The First Age of Darkness
This article is about a manual for the game Ultima I. For other uses, see Age of Darkness (disambiguation).
The book Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness was packaged with the re-release of Ultima I and the Ultima Trilogy I II III compilation. While the text does not name an author, an epilogue on the back cover mentions Dave Albert. It is written from a perspective that blends in-universe lore with real-world credits. It is 39 pages long.
Description[edit]
The original release of Ultima I contained a completely different manual: Playbook, which held little lore and was more an instruction booklet. With The First Age of Darkness, the re-released Ultima I bridges the gap between the original game and its sequels by greatly expanding the story from an in-game perspective. The lore of the world was vastly expanded with this new book (expanding the previously rudimentary story into a deeper plot) and it contains numerous completely original illustrations, most of which are never seen in other books.
In an apparent continuity error, Trinsic and Jhelom—cities introduced in Ultima IV—are mentioned within the manual, despite not appearing in the game itself. This is likely due to the booklet being produced after the release of Ultima IV.
Book Content[edit]
The book contains the following topics:
Other Editions[edit]
The book was faithfully translated for the Japanese versions made by Pony Canyon for the MSX2, PC-88 and PC-98, retaining all of the content of the original. The book was later re-printed in the Trilogy Manual with no changes, apart from removing the ornamental page borders. That one also was released in Japan by Fujitsu for the port to the FM-Towns.
Alternate Covers[edit]
Japanese edition cover
Gallery[edit]
Back cover
External Links[edit]
- The First Age of Darkness (PDF)
- Pix’s Origin Adventures (PDF) – Ultima 1 Remake – Manual
- The First Age of Darkness (PDF) – high quality
- The First Age of Darkness (PDF) – Japanese edition
| 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 | Escape from Mt. Drash (Manual) ☥ Shroud of the Avatar (Adventurer's Manual) |