ultimacodex

[ultimacodex]

Grant W. Chapman's Collection of "Exult" Sprites Continues to Expand

Grant W. Champan continues to expand his collection of custom graphics for "Exult", the cross-platform reworking of the "Ultima 7" game engine.

Grant W. Chapman, you may recall, set up a Github repository for his collection of custom, Ultima 7-inspired sprites and graphics. One of the persistent issues that would-be fan project developers often encounter is the creation of artwork that can match their vision, which is the problem the good Mr. Chapman aims to solve; his collection of artwork is an ever-growing library of custom object and…

[ultimacodex]

A Look at the Usecode for "Ultima 8: The Lost Vale"

An analysis of the plot of "Ultima 8: The Lost Vale", based on newly-found usecode for the cancelled expansion.

A while back, Dominus Dragon — now the caretaker of what remains of The Origin Museum — dropped an interesting ZIP archive onto the #ultima-8-exult channel on the Ultima Dragons Discord server…a snapshot of usecode for Ultima 8: The Lost Vale (the storied, never-released expansion for Ultima 8). It should be stressed that this is not the complete The Lost Vale, nor is it working source code; this…

[ultimacodex]

Does Anyone Know How Dithering Works in "Ultima Underworld"?

How does the colour dithering logic in the "Ultima Underworld"/"Ultima Underworld 2" engine actually work? Does anyone know?

Ultima fan (and fan project developer) arbraini has been exploring the game engine powering Ultima Underworld and its sequel, and has hit a stumbling block when attempting to figure out what sort of logic the engine applies when applying dithering to colours in textures: i like dither… i can’t figure out Ultima Underworld’s dither logic. its simple 2×2 dither but its not applied across the…

[ultimacodex]

Check Out TeaRex73's "xu4"-Based German Translation of "Ultima 4"

A German translation of the xu4 engine – and with it, “Ultima 4”.

GitHub user TeaRex73 posted a surprising news update on the Ultima Dragons Facebook group today: The German translation of Ultima IV – which is based on xu4 with many many changes, tries to look and sound like the original Apple II version, runs on Windows 7 or higher, and includes the full documentation – that I worked on on-and-off during the last 12 years is now on Github in time for the…

[ultimacodex]

"U3.5: Pax Britannia": Development Resumes

Zedex Dragon has resumed work on creating "U3.5: Pax Britannia", an "Ultima 3"-inspired RPG for the ZX Spectrum.

It has been quite some time since we last heard any news from Zedex Dragon regarding the development of U3.5: Pax Britannia, an Ultima 3-inspired RPG for the ZX Spectrum. However, as of 2025, he has resumed working on the project, and has even posted a new development log to the Pax Britannia subdomain here at the Codex. It’s 2025 and Pax Britannia is back in active development. Most of the…

[ultimacodex]

Check Out "A Tribute to Ultima 8"

A Godot-based 3D remake of “Ultima 8: Pagan”.

Developer oceancucumber wandered into the Ultima Dragons Discord server in early February of 2025, and very casually dropped a link to this project with little fanfare…and to the great surprise of the server community. The development goals for the project are to re-create Ultima 8 as much as possible using the Godot engine. That said, oceancucumber does have a few changes in mind for the game:…

[ultimacodex]

Want to Get "Ultima V: Lazarus" Running On Your SteamDeck?

Sir Bedwyr has figured out how to get "Ultima V: Lazarus", a "Dungeon Siege"-based remake of "Ultima 5", working on Valve's SteamDeck handheld gaming device.

About a week ago, Sir Bedwyr went looking for guidance on how to get Ultima V: Lazarus — the Dungeon Siege-based remake of Ultima 5 — working on a SteamDeck. With no answers forthcoming, Bedwyr went ahead and took a stab at figuring out how make the game work. For those who aren’t aware, the SteamDeck is — at a technical level — a Linux-based device, running Valve’s customized version of Arch…

[ultimacodex]

"Age of Singularity": Reworked Development Site

The website for "Age of Singularity", a 3D remake of "Ultima 6", has seen some cleanup in recent weeks, necessitating a few hyperlink corrections.

