"...Then came a glorious change to the people of
the land. Spoken only in hushed whispers, the leaders of a
religious rebellion first made the words of the Guardian known to
the public. This Guardian talked to them within their minds,
foretelling of a dark time when a champion of tremendous evil would
try to enter their world. This Destroyer would turn the very forces
of nature - the elements of earth, water, air and fire - against
them, raining destruction across the land. Only by offering worship
to those very elements could the people hope to dissuade them from
assisting the Destroyer..."
-- from The Chronicles of Pagan
|
| Pagan was a radical departure for the Ultima
series. You, as the Avatar, wander the face of an unknown planet
after being banished by the Guardian. There are no friends, no
companions in your party, none of the familiar magic to aid you -
nothing familiar at all. Instead the game is riddled with difficult
ethical dilemmas and moral compromises. And the problem-solving
aspect was changed as well, placing more of an emphasis on physical
obstacles and puzzles. With moving platforms, sinking stones and
lots of rapid-twitch clicking, it wasn't long before the "Super
Avatar Brothers" comments began. But the game did have its high
points, including a terrific 3D engine (later used as the basis of
the Crusader games), excellent music, and yes, plenty of
exploration. And a later patch issued by Origin in 1995 addressed
many of the playability issues raised by fans. All things
considered, Pagan is a worthy addition to the Ultima legacy, albeit
a little different. |
 |
 Ultima VIII:
Pagan
- Platform: PC (486+).
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1994.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-82011. EA 10016. 3.5".
- Included: Pagan nylon map; The Chronicle of Pagan book;
Pentagram coin.
- Original List Price: $79.95
This is the original version of Pagan. Note that the other Pagan
boxes are all slightly different. |
|
|
 Pagan: Ultima VIII
Speech Pack
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1994.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-82811. EA 10017. 3.5".
- Original List Price: $19.95
As with the speech packs for Wing Commander II and Pacific
Strike, this add-in disk provided speech for some of the "major"
characters in Pagan (Khumash-Gor, the Guardian, and the Titans,
particularly), but not full-speech capability. The steep premium
for such a small addition to the game made this item relatively
unpopular. I'm not sure how hard this item would be to find, but
then I haven't seen many people looking for it either. |
|
|
 Ultima VIII:
CD - Hard Drive Edition
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1994.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-82015. EA 10044. CD (1).
- Includes: Same as above.
When Pagan originally came out, the stores reported that Origin
had said a CD version would be released "within a few weeks". I
purchased Pagan on 3.5" disk the day it was released, and the very
next day, the CD edition was in the same store. Note that this
version still installs to the hard drive; it comes on CD, but isn't
playable from the CD. I've had someone tell me that the maps in the
disk and CD versions were different, but given that the two
literally came out within days of one another, that seems unlikely.
Perhaps later runs of the map, 1995 or later, were different
somehow. This version included the speech pack data, but sold on
the street for only $5 more than the disk version alone. Note that
the box for the CD version was slightly different; the 3.5" version
had a stone pentagram in the middle, while the CD version had a
black square with the Guardian's hand and the Avatar, with a
flaming pentagram in the background. |
|
|
Pagan: Ultima
VIII
Publisher's Choice
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1994, 1996.
- Characteristics: UPC 14633-05604. CD (1).
- Includes: Same as above.
- Original List Price: $19.95
In 1995, Origin released a patch (v2.12) for Pagan which fixed
several plot defects and playability issues. Later, Electronic Arts
re-released Pagan with the patch applied as a separate product. The
box for this version changed slightly again; flames only, no
pentagram. Yes, this version had a cloth map too. |
|
|
 Pagan: Ultima VIII
Electronic Arts CD Classics
Gold
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1996.
- Characteristics: UPC 14633-05572. CD (1).
- Includes: Reference card only.
- Original List Price: $14.95
Electronic Arts re-released Pagan again, in a small box, with
only a reference card. Documentation is included on the CD in
Acrobat format. |
|
|
Pagan: Ultima
VIII
Electronic Arts' Classic Gold,
again
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1997.
- Characteristics: UPC 14633-05951. CD (1).
- Includes: Installation guide only.
- Original List Price: $14.95
Well, they've done it again, for some reason. Bigger box this
time. No map or trinket or anything, just a big box. Whoopee, isn't
this fun? And although someone has recently reported seeing an
Ultima IX
preview chest in the game, I've checked the filestamps on this
CD and none are later than mid-1995. |
|
|
Pagan: Ultima
VIII
The Lost Vale
Here's a product that wasn't meant to be. After the release of
Pagan, Origin intended to develop an add-in module called The Lost
Vale. Co-directed by Lisa Smith and (I think) Mike McShaffrey, Lost
Vale was a pre-planned item - there are several references to it in
both the Pagan documentation and the game itself. The project was
cancelled not long after it began, presumably due to Pagan's poor
sales. Origin did make available a set of screen shots for a while,
but when they reorganized their web site in October, they removed
all of their old Ultima files. |
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