Ultima III
| Ultima III: Exodus | |
|---|---|
Cover art
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| Developer(s) | Richard Garriott |
| Publisher(s) | Origin Systems |
| Designer(s) | Richard Garriott |
| Composer(s) | Ken Arnold (home computers) (NES) |
| Series | Ultima |
| Engine | Ultima III engine |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple II, Atari 800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, FM-7, Macintosh, MSX2, NES, NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X1 |
| Release | August 23, 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Ultima III: Exodus is the third game in the Ultima series. Exodus is also the name of the game's principal antagonist. Released in 1983, it was the first Ultima game published by Origin Systems. Originally developed for the Apple II, Exodus was eventually ported to 13 other platforms, including a NES/Famicom remake.
Exodus featured revolutionary graphics for its time, as one of the first computer RPGs to display animated characters. Also, Exodus differs from previous games in that players now direct the actions of a party of four characters rather than just one. During regular play the characters are represented as a single player icon and move as one. However, in battle mode, each character is represented separately on a separate "battle screen" and the player alternates commands between each character in order, followed by each enemy character having a turn. Thus the player must understand weapons and magic commands and employ rudimentary tactics in order to overcome each opponent. This differs from the two previous games in the Ultima series in which the player is simply depicted as trading blows with one opponent on the main map until either is defeated. Enemies on the overworld map can be seen and at least temporarily avoided, while enemies in a dungeon may appear randomly without any forewarning.
The party of four that a player uses can be chosen at the beginning of the game. There is a choice between 11 classes as follows: Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Ranger, Thief, Barbarian, Lark, Illusionist, Druid, and Alchemist. Each class has a specified race among five different races. The default race for each class is the recommended race, but this can be edited along with attribute points for each character for Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Wisdom. The races determine limitations on maximum stat growth (i.e., some races allow certain stats to be maxed out while others limit the stats to half the maximum amount.) Certain spells will be unavailable for certain races that are limited in their maximum allowed Wisdom and Intelligence stats, thus a wise player will investigate the best races for their mages before commencing the game.
For the most part, all the classes of characters are built around four main classes with very minor differences. These are Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Thief. Fighter type classes are strong in melee and in defense, but with the exception of the Ranger, have no spells or abilities, and can equip most armor and weapons. The Thief type classes are good at resisting traps that may be in dungeons or in chests and are limited in what weapons and armor they can equip. Cleric type classes have healing spells and spells strong against undead enemies and are limited to cloth/leather armor and staffs/maces. Wizard type classes have strong offensive type spells and are limited to cloth armor and staffs.
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