View Full Version : URU Ages Beyond MYST
As I mentioned in a previous post, not too many of our members are into this type of game, but I thought I'd post my thoughts on URU so far.
I had no problem loading the game to XP. But the game is a resource hog. I tried adding all the bells and whistles, but had to cut back on graphic acceleration. I'm still playing with the settings because the game stops while trying to catch up too often. I have to sit and wait for the icon to come back and let me know I can start again. Must do more adjustments :)
The engine is very different than the previous MYST games, where you point and click to move.
First glance feels more like Tomb Raider as you can run, jump, and climb.
There is interaction with characters, which is new to MYST players.
You are able to create a character, give him/her different facial features, eye, hair and skin tone, clothing etc.
The ability to switch from first to third person perspective helps especially when judging when to make a jump.
There is still the linking books we all remember, and the usual puzzle solving.
I'm not sure if I'm going to be interested in the mulitplayer service. They offer a free trial and I haven't tried it yet. It promises not to be the typical MMOG. Instead offering the ability to add on worlds and to create your own circle of friends, using a buddy list, to play along with you. That could be cool. But I have no idea of the cost.
URU is a complete game and even if I choose not to use the online mulitplayer option, there is plenty to do as a stand alone, one person game.
That's about it. I've only just begun, so not much more to say.
meagher72
11-17-2003, 08:35 AM
....not too many of our members are into this type of game
Had a copy of Myst from somwhere.. din't pay for it. I think somone gave it to me... can't remeber.
But anyways, I thought i would give it a try. I had heard of it before and it's popularity so heck why not?
I could only manage to put about 2 hours into the game. :(
Kinda made me sad because I knew it must be a decently cool game to be as popular as it was.
Props to those of you that can play these riddle type games because I know i can't!
I might be willing to make a bet that the number of Myst fans would be really, really close to the number of Math majors in the world. :D
PS... Props = recognition or commendation... would hate for that not to translate properly. ;)
Suicides-by-Steve
11-17-2003, 08:45 AM
<div class=\"smallfont\">
That's about it. I've only just begun, so not much more to say.</div>
Sounds good so far. How big is the install? I in no way mind the switch to a 3rd person adventure game at all. I played Myst 3D and am sad now that I sold it... Oh well. BTW How's the exploration in the game? Is it a Zelda or Mario 64-type exploration, or are the levels smaller in nature?
Static_Fred
11-17-2003, 09:32 AM
I've recently seen screenshots of Uru and thought it was beautiful, but i didn't know the game was being released so soon!
It would be interesting to play Myst in 3rd person view, i think it would add to the immersion factor. Lara, you said there's "run" and "jump"? Hmm, does this mean there's going to be "enemies" you have to dodge? Now, that would be unlike myst!
<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>
Sounds good so far. How big is the install? I in no way mind the switch to a 3rd person adventure game at all. I played Myst 3D and am sad now that I sold it... Oh well. BTW How's the exploration in the game? Is it a Zelda or Mario 64-type exploration, or are the levels smaller in nature?</div>
Install was 1.55 gb
The exploration is a combination TR and MYST type, not Zelda type. Too soon for me to know how large the worlds are. But there are supposed to be several, as in MYST.
The 3D engine is pretty cool.
Here's a link for anyone interested in more information or screen shots.
http://uru.ubi.com/us/
T3KT0N
11-17-2003, 10:08 AM
You mention slowdowns.
On what kind of PC?
And what kind of card?
What kind of resolutions are available to the game?
<div class=\"smallfont\">You mention slowdowns.
On what kind of PC?
And what kind of card?
What kind of resolutions are available to the game?</div>
I need more RAM. I have the system requirements. More would work better :)
P4 1800mhz CPU
256 ram
NVidia GeForce2 mx/mx 400
Resolution anywhere from 800x600 to 2048x1536
16 or 32 bit color
Adjustments for quality, texture, anti aliasing, anisotrophic filtering.
Adjustment for audio… hardware acceleration, eax effects, load on demand.
Number of sounds range from low, med, high and ultra.
Renzatic Gear
11-17-2003, 10:49 AM
I was in the multiplayer beta awhile back. It's actually pretty interesting how it's set up because you don't jump right into the game with the ability to talk to, or even meet up, with people. Once you do find out how to do everything through puzzle solving and exploration it gives you access to the Neighborhood, which serves as sort of a meeting ground for everyone playing the MP portion of the game, and your own personal age.
The one thing I didn't like about it was the fact that once you go into any other age that isn't specifially set up for meeting people you can't run into anyone else. Everyone age is seperated for each individual player so that you're in there by yourself unless you invite a few people to play along with you. You don't have any puzzles that require a group of people to solve, it's pretty much the singleplayer portion of the game played online. Hopefully that'll change later on when they start adding content, like have ages where everyone can go into and meet like in the Neighborhood and D'ni city and then work together to solve extremely complicated puzzles. If the game were set up like that then it'd almost feel like a huge archeology dig, and it'd justify paying 10 bucks a month for.
Oh, and except for the first area you start out in, which has alot of framerate issues, the game ran beautifully for me with all the options bumped up to their fullest. In case you're wondering I'm running with an Athlon XP 1700+ and a Geforce 3.
meagher72
11-17-2003, 11:12 AM
P4 1800mhz CPU
256 ram
Good Lord Almighty!!!!
I remember when that was a state-of-the-art, cutting edge computer not even more than a couple years ago.
Now it won't even run new games properly???!!!!!
