Myst Message Board

One of the conceits of adventure games that made them so strong in the 90s was their flexibility. By focusing on plot and puzzles, the range of subject material appropriate to cover expanded immensely. In that respect, Ether One is very much a 90s Adventure game.Read more...

Do games still use gouraud shading? Probably not, but it’s the only relevant word I could think of that sounded even slightly like ‘gorillas’. Myst is ancient source of division amongst PC gamers, and also one that’s never quite managed to go away. Remade in 2000 as both Myst: Masterpiece Edition and realMyst, with any number of ports and sequels and spin-offs since then, it’s now back again again as realMyst: Masterpiece Edition.

There’s still no sign of a Pyst remake, however. … [visit site to read more]

This is the latest in the series of articles about the art technology of games, in collaboration with the particularly handsome Dead End Thrills.

With the galaxy’s biggest sci-fi movies using ever more effects houses and artists, it can be hard to pinpoint today’s Ralph McQuarries and Ron Cobbs. They’re out there, though, often known more by work than name. At the top of the pile is Stephan Martiniere, one of those illustrators and art directors whose work is so envied by just about any sci-fi project going that’s he levelled up to ‘Visionary’. Put simply, people want the stuff in his head on their books, in their movies, at their theme parks, and, as luck would have it, in their games.

Examples? In movies, Martiniere’s applied his signature style (eye-popping ‘Golden Age’ snapshots of civilisations in overdrive) to the worlds of I, Robot, Tron: Legacy, Star Wars Episodes II and III, Star Trek, The Fifth Element, the Total Recall remake, 300: Rise Of An Empire, Guardians Of The Galaxy and The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. *and breathe…* … [visit site to read more]

Obduction, the upcoming first-person adventure game from Myst creator Cyan Inc, has reached $1.2 million with its fundraising campaign. The project is being built with the strengths of Myst and Riven in mind - players will be abducted by an artifact and placed upon a bizarre world with a minimalistic explanation. Answering questions beyond that is up to the players.

The project's Kickstarter page explains that "even the toughest puzzles should be designed so that you know that all the pieces to solve it are there in front of you." Those pieces may indeed be present, but if Obduction is to be anything like Cyan's previous works, grabbing a notebook and forming a team amongst friends to persevere might not be a bad idea.

Windows and Mac users will be among Obduction's targets, once it begins kidnapping people in "mid-to-late 2015."

Myst and Riven developer Cyan still hasn’t offered much in the way of substantial content (beyond a few largely vague “here’s what we’re hoping to do” descriptions) for exploration puzzler Obduction, but that hasn’t stopped it from beaming up enough money to begin chewing up and spitting its strange, globular gumball world onto our desks in earnest. The game’s Kickstarter was originally seeking $1.1m, and now it’s meandered past that mark. Go below for details on what happens next and a very silly celebration video.

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It’s not hard to see why once-legendary developers who’ve lost their way flock to Kickstarter. Second chances are rare, especially in an industry where a single dud can sink entire 100-person studios. Rebirths and reinventions, meanwhile, used to be damn near unheard of. But now it’s all possible, and wouldn’t you know it? Everyone you fondly remember from your childhood is coming out of the woodwork. A true Myst revival, however, has been conspicuously absent throughout NostalgiaFest 2013, but then, I suppose it’s only fitting that exploratory, methodical puzzling took its sweet time getting to the scene of its own potential resurgence. So then, what exactly is Obduction? Pretty much what you’d expect: a spiritual sequel to Myst and Riven, powered by shiny Unreal Engine 4 tech.

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Cyan Inc, the studio behind the landmark multimedia adventure game Myst, announced that it is working on a new first-person adventure game for Windows and Mac. The team has turned to Kickstarter to fund the project, and seeks $1.1 million in pledges.

Obduction promises the same sort of exploration-driven gameplay that defined Myst and its sequels, dropping players into an unfamiliar world filled with environmental puzzles. Contrasting the pre-rendered, path-based approach adopted by Riven, Obduction's varied landscapes will be presented via Unreal Engine 4, aiding player immersion.

Obduction is set for release in mid-to-late 2015. If you yearn for the first-person puzzle-solving days of old, it might be worth kicking a few bucks toward Cyan, assuming that you haven't yet had your fill of '90s revivals after backing the new Boogerman game.

A portion of a Nintendo Life review...

If there's just one thing at which this particular version of Myst succeeds, it's serving as a prime example of what not to do when porting a classic game to a modern system.

Full review here

Twenty years ago, if you were getting a computer, you were getting one with a newfangled CD-ROM drive. And you were getting a game to justify it. That game was probably Myst. And if that wasn't the case for you, it was for your mom or grandfather or cousin. Like few games before or since, Myst was ubiquitous.Read more...

The fine folks at Lore In A Minute have tackled the seminal puzzle game Myst, which you may recall actually features some remarkably convoluted backstory. I keep meaning to replay this game...

