History VideoGame / UltimaIV

* DenialOfDiagonalAttack: You can fire projectiles diagonally, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules but your enemies can]].

''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' was a 1985 video game, the fourth installment of the legendary ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' series. No one can deny that ''Ultima IV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]) that took the still-nascent concept of the "role-playing video game" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, almost three decades later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated, but has informed virtually every [[WesternRPG Western-made RPG]] that came after it.

* RandomEncounter: The NES version does this in a sneaky way, as they aren't step based; they are time based. Meaning if you wait long enough on the overworld map in one spot, a battle will start. Averted in the PC version as the encounters are not random at all.

* ArcNumber: '''8'''. There are ''eight'' virtues with ''eight'' shrines dedicated to them, ''eight'' character classes represented by ''eight'' recruitable [[NonPlayerCompanion companions]] (although there are only ''eight'' slots in the PlayerParty, including one for the Avatar), ''eight'' major towns in Britannia, and ''eight'' dungeons with ''eight'' levels each.
* ArtifactOfDoom: Mondain's Skull (remember, the villain from ''VideoGame/UltimaI'') Using it would instantly wipe out every living thing in the player's current location, except for Lord British (even Lord British in the NES version). It also drove your KarmaMeter (all of them!) to 0. Since many players at the time didn't realize there ''was'' a KarmaMeter...

** Mariah the mage represents Honesty
** Iolo the bard represents Compassion
** Geoffrey the fighter represents Valor
** Jaana the druid represents Justice
** Julia the tinker represents Sacrifice
** Dupré the paladin represents Honor
** Shamino the ranger represents Spirituality
** Katrina the shepherd represents Humility

* GenderBender: For some odd reason in the NES port, Julia a woman companion, was replaced with "Julius" a burly looking male.

* RandomEncounter: The Nes version does this in a sneaky way. As they aren't step based, they are time based. Meaning wait long enough on the overworld map in one spot a battle will start. Averted in the PC version as the encounters are not random at all.

''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' was a 1985 video game. No one can deny that ''Ultima IV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]), as it took the still-nascent concept of the "role-playing video game" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, almost three decades later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated but informed virtually every western-made RPG which came after.

In the MagicalLand of Britannia...all of the {{Big Bad}}s are dead. The [[VideoGame/UltimaI evil Wizard Mondain]]. Dead. His [[VideoGame/UltimaII Apprentice Minax]]. Dead. Their [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot child/demon/computer]]... thing, [[VideoGame/UltimaIII Exodus]]... destroyed. While there are still [[LockedInTheDungeon dungeons]] and RandomEncounters, there is NoAntagonist to fight. [[PostModernism Nothing for the people to hope for; no more heroes for them to emulate.]]

[[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Can there be Good without an external Evil to fight]]? The magical ruler of Britannia, Lord British, summons the Stranger of old who defeated those evils with a very new, very different task. Become the Champion of Virtue for people to have a goal to achieve. Master the [[KarmaMeter 8 Virtues]] and find the Answer to this postmodern dilemma in [[GreatBigBookOfEverything The Codex of Wisdom]], located in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Great Stygian Abyss.]] Fulfill the [[TitleDrop Quest of The Avatar.]]

A [[FreewareGames freeware]] version was distributed on the Internet in 1997. In 2011 Creator/ElectronicArts began issuing C&D orders to people distributing it after 14 years of salutary neglect. This has caused some concern in the community, but the game remains legally free on [[http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ultima_4 Good Old Games]] and should be played by anyone with even a passing interest in [=RPGs=].

!!This game has examples of:

''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' was a 1985 video game. No one can deny that ''Ultima IV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]), as it took the still-nascent concept of the "role-playing video game" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, over twenty-five years later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated but informed virtually every western-made RPG which came after.

''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' was a 1985 video game. No one can deny that ''Ultima IV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]), as it took the still-nascent concept of the "RPG" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, over twenty-five years later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated but informed virtually every western-made RPG which came after.

** Though in the later games, this is averted, as they stop striving to be pure like the Avatar, instead becoming lazy and asking the Avatar to solve all their problems for them.

* ArcNumber: '''8'''. There are ''eight'' virtues with ''eight'' shrines dedicated to them, ''eight'' character classes, ''eight'' major towns in Britannia, and ''eight'' dungeons with ''eight'' levels each.

-->-'''Lord British'''

''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' was an 1985 video game. No one can deny that ''UltimaIV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]), as it took the still-nascent concept of the "RPG" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, over twenty-five years later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated but informed virtually every western-made RPG which came after.

In the MagicalLand of Britannia...all of the {{Big Bad}}s are dead. The [[{{UltimaI}} evil Wizard Mondain]]. Dead. His [[UltimaII Apprentice Minax]]. Dead. Their [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot child/demon/computer]]... thing, [[UltimaIII Exodus]]... destroyed. While there are still [[LockedInTheDungeon dungeons]] and RandomEncounters, there is NoAntagonist to fight. [[PostModernism Nothing for the people to hope for; no more heroes for them to emulate.]]

A [[FreewareGames freeware]] version was distributed on the Internet in 1997. In 2011 Electronic Arts began issuing C&D orders to people distributing it after 14 years of salutary neglect. This has caused some concern in the community, but the game remains legally free on [[http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ultima_4 Good Old Games]] and should be played by anyone with even a passing interest in [=RPGs=].

