Ultima 3 ROM

Ultima 3 is a Game Boy Color ROM Hack made by Sven Carlberg in English. It was last updated on February 24, 2022.

Also, be sure to check out The Binding of Isaac – Game Boy Edition.

Description

Ultima 3 was ported to the Game Boy Color, first released in 2001. Graphics were lifted from the C64 16×16 tiles and shrunk to 8×8. Music was converted from the C64 SIDs. Game logic, text, etc, were taken from the MS-DOS version. In order to achieve the highest fidelity, the MS-DOS version was decompiled, and portions were converted to C. Things like when a ship a generated, to-hit/damage battle calculations, whirlpool movement, etc, are all maintained. Therefore, this version should play exactly like the MS-DOS version.

Original Description

Ultima III: Exodus (originally released as Exodus: Ultima III) is the third game in the series of Ultima role-playing video games. Exodus is also the name of the game’s principal antagonist. It is the final installment in the “Age of Darkness” trilogy. Released in 1983, it was the first Ultima game published by Origin Systems. Originally developed for the Apple II, Exodus was eventually ported to 13 other platforms, including a NES/Famicom remake.

Exodus featured revolutionary graphics for its time, as one of the first computer RPGs to display animated characters. Also, Exodus differs from previous games in that players now direct the actions of a party of four characters rather than just one. During regular play the characters are represented as a single player icon and move as one. However, in battle mode, each character is represented separately on a tactical battle screen.

The player alternates commands between each character in order, followed by each enemy character having a turn. This differs from the two previous games in the Ultima series in which the player is simply depicted as trading blows with one opponent on the main map until either is defeated. Enemies on the overworld map can be seen and at least temporarily avoided, while enemies in dungeons appear randomly without any forewarning.

Important Note

When you finish Ultima 3 and start the new adventure, do not disperse your party and form another one. If you do this, you will start at the beginning of Ultima 3 – you will not continue the post-Ultima 3 adventure with the new players. The 11 clues in the second adventure are a logic puzzle. Here is an online resource to help solve it.

Cheats

When you beat the second adventure, you’re presented with a congratulations screen that tells you to “ENTER 37,18” which corresponds to coordinates on Sosaria. If you “ENTER” that square, you will be taken to a cheat menu with lots of different cheat options. The easiest way to get there is to position your avatar over Lord British’s castle and walk 8 squares to the left. Some cheats are not intuitive (only have so much screen real estate) so here’s a better list of descriptions:

• MUSIC – Select/test all music in the game.
• XRAY – See through all tiles.
• NOFIGHT – Automatically win every battle.
• NOHURT – HP never decreases.
• NOBLOCK – Walk through any tile.
• FULL MP – MP never decreases.
• NOCLASS – All characters can cast all spells.
• MAX ALL – Max stats, exp, level, food, gems, keys, powders, torches ; all armors, all weapons.
• +POWERS – In the original game, grants all marks/cards to everyone. In second adventure, grants all the powers.
• -POWERS – In the original game, removes all marks/cards from everyone. In second adventure, removes all the powers.
• JUMPEND – In the original game, this starts the ending sequence after defeating Exodus. If you enter/exit any castle/town after this, you’ll begin the second adventure. In the second adventure this doesn’t do anything, but if you +POWERS and then OTHER > BUILD, that will start the ending sequence where you can play the final arcade-like game.

The battles in the second adventure are very hard. Probably the best way to enjoy the second game is to turn on the “NOFIGHT” and “MAX ALL” cheats and then just explore the game and solve the puzzles.

Useful Links

Ultima Codex

Gamebrew

Reddit

Github