Bugs

There are good bugs, bad bugs, and ugly bugs. Even the Ultima series wasn't bug-proof, resulting in some serious bugs that in the worst case can ruin all progress. All currently known bugs are listed here. Note that bugs that can be exploited for cheating are not listed here.

The list is not complete, further bugs will be added over time.

Ultima II

 * The numbers for stats and hitpoints can "roll over", meaning that they turn to zero. It is a well known weakness of the game and even Richard Garriott himself knew about it and therefore made Lord British ask for more gold for hitpoints the higher they are, so that the danger of rolling over is lower. Thankfully the Ultima II Upgrade Patch fixes that.


 * Another nasty bug is the "Divide by Zero" error. Ultima II isn't made for fast computers and crashes without comment. Thankfully, the patch mentioned above fixes this as well.


 * Not a real bug, but still game-breaking. Due to sloppy conversion, the latest versions of Ultima II that came in CD compilations got broken. The game originally came on three floppies, during a time when DOS didn't know sub-directories. This caused some files on different floppies having the same name. When it was all put into one directory for the compilations, the planet maps from the galactic disk got overwritten, making the game unwinnable. The patch mentioned above fixes this as well.

Ultima IV

 * The are several conversation bugs in the TLK-files making certain conversations impossible to reach.


 * The "Open" spell doesn't work. While manually opening a chest gives the player a fair chance to evade a possible trap, the spell actually rises the chance of a trap to hit to 100%!


 * The correct way to exit the balloon is to land it first, then exit it. The Apple version, however, had a bug that allowed you to exit the balloon while it was still in flight. This put the party into a confused mode. This mode was mostly like that of being on the surface, with the notable exception of non-occultation, and NPCs and monsters behaved as though the party was in flight.


 * A very annoying bug is included with the virtue of Valor. If the player character already has 9999 experience points, they should not lose the eighth of Valor. This is because the game stops giving the player valor points when the experience maximum is reached, making the game unwinnable should the eighth of Valor be lost at that point.


 * At least in the DOS and Apple IIe versions, dungeon Hythloth is bugged, as one room in level 6 is broken, lacking a trigger for the exit wall. Fenyx4 fixed this with a patch, found here.

Ultima VI

 * A really bad bug appears in combination with dead party members. If a companion dies and the party then is filled to the maximum of eight, resurrecting the character will turn the companion in question into a zombie that won't leave you alone. Since the party can only be 8 strong, have a 9th member screws up the game until it crashes.

Ultima Underworld

 * The disk version of the game had a bug in the lower levels, known as the "inventory bug". Essentially it would strike at random when changing levels, screwing up the inventory which generally resulted in loss of vital items. The CD-version fixes this bug, but it strangely re-appears in the PSX-Port.

Savage Empire

 * A very nasty bug can happen in the sequence where the Avatar has to kill a Tyrannosaurus with a boulder. If the bug happens, a random party member will be frozen forever.


 * Another bug happens after uniting the tribes. Leaving the Myrmidex caves after having beaten the Great Drum, results in the player being stuck in an infinite, self-repeating grassland.


 * Items that are left in a location, such as a village hut, can dissapear. Note this is particularly important for quest-related items. Confirmed dissappearing items include the fire extinguisher, bucket, and jugs of platcha, as well as easily replaceable items like sabretooth tiger skins, bamboo flintlock rifles, and bows and arrows. While it is unclear whether this is caused by a proper bug or quick-fingered natives, in order to avoid restarting to complete quests it's a good idea to keep all unique items with the party.

Ultima VII

 * A bug in the disk version of the game was that keys tended to simply disappear, making the game un-winnable. Origin thankfully fixed this problem with the CD-version.


 * Flying with the Magic Carpet to Minoc has the strange effect of the murder site being cleaned up immediately. This makes the Serpentine Dagger vanish, thus it becomes impossible to confront De Snel. - The only workaround is using another Serpentine Dagger, since another bug is, that they are all the same.


 * Another bug with the carpet appears when flying over the Isle of the Avatar. Unlike other sliding doors, one in the dungeon below is badly programmed and closes even if flying over the mountains under which it is. This makes the final dungeon un-winnable.


 * Due to a bug, it is impossible to get Rankin to talk the truth with the cube. Thankfully this was fixed with an Exult mod.


 * Trying to read the Golem-ritual scroll after having left the Test of Love results in a crash.


 * A bug in the German version: some conversation topics do nothing when clicked on, as it seems their triggers are missing.
 * It is possible to kill Cador in a bar fight, and then tell Yvella about where Catherine goes at noon. This creates the interesting situation where Cador lynches Lap-Lem despite already being dead.


 * If the player's name is "Avatar", it becomes impossible to ask Tseramed into the party. The conversation tree gets stuck in a loop where the player cannot answer with his true name, leaving the only options as "fellowship" and "Avatar". Choosing "fellowship" will end up with a dialog tree that has only the choice of "Abraham" for the character's name. Identifying oneself as Abraham will make Tseramed either attack you or send you on your way, depending on subsequent answers. Choosing "Avatar" acts as if the player has said they are The Avatar, not that their name is "Avatar". This makes it impossible to get the join option for Tseramed, since it will not appear until the player has given him their name. Eventually the dialog tree can get into a state where there a no options available and the game is frozen. It appears that hex editing occurrences of "Avatar" in the save game file to be something else fixes the issue.

Ultima Underworld II

 * Being nasty to Nanna results in a bug that creates a never-ending servant strike, essentially becoming a plot-stopper since events in the game proceed with plot development. Fixed in the CD-version.


 * Getting the Horn of Praecor Loth by destroying Praecor Loth results in a bug where the endgame (the appearance of Mors Gotha in the castle) can't be triggered.


 * There is another bug which can cause the endgame to not trigger. The Djinn Bottle has to be placed in the center of the pentagram before breaking it. While it seems to work when putting the bottle near the edge, it actually doesn't. Can only be solved by getting the replacement bottle from the Void and doing it correctly.

Serpent Isle

 * All of the ghosts in the game (like in the Exploded Powder Mill are the Chaos Hierophant. Talking to him before the right time is there will result in plot-stoppers.


 * Also, the pillars in Isstanar's room teleport accidently to the test of purity, also resulting in plot-stoppers.


 * One bug in Monitor can make the pikeman at the List Field, who manages the training, disappear. The cause is said bug, which lies in the banquet scene. The bug lies in the handling of internal game eggs (triggers). The usecode deletes the nearest egg trigger to the Avatar when opening the door to enter the banquet, which can erroniously be the Pikeman spawn egg for the List Field if you are to the west of the Banquet Hall. To avoid this, approach the banquet from the east.


 * One more plot-stopper bug. Xenka does not speak about "sacrifice". The cause the is usecode egg in the small chamber in Furnace where the Serpent Staff is found, this egg sets a game flag which influences Xenka. Exult team had a good forum topic of this bug.

Ultima VIII

 * Beren's dialogue, when reaching the lava river after cooling it partly off, is buggy. Most of his lines vanish. The cause are flag problems. This can be avoided by either never talking to him, or angering him in Tenebrae and denying an apology.