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The Guild of Messengers

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The Guild of Messengers

How to play

(This was originally a thread on the MOUL forum)

See also Shards. For a list of historical shards, see the Guild of Archivists’ wiki page.

Make sure you have enough free space (about 3 GB per shard). These instructions are for Windows; macOS and Linux users will have to go through a few more steps.

Contents

  1. Myst Online: Uru Live
  2. Gehn
  3. Minkata
  4. The Open Cave
  5. Deep Island
  6. The Open Cave (TPotS)
  7. Playing fan Ages offline (Drizzled Uru)
  8. Adding Myst V to Uru: CC

Myst Online: Uru Live

  1. If you do not have one, create an account on the MOULa website; you will need to provide a cell phone number, for a confirmation SMS. WhatsApp will do, too.
  2. Download and launch the MOULa installer (direct link).
  3. Once you close the installer, Uru Live will launch; even if you do not have an account, let it run, so you will have the full game data. Once you see the login window, you are ready. UruLauncher.exe is the program to launch to start the game.
  4. If you get errors or the game crashes, check the Launcher problems page, or the Cyan Support website. You can also report issues on the OpenUru Service Desk.
  5. You can find the MOULa manual here.

Gehn

  1. If you do not have one, create an account on the Guild of Writers forum. This login is used for the forum, the Gehn shard and the Deep Island shard. To avoid problems, you should pick a password less than 16 characters long.
  2. (Optional) Copy and paste the Uru Live folder and rename the copy, e.g. Gehn shard.
  3. Download the Gehn shard installer (direct link) and launch it. If you made a copy of the Uru Live folder, select that as the destination and agree to the alert (you do want to modify that folder).
  4. It is strongly advised to select a location other than “C:\Program Files (x86)\”; a good alternative could be “C:\Games\”.
  5. Once you close the installer, the Gehn shard will launch; let it run to have the full updates to the game data.
  6. If you get errors or the game crashes, check the Launcher problems page, or the Guild of writers’ Gehn forum.

Minkata

  1. Be sure to understand what to expect from a testing shard, e.g. vault wipes can happen. Consider becoming an active tester for the shard.
  2. Visit the OpenUru.org Foundry and create an account. To avoid problems, you should pick a password less than 16 characters long.
  3. Copy and paste the Uru Live folder in a convenient location and rename the copy (e.g. Minkata). It is strongly advised to select a location other than “C:\Program Files (x86)\”; a good alternative could be “C:\Games\”.
  4. Delete the content except for the avi, dat and sfx folders.
  5. You will get an email to a download page; you will need to place the UruLauncher.exe file in the Minkata folder.
  6. Launch UruLauncher.exe to start regular Minkata, or UruLauncher-Alpha.bat to start Minkata-alpha.
  7. If you get errors or the game crashes, check the Launcher problems page, the Minkata forum, or the Help Desk.

The Open Cave

  1. Be aware that this shard is not actively maintained.
  2. If you do not have one, create an account on The Open Cave page. To avoid problems, you should pick a password less than 16 characters long.
  3. This shard requires a specific set of game files that the server currently cannot provide. You can get a full TOC folder from PodHopper’s page or Korov’ev archive. Extract the TOC folder archive in a convenient location, but keep the compressed archive until you are sure everything works 😉
  4. The archive you just got is already set up and ready to use, but without running the installer you will not get menu entries and icons for the Start menu, and if you never installed a MOUL-based shard you may need to run at least vcredist_x86.exe manually. You can download the TOC installer here (direct link), or skip to point 7 if you are not interested in running the installer.
  5. Run the installer; it is strongly advised to select a location other than “C:\Program Files (x86)\”; a good alternative could be “C:\Games\”. Make sure to uncheck the “Run TOC-MOUL” option.
  6. Once you close the installer, the TOC shard may launch, but you need an extra step, so click on Cancel. Replace all the content of the folder created by the installer with all the content of the folder from the archive (point 3). If you did not use the installer, use UruLauncher.exe to launch the shard.
  7. If there is no sound, try running the openAL installer (oalinst.exe).
  8. Never use repair mode! It will use MOULa’s incompatible data server, and it will break your TOC folder.
  9. A Windows 10 update from 2017 broke the way moving with the mouse works: the avatar keeps skipping back to center when trying to turn. To fix the issue, you can use Sirius’ fix.
  10. If you get other errors or the game crashes, check the Launcher problems page, or the TOC Discord.

