Finally, a Patch to Correct Typos in “Ultima 1”
Zhelkas1 noticed a few spelling errors in the MS-DOS version of Ultima 1, most notably “Britain” being misspelled as “Britian”, and “Gweno” as “Gwino”. By making use of a hex editor to poke around some of the game’s EXE files, Zhelkas1 was able to correct these, with one notable limitation:
I used a hex editor to make these fixes. It seems I am allowed to change existing strings but not add new ones, or the game won’t load properly. Therefore I can change the name to “Gweno” but not “Gwenno”.
To install the patch, make backups of MONDAIN.EXE, OUT.EXE, and SPACE.EXE, and then head on over to the patch’s project entry here at the Codex to grab a copy. Copy the files in the download into Ultima 1’s installation folder, and enjoy properly-spelled city and companion names.
I was going to install this but noticed the Gweno/Gwino thing. We don’t know if Gwenno is definitively Gwino, this has never been confirmed (not the least in which the Avatar outright kills Gwino I believe). Maybe someone can ask RG on Twitter but as it is, this patch arguably goes beyond fixing typos into possibly changing the game’s canon.
Yes, Gwino is Gwen(n)o: https://x.com/richardgarriott/status/1793022334569156965?s=46&t=zeMS5PSySbIArNlPwrIYbw
The Ultima Wiki is down
Nevermind, it’s back up