Bug Alerts!

MM7 has very few bugs but we all know there are those heart stopping moments when something occurs that results in a very unpleasant experience.  Listed below are the major bugs I know of to date.  I will update this page as often as new information comes in.  If something has happened to you please submit that information in as much detail as you possibly can.  It will be very useful to help alert everyone to what is happening.  And be sure to contact 3DO, ultimately they are they only ones who can resolve the problem. 

I know there are little glitches like the infinite zombie killing in Deyja but until it results in a game stopping error I will only mention it in passing as an example, this page will be devoted to those bugs that can seriously impede your progress in the game.  Here's a list of some Minor Bugs.
The patch is out!  It is supposed to fix some problems including the accursed Lich Jar bug, however reports are that it generally works but there may be a few that it cannot correct.  This may be do to multiple problems within the save game.  If the patch does not resolve the Lich Jar problem for you then please contact 3DO & send them a copy of the save gave file so they can investigate it further. 

Use the game update utility in your Task bar or go to 3DO, Select Patches then select MM7, then Download from the Web. *Important Note: Do not download and install this update if you are running a non-English version of Might and Magic VII. International customers please consult our International Distributors for update information on non-English versions of Might and Magic VII.

A few folks have contacted me with info on the patch and some additional feedback from Dmitri seems to be the possible answer to what is happening.

The Patch does not solve the problems, it only prevents them:

For example the Lich Jars bug: if you already returned the Soul Jars to Pit, you won't find Lich Jars for Lich promotion in the Wall of Mist.

Same for the Armor loosing problems after taking Master Healer NPC with you. If you had any - you'll still have them.

I guess the same for the Griffins: if you killed them already - you'll have the fine of around 30,000 at the town hall patch or no patch!!!

Also many people reported they can't start the game after patching it!!! - I'd like to add here please be sure to back up any save games before applying the patch, just to be safe.  The game can be reinstalled, the saves cannot.

1) Lich Jars - When performing the Lich Promotion you are asked to obtain the lich jars from the Halls of Mist in Celeste.  Some people find the Lich Jars missing at the end of their quest.  This bug has been linked to another quest given by a Dark Path advisor where you are asked to obtain Soul Jars from Mt. Nighon.  It seems that if you perform the quest for the Soul Jars then attempt the Lich Jars quest, the Lich Jars will go missing.  To date the only way around this bug is to restore a save game prior to performing the quest for the Soul Jars.  I have been advised that 3DO is working on a patch and it is projected it may be a  couple of months (from the 3rd week in July) before it will be completed.

2) Recharging a 0 charge Wand - Apparently attempting to recharge a wand you find with 0 charges can cause an inventory problem.  Some folks can't move anything in their character's inventory and/or some items are duplicated.  The answer straight from 3DO is: "If you find a wand with no charges listed, DO NOT RECHARGE IT. Doing this can cause errors within the game. If you have done this please go to a previously saved game or autosave from before you recharged the wand."

I know there are a couple of wands in the game with 0 charges, but can only remember one exactly.  It is located in Tatalia, a wand of Lightening I believe, lying on the ground in the swampy area.  I just sold it, you still get full price, so its a cash cow.  }:o)  * moo-la *

3) Master Healers - Hiring & using a Master Healer NPC can result in loss of all armor skills.  What triggers this is not clear, but reports so far seem to point to using a Master Healer to heal the party in the Land of the Giants.  Still awaiting more info but to date what I know is that once a Master Healer heals the party in LOG the bug will result in the loss of all characters' armor skills, category + all points assigned, & then each time the Master Healer heals the party there after if you purchase the skill again.
4) 3DFX mode/AMD K6-2 - Apparently some people, myself included, experience shut downs & multiple vxd errors when running the game in 3dfx hardware mode.  What is strange is that it appears to affect machines running at speeds greater than 200 Mega Hertz.  The lock ups appear to occur in win95 while the vxd errors occur in win98.  Strangely enough, if I clock my machine backward to less than 200 Mega Hertz I do not experience any problems but this has not helped others that we know of as yet.  It may be that since my video is integrated it drops the bus speed back where some one with a video accelerator would not have this advantage.  If any AMD users are experiencing similar difficulties please let me know.  Perhaps if we can compile enough data we can forward the info to 3DO and assist in resolving this issue. 

