Saturday, March 01, 2008
Framed!
Several few weeks ago, I was a "runner up" in a contest run by Corvus Elrod. He had a drawing to give away his review copy of The Witcher, which he'd not enjoyed at all (and said so in his controversial review at The Escapist).I say "Runner up" because I didn't get the copy of the game. Instead, he gave me the option of choosing one of about four or five condolence prizes. One of these was the cloth map from Ultima V.
As much as I would have liked to play The Witcher for free, from my perspective - I won the contest. As geeky as I am, and as an indie RPG developer, this map represents a bit of my history and the reasons I'm doing what I am doing. Maybe it wasn't my favorite Ultima of them all, but it has meaning to me. So I had the thing professionally framed.
Go ahead, call me a geek.
The framing cost me nearly $100, but DANG it came out looking cool. Geek cool, I guess. It's funny, because I know the cloth map was made as cheaply as possible as a pack-in for a $60 game. It probably cost about $2. But hey, twenty years later, it may not be a collector's item or anything, but I doubt it is easy to find.. And here it is, in it's blurry, crappy cell-phone-snapshot glory. Trust me, it looks a heck of a lot better live. They did a great job on the framing and cleaning of it, and it has been stretched and pressed just enough to make the twenty-year old folds disappear.
It inspires me.
And if I feel like playing Ultima V again - hey, I only need to look to my left to follow the map!
(Vaguely) related stuff:
* Game Moments #6 - Ultima VII
* The Origin of Fun
* The 16 Essential RPGs
.
Labels: retro, Roleplaying Games
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 2:00 PM (Permalink)
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Ooooh. Nice! I was never an Ultima player, thought I've thought about digging up the titles and giving them a try... but I do have some of the cloth maps from older Might and Magic games that might be nice if given this treatment. Not sure I'd spend $100 on them, but a decent wood frame and a bit of backing would make for something interesting to put on the wall.
Good choice. In my opinion, Ultima 6 and both of the 7's are best RPGs I've ever played. Quite a relic from an awesome series in the days they still cared about what they put in the box (possibly including the software itself)
# posted by 
: March 01, 2008 6:39 PM
: March 01, 2008 6:39 PM
Samrobb - I could have gone cheaper, too. In fact, I was planning on going cheaper... but after some discussion with my wife, we decided that if I was gonna do it, I may as well make it something really cool.
And it's a motivational thing. It's pretty hard to ignore. And so when I'm tired, frustrated, and wondering, "Why am I bothering to do this?" I can look at it and say, "That's why. I want to be part of this tradition, if only in my own small way."
@batlin - Well, you chose the handle "Batlin," based on Ultima 7 maybe? :) U7 is probably still my favorite RPG of all time, though there are a couple more that come close.
The thing that was cool is that the stuff that went into the box back then was assumed to be part of the experience. I mean, I'd read game manuals for PLEASURE back in the day. While some of it was lame copy protection measures, they did try and mask it a little bit so that you could immerse yourself into the fiction of the game a little better.
I'd have used the Ultima VI map, but unfortunately my copy of Ultima VI was a later, discounted release, with a map of heavy not-quite-cardstock paper.
And it's a motivational thing. It's pretty hard to ignore. And so when I'm tired, frustrated, and wondering, "Why am I bothering to do this?" I can look at it and say, "That's why. I want to be part of this tradition, if only in my own small way."
@batlin - Well, you chose the handle "Batlin," based on Ultima 7 maybe? :) U7 is probably still my favorite RPG of all time, though there are a couple more that come close.
The thing that was cool is that the stuff that went into the box back then was assumed to be part of the experience. I mean, I'd read game manuals for PLEASURE back in the day. While some of it was lame copy protection measures, they did try and mask it a little bit so that you could immerse yourself into the fiction of the game a little better.
I'd have used the Ultima VI map, but unfortunately my copy of Ultima VI was a later, discounted release, with a map of heavy not-quite-cardstock paper.
That is awesome, Jay! I know feel rather badly for having the rest of them tacked to the wall behind my desk.
Heh, I still haven't put up my framed Illusion of Gaia t-shirt. I've kept that thing wrapped and carried it between three apartments now. And yeah, framing that was a little over $100, too. Still, a cloth map gives you way more geek cred. B-)
Ultima IV sealed the deal for me.
BTW, check out "Blogging Ultima": http://bloggingultima.blogspot.com
It is really good read all the way from Akalabeth onward... he's on Ultima IX now!
BTW, check out "Blogging Ultima": http://bloggingultima.blogspot.com
It is really good read all the way from Akalabeth onward... he's on Ultima IX now!
I understand where you are coming from. This game has a major place in my own gaming background.
Some time ago I bid on an original boxed copy of U5 (Atari ST version) in order to get the map and the coin, both of which will be going into a frame.
I get the same thrill looking at the map that an art connoisseur must get when looking at an (historically) important painting.
For me, it brings back memories of those heady adventuring days, when I directed Lord British, Iolo, and the rest.
Cheers and congrats!
PS - I'm still looking for the cover art of U5 in poster form. If anyone reading this has clues on where to find one, please post!
Some time ago I bid on an original boxed copy of U5 (Atari ST version) in order to get the map and the coin, both of which will be going into a frame.
I get the same thrill looking at the map that an art connoisseur must get when looking at an (historically) important painting.
For me, it brings back memories of those heady adventuring days, when I directed Lord British, Iolo, and the rest.
Cheers and congrats!
PS - I'm still looking for the cover art of U5 in poster form. If anyone reading this has clues on where to find one, please post!
I find that to be very cool myself, but...couldn't you get a better picture than that? I wanna see this thing.
Seriously cool! The U5 map is also quite realistic looking compared to the later maps. I recently bought a book about historic sea maps and you can see where it comes from.
Also every nerd needs his personal wallpaper - in my case it's a professionally-framed oil painting of Patricia Arquette ;-)
take care,
Calibrator
Also every nerd needs his personal wallpaper - in my case it's a professionally-framed oil painting of Patricia Arquette ;-)
take care,
Calibrator
# posted by : March 02, 2008 9:26 PM
: March 02, 2008 9:26 PM
Rubes - Maybe. I'll hunt down our other camera.
Calibrator: Are we over-sharing here? :) But yeah - the Ultima IV map would have been a SLIGHTLY better score, but not because of the quality of the map - just because of ... well, Ultima IV!
Red Bull - Cool, didja get the U6 map? (I forget what the other prizes were...)
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Calibrator: Are we over-sharing here? :) But yeah - the Ultima IV map would have been a SLIGHTLY better score, but not because of the quality of the map - just because of ... well, Ultima IV!
Red Bull - Cool, didja get the U6 map? (I forget what the other prizes were...)
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