That right there is the exact reason I am not a PC gamer.
And I thought my P4 1000mhz, 250mb RAM, with a Vodoo Card, Dell that I picked up off ebay about 6 months back was still a decent machine!
:faint:
:cry:
It's a conspiracy I tell ya... A CONSPIRACY! ;)
Renzatic Gear
11-17-2003, 11:32 AM
Good Lord Almighty!!!!
I remember when that was a state-of-the-art, cutting edge computer not even more than a couple years ago.
Now it won't even run new games properly???!!!!!
That right there is the exact reason I am not a PC gamer.
And I thought my P4 1000mhz, 250mb RAM, with a Vodoo Card, Dell that I picked up off ebay about 6 months back was still a decent machine!
:faint:
:cry:
It's a conspiracy I tell ya... A CONSPIRACY! ;)
lol, hope you didn't fork over alot of dough for that.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Good Lord Almighty!!!!
I remember when that was a state-of-the-art, cutting edge computer not even more than a couple years ago.
Now it won't even run new games properly???!!!!!
That right there is the exact reason I am not a PC gamer.
And I thought my P4 1000mhz, 250mb RAM, with a Vodoo Card, Dell that I picked up off ebay about 6 months back was still a decent machine!
:faint:
:cry:
It's a conspiracy I tell ya... A CONSPIRACY! ;)</div>
I know ha? I thought I had enough power going into the game, but not so sure now!
RG, I'm not sure I'll get into the multiplayer part of the game. We'll see.
T3KT0N
11-17-2003, 12:00 PM
Lara,
The vid-card looks as the main slow-down culprit.
What's needed is a GeForce 3 or Radeon with 128 MB.
And an extra RAM stick of 256 would give to your PC's games capabilities at least another year or so .
Total estimated costs -+ $300
Beats buying a new rig,until P4 reaches the 4.5- 5 Gig mark.
I wouldn't ever trust the box's recommendations,they aim low to make people buy the games.
meagher72
11-17-2003, 12:05 PM
lol, hope you didn't fork over alot of dough for that.
If I remeber correctly, it was like $300 and came packed with software.
Thought it was a decent price for the machine and the fact all I had at the time was an old 1GB machine still running Widows 95 with 32mb RAM before I got this one made me happy with the upgrade. ;)
Oh... and sorry to stray off-topic so much.
It's an old habit.
Maybe I got that adult ADD I been seeing all the commercials about lately. :( :D
Suicides-by-Steve
11-17-2003, 09:09 PM
"Maybe I got that adult ADD I been seeing all the commercials about lately. "
Heh, nothing like witnessing the programming of the masses by the pharmaceutical companies in the flesh... I've seen that silly commercial as well.
Renzatic Gear
11-17-2003, 10:00 PM
ADD is the most overdiagnosed condition on the face of the planet. Today everyone is looking for an easy fix to a complicated problem, and diagnosing a lively kid with ADD is a good way to pump him full of drugs to make sure he doesn't get in your hair. It's sad really, I think the whole situation is pretty pathetic...it's actually pretty common to run into someone thats taking Paxil, Zoloft, and Prozac just to fix problems that going outside and getting some exercise would usually solve.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Lara,
The vid-card looks as the main slow-down culprit.
What's needed is a GeForce 3 or Radeon with 128 MB.
And an extra RAM stick of 256 would give to your PC's games capabilities at least another year or so .
Total estimated costs -+ $300
Beats buying a new rig,until P4 reaches the 4.5- 5 Gig mark.
I wouldn't ever trust the box's recommendations,they aim low to make people buy the games.</div>
Yeah, my video card gave me problems in another game a while back. Guess I'll have to break down and get a newer card. :(
meagher72
11-18-2003, 05:35 AM
Lara,
Last night I was Wally's World picking up a copy of LoR and while I waited for it to be put out on the shelves I was looking at computer games.
I noticed that Myst said it ran best on a CD-ROM drive and not a CD-RW drive.
Don't know if that has anything to do with you problem, but I just happened to notice that as I was looking at the system req.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Lara,
Last night I was Wally's World picking up a copy of LoR and while I waited for it to be put out on the shelves I was looking at computer games.
I noticed that Myst said it ran best on a CD-ROM drive and not a CD-RW drive.
Don't know if that has anything to do with you problem, but I just happened to notice that as I was looking at the system req.</div>
Thank you for the info meagher. I have both a cd rom and a cd rw drive. I've been using the cd rom drive to play. So I can rule that out :)
Richard Hobbes
11-18-2003, 09:30 AM
Lara,
Regarding Uru,
I've played Uru too and like the game quite a bit more than the previous Myst games. The full 3D engine with first and third person views does a lot to bring you into the Uru world. The high resolution textures in the game are also stunning. This biggest improvement (for me) is that you can now interact with NPC characters.
I'm playing Uru on a PC with a 1 GHz processor, NVidia GeForce 4 video card, and 512 MB of ram. Seemingly, the main source of your performance problems is your system RAM and video card. (i.e. my computer's CPU is much slower than yours, but I'm still getting better performance.) I'm playing the game at 1024 x 768 with 32 bit color and textures, normal texture resolution, medium (50%) number of sounds, and anti-aliasing switched off. With these settings the game performs just fine on my machine. A GeForce 2 card really isn't adequate for today's newer games. Ditto for only 256 MB of RAM. I'd bump your system RAM to (at minimum) 512 MB. You can do this for about $60. Likewise, you can upgrade your video card for a little over $100 so for $200 total, your computer would be much better equipped to play Uru and other (newer) games.
