‘Ultima’ Creator Announces Ultimate RPG For PC

The creator of Ultima has announced the “ultimate RPG” for PC.

Richard Garriott, the creator of the Ultima RPG series, has announced plans to make what he calls the “ultimate role-playing game,” Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Garriott’s Portalarium studio has begun a Kickstarter.com campaign today to raise $1 million for development of his next game.

Richard Garriott told GameSpot that Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues will be simultaneously a throwback to the history of RPG games, as well as a vision of the future.

Shroud of the Avatar has nothing to do with the similarly-named item from World of Warcraft, just to be clear. It is not a massively multiplayer online role-playing game — or MMORPG to the veteran crowd — nor is it a solo game. It can be played online or offline, though in online mode you can see other players going about their merry ways. Richard Garriott explains that his “ultimate RPG” “will feel more like an MMO when you are online, in the sense that you’ll see both friends and strangers in the world alongside you.”

Richard Garriott says the game structure will be split into two distinct elements; An overworld map for traveling from point A to point B, and third-person encounters. Final Fantasy fans since Final Fantasy 7 should be familiar with that sort of change in perspective. Garriott says:

“And as you travel around the map it will feel like an Ultima 3-6 feeling. You’ll see both static locations that you can go find… as well as you’ll see mobile points of interests like bands of gypsies [traveling] around or dragons flying around mountains. And when you then find that encounter, it will take you down into what we call the scenario-level activity, which is a third-person, over-the-shoulder exploration of a scene.”

The first alpha testing period for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues should be held at the end of 2013, if all goes well.

What do you think about Ultima‘s creator making the “ultimate RPG” for PC?

Excited about Shroud of the Avatar?!? Then head over to our Kickstarter project and make your Pledge! fb.me/KTM7Y4MC

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) March 8, 2013