Arrived late for the Kickstarter campaign? We raised 28.855 € and will continue adding your pledges here, to try to reach the final stretch goal!
**Stretch goals**
- Final stretch goal: If we reach 33.333 €, every backer who pledged for the Hardcover edition will receive this stunning print. Are you ready to answer her questions? Which virtue will you pursue the most? (UNDER WAY)
- The first stretch goal will be reached at 25.000€: a bonus chapter about Wing Commander 2 development with lots of new and unpublished content. All backers with 15€ + pledge will receive it in digital format. (COMPLETED)
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Attraverso il Mongate è anche in italiano. Clicca sulla bandiera per vedere la pagina in lingua italiana.
About the Author
My name is Andrea Contato, the author of Through the Moongate. While Ultima was born at the dawn of the computer role-playing game genre, my first encounter with it was quite late: in 1994 in fact, thirteen years after its first official release. As an avid video game player and having played Wing Commander, Origin Systems Inc. was not new to me, but Ultima was.
As I began to delve into the history of Origin Systems Inc. and its co-founder Richard Garriott, I realized how closely intertwined it was with the genre of role-playing games in general. The careers of many of the most influential people in the industry of video games and computing were inspired by Richard, Origin Systems, and Ultima, and I took it upon myself to learn all that I could.
It is a story that deserves to be told.
New Insight
Through the Moongate aims to be a more complete account of Origin's history than has ever been presented before. Parts of Origin's and Richard Garriott's story have been included in other works such as The Official Book of Ultima by Shay Addams and Garriott's own memoir Explore/Create, but this book is a work of new research. In the process, I've interviewed dozens of people who were crucial to Origin's success, many of whom have worked for Origin, NCSoft, and Portalarium, and given them a voice. These developers and artists have helped to shed new light on Origin's fascinating story.
Beyond Ultima
As I traced the paths of the Ultima games and those who worked for Origin Systems, I began to realize the multitude of games that would not be possible without the influence of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems, and Ultima series upon the industry. To ensure their place in history, I've included special coverage of the Wing Commander and Ultima Underworld series, plus significant CRPGs and video games of the era such as Star Trek (PDP), Empire and other PLATO games, Escape! and RobotWar by Silas Warner, Temple of Apshai, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds, Escape from Mt. Drash, Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony, Autoduel, Ogre, 2400 A.D., Questron, Tales of the Unknown: Volume I, Wizadore, Dungeon Master, Times of Lore, The Black Onyx, Dragon Quest, and Xanadu.
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Through the Moongate is in good company
From Enrico Ricciardi to Lord British
Writing this book was an exciting and unforgettable experience with a lot of ups and downs. It was always wonderful when I found someone to interview and learn an important bit of information. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to track down a key member of Origin Systems Inc. or a friend of Richard Garriott for an interview. Fortunately, through the generosity of those I could contact, I was able to fill in the gaps in nearly all cases.
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Some of the rarest Akalabeth and Ultima releases, from Enrico Ricciardi collection
It's been a long road from writing and researching to publishing this volume. I wouldn't have been able to organize the translation and editing without Andreas Przygienda and Ellouise McGeachie. Enrico Ricciardi provided indispensable help in printing the books and making the video and the trailer. Enrico was also instrumental to putting me in contact with Richard Garriott and Denis Loubet and gaining their direct involvement in the project. Enrico also created the art cover of the book (with the help of Ramon Cipressi for the 3D rendering).
Rewards
This first of two volumes will be published in three different editions:
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Digital edition: Epub and Kindle. English and Italian version available;
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Softcover edition: 6x9" (15x23cm), approx. 250 pages, black-and-white. English and Italian version available;
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Hardcover edition: 6.5x9.4" (16.5x24cm), approximately 240 black-and-white pages, plus 16 coated pages of color images and pictures from Richard Garriott's personal archive and Enrico Ricciardi's collection of Ultima games. The retro cover will feature an artwork by the legendary Origin artist Denis Loubet. Only English version available.
Here you can find the complete index for both volumes and more information on the project.
Perks
We worked hard to create backer perks for everyone. With just 15 € you can have your copy of Through the Moongate digital edition (Epub or Kindle). The softcover edition (English version) will be printed in the US by Blurb and directly shipped. For this option, select Softcover Edition and the shipping cost will be automatically added to your pledge.
For European citizens only, the Softcover Edition (Italian or English version) will be printed in Italy and then shipped to you. When creating and supporting a crowdfunding campaign, the shipping cost takes a large part of the overall budget. This is especially true of international shipping. So, to cut down the costs, we are using a print-on-demand service and we will organize the orders on geographical basis.
The Hardcover Edition will be printed only in English. We decided to print it here in Italy to ensure the overall quality of the print process would be easy for us to control directly. We really care about the Special Collector's Edition and we want it to be of the very highest, impeccable quality.
* about shipping: International shipping of books is quite expensive and tracking globally is available at different levels of detail. Some tracking services give information until the package reaches the international drop point and don't follow the package all the way to its destination. When not explicitly stated, tracked shipping may not be available.
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Enrico Ricciardi and Richard Garriott with Through the Moongate mockup
Sources
To write this book, I had the opportunity to interview the programmers, artists, designers, managers, and musicians that took part in the story of Origin Systems and worked with Richard Garriott in creating his ambitious games.
Many of them agreed to help me, giving me permission to quote them, while others decided to tell me their story, but requested that I keep things off the record. Here is a list of those who decided to be named and directly quoted in my book (in alphabetical order):
- Al Nelson
- Bill Johnson
- Dave Albert
- David Ladyman
- David 'Iolo' Watson
- Denis Loubet
- Dr. Cat
- Edmond Meinfelder
- Gallara Dragon
- Herman Miller
- Ian Frazier
- Ken Arnold
- James Parkman
- Jeff Dee
- Jeff George
- Jeff Johannigman
- Jeffery Wilson
- John Miles
- John Romero
- Mac Senour
- Manda
- Matthew Walker
- Michael Sims
- Mike McShaffry
- Paul Neurath
- Philip Brogden
- Raph Koster
- Raymond Benson
- Richard Garriott
- Richard 'Diko' Mather
- Rob Corell
- Robert White
- Siobhan Beeman
- Starr Long
- Stuart Marks
- Todd Porter
- Warren Spector
Need more info?
Follow our Facebook page, explore the official homepage for the full index and information on the book, cool trivia and more, or feel free to contact me on Facebook, Twitter or directly through IndieGoGo.
Time to read - Preview Chapter
For a sneak peek, we decided to share the chapter "Change of Guards". It's about the difficult development of Ultima VI, the first game in the series natively programmed for PC platform. I hope you enjoy reading it, and please leave feedback and let me know what you think!
Click on the first page to download the PDF file. Remember: it's only for evaluation purposes.
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Change of guards - Page 1
Risks and challenges
The risk is very low. The "Through the Moongate" book is already completed, and the editing and the translation are underway. All that's left is to complete the editing and translations, print the book, and ship it to backers.
As proof of the quality of my work, I decided to show a full chapter as a preview, so that you can evaluate yourself if it's worth your time and money.
