Magnifying Glass

I got both parts of the magnifying glass and its there for me to use, so how do I use it? I click on it, but nothing happens.

It recharges after a while. Clicking on it puts a circular spot on your field.

OK folks, I've got problems. I have the magifying glass and I used it once. Unfortunately it didn't go search where I wanted to search though I thought it was centered on where I thought I would get a screen shot based on another note. I watched the thing recharge, and then I moved to a new location and clicked on the MG and zip, zero, nada! I can't get the little rainbow search ring again. It takes absolutely FOREVER to recharge which makes it practically worthless. I've got almost every island completed except a few with 1-3 missing gems that I have been searching for on and off all through my playtime. I thought this was going to be a reasonable tool to work with at the end to look for the really hard to find missing gems (for me the emeralds and the yellow sapphires), but it is more of a pain than a help. It is probably me so what am I doing wrong? (1) Get the section I want to search on the screen approximating the size of the colored ring that search is inside of which is smaller than a screen shot. (2)Click on the mg and wait while it searches and finds ???????(3) Wait FOREVER for it to recharge and maybe work again???? Programmer help would be appreciated so I KNOW how it is supposed to really work! Thanks, Beth

I finally figured out how to effectively use the MG.:):):) It is not as easy as it sounds. I made some wrong deductions to begin with above. You need to decide on a screen shot area, plant yourself there. If nothing happens just keep moving from one screen shot to the next. Do NOT do what I did which was to think that I could click on the MG once and then start dragging the invisible MG across the screen and expect it to stop when it gets to a gem. I also thought that the circle that came up was the area the MG was scanning when actuality that was the area in which to look for a gem. The "power" of the MG will not drain every time you click on it which is what I was mostly concerned about. The MG will still be load and ready for your screen shot if it finds nothing. What will happen when a gem is found is that the MG will draw a rainbow oval around the area where the gem is located. That rainbow oval will disappear in about 5 seconds so memorize the oval position so you can start looking for the gem. I found in several cases that I absolutely could not see the gem, and it required random clicking to pop it into my treasure box. When the rainbow oval forms when it finds a gem is when the MG drains of power. I think it takes about 2 minutes to recharge, but it seems like forever. They could speed that part up. It goes grey when it drains, and you can watch it fill and when it is ready it will give a quick flash. They could also make some type of indication that the MG has found nothing so you can move quickly along. I think if flashed for a second like it does when it completes its charge, then you would know you could move on rather than waiting a few seconds each time before moving and lining up your next screen shot. I personally have not a clue how computers work so I didn't know how long it would take to search a whole screen shot, instantly - few seconds - ????? I have 9 gems to find on Firefly Island and I have used this method pretty successfully to get 3 gems, but what I found is IT DOES NOT ALWAYS GET EVERY MISSING GEM. I tried on several different islands to see if it was me not overlapping enough, but it seems to just miss some. I decided to exit the island, and come back in and start over and that seemed to help. I don't know how many times I will have to do this on Firefly, which I think will be pain with all the flickering fireflies and the lush vegetation with a lot of color. I think it will take quite a lot of random clicking to find some of them. I also found out that it will search the dark areas if you haven't sent your swimmer scouts out to look around yet, or you are on something like Firefly or Liana where you don't have any swimmers and you can't build. I would hope nothing would be programmed out there, but you never know. They do like to spice things up.;) Hope this is helpful to everyone! Beth Suggestion: I wish there was some way to put in a quick How To of basics for first timers. Just a short Read Me file would be nice, or maybe a topic that is locked on the forum. I would have preferred to use that than have to look at cheat like a walk through (which you read more than you intend to) or wait for an answer on the forum. It took me forever to figure out the floor tile thing in the pyramid so I caved and looked it up on a walk through. There were a few other things as well that would have been nice to have in quick FAQ.

If the magnifying glass loads quicker, than we get lazy and we won't look ourselves for the missing items, and that is part of the game. Should they change it, you will see that the game will get boring. I don't think it misses any gems. Just use the big screen and move it with your mouse from left to right or vv, then go one screen up or down. this way you can be sure you covered it all. With the mini screen this is harder. If the mg doesn't find anything, it lets you know by sound. up the volume of your pc when you don't hear anything. Sound is important in TTG, it tells you many things, like building ready or research ready etc. you get an sort of boing sound when it doesn't find anything.

I found the magnifying glass totally effective, considering looking for the gems without any clue is really hard.

I had a hard time figuring out how to use it too. I think some things should have directions for them! I found about 96% of my gems the regular way, but there are a few green ones I couldn't find, so now that I know how to use it, maybe I can find them. Thanks for the directions! :D

I finally figured out how to effectively use the MG.:):):) It is not as easy as it sounds. I made some wrong deductions to begin with above. You need to decide on a screen shot area, plant yourself there. If nothing happens just keep moving from one screen shot to the next. Do NOT do what I did which was to think that I could click on the MG once and then start dragging the invisible MG across the screen and expect it to stop when it gets to a gem. I also thought that the circle that came up was the area the MG was scanning when actuality that was the area in which to look for a gem. The "power" of the MG will not drain every time you click on it which is what I was mostly concerned about. The MG will still be load and ready for your screen shot if it finds nothing. What will happen when a gem is found is that the MG will draw a rainbow oval around the area where the gem is located. That rainbow oval will disappear in about 5 seconds so memorize the oval position so you can start looking for the gem. I found in several cases that I absolutely could not see the gem, and it required random clicking to pop it into my treasure box. When the rainbow oval forms when it finds a gem is when the MG drains of power. I think it takes about 2 minutes to recharge, but it seems like forever. They could speed that part up. It goes grey when it drains, and you can watch it fill and when it is ready it will give a quick flash. They could also make some type of indication that the MG has found nothing so you can move quickly along. I think if flashed for a second like it does when it completes its charge, then you would know you could move on rather than waiting a few seconds each time before moving and lining up your next screen shot. I personally have not a clue how computers work so I didn't know how long it would take to search a whole screen shot, instantly - few seconds - ????? I have 9 gems to find on Firefly Island and I have used this method pretty successfully to get 3 gems, but what I found is IT DOES NOT ALWAYS GET EVERY MISSING GEM. I tried on several different islands to see if it was me not overlapping enough, but it seems to just miss some. I decided to exit the island, and come back in and start over and that seemed to help. I don't know how many times I will have to do this on Firefly, which I think will be pain with all the flickering fireflies and the lush vegetation with a lot of color. I think it will take quite a lot of random clicking to find some of them. I also found out that it will search the dark areas if you haven't sent your swimmer scouts out to look around yet, or you are on something like Firefly or Liana where you don't have any swimmers and you can't build. I would hope nothing would be programmed out there, but you never know. They do like to spice things up.;) Hope this is helpful to everyone! Beth Suggestion: I wish there was some way to put in a quick How To of basics for first timers. Just a short Read Me file would be nice, or maybe a topic that is locked on the forum. I would have preferred to use that than have to look at cheat like a walk through (which you read more than you intend to) or wait for an answer on the forum. It took me forever to figure out the floor tile thing in the pyramid so I caved and looked it up on a walk through. There were a few other things as well that would have been nice to have in quick FAQ.

Hi Beth, You can always for every game, go to Gamezebo.com and search for the game title you want the specs for. They are wonderful in walkthroughs for newbies and you can choose to get the SPOILERS .. or not Really a great site ... HAVE FUN1!!!