New Gallery: Richard Garriott Interview and Ultima 4 NPC Creation Sheet

wizards-journal-u4-03

Odkin, whilst going through boxes in his garage, came across a copy of Wizards Journal — really, a four-page newsletter — that he was sent, unsolicited, back in 1984. You see, back in 1984, a much younger Odkin sent a letter to Richard Garriott and Origin Systems, announcing his completion of Ultima 3 in 564,796 steps. He didn’t ever get a completion certificate for it, but he suspects that it was as a result of sending this letter that he was then sent a copy of Wizards Journal.

The interview with Richard Garriott that fills the first page (and change) of the newsletter doesn’t reveal anything we don’t now already know; in it, Lord British recounts his history as a game developer, from Akalabeth onward, and talks briefly about his reasons for leaving California Pacific and signing on with Sierra On-Line. The interview actually breaks off shortly after the Sierra On-Line discussion, and a footnote promises its completion in the next issue of Wizards Journal.

What follows, however, is rather more interesting. Because, you see, the second and third pages of this issue are taken up by a form that allows readers to submit NPCs for possible inclusion in Ultima 4. This includes several instructions — written by Richard Garriott himself, apparently — about what NPCs should and should not include. Historical references, for example, were disallowed, and each NPC was required to have two pieces of knowledge that the player could somehow deduce that the NPC knew. The actual form appears on the third page, accompanied by a brief introduction that outlines Garriott’s intention to include more varied NPCs, NPCs who were unique individuals, in Ultima 4. The introduction also disclaims that Origin Systems reserves the right to edit a submitted NPC slightly in order to better fit the setting of the game, and that the submission of an NPC does not guarantee its use in the game. And naturally, all submissions become the property of Origin Systems proper.

You can check the form out here at the Origin Gallery.

7 Responses

  1. Sanctimonia says:

    You’re sharper than a traditionally-forged katana, so I can only presume that you intentionally did not mention the fact that Garriott was still including the races from Ultima III in his palette of prerequisites for NPC creation. In any case, it seems the decision to allow only humans was made in the midst of Ultima IV’s development rather than during its initial conception. News to me.

    What’s really interesting is that SotA’s going back to the various races, which if memory serves, Garriott called (paraphrasing) a “crutch” that RPGs used to create a false sense of diversity. I agreed with that statement and still do. It creates a superficial and false sense of identity; a scripted divide that cheaply attempts to create conflict based on our tribal natures. A shame, really, but understandable given the state of the medium.

  2. Odkin says:

    Oh great, now everyone knows I have 30 years of junk in my garage 🙂 I’m feeling like quite the archaeologist, having found two “lost” artifacts this month – this early Ultima IV character design draft, and the Apple game “Empire II: Interstellar Sharks” for the Digital Antiquarian.

    I’d be VERY interested in knowing more about the Wizard’s Journal. Certainly the implication here is that there were issues both before and after, but darned if I could find a single reference to it anywhere on the web. It certainly seemed to have a direct line to Mr. G, so who knows what other gems might be found within?

  3. Infinitron says:

    This is awesome.