For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Zerker's Ultima VII: The Black Gate (PC) maps.
200 years after previously bringing peace to Britannia in Ultima VI, the Avatar returns to this troubled world, where a Scientology-like organization, the Fellowship, seek to open the Black Gate to allow the Guardian to enter. The Guardian believes he should rule Britannia, and be master of all, even the Avatar! Playing as the Avatar, you will reunite with your travelling companions and scour the world to stop the Guardian's influence and find a way to stop Batlin, founder of the Fellowship, from completing the Black Gate at the Isle of the Avatar. But at what cost?
Ultima VII: The Black Gate is the favourite Ultima game of Richard Garriott (Ultima creator and the real-life counterpart to Lord British) and also one of the first real open-world computer games. And what a world it is! It's so huge - Britannia is a whopping 24576 x 24576 pixels! And there is a high level of interactivity with the many, many objects found within. This was certainly an achievement in 1992, and it's still well-loved to this day.
PC game mapper and Ultima fan Zerker has mapped all of Britannia's overworld. As if this 89-megabyte monster wasn't enough, he's also mapped a version showing the interior areas! Both nearly 604-megapixel maps may choke up your browser - but if you can view them, it's the largest, most detailed version of 2D Britannia in this whole classic CRPG series.
So to recognize the effort put into mapping one of the largest worlds in classic gaming, Zerker's Ultima VII: The Black Gate (PC) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for July 2019.