From your responses we have found that this is not just affecting AMDs but faster Pentium & Celeron processors as well.  Slowing down the processor speeds have also worked for some but not others.  Again it does not appear to have any bearing on which video or sound card is on the system. 
5) Frequent crashes during battle - It seems that many people have experienced frequent crashes during battle. Some report lock ups while trying to access inventory during battle.  Other systems just shut the game down.  This is a tough call because the recharge of a 0 wand (see # 2) can cause this where the inventory is concerned.  If you know for a fact you never attempted to recharge one of those wands & this is happening to you whether accessing inventory or not, try disabling 3D accelerated audio in the MM7 configuration utility.  See if it helps to resolve the problem. 

Another thing to consider is the Pit and Celeste. A party of the opposite alignment trotting into one of these areas triggers a lot of commotion and many people tell me they lock, crash, or slow way down.  I slow down so I know where you're coming from.  This is most likely a directx problem and until Microsoft develops directx 6.2 we will have to devise our own methods of working around this.  A general strategy, that worked for me, was to go in to these areas invisible then use turn based mode and launch the first attack, usually either a wand or spell to paralyze as many opponents as possible.  Some folks consider this cheating, but pass that wand from one to the next in each turn, at this point its not cheating, its game survival!  Once you disable a few of these opponents you have less video & sound animation trying to go all at once & it helps a great deal toward preventing lockups & crashes, but it may still run slow until you clear the maps.  Or just try to stay invisible, its a hair raising experiencing, but it solves the lockups & crashes.
6) Entering a New Map - Shut downs, lock ups, & illegal operation errors.   I have received several games from folks where they cannot go in to a particular map, the map is never the same & they have NOT recharged a funky wand (#2).  They can not enter the map in any way, by walking, by boat, by stable, or by Town Portal.  After experimenting with these games I could find nothing they had in common;  No inventory items, no NPCs, no quests done or as yet undone, nothing. Yet the error was always the same: Illegal operation in the MM7.ICD file.

Another person submitted 2 games, one older where the problem first occurred, & a brand new one with a totally fresh party. Both with the same error entering different maps. Then my daughter played  just after I had tested one of these corrupted save games and not removed it from my saves directory.  She pulled the no-no and forgot to save, so when she recovered from a crash she restored the autosave game where a corrupted game had been previously saved.  Now she is having the same errors, in the same file, as these games that were submitted to me.  Hers is not quite so devastating, yet.  It occurs when trying to open a particular chest. 

Now the really suspicious thing is that, I have never had this error in all the games I have run.  Not once.  Now all of a sudden this is happening!?  See, I remember a long time ago, a certain other company came out with a game that had a quick save feature that was a total disaster.  Once stung I avoid the stinger so I have never restored from any autosave.  My games still have no errors in them.  So to me the autosave is suspect.  I have submitted this info & my suspicions to 3DO & I am awaiting a response.  It may be some time in coming. 

All I can say, is this does not happen to every one, this much is obvious, but try to remember to save your game regularly and avoid using autosave until we know more.  It may save you the frustration I know these individuals are experiencing.  If you are having this problem, please contact me, just send the corrupted file and a brief note letting me know if you have at any time used the autosave to restore a game or not.  Please also contact 3DO.  I will keep firing these off to 3DO as well.  The sooner we can find a root cause then sooner 3DO can work to fix it.
7) Golem Parts - Some people have reported accumulating golem parts prior to receiving the quest only to have these parts "disappear" from inventory upon speaking to Thomas Grey.  According to the advice they have received they were told to gather the golem parts when they respawned & the quest would work.  Some report that a few of the parts apparently do not respawn.  At this time the only thing I can advise is getting the quest prior to picking up any parts.  For those of you who have had this happen check the map regeneration table for respawn information and check the original chests again. The parts do not go missing on respawn for everyone.  Thanks need to go to Steve Sutton for detailing this.
8) Hidden Creatures - In Stone City, attempting to complete the "Kill the Trogolodites" Quest, I rested near the training center and got one of those nasty wake you up to kill you encounters. Problem is, my attacker is trapped in a wall. He can thwack me, but I can't hurt him, I've tried resting other places, and I've killed every other trog in the mines, but now I can't complete the quest. Since it's relatively early in the game and since I didn't relize till later what was up and saved over every possible slot since, I just restarted. I thought I should mention it regardless. I suggest having a "Quest Save" to use only upon completing mainline quests, but never else, that way if something comes up like this, no worries. Thanks need to go to Akreena for detailing this.