Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar - Interview

Capsule Computers has a new interview with Carrie Gouskos the Senior Producer at Mythic Studios.

What made you bring Ultima Forever out onto iOS platform?

Ultima Forever was originally developed on PC, but always with cross-platform in mind so that players could explore together from different devices. After getting it up and running on PC, our next step was to put in on a tablet. We had some previous experience developing on iOS, so that’s why we chose that first. And when we got that initial build running on an iPad – something happened, like a lightbulb. It felt really good at that size, at that perspective, so we decided to release mobile first instead of PC. This had the added benefit of being able to bring this type of multiplayer online game to a whole new batch of gamers, while still being able to offer it to loyal Ultima fans. Our original goal is still intact, to expand to other platforms – beginning with Android. Of course, it will always depend on the needs and desires on each device, but we would like to make it available to as many people as possible.

What’s your main goal for this game for players that new to the Ultima series? What do you want to achieve with this game?

We want them to enjoy themselves first and foremost.  We also want them to get a glimpse into Ultima’s rich backstory and world, one that has stood up to multiple iterations over the years.  We hope they will fall in love with the lore as much as we have, but at the end of the day, if they just enjoy the game, either solo or with friends, that’s fine too. As a side goal, we really hope that we’ve been able to unlock a new game experience on mobile devices. For those of us that remember the first time we played in a vast open world, interacting with so many other players, grouping and going into dungeons – we want to bring that enjoyment and excitement to new people.

Can we expect to see more from the Ultima Forever series on iOS further on down the track?

We want to continue to support the game and obviously we want to give people more of what they want.  Who knows what the future holds, but I’m pretty sure Ultima is truly forever.