Critters Not Seen in Ultima Underworld

In Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss there are twelve critter sprite sets defined in the game data files that are never seen in the game.

Description[edit]

Critters are what the Ultima Underworld engine calls its mobile objects - objects that move freely around in the game such as monsters, NPCs, and the player character. Critters are rendered visually using sprite sets (except in the Playstation version which uses 3d models) and color palettes.

The game is rendered in 256 colors, but each sprite set can only use 32 unique colors. Which 32 of the 256 colors are to used to render the sprite on screen is determined by the palette. Sprite sets can be reused with a different palette to represent a different critter. For example the green and grey goblins use the same sprite set but a different palette.

The game engine code has 64 slots for critter definition sets that consist of a sprite set and a palette, however there 76 such combinations defined in the data files, thus there are 12 sets that are never seen in the game.

Critters #0 through #63 are the 64 that are defined in the game. Critter #63 is the slot for the player character, but since there are no mirrors, cutscenes, 3rd person views, or other opportunties to see the player in game, this critter sprite set is never rendered. However, this doesn't mean it's not seen in game, as critter #63 is actually a duplicate of critter #26, the male fighter with green sleeves. Note that this is hardcoded to the player character regardless of the chosen sex and class.

The unseen critters are:

A brown bat
A blacked out void bat
A mountainman with a red helmet
A female fighter with blonde hair and green sleeves
Female mages with light skin and grey hair, in yellow, red, and green robes
A water elemental
Another shadow beast
Male mages in blue and yellow robes
A male mage in a yellow robe with a staff

Gallery[edit]

Critter Number	Animation Name	Palette Number	Notes
63	fight32	0	An adventurer The same sprite & palette as an outcast
64	bat	2	A brown bat
65	batskull	1	A shadow version of the void bat
66	dwarf32	2	A mountainman with a red helmet
67	femfite	2	A female fighter / bandit Blonde with green sleeves
68	femwiz	1	A gray haired female in yellow robe
69	femwiz	2	A gray haired female in red robe
70	femwiz	3	A gray haired female in green robe it's a shame this wasn't used, it's the only green robed character in the game
71	fire	1	Looks like a water elemental They could have picked some lighter colors though.
72	shadow	1	An alternate shadow beast It's not actually this color, this color internally is a translucency lookup place-holder color
73	wiza	3	A light skinned male in blue robes
74	wiza	4	A dark skinned male in blue robes
75	wizb	2	A light skinned male in red robes with a staff Maybe this was originally Tyball before he got his own sprites?

Trivia[edit]

There are some animations defined in the sprite sets that are not used in-game. The mountainmen and the fighters (male and female) have animations for sheathing and unsheathing their weapons, but these aren't shown in-game.