Editing Richard Garriott (section)

===Early days===
Garriott began writing computer games in 1974. His first games were created on teletype terminals. The code was stored on paper tape spools, and the game was displayed as an ongoing print-out. In summer 1979, Garriott worked at a [[ComputerLand]] store where he first encountered Apple computers. Inspired by their video monitors with color graphics, he began to add [[perspective view]] to his own games. After he created ''[[Akalabeth: World of Doom|Akalabeth]]'' for fun, the owner of the store convinced Garriott it might sell.  Garriott spent [[United States dollar|$]]200 printing copies of a manual and cover sheet that his mother had drawn, then put copies of the game in [[Ziploc]] bags, a common way to sell software at the time. Although Garriott sold fewer than a dozen copies at the store, one copy made it to [[California Pacific Computer Company]], which signed a deal with him. The game sold over 30,000 copies, and Garriott received five dollars for each copy sold.{{r|garriott198807}}<ref>''The Official Book of Ultima'', page 8</ref><ref name="ferrell198901">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-01-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_104_1989_Jan#page/n17/mode/2up | title=Dungeon Delving with Richard Garriott | work=Compute! | date=January 1989 | access-date=10 November 2013 | author=Ferrell, Keith | page=16}}</ref> The {{USD|150,000|1979|round=-3}} he earned was three times his father's astronaut salary.<ref name="bebergal20200819">{{Cite magazine |last=Bebergal |first=Peter |title=The Computer Game That Led to Enlightenment |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-computer-game-that-led-to-enlightenment |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-us |access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> ''Akalabeth'' is considered the first published computer [[Role-playing game|role playing game]].

Later that year, Garriott entered the [[University of Texas at Austin]] (UT).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexandra Biesada October 1996 0 |date=1996-10-01 |title=Reality Bytes |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/reality-bytes/ |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}}</ref> He joined the school's [[fencing (sport)|fencing]] team, and later, the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Addams |first=Shay |title=The official book of Ultima |pages=14–15 |language=English}}</ref> He lived at home with his parents while attending university, and from there created ''[[Ultima I]]'' with his friend Ken Arnold.<ref name="doteaters">{{cite web |title=Player 4 Stage 2: "Why in the world would anyone wants a computer at home?" |url=http://www.thedoteaters.com/p4_stage2.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407080626/http://www.thedoteaters.com/p4_stage2.php |archive-date=2013-04-07 |access-date=2008-01-25}}</ref>  Its cover, and those of several subsequently Garriott games, were painted by [[Denis Loubet]], whose art Garriott discovered during a visit to [[Steve Jackson Games]].<ref name="designers">{{cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7|page=104}}</ref>