Classic Ultima Online — formerly known as Ultima 4 Multiiplayer — saw a big client update today. But, if you peruse the complete list of fixes and updates, you’ll probably notice a number of line items that have nothing to do with Ultima 4:

U1 chests have chance of granting spells, potions, rope & spikes, and torches
Ignite torch fixes for U1-U3
Peering fixes for U2 and U3
Many U1 through U3 dungeon ladder fixes
U1 and U2 Prayer spell added
U3 Dag Acron and Lib Rec spells now work more like U4 Blink
U3 Noxum fires multiple fireball projectiles
U3 resurrection can now result in players being reduced to ashes
Added traps to U1 dungeons
U2 poisonous marshes only do damage
U1 and U2 Charisma bonuses applied for buying and selling
U1 and U2 Stamina now mitigate damage
U1 players can now become a Space Ace
U3 and U4 bomb traps
U1-U3 stealing supported
U1 and U2 NPCs give coins/gold when killed

So…who knew that you could play Ultima 1, Ultima 2, and Ultima 3 in Classic Ultima Online? This isn’t the most well-documented feature of the game, but basically, here are the requirements for playing the earlier entries in the Ultima series while you are questing through Ultima 4 online:

1. You must have Ultima 1-3 installed on the same computer as Classic Ultima Online, which itself also requires Ultima 4 to be installed.
2. Launch the rum_portal application (typically located in C:\Program Files (x86)\RUM\) and download Classic Ultima Online.
3. Open File Explorer and navigate to the Classic Ultima Online folder (typically located in C:\Program Files (x86)\RUM\[numeric hash]\cuo).
4. Open the game.ini file in your text editor of choice and edit the folder paths for each Ultima game listed therein.

Once you’ve done all that (and saved the file, natch), launch Classic Ultima Online. You’ll begin the game with Ultima 4, of course, so to access the earlier games, speak to Lord British and look for the dialogue options concerning the Avatar’s past adventures.