April 16th, 2012, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Ultima 7: The Black Gate by Origin Systems.

Ultima 7 is a masterpiece, and the crown jewel of the CRPG genre, in the truest sense of the word. It up-ended traditional RPG game design concepts with its daring full-screen interface and gump-based inventory and character management features, set a new graphical standard, and also set a standard for world immersiveness and interactivity that no other RPG to date has been able to rival.

In Ultima 7: The Black Gate, the player is once again cast in the role of the Avatar, who is summoned to Britannia after a strange encounter with a seemingly malevolent red-faced being on his (or her!) home computer. While scant few years have passed on Earth, two centuries have passed in fair Britannia, and the world which the Avatar returns to does not much resemble the vibrant land last seen in Ultima 6. Outwardly, all seems well, but under the surface Britannia is in dire straits. The people of the land have fallen away from the paths of the Eight Virtues, and even the shrines have fallen into disrepair and silence; not even the Avatar can motivate them to speak. Magic, too, is failing in the land. At the same time, a new sect called the Fellowship has been spreading its philosophy throughout the land. But they are not all they seem.

Structuring its plot around the pursuit of a murderer, Ultima 7 pits the Avatar against what might be his most diabolical foe yet: the Guardian, the red-faced villain behind the Fellowship’s outwardly benign philosophy, who desires nothing less than to subjugate and destroy Britannia…and its Avatar. Along the way, the Avatar will have to uncover the means by which the Guardian is undermining magic, weakening the moongates, and influencing the Fellowship, as well as find the murderer who is going through the land ritualistically slaying those who express even modest doubts about what the Fellowship claims to be.

Ultima 7 was the last Ultima game released by Origin Systems before its acquisition by Electronic Art, and is regarded by many Ultima fans as the high point of the series. The game reviewed and sold exceedingly well, and was recently re-released for sale on GOG.com.

To mark its 20th anniversary, the Ultima Codex has put together a tribute website featuring a truly mind-boggling number of development documents for the game, supplied by Bill Randolph and the Origin Museum. Also to be found is an interview with one of the game’s developers, Brian Martin, as well as various patches, utilities, and fan projects concerning the game.

So take some time to look over the history of Ultima 7. And if you haven’t already, pick up and play a copy of the game for yourself!