The Book of Play

The Book of Play originally came packaged with Ultima III. It is 22 pages long. No "in-game" author is provided. Margaret Ellen Weigers and Roe R. Adams are credited for writing the book.

Description
The Book of Play places much more emphasis on lore and internal consistency than its predecessor, although, it does not yet follow the later Ultima tradition of being written entirely from an "in-game" perspective. It does still contain gameplay instructions and screenshots of the interface, things that later would be relegated to the reference cards. Numerous accompanying illustrations not present in previous Ultima manuals are found within.

Book Content
The following topics are part of the book:


 * Foreword
 * Instructions
 * Moongates
 * The town facilities
 * Bestiary
 * The Story so far...

Other Editions
In Japan, the book was translated twice, first by Starcraft, then by Ponycanyon. While the book from Starcraft has little to do with the original, Ponycanyon did a faithful translation, with the book being in its original form. The book was later reprinted in the Trilogy Manual, in English and Japanese versions depending on the market, with no changes apart from shifting the back story to the front of the book.

There also is a French translation for the release from publisher Ediciel. The book was shrunk considerably and has a different cover. Though it's said to be fully translated, nothing as of now has arisen about the contents.