The one thing I don't like about Uru is its interface. Whether I am in first person or third person view, the controls don't work for me. I'd have preferred if Uru implemented a point-to-go system similar to Diablo for its third person view and traditional forwards and strafe (with mouse used to control the camera) for its first person view. As it is, both control schemes seem kind of broken to me. I hate the fact that in first person view I have to hold the mouse button down to look around. And in third person view, having to hold buttons to run and juggle forward and back keys at the same time gets really tedious. Uru uses these pseudo-broken schemes to maintain the same style of interaction from previous Myst games whereby you click objects in the current frame without moving your character or the view. I see what the developers were trying to accomplish, but they should have been able to come up with something better than the alternatives they've offered. Every control scheme in Uru requires you to hold buttons down to perform basic tasks. This design encourages finger, wrist, and other bone damage over long periods of play. I guess its a testimony to how good Uru is because even with frustrating controls, I still keep playing.
The puzzles in Uru seem much more sensible this time around. In all previous Myst games I eventually hit a point where a mind-numbing puzzle stopped the show. I was just stuck and there was no way forward. I haven't hit any of these problems in Uru yet so I'm happily surprised.
Let us all know how you like the game when you've played it a bit more. (By the way, I'm with you on ignoring the online, pay monthly aspects of the game. I still haven't found a computer game that can convince me to pay monthly fees.)
Richard Hobbes.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Lara,
Regarding Uru,
I've played Uru too and like the game quite a bit more than the previous Myst games. The full 3D engine with first and third person views does a lot to bring you into the Uru world. The high resolution textures in the game are also stunning. This biggest improvement (for me) is that you can now interact with NPC characters.
I'm playing Uru on a PC with a 1 GHz processor, NVidia GeForce 4 video card, and 512 MB of ram. Seemingly, the main source of your performance problems is your system RAM and video card. (i.e. my computer's CPU is much slower than yours, but I'm still getting better performance.) I'm playing the game at 1024 x 768 with 32 bit color and textures, normal texture resolution, medium (50%) number of sounds, and anti-aliasing switched off. With these settings the game performs just fine on my machine. A GeForce 2 card really isn't adequate for today's newer games. Ditto for only 256 MB of RAM. I'd bump your system RAM to (at minimum) 512 MB. You can do this for about $60. Likewise, you can upgrade your video card for a little over $100 so for $200 total, your computer would be much better equipped to play Uru and other (newer) games.
The one thing I don't like about Uru is its interface. Whether I am in first person or third person view, the controls don't work for me. I'd have preferred if Uru implemented a point-to-go system similar to Diablo for its third person view and traditional forwards and strafe (with mouse used to control the camera) for its first person view. As it is, both control schemes seem kind of broken to me. I hate the fact that in first person view I have to hold the mouse button down to look around. And in third person view, having to hold buttons to run and juggle forward and back keys at the same time gets really tedious. Uru uses these pseudo-broken schemes to maintain the same style of interaction from previous Myst games whereby you click objects in the current frame without moving your character or the view. I see what the developers were trying to accomplish, but they should have been able to come up with something better than the alternatives they've offered. Every control scheme in Uru requires you to hold buttons down to perform basic tasks. This design encourages finger, wrist, and other bone damage over long periods of play. I guess its a testimony to how good Uru is because even with frustrating controls, I still keep playing.
The puzzles in Uru seem much more sensible this time around. In all previous Myst games I eventually hit a point where a mind-numbing puzzle stopped the show. I was just stuck and there was no way forward. I haven't hit any of these problems in Uru yet so I'm happily surprised.
Let us all know how you like the game when you've played it a bit more. (By the way, I'm with you on ignoring the online, pay monthly aspects of the game. I still haven't found a computer game that can convince me to pay monthly fees.)
Richard Hobbes.</div>
Thanks a bunch Richard! Good information. Along with meaghers advice, and yours this is most helpful to me.
I agree about the control scheme! It's a prime candidate for carpal tunnel for sure!
There was a setting to point to go in the setup, but it doesn't seem to work. Too bad, I miss the zip feature of MYST as well.
The game is beautiful and even with my slowdown, I am enjoying it.
I doubt I can afford to buy a new Video Card right now. Maybe I will ask Santa ;)
that improved performance playing URU.
Updated Video drivers,....(duhhh Lara)
Also, I got an alert that I didn't have virtual memory set high enough. So I increased it to the recommended size and performance seems to be better.
I'm kind of roaming around still. Graphics are really nice! Still getting acclimated to what I'm supposed to be doing. Let's just say, I found the mushrooms ;)
Richard Hobbes
11-19-2003, 08:42 AM
Lara,
Here is some more feedback about Uru game performance on your computer. I took the lazy approach of saying (effectively) "just add more powerful hardware". You are quite right to try optimizing your computer first. There is no reason to spend money if you can get acceptable performance with your existing hardware.
You mentioned adjusting your virtual memory and updating your video card drivers. Another effective thing you can do is to make more memory and CPU cycles available by unloading background processes. On my own computer, before I play games, I have to stop various database. mail, and other daemon (background) services that use large chunks of RAM. User applications like MSN Messenger, virus scanning utilities, and others will also chew up many resources on your computer. Even enabling the windows clock in your Start menu toolbar will take up resources. So... to get maximum performance do the following:
1.) Disconnect your computer from the Internet. (i.e. pull the Ethernet cable out of the back of your computer or shut off your connection to the Internet.) Yes, you read that correctly. Unless you are playing an online game, leaving your computer on the Internet exposes it to viruses, spyware, and other Trojan software while you are playing.
