Ultima V with MockingBoard on the IIgs Launcher Version 1.5, 1999 File: U5MBwGSlnch.shk by Jeff Hurlburt If your IIgs is equipped with a MockingBoard which can play music, U5MBwGSlauncher lets you launch and play Ultima V on the GS with the music included in the game. It also lets you set game border color and Text and background colors. To install the launcher, unshrink U5MBwGSlnch.shk to diskette, hard disk, or Zip disk. You will get the program, U5MBwGSlauncher, and a copy of this information file. 'Launcher can run from any DOS 3.3 diskette or ProDOS disk. For example, you can copy the program to hard disk and start it by double-clicking from the GS/OS Finder display. Q&A Q: My IIgs has a standard "Sound II" MockingBoard. Why do I need to use a launcher to get Ultima V's MockingBoard music on my IIgs? Ultima V was designed for pre-GS Apple II's. The code which is placed in memory by the launcher is needed to correctly hook up the MockingBoard interrupts. Someone, evidently Origin, released the basic machine code which the launcher uses. Q: Do I need to change Control Panel settings to use the U5 launcher? No. The program sets Slot and display Color registers. No Control Panel settings are changed; so, when you reboot after playing Ultima V, the registers will be re-set to match CP settings. Q: Why does the U5 launcher include options to change display colors? The game does not have a way to set GS border color; so, to get a display you like, border color must be set before starting the game. The Text and background color selections affect just the launcher's appearance. Q: What is the difference between using the launcher and a utility named "U5MBonGS"? The launcher sets things up and, then, boots the game. It makes no changes to the game disks and does not care whether or not they are copy protected. U5MBonGS creates an unprotected Ultima V boot disk which includes a patched startup program to let you set MB Slot, etc.. Q: What do I need to know to run the launcher? Mainly, that the Slot number shown for "MockingBoard Slot" needs to match the number of the Slot in which your MockingBoard is loacted before you select "Journey Onward" to boot the game. Program operation is straight-forward with prompts to guide your selections. Q: Does the launcher remember my MockingBoard Slot and the display color settings? Yes. If you make any changes after starting the launcher, you will be asked if you wish to Save them before the game is started. Once the new settings are saved, they become the program's default settings. Credits Special thanks to Boris Guenter (uni-kl.de A2 archive site manager) for sending a copy of the original Ultima V MockingBoard patch code! Should there be other questions, bug reports, comments, etc., send me an email. Jeff rubywand@swbell.net