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How to set up Ultima VII in Exult - A Guide by Jaesun

Jaesun

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NOTE: I need to update this, but you can still follow the instructions here but you do NOT need to download the Avatar Pack. That is now a part of the Key Ring Mod. Just ignore all info on installing the Avatar Pack.


If you want to play Vanilla Ultima VII with NO mods but do want to play with the Avatar Pack then just follow the instructions on installing the Avatar Pack.

TL;DR version do NOT install the Keyring mod AND the Avatar Pack together.


So you whipped out your old copy of the Ultima CD Collection and have the urge to re-play one of the best RPG series of all time, Ultima VII The Black Gate and Ultima VII - Part 2 Serpent Isle but have no clue how to get it working. You have heard of DOSBox and possibly Exult but it is all so fucking confusing so you say "Jaesun you faggot! Tell me how to set this fucking thing up because it so fucking confusing!"
:rage:

Well getting Ultima VII (Parts 1 and 2) could never be easier! In this guide I will show you how to set it up with the original music, sounds and also get it working with the latest mods available at this time!

For this guide I am assuming you have a WINDOWS (XP/Vista/7 COMPUTER) AND the Ultima CD Collection which includes Ultima VII Part 1 - The Black Gate AND The Forge of Virtue (Expansion Pack) and also Ultima VII Part 2 - Serpent Isle AND The Silver Seed (Expansion Pack). Exult DOES NOT REQUIRE you to have the expansion packs, but seriously why would you play without them!

Ultima VII (both parts 1 and 2) work just fine in DOSBox (But you have to run the install program, set up your sound card, make some adjustments to DOSBox memory etc.....) FFFFFUUUUUU! With Exult you basically don't need to do much to get it running other than just downloading and installing the program. There are however some optional things that you will want to add to it (Such as the original music and sounds all recorded from a Roland Mt-32 sound card, which was intended for the game).

So let's get started shall we? If you look at the home page of Exult you might notice that page has not been updated since 2008. While they are not good at updating the home page the Exult engine is continuously updated.

The first steps we want to take is to FIRST copy both Ultima VII Part 1 and 2 to our hard drive. For this example we will copy both games to our C:\Ultima directory. On the Ultima collection CD, there are 2 directories. You will want to copy the directory ULTIMA7 and SERPENT directories to your C:\Ultima directory.

installdir.jpg


From the main Exult page click on the DOWNLOAD link at the top of that page. But first I need to clarify something (WARNING WALL OF TEXT).

There is a Official - v1.2 of Exult but we don't want to use that. Why? It's so fucking old, and is missing TONS of new stuff that the latest snapshot currently has. We are going to actually use and install the Exult 1.4.x Snapshots (Unstable) - use at your own risk! versions. Now you might be thinking "Jaesun! You faggot! IT SAYS IT IS UNSTABLE!! WTF MAN!" While yes they do label it Unstable it is actually the current best version to run. I have had NO problems and successfully finished both parts 1 and 2 using the 1.4 version. The 1.4 version is constantly updated, and they do a very good job of not having you need to start a new game with each update. So as you are playing, you might happen to see a newer version pop-up so you can just install the newest version and not have to worry about your save games (99.9% of the time). If you do happen to have 1.4 version installed and are playing and then notice a new version available DO read the ChangeLog to make sure there is no mention that you need to start a new game. THEY WILL MENTION if a new save game is required for that version, however 99.9% of the time, the new version will work just fine with existing save games. ALSO the 3 current mods for Ultima VII ONLY WORK with the 1.4 version. Since we want to play with these mods, we are going forward with the 1.4 version.

Anyways, sorry for the fucking wall of text, I just did need to explain what it means to run the 1.4 version of Exult. Now that that is out of the way, let's DOWNLOAD!

Part I - Download Time

On the Download page click the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7 binary snapshot link. This is the current 1.4 snapshot version of Exult.

Since we want to enhance our Ultima VII experience we are going to also download a few OPTIONAL files to greatly enhance the Ultima VII experience! I'll explain each one as we go.

Under the Additional Data files (not required) we want to download the following:

Sound pack for Black Gate (Roland MT-32) - This is a collection of the original sounds for Ultima VII Part 1, all recorded on a Roland Mt-32. Stuff like birds chirping, doors opening, explosions etc etc...

Sound pack for Serpent Isle (Roland MT-32) Same as the above but for Ultima VII Part 2.

