They may have missed their December update, but Team Return have been hard at work even so…although things did slow down a bit due to that whole Christmas thing.

As far as project progress goes, Jolyn continues to create beautiful new portraits for the game, which has also led to some UI work being done (based on Storm of Zehir’s assets) so that Ultima Return players can get a better look in-game at her excellent work. Additional UI developments include the addition of a “Food Bar” and a “Mana Bar”, which now sit alongside the already-present Health Bar.

The team’s talented coders are also putting the finishing touches on what they have come to call their Unified System, a comprehensive package of scripts that make various Ultima-esque modifications to Neverwinter Nights 2’s game systems. And as if that weren’t enough, they are also putting together a book/scroll writing system.

Finally, worldbuilding proceeds apace on the project, and Team Return has welcomed MokahTGS (of The Grumpy Strumpet fame) into their worldbuilding team. Do check out the Strumpet site for samples of his excellent work, and know that he is bringing the same quality to Ultima Return!