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Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 02 2008, 17:14 HOW TO BECOME MAESTRO: THE GRAVITAR QUEST Warning: Stop reading now if you want to discover for yourself how to become Maestro. All the secrets will be given away in this thread. There are many ways of playing Maestro, but as a kind of backbone to the game, there are two quests. One is the 24-medal quest, which gives you access to Mike's Secret Place. The other is the Maestro, or Gravitar Quest. This thread will explain how to become Maestro by completing the Gravitar Quest. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:05 Introduction Commonly asked questions are “what does a gravitar look like?” and “until I know what one looks like then how can I find one?” There are in fact many gravitars located throughout Maestro: sometimes they look like small balls with a face and other times they are inside an egg-like structure (their transportation system?) peering at you through a transparent front window.  Some materialise and fade away, but the ones you are after are larger than most and solid.  They can be locked on to and steered around like an avatar. You can see a selection of gravitars here. The objective is to find these particular gravitars and bring them back to the pen on the third step of the staircase in the main hall of the spaceship.  When you have done so you will be transported to a special Maestro World. There are four gravitars to find as explained in the help file that comes with the game. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:07 Clue The single most important clue to achieving this quest can be found inside the Atomium (see Medal 12 of the 24 medal quest for instructions on how to find the clue).  The clue shows a bowler hat under a rainbow, an obvious reference to Blind Man’s World, and a twisted shape like one of the sculptures that usually signifies a blind corridor in the spaceship.  Squint your eyes a little and you will see a figure 8.  There is also a picture of a medal so the clue appears to be saying something about taking 8 medals to Blind Man’s World. So, collect eight medals (any will do) and go along the main corridor of the spaceship, past the Tunnels Room, and to the chamber having a bowler hat on the central pedestal.  Fire at the bowler hat and you will materialise in Blind Man’s World. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:09 First Gravitar If you search around you will see a small figure of a Blind Man walking about.  It does not seem possible to interact with him, however, if you go to the spacelift in the centre of the world you will find another medal on the platform (it is only there when you enter this world with eight medals). Take the medal and return to the Blind Man, who will now be holding out his empty hat behind him. Fire at the hat and give him all your medals. You'll now hear a sound, and will see that three gravitars have appeared near the exit tube, and two domes can be seen some distance away, each with a medal on top which you can take if you wish. Pick up a gravitar and take it to the spacelift. You will now be taken on a fantastic ride.  If you have taken the two medals that are floating above the domes before you put the gravitar in the spacelift you will hear an excerpt from Mont St Michel, otherwise part of Peace.  The spacelift will ascend through a vertical tube and eventually emerge high in the sky close to a very large medal lying on its side.  As you approach you will see that the medal contains the spaceship itself in all its glory.  It’s worth moving around the ship to examine all the rooms and tunnels from the outside.  When you are ready, bring the gravitar in to the rear of the ship (the part closer to you when you originally approached) and look out for a flat deck supporting two arches parallel to each other.  There is also a small bandstand nearby that appears to be the source of the music. Another clue, found on step 32 of the spiral staircase in the main hall of the spaceship, tells you to position the gravitar between the two arches.  Manoeuvre the gravitar between the arches and a sequence will begin where another spaceship approaches from the distance and eventually docks with the ship you are on. When this has happened you are free to move around outside the ship and examine every part of it. Now what?  There does not seem to be a way back inside the ship, but, again, a clue book comes to the rescue.  Inside the Library (the entrance is immediately next to the tube that leads to the Crab) there is a book that shows how to enter the ship through the topmost point.  So take the gravitar to the topmost pinnacle of the spaceship and enter through the globe that you will find there. Proceed all the way down the inside of the spire and down the staircase, and finally place the gravitar inside the pen on step three. Note: to avoid most of the ride described above, take the gravitar to the right hand dome in Blind Man’s World and fire at it.  You will materialise outside the spaceship at the list of 24 medals (see notes on Fourth Gravitar below), where you can then re-enter as described above. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:10 Second and Third Gravitars That’s one gravitar home.  Now for the others.  You will again need to collect eight medals and go to Blind Man’s World, but this can be done quite rapidly.  If you collected two medals from the two domes in Blind Man’s World before you took the spacelift you will have a good start.  Also take the medal that is on step four above the pen (Medal 21 in the 24 medal quest), and go up the stairs to collect the four medals in the horizontal disc part (Medals 16-19 in the 24 medal quest). [I call it the roof -AD] That makes seven medals.  Perhaps the easiest medal to make eight is the one in the spire above the castle pedestal in the Room of Tunnels (Medal 14 in the 24 medal quest). Once you have eight medals proceed to the Bowler Hat pedestal and enter Blind Man’s World again.  In this way you can quickly bring the second and third gravitars back to the pen by repeating the process described for the first gravitar. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:12 Fourth Gravitar The fourth gravitar is slightly different.  After you have given the nine medals to the Blind Man go to the left hand dome at the far end of Blind Man’s World.  Pass through the stained-glass window found inside and you will be transported to the Taj Mahal. Go down a level and circle the Taj until you see a pair of doors.  Enter and you will be in a room with pictures of the various worlds on its walls.  There are eight guitars arranged around the room and your task is to pass through each guitar.  When you have done this you will see the fourth gravitar lurking in a corner, and a medal. Help yourself to the medal. Collect the gravitar and return to the spaceship.  This can be done by passing through the picture of Blind Man's World on the wall or by leaving the room, going up a level, and passing through the stained-glass window in one of the four smaller domes that surround the central dome.  In either case, you will emerge in Blind Man’s World where you can then put the gravitar on to the spacelift. Instead of going on the previous journey, you will emerge outside the spaceship next to a space platform that holds a list of all the 24 medals that can be found in Maestro.  Make a copy of this list as you will need it later to complete the 24 medal quest and enter Mike’s special world. Note: you can also see this list by firing apples at the pterodactyl that flies around the Labyrinth (see Medal 7 in the 24 medal quest). As before, you can re-enter the spaceship by going to the topmost point and descending the spiral staircase. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:14 Maestro World When you place the fourth gravitar in the pen on the third step you will be transported to Maestro World.  You will hear the music that later became Sunset on Light and Shade.  If you are playing the game on-line then all the other players will see a jubilant message announcing the fact that you have become the Maestro. [A R Schultz, who provided the screenshot for this last link, suggests that it's worth taking a very close look at who is playing in this particular online game....] Explore Maestro World and, when you are ready, leave by carefully manoeuvring the gravitar and firing through the bent tube.  It is usually a good idea to then park the fourth gravitar near the pen so others can use it. Back to top

The Thin Man Group: Members Posts: 151 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2008, 10:19 Miscellaneous Don't Lose a Gravitar! If playing on-line, then be careful not to leave or abandon a gravitar as this will prevent anyone else becoming Maestro. Lighting Conditions There are three different lighting levels in the spaceship: • dim/red (when you start the game) • normal/daylight (when you hit the left hand light switch), and • musical daylight (when you hit the right hand light switch after the ship is first put in dim light). Musical daylight is also the condition when you bring a gravitar down the stairs towards the pen.  You cannot see all the gravitars in all the lighting conditions and this has led to confusion sometimes.  So, if you think there should be more gravitars in the pen then alter the lighting and see if anything has changed. [For a full discussion of the three different light conditions, see here.] Challenge Although Maestro is a chill-out experience, it has not stopped players introducing a competitive element!  It is possible to complete the Gravitar Quest in less than 15 minutes.  See what time you can beat! Back to top

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