Ogg encoded Music files for Exult Part 1 - This is the original music all recorded on a Roland Mt-32 for Ultima VII - Part 1.

Ogg encoded Music files for Exult Part 2 Same as above just for Ultima VII - Part 2.

Now for the OPTIONAL Mods that are available:

At the top of the Exult Page there is a Links link. From there, there is a link to Seven Towers. These are some mods that one of the programmers for Exult made specifically for Exult. Since they are very nice mods we will download them!

The Black Gate Keyring Mod - This mod adds a new "quest" to the game and your reward for finishing it is a Keyring so you can attach all those damn keys you have been collecting to it, so you don't have to try and click on each individual key to try and unlock things. Damn handy!

Serpent Isle Fixes - This fixes a number of bugs still present in the Serpent Isle Game. Again, very handy!

Avatar Pack - This is a collection of newer and better looking Avatar portraits to use when playing Ultima VII.

Part II - Install Time

OK! We are done Downloading! Now let's get this game up and running!

1. Run the Exultwin32.exe program. This will install Exult 1.4. Just select all the default options. When this prompt comes up:

prompt1.jpg


Click the browse button and tell the installer where your ULTIMA7 and SERPENT directories are located. Like this:

prompt2.jpg


You now can run and play Ultima VII Parts 1 and 2 now if you wanted. BUT since we also downloaded the few really neat enhancements (original sound and music) and mods, let's get these installed. It's easy!

Find the 2 files sqsfxbg.zip and sqsfxsi.zip (these are the Sound pack for Black Gate (Roland MT-32) and the Sound pack for Serpent Isle (Roland MT-32) files. Extract them to your EXULT DATA DIRECTORY. Just like this:

Soundeffectsinstall.jpg


After extracting them your Exult Data directory should have the 2 new files sqsfxbg.flx and sqsfxsi.flx in there like this:

exwithsoundfiles.jpg


Next INSIDE THE EXULT/DATA directory, make a new directory named MUSIC, like this:

exmusicdir.jpg


Now find the files U7MusicOGG_1of2.zip and U7MusicOGG_2of2.zip (this is the Ogg encoded Music files for Exult Part 1 and Ogg encoded Music files for Exult Part 2 files) and extract them to the Exult/Data/Music directory, like this:

musicinstall.jpg


Your Exult/Data/Music directory should now look like this:

musicdir.jpg


At this point, you now have installed Exult 1.4, the Original sound effects and the original music! You can now if you like play Ultima VII if you wished, HOWEVER you need change a few options to hear the original music. I will describe this later.

You will now need to make a mods and patch directory where you installed your ULTIMA GAMES. For example, in your C:\Ultima\ULTIMA7 directory, make 2 new directories called mods and patch. Also do this for the C:\Ultima\SERPENT directory as well. It should now look like this:

ultimamoddirs.jpg


Now locate the AvatarPack.zip file (this is the Avatar Pack Mod) and extract the file to somewhere on your computer. Next open up the directory where you unpacked this file and select and copy the data directory:

avatarpack1.jpg


And paste the data directory to BOTH your C:\Ultima\ULTIMA7\patch and C:\Ultima\SERPENT\patch directory like this:

avinstall2.jpg


Next, go back to the directory where you unpacked the AvatarPack and install the following directories like this: Copy and place the data-bg folder into your C:\Ultima\ULTIMA7\patch directory then copy the data-si directory and paste it to your C:\Ultima\SERPENT\patch directory. It should now look like this:

avinstall4.jpg


The Avatar Pack is now installed. Now for the last 2.

Find the Keyring.zip file (this is the Black Gate Keyring mod) and extract it to your C:\Ultima\ULTIMA7\mods folder like this:

keyringinstall.jpg


You C:\Ultima\ULTIMA7\mods directory should now look like this:

keyringinstalled1a.jpg


Next find the sifixes.zip and extract it to your C:\Ultima\SERPENT\mods directory like this:

sifixinstall.jpg


and your C:\Ultima\SERPENT\mods directory should now look like this:

sifixesinstalled1a.jpg


CONGRATS! You now have all the enhancements and latest mods for an overwhelming Ultima VII experience! BEFORE YOU BEGIN PLAYING I NEED TO EXPLAIN HOW EXULT HANDLES MODS! Now on to....

