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So this happened. I found a dungeon entrance out behind Lord British's castle. I was screwing around in there and hit a level with a tunnel, and a room I could not exit in any other way except the way I came in, despite the map saying that there were two adjacent rooms. No secret exits, no special tiles to stand on, nothing. So I decided to leave. Except I couldn't. When I climbed back up to where I came in, there was no ladder out.

So I said screw it and cast the X-it spell. Instead of popping up behind Lord British's castle, I was regurgitated into the Great Abyss! So here I am on an island with no boat. I did find a balloon right outside the dungeon, which I could board. It, however, will not move under any circumstances. When I try to move, it just whines "Drift only!" at me. Except it won't drift. At all. I even tried the Wind Change spell to get it to move. No dice.

So I went back into Hythloth, thinking I'd try to find the exit to Lord British's place again. This time, I found myself stuck on the opposite end of that passage that I couldn't get through the first time, and with a similar problem. I could enter a room, but I was limited to one tiny square in the upper left. I could only walk out of the room, at which point I found myself inside the wall, and then I could walk out back into the corridor from whence I came, but advance no further.

So I'm stuck in friggin' Hythloth. And of course, I saved the game in there. I'll need some advice here. If I could get that damn balloon to move, I'd probably be okay.
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JalPhoenix: So this happened. I found a dungeon entrance out behind Lord British's castle. I was screwing around in there and hit a level with a tunnel, and a room I could not exit in any other way except the way I came in, despite the map saying that there were two adjacent rooms. No secret exits, no special tiles to stand on, nothing. So I decided to leave. Except I couldn't. When I climbed back up to where I came in, there was no ladder out.

So I said screw it and cast the X-it spell. Instead of popping up behind Lord British's castle, I was regurgitated into the Great Abyss! So here I am on an island with no boat. I did find a balloon right outside the dungeon, which I could board. It, however, will not move under any circumstances. When I try to move, it just whines "Drift only!" at me. Except it won't drift. At all. I even tried the Wind Change spell to get it to move. No dice.

So I went back into Hythloth, thinking I'd try to find the exit to Lord British's place again. This time, I found myself stuck on the opposite end of that passage that I couldn't get through the first time, and with a similar problem. I could enter a room, but I was limited to one tiny square in the upper left. I could only walk out of the room, at which point I found myself inside the wall, and then I could walk out back into the corridor from whence I came, but advance no further.

So I'm stuck in friggin' Hythloth. And of course, I saved the game in there. I'll need some advice here. If I could get that damn balloon to move, I'd probably be okay.
I think it's time for a deathwarp. If your entire party is killed, Lord British will revive you in his castle. You will lose any weapons and armor that aren't equipped, and your Food and Gold will be set to 200, but you'll at least be out of Hythoth, and you'll keep everything else (including the stat boosts for touching orbs).

Speaking of orbs, there's one near the overworld entrance (near the balloon). Touching it will probably kill the one touching it (I believe it does 800 points of damage to the character, while also raising stats), and then you can leave the dungeon and come back and it will respawn.

(The normal way to leave without the balloon is to go to the 8th floor, go into one of the altar rooms, leave via a different exit, and then leave whichever dungeon you end up in. Note that some dungeons, unfortunately, are in places you can't reach (or leave) without a ship, but others are on the mainland.)
i think the problem you are having with the balloon
is that you have boarded it but haven't taken off (K)limb
(D)escend is to land (i believe only on grass spaces)

that being said, dtgreene's suggestion is the quickest and easiest way back to Castle British



also in the dungeon's rooms, sometimes you can trigger changes in the rooms layout by attacking walls
it may require a ranged weapon to trigger some of these (i am not 100% sure on this part)
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JalPhoenix: So I went back into Hythloth, thinking I'd try to find the exit to Lord British's place again. This time, I found myself stuck on the opposite end of that passage that I couldn't get through the first time, and with a similar problem. I could enter a room, but I was limited to one tiny square in the upper left. I could only walk out of the room, at which point I found myself inside the wall, and then I could walk out back into the corridor from whence I came, but advance no further.
There are ways to unlock passages, but you'll never find a door back from Hythloth. The shepherd Landri just outside the entrance to Hythloth warns you that "Once thou enters thou may not return whence thee came!" The entrance from LB's castle is a one-way entrance to Hythloth only.

