Pix's Origin Adventures

Ultima Underworld Logos & Box Stickers

May 11

Posted by Pix in Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld 2

In the interests of tidying away another folder of Origin oddments, I’ve a handful more items from the collection today. You may have already seen Paul Barnett’s coveted Ultima I logo on Youtube. My nearest equivalent are two proofs for the Ultima Underworld II logo as used on the box cover. I’m guessing that the older of the two wasn’t supposed to be quite so dark which would explain the second version a week later:-

Also, in the same folder are some unused stickers which in theory would have adorned Ultima Underworld boxes around 1992. The curious thing about these is that the words are the same but the design is nothing like the ones I’ve seen on boxes:-

I got some good news looking at the site stats today. After a falling out some weeks back, Google and my blog have patched things up and the site is now back up the search rankings again. I don’t expect to be top of the lists or anything but until a couple of days back I wasn’t even making the front page on a search for “pixs origin adventures”. Since being given the Google cold shoulder, site traffic had halved and search referrals dropped tenfold and it’s not before time that this got sorted out. I’m guessing the problem was all the Wing Commander 4 posts for the GOG release being classed as spamming so I’ll know not to do that again.

On the subject of GOG, I have to give a quick mention to the Quest For Glory series which was released on there for $9.99 yesterday. This is one of those series that is still on my list to finish but I love the first two games and they are worth the money on their own. I’m not so keen on QFG3 which has always been the stumbling block when I’ve attempted a play through. I’ve still not started on any of the Legend games having been sidetracked by Machinarium and Botanicula so maybe now is the time to give QFG another go.

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Wing Commander Prophecy Posters

May 10

Posted by Pix in Wing Commander Prophecy

I went shopping for a frame for my certificate at the weekend. While I was out I found a shop selling them in all sizes unbelievably cheaply, so I thought I might as well buy several and geek out the games room a bit (not that it needed it). The biggest frame I bought was for a nifty Wing Commander Prophecy poster, done in the style of a movie promo with the credits at the bottom. These were only ever available at trade shows and to the developers so they aren’t all that common. Some similar posters were also produced in larger quantities in Germany which don’t have the credits. I didn’t actually have enough wall space in my games room for this so it’s hanging in the hall outside, mercifully hiding some of the wallpaper:-

I’ve also got this developer version of the map poster that came with Prophecy. A decent photo proved impossible but the poster is exactly the same as the regular version as far as I can tell. The only difference is that unlike the ones in the box, it’s not been folded. I only have the room for so many giant Wing Commander posters on the wall so this one is going back to being rolled up for now:-

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PC Format Origin Collector’s Series

May 08

Posted by Pix in Bioforge, Magazine Scans, System Shock, Ultima 8, Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld 2, Wing Commander, Wing Commander - Privateer, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wings Of Glory

This is a 32 page pullout from the September 1994 PC Format. It’s the first entry in their collector’s series which featured companies like Microprose, Lucasarts & Gremlin. Since it’s on here, it goes without saying that this first volume is entirely on Origin:-

It includes a brief history of the company, interviews with Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts, previews of coming games (with Warren Spector interviews) and a look back at the Ultima and Wing Commander series. There is so much misinformation in the Ultima history that it beggars belief but there is plenty of good content in here otherwise. According to the Ultima 8 article, at this time Garriott saw the Avatar as being separated from the human plane and more of a supernatural being in Ultima 9 and already had an Ultima 10 plot ready to go.

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Wing Commander Academy Review – PC Format

May 08

Posted by Pix in Magazine Scans, Wing Commander Armada

September 1994 was a bumper month for Origin articles in PC Format. I’ll skip the Origin FX review given how short it was but here to start is a review of Wing Commander Armada. It’s not all that complimentary although I’d have to agree that it doesn’t compare well against Tie Fighter which was also reviewed in the same issue. Being able to fly against a real person was a new experience for me with this game though. I remember enjoying a few battles against my student housemates on a null-modem cable back in the day:-

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Wing Commander 3 Preview Part 2 – PC Format

May 07

Posted by Pix in Magazine Scans, Wing Commander 3

This is the second part of PC Format’s Wing Commander 3 preview, scanned from the August 1994 issue. It’s an interview with Frank Savage who was responsible for heading up the playable side of the game while Chris Roberts was busy directing the movies:-