Ultima III: Exodus (originally released as Exodus: Ultima III) is the third game in the series of Ultimarole-playing video games. Exodus is also the name of the game's principal antagonist. It is the final installment in the "Age of Darkness" trilogy. Released in 1983,[1] it was the first Ultima game published by Origin Systems. Originally developed for the Apple II, Exodus was eventually ported to 13 other platforms, including a NES/Famicomremake.
Ultima III revolves around Exodus, the spawn of Mondain and Minax (from Ultima I and Ultima II, respectively), threatening the world of Sosaria. The player character travels to Sosaria to defeat Exodus and restore the world to peace.[2]UltimaIII hosts further advances in graphics, particularly in animation, adds a musical score, and increases the player's options in gameplay with a larger party and more interactivity with the game world.
Exodus featured revolutionary graphics for its time, as one of the first computer RPGs to display animated characters. Also, Exodus differs from previous games in that players now direct the actions of a party of four characters rather than just one.[3] During regular play the characters are represented as a single player icon and move as one. However, in battle mode, each character is represented separately on a tactical battle screen, and the player alternates commands between each character in order, followed by each enemy character having a turn. This differs from the two previous games in the Ultima series in which the player is simply depicted as trading blows with one opponent on the main map until either is defeated. Enemies on the overworld map can be seen and at least temporarily avoided, while enemies in dungeons appear randomly without any forewarning.
The party of four that a player uses can be chosen at the beginning of the game. There is a choice between 11 classes: Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Ranger, Thief, Barbarian, Lark, Illusionist, Druid, and Alchemist. The player also chooses from among five races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Bobbit, or Fuzzy. Players then assign points to their statistics: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. The races determine limitations on maximum stat growth, and thus (in the case of Intelligence and Wisdom) maximum spellcasting ability.[2]
Character classes differ in terms of fighting skill, magical abilities, and thieving abilities, with varying degrees of proficiency in each. Fighters, for example, can use all weapons and armor, but lack thieving or magic abilities; clerics can use up to maces and chain armor, and all clerical spells; Alchemists can use only daggers and cloth armor, and half wizard spells and half thieving abilities.[2]
Each character begins at Level 1 and increases individually.[2] The maximum effective level for characters is 25. Beyond this point the level will continue to increase; however the number of hit points is fixed at 2550. Maximum hit points for a character can be calculated by the following formula: HP = 100 * L + 50 (where L is the current level of the character). When a character has gained enough experience points, they must transact with Lord British for the character to level up.
Aside from the ability to talk to townspeople there are other commands that can be used on them. Some of the commands a player can use are bribe, steal, and fight. Bribing can be used to make certain guards go away from their post. Steal can be used on townspeople and some enemies, but can result in conflict with townspeople if caught. A player can choose to fight a townsperson, but it will prompt the guards to chase after the player characters. The guards always come in parties of eight and are very difficult to defeat. You can also choose to fight Lord British, but he cannot be killed, thus resulting in a long, drawn-out fight that the player will ultimately lose. Lord British can be temporarily killed by cannon fire from a ship in the castle moat, but exiting and re-entering the castle restores him.
The player party is engaged in combat (Apple II version).
Unlike the two previous Ultima games, which had wire-frame first-person dungeons, Exodus dungeons are solid-3D in appearance and integrated into the game's plot.[2] Dungeons are necessary to obtain certain marks that are needed to finish the game. Each dungeon has 8 levels, and the deeper the level the more challenging the enemies. Note: the monsters that are spawned in dungeons are not based on character level as the overworld monsters are; rather, they are based on the dungeon level they are encountered in, so going too deep into certain dungeons may be too hard for characters in the early stages of the game. One can find many chests (with gold, weapons, and armor) inside dungeons, but many of them are trapped. Aside from chests and marks, one can find fountains in dungeons: some heal, some cure, and some poison. Peering at gems allows the player to see a map of a given dungeon level; torches or light-casting spells are necessary to be able to see inside dungeons.[2]
There are three modes of travel in the game: on foot, horseback, and boat.[2] Getting around on foot is slow and can often lead to monsters catching up to the player character. Horseback gives the player character the advantage of moving faster while consuming less food, making getting away from unwanted fights easier. Getting a boat requires players to reach a certain level so that pirate ships begin appearing. Once a pirate ship is defeated, the boat belongs to the player. Obtaining a boat is necessary in order to visit the island of Ambrosia, and to reach Exodus and thus win the game.
By denying the player the ability to see what's behind mountain peaks, forests, and walls, the overland maps contain many small surprises such as hidden treasure, secret paths, and out-of-the-way informants. The look of the game is no longer based on certain characteristics of the Apple II hardware; it is rather a carefully designed screen layout.[citation needed]
Beating the game requires the player to get all four marks and all four prayer cards. At the altar of Exodus, the player character must insert the cards in a particular order to defeat Exodus.
