First, you may want to wait a bit until you've progressed through the first couple of ages before reading on. As you start visiting additional places, you'll learn more about the slates in the context of the game.
First, in the Great Shaft, you may find some pedestals that hold linking books, with pictures on their right-hand side. I've covered those in a separate set of hints -- the pedestals I'm talking about are the ones you'll see in Direbo and the ages that follow from there.
Esher probably gave you a warning here.
There are actually several different numbering systems that you may see, some of them specific to particular puzzles. I'll cover those different kinds of numbers in the appropriate sections of the hints. However, there is one common numbering system used in several places, where each number is drawn in a sort of box. That's what I'm referring to in the hints you're reading now.
First, you need to solve all of the available puzzles in that age. See the hints for whichever age you're in to figure out what puzzles you have left. If any question within a particular age's section looks unfamiliar, read those hints to see what you may be missing, because virtually every puzzle in the game has a purpose.
If you still haven't completed all four main ages, now would be a good time to move on and finish a different age.
At the start of the game, you will, but that's just because you'll need to solve a few puzzles before you'll have the means to travel to other ages.
The start of every Myst game is intended to be a bit of a mystery -- so you may just want to focus on exploring. The plot will become clearer to you as you do more.
You've probably noticed that there are lots of doors out of this room.
It seems to be locked up pretty tightly.
The globe doesn't look particularly solid.
Does he seem particularly threatening to you?
He pretty much points at the door when he tells you about it. (If he hasn't pointed you here yet, go down the hall to the left when you are first coming from the above-ground area.)
He told you to travel to the room at the end of the first elevator.
After you've found the linking book to Todelmer in the Great Shaft, go outside the room where the linking book is and take another look.
Esher will tell you that you need to raise the floor after you find him at the bottom of the second elevator.
Esher gave you two tasks in a specific order, so it may help to do those in the same order, by raising the floor and getting across the Great Shaft first.
In much the same was as you got to the fan in the first place.
They may look familiar to you if you've played any of the previous Myst games.
You'll probably find them as you solve the puzzles, but if you want specific locations, read ahead.
Note that some of these hints may tell you a bit about other puzzles, so I recommend you try to finish this age on your own before reading ahead.
If you read the manual, you may know that these journal entries were left by Yeesha, one of the main "characters" in this story.
Some of the journals -- particularly some of those that you're most likely to find early in the game -- are basically just recaps of earlier Myst games.
You should notice gates on both sides of every bridge.
Esher explains the purpose of the pedestals fairly well on your first time through Direbo.
The same way that you got here.
You can't climb out the opening you see at one end of the cave -- it appears to be too steep to climb.
Yes.
There's a ladder that I can't climb just outside the cave.
If you're not able to climb the ladder, notice what else you see when you do try to climb it.
First, you might want to make sure you also managed to bring your slate with you. It's not essential that you have it just yet, but it will make your life easier.
The Keep is that soap-bubble like structure with the pedestals that you'll probably see straight ahead of you as soon as you get across the lake and into the tombs.
You may need to explore this room a little more thoroughly.
If you've already supplied power to them, you may be able to figure how the consoles work just by experimenting with them.
At least the screen part of the far-right console seems to be broken. If another device seems broken instead, you may not have turned the devices on after all.
Yes, and you'll need to move it to proceed.
You may notice that there are actually several islands that you can see.
You won't be able to ride it when you find the first tram station on the island where you initially arrive. Instead, you're going to have to find another way to get to the other side.
There isn't a whole lot to do here -- just a manual telescope and the pedestal that holds your slate.
If you've made your way over to the third island, you may realize there's a tram station on this island as well -- just like there was on the first one. Look in the center of the roof area, and you'll see the room that leads down to the station. The only problem is that the door down to the station seems to be locked from the inside.
You could just go back the way you came in -- by climbing back the ladder. But that won't help you get any closer to the end of this age.
You first need to make it all the way to the third island, get into the tram station, and find a way back out.
There are a few different places that you may want to look when you first arrive.
Yes, and you'll probably need to solve a puzzle to get through that passageway.
If you turn down the beach to the right as you're first coming to this age (i.e., from the pedestal in the "soap bubble"), you should see a relatively flat section of cliff face.
You might have noticed something on the ground in front of that display.
Well, there are lots of windows, but no doors. So, it doesn't look like you can get in quite yet.
(If you don't know which hut I'm referring to, you need to climb the cliff first.)
Go to the upper level and explore some of the drawings there.
There's a tree-like symbol carved into its face. (If you don't know where the island is, take another look at the initial orientation for this age -- that will give you directions to the island among other places.)
In some ages, you may see the Keep from a distance and need to find a way in. This age is a little different, in that you'll probably enter the Keep first and then need to bring the slate with you later.
When you first enter this age, you'll see a building called the trade house more or less in front of you. Walk up the stairs there, and Esher will indicate that you can't enter through the front door, but that you can enter through the jeweler door on the other side.
You will be able to pass under the first set of triangular gates as you're coming from the beach, but you'll notice some metal bars blocking your way only a few steps after you've entered. (If you haven't found the canal yet, the following hints will help.)
There's only one area where you can interact with anything at first -- go up a set of stairs that lead down to water level, and walk up to a platform where you'll see a stone column and a bunch of buttons and rings.
There's a part of the arena that Esher didn't quite tell you about.
First, if you haven't found the canister, see the following question.
First, if you haven't found this puzzle, you will be there just after you successfully figure out what to do the red canister in the hallway below the arena.
First, if you haven't found this puzzle, you need to solve the colored-button "maze" in the arena. Once you're through that door, turn right and walk down the beach a bit -- this is the only structure along the shoreline in that direction.
First, you need to have gone through all of the other puzzles listed for this age, including the one about the seven rocks on a structure along the beach.
Only after you've solved all four of the main ages, Tahgira, Todelmer, Noloben, and Laki'ahn.
First, if you've been relying on the autosave feature of the game, now is *ABSOLUTELY* the one time you need to save your game manually using the menus. You may want to see how different choices go, but once you've made a decision, the only way to try something else is to restore a saved game.
