Lord of Ultima



Lord of Ultima is a 2D browser-based real-time strategy game, developed and run by EA Phenomic.

The game is set in the land of Caledonia, a series of island that has risen from the sea with the destruction of Sosaria. In Lord of Ultima, gameplay primarily resolves around collecting resources, including: stone, wood, iron, and food to expand one's cities and armies. Players can use these resources to expand their cities and armies, and then battle against each other for power and prestige.

Players start off being given control of a single city, which they must expand and protect. For the first 7 days they are protected from attack by other players, but after this they can be freely attacked. They can also use their armies to attack surrounding dungeons, monsters, and other players. Alliances can be joined, and they often offer protection from attack by other players. The player can even purchase EA's Play4Free Funds online to more rapidly progress in game, enabling the player to hasten resource gathering and building speed.

About Lord of Ultima
Strategy MMO, Empire building game

Story Overview
You start your journey with a humble village which you grow over time into a mighty and prosperous capital. On your path to glory you will have to expand your power by creating additional cities, exploring new continents and forging a vast empire.

You must master the art of diplomacy and trade as well as the military activities of spying, plundering, attacking and sieging enemy cities to finally become the mighty and feared Lord of Ultima.

Game Features
Lord of Ultima features deep strategic gameplay and multiple social features including an advanced trading system, alliance features, online chat, and forums.

At launch the game was available in the English and German languages.


 * Deepest gameplay experience in the genre – You can customize your city in ways never seen before in this genre. Choose among 27 building types. Place and combine them strategically to maximize their effectiveness. For example, place woodcutters and a sawmill next to a forest to maximize the collected resources or build a training ground next to your barracks to increase your recruitment speed.
 * A quest book full of interesting missions will guide you through exploring all the strategic possibilities Lord of Ultima has for you.
 * Plunder dungeons and defeat mighty bosses to win their treasures.
 * Choose your personal path to glory – Prosper as a peaceful merchant by trading resources over land or by sea and using diplomacy. Or become a feared conqueror, by creating mighty armies of knights and mages to crush your enemies.
 * Forging alliances with other players will help you in your ultimate quest.
 * Lord of Ultima looks stunning – Lord of Ultima is the best looking game in its genre. Cities offer unseen level of detail and are packed with numerous animations. For comfortable navigation, players can zoom into their city as well as explore the lands of Caledonia in the region view.
 * Empire building for everyone – You don’t have to be an expert in strategy games to enjoy Lord of Ultima. Easy to learn but difficult to master, the game was designed to be fun for everyone. There is no registration required to play. Once in the game, an extensive tutorial will guide you through your first steps.
 * Play4Free, runs in a browser – Lord of Ultima is a free game, accessible from your browser: No download or installation is needed.

Expansions
Each expansion for Lord of Ultima is named after a previous game in the Ultima series, but are unrelated to the respective game.

Serpent Isle
Released on October 7, 2010, "Serpent Isle" includes the following new features:
 * New overviews
 * Report filters
 * Alliance report sharing
 * Customizable Alliance member rights
 * Player and Alliance Ranking

Ascension
Released on November 2, 2010, "Ascension" includes the following changes:
 * Research to create purified resources
 * City Building modifications
 * Building and Defense Ministers
 * Build Queue
 * Alliance Forums
 * Combat Reports
 * Chat

Forge of Virtue
Released on December 8, 2010, "Forge of Virtue" includes the following new features:
 * Lord of Ultima Quest
 * Trade Minister
 * World Map
 * Event and Newsletter System
 * Art Update
 * Music & Sound
 * Overviews

Other Game Updates
After "Forge of Virtue", Game Updates have been released steadily, but are unnamed and are generally referred to by release date. A number of improvements have been made, but none with such sweeping changes as the above expansions.


 * Moongates were added with the 3/13/2012 patch. Along with this, Moonstones were re-added to the game, and two new artifacts were added for obtaining Moonstones.
 * Two new articles were added with the 4/24/2012 patch to speed the movement of trade units.
 * The July 2012 patch is planned, and will include a Fortune Teller card reading (replacing the daily bonus), light and dark castle customization, and six new buildings.

Trivia

 * Lord of Ultima has its own wiki, The Great Libraries of Caledonia.
 * The gameplay is similar to other browser-based strategy sames such as Evony.
 * An unrelated, cancelled Origin project from 1988, multi-player Ultima, has some similarities in concept to Lord of Ultima.
 * The music introduced with "Forge of Virtue" is the same soundtrack that was to be used in Ultima X.
 * EA Phenomic was criticized for using provocative advertising, similar to the ones Evony used at the time.
 * There are several player-made mods (in form of browser scripts), which enhance the game interface.