Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, first released in 1985 for the Apple II, is the fourth game in the Ultima role-playing video game series. It is the first game in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, which changed the series from its earlier "Age of Darkness" style of gameplay—focused on combat and exploring dungeons—to a more story-driven approach with complex choices. Ultima IV has a much larger game world than earlier games, with an overworld map sixteen times larger than Ultima III and dungeon rooms filled with puzzles to solve. The game also improved dialogue, added new ways to travel and explore, and made the game world more interactive.
In 1996, Computer Gaming World listed Ultima IV as number 2 on its Best Games of All Time list for IBM PC compatibles. The game's creator, Richard Garriott, considers it one of his favorite games in the Ultima series.
Ultima IV was followed by the release of Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny in 1988.
Plot
Ultima IV is one of the few role-playing games, and possibly the first, where the story does not focus on a player character defeating a clear, powerful enemy. Instead, the story centers on the character's growth in making good choices and improving their moral character.
After the previous three Ultima games, in which the members of the Triad of Evil were defeated, the world of Sosaria changed greatly. Three-fourths of the land disappeared, continents rose and sank, and new cities were built to replace those that were lost. Eventually, the world was renamed Britannia and ruled by Lord British. Lord British believed the people needed a purpose after their battles against the Triad ended. He was also concerned about their mental and spiritual health in this new peaceful time. To help them, he announced the Quest of the Avatar, asking someone to become a role model for others to follow.
Unlike most role-playing games, Ultima IV is not set in a time of darkness. Instead, Britannia is a peaceful and prosperous world similar to Renaissance Italy or the legendary city of Camelot. The goal of the game is for the main character to grow in living a virtuous life, as the land is at peace. The character must become a spiritual leader and example for the people of Britannia. The game follows the protagonist’s journey to understand and practice the Eight Virtues. After learning about each Virtue, finding special items, and exploring the Stygian Abyss to obtain the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, the protagonist becomes an Avatar.
However, actions in the game can cause a character to lose the Virtues they have gained, making it harder to achieve the goals of Truth, Love, Courage, and the bigger idea of Infinity, which are needed to finish the game. While anyone can become an Avatar, the hero remains the only known Avatar in later games. Over time, the hero is seen more and more as a myth.
Gameplay
In Ultima IV, players are not simply given statistics to assign points to, as in earlier games. Instead, a gypsy fortune-teller presents players with ethical dilemmas using cards similar to tarot cards that represent the Eight Virtues. These situations do not have one correct answer. Players must rank the Eight Virtues, and the virtue they choose as most important determines the type of character they will play. For example, choosing Compassion creates a Bard, Honor creates a Paladin, and Sacrifice creates a Tinker. This is the first Ultima game where players must choose to play as a human, removing the option to play as other races like elves, dwarves, or "bobbits" that were available in earlier games. Even in previous games, non-human races were never used for non-player characters (NPCs).
Each profession in the game is tied to a specific virtue. To become an Avatar, players must achieve understanding of all eight virtues. A player's choices and actions influence how NPCs interact with them. Understanding a virtue is gained through actions and by meditating at shrines located across Britannia. Each shrine is linked to a specific virtue and requires the player to have the corresponding rune to enter. By meditating and repeating the virtue's mantra three times at the shrine, the player gains knowledge and understanding of that virtue. A guide named Hawkwind, who lives in Lord British's castle, provides players with feedback on their progress in the virtues. He advises players on actions that improve their standing in each virtue, tells them when they are ready to visit a shrine, or warns them if they have strayed from the path of the Avatar. For example, giving help to the poor improves Sacrifice, and never fleeing from battle improves Valor. Players can also lower their virtues through in-game actions, such as choosing a boastful response in a conversation (which lowers Humility). Most actions have a small effect on a virtue's progress, but some actions can greatly harm progress in multiple virtues.
Technically, Ultima IV was similar to Ultima III: Exodus but much larger. It was the first Ultima game to include a dynamic conversation system. Earlier games had NPCs that only gave one answer when spoken to, but in Ultima IV, players could choose topics to discuss with NPCs, such as asking about their name, job, or health. These topics could be selected from a standard list or based on previous answers or information from other characters. Many quests in the game relied on this system. Players who had played the game before could save time by knowing answers to key questions, which sometimes required traveling to other cities to speak with other NPCs. In one example, a player might be asked, "Who sent you?" which could require traveling between cities again.
Another new feature was dungeon rooms, which were special combat areas in dungeons that added variety to standard battles against random enemies.
Ultima IV is an open-world game where most quests can be completed in any order. There are no fetch quests, where players are asked to retrieve specific items. Although the game is turn-based, time continues to pass while the game is active. If a player does not act for a long time, NPCs and monsters may move, and time will advance. Time is an important part of the game because certain actions can only be done at specific times.
The world of Britannia was first fully introduced in Ultima IV, and the map of Britannia changed little in later games. Players can travel across Britannia by walking, riding a horse, sailing on a ship, or flying in a "lighter than air device." The speed and ease of travel depend on the method of travel, terrain, and wind conditions.
