Save settings feature

[AnthonyPaulO]

Sorry I didn't see a discussions sections here so I'm posting this wish-list item here. When starting Ultima IV you have to enter Number of Drives as well as Activate Mockingboard support every time. It would be nice to be able to have it save these settings so all you have to do is Journey onward.

[sean-gugler]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep this thread open until I implement or reject it.

There is enough free space on the Program disk to add a settings file, but I'll have to think about how to handle it if the disk is write-protected, as it was in the retail edition. Long-time fans might habitually put a write-protect covering on the notch after transferring my image onto it. This won't be an issue for the upcoming ProDOS edition, once I get around to making it.

I'll also need to think about how handle machines that have no Mockingboard, or have theirs in a different slot. If it reads "Active" from the settings file on startup, the title screen will try to play music, which will hang the program. I'd hate for someone to bring their game disk over to a friend and find it unplayable on their machine.

[darrenjaneczek]

FWIW, in the Apple version of U5, it would save your music hardware settings on the Britannia Disk.

U5 was very smart about detecting which disks were in which drive, so if you already had that Britannia disk in, it would save and reload at the menu without a prompt (so you could enjoy the music in the menu). Given that you need to start that game from the Britannia Disk, I imagine the settings would also simply take effect once you reload your game after "Journey Onward".

[TeaRex73]

@darrenjaneczek I played U5 both with a homemade Mockingboard clone and with a Passport MIDI card. It was long ago but I'm fairly certain that it would not reload the music configuration automatically on "Journey Onward". You had to enter the music menu every time you started the game and then reload it from there.