Pix has released a couple more updates for his venerable patching utility for the Ultima games (well, at least those which have been installed on Windows-based computers). Version 1.65 added a number of tweaks from Natreg Dragon for several different Ultima titles:

The updates for the Ultima Patcher are coming thick and fast this year. This latest one adds some tweaks from Natreg Dragon to Ultima 4, 7 & Serpent Isle. The most major of these is an EGA downgrade patch for the VGA upgrade. While this might initially sound counterproductive, it can be used to play the game with the original graphics but with the added enhancements the VGA patch offers such as music. The previous music only patch had major issues with low CPU cycles in DOSBox and I’ve dropped this from the patcher.

The tweaks to Ultima 7 and Serpent Isle are more minor and are detailed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/UltimaDragons/permalink/10156908034553797/. This patch will fix the ability to fish in both games and the Eiko/Amanda/Iskander is also fixed in Ultima 7. I’ve also added the earthquake fix to Serpent Isle.

Version 1.66, the latest version, adds still yet more from Natreg, and also includes the latest from Voyager Dragon’s Exodus Project:

I’ve just uploaded the latest Ultima Patcher, version 1.66. The additions are:

– Another fix from Natreg Dragon with a minor tweak to Weblock’s conversation tree in Ultima 5
– The latest version of the Ultima 2 upgrade (2.1) from Voyager Dragon. This adds new graphics modes, a couple of fixes and a stat mode selector so you don’t have to count your steps
– Also from Voyager Dragon, an alternative Ultima 4 music upgrade with more traditional instruments.

The latest version of the Patcher can be downloaded from Pix’s site here, or from the project entry here at the Codex.