Hey, cool, another New Zealander [Unless of course there's another Cook Strait I'm unaware of...]

Yes - I'm a Kiwi, and it was THAT Cook Strait, doing a washing machine impression on that day! I am a Mainlander, living just outside Christchurch. I wonder how many others of us there are out there.

quote:

Originally posted by hogarth...:
I find the FPS controls troublesome in that rotation is very slow. Strafe, forward and back motions are ok, but rotation is a killer.
In Uru, the navigation felt quite natural, and it is puzzling to me why the same wasn't used here.

It was done so that it more closely mimicked a FPS control and response scheme setup. Aiming not at the experienced URU player, but that the experienced FPS player. I AM an experienced FPS player, but I would've prefered the more URU like response system, since there's no 'run 'n' gun' parts of this game, the higher performance movement isn't absolutely necessary.

Since I bought a brand new, rather expensive gamer machine to run Myst V, I thought I would install Uru and see if there were any apparent differences or improvements in that game brought about by the new box.

There are.

Frame rates that range between 45 fps and 160 fps, with 70 fps being about average - and this is with all graphics and sound settings cranked up to the maximum. I could never do this before, and Uru never looked better - bright and crisp and eerily "real".

But the most striking thing I found, especially after playing Myst V, was the sense of realism and immersion that having an avatar in the world creates. I had forgotten how much simple fun can be had just by running little hogarth around, jumping over obstacles, or simply splashing slowly through a puddle, turning to see his wet footprints behind him. Small things like this may not seem much, but they add tremendously to the appeal of the game, and give me the sense that much care and thought went into its creation. There is no such sense in Myst V.

My primary feeling, when I started a new game and found myself walking through the desert again, was "It's good to be back." (Well, that, and "Where is everybody?") Other than going back to take a few screenshots in Fly Mode in Myst V, I have no similar yearnings to return there.

The slower pace of movement in Uru is far preferable to the rapid sailing around we see in Myst V. It would have improved the game immersiveness tremendously to add some small touches of Uru-like realism. I find no Tah'Gira-like seasickness here, though there is occasional vertigo as I look down from the edge of a cliff or have to walk a tightrope.

Here's Yeesha and hogarth doing a little dance...

Did you ever get Until URU up and running, hogarth? It's the Tapestry shard Christmas party tonight and it started about 20 mins ago:

Server address: eventshard.urutapestry.com

Along the same lines as vertigo, a co-worker who did not know he was epileptic went into seizure watching a strobing flash video and I understand a number of children have as well. Wasn't there a disclaimer on consoles warning of this? Anyway, it's amazing how the brain works.

Mr Zebe D, I did try Until Uru for awhile, back when it first opened up, just to see some old friends again, but more recently I've been otherwise occupied.
I'm sorry I'll have to miss the Christmas party, as I don't have the Until Uru client installed on this machine - though I do have a key to get in, and will probably join you guys again in the days to come. I'll have more free time once a project I've been tied up with has finished.

In the meantime, best wishes for a Happy Christmas and the Merriest of New Years!

I know I'm resurrecting an old post here, but as I did not/have not played Until Uru, and just found out that Uru Live is on it's way back, I decided to download Myst V to play, as some have suggested there may be elements of it (in terms of story line) in Uru Live. I've been having the same trouble, getting quite nauseated after 30-40 minutes of play. Yesterday was the first time I played it, and wound up feeling rather miserable for a good portion of the day after attempting to play 2-3 times. I'll follow the recommendations above on game settings to lessen the effect, but I'm FAR less interested in playing it if I'm going to have to combat the motion sickness. I'm typically also one of those who has few issues with motion sickness, but this is the worst effect I've ever had from a game. (I DO remembe years ago playing Doom, I think, and feeling similar effects, but not so intense, I don't think.) Thanks for the suggestions....