Ultima VII Part Two auf Deutsch

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Screenshot of the title screen of Ultima VII Part Two in German. All that appears on the screen is text, in various fonts and colors.
Title screen

Ultima VII Part Two auf Deutsch is a fan-patch by Sir John which aims to fully translate Ultima VII Part Two into German and is available at Die Heimstatt des Sir John.

The Patch[edit]

Screenshot of Ultima VII Part Two showing the player's paper doll inset, with stats listed in German.
Looking at the stats
Screenshot from Ultima VII Part Two, taken outdoors, depicting a conversation between the player and a robotic NPC, in German.
Talking with Petra
Screenshot from Ultima VII Part Two of the player conversing with a blacksmith in his shop, in German.
Buying from Standarr
Screenshot from Ultima VII Part Two, taking place on a bridge around a stone moat, with a large, German spellbook inset. It includes a number of spells which are accompanied by runic text and images depicting their effects.
The spellbook

Unlike the first part of Ultima VII, Serpent Isle received no official German translation; only its manual was translated for the German market. Thus, this translation was built from the ground up and includes The Silver Seed. The game was thoroughly playtested to address numerous issues that arose – most notably an upper size limit for certain text files – as well as narrative problems. The game had a small team of testers, including Lady Lingi, Frank Wolter, and Dominik Reichardt, while Tribun Dragon, who had already performed extensive testing for Ultima VII auf Deutsch, returned to contribute to this project as well.

Version 1.0 of the patch was then published on March 25, 2021.

Installation[edit]

The patch requires the original CD version of Ultima VII Part Two (or the GOG.com version). The patch files are then simply copied into the game directory; this is generally all that needs to be done, aside from additional steps for extra content. Other than manual copying of the files, a DOS- and Windows-installer version are available as well. The resulting game can then be played in either DOSBox or Exult.

Features[edit]

The patch includes the following features:

  • Full and complete translation of all text in the game to German. (including all unused text)
  • Redrawing of all English graphics into German (as seen in the title screen).
  • The patch features the originally planned, 90 seconds long, introduction sequence, which never made it into the original game due to size constraints at the time.
  • All in-game voice acting was re-recorded in German, partially by professional voice actors.
  • Alternate optional Antiqua font for better readability of the text, can be turned on or off.
  • Several new easter eggs and cultural references have been added.
  • NPC designations are gender-specific.
  • Linguistic characteristics of the different NPC groups in the game have been addressed by inventing society-based grammar and spelling rules.
  • Addition of John Glassmyers U7-Hacks in German.

Fixes of Bugs in the Original Game[edit]

Several bugs present in the English original version were fixed:

  • Fish now no longer have a size of 0, and fishing rods work as intended; thus, fishing is now possible.
  • Additional fixes for the earthquake effect, which previously did not work properly in DOSBox.
  • Some keywords were not functioning in the original game. They now do work as intended.

Correction of Wrong Content[edit]

Numerous content errors in the dialogues and books were corrected:

  • Inconsistencies with spell Words of Power in the spellbook, on scrolls, and those uttered are fixed. Additionally, many spells with illogical Words of Power are replaced with more logical ones in the spellbook, on scrolls, and in the barks (1-liners randomly uttered by NPCs). The corrections are compliant with those in the Serpent Isle fixes mod by the Exult team.
  • The graphics for the spells Fire Ring and Fire Field now correctly use blue cold-fire on scrolls and in the spellbook.
  • The automaton in Spinebreaker no longer mixes up the books. He now cites a passage from the book The Structure of Order and accepts the correct answer.
  • Iolo doesn't brag about his crossbow bolts anymore when looking at one, and instead compares the bolts found to his own.
  • The in-game book about weapons and armour no longer speaks of the "blue Caddelite helmet", exclusive to Ultima VII: The Black Gate.
  • Multiple books that didn't belong in Serpent Isle (remnants from Ultima VII) were modified or re-written.
  • The guards at Bull Tower now reveal why they wanted a gold bar.
  • Flicken is now much more mistrusting of how the Avatar appeared at Monitor’s rear gate.
  • The answer to Draxinar's riddle was wrong. He now uses a new riddle whose answer fits.
  • The in-game map from Scots is now correctly labeled in Runic instead of Ophidian.
  • Isstanar and Tsandar have their dialogue corrected to no longer accidentally imply Ardiniss is still alive.
  • Pothos now correctly talks about sulfurous ash instead of just ash.
  • The easter egg virtue stone is now labeled correctly.

New Manuals[edit]

Sir John also translated both Beyond the Serpent Pillars and The Silver Seed Play Guide, as the original German translation was not always up to modern standards. However, the layout of that initial new translation was somewhat bland and suboptimal, while still containing original errors. In 2021, a second new translation was completed; this time, Tribun Dragon helped spot the errors while also providing all the illustrations and page borders in high quality to recreate the original layout. This version actually includes more illustrations to compensate for the sometimes lacking original, and the Silver Seed book received a new cover.

The books included with the patch are of the lowest quality due to size issues.

  • Cover of a German booklet with a hooded snake coiled around a treet.

    Cover of the new The Silver Seed Play Guide

  • Contents of a book written in German, including 3 portraits of humans and one of a robot.

    Inside the guide

External Links[edit]

Translations of the Ultima series
Official Translations In General ☥ Ultima VII ☥ Ultima VIII ☥ Ultima IX
Fan Translations
of Ultima VI 		German ☥ Spanish ☥ French
Fan Translations
of Savage Empire (SNES) 		English
Fan Translations
of Ultima Underworld (PSX) 		English
Fan Translations
of Ultima VII 		German ☥ Italian
Fan Translations
of Ultima VII Part Two 		German ☥ French
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