Playbook
Playbook comes with the original release of Ultima I (then simply titled “Ultima”) from California Pacific. It is 10 pages long. In-game, an unknown Sosarian is the author of the book. In real-life, Richard Garriott wrote the book.
Description[edit]
In the remake, this book was replaced with the book The First Age of Darkness. The book is basically little more than an instruction manual with no narrative. However, unusual for 1980, it sports lots of nice illustrations created by Denis Loubet, which mostly show pictures of the various monsters encountered in the game. Also, unusually, everything was printed with brown ink.
Book Content[edit]
The following topics are part of the book:
- Loading Instructions
- Movement
- Space Travel
Other Editions[edit]
The book got two further releases. The second release by California Pacific changed the cover of the book, while the inside was now printed with black ink instead of brown one. Meanwhile, Sierra re-release as Ultima I – The Original contained a very different playbook. The cover is a pencil sketch of the castle of the backcover of the Ultima II box and all illustrations were removed.
Alternate Covers[edit]
2nd California Pacific release
Cover of the "The Original" release
External Links[edit]
| Ultima Game Manuals | |
|---|---|
| Age of Darkness | Akalabeth (manual) ☥ Ultima I (Playbook, manual) ☥ Ultima II (manual) ☥ Ultima III (play guide, cleric guide, wizard guide) |
| Age of Enlightenment | Ultima IV (History of Britannia, Mystic Wisdom) ☥ Ultima V (Book of Lore, journal) ☥ Ultima VI (Compendium) |
| Age of Armageddon | Ultima VII (Fellowship, Isle of Fire) ☥ Ultima VII Part Two (Serpent Pillars, Silver Seed) ☥ Ultima VIII (Chronicle) ☥ Ultima IX (Spellbook, journal) |
| Underworld | Underworld (Memoirs) ☥ Underworld II (Safe Passage) |
| Worlds of Ultima | Savage Empire (Ultimate Adventures) ☥ Martian Dreams (Red Planet, Time Travel) |
| Compilations | Ultima Trilogy I (Trilogy manual) ☥ Ultima Trilogy II (The Age of Virtue) ☥ Ultima Collection (Ultima Atlas) |
| Other | Shroud of the Avatar (Adventurer's Manual) |