Originally launched by Origin by the near-legendary Richard "Lord British" Garriott nearly 10 years ago, the success of Ultima Online proved that people wanted to play in a whole new genre; the massively multiplayer game. Now Electronic Arts and its Mythic studio are working on a complete graphical and interface revamp of the original game title Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn that they hope will attract new players as well as keep the many long time UO residents around. FiringSquad got a chance to chat with the game's producer Aaron Cohen to learn more about the revamp:

FiringSquad: How did the idea for Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn come about?

Aaron Cohen: About a year and a half ago, we began talking about the future of UO, why it had stood the test of time and what possibilities for the future might be. The more we looked at the game and the community, the more potential we saw. Years and years of development had created one of the deepest MMORPGs ever.

We had great content and a great game, but productions values had grown old. Could we re-draw the graphics? Could we re-build the UI? Could we make new players feel welcome while at the same time enrich the experience of our elder players?

We began with a small team of four exploring prototypes, re-drawing art and playing with UI functionality. It began to take shape. Pretty soon, we had momentum, went in to full pre-production with a team of about 20, then full production with a team of about 40, and now we’re getting tantalizing close to finishing.Along the way, we teamed up with EA Mythic, who provided lots of technology and expertise, which sped things along quite nicely. And here we are!

FiringSquad: How did EA Mythic contribute to the development of the new version and will all development of the new version be based at EA Mythic's offices?

Aaron Cohen: The UO team is located here at EA headquarters at Redwood Shores, CA. We are part of the EA Mythic team and work closely with the folks out in Virginia. When EA Mythic came along, we got the game engine we wanted, the UI tools we needed, and huge amounts of MMORPG expertise to rely on.  

FiringSquad: How hard was it to update the graphics yet also make the game playable on PCs with low hardware requirements?  

Aaron Cohen: Not as hard as we once thought. We spent a lot of time experimenting before we began building. We tested a variety of different resolutions, bit depths, animation frames, and compression techniques until we got a nice balance between the look we wanted and the system specs we wanted.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the specific graphical improvements that will be put into Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn?

Aaron Cohen: Here’s some statistics for you…

All the new art is drawn to a native 1280 X 800 instead of 800 X 600. The monster models are built with 10,000 to 20,000 polygons, animated out into about 2,500 frames, and then rendered out into a single polygon that plays on a 2D billboard in game. We’ve had to re-draw about 16,000 pieces of environment art. The UO world is about 11.5 million tiles, all being hand touched and polished by our team of world builders.  

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the revised user interface for the new version?

Aaron Cohen: The basic idea is to reduce the number of clicks it takes to do something in legacy UO. To do that we’re using some modern RPG conventions like a hot bar, hot keys, lots of drag and drop options, and other UI tricks that other games figured out well after UO launched. Our goal is for someone brand new to sit down in front of UO and start playing right away with no problems. And at the same time, give current players a UI that more functional and flexible than what they have now.

FiringSquad: What other changes and additions will be put into Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn?  

Aaron Cohen: Kingdom Reborn is three things, but two of the get the most press: graphics and UI. The third item is almost as important as those two: New Player Experience. We are build a whole new first 5-10 hours of the game that will ease new players into the world of UO and give them more incite in how the world works and how they might want to build their character. People will decide if they like your game or not within the first 15-20 minutes, so we’re devoting a lot of time to ensure our first impression is a good one.

FiringSquad: Will there be any open beta testing for the new version before it goes live?

Aaron Cohen: Absolutely. Keep watching www.uo.com for details.

FiringSquad: When will Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn be fully launched?  

Aaron Cohen: Spring 2007.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us at this stage about this summer's new expansion pack for the game?  

Aaron Cohen: Gargoyles! Stygian Abyss! Lots and lots of new content built with our new engine in full effect. Other than that, not much for a few more months. We’ve go to finish Kingdom Reborn before moving full steam into Stygian Abyss.

FiringSquad: There have been two attempts to release an MMORPG sequel to Ultima Online that have both been cancelled. Are there any plans at all to make a third attempt at a full fledged sequel?

Aaron Cohen: Our focus right now is on building the best Ultima Online experience possible, an experience that could last for another 10 years. Whatever else the future holds we just don’t know.  

FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn?

Aaron Cohen: It’s free! Current players will download it and start playing at absolutely no cost. Former players can re-activate their accounts and start playing with no problems. And new players will find our 14-day demo offer just about anywhere you can download games. I hope folks give it a try. Ultima Online is unlike any other MMORPG and has been around for almost 10 years for a reason.