2.) Stop and unload background services that you know are not being used by the game or by the operating system. These include (on Windows machines) services like SQL Server, Internet Information Server, Windows Update, and any other middleware services you have running.
3.) Stop and unload user applications that run in the back ground such as MSN Messenger, virus software, software firewalls, and others. Note: now you see why I say to disconnect your computer from the Internet. If you shut down virus and firewall software to free up memory and CPU cycles, your computer will be exposed to threats from the Internet. You can mitigate this by disconnecting from the Internet. The safest, most reliable way to disconnect your computer from the Internet is to physically unplug the connection cable from your computer.
4.) Exit any foreground applications you have running. (Word, Excel, etc.)
5.) Disable any hardware anti-aliasing that is switched on in your video card. While this may make graphics look a bit more jaggy, it can often vastly increase gameplay performance.
6.) Now load up your game (in this case Uru).
7.) In the game, disable extra sound effects (such as 3D positional audio) and extra graphics/particle effects (such as anti-aliasing, glowing auras, reflections, etc.) These types of effects can chew up loads of CPU and memory while only adding a little bit of extra finesse to the gameplay. Yes, when you disable these things you are not getting the "full" experience of the game, but hey, you're saving yourself having to buy new hardware!
This list is by no means complete and it is not appropriate for all situations, but it does give an idea of how to start optimizing your computer for video gaming. Important: when you finish using your computer for gaming, remember to re-enable all the services you stopped before continuing on with other activities. For me, once I've finished a gaming session, I re-enable all the services I stopped and then reboot the computer.
Hope this helps,
Richard.
P.S. If you already know all this stuff (which you may well working for a video gaming web site), my appologies for the ramble.
Thank you Richard for taking the time to give me all the suggestions. I do appreciate it very much!
Well, I'm still early into the game. But for anyone interested, the logic in MYST and Riven puzzles is still present in URU.
So far I really like this game.
Suicides-by-Steve
11-20-2003, 10:09 PM
<div class=\"smallfont\">Well, I'm still early into the game. But for anyone interested, the logic in MYST and Riven puzzles is still present in URU.
So far I really like this game.</div>
Yes, I agree. I ended up blowing 200 bucks on software this afternoon, and it's like an early Christmas for me. Knights of the Old Republic, Jagged Allaince 2 Gold, Morrowind Goty Edition, and Uru tops off my purchases. I have played 2 out of the 4 games, but no matter... It's nice rounding out the collection.
As for Uru, I haven't played much into it, and despite a few troubles adjusting to the camera, it works rather well, and I have to say it's nice to be immersed in the Myst world, while seeing or watching the results of your actions in 3D.
<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>
Yes, I agree. I ended up blowing 200 bucks on software this afternoon, and it's like an early Christmas for me. Knights of the Old Republic, Jagged Allaince 2 Gold, Morrowind Goty Edition, and Uru tops off my purchases. I have played 2 out of the 4 games, but no matter... It's nice rounding out the collection.
As for Uru, I haven't played much into it, and despite a few troubles adjusting to the camera, it works rather well, and I have to say it's nice to be immersed in the Myst world, while seeing or watching the results of your actions in 3D.</div>
You planning on trying the online-gaming of URU?
I registered, but kind of doubt I will want to pay the money to play. It really isn't opened to everyone yet. You register and wait for an email to join a limited group. Guess they want to gradually introduce URU live. I can see why. The first week their forums were so flooded, I could barely get on to read the posts. I have a feeling by the time I get accepted, the free trial will be over. Oh well, no big deal. I'm enjoying playing the game on my own!
Suicides-by-Steve
11-21-2003, 06:33 AM
<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>
You planning on trying the online-gaming of URU?
I registered, but kind of doubt I will want to pay the money to play. It really isn't opened to everyone yet. You register and wait for an email to join a limited group. Guess they want to gradually introduce URU live. I can see why. The first week their forums were so flooded, I could barely get on to read the posts. I have a feeling by the time I get accepted, the free trial will be over. Oh well, no big deal. I'm enjoying playing the game on my own!</div>
No, I won't play. I barely have enough time to finish my singleplayer games, let alone some persistant world where I have to pay to play. I'll make do with NWN and my PBEM's I have going at the moment...
Richard Hobbes
11-24-2003, 07:57 AM
All,
Perhaps I spoke too soon about Uru. Admittedly, since getting the game, I've not played much past the first set of puzzles. I've enjoyed what little I've played thus far, but the first professional review out has me wondering whether I made a good investment. Here are some snippets from what Games Domain (www.gamesdomain.com) had to say:
"Cold and sterile. Incredibly obtuse puzzles. Requires much guesswork and patience. Vaunted Uru Live multiplayer mode isn't up and running yet!"
"...this is still a traditional Myst game at its heart. Not only do you need to approach it with the patience of a Job at the DMV, you have to develop traits that would be treated in the real world as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is one tough cookie to crack, and is really only advisable for diehard adventure gamers with the methodical temperament of Sherlock Holmes or advocates of primal scream therapy looking for motivation."
"As with its ancestors, Uru is damn near inscrutable in spots. There may not be too many Mensa members in the Games Domain offices, but we've played more than our fair share of adventure games and rarely found puzzles that sent us scurrying so quickly to the Net for a walkthrough. Many make no logical sense, including aspects that you would never think of independently."
