different time eras; she also used her dark powers to disturb the fabric of time and influence men, who ultimately destroyed each other in the far future, nearly wiping out humanity. Lord British called for a hero to crush Minax's evil plans. The Stranger once again answered British's call. The game begins with the Stranger starting his quest to defeat Minax. Minax's castle, named Shadow Guard, can only be reached through time doors (similar to moongates in the later games); even then an enchanted ring is required to pass unhurt through the force fields inside. The hero hunts down the sorceress to the Time of Legends, pursues her as she teleports throughout the castle, and destroys her with the quicksword Enilno. Even though Ultima I is set on the fictional land of Sosaria, Ultima II borrowed characters and the story of Ultima I, but relocated them to Earth. Garriott explained from a narrative perspective, Earth needed to be used as a basis for comparison due to the time travel element. Later games in the Ultima series ret-conned this, and assumed that Ultima II actually happened on Sosaria, not Earth, to create a continuity among the games. Development Ultima II was Garriott's first program that he wrote completely in assembly language instead of interpreted BASIC. Playing speed and reaction time were vastly improved over the original release of Ultima I. Since Garriott was attending the University of Texas at the time it took him almost two years to create Ultima II, including learning assembly in one month from Tom Luhrs, the author of the popular Apple II arcade game Apple-Oids. Ultima II was the first game in the series to include a cloth map inside the box, which would become a staple of the franchise. This map, which illustrated how the time doors were linked, was inspired by the one seen in the film Time Bandits, as were the time doors themselves. California Pacific Computer, which published Garriott's first two games, had financial difficulties and did not pay full royalties; when other publishers approached him Garriott insisted on including the map. Sierra On-Line agreed and provided Garriott, who had left the university, with technical assistance as he developed his first major assembly language project. Two versions of this map were produced. The first version is of a heavier and thicker material. This map can be found in the large boxed (8"x11")