back in 1997 i was graduating high school and completely unsure about what to do with my life. as much as i hated my local school culture, it had given me a solid structure to live in for over a decade.
that spring/summer/fall coincided with the public beta tests and launch of Ultima Online. it became my second home while i was figuring out how to leave my family home and dip my toes into adulthood and living alone. by september of 97 i was going to university full-time and struggling through that transition. UO began to overwhelm my life, and i was spending 12-16 hours a day mining for ore, sewing fancy shirts and skullcaps, and fishing off the docks in south Britain.
the soundtrack became an everpresent part of my life, and i ended upgraded my soundcard to a SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, just so i could hear the soundtrack that was specifically re-orchestrated for the card (with a 4 meg patch library!).
this morning I stumbled upon Loot Goblin's re-interpretation of the UO soundtrack. it has been crafted in the most unusual way - into downtempo, forlorn, and intimate melodies. this has instantly become my background music for coding. if you played the game, you'll immediately recognize the tracks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Tb4RlcUtE
sadly, no bandcamp:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/ultima-online-but-its-lofi/1738795678
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