"We also declare now that if you can figure out the codes needed to access the vault at the end of this Age without a walkthrough, you should be engaged in a career in cryptography, not wasting your life playing adventure games."
"So what we've really got with Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is an old-school Myst adventure tarted up in new clothes. For all the superficial changes to gameplay, anyone who completed the original game ten years ago will encounter a lot of deja vu here. That may be a good thing for the veteran fans of the series, although it's hard to imagine many contemporary gamers having much patience for the punishing puzzles and airless environments."
You can get the full review here: http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/nov03/Uru.html
Hmmm. Well, I spent the cash to buy the game so I'm definitely going to play some more, but now it's not without a wee bit of trepidation.
RH.
<div class=\"smallfont\">All,
Perhaps I spoke too soon about Uru. Admittedly, since getting the game, I've not played much past the first set of puzzles. I've enjoyed what little I've played thus far, but the first professional review out has me wondering whether I made a good investment. Here are some snippets from what Games Domain (www.gamesdomain.com) had to say:
"Cold and sterile. Incredibly obtuse puzzles. Requires much guesswork and patience. Vaunted Uru Live multiplayer mode isn't up and running yet!"
"...this is still a traditional Myst game at its heart. Not only do you need to approach it with the patience of a Job at the DMV, you have to develop traits that would be treated in the real world as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is one tough cookie to crack, and is really only advisable for diehard adventure gamers with the methodical temperament of Sherlock Holmes or advocates of primal scream therapy looking for motivation."
"As with its ancestors, Uru is damn near inscrutable in spots. There may not be too many Mensa members in the Games Domain offices, but we've played more than our fair share of adventure games and rarely found puzzles that sent us scurrying so quickly to the Net for a walkthrough. Many make no logical sense, including aspects that you would never think of independently."
"We also declare now that if you can figure out the codes needed to access the vault at the end of this Age without a walkthrough, you should be engaged in a career in cryptography, not wasting your life playing adventure games."
"So what we've really got with Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is an old-school Myst adventure tarted up in new clothes. For all the superficial changes to gameplay, anyone who completed the original game ten years ago will encounter a lot of deja vu here. That may be a good thing for the veteran fans of the series, although it's hard to imagine many contemporary gamers having much patience for the punishing puzzles and airless environments."
You can get the full review here: http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/nov03/Uru.html
Hmmm. Well, I spent the cash to buy the game so I'm definitely going to play some more, but now it's not without a wee bit of trepidation.
RH.</div>
It may take me far longer to get through the complete game, but I will eventually. With my time constraints on gameplaying, I may be the last one on earth to complete it!
As far as difficulty in solving the puzzles go, I'm pretty much used to the MYST way of thinking and do have the patience to stick to it. It's not a game that you have to play and complete in a week. Nor is it a game that you have to play continually. What works for me is, if I am getting nowhere, I'll jump to a Tomb Raider game and blast away just to relieve the tension :) We'll see how it goes.
Oh and as to the Games Domain comment about being "cold and sterile", I totally disagree. I find it quite the opposite.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Well, I'm still early into the game. But for anyone interested, the logic in MYST and Riven puzzles is still present in URU.
So far I really like this game.</div>
I played and finished Myst, but never Riven. I just don't have patience for a lot of puzzles. "Okay, turn this switch this way, and that switch that way, pull lever...nothing. Oh, wait a minute, the switches should be set to rock-scissors-paper, not paper-rock-scissors....crap, still doesn't work" [next day] "at last, it works...that was fun, yeah....oh look, another puzzle." LOL!
Cuddly Knife
11-24-2003, 01:03 PM
Is there any chance that they'll be bringing this game to home consoles? I liked Riven and Myst III, and I would definitely get this one.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Is there any chance that they'll be bringing this game to home consoles? I liked Riven and Myst III, and I would definitely get this one.</div>
The last I read about it is this from their official web site:
"Currently Uru is only planned to be available on the PC. But we are exploring options to expand to other platforms."
So I wouldn't totally count it out for consoles :)
I saw a commercial for URU on television last night (a commercial for a pc game - that's rare), and I can now see why this game would cause trouble for a middle-aged system. Those graphics are incredible.
Renzatic Gear
11-28-2003, 11:06 AM
I saw a commercial for URU on television last night (a commercial for a pc game - that's rare), and I can now see why this game would cause trouble for a middle-aged system. Those graphics are incredible.
Actually the game ran surprisingly well on my comp. If you have a Geforce 3 (which is pretty much lowend nowadays) and above you can expect at least 20-30 FPS just about everywhere once you get past the desert.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Actually the game ran surprisingly well on my comp. If you have a Geforce 3 (which is pretty much lowend nowadays) and above you can expect at least 20-30 FPS just about everywhere once you get past the desert.</div>
I kicked up my ram from 256 to 512 and borrowed a GeForce 2. The game runs spiffy now.
I am definitely going for a new GeForce next.
<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>
I kicked up my ram from 256 to 512 and borrowed a GeForce 2. The game runs spiffy now.
I am definitely going for a new GeForce next.</div>
Just curious Lara, what video card were you running before you borrowed that G2?
An economical put powerful upgrade for GPU would be a G4 128 mb 4200 ti video card. These can be had for $100 or less, & have needed pixel shaders for some newer game requirements.
AVOID MX CARDS!
From one of VGR's sponsors, a few specs on this particular card:
http://www.bizrate.com/marketplace/search/search__prod_id--7386537,cat_id--405,title--Ti%204200.html
Suicides-by-Steve
12-13-2003, 01:27 PM
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I kicked up my ram from 256 to 512 and borrowed a GeForce 2. The game runs spiffy now.