The Eight Virtues of the Avatar, their connection to the Three Principles of Truth, Love, and Courage, and how gameplay is designed around them are as follows:
Development
Richard Garriott stated that he did not receive any customer feedback for his first three games because the companies California Pacific Computer and Sierra On-Line did not send him letters. After his own company released Ultima III, Garriott—who attended a Christian Sunday school that welcomed people of different faiths as a teenager—realized (in part because of angry letters from parents) that earlier games required players to perform immoral actions, such as stealing or killing peaceful citizens, to win. Garriott wanted to become a better storyteller and ensure his games had meaningful content. He noted that 90% of games at the time, including his first three Ultima games, followed a simple story pattern: "go kill the evil bad guy." Garriott said, "Ultima IV was the first game to include ethical themes and told a more thoughtful story." Shay Addams, Garriott's official biographer, wrote that Garriott decided to add meaningful ideas and symbols to his work if people were going to search for hidden meaning, so they could reflect on worthwhile themes. To help players feel responsible for their character's choices, Garriott intended for players to see themselves as the character in a fantasy world, not as a separate person. He removed gameplay features, such as playing as non-human characters, that he believed could prevent players from connecting with their character.
Years after its release, 1UP.com described Ultima IV as "a direct criticism of people who tried to criticize RPGs for being immoral" and noted that "it seemed ironic that a game labeled 'evil' presented Christian values better than some critics who claimed to support them." The game’s moral choices were designed to let players gain short-term rewards for unethical behavior, only to later face consequences. Garriott hoped this would encourage players to think more carefully about their decisions. Near the end of the game, players are asked to seemingly kill children, who are later revealed to be monsters. One playtester said they would quit over this choice, but Garriott kept it in the game, believing it helped players reflect emotionally.
The game’s idea came from Garriott watching a TV documentary about religion that included the Dead Sea Scrolls and a Hindu temple in India. The concept of virtues was inspired by a TV show about Hindu avatars, which described them as needing to master 16 virtues. The eight virtues in the game were based on combinations of truth, love, and courage, which Garriott found effective. These ideas also appeared in his favorite film, The Wizard of Oz. The game took two years to develop, twice as long as Ultima II and Ultima III. Garriott said the playtesting was "slightly rushed" to meet the Christmas release date, and he was the only person who completed the game before publishing.
Like other Origin games, Ultima IV was developed for the Apple II computer and later adapted for other systems. Garriott was an Apple II user and programmer, and he said that porting games from the Commodore 64 or Atari 8-bit computers to the Apple II was "far more difficult, perhaps even impossible." As in earlier games, Ultima IV did not allow players to save their progress in dungeons due to technical challenges Garriott called "non-trivial."
The ankh, used as a symbol of the Avatar’s virtuous path, was chosen after Garriott saw it in the movie Logan’s Run. In a 1985 interview, Garriott said he was working on Ultima IV: Part 2 and Ultima V. Only Ultima V was eventually completed.
Versions
Richard Garriott wrote most of the main programming code for Ultima IV, just as he did for earlier games in the series. However, as the games became more complex, he needed help from outside programmers for tasks he was not familiar with, such as adding music and improving how the game used disk space. Ultima IV was the first game in the series to require a 64k Apple II computer, and it was mainly designed for newer models like the Apple IIe and IIc. It could still run on an older Apple II+ if a special card was used to increase the computer’s memory to 64k (Garriott himself used a II+ at this time). Like Ultima III, Ultima IV also supported the Mockingboard sound card, which allowed Apple II users to hear three-voice music. Special disk routines made Ultima IV load faster than previous games, which was important because the game now used two floppy disks instead of one due to its larger size.
In the Apple II version of Ultima IV, two non-player characters (NPCs) had their dialog accidentally left out, leaving them in their default test states. One of these NPCs was crucial to completing the game, as it provided the final answer needed to finish the story. Because this character did not respond properly, players had to guess the correct answer or find it from sources outside the game. This mistake was later acknowledged in Ultima V, where the NPC admitted its error to the player.
The Commodore 64 version of Ultima IV was the first in the series to fully use the computer’s hardware features instead of simply copying the Apple II’s graphics and sound. It included in-game music and came on two 1541 disks. Like the Apple II version, the first side of the first disk (labeled “Program”) was copy protected, while the other sides (“Overworld,” “Town,” and “Dungeon”) were not. Players were instructed to make backups of the unprotected sides. If the user had two disk drives, they would keep the “Overworld” side of Disk 1 in Drive 0 and switch the “Town” or “Dungeon” disk in Drive 1 as needed. The “Overworld” disk was also used to save and load the player’s progress. One major criticism of the Commodore 64 version was the lack of a fast disk loader, which made disk access much slower compared to the Apple II version’s optimized routines.
