Myst IV - Finding the Version/Fixing Bugs

[HalNineThousand]

I'm not a big gamer and I'm glad I'm finally having time to play some games. I've played several Myst games over the years, and now I have the chance to go back and replay them in order, and play the ones I didn't play before. (I have original copies of all of them.)

I'm on Revelations and it's crashing at one point in a puzzle. I've used files on GameCopyWorld so I can use the No-Disc version, which I really appreciate being able to do.

I realize I should have taken notes on installing, but I didn't think there'd be a problem.

Now I'm dealing with this crash and thinking maybe I should have applied a bug fix or something before finishing the install.

The first problem I'm having is that I don't know how to find out the version of the program I have. I checked the install CD, searched in the program for something to give me that info, and checked in files in the installed program, and I can't find the version.

How do I find the version of Revelations?

The other related issue is that there's a bug - it's with the mangree puzzle (or 2nd mangree puzzle, depending on how you count). Whenever I use the cranks to call out the name of one mangree, the game crashes. I'm hoping a bug fix will take care of this. The problem is that I am able to call one mangree, and then the game crashes. If I restart, one mangree is missing in action - he doesn't respond, and it seems the record of which one is in which nest is wrong. So when I get there, I just can't make anything happen.

At this point, I have the files and can easily apply a bug fix (there's one for 1.02 and one for 1.03), but I don't know if the bug fix is intelligent and will only patch the appropriate version of the program, or what file it'll patch.

So how can I find which version I'm running and has anyone encountered this bug before? It's not listed in the patch list, but there's always "various other bugs."

Thanks for any help on this!

[Joe Forster/STA]

Originally Posted by HalNineThousand

I've used files on GameCopyWorld so I can use the No-Disc version, which I really appreciate being able to do.

Try without a crack, with the original CD/DVD, too. Sometimes a not so perfect crack can cause weird problems, especially with a tricky copy protection which this game may or may not have.

Originally Posted by HalNineThousand

The first problem I'm having is that I don't know how to find out the version of the program I have.

Have you checked the Property window of the main executable? (I understand you've checked files but what files and how you didn't explain.) Also, isn't the version number displayed e.g. somewhere on the main menu screen?

Originally Posted by HalNineThousand

At this point, I have the files and can easily apply a bug fix (there's one for 1.02 and one for 1.03), but I don't know if the bug fix is intelligent and will only patch the appropriate version of the program, or what file it'll patch.

All official patches are supposed to be either "intelligent" or display an error message when applied to the wrong region (US/EU/etc.), language, version. If you're worried, make a copy of the complete directory structure of ther installed game; after applying the page, you can recursively compare the files so see which have changed.

There's this patch: Myst 4: Revelation patch 1.03 (international). I tried to unpack it manually but it's not standard.

[HalNineThousand]

Thank you, Joe! The biggest help was telling me that the patches were intelligent. I noticed the one for 1.02 was large than the one for 1.03, so I was wondering if I should try going to 1.02, then 1.03, but just went straight to 1.03.

Since this was running on a VMWare VM, it was easiest to back up the entire VM, rather than the directory. The file copying within the VM was slower and more CPU intensive (probably due to the way VMWare implements the file system?).

Once I had it backed up, I ran the upgrade to 1.03 in the VM and everything was fine. Then I backed up the two files that would be replaced in the NoCD version so I could try that, then ran it, went to the scene that was the problem, and it worked perfectly.

One major note for anyone wondering about versions for this game: I checked everything (including the Properties menu item, as you pointed out), and could not find any version. Then I patched it and with the patch, the main screen, on the lower left, told me it was V 1.03. So for upgraded versions, the version number is apparent. No version number, no upgrades -- that means 1.0.

Thank you!