The GOG Preservation Program was established a while back to “[ensure] classic games remain playable on modern systems, even after their developers [stop] supporting them. By maintaining these iconic titles, GOG helps you protect and relive the memories that shaped you, DRM-free and with dedicated tech support.”

Happily, the entire catalogue of Ultima games, including the Underworld titles and the two Ultima 6 spin-offs, have been added to the Preservation Program. Which also means, interestingly, enough, that most of them have updated change notes from over the last few months (some quite recently).

The Ultima 1+2+3 bundle, for example, has change notes from as recently as March 20 of this year:

Ultima II

• Added an option to erase player data before starting the game, fixing the blank disk error when creating a new character.

All Games

• Validated stability.
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11.
• Verified Cloud Saves support.

Ultima 4 and the Ultima 7 bundle were similarly updated back in November of 2024:

• Validated stability
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11

Strangely, though, the Ultima 4+5+6 bundle was only updated as of March of this year, as was Ultima 8:

• Validated stability.
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11.
• Verified Cloud Saves support.

Savage Empire and Martian Dreams, meanwhile, were updated just last week:

• Validated stability.
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11.
• Verified Cloud Saves support.

The Ultima Underworld bundle was also updated last week, but the change notes there are a bit more interesting:

Both games:

• Switched over to DOSBox Staging version 0.82 for extra features and smoother emulation.
• Tweaked the DOSBox config for a better gameplay experience.
• Reverted sound card emulation to Sound Blaster for the most authentic (and awesome) sound and music.
• Validated stability.
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11.
• Added Cloud Saves support.

And finally, the list of updates made to Ultima 9 — which I think also went in some time last week — is the longest of all, and the most interesting:

1.19F GOG v2 changelog:

• German and French localizations are now included.
• DirectX renderer emulation has been added and is now set as the default for better visuals and performance.
• New rendering options in DirectX mode, including Windowed Mode, V-Sync, Gamma Correction, Integer Scaling, Anti-Aliasing, and more.
• Glide renderer emulation has been updated with new features like Vulkan Backend, Custom Resolutions, Custom Refresh Rates, Integer Rendering, Integer Scaling, and Anti-Aliasing.
• Draw distance and default game resolution have both been increased, giving you a broader and crisper view.
• Major improvements for lighting and texturing quality.
• Maximum framerate increased from 30 FPS all the way to 200 FPS. Enjoy super-smooth gameplay.
• The game configurator now saves and loads settings correctly.
• The rune and sigil floating bug has been fixed, with no framerate limits needed.
• Video playback, vertex clipping, and mouse cursor visibility are all fixed.
• Alt+Tab task switching works as it should, so multitasking is a breeze.
• Keyboard mapping is now optimized for a more intuitive experience.
• Validated stability.
• Verified compatibility with Windows 10 and 11.
• Added Cloud Saves support.

It would be interesting to see just how much of a change these new settings and features make to Ultima 9’s gameplay; the thought of exploring Britannia in 3D at a buttery-smooth framerate is rather enticing.