You can also travel back to the castle using the Gate Travel spell--if you have the reagents and a spellcaster of a high enough level to cast it. It's a spell that you're supposed to learn by talking to a certain character in the game, but if you didn't, you can still cast it if you search around the internet to figure out the reagents for that spell.
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Vyraexii: i think the problem you are having with the balloon
is that you have boarded it but haven't taken off (K)limb
(D)escend is to land (i believe only on grass spaces)
Yes, it took me a *long time* to figure out I could board the balloon using (K)limb. That was not intuitive for me!!!
Post edited August 12, 2021 by bliznik
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bliznik: Yes, it took me a *long time* to figure out I could board the balloon using (K)limb. That was not intuitive for me!!!
back in the day we didnt even have the internet to look stuff like this up neither
so we ended up trying all the commands until we found what works
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bliznik: You can also travel back to the castle using the Gate Travel spell--if you have the reagents and a spellcaster of a high enough level to cast it. It's a spell that you're supposed to learn by talking to a certain character in the game, but if you didn't, you can still cast it if you search around the internet to figure out the reagents for that spell.
If you have Mariah (or your main character is a mage), you have someone who's high enough level to cast it.

IF your party contains only the Tinker, Fighter, and/or Shepherd classes, you can't cast the spell, even if you use the orbs to max your stats. (And, in any case, toughing the Hythloth orbs will kill the character, and if you're able to revive the character, you have somebody with enough MP to cast Gate Travel without having to do this.)

There's also the fact that the player might not have found the Mandrake Root ingredient.
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bliznik: Yes, it took me a *long time* to figure out I could board the balloon using (K)limb. That was not intuitive for me!!!
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Vyraexii: back in the day we didnt even have the internet to look stuff like this up neither
so we ended up trying all the commands until we found what works
The game at least does tell you the reagents for Gate and Resurrect, if you talk to the right people.

It does not ever tell you the reagents for the Undead spell, so you have to figure it out yourself, but the manual at least has a couple clues.
Post edited August 13, 2021 by dtgreene
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dtgreene: If you have Mariah (or your main character is a mage), you have someone who's high enough level to cast it.

IF your party contains only the Tinker, Fighter, and/or Shepherd classes, you can't cast the spell, even if you use the orbs to max your stats. (And, in any case, toughing the Hythloth orbs will kill the character, and if you're able to revive the character, you have somebody with enough MP to cast Gate Travel without having to do this.)

There's also the fact that the player might not have found the Mandrake Root ingredient.
All true. I did test it with my lv. 7 Dupre, Jaana, Shamino, and Iolo, and all of them were able to cast it.

But yeah, there are definitely multiple scenarios that exist where he may not be able to cast Gate Travel, and may just be stuck. In which case...a suicide teleport might be the best option.
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dtgreene: If you have Mariah (or your main character is a mage), you have someone who's high enough level to cast it.

IF your party contains only the Tinker, Fighter, and/or Shepherd classes, you can't cast the spell, even if you use the orbs to max your stats. (And, in any case, toughing the Hythloth orbs will kill the character, and if you're able to revive the character, you have somebody with enough MP to cast Gate Travel without having to do this.)

There's also the fact that the player might not have found the Mandrake Root ingredient.
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bliznik: All true. I did test it with my lv. 7 Dupre, Jaana, Shamino, and Iolo, and all of them were able to cast it.

