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Myst

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Myst
Developer(s)Cyan Worlds
Publisher(s)Brøderbund, Midway Games, Mean Hamster Software. Sunsoft
Designer(s)Robyn and Rand Miller
EngineHyperCard (Mac), Proprietary (Win)
Platform(s)Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Saturn, PlayStation, Jaguar CD, AmigaOS, CD-i, 3DO, PlayStation Portable, Pocket PC, Nintendo DS
ReleaseMacintosh
Windows 3.1
Windows 95
3DO
Jaguar CD
Saturn
PlayStation
Amiga
Windows Mobile
PSP
Nintendo DS
Genre(s)Graphic adventure, puzzle
Mode(s)Single player

Myst is a graphic adventure computer game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan Worlds, a Spokane, Washington-based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund (among others). The Millers began working on Myst in Template:Vgy and released it for the Macintosh computer on September 24 1993. It has spawned four direct sequels and several spin-off games and novels. Along with The 7th Guest, these are widely-regarded as killer apps that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives.[citation needed] Myst was the best-selling PC game throughout the 1990s,[citation needed] until The Sims exceeded its sales in Template:Vgy.[2]

The success of Myst increased interest in graphical adventure games rendered from a first-person viewpoint. Many games that followed this formula are often referred to by both fans and non-fans as "Myst clones".[citation needed]

Accomplishments

Myst held the title of best-selling computer game of all time throughout much of the 1990s[citation needed] before being overtaken by The Sims in 2002.[2] Its popularity led to the following:

As of November 27, 2007, the Myst franchise has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[3]

Development

The Myst creative team consisted of the brothers Rand and Robyn Miller, with sound designer Chris Brandkamp and graphical artist Chuck Carter. Robyn Miller designed the Ages of Myst Island, Stoneship and Channelwood, while Carter was responsible for the Selenitic and Mechanical Ages, as well as D'ni (K'veer).

The game was created on Apple Macintosh computers, principally Macintosh Quadras (the music was composed on a Macintosh SE). Each scene was modeled and rendered in StrataVision 3D, with some additional modeling in Macromedia MacroModel. Each image was edited and enhanced using Photoshop 1.0. ILM's John Knoll released a Photoshop Plugin to lead artist Chuck Carter so as to read PICS animation format files in filmstrip form which helped with some of the animation editing and color correction. Video editing, compression and compositing were performed in Adobe Premiere.

The original Macintosh version was constructed in Hypercard. Each "Age" was a unique Hypercard stack. Navigation was handled by the internal button system and HyperTalk scripts, with image and QuickTime movie display passed off to various plugins (XCMDs and XFCNs in HyperCard terminology), mainly Simplex HyperTint and Apple's QuickTime XCMD. Images were stored as 8-bit PICT resources with custom color palettes and QuickTime still image compression. Animated elements were QuickTime movies with Cinepak compression. This careful processing made the finished graphics look remarkable despite their low bit depth; in an 8-bit era, Myst was so visually appealing that it quickly set the standard for its contemporaries.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Myst consists of a first-person journey through an interactive world. The player moves the character by clicking on locations shown in the main display and can interact with specific objects on some screens by clicking or dragging them. This is an evolution of interactive exploration games such as Zork, except that the narrative unfolds primarily via nonverbal images and sounds rather than as text.

To complete the game, the player must explore the seemingly deserted Myst Island. There he discovers and follows clues to be transported via Linking books to several 'Ages', each of which is a self-contained mini-world. Each Age - Selenitic, Stoneship, Mechanical, and Channelwood - requires the user to solve a series of logical, interrelated puzzles to complete its exploration. Objects and information discovered in one Age may be required to solve puzzles in another Age, or to complete the game's primary puzzle on Myst Island.

Apart from its predominately nonverbal storytelling, Myst's gameplay is unusual among adventuring computer games in several ways. The player is provided with very little backstory at the outset, nor are any goals laid out. In a sense, the primary objective of the game is to discover the objective of the game. There are no obvious enemies, no physical violence, and no threat of "dying" at any point, though it is possible to reach a few "losing" endings. There is no time limit, nor any reliance on physical speed or dexterity. The game unfolds at its own pace and is solved through a combination of patience, observation, and logical thinking.

