Full disclosure:

I just posted this very thread on the Exult forum but I figured I'd post it here as well since GOG has been a great resource for tech issues:

So I'm playing Ultima 7 for the first time ever. Exult seems like a good time so I just finished setting it up. I'm using v1.4.9 rc1, no mods.

I noticed a strange problem: Whenever I get in-game and I go into the video options menu, a rather severe red tint will appear across the entire screen (including the UI). Please see the attached images for a before and after.

This happens regardless of the scaling chosen, fullscreen or windowed, resolution, etc.

As far as I can tell, the only thing that gets the colors back to normal is loading a savegame. Then everything's fine until I go back into the video menu.

I could live with this but I've also noticed that the tint shows up if I just walk around a given area for ~20 seconds. I've seen a thread on this forum that says this is because dusk is approaching. Considering that the shift is immediate, not a subtle dimming, I feel that it's a separate issue. Also, I'm not able to reproduce the problem in the DOSBox version.

Is anyone familiar with this? Should I switch versions? Are there any relevant options in the config file?



edit: And just like that, a nice person on the Exult forum fixed it. But I shall post the solution for GOG posterity!

If you get this bug, use the latest daily snapshot of Exult since the last release candidate (from February) is still affected.

And if anyone cares, repost the answer and I'll mark you as the thread's solution. For posterity! Fortune and glory!

Not sure what it could be. It does look like dusk approaching but as you say it comes as soon as you make the settings. Hit the F2 key and change the time of day to see if it does anything. Also try adjusting all the graphics settings, like scaler. I've used Exult for years and never had this problem.

I'm glad you fixed it! But you should know, you will see the game (including UI) do this at certain times of the day with certain lighting in view (IE candles, lamp posts etc).