But yeah, there are definitely multiple scenarios that exist where he may not be able to cast Gate Travel, and may just be stuck. In which case...a suicide teleport might be the best option.
What matters is not your level, but rather your MP. A level 2 character can cast the spell, provided they have a way of gaining the needed MP. (Level 1 is impossible only because every character who can cast spells starts at level 2 or 3; it's still impossible in the NES version because even the shepherd starts at level 2 there, and you can't become an Avatar without a boat, which requires level 4 on the NES version.)
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Vyraexii: i think the problem you are having with the balloon
is that you have boarded it but haven't taken off (K)limb
(D)escend is to land (i believe only on grass spaces)

that being said, dtgreene's suggestion is the quickest and easiest way back to Castle British

also in the dungeon's rooms, sometimes you can trigger changes in the rooms layout by attacking walls
it may require a ranged weapon to trigger some of these (i am not 100% sure on this part)
This is what I ended up doing, but jeez, I thought I hated the wind mechanic in a boat! I cast Wind Change, and it lasted for all of two squares of movement. Eventually I waited it out until I got to land, and by careful abuse of the K and D keys, I was able to maneuver it to Paws. I had a bit of fun using the balloon to explore, but now I have a new problem.

I noticed earlier in the game that my horses and boats would spontaneously vanish. I'd leave boats parked at strategic locations, only to come back and find them gone. I thought it was just them being taken by a whirlpool, until my horses started disappearing, too.Now, THE DAMN BALLOON HAS VANISHED! Friggin' chests will stay forever, but your transport? Nah, man. Poof! into the nether with that. I swear, it's like the developers TRIED to make these old games as miserable to play as possible. I remember getting very, very angry at PC games when I was a kid, and I'm beginning to remember why.
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JalPhoenix: I noticed earlier in the game that my horses and boats would spontaneously vanish. I'd leave boats parked at strategic locations, only to come back and find them gone. I thought it was just them being taken by a whirlpool, until my horses started disappearing, too.Now, THE DAMN BALLOON HAS VANISHED! Friggin' chests will stay forever, but your transport? Nah, man. Poof! into the nether with that. I swear, it's like the developers TRIED to make these old games as miserable to play as possible. I remember getting very, very angry at PC games when I was a kid, and I'm beginning to remember why.
If you go back into Hythloth and leave to the surface, there will always be another balloon there, I believe.

I don't remember vehicles disappearing in computer versions of Ultima 4 (unless the whirlpool got to them, but that's rare because the world is much bigger than Ultima 3's world), but I do know that the NES version would limit you to 4 (IIRC) ships at a time, with them disappearing if you get another one or if you cast the Gate spell. (By the way, the NES version has no rideable horses, as they were supposedly eaten by monsters.)
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JalPhoenix: I noticed earlier in the game that my horses and boats would spontaneously vanish. I'd leave boats parked at strategic locations, only to come back and find them gone. I thought it was just them being taken by a whirlpool, until my horses started disappearing, too.Now, THE DAMN BALLOON HAS VANISHED! Friggin' chests will stay forever, but your transport? Nah, man. Poof! into the nether with that. I swear, it's like the developers TRIED to make these old games as miserable to play as possible. I remember getting very, very angry at PC games when I was a kid, and I'm beginning to remember why.
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dtgreene: If you go back into Hythloth and leave to the surface, there will always be another balloon there, I believe.