Plot
After Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress was set on Earth,[4] the story of Exodus returns the player to Sosaria, the world of Ultima I.[5] The game is named for its chief villain, Exodus, a creation of Minax and Mondain that the series later describes as neither human nor machine. Although a demonic figure appears on the cover of the game, Exodus turns out to be something like a computer (possibly an artificial intelligence) and to defeat him the player has to acquire four magic (punch)cards and insert them into the mainframe in a specific order.[6]
The overhead view of Ultima III, showing Castle Death and the Great Earth Serpent (PC version). The improved graphics come from the Ultima 3 Upgrade Patch, found on The Exodus Project website.
At the beginning of the game, Exodus is terrorizing the land of Sosaria from his stronghold on the Isle of Fire. The player is summoned by Lord British to defeat Exodus, and embarks on a quest that takes him to the lost land of Ambrosia, to the depths of the dungeons of Sosaria to receive powerful magical branding marks and to find the mysterious Time Lord, and finally to the Isle of Fire itself to confront Exodus in his lair.[2]
The game ends immediately upon Exodus' defeat; but unlike many games in the genre, Exodus cannot simply be killed in battle by a strong party of adventurers, but only through puzzle-solving and by paying attention to the clues given throughout the game. At the end of the game, players were instructed to "REPORT THY VICTORY!" to Origin. Those who did so received a certificate of completion autographed by Richard Garriott.[citation needed]
LairWare licensed UltimaIII and created a remake for the Macintosh. Unlike the original Mac version from Origin Systems, the LairWare version is in full color. LairWare continues to sell UltimaIII for Mac OS X and Mac OS Classic today, as a direct download from the LairWare web site.[8]
*The publisher Starcraft has no relation to the video game StarCraft and went out of business in 1996.
Reception and legacy
Ultima III sold over 100,000 copies by August 1986,[9] and over 120,000 copies by 1990.[10]Video magazine listed the game seventh on its list of best selling video games in March 1985[11] with II Computing listing it fifth on the magazine's list of top Apple II games as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data.[12]
Exodus is credited as a game that laid the foundation for the role-playing video game genre, influencing games such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.[13] In turn, Exodus was itself influenced by Wizardry, which Richard Garriot credited as the inspiration behind the party-based combat in his game.[14]Computer Gaming World stated in February 1994 that Exodus "was the game that became known as Ultima to hundreds of thousands of cartridge gamers".[15]
Softline stated that UltimaIII "far surpasses" its predecessors, praising the "masterfully unified" plot and individual tactical combat. The magazine concluded that the game "upgrades the market; in several ways it sets new standards for the fantasy gaming state of the art. Happily, it also shows us a maturing artistic discipline on the part of its imaginative author".[16]Computer Gaming World's Scorpia in 1983 called UltimaIII "unquestionably the best in the series so far ... many hours of enjoyment (and frustration!)", although she criticized the ending as anticlimactic.[17] The magazine's Patricia Fitzgibbons in 1985 reviewed the Macintosh version. She complimented its graphics but criticized the audio, and stated that the game did not adequately use the computer's user interface, describing using the mouse as "aggravating". Fitzgibbons concluded "Even though the Mac conversion is far from ideal, UltimaIII is a very enjoyable game, and well worth its hefty price".[18] In 1993 Scorpia stated that UltimaIII was the best of the first trilogy, and that its "surprisingly quiet and nonviolent" defeat of the villain presaged the later games' "resolutions that are less combative in spirit".[19] The magazine stated in February 1994 that Exodus "was really the first [Ultima] to have a coherent plot beyond the typical dungeon romp".[15]
Compute! in 1984 stated that UltimaIII "ushers in an exciting new era of fantasy role-playing. The combination of superb graphics, music, and excellent playability makes Exodus a modern-day masterpiece". It noted the cloth map and the extensive documentation, the "thrilling" 3-D dungeons, the game's use of time, and the spell system. The magazine concluded, "Lord British has outdone himself with his latest work of art ... a delight to play".[20]INFO stated that "Lord British's latest offering is also his best ... Many wonderful hours will be spent unravelling its secrets".[21] The magazine gave the Amiga version four stars compared to five stars for the 64 version, stating that "the graphics and user interface could have been better Amiga-tized".[22] The Chicago Tribune called Ultima III "one of the best" computer games, providing "an epic adventure which can last for months".[23]Famitsu reviewed the 1987 Famicom remake and scored it 32 out of 40.[24]
In 1984 Softline readers named the game the third most-popular Apple and eighth most-popular Atari program of 1983.[25] It won the Adventure Game of the Year prize in Computer Gaming World's 1985 reader poll, about which the editors wrote "Although Ultima III has been out well over a year, we feel that it is still the best game of its kind."[26] With a score of 7.55 out of 10, in 1988 Ultima III was among the first members of the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, honoring those games rated highly over time by readers.[27] In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 144th best game of all time, featuring "one of the nastiest villains to grace a computer screen".[28]
The demon figure that appeared on the front of the box caused some religious fundamentalists to protest. They made accusations that the game was corrupting the youth of America and encouraging Satan worshiping.[29] This, along with other factors, led Richard Garriott to develop his next game (Ultima IV) based on the virtues the Ultima series became famous for.[30]
Ultima is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, created by Richard Garriott. Electronic Arts has owned the brand since 1992. The series had sold over 2 million copies by 1997.
