Cheating in Ultima VII
Ultima VII has a built-in cheat menu, an entire location dedicated to cheating (more likely, a developer test zone), and other separate cheats available.
Cheat Menu[edit]
Start the game from the command line with:
ultima7 ABCD[Alt]+255
(Hold down [Alt] and press 255 on the numeric keypad, NumLock must be enabled (it seems to create an empty space) and you will get many cheat options.
This activates the following keys during gameplay:
- [F1] Cheat Help: Shows the various keys that can be used.
- [F2] Cheat Menu: Opens the main cheat menu (more below).
- [F3] Teleport Map: Allows teleportation to any place on the map (not very precise, however).
- [F4] Single Step Toggle: Disables walking with the mouse and time only passes if you move (like in previous games).
- [F5] Select Spell: Asks for a number from 0 - 72 and then casts the appropriate spell.
- [F6] Barge Hack Cheat: Unknown.
- [F7] Toggle Traces: Displays the state of nearby Eggs and NPCs and how long they will be in that state.
- [F8] Read Sign, Book, Etc.: Doesn't work.
- [F9] Target report: Shows Referent, Location, Type, Frame, and Quality number of anything possible.
- [F10] Pathfind Test: Does nothing.
- [Alt]+1 Sound Effect: Select sound effects from 0-114 to play.
- [Alt]+2 Frame Counter: Doesn't work.
- [Alt]+3 Sprite Effects: Type in a number from 0-24 and click on object to show animation.
- [Alt]+4 Steal Items: Aiming this onto an NPC causes them to drop their inventory – which includes things not to be seen, like spells.
F2 Cheat Menu[edit]
This menu has many more options available, which are much more precise. Please note that whenever an NPC number is asked for, 0 is the Avatar. That is important when modifying the Avatar.
- [B]usiness Schedule: Asks for an NPC number from 0 to 255 and shows their schedule.
- [D]o Schedule: Typing -1 means all NPCs do their schedule. Any other number (0-255) means only the NPC in question does their schedule.
- [G]ame Flags: Allows the inspection and alteration of game flags.
- [N]umber ID: Displays NPC/monster IDs during gameplay.
- [T]eleport: Enables the following methods of teleportation.
- [D]ecimal Coordinates: X,Y,Z in decimal.
- [H]exadecimal Coordinates: X,Y,Z in hex.
- [N]pc Number: Any currently existing ID from 0-255. Teleports to that NPC.
- [R]eferent: Teleport to object via "Ref" number.
- [P]ower Avatar: Makes the Avatar invincible and spells don't use mana or reagents.
- [S]et Time: Set the hour and the day – the second being mostly cosmetic.
- [+-] Time Rate: Time goes by faster or slower on a 25 point scale.
- [F]ollowers: Sets Iolo, Spark, Shamino, Dupre, Jaana, Sentri, and Julia as party members.
- [H]ack Mover: Move any onscreen object (even ground tiles). There is no limit to it!
- [L]ocation: Shows the X, Y, Z coordinate in hex (essential for teleportation).
- [I]nspect: Enter an NPC number from 0-255 and all information is shown about that NPC.
- [M]odify Npc: This is the big guns, almost everything about an NPC can be altered after entering the NPC number from 0-255. Details now follow.
- [A]ttack Mode: Set which kind of attack mode the NPC uses – useless, since it can be modified in the game itself for the party.
- [B]usiness Activity: Sets what current activity the NPC is doing (from 0-31).
- [P]op Weapon: Spawns and equips/unequips and deletes a two-handed sword. Warning! Will delete any weapon/shield already equipped.
- [W]ant Primary Tgle: No effect.
- [F]ollowing/Align: Allows modification between good, evil, neutral and chaotic.
- [N]pc Status: Modify the current status of the NPC (like poisoned, sleeping, paralyzed, invisible, etc...)
- For the Avatar the option [S]ex exists, to change the sex of the Avatar.
- [~]raining Points: Changes the number of accumulated training points.
- [K]ill Npc: The NPC in question dies.
- [T]arget: Sets the combat priority between primary, secondary and oppressor.
- [E]xperience: Modify the experience of the NPC.
- [R]eserve Dex: Seems to have no effect.
- [S]tats: Allows direct altering of the stats of the NPC (STR, DEX, INT, COM, MAG, hit points and food level).
- [U]nk BugChkin: Does not seem to work.
- [Q]ueue Toggle: Enable/Disable "F7 - Toggle Traces".
- [C]reate Item: Create any item in the game, more about that below.
- [A]ctivity Dump: Shows an activity dump of any NPC selected.
Create Item[edit]
- Main article: Ultima VII Create Item list
You can create most any item in the game. Activate the cheat menu as above, then use [F2] to access the menu. Use (C)reate Item to make something. Read more about it in the fitting article, as noted above.
Teleportation Cheats[edit]
Lord British Cheater Fury[edit]
If you teleport to 209,407,0 Lord British will warp in and start attacking you and calling you a cheater. When you try to access the cheat menu, all it will say is 'oink!'. Additionally, all NPCs have turned into vegetables and the companions give off bizarre rants when being talked to. The room also can be reached by dropping a chest behind the trunk of the southeasternmost tree inside Trinsic – as the teleporter is on a higher z-level – and the then climb onto it.
