Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

"Ultima Underworld" redirects here. For For the sequel, see Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, see Ultima Underworld (disambiguation).

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
The Stygian Abyss
Developer(s)	Blue Sky Productions
Publisher(s)	Origin Systems
Designer(s)	Paul Neurath, Doug Church
Engine	Underworld engine
Platform(s)	DOS FM Towns (Japan only) NEC PC-9801 (Japan only) PlayStation (Japan only) Windows Mobile
Release	March 27, 1992 March 14, 1997 (PSX) May 29, 2002 (Windows Mobile)
Genre(s)	First person perspective, Adventure, Action RPG
Mode(s)	Single player

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a computer role-playing game developed by Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) and released by Origin Systems on March 27, 1992. It is part of the Ultima series.

As in other Ultima games, the player takes control of the Avatar, this time on a quest to reach the bottom of a multi-layered, non-linear dungeon. The game was the first first-person role-playing game to use 3D graphics, as well as the first real-time indoor 3D game that allowed the player to look up and down, and jump. Other innovations include inclined surfaces, lighting, multiple heights and 3D objects.

The game received widespread critical acclaim and eventually sold almost 500,000 copies, and went on to be featured on multiple hall of fame lists. It influenced a wide range of developers, including Bethesda Softworks and id Software. In 1993, a sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, was released. In 2002, a Windows mobile version of the game was ported for the Pocket PC by Zio Interactive.

Gameplay

The gameplay is set entirely indoors, requiring the player to explore various dungeons and caverns. Progression is event driven and non linear. The player can explore and revisit areas at will and many obstacles encountered often have multiple solutions. Richard Garriott considers the Underworld series to be more action-oriented than the regular Ultima series.

The player views the game world from a first-person perspective. A point-and-click interface is used to interact with the game world through activating various action icons. A more advanced drag-and-drop mode was also available. Items can be picked up and kept in the player's inventory as long as there is sufficient carrying capacity. Dropped items will persist throughout the course of the game. The game world is highly interactive; the player must be kept fed, and weapons and other items wear with use. Torches, for example, eventually extinguish after prolonged use, but can also be replenished with oil. Other examples of interactivity include using corn on a lit torch to create popcorn.

While many inhabitants of the game are hostile monsters, the player will also encounter more intelligent inhabitants who may be conversed with. The combat system is mostly focused on melee combat; ranged weapons are present but are limited in availability. Spellcasting is done by selecting an appropriate combination of runestones. There is a wide selection of spells, from offensive spells, such as Fireball, to utility spells, such as Night Vision.

Plot

The player is cast in the role of the Avatar, the protagonist of the Ultima series. The avatar is being haunted in his dreams by a ghost who is trying to warn him of a great danger in Britannia. The avatar finally allows the ghost take him to Britannia, where he witnesses the kidnapping of a baron's daughter by a wizard. The wizard escapes, and the Avatar is caught by the baron's guards and taken before him. The Avatar is found guilty of the crime and banished to the Great Stygian Abyss, to either rescue the baron's daughter or perish within. The player has to deal with the survivors of a failed colony and, in the end, discovers a plot to summon a demon into Britannia. In relation to the main Ultima series, the game takes place after Ultima VI.

Development

Ultima Underworld was conceived in 1989 by Paul Neurath, after he had finished work on Space Rogue. Space Rogue "took the first, tentative in exploring a blend of RPG and simulation elements, and this seemed to me a promising direction" said Neurath in 2002. He found that the way it blended the elements was jarring, however, and felt that there was a seamless way of combining them, thereby creating a more immersive experience.

Neurath had been a fan of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) like Wizardry, but found fault with their simple, abstract visuals. He believed that Dungeon Master's detailed take on first-person presentation provided a "glimpse into the future", and sought to create a fantasy CRPG that would "bring even more immediacy" to the experience than Dungeon Master had. In 1990, Neurath wrote a design document for a game simply titled "Underworld". After contracting ex-Origin artist Doug Wike to do concept work, he assembled a company, named Blue Sky Productions, to create the game. Among the first hirees were Doug Church and Dan Schmidt, who would go on to be the project leaders of System Shock and Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, respectively.

An early difficulty was creating feasible real-time texture mapping. Neurath had experimented unsuccessfully with the concept in the late 80's, but he contacted programmer Chris Green (later a programmer on The Elder Scrolls: Arena), who was able to create a working algorithm. After a few months of work, the team had a prototype, which it pitched to publishers including Origin, who they eventually settled on. Origin suggested that the game be reworked to fit into its Ultima universe, and so the game was renamed Ultima Underworld.

It was released before, and featured significantly more complex technology and gameplay than, for example, Wolfenstein 3D by id Software, and had higher system requirements (a 386 processor, 2 MB of RAM, and DOS 4.0 to 6.22; compared to Wolfenstein 3D's 286, 640 kB of RAM, and only DOS 3.0 to 3.3).

Reception

The game received critical acclaim, and eventually sold nearly 500,000 copies. In 1993, Ultima Underworld won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1992.

Pelit gave the game 98 out of 100 and summarized that "Ultima Underworld is something totally new in the CRPG field. The Virtual Fantasy of the Abyss left reviewers speecheless."

Legacy

Ultima Underworld was the first first-person role-playing game to use 3D graphics. The game served as a direct influence on Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls: Arena, and the 2002 game Arx Fatalis. The developers of Arx Fatalis, Arkane Studios, have stated that the game was actually intended to be third game in the Ultima Underworld series, however they could not obtain a license for the Underworld name.

id Software's use of texture mapping in Catacomb 3D, a precurser to Wolfenstein 3D, was directly influenced by Ultima Underworld. It was not until 1996, with Duke Nukem 3D, that a major title from a company other than Looking Glass Studios would feature inclined surfaces. An enhanced version of Ultima Underworld's engine was later used for System Shock.

Computer Gaming World placed the game 68th on its 1996 "150 Best Games of All Time" list. IGN named Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss one of the "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 2005, placing 99th on their list. The noted the game "helped usher a new era in digital entertainment...it offered a slew of innovative ideas that changed the action-RPG genre for the better".

See also

• Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss. An Ultima Online expansion pack based in the same location.
• Arx Fatalis

External links

• Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss at MobyGames
• Bootstrike's Ultima Underworld I Files Collection, a UW1 file resource center