Part III - Running Exult

Go ahead and start Exult and the screen should look exactly like this:

exscreen1.jpg


If it does not look EXACTLY like this, then re-read my directions again. You probably did not install the mods and other files into the correct directories.

If it does look exactly like this then CONGRATS! Now how to play Exult in different ways:

RUNNING EXULT WITH NO MODS

Simply click on the Ultima VII The Forge of Virtue OR Ultima VII Part 2 The Silver Seed text from the main menu of Exult:

exultnomodsplay.jpg


Clicking on those will begin a game with NO MODS (But will still have the original music and sound effects we installed earlier).

When you click on either one of those, the game menus will look like this:

bgnomods.jpg


sinomods.jpg


Just click on Start New Game and you are off to Britannia Mod free!

DO NOTE YOU MUST LOAD UP EXULT, CLICK ON THE NAME OF THE GAME TEXT, EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME WITHOUT MODS! THE SAVE GAME FILE YOU MAKE WHEN USING EXULT THIS WAY IS NOT THE SAME AS A SAVE GAME USING MODS!

PLAYING EXULT WITH MODS

Simply click on the SHOW MODS text under the game you want to play:

exultwithmods.jpg


Then the next screen will show what mods are installed depending on what game you are playing:

exultwithkeyringmod.jpg


exultwithsifixes.jpg


Simply click on the text of the mod name and then the main menu for each game will now be different from the no mods screen, and now will show a main menu with the name of the mod installed:

keyringmodmainmenu.jpg


sifixesmainmenu.jpg


Just click on Start New Game and away you go.

DO NOTE YOU MUST LOAD UP EXULT, CLICK ON THE SHOW MODS TEXT, THEN CLICK ON THE NAME OF THE MOD, THEN FINALLY GET TO THE MAIN MENU SHOWING THE MAIN MENU WITH MODS EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME WITH MODS! THE SAVE GAME YOU MAKE WHEN PLAYING EXULT THIS WAY IS NOT THE SAME SAVE FILE WHEN YOU PLAY A GAME WITH NO MODS!

Now you are probably thinking:

:rage:

Is there just some fucking simple way to play the fucking game with the mods by just clicking on a simple fucking icon on my desktop, instead of remembering to click on the right thing all the time???!!!

YES! And here is how you do it.

Go to your C:\Program Files\Exult directory and copy the Exult.exe file:

exultcopy.jpg


Then go to your windows desktop and select the Paste Shortcut:

desktoppaste.jpg


And you will now have an Exult Shortcut on your Desktop:

exultshortcut.jpg


Right click on that shortcut and select Properties. A screen like this will now pop up:

properties1.jpg


In the box labeled Target after the ....Exult.exe" type in the following:

--bg --mod Keyring

So it should now look like this:

bgmodparams2a.jpg


NOTE YOU MUST TYPE THE WORD Keyring WITH A CAPITOL K! Just type exactly the way I show you above. Click on APPLY then click on OK and we are almost done!

RENAME that shortcut by right clicking on it and select Rename and let's name it "Ultima VII Black Gate with Keyring Mod" like this:

bgmodshortcut.jpg


Now when you click on this shortcut IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY START ULTIMA VII THE BLACK GATE WITH THE KEYRING MOD, and bring you to the Main Menu showing the Keyringmod.

keyringmodmainmenu.jpg


YAY! Simple eh?

Now let's set this up for Serpent Isle!

Right Click on that shortcut we just made, and then make a copy of it on your desktop. Right click on the copy we just made and choose properties:

bgmodshortcut.jpg


And change the text in the Target window to:

--si --mod sifixes

NOTE ALL TEXT IS LOWERCASE! So it looks like this:

siparams.jpg


Click on APPLY then OK. Now rename this shortcut to something like Ultima VII SI with sifixes Mod:

simodicon.jpg


Now every time you click on that icon it will Automatically load up the main menu of Serpent Isle with the sifixes mod:

sifixesmainmenu.jpg


FUCK YEAH! SO however you want to play your Ultima VII, those are the 3 ways that you can. So click on Start New Game and get going!

Part IV - Settings

After watching the nifty intro and starting a new game, once you finally have control of your character hit the ESCAPE KEY and this menu pops up:

escmenu.jpg


Now click on Audio Options:

digmusicoptions.jpg


And click on the button next to digital music so that it now says ENABLED.

And that's it! You now will be playing with the original Roland MT-32 music!