Lord British, or Lord Cantabrigian British, is the fictional ruler of Britannia, a kingdom in the fictional world of Sosaria, created by Richard Garriott for his video game series Ultima.
Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds is the second game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was published in 1982 by Sir-Tech.
Akalabeth: World of Doom is a role-playing video game released in 1979 for the Apple II. It was published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. Richard Garriott designed the game as a hobbyist project, which is now recognized as one of the earliest known examples of a role-playing video game and as a predecessor of the Ultima series of games that started Garriott's career. Garriott is the sole author of the game, with the exception of title artwork by Keith Zabalaoui.
Dungeon Master is a role-playing video game featuring a pseudo-3D first-person perspective. It was developed and published by FTL Games for the Atari ST in 1987, almost identical Amiga and PC (DOS) ports following in 1988 and 1992.
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Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of role-playing video games created by Richard Garriott, originally released for the Apple II. 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 officially released it in June 1981. Since its release, the game has been completely re-coded and ported to many different platforms. The 1986 re-code of Ultima is the most commonly known and available version of the game.
Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, released on August 24, 1982, for the Apple II, is the second role-playing video game in the Ultima series, and the second installment in Ultima's "Age of Darkness" trilogy.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, first released in 1985 for the Apple II, is the fourth in the series of Ultima role-playing video games. It is the first in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, shifting the series from the hack and slash, dungeon crawl gameplay of its "Age of Darkness" predecessors towards an ethically nuanced, story-driven approach. Ultima IV has a much larger game world than its predecessors, with an overworld map sixteen times the size of Ultima III and puzzle-filled dungeon rooms to explore. Ultima IV further advances the franchise with dialog improvements, new means of travel and exploration, and world interactivity.
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny is the fifth entry in the role-playing video game series Ultima released in March 1988. It is the second in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy. The game's story takes a darker turn from its predecessor Ultima IV. Britannia's king Lord British is missing, replaced by a tyrant named Lord Blackthorn. The player must navigate a totalitarian world bent on enforcing its virtues through draconian means.
Ultima VI: The False Prophet, released by Origin Systems in 1990, is the sixth part in the role-playing video game series of Ultima. It is the third and final game in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy. Ultima VI sees the player return to Britannia, at war with a race of gargoyles from another land, struggling to stop a prophecy from ending their race. The player must help defend Britannia against these gargoyles, and ultimately discover the secrets about both lands and its peoples.
Ultima VII: The Black Gate is the seventh installment of the Ultima series of role-playing video games, released in April 1992. In it, the player returns as The Avatar, a would-be paragon of moral virtue who faces down many dangers and deceptions in order to cleanse the medieval fantasy world of Britannia of assorted plots and schemes, monster infestations, and the undermining of crown authority.
Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle is a role-playing video game released in 1993 as part of the core Ultima series, its story beginning eighteen months after the conclusion of Ultima VII: The Black Gate. In Serpent Isle, the Avatar follows Batlin to the eponymous land called Serpent Isle, finding three city-states founded by those who left Britannia generations before and ancient ruins from a still-older lost civilization that was there long before them.
The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Interplay Productions in 1986. It is the first sequel to The Bard's Tale, and the last game of the series that was designed and programmed by Michael Cranford.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was developed by Andrew C. Greenberg and Robert Woodhead. In 1980, Norman Sirotek formed Sir-Tech Software and launched a beta version of the product at the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. The final version of the game was released in 1981.
Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn is the third scenario in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was published in 1983 by Sir-Tech.
Deathlord is a role-playing video game created by Al Escudero and David Wong. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1987. Deathlord is set in a fantasy world resembling Japan. The game has a world of 16 continents, 128 unique monsters, and 20 dungeons, yet fits on two double-density 5¼" floppy disks.
Western role-playing video games are role-playing video games developed in the Western world, including The Americas and Europe. They originated on mainframe university computer systems in the 1970s, were later popularized by titles such as Ultima and Wizardry in the early- to mid-1980s, and continue to be produced for modern home computer and video game console systems. The genre's "Golden Age" occurred in the mid- to late-1980s, and its popularity suffered a downturn in the mid-1990s as developers struggled to keep up with changing fashion, hardware evolution and increasing development costs. A later series of isometric role-playing games, published by Interplay Productions and Blizzard Entertainment, was developed over a longer time period and set new standards of production quality.
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