This was intended to be a proper cheat room, surreptitiously planted by an Origin employee. It was later discovered by Richard Garriott who turned it into a death trap - though the actual cheat room got preserved, as can be read further below.
House of the Dead[edit]
Teleport to 5a8,508,0 and you will come to an area deep inside the mountains just west of the Shrine of Compassion that contains all the people you have killed over the course of the game. The game has to put them somewhere, since due to programming reasons NPCs can not vanish from the world, only be moved to a different place while being replaced by corpse items.
Endgame[edit]
If you want to see the endgame of Ultima VII, you need to start the game with ENDGAME EREIAMJH
Cheat Rooms[edit]
Main Cheat Room[edit]
There are several ways to access the Ultima VII cheat room:
- Locate the dead blacksmith's shop in the bottom left corner of Trinsic, the first town. Climb on the roof by stacking the crates that are available throughout various buildings in town. Walk to the back (northern side) of the chimney to be transported to the cheat room.
- An alternate, much easier to reach teleporter exists in Trinsic. Drop a chest north of the trunk of the tree standing between Apollonia’s house and the Honorable Hound – as the teleporter is on a higher z-level – and climb on it to get teleported.
- When the game starts make your way out of town by doing everything right. In Britain, the first tree east of the house of the gargoyles has a teleport egg a bit east of it. Since it is on a higher z-level than the ground, you need to step on something like a crate to reach it. Now, walk on it and you will be transported to the cheat room.
In the cheat room, you will find 8 suits of magic armor, 2 Death Scythes, a juggernaut hammer, a hawk (it's a weapon), 2 magic axes, lots of magic rings, a spell book with all the spells, 1000 gold, 100 lockpicks, 100 of each reagent, Rudyom's wand, the three prisms and a Hoe of Destruction. There are also teleporters to most all of the major locations in the game plot as well as nearly every item critical to finishing the game.
Skara Brae Cheat Room[edit]
There is a chamber in the graveyard in Skara Brae, which contains all items required in the quest there, magic armour, rings and a Death Scythe. There is a lever just visible behind the statue to the west of Marney’s tomb, which opens the secret door to enter. You have to know that there are numerous plot items here, thus it is cheating.
Isle of Fire Item Cache[edit]
In the Test of Love, flip the switch next to the Stone of Castambre (it's barely visible). Then go back into the caves to the north. A secret passage will have opened that leads to a room with a Death Scythe, 9 glass swords and a firedoom staff. Unlike the first two caches however, this ones contains no quest items and therefore can be obtained during a normal games without causing problems.
Separate Cheats[edit]
Free Experience[edit]
When you first speak with Batlin in Britain and ask to join the Fellowship, he will ask you to run an errand for him. In order for this cheat to work, you must say "No" to him when first asked. After refusing, speak with him again and accept the errand. He will give you a sealed box to take to Minoc. As long as you do not deliver the box, this cheat will work. After getting the box, talk to Batlin again. At the end of the conversation, he will ask you to deliver the box again. When you say yes, everyone in the party will gain 100 experience points. You can repeat this as often as you like, but only so long as you do not deliver the box.
Free Expendables[edit]
This cheat is used in conjunction with the "Free Experience" cheat involving Batlin.
Once you enable that cheat, open a character's inventory and pick any item that has a quantity – gold, arrows, reagents, etc. The item has to pull up the 'quantity' check box when you move it. Put this item on the ground, and select the entire quantity. Once you have done that, talk to Batlin. When you accept the mission, not only will everyone get another 100 experience, but also the item that you dropped on the ground will be duplicated in your inventory with the same quantity.
(Example: Put 100 gold pieces in the Avatar’s hand, then put them on the floor. Talk to Batlin, and the Avatar will have another 100 gold pieces in his hand.)
This cheat will work with any item that has a quantity (i.e., it shows a number when you click on it). I would recommend putting a few barrels on the flying carpet so you can haul around all the gold, arrows, and whatnot you stock up.
Potion Trick[edit]
To make fights easy, you can use a green potion on your enemy to poison it, and/or you could use a blue potion to make it go to sleep. Unlike the spells, this always works and your foes have no defense against it in any way.
Killing Batlin[edit]
To kill Batlin, hit him with Death Bolt while he is conducting the Fellowship service at 8PM.
Resurrecting Alagner[edit]
Get to the point in the game where Alagner gives you the key to his shed. Now, kill him and carry his body with you. Get to the point where you give Alagner's notebook to the wisps. Now, return to New Magincia and find Alagner's body. Now you can cast resurrection on Alagner's body (the one you have been carrying around), or you can have Lord British do it.
Stealing Items Without Your Companions Fussing[edit]
Your companions will often complain if you steal items or eat food that is not yours. To stop them from complaining and steal to your heart's content, always put stolen items in their backpacks. Likewise, if you want to eat someone else's food, first place it in your companion's backpack. Since they are now technically the ones doing the stealing, they will no longer complain, though other people will still notice, of course.