So that is it my friends, there are a number of other settings, so just experiment and try out which options you like. I may add more to this section later but for now try reading the Documentation on the Exult website.

If you have any more questions please feel free to PM me or just post in this thread!

Have fun in Britannia! And be sure to say hello to Elizabeth and Abraham when playing The Black Gate!
 
Last edited:

oldmanpaco

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Damn. You feel very strongly about the difficulty running Exult. I last tried exult 2-3 years ago. Probably should make another run at it.
 

Jaesun

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oldmanpaco said:
Damn. You feel very strongly about the difficulty running Exult. I last tried exult 2-3 years ago. Probably should make another run at it.

I just really wanted to have a guide like this just to perhaps make it easier for people to play Ultima VII as it is just a fantastic game and people should give it a try. Hopefully this guide will help.
 

Zed

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Nice guide. I've never really played an ultima game more than a few hours. Maybe I should give it a go, hurr hurr hurderp.
 

commie

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Jaesun you faggot! Tell me how to set this fucking thing up because it so fucking confusing!.....oh.....right.....er....

Thanks man! Had the files for ages, never bothered with them as seemed like too much work. Sure I would have worked it out, but good to have it nice and simple.
 

Jaesun

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hanssolo said:
so, do npc schedules work properly in 1.4?

Yep. They go to bed, go to work, serve food etc... For the most part all the NPC schedules are in and working. There is one currently that is bugged,like Zinadia in Cove (At the Tavern) actually goes to her Bedroom to prepare meals. That kind of cracked me up. Her "to go to" location just needs to be fixed. Most if not all the other NPC's do however work fine.
 

Phelot

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Hey thanks! But, I already have it installed and don't recall too much trouble? I don't even remember installing it actually, didn't think it was that tricky.

But yeah, this makes me want to play it again
 

SCO

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What is so hard about setting up exult?!?


Now scummvm and their retarded "mass add" button.
What is that i hear?
"What mass add button?"

Why the one you get if you read the README and clicked and held SHIFT while in the interface.

:x :x :x

By the way it will add bogus duplicated games sometimes. You have to run these and delete them when they don't work, but there should always be a working one.
 

mindx2

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Great job Jaesun! I'm in the middle of another Ultima run through (still on U6) right now so this setup was great. Followed your guide and it works perfectly!

:thumbsup:
 

SCO

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Actually, now that i read it, the installation of the Keyring mod is pretty bad usability wise. Needs a installer.
 

allanontb

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Thank you!

I just wanted to say thanks for this guide. It helped immensely, and I lol'd a bit too.

It's funny that you started out with the cussing because thats exactly what I was doing before I found this.

Thanks again, much appreciated.
 
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Thanks for this helpful guide Jaesun. I have a (probably dumb) question though:
You emphasize that you are using the Ultima CD collection. Will I run into any problems setting things up your way using my copy of The Complete Ultima VII (original retail cd version, not GOG)
 

Jaesun

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Thanks for this helpful guide Jaesun. I have a (probably dumb) question though:
You emphasize that you are using the Ultima CD collection. Will I run into any problems setting things up your way using my copy of The Complete Ultima VII (original retail cd version, not GOG)

No problems with the GOG version, it will work perfect in Exult. At the time of this writing this was not on GOG that's why I mentioned what specific version I was using.
 

octavius

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Got Exult up and working with the GOG versions of U7.
I'm faced with some of the same problem as when trying to play U6: view area is too small. And I've read that increasing the view area from the default can lead to bugs?
Also, the real time combat sounds like it's a real clusterfuck. How much combat is there in this game?
And does the mod that switches the view 45 degrees work?

I must admit if it wasn't for the fact that I want to experience the story that takes place before Ultima Underworld 2 I'd probably not bother with U7 at all unless it was given a more radical makeover like Lazarus for U5 and the Ultima 6 Project, using the Dungeon Siege engine.
 

Jaesun

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I'm faced with some of the same problem as when trying to play U6: view area is too small. And I've read that increasing the view area from the default can lead to bugs?

You can run it with a larger game view screen, but opening doors or containers when you are very far away can cause bugs, that is why they do not recommend going over the games default view of 320x200. If you do decide you want a larger game view screen just be sure you are right next to the objects you are wanting to interact with.

There could be some other stuff that causes bugs I don't know about though. I finished Serpent Isle just fine in a 800x600 game view with no problems (using the advice I give above).