----

** Sadly, played straight in the NES version. No monster you encounter in the game will run from you, forcing you to kill any monster you randomly encounter

* ArtifactOfDoom: Mondain's Skull (remember, the villain from ''{{Ultima I}}'') Using it would instantly wipe out every living thing in the player's current location, except for Lord British (even Lord British in the NES version). It also drove your KarmaMeter (all of them!) to 0. Since many players at the time didn't realize there was a KarmaMeter...
* BroadStrokes: Looking back at the first three games, the events of them weren't...quite as described by ''UltimaIV''. TimeTravel may explain some of it, but by this time the general rules and definitions have solidified.
* DialogueTree: One of the earliest examples of the concept, in PC versions of UltimaIV one could have limited conversations with everyone in the towns. Later games would make it easier to come up with topics; this one made you type each one out. "Name" and "Job" were the common opening lines; and then later ArcWords tended to be important. The only three words that all [=NPCs=] were guaranteed to respond to were "Name" "Job" and "Health". Occasionally a NPC in their dialog would let slip a subject that you could then bring up to another NPC - which would reveal that subject him once you asked. Since this could lead to SequenceBreaking; later games made them spell out the conversation topics depending on what information flags you encountered.

* DungeonBypass The white stone is hidden up in the mountains north of Britain and to get to it you need to descend to the bottom level of a dungeon via a hidden entrance behind Lord British's castle, climb your way back up to an exit on the other side of the world, board a hot air balloon, and guide yourself to a landing space the size of a single tile with the wind-change spell. You can also just use the Blink spell (warp a distance on the world map) in the right spot and warp to it.

** Amusingly, Iolo did steal from you in ''VideoGame/UltimaI''

* GuideDangIt: This game was very different at the time. There was no Gamefaqs.

** The dialog file of a character that was supposed to give you a hint to the final riddle was mistakenly removed from the game, leading to a number of people struggling through the game only to find themselves stuck on the last puzzle (although the answer is spelled out for you by praying at the eight shrines, which is required to complete the game). This gave rise to the AscendedGlitch character Smith the talking horse, who appeared in several later Ultima games, always giving you important hints about the *previous* game.

** In fact, just see the Trivia section.
* LighterAndSofter: According to ''The Official Book of Ultima''. The concept for the game came about when Garriott noted MoralGuardians' response to the first 3 games. Garriott realized that while they were wrong for the most part, the StrawmanHasAPoint, and so the concept for the fourth game was born. This is one of the few examples of this trope where the series actually gained more depth and character because of it, rather than the opposite.

* NintendoHard: Of all the playtesters, only Richard Garriott himself actually ''finished'' the game before it was released. If you can complete the game without using internet spoilers, you deserve a ''medal''. Also, ironically, the version released on an actual Nintendo console (NES) is a lot easier than the original.

* PurpleIsPowerful: In ''Forver'', Lady British's CoolCrown and [[PrettyInMink ermine-trimmed]] [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia robe]] are largely colored purple.

* VirtueViceCodification: the Eight Sacred Virtues of Avatarhood form a simple model of virtue ethics.
* WideOpenSandbox: One of the first.

In the MagicalLand of Britannia...all of the {{Big Bad}}s are dead. The [[{{UltimaI}} evil Wizard Mondain]]. Dead. His [[UltimaII Apprentice Minax]]. Dead. Their [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot child/demon/computer]]... thing, [[UltimaIII Exodus]]... destroyed. While there are still [[LockedInTheDungeon dungeons]] and random monsters, there is [[PostModernism no goal anymore.]] Nothing for the people to hope for; no more heroes for them to emulate.

* PurpleIsPowerful: In ''Forver'', Lady British's CoolCrown and [[PrettyInMink ermine-trimmed]] [[RequisityRoyalRegalia robe]] are largely colored purple.

* TheMoralSubstitute: According to ''The Official Book of Ultima''. The concept for the game came about when Garriott noted MoralGuardians' response to the first 3 games. Garriott realized that while they were wrong for the most part, the StrawmanHasAPoint, and so the concept for the fourth game was born. This is one of the few examples of this trope where the series actually gained more depth and character because of it, rather than the opposite.

* AbsurdlyLowLevelCap: You start at level one and can progress up to a whopping level [[ArcNumber eight]]. Of course, this is the game where the KarmaMeter matters a lot more than the ExperienceMeter.

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar was an 1985 video game. No one can deny that ''UltimaIV'' was a masterpiece (even if modern gamers [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny are likely to wrestle, at best, with the interface]]), as it took the still-nascent concept of the "RPG" and turned it completely on its ear in a way that, over twenty-five years later, ''still'' hasn't really been replicated but informed virtually every western-made RPG which came after.

Can there be Good without an external Evil to fight? The magical ruler of Britannia, Lord British, summons the Stranger of old who defeated those evils with a very new, very different task. Become the Champion of Virtue for people to have a goal to achieve. Master the [[KarmaMeter 8 Virtues]] and find the Answer to this postmodern dilemma in [[GreatBigBookOfEverything The Codex of Wisdom]], located in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Great Stygian Abyss.]] Fulfill the [[TitleDrop Quest of The Avatar.]]

* MonsterTown: Magincia has become this since its location has become so uninhabitable that every human [[spoiler:except for Katrina]] is either dead or has moved away. The monsters will only attack you if you attack them first, though.

* TheMoralSubstitute: According to ''The Official Book of Ultima''. The concept for the game came about when Garriott noted MoralGuardians' response to the first 3 games. This is one of the few examples of this trope where the series actually gained more depth and character because of it, rather than the opposite.

Can there be Good without an external Evil to fight? The magical ruler of Britannia, Lord British, summons the Stranger of old who defeated those evils with a very new, very different task. Become the Champion of Virtue for people to have a goal to achieve. Master the [[KarmaMeter 8 Virtues]] and find the Answer to this postmodern dilemma in [[GreatBigBookOfEverything The Codex of Wisdom]], located in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon}} The Great Stygian Abyss.]] Fulfill the [[TitleDrop Quest of The Avatar.]]