The Ultima Underworld Demo
Produced by: Origin Systems
Ultima Underworld Demo
A demo release of Ultima Underworld.
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This is the Ultima Underworld demo that was released back in 1992, which includes the entire first level of the Abyss. This demo was used by Origin Systems to demonstrate the game’s new 3D engine technology, something almost entirely foreign to PC gamers back in the early 90s. Copies were available from computer stores, and in select copies of Ultima VII.
As you might expect, this demo works beautifully in DOSBox.
I just played through to check it out. Here’s the differences I noticed:
* Player character is a fighter with random traits. Physical stats seem to be between 12 and 30 while all skills are about 4-12, enough points to try out all the skills.
* There is an extra panel in the botom right with the name of the game printed on it, obliviously for a presentational demo, but it blocks part of the scroll. Text line lengths on the scroll seem to have been adjusted to account for this.
* The silver sapling and the plaque describing it are missing from the game. The banner is still there however.
* There is an oil flask near the central shaft
* The window on the central shaft is not usable – I’m guessing this was a space-saving decision so that they didn’t have to include the window view graphics
* There are remains of someone in checkered room just south of the green goblin area
* There are several mellow ghosts in the pillar puzzle room
* In the room oppoiste the pillar puzzle room, where you find the chain cowl, there is a headless instead of the skeleton found in the regular game, so that’s a much more difficult fight.
* Cannot save or restore game in the demo
Two things I forgot to include:
* Looking at the builder’s grave (at the top of the pillar jumping puzzle) doesn’t show a close up of the tombstone. I assume this is for the same reason that the central window view doesn’t work: to keep the demo size small by not including the graphics needed for these views
* The red ruby at the bottom of the spiral stairs is a jeweled crown
* Cannot sleep, cannot use a bedroll, cannot use F10. Again I assume this is because they didn’t include the dream sequence graphics. Why they didn’t just fade to black and back up again, I don’t know.