Ultima Value Pak

The Ultima Value Pak is a compilation of the Ultima Trilogy I, Ultima IV and Ultima V, released by Origin in 1990 and exclusively sold by the distributor Software ETC, thus making it a rarity these days.

The trilogy box and the two later installments were - contrary to all later compilations of the series - actually sold in their original game boxes with all the content (manuals, maps, etc.) as described in their respective articles. All three boxes are surrounded by a cover sleeve that holds them together. Two editions of this compilation were released, one for the IBM-PC, and one for the C64.

It is not exactly clear why Origin went this unusual way, especially since the Ultima Trilogy II was already in development by that point. It perhaps has to do with the same reason Origin released the special edition of the beforementioned compilation, that they needed to reduce stockpiles of the older games - something, that a specially designed compilation wouldn't have accomplished with the game boxes.

Trivia

 * Amusingly, despite Ultima VI not being part of this compilation, map art from the Ultima VI Clue Book is used for the background of the cover sleeve.
 * Again, the placeholder picture is used for the Ultima II cover on the box.