I don't remember vehicles disappearing in computer versions of Ultima 4 (unless the whirlpool got to them, but that's rare because the world is much bigger than Ultima 3's world), but I do know that the NES version would limit you to 4 (IIRC) ships at a time, with them disappearing if you get another one or if you cast the Gate spell. (By the way, the NES version has no rideable horses, as they were supposedly eaten by monsters.)
Found the balloon again outside Hythloth just like you said. Thanks for that. I still don't understand where my horses and ships keep going. I still have well over five, scattered across the continent. Every time I fight pirates, I'd bring their ship back to the neartst coastline, square by square. Every once in a while I would hear the "whirlpool got your ship" noise, but not often enough to swallow all of them. It's still happening. I've lost two more horses and at least one ship since making that post. The only thing I can think of is that monsters than can shoot will destroy an unmanned ship if they hit it. I found that out while disembarking onto a small island to fight some damn Balrons on land instead of on my ship. The assholes destroyed my ship and left me stranded, forcing a restart.
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JalPhoenix: Every once in a while I would hear the "whirlpool got your ship" noise, but not often enough to swallow all of them. It's still happening. I've lost two more horses and at least one ship since making that post. The only thing I can think of is that monsters than can shoot will destroy an unmanned ship if they hit it. I found that out while disembarking onto a small island to fight some damn Balrons on land instead of on my ship. The assholes destroyed my ship and left me stranded, forcing a restart.
That's the only thing I can think of as well. I've had monsters shoot and destroy horses that I parked too close to the shore, which is why I always park my horses *very* far away from the shoreline...
That happened to me as well. Often. They destroy your stuff.
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JalPhoenix: So this happened. I found a dungeon entrance out behind Lord British's castle. I was screwing around in there and hit a level with a tunnel, and a room I could not exit in any other way except the way I came in, despite the map saying that there were two adjacent rooms. No secret exits, no special tiles to stand on, nothing. So I decided to leave. Except I couldn't. When I climbed back up to where I came in, there was no ladder out.

So I said screw it and cast the X-it spell. Instead of popping up behind Lord British's castle, I was regurgitated into the Great Abyss! So here I am on an island with no boat. I did find a balloon right outside the dungeon, which I could board. It, however, will not move under any circumstances. When I try to move, it just whines "Drift only!" at me. Except it won't drift. At all. I even tried the Wind Change spell to get it to move. No dice.

So I went back into Hythloth, thinking I'd try to find the exit to Lord British's place again. This time, I found myself stuck on the opposite end of that passage that I couldn't get through the first time, and with a similar problem. I could enter a room, but I was limited to one tiny square in the upper left. I could only walk out of the room, at which point I found myself inside the wall, and then I could walk out back into the corridor from whence I came, but advance no further.

So I'm stuck in friggin' Hythloth. And of course, I saved the game in there. I'll need some advice here. If I could get that damn balloon to move, I'd probably be okay.
In case anyone else comes across this there is a Hythloth patch that fixes the unpassable/bugged rooms in Hythloth. https://ultima4.ultimacodex.com/ultima-4-hythloth-fix/
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JalPhoenix: So this happened. I found a dungeon entrance out behind Lord British's castle. I was screwing around in there and hit a level with a tunnel, and a room I could not exit in any other way except the way I came in, despite the map saying that there were two adjacent rooms. No secret exits, no special tiles to stand on, nothing. So I decided to leave. Except I couldn't. When I climbed back up to where I came in, there was no ladder out.

So I said screw it and cast the X-it spell. Instead of popping up behind Lord British's castle, I was regurgitated into the Great Abyss! So here I am on an island with no boat. I did find a balloon right outside the dungeon, which I could board. It, however, will not move under any circumstances. When I try to move, it just whines "Drift only!" at me. Except it won't drift. At all. I even tried the Wind Change spell to get it to move. No dice.

So I went back into Hythloth, thinking I'd try to find the exit to Lord British's place again. This time, I found myself stuck on the opposite end of that passage that I couldn't get through the first time, and with a similar problem. I could enter a room, but I was limited to one tiny square in the upper left. I could only walk out of the room, at which point I found myself inside the wall, and then I could walk out back into the corridor from whence I came, but advance no further.

So I'm stuck in friggin' Hythloth. And of course, I saved the game in there. I'll need some advice here. If I could get that damn balloon to move, I'd probably be okay.
Board the balloon and push K to Klimb. You can only land on grass and you push D to Descend.