Nanoukmetal suggested I contact you. I'm playing Myst4 on my Mac Powerbook G4, very stuck in Serenia. I believe I may have missed some crucial moves, perhaps in Spire, but after the Spider chair. My fault, as I was following both Bert Jamin and Bula Rae, and probably shouldn't have switched from one to the other. I think Myst4 is more linear than I knew.
So, to try to get back and enter the game where I believe I need to, I am stymied as the game allows only 20 saves, and the bubbles and I in Serenia used up all the spaces. I think I must have a folder of saved games on my Mac, but the only ones I can find [and some of them may be Myst5 games] are in "computerese. Have I really screwed up and do I have to start all over again? I'm afraid I will never be able to repeat the Spider chair and the Mangree/Camoudile puzzles. I've mentioned before [sorry] that I'm 70 and not great on timed/accuracy puzzles. I love this game; it's the hardest Myst, for me, and I do so want to succeed!

P.S. I've made 3 copies of the save games which I found in my applications/Ubisoft/myst4/save, but don't dare open them until I hear from you. I vaguely remember opening one a few weeks ago, but I think it was in "computerese". Have I done the right thing? Can you tell me what to do next?
Many thanks--Ladygray

You can delete old saved games to make room for new ones, and you shouldn't have to start over.

From the Main Menu, click on Save Game. Select the game you want to delete and click on the Delete button, or use the Delete key on your keyboard. This frees up a slot for a new game save.

Does that help?

My question is, rather, can I restore an old save game that's in my Mac's "Applications/Ubisoft/MystIV/save" to the game? If so, how do I recognise the one[s] I need, and how do I transfer it, having made room for it in the game's Save file? Is this possible? Thanks for your patience--Ladygray

quote:

I've made 3 copies of the save games which I found in my applications/Ubisoft/myst4/save....

Do these copies contain different files, or are they just 3 copies of the same file sets? And are the files different from those currently in your applications/Ubisoft/myst4/save folder?

They're 3 copies of the same file set, sitting on my desktop. [I thought I'd better be super-redundant in case I screwed up when I started to open them, which I haven't done yet.] I think there are about 28 files in the set.
I'm so glad you're here--this kind of computer work is uncharted territory for me.
Ladygray

P.S. they are direct identical copies from my Ubisoft/Myst4/save folder.

When you click on the Load button on the Main Menu and then click on a saved game, you'll see a picture of what you were looking at when you originally did the save. You'll use these pictures (and your memory) to go back and enter the game where you need to.

If you're allowed only 20 save files in the saved-game folder and have 28 files:
-- a. Go to the actual Ubisoft/Myst4/save folder. I don't have an Apple machine handy, but under Windows, there will be save files named for example 2006.06.24___19_12_47.m4s in the folder (2006.06.24 is the date of the save and 19_12_47 is the time, 7:12:47 PM), as well as a default.m4s and an options.m4o file.
-- b. Delete the 2006.06.24___19_12_47.m4s-type files, but not default.m4s and options.m4o.
-- c. Copy the first 20 of the 2006.06.24___19_12_47.m4s-type files from one of the copies of the Ubisoft/Myst4/save folder into the actual Ubisoft/Myst4/save folder.
-- d. Start Revelation and click on the Load button on the Main Menu.
-- e. Click on each of the saved games and look at the picture to see if you can identify where you need to re-enter the game.
-- f. If you can identify the proper re-entry game save, load it. Some trial and error loading may be necessary if you can't identify the proper re-entry game save from the picture.
-- g. If the proper re-entry game save isn't one of the first 20, repeat step b and then copy the remaining 8 (or 6, if you were counting default.m4s and options.m4o) of the 2006.06.24___19_12_47.m4s-type files into the actual Ubisoft/Myst4/save folder.
-- h. Repeat steps d and e. If you can identify the proper re-entry game save, load it. Again, some trial and error loading may be necessary.

If the proper re-entry game save isn't among the 28 (26?), you'll need to start Revelation all over again.

Thanks for your help. But- Ubisoft did not save games far back enough. Although I was meticulous in following your advice, the game locked me out, so I'm starting again. Would it be useful to ask Ubisoft why they don't save all the Save games in Myst4? I have plenty of unused space on my Mac.
I did learn a lot about Applications files so I don't think it was wasted time, altho I'm disappointed and dread the 2nd encounter with the Spider chair. Thanks again.
Ladygray

Q. Would it be useful to ask Ubisoft why they don't save all the Save games in Myst4?
A. IMHO, no, unless you're really curious.

I don't recall, did you install the patches (myst4_v1.00_to_v1.01_us_mac.jar and myst4_v1.00_to_v1.03_mac.jar, available here)? They're supposed to make the chair puzzle easier to solve by adding some solution time.

Yes, I installed the patches before I started Myst4 originally and they're safely in my Ubisoft/Myst4 file. Maybe this time it won't be as hard. I've replayed Tomanha, and am just beginning Spire now--wish me luck! I really appreciate your efforts, and will be careful about not keeping too many save games in the game.
Ladygray