Westingtyler, the developer working on the Age of Singularity 3D remake of Ultima 6, reached out the other day to let me know that he had done some “updating and cleaning up” of the project’s official development site, which necessitated the adjustment of a few links on both news articles and the project entry here at the Codex. So I’ve made those updates, at least in every place I could find…

[ultimacodex]

"Ultima Online": Bonnie Armstrong Steps Down as Producer

Bonnie Armstrong has stepped down as the producer for "Ultima Online", with Greg Havlusch stepping in to fill the role.

Some surprising news hit the official Ultima Online website yesterday: Bonnie Armstrong, who has been working on UO for at least 26 years (her LinkedIn profile lists August 1997 as her start date as an associate producer, and 1999 as her start date as producer), announced that she was retiring from working on the game…and, it would seem, from the gaming industry as a whole:  I am writing to all…

[ultimacodex]

Check Out nsm53project's Upscaled Ultima 9 Cutscenes

"Ultima 9's" cutscene videos have been upscaled to 4K resolution.

Around four years ago, I asked the question of whether there was any interest in upscaling Ultima 9’s cutscenes using then-emerging AI-driven image and video upscaling technologies (inspired, funnily enough, by Bill Randolph’s efforts to upscale music videos for his favourite band, Blondie; many of the videos on their YouTube channel feature his handiwork). It turns out, however, that I was…

[ultimacodex]

"Ultima 7 Revisited": Objects Complete...Onward to Gameplay!

With all needed 3D objects implemented, Anthony Salter can move on to re-creating U7's gameplay in "Ultima 7 Revisited".

Some exciting news from Anthony Salter this week: all (or enough of) the 3D objects he needed for Ultima 7 Revisited have been implemented, which means he can move on to working on re-creating (and hopefully improving upon) Ultima 7’s gameplay: Ultima VII Revisited has reached 0.1.0 status! This means that all objects and NPCs are drawing and the project is ready for me to start implementing…

[ultimacodex]

Merry Christmas from the Ultima Codex

Some thoughts on Christmas, ugly sweaters, and the Virtue of Humility. Merry Christmas!

I’m posting this a day early, Christmas Eve being tomorrow. But while I’m saying what is patently obvious, I’ll trust that you, good reader, have taken note of the fact that the Codex doesn’t get updated quite as regularly as was once the case. Life, it seems, only gets busier and more full; this is certainly true of the Christmas season, which brings us back to these greetings being a day early.…

[ultimacodex]

Christmas in Britannia is Weird...

You’d think they’d use a levitation spell to put up lights, but maybe reagents are hard to come by…

[ultimacodex]

More Christmas Follies...

As if the issue with the Christmas lights weren’t enough, it seems the gang are busting out the Santa costumes as well:

[ultimacodex]

It's Just About Christmas...

A little Christmas levity from the Ultima Codex.

…so what say we check in on how things are going in Britannia?

[ultimacodex]

Check Out "SkaDE", the Skald Data Editor (and Make Your Own Skald-like Game)

Hign North Studios have released a beta version of the development tools used to craft "Skald: Against the Black Priory," and are holding a modding contest to celebrate.

High North Studios — the developers of Skald: Against the Black Priory (and the Skald game engine that powers it) — have announced the beta release of a new tool they’re calling SkaDE (short for: Skald Data Editor): Ho ho ho! It’s the most wonderful time of the year and I come bearing gifts: The Skald Data Editor (SkaDE for short) tool enters open beta today and YOU’RE invited! … In short,…

[ultimacodex]

"Ultima: Exodus": New Cities and New Cutscenes

Francois Poisson has added quite a lot to his "RPG Maker MZ"-based remake of "Ultima 3." Quite a lot, indeed.