According to the creators, the game's name, as well as the overall solitary and mysterious atmosphere of the island, was inspired by the book The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. Also said to have been an inspiration is The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, a novel which deals with an anonymous traveller entering a surrealistic island created by a brilliant but deranged scientist.

Story

In some sense, there are two slightly different stories for the game; one is the "real story" that was recovered from D'ni manuscripts (as mentioned in the instruction manual), while the other version includes liberties that the designers used to turn the "real story" into a game.

Under obscure circumstances, a mysterious person known as the Stranger (the player, assumed to be male in order to simplify this description) finds an unusual book titled "Myst". According to the instruction booklet, he then reads the book and discovers a detailed description of an island world. The Stranger then places his hand on the last page and is whisked away to that world with exploration as his only option. However, the events occur slightly differently in the game. Upon opening the book, the Stranger discovers that the first page is occupied by a single moving image or linking panel. The picture shows an aerial view of an island. Touching this image, the Stranger is transported to that island and is left with no choice but to explore.

Myst Island contains a library where two books can be found: a red book and a blue book. These books are traps for Sirrus and Achenar, respectively, two men who claim to be the sons of Atrus. Atrus is the mysterious and powerful owner of Myst Island who could write special books ("linking books") by an ancient practice known as the Art, which would transport the user to the worlds, or "Ages", that they described. From the linking panels of their books, Sirrus and Achenar plead to the Stranger to let them escape. However, the books are missing several pages, so their messages at first are faint and unclear.

As the Stranger further explores the island, more books are discovered hidden behind complex mechanisms and puzzles. There are four books in total, each linking to a different world or Age. The Stranger must visit each Age, find the red and blue pages hidden in that age, and then return to Myst.

Those pages can then be placed in the corresponding books. As the Stranger adds more pages to these books, the brothers can speak more and more clearly. Throughout this process, each brother maintains that the other brother cannot be trusted. After collecting four pages, the brothers can talk clearly enough to tell the Stranger where the fifth page is hidden. If the Stranger gives either brother their fifth page, they will be free. The Stranger is left with a choice. Should he help Sirrus or Achenar? Or neither?

The brothers plea to be liberated and, above all, that the player not touch the green book that is stored in the same location as the last pages. They claim that it is a book like their own and that, if opened, will trap the Stranger. In truth, it leads to D'ni, where their father Atrus is imprisoned. Upon opening the book, Atrus asks the player to bring him a final page that is hidden on Myst Island. He cannot bring justice to his sons on Myst without the final page. The note explaining how to reach the page has been ripped and brought to two of the ages by the brothers. This is the only way that leads to victory; entering D'ni without the page leads to eternal imprisonment, and freeing either of the brothers leaves the player trapped inside a book.

Answers to the FAQs on Cyan's website imply that in the "real story" Sirrus and Achenar were in prison Ages.

After the Myst back-story was further revealed, it was fixed that the events in Myst occurred in the early 1800s.

Ages

During the game, the player discovers four linking books, books that allow a person to link to the worlds that the books describe. The Art of Writing was practiced by the D'ni, an ancient civilization that lived in a large cavern deep in the Earth.

The game includes the following "Ages":

File:Myst screen.jpg
The Stoneship Age

  • Myst Island
Myst Island is the starting Age. This island remains the central "hub" Age throughout the plot.

  • Channelwood Age
The Channelwood Age is a small, swamp-like Age with boardwalks covering most of the ground.

  • Stoneship Age
The Stoneship age is a somewhat small Age consisting of a few large rocky islands and a broken ship.

  • Selenitic Age
The Selenitic Age is a very large Age consisting of rocky towers, a small forest, and massive underground caverns, among other things.

  • Mechanical Age
The Mechanical Age is a rotating fortress mounted between three islands.

