Ultima VIII: Pagan (DOS)

I can't believe it's not Ultima! The Avatar, coming from a world where nobody knows him and that's hostile to his beliefs, now visits a world where nobody knows him and that's hostile to his beliefs, but with extra platforming sections!

To do: Check the leak for the expansion pack (below) for unused scripts

CD-ROM INSTALL.BAT Messages#

The CD-ROM version of the game (1997) comes with an INSTALL.BAT file, used to install the language-correct version of the game and apply the matching speech pack. The batch file launches INSTALL.EXE with some unusual (but unused) command-line arguments.

:langE
cd english
install.exe -YOUR_MOTHER_WAS_A_HAMPSTER %2
cd \
cd engspch
install.exe
echo.
echo Done!
echo.
goto end

:langF
cd francais
install.exe -YOUR_FATHER_SMELLED_OF_ELDERBERRIES %2
cd \
cd frnspch
install.exe
echo.
echo Finis!
echo.
goto end

:langG
cd deutsch
install.exe -WHY_ARE_YOU_READING_THIS %2
cd \
cd gerspch
install.exe
echo.
echo Fertig!
echo.
goto end

Ending Test#

Create a file in the STATIC directory called I81B4U83.ICU with anything in it. Now there will be two new options in the Avatar's diary - one for viewing the ending sequence, and one for seeing the Developer Quotes.

The filename spells out "I ate one before you ate three. I see you." That's... probably an inside joke.

Debug Mode#

Ultima VIII continues the series' tradition of having monstrously comprehensive cheat modes.

Crack open GAMEDAT/AVATAR.DAT in a hex editor, then change both 2A and 2B to 01.

F8 Menu#

To do: Document this fully.

Press F8 at any time to bring up this buggy, buggy menu.

Button Commands#

Press these buttons at any time during play to toggle them. Or you can activate them in the Toggles corner of the F8 Menu.

Hackmover (H Key)#

Pick up anything. You can even stuff bits of the environment in your inventory! Can't carry around NPCs, though. But you can kill them by repeatedly picking them up and dropping them from a height.

Power Avatar (P Key)#

God Mode by any other name.

Footpads (F Key)#

Displays a grid over the gameworld, presumably related to collision.

Egg Bounds (E Key)#

Displays egg boundaries. Duh.

Avatar Menu#

Once debug mode is enabled, opening this menu is pretty easy: Just left-click the Avatar. A voice will shout "Cheater!" and laugh at you, and the menu will open.

Demo#

Skip to any "cutscene" sequence in the game.

Spell Book#

Lets you cast any spell in the game.

Information#

Brings up a crosshair. Upon clicking an NPC you'll be given information on their location and current animation.

Enemy Caster#

Brings up a crosshair and asks for a Spell Caster that must be a sorcerer and not the Avatar.

Time#

The Avatar tells you the time.

Key#

The Avatar says "You now have the key."

Staff#

The Avatar says "You have returned the staff."

Call Guards#

Brings up a crosshair. Upon clicking an NPC, you'll be given various options to decide what you did. Once they pass, the NPC you clicked will call for a guard, and Beren will show up and judge the shit out of you.

Blow Up!#

Does exactly what you think.

Kill Me#

Brings up a crosshair. Upon clicking an NPC, they will be dealt untold amounts of damage, usually killing them unless they're immortal for plot purposes.

EndGame#

Lets you spawn Blackrock Fragments or Energised Fragments.

Jump Ahead#

Brings up a list of cryptically named options. Some spawn items, while others just make the Avatar say "Bzzzzt! Thank you for playing."

Spot the Spoonmaker#

The document SPOT is a text file consisting of a surreal short story by Origin's Rob Corell. On Speech Pack disk #3, it's found inside the ARJ archive U8SPEECH.003, and on the multilingual game CD-ROM, it's found inside the English, French, and German versions of U8SPEECH.001. (Each copy of the document is identical and not translated.)

                           Spot the Spoonmaker
                              by R. Corell

   /--\
   |  |
   |  |
   \--/nce upon a time, there was a family of penguins that lived inside a
meatlocker just outside of a gas station, just outside of Waxahachie, Texas.
Upon birth, each child was assigned a name and an occupation.  Now, by the
time the twenty-seventh son was born, all the good penguin names like
Quetzalcoatl and Wogoshoonberry were taken and there really weren't any
more occupations left in the meatlocker.  So, the twenty-seventh son was
arbitrarily declared Spot the Spoonmaker.

   Spot didn't realize that all of this was arbitrary and he set out to
be the very best spoonmaker he could be.  All of the day and all of the
night, Spot would fervently craft his spoons and contemplate his occupation.
But Spot was soon consumed with nagging doubts.  Were his spoons the best
they could be?  Were there other spoons in the world?  Other spoonmakers?
Was there more to life, the universe, and everything than the clammy
interior of a moldy meatlocker?  He began to wonder if there were a world
outside the meatlocker, a world full of not only spoons, but flatware of all
kinds.

   Spot went to his father and said, "Father..."
   And his father said, "Who the hell are you?"
   And Spot said, "I am your twenty-seventh son, Spot."
   "Spot?  Oh...uh...yeah, sure.  I can't tell any of you apart."
   "Father, as the family Spoonmaker, I would..."
   "Spoonmaker?  What are you talking about?  Eh?"  He then wandered away,
as he had no attention span.

   But Spot was undaunted.  He was a Spoonmaker.  He was the best Spoonmaker
in the world.  As far as he knew.  So he gathered the family together and
made a bold announcement.  "My family," said he, "I plan to journey to the
world outside the meatlocker."

   There was a general panic.  "Its dangerous out there!" they said.  "There's
nothing out there!" they said.  His father spoke, "Chinchinchikika, I don't..."
   "Spot, Dad, Spot."
   "Whatever.  You can't go out there, you'll get eaten by a walrus, just like
your Uncle Bob!"
   "But Uncle Bob is right over there in the corner."
   "Oh.  I can't tell any of you apart.  Still, its too dangerous."  The
rest of the family concurred with his sagacious advice, urging Spot to give
up his foolish dream.

   But Spot was a maker of Spoons.  He heroically strode to the door of the
meatlocker and threw it open.  The meatlocker, as has been explained, was
just outside of a gas station, just outside of Waxahachie, Texas, where it
was one-hundred and six degrees in the shade.  The meatlocker was not in the
shade and all the penguins died of heat prostration except for Uncle Bob,
who was eaten by a walrus.

   The End

The Lost Vale#

An expansion pack was planned for Ultima 8 similar to the expansions for Ultima 7 and Serpent Isle. Although it was completed, it was never released because the parent company thought it wouldn't sell. Partial material can be found here: https://ultimacodex.com/2025/02/a-look-at-the-usecode-for-ultima-8-the-lost-vale/

References#