Dino's Guide to
Ultima VIII - Pagan

Main

Table of Contents

Plot

The plot in Ultima VIII - Pagan is probably one of the best. It features a desperate attempt of trying to escape the Guardian's world, after having been banished there by the Guardian. With few allies, the Avatar must make his way through numerous trials in order to learn the magic of the four elemental titans and finally overthrow them to use their power to form a Black Gate that can take him away from the world of Pagan.

Read more plots and reviews here:

The above listed links are external, and thus I hold no power over their content. Be warned that there may be mistakes in the plots at the above links.

Development

In his post "Ultima VIII (or, How to Destroy a Gaming Franchise in One Easy Step)" (19th February 2021), The Digital Antiquarian describes the context in which Ultima 8 was developed, released, and received.

Features

Gone is the inability to enter water, as well as the necessity to eat. The Avatar now is totally alone, but is capable of jumping and climbing. This game features numerous trials over water, in which a fall would be fatal. Many people complained that this game required too much saving and reloading because of various attempts required to overcome each obstacle, so a patch was issued to allow the player to enjoy the plot more.

Running U8 on modern machines

Dragon Baroque's Ultima 8 in Windows (Internet Archive) provided the ability to run Ultima 8 in the earliest Windows versions. This may cause frequent crashes and a backup is recommended before applying the patch. I don't know whether it still works on more modern Windows versions. You can download Ultima 8 in Windows from:

For more modern operating systems, DOSBox and Pentagram are both reliable ways to run Ultima 8 on several different operating systems. If you buy Ultima 8 from gog.com, it comes bundled with DOSBox.

Other Guides

Other sites, or sections of sites, dedicated to Ultima VIII - Pagan can be found at:

Music

You may download the music of Ultima 8 from one of the following locations:

On the subject of music, the answers to Evil_Freak Dragon's quiz (number 5 to be specific) mention that the music of the Shrine of the Ancient Ones seems to be a modified version of the Kotl theme of The Savage Empire.

Pictures

If you want to see pictures of the game in action, consider the following links:

There is a program you can use to take your own screenshots at World of Ultima's Files. I haven't tried it myself.

If you would like to see scans of the box cover, visit the following places:

There used to be a couple of Ultima 8 screenshots on Gamespot: The Ultima Legacy which don't seem to feature anywhere in the game. Although the site no longer exists, the screenshots can still be seen thanks to the Internet Archive:

Miscellaneous

Some other U8-related stuff you might want to check out:

Credits

I must thank the following people: