Cheating in Ultima IX

Ultima IX contains many interesting cheat functions. There are also weaknesses in the programming that can be misused to great effect.

Cheat Mode
''Note: This procedure involves editing a game file; create a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Enabling cheat mode may also make it impossible to finish the game as intended.''

Use a text editor to edit the "default.kmp" file in the game directory. Add the following lines below the "[Cheat Commands]" heading: alt+shift+a = toggle_avatar_invulnerable alt+shift+b = pass_one_hour alt+shift+c = unpass_one_hour alt+shift+d = sunrise_sunset alt+shift+e = pass_one_minute alt+shift+f = unpass_one_minute alt+shift+g = toggle_sun alt+shift+h = toggle_wind alt+shift+i = toggle_storms alt+shift+j = toggle_avatar_fast alt+shift+k = toggle_avatar_fly Then, press one of the following keys during game play to activate the corresponding cheat function:

Effects

 * God mode: [Alt] + [Shift] + A
 * Time advances one hour: [Alt] + [Shift] + B
 * Time retreats one hour: [Alt] + [Shift] + C
 * Toggle sunrise and sunset: [Alt] + [Shift] + D
 * Time advances one minute: [Alt] + [Shift] + E
 * Time retreats one minute: [Alt] + [Shift] + F
 * Toggle sun: [Alt] + [Shift] + G
 * Toggle wind: [Alt] + [Shift] + H
 * Toggle storms: [Alt] + [Shift] + I
 * Faster Avatar: [Alt] + [Shift] + J
 * Flight mode: [Alt] + [Shift] + K

Note: Enabling cheats can cause parts of the game to glitch, as when you fly over a trigger location earlier than normal.

Additional codes
The following codes require v1.07 of the game, and may be bound to any desired key combination in the "default.kmp" file as described above. recharge_mana fill_spellbook spells_0-2 spells_3-5 spells_6-8

Bind Spells Without Sacrificing Reagents or Scrolls
First, place the reagents and scroll for the spell you wish to bind onto the pentagram and proceed to light the candles as normal. When the dialogue box to enter the incantation pops up, place the scroll and the reagents back into your backpack and recite the incantation.

Hidden teleporters
Locate the fence without a gate behind the Avatar's house. Climb on the nearby training dummy and jump over the fence. Find the lever hidden near a bush by the large tree. Pull the lever to find teleporters that will equip your character with armor and allow travel to various places in Britannia. Note: You can not return by teleporter once you leave.

Invisible to monsters
Press B to open your backpack and attack monsters. They will ignore you as long as the backpack remains open. Note: Drag the backpack to the edge of the screen for a better view. Note that this exploit does not work with the latest patches

Cheap Way to Win in the Arena
To enhance your training in unarmed combat, you must beat an opponent in the Arena in Buccaneer's Den. The problem is that you must do it unarmed. To get around this, you can place a weapon in the arena before you fight, then use it in your battle.

Infinite Magic Bags
If a guard catches you in Wrong, you will be thrown in prison and your weapon and belongings will be placed in a chest. If your backpack is full, you will find an extra magic bag in your backpack that contains the excess items. Do this repeatedly to gain extra magic bags.

Ocean Travel Without A Boat
In Ultima IX, bread has an amazing property: it can float while supporting the weight of the Avatar! With this method, you can easily go anywhere in Britannia! When you arrive in Britain, make sure to grab (DO NOT EAT) all the bread you can lay your hands on. In Lord British's Castle, cast ignite on the candle and grab all the bread that appears. Grab all the bread in the kitchen (behind the hidden door in the banquet room). Also, you can make bread in the Baker's house.

Now that you have enough bread, run to the shores. Try to place the bread in the water. It should work if the water is shallow enough. Otherwise, use gust to push it out. If you do it right, the bread should be floating. Now, try to climb on the bread or jump onto it like in this picture.



Now, once you are standing on the floating piece of bread, place a second piece just in front of the Avatar. Do not put it too close, or the bread will just go into the Avatar's backpack. Place it like in this picture:



You can continue to place pieces of bread in front of the other until you run out of bread (or your cursor turns yellow). Pretty soon, you could have a bridge that looks like this.



If you combine this trick with the Magic Bag Trick, you can easily carry enough bread to lay down permanent bread bridges across Britannia.

NOTE: You can purchase unlimited amounts (I think) of bread in Buccaneer's Den and other places.

An explanation for this strange effct, see Weaknesses in the Ultima IX Physics.

Climbing Steep Slopes
If you want to climb a slope that is too steep for you (the volcano surrounding Valoria, for instance), you can drop a flat item (like a pie) on the surface, jump onto it, place another item further up, jump onto it, etc.

The X-Cheat
It is possible to misuse the X-key, which examines objects. For example, you can use it to loot the locked chest at the shore of Skara Brae that contains the Blackrock Helmet. Normally, you only can get it with the Ranger key. However, holding X and slowly moving the cursor over the seam between the two parts of the chest you can find the helmet through the small gap and pull it out.

The same essentially goes for all the chests in the game.

Reaching Yew early
There are several ways of reaching the northern half of the main continent before the game should allow. It is possible to swim around the west coast of the continent by taking advantage of small patches of shallow water which may be difficult to find. There is also a section of cliff west of Paws (just near the staff-armed bandit who kidnapped the little boy's mother and the subsequent cave with treasures) that is possible by careful jumping to surmount, giving the Avatar access to the northern section of the main continent.

Skipping the last dungeon
It is possible to skip the last dungeon on Terfin and right away go to the throne room of the Guardian to initiate the final battle. To do so, go to the big front gate and use the spell "Teleport", to teleport through the gap between the two halves of the gate to enter the yard of the fortress. From there, just go into the throne room and prepare for the final battle. Since there is nothing plot relevant in the final dungeon, it doesn't create a plotstopper.

Walking through the walls and obstacles
If you cast Wizard Eye, which can be found inside a house in Moonglow or purchased later, press ESC to cancel the spell. If you press it fast you will not even waste mana. Now, do not move. You can jump in any direction through any obstacles, but you must be carry not to fall under the floor. After the jump, or if you move, the effect ends.

Fog and its Properties
The spell Fog is hilariously broken in the game.

When creating the spell, the programmers obviously had little idea how to actually implement the spell's effect into the engine. The final effect is hilarious, as the spell simply turns off the AI of the enemies, meaning that while the spell is in effect, you can simply walk up to them and slaughter them without getting hurt at all. This of course makes all fights laughably easy to win.