1994 - Developed by Origin Systems; Produced by Electronic Arts

The Lost Vale was a planned add-on for Ultima VIII: Pagan, but it never saw the light of day, because Ultima VIII: Pagan was not as successful as expected. The decision to cancel the add-on was made in September 1994, which was around the time of the originally scheduled release date. Because of this, there were always rumours saying that The Lost Vale was fully done and ready for release. Now, more than a decade later, this has been finally confirmed by Sheri Graner Ray: “Lost Vale was completed and ready for gold master. In fact, it was on the eve of sending it into duplication that the call was made to cancel it.”

Moreover, a unique Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale game box, whose authenticity was confirmed by former Origin Systems employee Denis Loubet, surfaced in September 2005. It was sold via eBay to a German collector for a final price of almost 2000 US$ shortly after. See the “Box Art” section for pictures. The game itself, however, seems to be lost forever. The developers at Origin Systems barely had a way to back up their machines at that time, so there is not much hope that a copy survived.

What else do we know about The Lost Vale? Well, according to Origin Systems, the add-on would have been accessed through the locked double-doors in the cave with the “Hammer of Strength” (replaced by the “Bonecrusher” in the updated version) on the Plateau. The press release from August 28, 1994 reveals some information about the plot:

Hidden World Unveiled in The Lost Vale

(AUSTIN, TX) So, you thought you’d been everywhere and seen everything while playing Ultima VIII: Pagan. This fall you’ll be able to explore a land you never knew existed in Pagan when you play The Lost Vale, the “add-in” game to the latest adventure in the Ultima series. ORIGIN plans to release The Lost Vale during the first half of the fall.

In The Lost Vale, you’ll discover a forgotten valley created hundreds of years earlier by the Titans of Earth and Water. The Titans imprisoned their enemies inside this hidden world, when they commanded the walls of the valley to rise in the largest tomb ever created. As the Avatar, you’ll realize the secrets of this lost civilization could lead to powerful alliances in your ongoing struggle against the evil Guardian. You’ll battle new monsters unique to The Lost Vale and you’ll search for magic items and acquire increased stats you can use in the outside world of Pagan. There’s the City of the Ancient Gods, which is suspended in clouds. There you’ll look for advice that could help make you one of the most formidable beings to ever set foot in Pagan.

The Lost Vale will add several hours of game playing to the world of Pagan. And since it’s an “add-in” disk, you don’t have to finish Pagan in order to explore The Lost Vale. Just install it and begin your journey inside this game within a game.

Current system requirements for The Lost Vale are:

• IBM-PC, 486/33+ or 100% compatible system
• 6 MB of hard drive space
• Core game of Ultima VIII: Pagan installed on hard drive
• 4 MB RAM
• 256-color VGA graphics
• MS-DOS 5.0 or higher, mouse
• MUSIC (optional): Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, General MIDI or 100% compatible sound board
• SOUND EFFECTS (optional): Ad Lib, Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound board

Expected retail price: $25-$35

Written by Sheri Graner Ray for pcGTW, November 2005

The story of Lost Vale was that a group of people had been shut off from the main population of Pagan when the Ancient Gods disappeared. They were isolated for a very long time. However, during this isolation a terrible tragedy involving the deaths of two young boys had befallen them. This tragedy caused a schism in the population with each side blaming the other for the deaths. Neither side had spoken to the other for a decade. It was up to the player to “awaken” the Ancient Gods and heal the schism between the people. To do this, the player had to ascend to the very cloud city where the Ancient Gods were believed to live. There, a terrible surprise was uncovered. The Ancient Gods were not asleep, but actually had been imprisoned. The player had to figure out how to release them. The cloud city appeared abandoned, but was full of traps and tricks and was very dangerous.

As a side note, it was for this add-on disk that the “tiny-tar” spell was developed. This was a spell the player would be able to cast upon him/herself and make themselves shrink. I believe this was developed by John Watson. We got such a kick out of a teeny tiny avatar running around the world that we worked it into the plot line. At one point, to get into the ruined temple, the player had to cast the tiny-tar spell and creep in through a crack in the wall. Great fun!

Photos kindly provided by Andreas List:

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