What you’re looking at above is Ultima Online as you’ve never seen the classic, groundbreaking MMO that's still running after nearly 20 years -- converted from its 2D origins into a full 3D world. It’s a labor of love of veteran game designer and artist Andrea Fryer, who’s worked at Ubisoft and other major companies. Since Easter weekend, she’s been translating UO’s maps into Wurm Unlimited, a sandbox MMO which allows players to own and customize their own private servers.
“For anyone for whom Ultima Online was their ‘first love MMO’, they well know the wistful yearning that is left from experiencing those magical times,” Andrea tells me, explaining why she’s put so much work into this project.
“Each new MMO they try is compared to UO, and so far nothing has fully been able to offer the full array of experiences and feelings that UO provided. So one of the reasons for doing this is to ‘process’ that yearning and channel it into something. Similar to why people will do fan art or musical covers of their favorite star… UO was never made into an official first person 3d game - instead it was always from an isometric god view, so I was extremely curious to see how the world would look if I could actually look around and feel immersed in the environment.”
The other reason is the platform. “[T]he god tools in Wurm Unlimited are just so darned fun to use,” as she puts it. “So it's like you almost look for a reason to use them. Just like when you build a house in The Sims, the process itself is so much fun so you find an excuse to make something, anything!”
When it’s ready for other players to explore, up to 200 can inhabit her Ultima server. At first it’ll just be a “tourist attraction” that players can explore without interacting within. However, since it’ll already come with Wurm Online’s RPG interface baked in, she’s planning to add some light MMORPG mechanics to it:
“For instance I can as the owner of the server decide what starting gear they have when they spawn, I can also set the base skills etc. I can also decide what the animal and creature spawn is going to be like. Also whether there are guards in the land automatically killing off aggressive MOBs. So I was thinking of putting in at least a little bit of challenge by giving players top skills by default, and including a very juicy weapon of some kind in their starting bag. Then leaving the monster spawn on, so that for them to get to place to place, they will encounter monsters - however they will also be able to kill them easily.
“Players will also start off with a rope in their bag, with which they can catch a wild horse and immediately be able to ride it around. I will also at least ATTEMPT to recreate some of the dungeons and will spawn monsters into them as well. So while players won't be able to modify the lands via terraforming, nor will they be able to claim a plot to build a house, they will be able to adventure and explore.”
It’s an impressive project so far, and a testament to the power that virtual worlds can have on people who’ve played them, even two decades ago. For Andrea, it leaves her wondering about Ultima Online's unique draw. I ask her what she'd ask original Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott on that topic.
“There have been dozens upon dozens of MMOs since Ultima Online first came out,” as she puts it. “Some have stayed, but most have died out eventually. However, UO is still up and running although it's been 20 years since it was released. In addition, most people who played UO during the early years agree with my sentiments above - and echo my sentiments that no MMO to date has been able to top the magic UO offered. Why does he think this is? What is the secret ingredient in UO that made it so magical and special and what continues to keep it alive? Why has no other MMO been able to offer such a rich and immersive experience?”
Comments