MOONRING is a new Ultima in all but name... and it's free.

[@sheets75]

As I recall, Dene (and his brother Simon) were the actual forces behind the creation of Fable. Molyneux gets all the credit but he was more like a hype man for the project. Good to see something new from Carter and I almost never turn down free.

[@ThisIsPete]

That would not surprise me in the slightest. Molyneux had some great ideas in the early days, but with everything he's done in more recent years (Curiosity, Godus, whatever godawful blockchain thing he's dicking around with now) he proves himself to be more and more of a hack riding the coattails of the unsung heroes that supported him!

[@gametimewithunclejer]

Thanks for covering this, Pete. Love seeing almost anti-AAA stuff like this. Don't know if I can afford FREE though... 😏

[@ThisIsPete]

I have faith you can scrape the necessary funds together. "Anti-AAA" (definitely love that) is absolutely worth supporting, particularly when it's as high quality as this.

[@ianallen738]

Free is more expensive than you think it is.

[@TheLarsPlay]

@@ianallen738 Time is money. And i wil prob spend more time on this, compared to the common AAA-title.

[@ladams391]

The way that unexplored keywords float around your character during conversations is such a brilliant way to compromise between a very traditional text-parsing dialogue system and a modern, intuitive-but-highly-limited system. It was funny, when I first started playing this game I distinctly remember thinking that I loved everything about it but my one complaint was that I wished there were an easier method of remembering the keywords I hadn't yet discussed with a character without writing them down. I had been so focused on the actual dialogue box that I wasn't looking at my character and thus hadn't noticed that Fluttermind had already considered and addressed that exact concern in such an elegant, unintrusive, and effective way.

[@ThisIsPete]

It's great, isn't it? Really shows the value of someone who understands both what made the old classics enjoyable, and recognises where subtle modern conveniences can enhance those feelings without compromising the feeling of "authenticity".

[@ladams391]

@@ThisIsPete Indeed, this game is the very definition of a passion project made by someone who isn't just familiar with the type of game they're making and what makes it good but knows them well enough that they can see what potential pitfalls they need to address. Moonring may be the best example to date that demonstrates that while a couple decades ago the gaming industry at large chose the route of using ever-increasing hardware power and easy to use dev tools to chase photorealistic graphics and spectacle, that isn't the only path to making improvements on the classics. Instead of fancy 3D graphics or something like that Fluttermind instead used the extra power and capabilities of modern tech to make changes to the formula that games like Ultima established that are outwardly subtle but have a big impact on the overall gameplay experience and presentation, like how the dialogue system keywords fade in and float around using rendering tech that couldn't exist in the original Ultima titles or how the tile, object, and UI graphics periodically shift between an imitation of the different four-color palettes available in CGA 320x200 mode for that nostalgic look and feel but which palette is active depends on factors in the game world itself and can dynamically change at any time depending on the state of the game world (I believe the main factor is which of the gods' moons is the one that is currently risen and visible in the sky and is therefore casting the light in the colors associated with that god onto the land below) instead of being arbitrary or on a set schedule, it kind of blows my mind how clever of an idea that is. I apologize for the wall of text but honestly I could talk for hours about all the little detailed ways in which Fluttermind implemented solutions to problems of and improvements on classic CRPGs that are seamlessly tied into both the player experience on a mechanical and presentational level as well as the narrative and world building of the game world, it's so brilliant.

[@OrichalcumHammer]

1:18 Dene Carter - a very respectable developer of game who gave away his game 'Moonring' for free.

[@zenithquasar9623]

I still cannot believe this is for free but also is so good! When someone has passion for something, it's the best!

[@fordprefect80]

I never played the Ultima games but was more of a Bard's Tale type of guy. Moonring looks great, downloading now.

[@Moomsss]

I was just watching your Ultima III video and trying to recall the name of the new ultima like free game that people were talking about. Your video is a treat :)

[@ThisIsPete]

Happy to serve! :)

[@MarketResearchReading114]

300 or the marketing this can drum up for a future title and maybe a launching pad for crowd funding by people now familiar with something of theirs... either generous as all get out or savvy as all get out.

[@plundypops]

This game has been so great! It has been such a long time since playing one of these types games but with some modern QoL. I would say the Steam overlay note feature has been really helpful to keep a narrow list of things to ask people or things to go discover/do in the world. (I mean obviously if you dont want to keep a pen/paper around, its just a button press away while in-game)

[@yorgohoebeke]

@@plundypops hey! How long was it to finish the game? To know whether it's a time sink or not

[@tritoner1221]

10:55 Death skill increased

[@jurisuurvali1730]

"Fourty years ago... F****ng hell!" :D :D :D Not that old yet, but can relate.

[@JohnDeHope3]

This game is worth more than free. What a work of art!

[@justinwormleighton7433]

Hi Pete, sorry I'm late. I'm always late for everything ha ha! Being an Ultima fan, especially the early ones this was a very pleasant surprise and thanks for bringing it to my attention. I've just downloaded it and hopefully it will install okay on my very full laptop lol.