Also, the real time combat sounds like it's a real clusterfuck. How much combat is there in this game?

There is a fair amount of combat, but it resolves rather quickly that you will barely notice it. There is also a pretty cool option to pause the combat (go into combat, then press the SPACE bar) Then RIGHT CLICK on any of your party members and then LEFT CLICK on the enemy you want them to attack. For some difficult battles this really helps with the retarded Clusterfuck Combat System™ Gariott came up with. You will need to enable this option in the options. It is not used by default.

And does the mod that switches the view 45 degrees work?

I personally do not know. I'm waiting for the Exult team to add it.

I must admit if it wasn't for the fact that I want to experience the story that takes place before Ultima Underworld 2 I'd probably not bother with U7 at all unless it was given a more radical makeover like Lazarus for U5 and the Ultima 6 Project, using the Dungeon Siege engine.

Ironically Ultima VII in the Dungeon Siege engine WOULD make the combat vastly superior. :lol: But I doubt any team would ever do such a project, as Ultima VII still appeals to people today, despite some of its shortcomings (small view screen, shit combat etc...).

I just keep praying SOMEONE would fucking add turn based combat to Exult. :(
 

tindrli

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i dont know bros,..to tell you the truth im terrified that if i try this, and manage to like it, i will probably hate the rest of the games that they are serving us nowadays even more than before.uffff.

God damn.. just dont know what to do.. and i dont need advice.. im just thinking loud
 

Aenra

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:necro:


i fucking LOVE this emoticon..i shall go forth and necro them all..ariiiiiiise !
I am planning a re-re-re-run, but have never tried exult at all. So i had some questions about it, assuming anyone is kind:
- which of the 'fan' mods for exult do i get? Any to avoid?
- any tips for the caveman non-IT savvy? I mean in terms of installing, or whatever really

And just to apologise for NECROing! Ariiiiise! show what an effort i made, am pasting the "latest"; though yes, i am certain most of you know..:

16 May 2014
State of Exult or why there is still no new version

It's been 3 1/2 years since the release candidate and almost a decade since our last full release. Duke Nukem Forever was released since then. Imagine that.
So why is there still no new release of Exult?
After the 1.2 release Exult went into experimental mode, mostly making it easier and more stable to mod the original games via Exult Studio. Along with that many lingering issues, missing features and unknown data files from the original got implemented. In turn that broke other things in Exult and for a long time, Exult was just too unstable to be released. When development slowed down we fixed a lot of stuff and released 1.4.9rc1 - making it a release candidate on purpose. It generated enough interest for people to play Exult again and send us their bug reports and there were a lot. Some even game breaking and when the disappearing objects bug was discovered it proved we were correct in not labeling the release a full release. Since that bug has been squished the 1.4.9rc1 is no longer linked to on our site to prevent people using that and run into that severe bug.
And now we seem to be in a situation that everytime we think Exult could be ready for a new release, some new bug is discovered that prevents us from releasing.

This time the big bad bug is a flaw in which we handle game eggs (see Bug #1875 ). Mostly you will not notice that something is wrong until you reach to the abandoned outpost in SI and get slaughtered by the misbehaving fire shooter/energy barrier trap room (see Bug #1848 - savegame included) or when you notice that the anti magic rain in BG never stops until you restart Exult or whatever (see Bug #1865).
Whenever this is fixed you can expect another round of bug reports coming in about all the things now broken...
(not to mention countless other stuff, including some bug in the way we handle midi music, some BG intro things etc...)

Whenever - because development of Exult is currently not really existing, it hasn't for a while and doesn't look like it is picking up soon. There have been small bursts of bug fixing, mostly by Marzo, Willem and Malignant Manor but these are getting fewer and fewer.
Exult is now almost 16 years old and a lot of the developers have been with it since then. Lives and interests change and it's hard to keep interested in something like Exult that at times is easier to break than to fix.

So, is Exult dead? No, but it's not teeming with life and as has been written before, without new developers Exult might never leave this state.
Don't mistake this for a farewell, we just want to be frank about these things.
 

Aenra

Guest
:necro:


lol, sorry :S

Jaesun thanks a mil for the guide! Was googleing the Codex for "Exult", ended up necroing the wrong thread..i then googled again for documentation.. and found your thread...
So thanks and sorry!

am in a really good mood
and i love necroing, lol
so don't ban me, it was an honest mistake, i swear
 

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