From the U6 Project website:

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon's next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 8 (M8) for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). This is the beta release for the project, which will be followed shortly by the 1.0 release. Some things to look forward to in this release:

• The entire world is now complete, and ready for players to explore.

• All NPC's are in place, and all the quests have been implemented.

• New weapons are available for the player to discover.

• Tangle Vines are now in game, and should pose a nasty surprise to unwary travelers.

• Enhancements have been made to the map and journal systems, and the Compendium is now available as part of the Journal.

The Compendium section of the Journal has lots of useful information for the player about the world of Britannia. As the player explores Britannia, additional information will become available. This picture shows a page from the Compendium which shows the Nightshade entry selected from the Reagents section of the "Arcana" category.

It is with much pleasure that we announce the release of Team Archon's next milestone of the Ultima 6 Project, Milestone 7 (M7) for Dungeon Siege 1 (PC and Mac). This is the alpha release for the project, which will be followed shortly by the beta and 1.0 releases. Go to their site to check it out! Some things to look forward to in this release:

• The entire world is now available for players to explore, and players will be able to complete the game, though some elements will be further enhanced in the beta and 1.0 releases.

• New NPCs have been added, including a certain Cyclops family and a two-headed llama.

• Additional enhancements have been made to existing areas.

• More quests have been implemented, including the entire main quest.

• The Journal system has been greatly enhanced, and players will be able to track their progress with it.