  • Rime Age
The Rime Age is found only as a special bonus at the end of realMyst, the PlayStation Portable, and the Nintendo DS port of Myst. It is a small age with an arctic climate that contains a lab.
  • D'ni
D'ni (pronounced Duh-nee) was later revealed to be only a small part of D'ni proper.
Spire and Haven are the red book and blue book prison ages, respectively. They are only accessible by adding all of the missing red or blue pages. These ages are completely shrouded in darkness. However, sound can be heard at both locations giving clues to the nature of each age, Spire with a low rumbling sound which would indicate some sort of subterranean activity, and Haven with a hollow whistling sound indicative of a constantly flowing cold breeze.

Endings

The game has several endings:

  • If you give Sirrus the final red page or give Achenar the final blue page, then you and he will switch places. They will then laugh as they rip out the pages, and the static will return, leaving you trapped inside the Prison book. (Regardless of how many pages you have given either brother throughout the game, the last page will always trigger the final cutscene.)
  • If you link to D'ni without the white page, then Atrus will yell at you for being a fool, ask you if you didn't take his warning seriously, and then say that both you and he will live in D'ni forever.
  • If you link to D'ni with the white page, then Atrus will complete his Myst book with it and return to the island. When he returns, you will be rewarded with free access to his library. He will then state that he is fighting a foe that's greater than even Sirrus or Achenar and that he could imagine he will need the player's help at some point in the future. Riven implies that this foe is none other than Gehn. On returning to Myst, the red and blue books are destroyed with only burn marks where they once were.

Ports

  • 3DO: This port is very faithful to the original Macintosh version.
  • Amiga
  • Atari Jaguar: This port is identical to the 3DO and CD-I port.
  • CD-I: This port is identical to the 3DO port.[citation needed]
  • LaserActive: A planned LaserActive Mega LD-ROM port was planned by Sega, but was cancelled. However, a few prototypes exist. [citation needed]
  • PlayStation: This port's resolution is low[4], due to hardware limitations [citation needed].
  • Sega CD: Like the LaserActive port, Sega planned this, but it was never released [5], due to the add-on's failure.
  • Sega Saturn: This port is identical to the PlayStation port.
  • Nintendo DS: This port has a very low resolution due to the resolution of the DS screens and suffers from an unknown number of glitches that were not in the original.[citation needed]
  • Playstation Portable: Enhanced from its Playstation counterpart, but unknown quality compared to the original.

From Macintosh to Windows

When porting the original Macintosh version to Windows, a few technical problems occurred and as a result the following changes were necessary: Sound effects were no longer subtle, for example, instead of a gentle breeze in one area on Myst Island, there was gusting wind. In another example, sounds of running machinery would not fade out as the player leaves that area. In addition, the soundtrack was shortened in several areas and transitions between the different images became less smooth. The Myst: Masterpiece Edition (below) for Windows does not correct these changes. The Masterpiece Edition for Macintosh computers is a complete rewrite using a custom adventure game engine developed by Presto Studios for The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time. The console ports featured narration for the letters viewed during gameplay in order to make full use of the hardware.

Remakes

Myst: Masterpiece Edition

Myst: Masterpiece Edition was an updated version of the original Myst. Due to the hint system's bugs and some shortening in the soundtrack, the updated edition was not well received by audiences. Updates included:

  • Re-rendered images in Truecolor (24-bit) instead of 8-bit color
  • Additional point-of-view images
  • Enhanced audio effects and music
  • Shortened version of the Pool Imager theme
  • In-game maps and hint system

Slight further enhancements, and a restore of the original soundtrack, were made to the MME release as part of the Myst DVD 10th Anniversary Edition which bundled DVD versions of MME, Riven, and Exile.

realMyst

File:RealMyst Box.jpg
realMyst box cover

realMyst: Interactive 3D Edition was a re-make of the Myst computer game featuring various changes from the original:

  • Graphics were rendered by an early version of the real-time 3D Plasma 1.0 engine also later used in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (2.0) and Myst V: End of Ages (2.1)
  • Navigation provided much more freedom due to the above.
  • Weather effects like thunderstorms and sunsets/sunrises were added.
  • Some minor additions to the main Age (Myst Island), like the addition of a gravestone for Ti'ana, adjusted the gameplay to the Myst novels and sequels.
  • All of Rand Miller's scenes as Atrus, as well as the opening narration, were redone.
  • Several minor alterations in the scenery (e.g., different lamp models) and more realistic textures.
  • Rime as a new Age was added and loosely tied into the storyline.

