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Ultima Online X Rumored In Development?

Posted by simoniker on from the more-secret-than-secret dept.

According to Ultima Online Stratics, the new issue of GMR Magazine (as found in EB stores) has a column leaking details about "Ultima-X", which is apparently Origin/EA's new MMORPG. A quote from the article goes as follows: "It's going to surprise you. I can't say anything just yet except maybe three quick words: Unreal Warfare engine." The writer of the column has since turned up on online forums indicating that he was told to hold the news, but the magazine had already gone to press. This is a fascinating rumor that initially seems to pass the smell test - stay tuned for more details.

7 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. Ultima Online by Wheaty18 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I loved UO. It was the best MMORPG I have ever played (that is, before they implemented the Tram/Fel split. It all went downhill after that).

    If a new MMORPG based on the Ultima universe is indeed being developed, it will have one hell of a time living up to, let alone surpassing, the great game that UO used to be. Although my interest in MMOG's has faded since the UO days, I still remember eagerly awaiting UO2 when those first few screenshots were released.

    Best of luck to the devs.

  2. Is UWE Scalable? by Kelerain · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How are they dealing with the scaling of MMOG games? I wasn't aware that the UWE engine was particularly good at very large environments, but perhaps they are overhauling it, or have built in some untaped functionality. They are using it for Tribes: Vengance after all, a traditionally 'huge outdoor' environment game series. Looks quite promising..

    1. Re:Is UWE Scalable? by Soulslayer · · Score: 3, Informative

      It works great.

      Lineage 2 from NC Soft is using the same engine and is absolutely stunning.

      I've been very impressed at how well that particular FPS engine has translated into the MMPOG environment.

      --


      Once more unto the breach dear friends...
  3. Why switch engines? by Fritzy · · Score: 2, Informative

    I doubt the rumor is true. Doesn't anyone remember how they squashed UO2? Why would they remake the game from scratch instead of just using what they already had? I don't understand why they would use an Unreal engine.

    1. Re:Why switch engines? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      UO2 and Privateer Online were both scrapped when EA restructured the Origin division and ended up firing most of the Origin teams. They wanted Origin to focus on UO at the time and not worry about other projects(including UO's sequel)

      Interesting note... SWG contains several team members from UO2 and has many of the features that UO2 was intended to have.

      UO is suffering now more than ever with all the new competition and it's aging engine, so I wouldn't be surprised if EA finaly gave the go ahead for a new UO sequel, though after EA's lackluster performance of it's last 3 MMO attempts(Motor City Online, Earth and Beyond, and The Sims Online) I do wonder if they may have decided to give up on the genre for awhile.

  4. Re:I liked Ultima IX by toddhunter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I also enjoyed it. However I bought it a few years after it was released. As such it was patched to hell and actually ran well on my upgraded machine. I know a lot of gamers have a soft spot for the series, mainly because they were done so well, with such a high level of interaction with the game world. A shame that developers couldn't keep that trend going. Hopefully this new release will have some of the old bread making just for the hell of it

  5. No Lord British, No Ultima... by pcx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    EA has totally squandered the great Origin Legacy. They had rights to the name Privateer, one of the best space-based trading games in the history of video games and released "Earth and Beyond" which capitalized neither on a great brand name nor the experience of Origin so that the game wouldn't suck.

    Richard Gariot, the creator of the origin franchise saw the handwriting on the EA wall long ago and bolted. He's now working on Liniage 2.

    As far as I'm concerned EA doesn't have the tallent to produce a true successor to the ultima universe. They let a widely popular MMORPG rot on the vine, they failed to captialize on the incredible brandnames of "Wing Commander", "Privateer", and "Ultima" and have let them all die.

    Ultima *IS* Lord British, he's the soul of the game and the talent that makes it worthwhile. So don't hold your breath on this one.