I am definitely going for a new GeForce next.</div>
"Borrowed"? LOL It's probably safe to assume it's yours now! LOL I couldn't see anyone needing that back. However, it's interesting that it runs URU so well. I have my old GF2 plugged into my almost resurrected second computer (I just need a power bar, and space to set it up), and I was always happy with that trade I did with Renzatic (a few games for the card).
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"Borrowed"? LOL It's probably safe to assume it's yours now! LOL I couldn't see anyone needing that back. However, it's interesting that it runs URU so well. I have my old GF2 plugged into my almost resurrected second computer (I just need a power bar, and space to set it up), and I was always happy with that trade I did with Renzatic (a few games for the card).</div>
Yes it's borrowed from a computer not in use at the moment, and it's not a bad card. It runs URU just fine.
Santa is bringing me a GeForce FX 5600 for Christmas.
Renzatic Gear
12-13-2003, 03:30 PM
$146 for a Ti4200? Nooooo....that's a bit too steep for that card, you can pick one up for $89 on Pricewatch or Newegg.
And Lara, if you haven't picked it up already, try and avoid the FX 5200 line of cards. They're not even as speedy as the entry-level Geforce 4 cards. You can pick up an FX 5600 Ultra for about $150 or even go as high as a 5900 128 meg card for $189 nowadays.
Edit:...err...read the rest of your post. Nevermind. Good choice of cards. :D
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Just curious Lara, what video card were you running before you borrowed that G2?
An economical put powerful upgrade for GPU would be a G4 128 mb 4200 ti video card. These can be had for $100 or less, & have needed pixel shaders for some newer game requirements.
AVOID MX CARDS!
From one of VGR's sponsors, a few specs on this particular card:
http://www.bizrate.com/marketplace/search/search__prod_id--7386537,cat_id--405,title--Ti%204200.html</div>
I was running a G1 and it was an MX as is the G2 I am temporarily using E.T.
The FX 5600 has 256 mb DDR onboard RAM.
<div class=\"smallfont\">$146 for a Ti4200? Nooooo....that's a bit too steep for that card, you can pick one up for $89 on Pricewatch or Newegg.
And Lara, if you haven't picked it up already, try and avoid the FX 5200 line of cards. They're not even as speedy as the entry-level Geforce 4 cards. You can pick up an FX 5600 Ultra for about $150 or even go as high as a 5900 128 meg card for $189 nowadays.
Edit:...err...read the rest of your post. Nevermind. Good choice of cards. :D</div>
Thanks for the suggestions anyway RG :) It's been a long while since I have upgraded my video card .(obviously ;) )
I'm hoping I see a decent improvement!
Suicides-by-Steve
12-13-2003, 06:01 PM
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I'm hoping I see a decent improvement!</div>
That's going to be an understatement, especially with the included RAM boost you recently aquired. I'm thinking of grabbing an extra 256 as well.
I was thinking of picking up a combo that has all the Myst games and this new one as well but I am not sure it would be something I could conquer. I did really enjoy TLJ and own the Monkey Island series and a few other adventure games but I am not sure how well I am at strong puzzle solving games. I have heard Myst is pretty intense and I know it was the best selling game about 10 years ago. I owned it on a ps1 or was it the Saturn along time ago and never really knew what I was doing other than wandering alone looking for clues but really getting no where. I admit I was alot younger and more into Doom and this type of game but I might give it a shot.
Also on the lower end systems in this thread:
You would be surprised how far you can go if you just have enough memory and a strong video card. I am still enjoying my pc gaming fine with a sub gig processor Pent 3 Dell. I hope to upgrade this year but I think people do not really grasp what is bottlenecking their gaming computer. You can buy a new computer today with a good processor but it has that onboard graphics which is fine for minor gaming but when they find a good real game they want to play on it there will be issues.
Anyhow..sorry for rambling but I am not really awake yet. Back to Gothic 2 and finding my way out of this dangerous wilderness....run Forest run !
<div class=\"smallfont\">I was thinking of picking up a combo that has all the Myst games and this new one as well but I am not sure it would be something I could conquer. I did really enjoy TLJ and own the Monkey Island series and a few other adventure games but I am not sure how well I am at strong puzzle solving games. I have heard Myst is pretty intense and I know it was the best selling game about 10 years ago. I owned it on a ps1 or was it the Saturn along time ago and never really knew what I was doing other than wandering alone looking for clues but really getting no where. I admit I was alot younger and more into Doom and this type of game but I might give it a shot.
Also on the lower end systems in this thread:
You would be surprised how far you can go if you just have enough memory and a strong video card. I am still enjoying my pc gaming fine with a sub gig processor Pent 3 Dell. I hope to upgrade this year but I think people do not really grasp what is bottlenecking their gaming computer. You can buy a new computer today with a good processor but it has that onboard graphics which is fine for minor gaming but when they find a good real game they want to play on it there will be issues.
Anyhow..sorry for rambling but I am not really awake yet. Back to Gothic 2 and finding my way out of this dangerous wilderness....run Forest run !</div>
:)
I love playing MYST games and yes, they can be pretting "intense", sometimes daunting. But I love a challenge and the puzzles in these games are well conceived. They make sense! A good portion of the problems to solve are mechanical in nature.
BTW, there is no comparison to MYST games and TLJ or Monkey Island series. I've played all of them and they are great fun...just not the same type game.
