Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash
| Industry | Video game development and publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash |
Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash is a role-playing video game released in 1983 by Sierra On-Line for the VIC-20 home computer.
Gameplay and plot
In this title, players find themselves trapped within Mt. Drash by hostile beings known as "garrintrots" and must navigate their way out of the dungeon. The gameplay consists of straightforward, three-dimensional dungeons generated randomly, where players eliminate monsters to progress through timed levels. Instead of custom visuals, the game utilizes the VIC-20's standard character set for graphics.
A distinctive aspect of the game is its use of the VIC-20's 4-voice sound chip to deliver a continuous background soundtrack, an uncommon feature at the time that anticipated future audio advancements on systems like the Commodore 64 and Nintendo Entertainment System.
Created primarily in VIC-BASIC with assembly code to accelerate graphics rendering and audio playback, it was distributed on cassette tape rather than as a ROM cartridge. Due to its size and complexity, it necessitated an 8 K or 16 K RAM expansion cartridge, which restricted its potential audience.
The copy protection system disabled specific VIC-20 keyboard keys and employed specialized cassette mastering techniques to deter unauthorized duplication.
Although borrowing the fantasy setting and the name Mt. Drash from Ultima I, this game has only minimal ties to the Ultima franchise beyond these references and a play on series creator Richard Garriott’s name.
Development
Keith Zabalaoui developed this game for Sierra On-Line in 1983. Sierra, having previously published Ultima II, marketed it under the Ultima brand with Richard Garriott’s consent to enhance sales. Despite concerns regarding the shrinking VIC-20 market and the requirement for memory expansion hardware, Sierra produced only a limited run of a few thousand copies to fulfill contractual commitments. It was briefly promoted in the July 1983 issue of Compute! magazine as part of the SierraVenture lineup. Initially, Sierra denied its existence until Zabalaoui confirmed its release. The game appeared on Sierra's 1984 catalog priced at $19.95 with stock number 40245202. Approximately 3,000 units were manufactured, though precise production numbers remain uncertain.
Information about the title was scarce; it was incorrectly assumed to be a cartridge but was actually released for use with the Datasette. Rumors circulated that Sierra sold just enough copies to break even and discarded unsold stock near a mountain, reminiscent of the Atari video game burial. A retailer near Vancouver, B.C. allegedly disposed of unsold copies by throwing them off a cliff, where one of the few intact versions was later recovered. Many mistakenly believed Sierra had used the Ultima name without Garriott's approval.
Legacy
The game has become highly prized among collectors. Original copies re-emerged around 2000, with the first online auction taking place in September 2003. Its rarity and desirability have led to counterfeit versions circulating in the market. The earliest fully intact rediscovered copy sold on eBay in March 2004 for US$3,605 to collector Peter Olafson. This particular copy later changed ownership twice more—first to an Australian buyer, then to Erik Elsom in Spokane, Washington, where it remains today.
On 20 June 2009, another boxed edition (lacking its manual) appeared on eBay from a seller in Tucson, Arizona, who had unknowingly stored it for ten years. Starting at US$4.99, it ultimately sold for US$1,875 after 31 bids to Italian collector Enrico Ricciardi.
On 11 June 2003, Kasper Fauerby ported the game to PC under a GPLv2 license by utilizing original BASIC source code alongside reverse-engineered components. While the VIC-20 cassette image is available for emulation purposes, the TAP file has not been released publicly to prevent facilitating counterfeit tape production.
A sealed boxed copy surfaced on eBay on 30 November 2017 from North Canton, Ohio. Beginning with a starting bid of US$949.95, it sold after 30 bids on 10 December for US$9,002 to a collector based in Kirkland, Washington.