Ambrosia Software Web Board: Ultima 1–6 for $4.78 - Ambrosia Software Web Board

I have often heard Cythera referred to as a follower of Ultima. Not that there isn't a lot more to Cythera, but just look at these screenshots (from Ultima VI, I think):







I don't know what's up with the third screenshot, but I think the plot involves you being summoned across dimensions to solve a problem, and you were probably watching TV before that, which sounds strikingly familiar. I especially don't know what's up with the Rainbow Dash pinup.

The first six games are currently on sale on GOG as two $2.39 bundles of three:

• Ultima 1+2+3
  
• Ultima 4+5+6

Although actually they're giving away Ultima 4 entirely free separately. The later games are Windows-only and are sold individually:

• Ultima 7
  
• Ultima 8
  
• Ultima 9

There's also something called Ultima Underworld which looks like it's a first-person game, and two free "worlds of adventure":

• Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
  
• Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams

So, um, if you ever wanted to play a Martian version of Cythera with Nikola Tesla (???) there's that.

What! :o Somebody stole the Cythera graphics and pixellated them! I have never heard of this game before, I must try this. But when I click on the link, it says compatible with OS 10.6.8 or newer. Really? It was apparently released before I was 6 months old, so I have a hard time believing it's compatible with new computers.

These were originally DOS games, and from what I understand, the GOG versions run in a modified version of DOSBox. That's why the newer Ultima games (7+8+9) don't run on a Mac: they were originally written for Windows, and it's easier to emulate DOS than Windows.

Hmm, and it may not be necessary. I don't know what versions of OS X DOSBox will run on, but Boxer claims to run on 10.5+, and I was able to get it to work with the GOG-downloaded version by going to Show Package Contents -> Contents/Resources/Ultima 6.boxer -> Show Package Contents -> C ULTIMA6.harddisk and using that folder with Boxer. In fact, it looks what GOG gives you is a Boxer package. I don't know what the difference is between what GOG gives you and what you get from doing it yourself (or if there is one).

I have tried DOSBox on Mac os10.8 and it works fine, as far as I can tell, for any of you mountain lion users.

-K

I don't understand. If I install one of these emulator gidgets, will it break my computer?

BreadWorldMercy453, on 04 November 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

No, should be fine.

I'd try getting Ultima 4, which as I said is free, and seeing if it will work, or if Boxer or DOSBox can make it work.

Oh yeah, I forgot you said one of them was free ^_^

Wow, that does look a lot like Cythera. I'd heard about Ultima somewhere, although I don't recall hearing that it greatly resembled Cythera.

A most interesting find.

I had never realized that Cythera drew so much from Ultima. Abandonia has a page on Ultima VI with an extensive collection of screenshots. It is clear that Cythera copied almost all of the graphical elements from the game (even the bookshelves and plants). Through the links at the bottom of that page, you can see how previous versions of Ultima used similar graphics, getting better with each version. Ultima V is not too disimilar from Cythera either.

Incidentally, I tried playing Ultima IV, but I kept dying. I like Cythera better.

There's another promo, ending today if anyone missed this and regretted it. Also, Ultima 7 and 8 apparently will now run on a Mac.

Tempting price reduction! I never got into Ultima IV though. I tried it a couple of times, but I was too lazy to read the materials and I didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing. But the similar interface to Cythera was comforting ^_^

I found out about this on my own just a little while ago. There's also a version of ultima online that's based on the shots in pallas's first post. Maybe we could all play it?

Also apparently it's easy to make player created content for the ultima game. With that in mind it might not be too much of a stretch then to re-create cythera in the ultima world (and thus making it playable on newer machines, as well as adding more content to it).

I tried to play Ultima 4 a while back, but I didn't get very far and I gave up.

Two Jacks, on 12 August 2013 - 03:32 AM, said:

Do you have a link to the online game?


Unfortunately, I don't think that gandreas would approve of a recreated Cythera. I seem to recall that he didn't really want any spin-offs of the game unless he was involved, and he seems to have moved to other interests .