ultima5-ios

This project lets you play the original DOS game Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny on an iPhone or iPad. It does this by building on dospad, an existing open source DOSBox app for iOS, and patching it at build time so it boots straight into Ultima V with a custom gold ankh icon instead of the normal DOSBox menu. The repository does not include the game itself. You must already own a legal copy of Ultima V, and the build process copies your own game files onto the device.

Setup requires a Mac with Xcode and git. Running one shell script clones the DOSBox project, patches it, detects your Apple developer signing identity, builds the app, installs it on your device, and copies your Ultima V files over. A key point the documentation stresses is that you do not need a paid Apple Developer account. Any free Apple ID can install an app you built onto your own device, though a free account's signature expires after seven days, so you need to reinstall periodically or use a sideloading tool like AltStore that renews it automatically.

For people without a Mac, the project also publishes a prebuilt IPA file in its Releases section. You can sideload that IPA on Windows, Linux, or Mac using tools such as Sideloadly, AltStore, or TrollStore, again using only a free Apple ID, then copy your own Ultima V files onto the phone through the Files app or Finder.

Once installed, the app runs in landscape with a purpose built control layout: an on-screen movement pad, labeled buttons for common Ultima commands such as Attack, Talk, and Look, and a toggle to bring up a full keyboard when you need to type things like conversation keywords or a character's name. Sound is supported. The README also covers an alternative path for Android users, running the same game files through the existing RetroArch DOSBox-Pure core rather than a dedicated Android app.