Ultima IV Reference Card
This is the reference card coming with Ultima IV.
Description[edit]
This reference card sports a piece of art from The History of Britannia on its cover. Again the reference card compared to the previous game has grown. Apart from port-specific instructions, it again holds the commands and an explanations what those do. Much emphasis is put on an explanation about how important conversations are in the game. The interface is explained as well. Suprisingly, the moon phases and the Runic alphabet are explained as well - topics which in all future games were part of the in-universe manual.
Other Editions[edit]
For each port, a slightly different reference card was released. Those cards can mostly be kept apart by the ink they were being printed with. The card for the C64 is printed with red ink, the one for the IBM-PC and Amiga with blue ink, for the Apple II and Atari ST with brown ink (ST green in Europe) and for the Atari 800 with green ink. The release by US Gold in Europe has a simple print with black ink. The release in the Ultima Trilogy IV V VI would combine this with the other reference cards.
Two different versions were released for Japanese computers. The version created by PonyCanyon for the PC-98 is a direct translation of the original card, while the version from Fujitsu for the FM-Towns does have a different cover.
Alternate Covers[edit]
Apple II reference card
C64 reference card
Amiga reference card
Atari 800 reference card
US Gold C64 reference card
PC-98 reference card
FM-Towns reference card
Trivia[edit]
- This reference card is the first time that the Runic alphabet actually is translated for the player. However, unlike later it's missing a runic letter for Q, while U and V share the same runic letter.
External Links[edit]
- The reference card (C64 version) (PDF)
- The reference card (Amiga version) (PDF)
- The reference card (US Gold C64 version) (PDF)
- Japanese PC-98 reference card (PDF)
- Japanese FM-Towns reference card (PDF)
| Ultima Reference Cards and Player's Guides | |
|---|---|
| Age of Darkness | Ultima I (original reference card, remake reference card) ☥ Ultima II (reference card) ☥ Ultima III (reference card) |
| Age of Enlightenment | Ultima IV (reference card) ☥ Ultima V (reference card) ☥ Ultima VI (reference guide) |
| Age of Armageddon | Ultima VII (reference card, install guide, FoV install guide) ☥ Ultima VII Part Two (reference guide, install guide, SS install guide) Ultima VIII (playguide, install guide) ☥ Ultima IX (install guide) |
| Underworld | Underworld (play guide, reference card, install guide) ☥ Underworld II (play guide, reference card, install guide) |
| Worlds of Ultima | Savage Empire (reference guide, start guide) ☥ Martian Dreams (reference guide, start guide) |
| Compilations | Ultima Trilogy I (reference guide) ☥ Ultima Trilogy II (reference card) ☥ Ultima Series I-VI (reference guide) ☥ Ultima Collection (install guide) |