Glitch or User Error? | Forums

[ku-ki]

Sorry for the delay in answering, I was out of town a few days, followed by having to learn for some heavy exams..

Anyway, this is what I've come to:
- tried all the solutions provided, none worked
- reinstalled on my comp, after clean boot (Ati Radeon HD4870)
- installed on an equally new computer (Ati Radeon HD2600XT): same glitch
- installed on a somewhat older computer (Ati Radeon 9800XT): still same glitch
- installed on my original computer from when I bought the game (NVidia GeForce2MX): NO GLITCH!!

So, it clearly isn't the disc that's damaged.. It must be somewhere in the software. All systems work on DirectX 9.0c, but the oldest system works on Windows 2000, as opposed to the other systems that use XP (all 32bits). So it could be various things...

The old computer is, alas, not powerfull enough to nicely play the game, so I just passed the one jump, and exported my savegame to my new system, from where I could continue without problem. As a sidenote: after exporting the savegame, I could make the jump, and the jump back without a problem... Which I really can't explain. What was different to the gamefiles once I had imported a savegame?

In any case, I have finally finished URU (after all these years... kind of ashamed), and I'm waiting until x-mas passes to order a Collector's Edition, to play the Path of the Shell too (and have the soundtrack ). I'll post a reply whether the expansion by itself solves the problem as well..

Greetings, and many thanks for taking the time to help me!

[nanoukmetal]

Was it an imported saved game from another previous/older game installation that was working ok or from the present game and/or a re-installation of this last "present game" ?

[lawrencehare]

I am at my wit's end! I cannot make this jump and it is weeks I have been trying. I have completed all of Myst and I would love to finish URU but I think it is not to be. Does anyone know of ANYWAY to get past this? I have tried everything here and I give up! Very sad.
Lawrence

[nanoukmetal]

Have you tried with each of the compatibility mode starting with Windows 2000 ?

Btw, a screenshot showing where you are trying to jump to, might give us a hint.(a link from an image hosting site is needed)

When you try jumping, where exactly do you go through the rock at the mesa island ?

Picture taken in first view (F1) and looking down a bit. The brown line at the bottom of the image is the end(edge) of the rotating ramp.
Spoiler image...click here

[lawrencehare]

Using your photo I jump to the ledge just to the left of your top arrow, around that area. I have become pretty good at landing fair and square in the middle there, I'd say middle front, just to the left of that top arrow. I go straight through each time. Tried it all sorts of ways, always the same result.

I did not know there was a compatibility mode!

I am running on XP with SP2 and the machine has run more games than I can recall, my youngest son uses it a lot for some very intense local and on-line games. It is a 24" iMac using a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS. 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. It is running in native Windows mode under BootCamp. Never had a hint of a problem with it, a rock solid machine so far. I do not think it is the machine.

And I did have an idea in the wee hours of the night. Every game we have played on this machine has all the graphics and sound options set at their max, the machine seems to have no problem playing the most intense game with such settings. I was wondering if this might have something to do with it. I am at work now so I cannot check but I wonder if I drop the shadow and detail and some of those settings, to free up the CPU and GPU a bit; I wonder if that might help. At least it is something I have not tried!

Where are the compatibility options, and compatibility with what? Windows Version? That sounds scary!

Thanks for your help, I would love to finish this game, wrap up the entire series which I started playing nearly ten years ago!

Lawrence

[nanoukmetal]

I am not familiar with Mac products or Bootcamp.

You will have to wait for master Heimdall to have a go at your problem.

[Heimdall_G]

Presumably, with BootCamp and Win XP, you should install the latest video driver from NVIDIA for your GeForce 8800 GS. For a separate video card (as opposed to a chipset integrated on the motherboard), this is ForceWare 181.22, available here. If you don't have that driver, install it now.


Q. Every game we have played on this machine has all the graphics and sound options set at their max, the machine seems to have no problem playing the most intense game with such settings. I was wondering if this might have something to do with it.
A. It's quite possible. Try turning down all the video settings you can, both GeForce 8800 GS (use NVIDIA Control Panel) and Uru in-game.

1. Turn down the settings on the Uru Setup menu's Graphics tab as follows. Note what the settings are initially, so that you can reset them as appropriate.
-- Screen Resolution, set to 800x600
-- Color Depth, set to Low (16 bit)
-- Overall Quality and Texture Quality levels, set to Low
-- Full Scene Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering, disabled (both boxes unchecked)

Play Uru.
-- If Uru now plays correctly, go back and reset the changed items one at a time, exiting and restarting Uru between each reset. If you find a setting that causes the problems to reappear, leave it changed and try resetting the remaining items.

