I'm playing Ultima VII through for my first time. I've gotten to the point where I have to go back to Terfin to get a ring for Penumbra. However, when I get to or approach the isle of Terfin, my game completely crashes with the following error message at the DosBox prompt:

Sorry, an error has occured.
Please write down the following
information:

Invalid Save Game.


Consult your manual. If the problem
persists, please call Origin Customer
Service. We are sorry for the inconvenience

C:\>


After doing some searching I tried running a program called savefix that I found on numerous websites, but it had no effect on my savegame.

I thought of reverting to an earlier save, but it appears that the latest save I have where this doesn't happen is still a very long ways back.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Is there any way to fix my savegame without having to start over? Thanks very much.

Ultima 7 keeps savegames in the GAMExx.U7 files in the main directory, but it also keeps an expanded version of your most recent savegame in the GAMEDAT directory. Try moving/renaming the GAMEDAT directory and restarting. You'll probably have to create a new character to get back into the game, but once you're in you should be able to restore from your savegames.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it didn't fix the issue. I have found that it's not just Terfin, but a large rectangular area that also covers the Meditation Retreat and the southern part of Serpent's Hold. If I load to a *much* earlier save, it doesn't happen. That may well end up being my only recourse, but if anyone has any other ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks.

I vaguely remember an issue like this being discussed back on Usenet in the late 90s, but I'm at a loss to remember anything about it.

Could you try reinstalling the game and see if that makes a difference? (You should be able to preserve your save files by copying them out of the folder before removing it.)

Ok, this post is for posterity. I was in fact able to fix my game with the following method, and I figured I should post this for anyone else who runs across the same problem. I don't know if it's a perfect solution. There were likely some unintended side effects, but I was able to complete the game.

As mcmagi stated, In the Ultima 7 folder, there are up to ten files called GAME0?.U7. These correspond to each of your saved games. There is also a folder called GAMEDAT, which contains the data from the last savegame that you have loaded. It seems my problem was from corrupted files that could be rewritten when they were in GAMEDAT. Here's what I did:

1. Created two copies of my Ultima 7 folder (the original I saved as a backup).

2. In the first copied directory, I opened the game and loaded my last known uncorrupted game, thereby updating the GAMEDAT folder in that directory. I then exited the game.

3. In the second copied directory, I opened the game and loaded my most recent, corrupted game, thereby updating the GAMEDAT folder in that directory. I then exited the game.

4. I opened the GAMEDAT folder of the first directory (the uncorrupted game) and copied all of the files starting with U7IREG.

5. I opened the GAMEDAT folder of the second directory (the corrupted game) and pasted all of the previously copied folders.

6. I opened the game in the second directory (the previously corrupted game) and selected "Journey Onward". I verified that I could move into the area that was crashing my game.

7. The last step is important: I saved my game to preserve the fix into the actual game file.

I did some research and learned that the U7IREG folders contain data about where certain items appear on the map. After playing with this a bit, I think it's very likely that this may have replaced some items on the map that I had previously used or taken, though I don't believe it affected my inventory. It may also have relocked doors that I previously had unlocked. All of the glitched areas were now unglitched, and nothing occurred to prevent me from proceeding and completing the game.

As a side note, I did play around with using some trial and error in copying files to isolate specific U7IREG files to replace. But it doesn't seem to be a matter of finding one specific file. In fact, I was never able to fix a single unglitched by copying a single file; for some reason it always took more than one. And that would just unglitch one portion of the large area that was glitched. But I was able to make it to game's end doing it both ways.

Just wanted to say thanks for posting, even though you kinda had to solve the problem by yourself. :)

You are welcome. I do want to thank mcmagi for his initial input. It was invaluable in helping me find a solution to the problem.