Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]

Pages: (2) < 1 [2] >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Topic: Taj Mahal< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 22 2008, 04:22

Quote (nightspore @ April 22 2008, 02:30)
Perhaps someone could post a picture of Taj so that I can stare longingly at it, until the moment comes when I get enough time actually to visit it! :) It seems to be the only world that is not illustrated in the guide

Oh no, there are lots and lots of images still to come. It's just that uploading them, and then making links to them in the posts, is enormously time-consuming (particularly when I hit a bug in the system as I did yesterday, and spend hours achieving nothing at all). I'm trying to organise things in some kind of sensible order, to stop the whole project becoming so complex that we lose track of it. (I feel on the edge of that all the time! )

I'm not sure you'd get all that much from a static image of the Taj - it's more a matter of wandering around in its atmosphere, and the music (the musical atmosphere is perfect), and the events that occur.
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 22 2008, 22:21

Well, I succesfully put the gravitar in its play-pen on the third step! That's quite impressive music that emerges just before and at the moment of the two spaceships docking.... I suppose it's unavailable elsewhere.
Back to top
Profile PM 
a_r_schulz Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 425
Joined: Sep. 2001
Posted: April 23 2008, 18:20

Quote (Alan D @ April 21 2008, 19:43)
Oh! Oh! Oh! I am so sorry! We have been feeding you misinformation! (If we'd made this guide years ago, when we were playing every weekend, we might have avoided this, but the truth is I think we're all a bit rusty...)

I went back out there myself and checked this out. And the grim truth is (you'll want to hit us, I think) that you can't get into the Taj until THE FIRST THREE gravitars have been brought home. You're absolutely right - you can't get through that window at that early stage of the Maestro quest.

Rusty indeed, Alan...
There is in  fact no problem to pass the window to Taj any time (after giving the medals to the blind man, that is), just as long as you heed the hint in the book from the castle - showing a gravitar, a dome with window and.... well, should I say more? indeed, two medals - and, surprise, they are close at hand!
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 24 2008, 05:14

Quote (a_r_schulz @ April 23 2008, 22:20)
Rusty indeed, Alan...
There is in  fact no problem to pass the window to Taj any time (after giving the medals to the blind man, that is), just as long as you heed the hint in the book from the castle - showing a gravitar, a dome with window and.... well, should I say more? indeed, two medals - and, surprise, they are close at hand!

Many thanks for this, Andreas. This is more than a bad case of rust, though - I don't think I ever knew this. I think I always assumed that the Taj gravitar had to be the last one.

I've just gone back and tried it out - and sure enough, with the two medals you just slip through the window into the Taj. I expected to find the gravitar would be missing after the guitars game, but no - the gravitar is there sure enough and can be brought home as the first one. (I'd have sworn I'd tried this the other day, but obviously I'm mistaken. So easy to do one thing and think you've done another, I suppose.)

One curious thing: I decided to check the dome window without the 2 medals, first - and of course couldn't get through. So I went to the other dome, got its medal, set off back towards the Taj dome ... and suddenly found myself in the bird cavern! There are still some mysterious goings-on in Maestro!
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 24 2008, 10:40

Yes, that worked. The Taj was a very blank edifice at this stage, though - presumably when you visit it at more advanced stages of the game various rooms and features become apparent.

One interesting thing: after I left the Taj, I decided to take a gravitar on the spacelift. Just as the first time (when I also collected a medal) but unlike the second (when I didn't) the gravitar vanished en route and I was unable to dock with the giant medal-shaped platform. (Is there anyway out of this state, incidentally? You seem to get stuck in a permanent orbit, with the controls merely tilting the platform in various ways).
Back to top
Profile PM 
a_r_schulz Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 425
Joined: Sep. 2001
Posted: April 24 2008, 16:03

Alan - you may have hit the double hexagon window by accident; this one takes you to the cave (but only the upper part).
Anyone noticed the lone bowler hat hovering in the blind man's world - somewhere between the spacelift and the tube?

nightspore - don't want to disappoint you, but that's actually all you're going to see of the Taj (unless you didn't find the door yet...).
The borders are so tight there, you're not even given a chance to get a full view of it.
Back to top
Profile PM WEB 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 24 2008, 16:18

Quote (a_r_schulz @ April 24 2008, 20:03)
Alan - you may have hit the double hexagon window by accident; this one takes you to the cave (but only the upper part).

Yes of course! That's almost certainly what happened. Thanks!

Quote
Anyone noticed the lone bowler hat hovering in the blind man's world - somewhere between the spacelift and the tube?

Yes - it sprays little DNA symbols when you lock on to it. But it seems that it isn't always there, and I've never understood under what circumstances it appears. Do you know, Andreas?

