Check Out “The Sosarian Paradox”, an Unreal Engine-Powered Remake of “Escape from Mt. Drash”
Yes, you read that right.
The Sosarian Paradox is, according to its developer, “a re-imagining of an old and very rare Sierra On-Line game from 1983 known as Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash.” What is more, instead of being a retro-themed remake, attempting to re-create the original look and feel of Keith Zabalaoui’s authorized — but non-canonical — Ultima-inspired game, Melavir Sauin Dragon is building this remake using the CORE Games framework, which is a game creation and sharing community (similar to ROBLOX) based on the powerful Unreal Engine. Listeners to Spam Spam Spam Humbug may recall that we discussed CORE a few episodes ago; this was evidently what inspired the creation of The Sosarian Paradox.
As you might well imagine, then, this take on Mt. Drash looks very different indeed, as can be seen in the video above.
Thus far, Melavir Sauin has implemented most of the game world (including the dungeons, one area of which is implemented in a style that calls back to Akalabeth), and he is working on implementing a combat system and monsters. His ultimate aim is to modify the story a bit, to make it better align with Ultima lore, and to situate it more solidly in its place between the first and second chapters of the Age of Darkness trilogy.
The work-in-progress version of the remake can be played via CORE Games. You can also find a few gameplay and development videos on Melavir Sauin’s YouTube channel. And, of course, there’s a newly-minted project entry for The Sosarian Paradox here at the Codex; you can find several screenshots there.
I assume that’s a riff on famous indie game The Samaritan Paradox.
Haha wait, I confused it with something else. It’s not famous. But they sound similar.
Might well be; you’d have to ask Melavir.
It might not be all that famous, but it’s a decent-looking game.
The idea for the name came from the Star Trek Voyager episode “Relativity” where Seven of Nine is asked to explain a variety of different paradoxes. One of them was the Pogo Paradox, where someone tries to prevent an unpleasant future, but in doing so actually causes it to happen.
That’s the trap I had the Garrintrots originally put into motion for the Stranger from Another World as part of Minax’s revenge, but since Escape from Mount Drash is not a cardinal Ultima game, I instead had my secondary character from Akalabeth play as a “companion” to the Stranger who searches for remnants of Mondain’s legacy in his castle (that’s from the Ultima II manual).
Hopefully, I’ll be able to flesh out that concept once I start incorporating quests into the game. As this is a learning as I go project, I wanted to make sure I get the game mechanics down first before integrating a full story. Similar to what I did for Ultima IV Rebirth, I’m going to try and include as much Ultima lore as possible to make this game an enjoyable experience.
Either way, I appreciate you taking the time to read !? Wtf Dragon’s article for this project!! THANKS!