2. With the Uru in-game settings changed as above, open the NVIDIA Control Panel, and go to:
-- a. "3D Settings, Manage 3D settings". Set everything you can to "Application-controlled" and the rest to "None" or "Off" whenever that's an option. Click on Apply.
-- b. "Display, Change resolution". Set resolution to "800 by 600 pixels", and click on Apply.
-- c. Close the NVIDIA Control Panel back to the Desktop.

Play Uru.
-- If Uru now plays correctly, go back and reset the changed items one at a time, exiting and restarting Uru between each reset. If you find a setting that causes the problems to reappear, leave it changed and try resetting the remaining items.


Q. Where are the compatibility options, and compatibility with what? Windows Version?
A. Win XP's Compatibility Mode allows eliminating glitches and problems with older programs like Uru by making the program think it's running under an older Windows version. Run Uru in Win 95 or Win 98 Compatibility Mode.
-- a. Right-click on the Desktop Uru start icon, then:
-- b. Click on Properties in the resulting drop-down menu, and click on the Compatibility tab.
-- c. Under Compatibility Mode, click on the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" box to check it.
----- 1. Select "Windows 95" mode.
-- d. Under Display settings, click on the "Disable visual themes" box to check it. Leave the other two boxes unchecked.
-- e. Under Input settings, click on the "Turn off advanced text services for this program" box to check it.
-- f. Click on Apply > OK.
-- g. Start Uru using the Desktop icon.

If Windows 95 mode doesn't help, try Windows 98 / Windows Me mode.


CPU's like your Core 2 Duo sometimes do not play nicely with older programs. A possible fix is to force Uru to run on only one core by properly setting processor affinity, then starting the game. Try, in the order shown:
-- a. Start Uru, Alt+Tab back to the Desktop, then Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up Task Manager > Processes tab, etc., as per Monitoring and Optimizing Apps on Dual-Core and Multiprocessor Systems.
-- b. Both methods for setting affinity masks as described in ImageCFG.
-- c. RunFirst.

[lawrencehare]

Hi Heimdall, and thank you for an excellent reply. I have tried the first set of options, reducing the resolution and detail, to no avail. Exactly the same problem, including even one more. As I went to try yet one more jump, the entire program froze solid as I was approaching the ledge. Nothing would bring it back. The 3-finger salute failed and all I could do was hold the power switch for the time it takes to blow everything away.

I am giving up right now, too tired and frankly - I play these games for enjoyment and for weeks now all URU has done is make me nervous, cranky and miserable!

I'll try the rest later this weekend. I have a funeral tomorrow and it maybe that on Sunday we'll have another for URU. I am both amazed and horrified that I will not be able to finish the whole Myst collection, but there it is - the fates so dictate.

I cannot blame this machine. It has played so many games over the last months, especially over Christmas. The kids have played a whole mess of brand new rpgs, and some of the old ones, quake arena and I dunno what else. I have had not one single issue - ONLY this one. I just cannot jump to that ridge.

I'll write to let you know if I succeed, there will be singing and dancing indeed if I do. And I'll likewise report failure. But I am getting disinclined to pursue this much further, I have spent way too much time trying to get past this. And I guess I'll never cease repeating my new mantra - why can't I finish URU!

Thanks for you help. Much appreciated.

Lawrence - unhappy...

[lawrencehare]

Well, I have reached the end, I am destined never to finish URU. I have done everything. It will not run as Windows 95 or XP, if I set those for compatibility it just dies. Higher compatibility levels ran fine - up until the jump that is.

I degraded all setting at the URU level and at the NVidia Control Panel. No joy.

I set affinity to 1 CPU, nix.

I dumped the whole damn game and reinstalled from scratch. Same thing. I jump and vanish through through the surface of the rick and fall, fall, fall, until we go back to the shack.

All these I have tried in various combinations.

Like Ku-Ki above, it has to be something in the software and I have no old PC to install it on to see if I can get by the jump, there is no way I can make the jump and then revert to this machine.

So - doomed. I am vexed beyond belief. Ten years I have been playing Myst and to be stymied at this point is simply beyond frustration, I am too upset to have words satisfactory enough to explain my feelings about this.

So thanks for everyone's help, much appreciated. It is nearly 6:00 PM, I think a glass of wine and we'll bury URU and D'ni and any hope of visiting the world down below.

Blast blast blast and blast again.

Lawrence

There really is no cheat code or anything anywhere offering any means anyhow of getting to that ledge eh?

Sigh.

[lawrencehare]

A thought.

Would UbiSoft have ever released a different build or URU? One that perhaps has been built with more up-to-date code, libraries maybe. I tried URU with and without the patch and the jump is always the same. But perhaps a more current build or a new level of code or a new version. My CD says copyright 2003. Might there be a more recent CD one wonders.

Thanks - Lawrence, who, despite everything, still hopes.