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Ultima Forever arrives on iOS
Avatar! Get out of bed, put on some clean underwear, and leave a note for your mom -- there's adventuring that needs doing! Mythic's Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar is out for the iOS and can be played on the iPad 2, iPod 5, and iPhone 4S or higher. Mythic had recently held Ultima Forever back to fiddle with its economy and fix bugs, but it seems as though everything is solid enough for the studio to finally pull the trigger and launch it worldwide. Ultima Forever is free-to-play with optional in-app purchases. Mythic is working on Android and PC versions as well. It's a whopping 881 MB to install, so make sure you have the room before you check out this latest chapter in the Ultima series!
Ultima Forever delays release until later this summer
While Canada has been enjoying the fruits of Ultima Forever, the rest of the world's been waiting to get a hold of this mobile online RPG. Unfortunately, it looks as though the wait will be extended a little longer, as Mythic announced that the Ultima Forever's iOS launch has been delayed a few weeks. Mythic called upon players' Sacrifice virtue regarding the delay: "Our world-wide launch has been pushed back a handful of weeks, due to the need to spend a little more time tuning the economy and wrangling performance across all devices." The studio said that it will spend the time fine-tuning the game and incorporating tester feedback.
Ken Hartsook discusses Ultima Forever from behind the scenes
Looking forward to having some nostalgic adventures with Ultima Forever when it releases this summer? Then you might enjoy a trip behind the scenes of development with Ken Hartsook, a software engineer working on the title at Mythic. Hartsook is the subject of a new video detailing some of the programming challenges associated with bringing Ultima Forever to the iOS family of devices as well as his favorite parts of the game as it approaches launch. According to Hartsook, one of the biggest challenges was finding a control scheme that worked for tablets and smartphones, which meant deviating substantially from classic control models. He also discusses the tilesets in the game and his experience playing a Fighter in the test version of the game. So if your iPad is ready and waiting for a chance to take the jump into Britannia, check out the full interview just past the break.
University of Florida students grumble over Cingular service
While Cingular has claimed that its GSM network integration with AT&T Wireless is complete (thus more reliable), and throws out a bajillion advertisements gloating about the "independent research" proving the company's lack of dropped calls, you'd probably have a hard time convincing the Florida Gators that those statements are entirely accurate. While we know that Engadget has been banned from Cingular's forums, there's no denying the bevy of complaints from UF students regarding the atrocious service around the Gainesville campus. Things got so bad that students rallied around the issue of Cingular improving its service, finally escalating it to the Student Senate, where unfortunately it was voted down after "fierce debate." The resolution called the carrier's service on campus "unacceptable," and cited problems ranging from consistently dropping calls to receiving error messages when trying to dial out. When local Cingular representatives were asked to comment on the outcry, they reportedly blamed the students "lack of reporting problems" as the culprit, curiously omitting the entire debacle that just went down. Nevertheless, we don't expect the members of the Swamp to take this subpar play laying down, but you may want to think twice about which provider to snap up if you're headed to UF next fall.[Thanks, Anthony]
B.O.S.S. shopping cart follows you around
If you're scouting out colleges to showcase your robot crafting skills, make sure the University of Florida is given some very strong consideration. Fresh off of a second straight victory at the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, the kids in Gainesville are flaunting another robotic creation that can make shopping a lot easier (and a lot safer). Gregory Garcia, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, developed a shopping cart that not only follows you around the store, but keeps a steady pace while cruising and throws on the brakes before clipping someone's heels. Garcia got the inspiration for the B.O.S.S. (Battery Operated Smart Servant) from his (presumably mischievous) little sister, who enjoyed ramming into his legs as a child while manning the buggy. A number of sensors aid the cart's maneuvering techniques, including a color sensor which allows the shopper to hold a piece of fabric behind them for the B.O.S.S. to keep track of -- it apparently accelerates and decelerates based on the speed and distance of the fabric ahead, and Garcia made quite certain that the shopping cart could stop on a dime in order to prevent those awkward heel injuries. While we're not sure how the cart would perform during the madness of holiday shopping, especially if it tried to follow every white (or green, or red) article of clothing around, but we're sure Gregory had a grand 'ole time finally showing that heel-biting cart who's boss.
