The sixth episode of Spam Spam Spam Humbug is now live, and is also available for download here. In this session, the SSSH team discusses the attention and detail that were put into the manuals and reference books that accompanied the Ultima games.

The catalyst for the discussion, by the way, was this Kotaku article about The Beauty of the Game Instruction Manual. Not that it’s a bad article; it offers up some pretty excellent examples of beautiful game manuals, and it touches on how an information-rich, artistically detailed manual can add to the experience of playing a game. But in both the article proper and in the ensuing comments, no mention of any Ultima manual is made…which is an unfortunate oversight given the sheer volume of detail and artistry that went into the creation of the books that were included with every title in the series.

Always remember: if you’d like to recommend anyone for a shout-out, send an email my way…which you can also do to suggest podcast topics, offer commentary or criticism about podcast episodes, and/or to volunteer your time as either an occasional or regular contributor to podcast sessions.

As well, if you haven’t already, you should totally sign on with the Ultima Dragons group on Facebook, or with the Ultima Dragons community on Google+. The Facebook group is easily the larger and more lively, but that just means that the Google+ one needs a few more members posting content there on a more regular basis.

Finally, there’s the Ultima Codex Patreon. A $10 pledge will get you access to Spam Spam Spam Humbug episodes the day before they go live here on the site, and you’ll be helping me both maintain and — with sufficient funding — expand the server infrastructure of the Codex to better deliver all the things you come looking for thereat.