Translations of Ultima games

Besides the various translations of Ultima VII, Ultima VIII, and Ultima IX, other titles were also translated into other languages. However, these efforts are far less known and catalogued. This article provides a small overview of the various official and unofficial translations that exist for other games. This list does not include console ports.

Releases where only the documentation was translated are not included in this list; refer instead to the articles for the specific documentation. Official translations include both the documentation and the game software itself.

Translations

Ultima I

Main article: Ultima I

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the MSX2, PC-88 and PC-98 were all translated to Japanese (while also featuring an English mode) by the company Pony Canyon. The FM Towns translation in turn was done by Fujitsu.

Ultima II

Main article: Ultima II

French Version
It is little known that Monegasque software distributor MCC translated Ultima II into French for the Atari ST, Atari 800, and C64. Next to nothing is known about this translation, other than that it exists.

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the MSX2, PC-88, PC-98 and FM Towns were all translated to Japanese. The translations for the PC-88 and PC-98 were done twice, first by StarCraft and then later by Pony Canyon. The translation for the MSX2 was done by Pony Canyon alone, while the FM Towns translation was done by Fujitsu and is bilingual – it also offers an English mode.

Ultima III

Main article: Ultima III

French Version
The French publisher Ediciel translated Ultima III for the Apple II. Translation work was done by Pierre Rosenthal. Next to nothing is known about this translation, other than that is does exist.

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the MSX2, PC-88, PC-98 and FM Towns were all translated to Japanese. The translations for the PC-88 and PC-98 were done twice, first by StarCraft and then later by Pony Canyon. The translation for the MSX2 was done by Pony Canyon alone, while the FM Towns translation was done by Fujitsu and is bilingual – it also offers an English mode.

Ultima IV

Main article: Ultima IV

French Version
Ultima IV had the dubious distinction of being translated into French, with both its manuals and in-game text fully translated. While the manual's translation was decent (albeit with some obvious mistakes), the in-game translation appears to have been done by individuals with no understanding of the language. An example of the mistakes in the translation is the translation of the traditional "Board Frigate" message seen when boarding a boat. It was translated as "Tableau Frégate", which translates "Board" as a noun, not a verb.

The French version contains a severe bug which prevents the use of any items – the player identifies items to be used via keyboard input, and the game recognizes neither the French nor the English spelling. As such, it is extremely difficult to become an 8-part Avatar since the player cannot use the Silver Horn to get to the Shrine of Humility, and impossible to complete the game since the player cannot use the Virtue Stones on the altars to get the Three Part Key, or the required items to open the Abyss.

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the MSX, PC-88, PC-98, X68000 and FM Towns were all translated to Japanese. Except for the FM Towns, all translations were done by Pony Canyon. The FM Towns translation was done by Fujitsu and is bilingual – it also offers an English mode.

Ultima V

Main article: Ultima V

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the PC-98, X68000 and FM Towns were all translated to Japanese. The translations for the PC-98 and X68000 were done by Pony Canyon. The FM Towns translation in turn was done by Fujitsu and is bilingual – it also offers an English mode.

Ultima VI

Main article: Ultima VI

Japanese Versions
In Japan, the ports for the PC-98, X68000 and FM Towns were all translated to Japanese. The translations for the PC-98 and X68000 were done by Pony Canyon. The FM Towns translation in turn was done by Fujitsu and is bilingual – it also offers an English mode. Naturally, the voice acting in the FM Towns port remains in English.

German Fan Translation
Ultima VI auf Deutsch is a fan translation of the game, done by Sir John. The game is fully translated into German, with only small compromises in the introduction and magical system due to hardcoding. Further details are available on the project's Codex page.

Spanish Fan Translation
Ultima VI: El Falso Profeta is a fan translation of the game, done by Dementia Traduxiones. The game is fully translated into Spanish, with only small compromises in the introduction and magical system due to hardcoding. Further details are available on the project's Codex page.

French Fan Translation
Ultima VI: Le Faux Prophète is a fan translation of the game, done by Yves, also known as Docwise Dragon. The game is fully translated into French, with only small compromises in the introduction and magical system due to hardcoding. Further details are available on the project's Codex page.

Savage Empire

Main article: Savage Empire

Japanese Versions
Pony Canyon released a Japanese version of Savage Empire for the PC-98 and X68000. It generally follows the same translation conventions as those applied to Ultima VI.

Ultima Underworld

Main article: Ultima Underworld

Japanese Versions
The game was fully translated to Japanese by Electronic Arts for the PC-98 and the FM Towns.

Ultima Underworld II

Main article: Ultima Underworld II

Japanese Versions
The game was fully translated to Japanese by Electronic Arts for the PC-98 and the FM Towns.

Ultima VII Part Two

Main article: Ultima VII Part Two

Spanish Version
Ultima VII Part Two was fully translated into Spanish (including the expansion), which includes the voice work. Interestingly, the title of the game was not translated. The translation work was done by the same team that translated Ultima VII, and thus also the same problem arises. This version did not account for common special characters, resulting in the absence of accented letters in the Spanish translation.

German Fan Translation
Ultima VII Part Two auf Deutsch is a fan translation of the game, done by Sir John. The project is complete and is a complete translation, including the expansion Silver Seed. It does include newly translated manuals. Details are on the Codex page for the project.

French Fan Translation
Serpent Isle in French is an Exult mod that translates the game plus expansion into French. The project is finished and available. Details are on the Codex page for the project.

Italian Fan Translation
A patch is available that translates the entire game plus expansion to Italian.

See Also

• Translations of Ultima VII
• Translations of Ultima VIII
• Translations of Ultima IX

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Translations of the Ultima series
Official Translations	In General ☥ Ultima VII ☥ Ultima VIII ☥ Ultima IX
Fan Translations of Ultima VI	German ☥ Spanish ☥ French
Fan Translations of Savage Empire (SNES)	English
Fan Translations of Ultima Underworld (PSX)	English
Fan Translations of Ultima VII	German ☥ Italian
Fan Translations of Ultima VII Part Two	German ☥ French