The Trilogy pack is pretty inexpensive if you decide to give it a try.
One difference in the trilogy and the latest URU is you create your own character and can play in 1st and 3rd person view. The first three are point and click in 1st person. URU is a huge step forward in viewing re: MYST games.
I personally play this type of game when I am in the mood to concentrate. I try not to play for too long if I'm not getting anywhere. Sometimes a fresh start at a project in the game does wonders. Something that I didn't notice before suddenly becomes obvious!
Regarding your comment about memory and the strong video card for gaming.... You're so right!
Suicides-by-Steve
12-14-2003, 09:45 AM
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BTW, there is no comparison to MYST games and TLJ or Monkey Island series. I've played all of them and they are great fun...just not the same type game.
The Trilogy pack is pretty inexpensive if you decide to give it a try.
One difference in the trilogy and the latest URU is you create your own character and can play in 1st and 3rd person view. The first three are point and click in 1st person. URU is a huge step forward in viewing re: MYST games.
I personally play this type of game when I am in the mood to concentrate. I try not to play for too long if I'm not getting anywhere. Sometimes a fresh start at a project in the game does wonders. Something that I didn't notice before suddenly becomes obvious!
!</div>
I posted something similar as well explaining to someone what exactly to expect while playing Uru or any other game from the Myst universe:
"Yes, however, inherently the game is the same. It's essentially Myst 3D... except in the third person. I played it pre-patched, and the movement seemed a little shaky at times. Nothing that couldn't be overcome though. Expect great vistas though looking through your Avatar's eyes. It's a very mellow game, devoid of quick-draw reflexes, and sudden, gory deaths. Thinking of this game as the "New Age Music" of the gaming world, with Menza writing the Lyrics, you'd be pretty close to nailing down exactly how the game plays out."
LOL
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Yes, I agree. I ended up blowing 200 bucks on software this afternoon, and it's like an early Christmas for me. Knights of the Old Republic, Jagged Allaince 2 Gold, Morrowind Goty Edition, and Uru tops off my purchases. I have played 2 out of the 4 games, but no matter... It's nice rounding out the collection.
As for Uru, I haven't played much into it, and despite a few troubles adjusting to the camera, it works rather well, and I have to say it's nice to be immersed in the Myst world, while seeing or watching the results of your actions in 3D.</div>
URU has awesome detail! Take time to switch from 3rd to 1st person view often.
I notice a lot of "guests" viewing this thread, so I thought I'd add to my posts about the game that the upgrade to GeForce FX card and added RAM made a huge difference. The game is running awesome now.
mister_dodger
01-01-2004, 06:09 PM
I notice a lot of "guests" viewing this thread, so I thought I'd add to my posts about the game that the upgrade to GeForce FX card and added RAM made a huge difference. The game is running awesome now.
Hi Lara,
This is just a little reply to your post regarding URU. Although you have already upgraded your system, I have a couple of "tweaks" that may help you and/or other users enhance the performance of their system. So although I have addressed this message to you, hopefully others will read and perhaps benefit from it. I have tested these tweaks with Win XP but they can be applied to most Windows OS's. These tips are not intended for novices, but rather people who are somewhat familiar with their Windows OS and are curious as to how they might enhance or tweak their system.
First, you can speed up your hard drive a little by enabling the "Write Cache" feature. By default, this feature is "usually" Disabled in Windows XP. To enable the Write Caching feature you will have to access your Device Manager. From there, you must go to the Properties of your available Hard Drive(s). Some systems are different, but you'll notice the option to Enable Write Caching. By enabling this feature you can speed up your hard drives performance by 100 - 200% As with most functions in Windows, there is also a drawback. WinXP also disclaims "This setting enables write caching to improve disk performance, but a power outage or equipment failure might result in a data loss or curruption." So there are pro's and cons to enabling this feature, but from personal experience I have found that enabling this feature greatly enhances all performance and will help speed up hard drive processing and access for almost all applications and games.
Another popular tweak is disabling your File Indexing Service in Windows XP. First, you'll need to find your Administrative Tools, and then access "Services". Here you should see a feature called "Indexing Service". By default this feature is set to Manual. Disabling this feature can free up much need RAM and improve game playing peformance on systems with only 256 MB or lower. The Indexing Service is supposed to speed up file access but in actuallity uses more RAM than is warranted for such an insignificant boost in file accessing speed. By disabling this feature I have noticed a larger amount of free RAM and no drawbacks regarding the speed in which my hard drive accesses files.
For those looking for more info on Tweaking and Enhancing your system please feel free to check out these sites:
www.blackviper.com (http://www.blackviper.com)
www.winguides.com (http://www.winguides.com)
Remember: Tweaking is not for everyone and should only be attempted by users with a working knowledge of their Operating System.
mister_dodger
Thanks for the info mister_dodger! I'm pretty familiar with 98 and XP.
I'm a little hesitant to enable Write Caching. I've got a lot of stuff on my computer that I'd hate to lose. If it were a gaming only computer, I wouldn't give it a second thought ;)
I may give the File Indexing disable a shot though.
This thread has been read a lot, so I'm sure your post will be helpful to a lot of URU players.
Suicides-by-Steve
01-01-2004, 07:41 PM
<div class=\"smallfont\">Thanks for the info mister_dodger! I'm pretty familiar with 98 and XP.
I'm a little hesitant to enable Write Caching. I've got a lot of stuff on my computer that I'd hate to lose. If it were a gaming only computer, I wouldn't give it a second thought ;)
I may give the File Indexing disable a shot though.