@nightspore
Even though you can't get a good distant view of the Taj (which is a pity) it's still very beautiful and atmospheric, don't you think? And the music fits so well. Also, in the Taj after the guitar game, the audio-visual display you get when you take the gravitar is quite something, I think.
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 24 2008, 20:53

Yes, the Taj is impressive, even at the early stage at which I visited it.

I take it that there is no way of escaping from the spacelift if the gravitar is gone - however it is that that can happen - and you find you can't get closer to the large medal?
Back to top
Profile PM 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 24 2008, 23:53

Quote (nightspore @ April 25 2008, 00:53)
I take it that there is no way of escaping from the spacelift if the gravitar is gone - however it is that that can happen - and you find you can't get closer to the large medal?

I don't think that's ever happened to me, so I don't know, I'm afraid.
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 26 2008, 01:39

The same thing has happened to me on my two attempts today. The gravitar is present as the lift ascends - then it vanishes, and the empty platform can't get within a certain distance of the giant medal. This has happened three times out of four - someone please help! How do you keep the gravitar secure on the spacelift?
Back to top
Profile PM 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 26 2008, 04:03

I wish I could help, but since I've never experienced this myself I don't know what to suggest. I've certainly witnessed an occasional 'gravitar disappearance' effect - but usually because I've done something unusual, and never at the top of the spacelift.

Here's a shot in the dark, though: clearly at the top of the lift there's a big change going on, as the program moves from the 'lift' phase to the 'giant medal' phase, and if something were interfering at the moment of transition from one to the other, that might cause problems. I'm thinking for instance, of antivirus software - have you tried turning off your antivirus real-time protection while you play? Also, is there any possibility of your machine being short on RAM? (I think I remember noticing in the past that when MusicVR is running, it takes CPU activity to 100%, so it's very demanding.)

Maybe one of the others can suggest something?
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 26 2008, 05:25

Thanks for this suggestion, Alan - yes, RAM could be a problem. I'll investigate. Incidentally, I'll be away from the game for 5 days after Monday, as I'm travelling (if only there were portals in the real world!;).
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 26 2008, 08:33

It seems memory is the problem. I freed some up, and something different happened in the Blind Man's World. As soon as I seized a gravitar, the other two disappeared. The spacelift ascended as it should but as soon as it arrived at the point where, before, it couldn't get any closer to the giant medal, not only the gravitar but the space lift itself disappeared. However, this time I could get on to the giant medal and approach the spaceship. Looking over it, the gravitar was already between the arches. When I attempted to seize it, however, it vanished. The other spacecraft approached and docked, but while I could enter it via its spire I had no gravitar to take with me!

Obviously I'm going to have to free up more memory. I wonder if the strange tunnel I discovered earlier is a memory effect as well.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 26 2008, 12:04

Quote (nightspore @ April 26 2008, 12:33)
I wonder if the strange tunnel I discovered earlier is a memory effect as well.

Trinidad (where are you Trinidad, we need you) used to find ways of exploiting this kind of behaviour in order to get Maestro to do weird things. So yes, I think this is looking like a memory issue. My guess is that a process that should be accomplished very quickly is experiencing a delay, so the program doesn't perform exactly as it should. Your mysterious tunnel does sound like the same kind of thing.
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 26 2008, 21:25

At startup I had to turn off the "accelerate" option in order to get the program to run. I wonder if that is responsible.
Back to top
Profile PM 
Alan D Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 3670
Joined: Aug. 2004
Posted: April 27 2008, 04:03

Quote (nightspore @ April 26 2008, 12:33)
However, this time I could get on to the giant medal and approach the spaceship. Looking over it, the gravitar was already between the arches.

I just noticed this - I think I'm right in remembering that's normal. There is already a 'phantom' gravitar between the arches as you approach. (I presume it's a hint: 'put your gravitar here'.)

I don't know anything about the 'accelerate' option, though Colin has sometimes suggested trying changes to the settings when people have problems. Turning off the 'fog', for instance. (None of it ever seemed to make much difference to me, but then any problems I encountered were not memory-related.)
Back to top
Profile PM 
nightspore Offline




Group: Members
Posts: 4759
Joined: Mar. 2008
Posted: April 27 2008, 07:56

Yes, I noticed the phantom gravitar the one time I was successful with the first leg  of the gravitar hunt. Actually, I'm having general computer troubles at the moment - the screen keeps going blank for no reason - and it doesn't seem to be the terminal that's responsible. What a time to be going away for five days!
Back to top
Profile PM 
36 replies since April 17 2008, 03:41 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Pages: (2) < 1 [2] >






Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact

Mike Oldfield Tubular.net
Mike Oldfield Tubular.net