technically, it was not based on the raycasting process, which was the preferred technique for 3D displays in games until 1996 due to lower requirements (see e.g. Wolfenstein 3D or Doom ).

In contrast to Wolfenstein 3D , the walls were polygons . Although the levels / maps are saved as a tilemap , the levels did not only consist of walls arranged at right angles to each other - curves and slopes made the illusion of a fortress carved into the rock appear more believable, and there were isolated free-standing 3D objects. In order to save computing time and to be able to display the graphics, which were expansive for the time, also on weaker PCs, the developers reduced the 3D window on the screen and surrounded it with static content. In part 1 of the series, it took up around a quarter and in part 2 slightly more than a quarter of the resolution of 320 × 200 pixels with 256 colors that is often used in DOS games ( MCGA mode ).

Ultima Underworld already had a simple physics engine : thrown objects bounced off walls at the correctly calculated angle and slid down slopes; Streams had a current.

reception

The reviews in the trade press were mostly positive to exuberant. For example, with PowerPlay magazine 06/92, UW1 reached 94%. In 2011, UW1 was rated 4.1 out of 5 by the online review magazine MobyGames.

The role play is still recommended in 2014. The online magazine Golem.de recommends Ultima Underworld in video format Golem retro_ to all role-players. Video game journalist Michael Wieczorek sums up: "Ultima Underworld offers an eerily captivating game world that invites you to explore and research. Thanks to the strong simulation aspect, the title still manages to capture the player today."

Web links

• Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss at MobyGames (English)
• Ultima Underworld - The Stygian Abyss  - Internet Archive

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Voyager: Ultima The Reconstruction - Fanpatches ( English ) reconstruction.voyd.net. April 8, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2011: " Ultima Underworld General MIDI Patch Underworld to WinNT "
2. ^ ^{A b} Paul Neurath : The Story of Ultima Underworld . Looking Glass Studios. June 23, 2000. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
3. ↑ PowerPlay 6/92 "Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss" (archived by Kultpower.de)
4. ↑ Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss - MobyScore 4.1 (accessed January 6, 2011)
5. ↑ Golem retro_ ULTIMA UNDERWORLD (1992): The revolutionary dungeon simulator