Does the rumoured Gate of Ulcaster exist?

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You know ( —I pray that it is NOT an old subject ! ) that if you listen the commoners in Beregost, Gullykin or sometimes everywhere else, it is rumored that a magical portal (dimensional ? interplanar ? parallel worlds ? other, beyond wild dreams ?) exist into the deepest level of Ulcaster School Ruins.
Me, and all of you ! , love and know every stone, every blade of grass of BG1 (& of TotSC). Then :
Is that gate a pure legend, or is it only fallen in the blind zone of my gaze ?!
Ppfff ! What a pity, it is a so exciting hypothesis : a gate, so a new space behind !
But I tried intense Find Traps, natural or spell-type, I tried carrying a multi-hued Rogue-stone, I tried ... near ALL, and no result, Help me if you have the eagle glance or the fox cunning !

[ October 15, 2006, 01:00: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

The only funny hidden stuff i know relating to ulcaster is that if you give him the idol from the dig site, and the ancient plate armor from the fire wine ruins, then he gives you a cursed easter egg sword called the vampire's revenge. I don't remember ever hearing anything about a gate in ulcaster, and as far as i know there isn't one.

 

As with zerox, I've never heard of another place actually existing.

Perhaps it really is just a rumour you've been hearing?

You should know better than to listen to peasants anyway!

 

Still a good thought though ...

 

There's no gate. This is similar to pre-TotSC BG, where you could ask the guy in Gullykin about Durlag's Tower, but you couldn't get there (yet). While Durlag's Tower was only added with TotSC, the mentions of it are in plain BG. Similarly, this could be another red herring that was simply never developed. It would be an interesting idea for a mod, though.

 

What a good idea has Felinoid !
Practice of AD&D 2nd edition clear spirits, really ! ...
Yes, a small add-on mod would be good on this start ...
Think : a blue and vaporous gate, hard to find, open on a secret level of Ulcaster School where fire had NEVER reached, because of a weak dimensional distorsion has turned most part of heat.
There, some of the more ambitious mages of the old Ulcaster are ALWAYS alive, and have pursued magical studies in strange news ways of magic, both kind and evily disposed [ new spells in view for adventurers ! ].
After a comic blur of the party about WHO are the real foes (know alignment does not function here) and after exploration and/or clearing of a dozen of rooms, the PCs find an OTHER gate, (green that one !), which open ... on a components stock-chamber under the Magicorium [ the shop of spells ] of the City of Baldur's Gate Herself !
AND here, there is the brothers of the group of wizards that the party has killed, in the recent past, on the ... first level of that shop (yes, remember ...)
A good start, no ?
But the positive remarks of Silvershield and Felinoid (thank to them !) dont remove the sadness of the real situation, if the the gate do no (yet !) exist.
I was really in hope of it was really concealed

 

Hehe you REALLY want someone to make a mod dont you

 

:¬) ... Yes, I admit it ... Why not ? I have not the informatic competencies to do it myself, then ... !
You are subtile, Silvershield — but it's a normal enough state in Boards O' Magick, where the cream of humanity seems to meet !

But, sadly, learn a thing : even if a add-on for the subject is created by Felinoid or an other genius programmer, my PERSONAL chances to enjoy the result of his work are very thin :
I am on a very old iMac of Apple, (which is under MacOs9.2) ; playing games AND be fan of Mac system is near-always a hard way.
Yes, I am going to have a new computer in the next 3 months, saying 05 January maxi or so, but it shall be again an Apple !
OK, there is now a special free little program that allow to use a part of Mac as a PC.
I wait to see it to believe it.
Even if it's correct, what if old games as Baldur do not work with new INTEL microprocessors ?
Reply : an old computer too old, an new computer too new, and a very sad CRPG player.

 

I'm sure a game like BG would work on a new computer, it would just need some tweaking ...

 

Perhaps you are true, Silvershield.
• But the new system is very different of the last.
• And, alas, I dont be very good at "Tweak" computers ...
[ I suppose that << tweaking >> is the anglo-saxon counterpart of the french name << bidouillage >>, "to tweak computer" would be equal to "bidouiller un ordinateur" ].

 

My laptop is only a year old (using Win XP) and it plays BG flawlessly. I don't think you'll have to worry past the Mac conversion.

 

... heu ... Sorry, Felinoid ... My dictonary put all arms to my feet ...

Humm, what's a "laptop", please ?
( no, it's not SO obvious ... )

 

@Cal Yhringlor: This is a laptop

 

Un ordinateur mobil, in your language. (I don't remember if that's the common term, but it serves well as a description. If I haven't gotten it wrong, that is... It's been a few years since I took Francais.)

 

Cal Yhringlor: If you have Baldur's Gate II as well, you would be able to play Baldur's Gate on your next machine using the BG1Tutu conversion. (Baldur's Gate II is OS X, so it will run on Intel Macs.)

Oh, I know we're only supposed to discuss Tutu / BGT etc. in the ToB forum, but I figure this might be useful information.

 

For Felinoid :

Aahhh ! ... Un ordinateur portable !
Not a "ordinateur mobile", no ... A : "ordinateur portable", ( litteral traduction in english : a "computer which is easy to carry" ! )
Thank you, and thank to Argohir also !
;¬)

For Gorilym :

• Yes, I have BG2 (without any extension, however).
• No, alas, i am not wishing install the tutu system, which has numerous inconvenients if i believe that several cool guys say in Boards O' Magick ; AND which deeply transform a lot of details loved in BG1. Even, I have regretted to advice it to my best friend, who live in Swiss, only to improve his graphic quality ( his stupid PC "pixelise", with a graphic card a thousand unities stronger that mine on my old iMac, i laugh ... ).
I hope that there is (or there will be) a OTHER alternative than "tutu" to read BG1 on a recent iMac [ with a 20" LCD screen (24" is expensive and ... too large for human angle of view , if i was a toad, agreed then !) ].

 

@Cal Yhringlor

Ah ok. The development of EasyTutu has removed many of the inconveniences of the process, but if you want the exact BG1 experience then I understand that Tutu is not ideal for you.

Since there is no OS X version of BG1 it will not work with the Rosetta technology, but you might be able to play it on an Intel Mac using an emulator such as this: http://www.gibix.net/projects/sheepshaver/

 

Thank you very much Gorilym.

— In fact, that web adress has many chances to serve me MUCH in the 3 months to come.
( I am furious of the Apple's levity in matter of old games reading ability )

• I was going there for a rapid glance ; I dont understand all details but i shall communicate the site to my swiss old friend, who will understand, him.

My only inquietude is the phrase of that site : << SheepShaver runs MacOS 7.5.2 thru MacOS 9.0.4 >> , (as I am actually under MacOS 9.2) but I suppose that it is the mode under a game is built, no exploited). (?)

Thanks again in all cases : you were really useful