The Gallery: Six Elements recently reached its $65,000 Kickstarter funding goal before its April 17 deadline. The project from CloudHead Games is a first-person adventure game designed with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in mind, though the developer notes that it will not be required to play the game. The Gallery draws influences from the Myst adventure series, and has players traversing through six painted portals that represent the "core elements of life."

The project is currently sitting at $70,036, just enough to achieve a stretch goal that grants the game Razer Hyrdra support, Sixense's PC motion controller. The Gallery will launch on PC and Mac, and is currently vying for a spot on Steam through Steam's Greenlight service.

[Thanks, Rasmus!]

#myst It's hard work, solving puzzles. Sometimes, a gal or guy might get hungry. Good thing there's Daniella Zelli's Gourmet Gaming, there to tell us how to make all of our favorite video game dishes, from Konami Wall-Turkey to the Grand Theft Auto burger to Dishonored's apricot tartlet. And now, she's tackled the venerable puzzle/exploration series Myst. More »

#myst I'm coming back to PC gaming, so I'm thinking a lot these days about the PC games I used to play. Back in the day, I played Myst, of course. I think everyone in the early '90s tried it. More »

There is now yet another way for you to buy Myst. You may already have Myst on your iPhone or iPad, but now you can get an iPad version of RealMyst, the 2000 remake of the adventure game that presents the world in realtime 3D.

The new mobile version uses a new interface designed for the platform. "Instead of trying to awkwardly shoehorn a computer mouse interface or game console controller into the new touch environment - we were driven to design a simple touch interface that anyone could use." said producer Karl Johnson in the announcement. "The resulting interface allows the player to explore a 3D world with the ease of 'exploring' a 2D document on the iPad."

RealMyst is on the App Store now for iPad 2 and 3, at a promotional price of $6.99. At an unspecified future date, it'll go up to a permanent $9.99 price point.

Maybe you didn't want cheap Myst games in August, but have since then matured into a person who is all about that. Celebrate the beginning of your "Myst person" phase by picking up Myst: Masterpiece Edition, Riven, RealMyst, and Manhole: Masterpiece Edition for $2.99 each, or Uru Complete Chronicles for $4.99.

You have until March 5 at 11:59 am EST to facilitate the birth of the New You as a person with a righteous collection of Cyan Worlds games.

If you're looking to pass a quiet weekend clicking your way through some puzzles, look no further than Good Old Games. The DRM-free retailer has put its whole selection of Cyan games on sale for half off this weekend. That includes Myst 1 and 2, the RealMyst remake, and the pre-Myst children's adventure game The Manhole for $2.99 each, and Uru for $4.99.

If you want the whole package, and several lost weekends, you can get it all for $16.95. The offer ends Monday at 11:59 PM EDT, so ... buy the games you want before then, unless you want to pay more for your island getaway.

#pc Prominence is a first-person game with no shooting. Just clicking, and problem solving, and wandering around the deserted corridors of a science-fiction facility. More »

#clips I can't remember if I ever even finished PC adventure game Myst. There was just so much sitting, and thinking, and doing nothing. This guy, he's finished Myst. And he's done it in under two minutes. More »

#hollywood Puzzling adventure game Myst, the best way to show of your bad-ass new CD-ROM drive in 1993, may be the next video game to get a big screen adaptation. More »

The online multiplayer portion of Cyan Worlds' Uru: Ages Beyond Myst has had about as troubled a past as video games can have. It never made it out of its beta stage when Uru first launched in 2004. Three years later, GameTap opened up servers for the game -- but a lack of subscribers led to them being shut down after just one year. Earlier today, the developer proved its persistence by re-launching the game once more; this time, as a totally free-to-play MMO.

So, once more, with feeling -- you can download and sign up for Myst Online on the game's official site for zero dollars. After that, you and all your friends can start running around, touching glyphs and magic books to your heart's desire.

[Via Big Download]

If you've been sitting around, staring at the ceiling and wondering what you're going to do this weekend, you may be interested in the GoG.com weekend deal. It's a bundle of three Cyan Worlds games, all for under $14 -- a 25-percent savings. You'll get Myst: Masterpiece Edition, Riven: The Sequel to Myst and The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition. All three games recently arrived on the DRM-free service, ready to show you just how out of shape your brain's logic center and not-getting-lost-in-Myst's-maze cortex are. The sale lasts until Monday, January 25 at 11:59PM ET.

Cyan Worlds' late-2000 remastered version of the classic adventure game, Myst, is now available for DRM-free purchase on Good Old Games. Real Myst takes the classic graphic adventure title and refines it with free-roaming and real-time 3D graphics, replacing the original's pre-rendered stills. According to GoG, this is the Myst designers Robyn and Rand Miller originally wanted to make. So, like George Lucas before it, Cyan Worlds reworks the original to take advantage of modern technology -- but with the added benefit of not ruining our childhoods in the process. The title is a steal at $5.99 and recommended for any adventure game junkie.