Ultima IV was the last game in the series released for Atari 8-bit computers. It did not include music and used single-density disks, requiring four disks instead of two, as in the Apple II and Commodore 64 versions.
The IBM PC version of Ultima IV was released two years after the 8-bit versions. It added support for EGA and Tandy graphics, as well as hard disk storage. It did not include music. Only the MS-DOS and Atari ST versions allowed players to transfer their character to Ultima V and VI.
The Atari ST version of Ultima IV was released in 1987, and the Amiga version in 1988. Both were similar to the IBM PC version and did not fully use their respective hardware features. The Atari ST version supported MIDI music, which could be played on a connected synthesizer or sampler. The Atari ST version included both music and sound effects, while the Amiga version only had music. Both versions used a mouse. Only the Atari ST version allowed players to transfer their character to Ultima V and VI.
Like Ultima III, Ultima IV was released for the NES by FCI and Pony Canyon. This version, titled Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, was released in 1990.
The NES version of Ultima IV was very different from other versions. The graphics and music were completely redesigned, and the number of dialogue options was reduced. Players could not have all seven recruitable characters in their party at the same time, as was possible in other versions. Extra characters would stay at a hostel in Castle Britannia, requiring players to return there to switch characters. The combat system was similar to the PC versions but included an automated combat option. Spell-casting was simplified, and some puzzles were removed. The character Julia the Tinker was replaced with a male character named Julius. These changes were due to the memory limits of the NES cartridge, which could not hold as much data as multiple floppy disks.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar for the Sega Master System was the only Ultima game released on a Sega platform. It was published by Sega in 1990 and featured completely redrawn graphics (retaining the original style from the PC version), a simpler conversation system, and the regular Ultima IV background music. Unlike the NES version, the Master System version did not use a top-down view for dungeons, instead using a perspective similar to Ultima VI. Most cartridges were made for the European market, as they included a multilingual manual (English, French, and German), original books, and a folded map. The books were different colors for each edition and did not fit inside the game box. A graphical error in this version showed a man with a mustache in the gypsy’s picture, even though the gypsy was referred to as “she” in the text.
xu4 is a game engine recreation of Ultima IV being developed for the Dreamcast, Linux, Mac OS X, RISC OS, and Windows.
Two other remakes of Ultima IV used the Neverwinter Nights engine. An online version was created using Adobe Flash. In March 2011, Electronic Arts sent a legal notice to stop the Flash project. In 2015, a fan-made remaster of the Commodore 64 version was released with source code on GitHub, fixing bugs and improving the game.
A free DOS version of Ultima IV is available through GOG.com. Electronic Arts released the game as freeware in 2011 to promote its free-to-play remake, Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar, which was released in 2013.
Reception
Ultima IV was the best-selling game on Billboard's software sales list for February and March 1986. In the United States, it sold more than 100,000 copies by August 1986. Worldwide sales of Ultima IV reached over 400,000 copies by May 1989.
In 1986, Scorpia of Computer Gaming World called Ultima IV "an incredible game." She noted that experience was earned only through combat, which she found "tedious." She encouraged readers to try the game, saying, "This will be a classic… go get it!!" Ultima IV became the first game to replace Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord—the top-rated adventure game for five years—in a magazine reader poll. It was named the best game of 1986 by the magazine. In 1987, Scorpia said Ultima IV changed the role-playing game genre by focusing on character development instead of killing monsters or collecting items. In 1991 and 1993, she called it her favorite game. In 1994, she said "maybe nothing ever will" surpass it. After retiring from game reviews, she called it "my all-time, number one, favorite RPG."
In June 1986, Dragon magazine's Hartley and Pattie Lesser described Ultima IV as "the most impressive and complex adventure to date; a total adventuring environment that takes place across an entire continent." In September 1986, Mike Gray praised the game as "the best computer simulation of a true fantasy role-playing experience I have ever seen." He said players with an Apple II or Commodore 64 or 128 should own the game to complete their collection of fantasy role-playing games. He called Ultima IV "incredible" and warned readers not to miss it, even if finding a copy took time.
Famitsu reviewed the Famicom (NES) version of Ultima IV and gave it a score of 31 out of 40. Computer and Video Games magazine reviewed the Sega Master System version in 1990 and gave it an 89% score.
Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, wrote in 1988 that Ultima IV and a few other games "have stood pretty much alone as quirks instead of trend setters" in the computer role-playing game industry, as other games did not follow their innovations.
In 1988, Ultima IV was among the first games in the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, with a score of 7.80 out of 10. In 1990, it received the third-highest number of votes in a reader survey of "All-Time Favorites." In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the second-best video game of all time and the second most-innovative computer game. In 2013, IGN placed Ultima IV at #26 in its list of the top 100 RPGs of all time. In 2015, Peter Tieryas of Tor.com said the NES version "represented a different type of ideal… You make up the narrative and you determine the course of your journey, engendering a sense of immersion that had the effect of making you feel like you were in more control than any previous RPG."