The Kickstarter campaign for Volume 2 of Andrea Contato’s Through the Moongate has gone live as of this morning; the good Mr. Contato is looking to raise about €25,000D to finance production of this volume of the book.

Greetings, traveller!

If you’ve ever played a computer role-playing game (CRPG), chances are that Ultima played a part in its inspiration. Created by visionary Richard Garriott, and produced by his company Origin Systems, Inc., Ultima is one of the most important and influential CRPG series in the world. Through the Moongate illuminates the path of the Ultima games’ history and the creative people behind this landmark series. It also covers some of Origin’s other games, especially Wing Commander, and touches on several contemporary titles you may have missed. Many of these exciting tales have never before been told. If that intrigues you, then won’t you step with me…

Through the Moongate aims to be a more complete account of Origin’s history than has ever been presented before. Parts of Origin and Richard Garriott’s story have been included in other works such as The Official Book of Ultima by Shay Addams and Garriott’s own memoir, Explore/Create, but this book is a comprehensive work of new research. In the process, I interviewed dozens of people who were crucial to Origin’s success and given them a voice. While many of these contributors worked directly for Origin, NCSoft, and Portalarium, others influenced the world of Ultima and Origin Systems in other creative ways. These developers, artists, and others have helped to shed new light on Origin’s fascinating story and I’m excited to share it with you.

As I traced the paths of the Ultima games and those who worked for Origin Systems, I began to realize the multitude of games that would not be possible without the influence of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems, and the Ultima series. To ensure their place in history, I’ve also included special coverage of the Wing Commander and Ultima Underworld series, plus other significant video games of the era. CRPGs, action, adventure, and strategy games such as Space Rogue, Wolfenstein 3D, Deathlord, 7th guest, Jane’s Combat series, OMEGA, MUD1, Meridian 59, Lineage, and Tabula Rasa. I’ve also included a special look at cancelled titles such as Times of Lore 2 and Fire Horse.

A pledge of €15 will net you an electronic copy of Through the Moongate, Part 2, and €25 (plus shipping) is the minimum spend for a paperback copy of the book. Jumping up to €45 will get you paperback copies of both parts of Through the Moongate (just in case you missed the first one on Kickstarter), and €50 is enough for a hardcover copy.

Of course, if you’re willing to spend a bit more, there’s a special prize awaiting the first twenty people who back the game at the €500 level:

For many, Akalabeth is the holy grail of Ultima collecting. We are pleased not only to spur the bringing of this new edition into existence, but also to make it exclusively available to you, the backers of this Kickstarter. This edition will never be available anywhere else and is limited to 20 numbered copies.

The Kickstater campaign is off to a good start; click on through to support publication of Through the Moongate, Part 2 today!

The First Age of Update: Funding goal reached, and then in just over 24 hours.