Back in September, Broadsword announced a bold new initiative for the 23-year-old Ultima Online: It’s called New Legacy, and it’s essentially a new-player shard with a new ruleset that simplifies and streamlines onboarding for the game. It’s not just another fresh start or classic server, and in fact, it’s expected to have seasonal timelimits, at the end of which players will move to production shards.
In its latest newsletter, Broadsword has gone in-depth on how the new weather system will work. Longtime fans will know that the game already has small-scale weather effects like rain and snow, but New Legacy will introduce a much bigger climate system.
“From the onset, our goal with Ultima Online: New Legacy has been to return UO to its roots as an RPG,” Broadsword’s Bonnie Armstrong writes. “In accomplishing this goal we decided to tackle one of the areas where we felt the game world could go the extra mile to feel more alive and immersive: weather & climate.”
“Our artists have been busy creating assets to give us the power to create seasonality & weather within the game world. No longer will Britannia be a continent in perpetual summer with only aesthetic winters, but also a landscape rich in autumn color and springtime renewal. For the first time we introduce changing seasons as a backdrop for exciting events and unique encounters! The added dynamic of weather & climate allows us to go even further with presenting players with unique choices as they outfit themselves for the best chance of success while exploring the far reaches of the most extreme climate regions!”
