Note: Bliznik, I couldn't reply to your last reply in the above thread about my Ultima 7 The Complete Collection problems. Not sure why. This reply-post works, for some reason. Please respond when you can. Thanks. Done. Would uninstalling GOG Galaxy also uninstall all the gog.com games I bought and saved/cataloged on it?

My games are here: C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games, where the Ultima 7 folders are: Ultima 7, Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle, and Ultima 7 The Complete Edition. "Ultima 7" leads to "The Black Game + Forge of Virtue" shortcut (Launch Ultima VII - The Black Gate) to the DOSBox.exe game in the DOSBOX folder, "Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle" leads to "Serpent Isle + The Silver Seed", and under DOSBOX folder is the DOSBox.exe (but this one won't load all the way, but the shortcut in the main folder works fine). And the only thing under "Ultima 7 The Complete Edition" is the "iDownloads" folder, which has the manual and maps, same folder also in the first two.

So you want me to uninstall both The Black Gate + Forge of Virtue and Serpent Isle + The Silver Seed? And I suppose there's nothing do uninstall for The Complete Edition?

And by control panel you do mean Windows Explorer, right? Ultima 7: The Complete Collection doesn't show there, just Ultima VII - The Black Gate + Forge of Virtue (top left corner, top of the list), and four listed games below that is Ultima VII - Serpent Isle + The Silver Seed. The four games between and the rest are other games I've purchased before, nothing Ultima VII related.

And would my games be safely stored in "Games" in my account area you showed me if I uninstalled Gog Galaxy?

Also, I bought Ultima 7: The Complete Edition here first, originally:

https://www.gog.com/game/ultima_7_complete

Uninstalling GOG Galaxy should only uninstall GOG Galaxy. The games you installed using GOG Galaxy should remain on your computer, and can be uninstalled separately. But you may need to change or make new links to the games you installed using GOG Galaxy, since GOG Galaxy automatically creates shortcuts for those games. The Complete Edition is two separate installs. One for The Black Gate and the other for Serpent Isle. There's no such thing as a single game for The Complete Edition. So...if you have each of those two installs, you have The Complete Edition.

I bought Ultima 7 a while back on GOG, and back then it was called The Complete Edition. When I used GOG Galaxy to install The Complete Edition, it created a directory "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete." In this directory, GOG Galaxy created three separate directories for me: "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete\DOSBOX", "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete\SERPENT", and "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete\ULTIMA7"

But, since then, my copy of GOG Galaxy updated, and "The Complete Edition" was removed from my version of GOG Galaxy, and it was replaced by "Ultima 7", with the diamond thingy that allows me to navigate between choosing The Black Gate and Serpent Isle. When I installed those individually, GOG Galaxy installed "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima 7" and "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle"

The contents of "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete\SERPENT" are pretty much the same as the contents of "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle" and the contents of "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete\ULTIMA7" are pretty much the same as the contents of "D:\Games\GOG Games\Ultima 7"

This is why I suggested uninstalling and reinstalling GOG Galaxy. I think you have some legacy "The Complete Edition" stuff in there, which probably shouldn't be there in the latest version of GOG Galaxy. Yeah, sorry, I'm using old terminology. I guess in Windows 10 it's called "Settings", Start->Settings, then select "Apps" to uninstall. Yeah, that's normal. That happened for me as well. "Ultima VII Complete" disappeared from my GOG Library and was replaced with "Ultima VII - The Black Gate + The Forge of Virtue" and "Ultima VII + Serpent Isle + The Silver Seed" Which, again, is the same thing as Ultima VII - Complete. It doesn't create the directories in the exact same way. But the games play exactly the same way.

If you look at the contents of the original Ultima 7 Complete Edition Box (I've attached a photo of what it looks like here), the original Complete Edition had 4 sets of floppy disks. One set for Ultima 7: The Black Gate. Another set for Forge of Virtue. Another set for Ultima 7: Serpent Isle. Another set for Silver Seed.

GOG Packages them together, so GOG gives you two installs. One for The Black Gate + Forge of Virtue, and another for Serpent Isle + Silver Seed.

So if I uninstall Gog Galaxy, it'll forget the games I owned before and won't be on its list anymore when I reinstall? On my Hard Drive, in the Gog Galaxy > Games > Ultima 7 folder, there's a shortcut called "Launch Ultima VII - The Black Gate", which works the game, and it says it references to the subfolder source called "DOSBOX". In that folder, I found DOSBox.exe, and when I activate it, it starts to load the game too, but stops in DOS in two windows. The big one says:

DOSBox Status Window

DOSBox version 0.74
Copyright 2002-2010 DOSBox Team, published under GNU GPL.
---
CONFIG: Loading primary settings from config file C:\User\Licensed User\AppData\Local\DOSBox\dosbox-0.74.conf
MIDI:Opened device:win32

The smaller window says:

DOSBox 0.74, Cpu speed: 3000 cycles, Frameskip 0, Program: ...

Welcome to DOSBox v0.74
For a short introduction for new users type: INTRO
For supported shell commands type: HELP
To adjust the emulated CPU speed, use ctrl-F11 and ctrl-F12.
To activate the keymapper ctrl-F1.
For more information read the README file in the DOSBox. directory.
HAVE FUN!
The DOSBox Team http://www.dosbox.com

Z:\>SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 H5 T6

Z:\>

In the Gog Galaxy > Games > Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle folder, it's the same: Shortcut called "Launch Ultima VII - Serpent Isle", which works the game, and it says it references a subfolder there called "DOSBOX". In that folder, I found DOSBox.exe, and when I activate it, it starts to load the game too, but stops in DOS in two windows. Both say the exact same thing as the ones before above.

Not sure where the games' .exe files are. Or are those two shortcuts what I need? I've started Black Gate + The Forge of Virtue game. On the main menu, the Ultima VII title is on top, and below it on the left is "The Black Gate" and to the right of that is "The Forge of Virtue", then below that "Journey Onward" and the rest. How do I choose to play The Black Gate, because I want to play it and Serpent Isle first, then when I've beaten them, do The Forge of Virtue and Silver Seed versions.

Also, I found this. What's it about? "Ultima 7 The Complete Edition - Exult - source port for Ultima VII":

https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=Ultima+7%3A+The+Complete+Collection&product=gog

Should I download it too? If I can't play Black Gate, then Serpent Isle, then Forge of Virtue, and finally, Silver Seed currently, I'll consider it. Yeah, on my Apps listing Gog Galaxy is there. Thanks!

The shortcuts are all you need to start the game. The shortcuts will load a bunch of default DOS configurations and will execute the game using DOSBOX. To start the game, just select "START NEW GAME", which should be the second option. Exult an engine that was created that is far superior to DOSBOX, and is the definitive way to play either the Black Gate or Serpent Isle. I would highly recommend playing the game using Exult instead of the shortcuts that were created by GOG Games which executes the game using DOSBOX.

In order to install and use Exult, there are a few steps to take:

(1) Download Exult and install it
- Navigate to http://exult.sourceforge.net/
- Download and Install the Exult v1.7.x binary snapshot of the current code. When you install, it will ask you to point it to where the Ultima 7 Black Gate directory is, and the Ultima 7 Serpent Isle directory is
(2) Download both of Marzo's patches and install them
- Navigate to https://github.com/exult/exult/releases
- Download Keyring.zip, then Sifixes.zip.
- Keyring.zip contains patches and extra quests for Ultima 7: The Black Gate
- Sifixes.zip patches some issues with Ultima 7: The Serpent isle
- To install, unzip the files, and create a "mods" directory in both the GOG Games\Ultima 7 directory and the GOG Games\Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle directory
- Copy the Keyring folder and the Keyring.cfg file into the new GOG Games\Ultima 7\mods directory, and then copy the Sifixes folder and the Sifixes.cfg file into the new GOG Games\Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle\mods directory
(3) Execute Exult and enjoy! If you installed the mods correctly, when you execute Exult, you should execute the game by first clicking on SHOW MODS under the game that you want to start, and then click on the mod name (BLACK GATE KEYRING for one mod, and SERPENT ISLE FIXES for the other mod)

Made shortcuts of the shortcuts for my desktop. No, sorry, what I mean is the title screen says both "The Black Gate" and "The Forge of Virtue". How do I play the original Black Gate game first, then the original Serpent Isle after that, then Forge of Virtue then Silver Seed? I'll try it if I can't play the first Black Gate first with what I have now, and all that.

The addons Forge of Virtue and Silver Seed are integrated into Black Gate and Serpent Isle respectively. They are not seperate games. Think of it similar to DLC in modern games.
Back in the game you needed to buy the addons and and then install them which added additional NPCs, plot, map locations,... to your existing games. (and added some bug fixes to the game, as well)

It's just that I got the original U7 when it came out in 1992, back in the days of 5 1/4 inch floppy disks that you installed the software from one at a time. I was an early teenager, and my home computer wasn't advanced enough for all the features, like no sound and the characters moving somewhat slow, I was lucky to, however, aside from taking notes on the best trainers to go to in which towns, get a copy of the U7 Clue Book: Key To The Black Gate, an U7 strategy guide book. Towards the end there was a guide on all the things you had to do, one at a time, to get through the game, and I think this book came out before even Serpent Isle, IIRC. I did beat The Black Gate (played a little into Serpent Isle too, but didn't get far), but can't remember if I found the character who was the fictional author of the clue book. What was his name again? Was he ever in the game? What became of him?

What sucks is that I just noticed my U7 box and it's contents (and U6, the only one I had also) are now missing, so I'm going to have to find replacements. I just want to relive TBG and SI as they originally were when I was young, so I can do what I missed and forgot, like finding that author guy, and beat them fully (using the Clue Book for TBG) then take on their upgrades (gog's games I got). Hopefully I can find the U7 and U6 box-parts and U7 clue book again somewhere, and get a second chance at the originals.

How about these?:
https://gamesnostalgia.com/download/ultima-vii-the-black-gate/1743?t=8306048
https://gamesnostalgia.com/download/ultima-vii-part-two-serpent-isle/798?t=48351803

What exact changes did Forge of Virtue and Silver Seed make to Black Gate and Serpent Isle?

For the most part they add new areas and quests in those areas. For Forge of Virtue, its a return to the Island of Fire from Ultima 3 and doing stuff there. Lord British points you there the first time you talk to him and gives you the deed to a boat to get there (though you have to journey to Vesper to get the boat). It ultimately ends with you making a very powerful weapon and Lord British increasing all the Avatar's stats to 60 (compared to the normal 30 maximum).

Silver Seed gives you a new area to explore separate from the Island, which you reach by using the 'Amulet of Balance' (given to you either the first time you die, or when you get to Monk Isle, whichever comes first). It's been longer since I did that one, but you get an extra look at the Island's history and some useful items from doing it.

Also, said weapon that gets made in Forge of Virtue also appears in Serpent Isle. Regardless of how far you get in Black Gate before doing the Forge of Virtue stuff, you at least want to finish it before Serpent Isle.

So do both The Black Gate then Forge of Virtue before Serpent Isle, you mean? I don't totally understand why.

Oh, suchiuomizu has a point. The main plot of Serpent Isle directly references a main quest that is performed in the Forge of Virtue add-on quests that are in Ultima 7: The Black Gate. So...it's better to do the Forge of Virtue quests before starting Serpent Isle, otherwise you won't understand the reference to one of the items in Serpent Isle. That is an item that you start the game with in Serpent Isle, so it's definitely better to do all of the Forge of Virtue quests before you start playing Serpent Isle.