[@ryansease7066]

I always appreciate you looks at titles I have no clue about. Granted, I wish I had the time to play RPGs, but I just simply don't. Still, thanks for the review and I look forward to many more videos yet to come.

[@darkridearts]

Wow I’m downloading it right now!!! I didn’t know this was even being made. And by an ex-bullfrog dungeon keeper dev? WEW! 🥵

[@ThisIsPete]

Apparently he worked on it for four years! I just happened to see it pop up on Steam, thought "ooh, what's that?" and had a look by chance. I'm glad I did!

[@laughingstock7638]

obsessed with everything about this game, considering starting a ttrpg campaign set in it's world. hail death's harlequins

[@ryankoopacanada]

Loving this game so far ty 4 the review pal :D

[@budbudley]

Looks wonderful, I love the art style.

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Looks excellent that. Shane it's so expensive! ;)

[@ThisIsPete]

I know, it's a big risk!

[@lacunajhom]

Everyone is talking this game and other O.G. like RPGs. I have to tell ya, the urge to play this one and Ancient Domains of Mystery is growing exponentially.

[@tehtonym]

Respect for the death for that attitude. I'm gonna start playing it here shortly cuz it looks awesome

[@Mantorp86]

Thank tou for showing me this game. I am a huge fan of Nethack and Caves of Cud and this game looks perfect.

[@alessiochemeri2059]

This game make me Literally meltdown. I was an ultima 4-5-6-7 player... This game jump me to the ultima 5 feeling a lot. ❤

[@thegamedesignlexicon]

Such an awesome game for a free-to-play.

[@boobalooba5786]

This game is one of the most beautiful looking games I have seen. Graphics really did peak in the 90's, 3d has been a colossal set back for gaming.

[@Dystisis]

True. It feels like 3d graphics is still waiting for its stylistic refinement -- in most cases it is poorly executed.

[@IDontReadReplies42069]

This has to be the most moronic comment I think i've read.

[@evilmiera]

Quite a fun game, it deserves a few extra looks.

[@wesleyfilms]

Nice!

[@Barnaclebeard]

It's SO Ultima

[@CYI3ERPUNK]

40 years ago ... XD fucking hell indeed XD

[@Owofbfbajfbsnsn]

"40 years ago" my jaw dropped

[@gamedoutgamer]

Very very interesting and great to have Moonring release and on Steam. My first impression is that I don't like the colors palette. Is Dene color blind? It doesn't look old school either. Will certainly play this! Thanks for this thorough video. Very well done!

[@ThisIsPete]

The colour palette changes according to location and moon phase. It's always 4 colours at once though, mostly CGA-inspired but with some creative liberties taken for a larger possible palette than real CGA would have offered.

[@gamedoutgamer]

@@ThisIsPete Ahhh I see thank you. CGA - the ugliest colours of any video standard, ever. Almost a deal breaker. CGA wasn't even used by most games back then. Yeah he's colour blind.

[@megac0ffee]

There is a palette with obvious thought put into it, but because each screen only uses a small subset of colors the result ranges from neon to psychedelic to subtle. You might argue that it doesn't fit this style of game, but I think he's going for a retrofuturistic look to make the pretty VFX not look out of place. I love it. The world map is hauntingly beautiful.

[@FreeAnimalDoctor]

Can you play this on Mac?

[@GladeSwope]

I guess that Apple-2-style color palette is an acquired taste.

[@koalabrownie]

Looks more like Rogue or its successors than Ultima, at least in terms of gameplay.

[@Leverquin]

but does it run on linux?

[@IDontReadReplies42069]

linux is for servers. Go get a job and get windows.

[@Leverquin]

@@IDontReadReplies42069 what a dogshit advice

[@Leverquin]

@@IDontReadReplies42069 wow. Amazing mindset

[@j_vzla_libre]

No natively, but I tried with proton and it's smooth as butter

[@Leverquin]

@@j_vzla_libre i prefer pig fat over butter ☺️

[@KarolisB123]

Can one play this on ipad?

[@whlewis9164]

@@KarolisB123 gonna guess this is not available for iOS.

[@StiffAftermath]

Ouf! Free is a little steep for my blood! I'll pass. 😅

[@atheistx]

Perhaps the cringe nature of the death messages are part of the penalty for dying. 😅

[@MarquisDeSang]

The only problem with this game is that there is no Linux version.

[@aethernova]

All nice, but when i see "type something" moment - its autodrop for me. I dont hate games with word input, but i dont like games where inputed words uses like commands/keys for something.

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

@@aethernova oh no!

[@evolvedape2161]

Fine! Shut up and take my $0!

[@MarquisDeSang]

Does not support controller = Not for me.

[@clivemyrie4209]

I play this on Steam Deck. I downloaded a Steam control template that works perfectly for controllers.

[@IDontReadReplies42069]

Skill issue

[@zockeromi1970]

Oh, i have (!) to check that one out