Hi All,

Been playing U7 and thus far it has been admirably stable, however I cannot get past the cube generator maze. As soon as I trigger the first pop-up pathway from the starting central platform, the game crashes every time, sooner or later, with the error message "Ultima VII self-check reveals a corrupt game. This occurs rarely, but may be corrected by reverting to an earlier saved game."

It also throws this exception every time I try to save, after triggering the pathway. Before doing so, the game has no issues.

I've had a gander around the 'net trying to see if this has been reported before, however I can find NO reference to such a problem.

I haven't used any cheats whatsoever (apart from FoV :P). I've tried running the maze at 30K cycles, 4K cycles, with and without sound, with no luck.

The only potentially odd thing I've done is dropped all party members before creating a single Caddelite helmet, picked them up again, then dropped them outside of the entrance to the cave containing the generator. I will try do this the standard way with a full party of helmeted minions and update after having done so...

EDIT : Nope, no change in behavior.

EDIT : If anyone can confirm getting past this point, and it's something in my system setup, I would be appreciative.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Vengefire

bump

I am having exactly the same issue. Was this ever resolved?

Edit:
I've managed to be able to speedrun through the maze before the error pops up, but if I try to save afterward or just play long enough then it still crashes with the same message

I haven't found a solution to this problem unfortunately. I had the same issue as you when speed-running through. Given up, sadly. If you found a way past this, please let me know.

This is just ridiculous. I've even downloaded a corrupt U7 game cleaner and run it in DOS and nothing helps.

The only thing I can suggest at this point is playing the game through the current Exult snapshot. You may have to begin again though and, if so, that would make this a less than ideal solution....
I'll take a look at that possibility in a bit and verify either way.

EDIT::
Yeah right here: http://exult.sourceforge.net/faq.php#old_savegames you'll have to start over if you chose to try Exult.

Hey VisEIEchNon, thanks for the reply. Your idea seems to be the best solution. At least it's a fun game to play. I just hope the corruption issue isn't an issue on my 2nd go round. Thanks for your ideas.

Thanks bud, I will give that a go, pretty sure I still have it installed with the un-corrupted save game :-)

Hello there,

I ran into exactly the same problem yesterday - and I really want to finish the game.
So @Mustang678: I could use a more detailed instruction - that would be great!

Or maybe someone could send me a save-file past this point, so I could just finish the game?

Thanks a lot!

[Edit 7/14/2021]
Based on reddit user vga256's input in the following thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultima/comments/ohp63h/any_solution_to_ultima_7_corrupt_cube_generator/

This issue is caused by having done Forge of Virtue and entering the cube generator without a caddellite helm. If you want to complete the game without performing the cheat work around I described below, simply complete the caddellite helm quest and have it equipped when you enter the cube generator. I have admittedly always played with FoV even as a kid so I never noticed this quest!

[Edited 1/11/20 to trim post]
Hey! Here's a detailed guide for what to do. The key is that the cheat menu has to be enabled and you will have to hackmove yourself to the end of the maze without allowing the first bridge to drop. Any method of activating the cheat menu should work in theory, including one posted here by user grogerson, but I will detail as well as I can what worked for me:

1. Download DOSBox standalone here:
http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1
and install it

2. Keep track of what directory DOSBox has installed in. Mine is in C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74
Now find where U7 is currently installed, mine is at C:\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete
I use the default paths for my Windows 7 64 bit OS

3. Find the ULTIMA7 folder in Ultima VII - Complete and copy it.

4. Paste this folder into the C:\ directory - a folder all on its own.

5. Launch your new installation of DOSBox and type in the following commands:
mount c C:\ULTIMA7
C:\
(Here you need to type ultima7, then a single space, then hold down ALT and press 255 on the numpad, then release alt. It should have typed an invisible character)
ultima7
6. If you receive an error that says something like "Please remove your expanded memory manager" you need to go to start->dosbox->options->dosbox options. This opens a text file, search for
ems=true
xms=true
and switch both of them to false.

7. Once the game launches and you load your save, pressing F2 will activate/deactivate the cheat menu. Open it, then press H to turn on hackmover.

8. Enter the cube, but don't move. Dropping the first drawbridge will cause you to crash. Instead, drag and drop the avatar straight into the middle of the puzzle and take the small cube. You will be teleported out.

9. Press F2 again and disable hack mover.

10. Save and exit the game.

11. Cut and paste the Ultima7 folder in C:\ back to C:\GOG Games\Ultima VII - Complete or wherever you have it installed, and overwrite whatever's there.

12. Now, launch the game normally and you should be able to load your save file and continue fine!

You're welcome! I'm very glad my solution has been helpful :)

I just got @Mustang678's instructions to work with a few modifications:

1) I downloaded and used an older version of DosBox 0.74, not 0.74-2.
2) The game folder I copied into C:\ had to be renamed ultima (from Ultima 7). character limit?
3a) as a result, Step 5's command became mount c c:\ultima
3b) the command that worked for me was ultima7 ABCD[alt+255]
4) I, too, got the "Please remove your expanded memory manager" message, but instead of opening the options file like @Mustang678 recommends, I simply entered the xms=false and ems=false commands directly into the C:\> dos prompt.
5) when cutting and pasting my C: ultima folder back into GOG Galaxy/Games,I had to rename it back to Ultima 7 (its original name).

Thank you, @Mustang678, for your help.

Where can you get the corrupt game cleaner for U7? Does it work with the GOG version?

Hey all. I know this is old but it's about the only thread I've seen on the subject. Having same issue. Running in Dosbox on Mac...can anyone clarify how to do the whole hackmove thing? Game is fantastic but I don't think I have the willpower to start over in Exult (which I couldn't get to work anyway, hence Dosbox). Thanks.