This thread has been read a lot, so I'm sure your post will be helpful to a lot of URU players.</div>
Well Lara, I've had both enabled/disabled forever and I've shown no ill effects on my end. Especially lost data... It's never happened to me. I'd be more worried about a catastrophic HDD failure than "a power outage or equipment failure [that] might result in a data loss or curruption"... Like DUH! Isn't this going to happen regardless unless you have a battery back-up? Again, you MAY already have Write Caching enabled... so no need to be wary of the function.
mister_dodger
01-01-2004, 07:43 PM
Thanks for the info mister_dodger! I'm pretty familiar with 98 and XP.
I'm a little hesitant to enable Write Caching. I've got a lot of stuff on my computer that I'd hate to lose. If it were a gaming only computer, I wouldn't give it a second thought ;)
I may give the File Indexing disable a shot though.
This thread has been read a lot, so I'm sure your post will be helpful to a lot of URU players.
Hi Lara,
Disabling the file indexing service will free up some RAM. So give it a try, it won't harm your system and you probably won't notice any immediate affects but you make sure you check your sysinfo before and after disabling the indexing service just to see how much RAM you free up. It may not seem like much at first but this feature uses up a large chunk of resources in WinXP. Applications can utilize this extra RAM and benefit from it. Hopefully others will get some use out of these tweaks and even the sites listed above. Take care.
mister_dodger
mister_dodger
01-01-2004, 07:54 PM
Well Lara, I've had both enabled/disabled forever and I've shown no ill effects on my end. Especially lost data... It's never happened to me. I'd be more worried about a catastrophic HDD failure than "a power outage or equipment failure [that] might result in a data loss or curruption"... Like DUH! Isn't this going to happen regardless unless you have a battery back-up? Again, you MAY already have Write Caching enabled... so no need to be wary of the function.
Hi Steve, I've never had any problems either. I do believe that people should be informed before using these features or tweaking their systems though. Some of the info above can seem a little daunting to the novice Windows user, and if the novice user is not careful they can end up hindering system performance. So I recommend to novice and even intermediate Windows users that are interested in tweaking their system, that they read up on the subject first and gather as much information as possible before fiddling around with Windows Setup or System configurations. This will save them from unnecessary stress and worry.
You are right about the Hard Disk Drive failure though, down the line it is inevitable. Another reason to back up your important files regularly. :D Take care.
mister_dodger
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Well Lara, I've had both enabled/disabled forever and I've shown no ill effects on my end. Especially lost data... It's never happened to me. I'd be more worried about a catastrophic HDD failure than "a power outage or equipment failure [that] might result in a data loss or curruption"... Like DUH! Isn't this going to happen regardless unless you have a battery back-up? Again, you MAY already have Write Caching enabled... so no need to be wary of the function.</div>
Yeah true about HDD failure. I try to back up my data on zipped disks, but am guilty of putting it off a little too often :rolleyes:
In any case thanks guys for the input.
Just checked out the demo of Uru and I have to admit it is nice looking. I might be interested in a game like this to take alongtime to investigate and explore. I do wish I could use my gamepad though...it is one that would work nicely with this type of slower moving game.
Visually the game is outstanding. The 3D graphics alone are worth it for me. I just finished one age that had me baffled for a long time. Turns out I missed something early on in the age. Had to go back and get it!
The cost is pretty steep for a PC game though. Hopefully the price will go down in a couple of months. I just couldn't wait ;)
mister_dodger
01-09-2004, 10:26 PM
Visually the game is outstanding. The 3D graphics alone are worth it for me. I just finished one age that had me baffled for a long time. Turns out I missed something early on in the age. Had to go back and get it!
The cost is pretty steep for a PC game though. Hopefully the price will go down in a couple of months. I just couldn't wait ;)
Hi Lara,
URU sounds great! I'm a big fan of the MYST series and really can't wait to get a hold of this title. The only thing holding me back at the moment is that hefty price of admission which you mentioned. I'll be patient because I know this game is worth the money, but I also know that it is worth waiting for! ;)
Take care.
<div class=\"smallfont\">Hi Lara,
www.blackviper.com (http://www.blackviper.com)
www.winguides.com (http://www.winguides.com)
mister_dodger</div>
blackviper is my favorite Windows tweak site. :)
I'm close to the end of URU. It has been quite enjoyable, but not worth the $50 price tag.
I guess not many people were interested in playing online for a fee.
http://mystworlds.ubi.com/US/
Quoted from URU web site.
February 5, 2004 - General News
Closing the Live Service (http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=400102&f=7441034&m=140109481)
The Uru Live service was a beautiful and exciting adventure, but the online experience was not supported by the potential subscribers we needed, so we've decided to postpone Uru Live indefinitely. Cyan Worlds and Ubisoft sincerely apologize to players who were waiting for the launch of Uru Live, and we remain committed to Uru and to making the extensive ages, puzzles, and the unfolding stories available through expansion packs. The first expansion will be available for free. We also have renewed plans for a Mac version. More news on these developments to follow.
I received an email from them a couple of weeks ago asking if I intended on joining the online community. It was sent out as a questionaire. My reason not to join in was, I didn't want to pay for the online service. I wasn't sure it would be worth it. I felt I had spent enough money already on the game itself.
I have been enjoying the game, but still feel the original MYST was much better story. URU was more visually pleasing. Playing MYST, I felt a sense of accomplishment in solving each problem given so I could progress further into the story. I didn't get that with URU.
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