There's a new update on Kickstarter cancelling the contest:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/balconyteam/balrum/posts/546571

That would be awesome.

I've been meaning to do the Ultima games at some point (I was not much of an RPG fan back in the day).

Would it be good to start with 1? As long as I keep a pen and paper handy?

Hmm MM6 had plenty of Dwarves and Elves and there was no grumbling.

Sounds cool, will keep track of it for sure.

Well ZapMcRaygunn, I know the developers are going to give all the NPCs schedules, a little excerpt from their page:

The world is realtime in Balrum. This means that you will see NPCs and animals living their daily lifes. The living world is one of the most important feature for us, an amount of the kickstarter funds will go into creating animations and AIs (different daily life AI for each NPC) for the NPCs that live in the world. For example: You will see the blacksmith create a weapon, or NPCs will sit down at home and eat, sleep, talk, or the woodcutter will actually go and chop down trees. Animals live their lifes as well, they eat, sleep, even hunt each other.

And yes, I do have the feeling this could be a modern day Ultima, just don't want to say it out loud because then the developers have some REALLY big shoes to fill.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

This game does look like one that I would enjoy: I'm a huge Eschalon fan, and Harvest Moon is a guilty little pleasure as well. I'm wondering about the $50000 goal, and wonder if that's enough to see the game through with their entire expansive vision.

I'll be keeping an eye on the Kickstarter, but I'd prefer to just buy it when the game comes out if it's as good as it promises. Do they have any plans to continue adding content once the game is released?

Ultimas I-III are basically the pre-history of the classic Ultima story line. I is a lot of fun, and it involves a semi-medieval world that also has laser guns and, believe it or not spaceships. You will be able to fight for ancient kings as well as blast Tie Fighters in the same game. II takes place on Earth (or a planet similar to earth but a lot smaller and has time travel and space travel as well.) III is the first really complicated Ultima that requires taking a lot of notes. It is also the first where you can lead several characters, although you create all of them.

If you want to start with the classic Avatar story, I suggest starting with Ultima IV. For that you will need a pen and paper. Take notes at every discussion, as many characters have very important things to say that will help you solve many mysteries as you travel throughout Britannia. It's also a much more coherent world with only Medieval/Renaissance technology and the story is the first of its kind.
As an added bonus, Ultima IV will give you a free preview of Ultima and the world of Britannia. The independent version of IV (the one that is not part of the second trilogy) is free here on GOG. I-III take place in separate worlds, but IV is the beginning of Britannia proper (although Sosaria in I and III are the predecessor to Britannia) and is probably a good place to start to get into the main Avatar storyline.

I hope that helps you get started in the world of Ultima.

Maybe so, but not as a playable character race. Wiping out the dwarves was a lot of fun ;p

Hm... I'm not really into turn-based combat mechanics, but I backed them, nonetheless. I think games like these deserve attention and praise, even if I'm not one to appreciate them fully. I loved Fallout 2 for the story, setting, ambiance and just the sheer amount of stuff you could do, but the turn-based combat made it somewhat of a chore for me to end it, so I decided never to pick one of those games again. Despite all that, I'm more than willing to help fellow gamers play the games they want to play, and this one actually looks quite good, at least if the devs stick to their word.

Awesome Groze, I like your thinking and I agree wholeheartedly (minus the turn based thing that is, I really dig that).

Here are a couple of videos for those who want to know a bit more.

First is their official Kickstarter video:

[url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6QjVerEbEk[/url]

Farming:

[url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeKHUj31S0#at=12[/url]

The weather and day/night cycle:

[url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9CRAcqOUU[/url]

Game itself sounds great.

Wondering whether I'm the only one who feels the name just doesn't sound 'right'?

Okay, backed it yesterday. This may be the first project I've backed on Kickstarter that might actually make it, thanks to the devs not asking for a million dollars like some of the other projects I was interested in. ;)
Here's the GOG wishlist entry for the game:
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/balrum

Yea, I'm really impressed with the combination of how much work they have to show before asking for money, and the completely reasonable amount they've asked for given its only a couple of guys making this game.

Good call on the wishlist entry :P

Great idea to put it on the wishlist SCPM!

Going slowly but steadily, lets keep this going.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir