Is there a way to use the "original" ultima 7 cheat codes ? (GOG version)

e.g...Pressing F2 during game play.
or Teleport map: Pressing F3 during game play. etc...

Thanks.

(minimal programing knowledge)
(and I mean MINIMAL!)

(I used to know dos)

For the Black Gate, you have to launch the game with the command "ultima7 abcd " in DOS(box). That isn't a normal space at the end however, but a special character. You have to hold down alt and type 255 on the numpad with numlock off. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work if you add it into the .conf file so you have to do it manually each time.

For Serpent Isle, launch the game with "serpent manimal". There are no special characters in this one so it can be added to the .conf file to automatically launch the game with cheats.

If you use 'ultima7 abcd s' or 'serpent manimal s' you also get the egg view, showing the various triggers, waypoints and similar items that are normally invisible.

You've been able to get this to work within the GOG version? I have tried adding the manimal to that line without success.

My dosboxSERPENT_single.conf has exactly this in it.

----------------------
[autoexec]
@echo off
mount C "..\SERPENT"
cls
c:
serpent.com manimal

exit
----------------------

However, I get into the game and try F2, Nothing. I even tried the Emulation tab "Send Key" F2 and nothing happens. Does anyone know how to get this to work?

[edit]

nvm. Figured out my problem. Wrong directory.

How can I add it manually when clicking on the shortcut automatically launches the game? I tried removing the -conf “..\dosboxULTIMA7_single.conf” from the target box but all that did was attempt to launch DOSbox which immediately closed.

You don't want to edit the shortcut but the config file itself, specifically the bottom section with the command line inputs.

Remove the "exit" line if present so that dosbox will not automatically close when the program ends. Then you can launch the game and quit, bringing you back to the command line where you can manually input the debug command. Alternatively, you could also remove the line that launches the game in the first place, but then you would always need to manually launch it from the command line even if you did not use the debug cheats.

For some reason the special character used at the end of the debug command in Black Gate does not get preserved properly if you simply add it to the config file, which causes the game to quit with an error message upon loading or starting a new game.

All of the above is correct, but many people have problems, with that invisible character, so here is a little trick to make the cheat mode available in U7 that makes your life easier (if this is no life hack...is it a "virtual life hack"?? :-D)


Modify DOSBOX single.conf from

ultima7.com

to ultima7.com abcdÿ

The trema sign "ÿ" also has code ALT+0255 and, hence, works

Or you use the Ultima 7 Hacks by JohnGlassmyer, that comes woth the original cheatmode (which can be switched on and off during the game) and the more comfortable Serpent Isle controls for Black Gate (HINT: it is also built in in my Nitpickers patch for U7)

SirJohn

I've tested that before and the result was always the game just quitting with an error code.

The hack solution sounds much better anyway.

Hm, I might have been to quick with my typing here: it needs to be ultima7.com ABCDÿ - but if that still does not work, I'd be interested in the reason why. Might I bugger you with two more questions to track this down?

1. if you opendosbox_single.conf in a hex-editor, does "ÿ" show up as "FF" (needs to be FF)
2. Do you use codepage 1252 or another one? Maybe it's limited to 1252 codepages and will not work on 850 and others...

John

The abcd portion is not case sensitive. Haven't been using a hex editor, just copied 255/FF from Character Map.

Here's the game's error code in case you're interested.

@Ovr=%uK, Line 36


Edit:
I went ahead and tried a hex editor, and for some reason the file was ending with C3 BF. Changed that to just FF and it does indeed work, so it looks like the problem is normal word processing software just doesn't handle that properly when saving the file, even if it shows the correct character while editing it.

Which config file do I need to edit? There's a few of them.

The one specific to Ultima 7: The Black Gate.

"dosboxULTIMA7_single.conf" according to your earlier post, but the following is a better solution.

I removed the word exit from the cnof file and it still closed out DOSBox when I exited the game. How about a link to that file ya mentioned? Please and thank you.

Also apologies for the late reply. I've had computer issues.

In fact, you can truly set this cheat working automatically by putting in ultima7.com abcd+[alt]255 ; but you have to convert the file in dos codepage before. (OEM850, or OEM437) .Originally this file is in UTF-8 and this is why it's does'nt work from scratch and you have to put the ascii equivalent character in this codepage.
This can be done in Notepad++ for example, or far more simple, using you method.