Deep Island

  • Be aware that this shard is technically a (tolerated) violation of the EULA.
  • Be sure to have a legal copy of Uru: Complete Chronicles, or Uru: Ages beyond Myst + The Path of the Shell expansion (Uru:CC, for short). If you don’t, discounts are frequent on GOG or Steam.
  • The GOG edition is generally regarded as the easiest to modify, but the Steam one should work fine too (be sure to run the Launcher – without launching the game itself – once while in offline mode).
  • If you do not have one, create an account on the Guild of Writers forum. This login is used for the forum, the Gehn shard and the Deep Island shard. To avoid problems, you should pick a password less than 16 characters long.
  • Copy the Uru:CC folder, preferably a fresh install, somewhere (e.g. “C:\\Games\”) and rename it (e.g. “Deep Island”).
  • Download the DI patcher (direct link), extract it and copy the files into the Deep Island folder, replacing the files with the same names.
  • Always use Uru.exe to launch the shard. The first time, you will need to create a new avatar and download some additional files (about 400 MB).
  • In contrast to The Open Cave (TPotS), fan Ages are downloaded and installed automatically when linking to them the first time, so Drizzle should not be used (with a few exceptions, see Adding Myst V).
  • The shard can be launched in (limited) widescreen mode by creating a urustarter.ini file and setting the resolution to 800×600.
  • If you get errors or the game crashes, check the Guild of writers’ Deep Island forum.

The Open Cave (TPotS)

  • Be aware that this shard is not actively maintained.
  • Be aware that this shard is technically a (tolerated) violation of the EULA.
  • Be sure to have a legal copy of Uru: Complete Chronicles, or Uru: Ages beyond Myst + The Path of the Shell expansion (Uru:CC, for short). If you don’t, discounts are frequent on GOG or Steam.
  • The GOG edition is generally regarded as the easiest to modify, but the Steam one should work fine too (be sure to run the Launcher – without launching the game itself – once while in offline mode).
  • If you do not have one, create an account on The Open Cave page (not the same login as the MOUL version). To avoid problems, you should pick a password less than 16 characters long.
  • Copy the Uru:CC folder, preferably a fresh install, somewhere (e.g. “C:\\Games\”) and rename it (e.g. “TOC-TPotS”).
  • Download the OC patcher (direct link), extract it and run it, selecting the TOC-TPotS folder.
  • Use Uru.exe or UruSetup.exe (they are equivalent, but Uru.exe does not require admin privileges) to launch the shard. The first time, you will need to create a new avatar and download some additional files.
  • In contrast to Deep Island, fan Ages are not installed automatically, you will need Drizzle (see Playing fan Ages offline).
  • If you get errors or the game crashes, check the TOC Discord.

Playing fan Ages offline (Drizzled Uru)

  • Be aware that this procedure is technically a (tolerated) violation of the EULA.
  • You will need Drizzle and a legal copy of Uru: Complete Chronicles, or Uru: Ages beyond Myst + The Path of the Shell expansion (Uru:CC, for short). If you don’t, discounts are frequent on GOG or Steam.
  • The GOG edition is generally regarded as the easiest to modify, but the Steam one should work fine too (be sure to run the Launcher – without launching the game itself – once while in offline mode).
  • Copy the Uru:CC folder, preferably a fresh install, somewhere (e.g. “C:\\Games\”) and rename it (e.g. “Uru CC Drizzle”).
  • On Drizzle, on the UruAgeManAger(UAM) tab, check that you have the correct fan Age server (“http://www.the-deep-island.de/uru-ages/”).
  • Select the Uru CC Drizzle folder on the Pots folder line, then click on Get Latest List.
  • To install fan Ages, click an item on the list, then on Download – but first download the Offline KI and Age Information.
  • Every once in a while, launch Drizzle again and click on Get Latest List to check for new Ages or updates to existing ones.
  • There’s an official beta patch (backup link) that fixes the Windows 10 mouse bug, and allows (some limited) widescreen mode.
  • If you get errors or the game crashes, check the Guild of writers’ Deep Island forum.

Adding Myst V to Uru: CC

  • Be aware that this procedure is technically a (tolerated) violation of the EULA.
  • The following procedure is also (and only) valid for content from Crowthistle, MagiQuest Online, Cosmic Osmo’s Hex Isle. It may also work for content from MOULa, but keep in mind that every new update requires a corresponding update to Drizzle.
  • You will need Drizzle and a legal copy of Myst V: End of Ages (Myst V, for short). If you don’t, discounts are frequent on GOG or Steam.
  • If you are adding Myst V Ages to Deep Island, be aware that Drizzle32’s modifications will be rejected; you will need the previous version.
  • If you are using a DVD version of Myst V, note that only the White or (European) Collector editions are known to work, the Gold one does not.
  • If you are using a digital version (GOG or Steam), you will need to use the patcher (archive copy) – use it on a copy, the it will make the game unplayable!
  • On Drizzle, on the Conversion(Simplicity) tab, select the Deep Island/Open Cave/offline Uru folder on the Pots folder line, the (patched) Myst V folder on the Myst 5 folder line, then click Start... on the Myst V line.
  • Once the conversion is done, barring errors, click the SoundDecompress button.
  • Close Drizzle and launch Uru. If you do not have a blue book on the last slot to the right on the upper bookshelf in Relto, link to the Nexus and select Andy’s Nexus on the Restoration Links tab. On one of the tables you will find the linking book to Direbo, using it will add the blue book to your shelf.
  • If the game crashes repeatedly when trying to open the Direbo book, open the avi folder, remove the direbo.bik and direboWithAlpha.bik files, and try again.
  • If you get other errors or the game crashes, check the Guild of writers’ Deep Island forum.

(Korov’ev)