Filling up on Potions[edit]
Normally, potions are quite expensive to buy and can't be found often, despite their usefulness. However, there is an easy way around this. Rudyom in Cove is always busy with brewing potions. Simply follow above rules about stealing and you can fill up your potion stores easily (although you sometimes have to wait for him to produce the right one). If he becomes too agitated by your stealing, leave and return later, then you can continue doing so.
Silver Serpent Venom Overdose Bug[edit]
Silver serpent venom temporarily boosts a user's STR, DEX and INT. After a brief period, though, they all fall slightly. Using far too much SSV at one time on a character, though, causes an interesting reaction. The drop in stats is so great, it rolls over into negative numbers that the game cannot handle, and the character winds up with a STR of approximately 150. The other two stats remain approximately normal.
Be warned, this massive boost can cause interesting problems of its own.
Having Fun with Batlin and Lord British[edit]
- Use the Exult cheat menu and toggle God mode and archmage mode. Now use the Armageddon spell in British’s presence. Then attack him. He will start to attack you without mercy even if you use Charm on him. Using Sleep on him will just cause him to continue to attack you after he wakes up. The only way to make him friendly towards you again is to kill him by luring him into the courtyard and having the plaque fall on his head. Resurrect him afterwards and he will be friendly again. Of course, all he will talk to you about is your irresponsible usage of the Armageddon spell.
- Use the Exult pickpocket cheat on Lord British and you will find not only his will, but also a Lightning spell in his right hand. You can take it and arm it for yourself, but not be able to use it as an attack method.
- Using this same pickpocket cheat with Batlin will reveal him to have a Fireball in his left hand, and a tuft of sparkles in his right. At this point, Batlin can now only attack you with his bare hands and start screaming for help.
Hidden Chest Near Trinsic[edit]
This one is well-known, still it is kind-of cheating.
South of Trinsic, there is a chest hidden beneath a yellow maple tree at 129°S 3°W just a little north of the coast. You find the fitting key under a rock just a little to SE (its under the one rock that's darker than the others, sitting near the tree line). Inside the chest is good equipment (magic armour and weapons as well as money) but no actual plot items. Interestingly, that key can also open the shed where you find the Hoe of Destruction.
The Ultimate Lockpick[edit]
On a small island south of Spiritwood, in a hut with some slaughtered cats, you do find a big key. This is the ultimate lockpick, which never breaks. Using this one, you never have use for ordinary lockpicks ever again.
Entering the Cube Generator[edit]
Normally, the Cube Generator is surrounded by a sonic defense that kills any and every character that tries to go near, unless protected. However, the mechanism is flawed when Forge of Virtue is installed (nowadays all issues of Ultima VII). The maximum HP before that was 30, so the sonic defense was programmed to be deadly relative to that maximum value. However, after FoV, the Avatar has an HP of 60 and the programmers didn't reprogram the defense, meaning you can pass into the generator without problem, although it does kill your entire party, so it's not exactly a smart thing to do.
Entering the Sphere Generator First[edit]
It is possible to enter the Sphere Generator first by carefully squeezing past the eastern side of the moongate, which is covered by the wall. However, the payoff for this exploit it small, since in order to destroy the Cube Generator, one still needs the hourglass, thus the need to destroy the Tetrahedron Generator as well. That arrangement also helps to not accidentally cause a plotstopper.
Ways to Make Lots of Money[edit]
Rob the Bank[edit]
A good way to make some money is to rob the Royal Mint. To do this, first find the Mint woman's house, take the first key from it and then kill her in her sleep. Next, take the keys off her corpse and use them to enter the Mint at night. Now, help yourself to all the gold bars and nuggets lying around and keep care not to be caught by the guards. Finally, have Lord British resurrect the woman and talk to her at the mint. She will give you many coins for your stack of gold bars/nuggets.
Rob the Jewelry Store[edit]
At night, smash open the door to the Britain Jewelry Store. Now, smash all the glass containers and take all the jewels. In the day, sell all the jewels back to the owner. He won't notice a thing.
The House of Games[edit]
Beating the Rat Race[edit]
Once you are a member of the Fellowship, bet equal amounts of gold on each rat in the casino race of the House of Games. The payback for a Fellowship member is 6 to 1, so you always profit. You only have to wear the medallion (and you must have joined for real).
However, be warned that creating too much money will crash the game!
Roulette Wheel[edit]
Another method takes advantage of the game's programming is to go to the House of Games in Buccaneer's Den, bet your money on one color in The Spinning Wheel, and then spin the wheel. Wait until the wheel is milliseconds before stopping, then open the inventory, and move your money to the winning color. And voilá! 600 gold pieces instead of 100!
You also can do this to win more money than usual with The Spinning Wheel. The first thing that you have to do is not lay money down, but let the wheel spin awhile. As the wheel spins, you have to SAVE the game. After you have saved to game, look which color it becomes. LOAD the game and bet your money on that color you have seen.
Since this kind of cheating in the house of games was obviously not intended by the programmers, it is a cheat to get money fast.