The trailer for realMyst was elaborate and some at first thought that realMyst was a motion picture. It has been disputed who the female voice in the trailer belongs to, with the suspects being Catherine, Ti'ana, and Yeesha. Even though it is a large chance that it is one of the first two (because Myst III: Exile wasn't released until 2001), Yeesha's voice in the URU games, as well as Myst V: End of Ages, sounds very similar and is in fact voiced by the same actress.

realMyst was developed by Cyan, Inc. and Sunsoft, and published by Ubisoft. Production of the game was discontinued after its release in November 2000, due to its slow performance on most computers of the time. A patch was released to bring the retail version to v1.1.1.

PSP Remake

In November 2005, Midway announced that they would be developing a remake of Myst for the PlayStation Portable. The remake would include additional content that was not featured in the original Myst, including the Rime age that was earlier seen in realMyst. [6] The remake was (and is) reported by IGN. The game was released on 15 June 2006. The game was slated for release in North America and Europe in the early part of 2007; however, an official release date has not yet been announced.[1]. The game was released in Australia on 21 December 2006.

Pocket PC Remake

Mean Hamster Software, Inc. has developed a port of Myst for the Pocket PC. [2]

Nintendo DS Remake

Available only in Europe in December 2007, this new version of Myst for the Nintendo DS promises "newly remastered video and audio," using source code specifically re-written for the Nintendo DS. The remake will feature Rime as a playable Age, with an all new graphic set.[7] In North America, Myst comes on the DS on May 13, 2008.[8]

Parodies and fan games

  • Pyst is a satirized version of the Myst universe, where everything appeared to be trashed and vandalized by disgruntled gamers unable to solve Myst's puzzles. It was notable for featuring a performance by John Goodman. Although nothing more than a slideshow of desecrated Myst screenshots, it was popular enough to spawn "Pyst: Special Edition", which included a preview of "Driven: The Sequel to Pyst", which never saw the light of day, as Parroty Interactive, the company overseeing the project, went bankrupt.
  • Missed is a text-based online game in which you must help Ascii, who is lost on the web, find the six keys of the Internet. The game involves spoofs of various buildings, characters and Ages in Myst.
  • Mylk, produced by Bart Gold (PC version by Wayne Twitchell), is a parody based on dairy products and other foodstuffs.
  • Missed Island, a recreation of Myst as a map for Marathon Infinity. It can be downloaded from Bungie.Org's Marathon archives.

Reception

Myst was an extremely popular and commercially successful game. Along with The 7th Guest, it was widely regarded as a killer app that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives.[citation needed] Myst was the bestselling PC game throughout the 1990s,[citation needed] until The Sims exceeded its sales in 2002.[2] Myst also holds an average score of 90% at Game Rankings based on 6 reviews.

However, Myst was criticized for lack of action and storytelling in the game. Another common complaint was the fact that all the Myst Islands seemed deserted; one reviewer commented that while the player would never get killed, he described the loneliness from not meeting someone else for almost the entire game. Cyan made an attempt to remedy this in Riven, which showed non-interactive clips of people that would leave the immediate scene so that the stranger would be alone afterwards.

Other critics complain about the difficulty and lack of context of the puzzles, although many critics believe these elements add to the gameplay[3]. The Myst page of Mobygames has several reviews putting forth both views.

Appearance in Popular Culture

  • The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror VI included a segment Homer³ where a 3-D version of Homer Simpson encounters, among other notable objects, the library from Myst while the fireplace theme music briefly plays.
  • Lucasarts' The Curse of Monkey Island includes, when Guybrush asks the Lost Welshman about the "mist", the Lost Welshman returns that it is pretty, but otherwise dull — a reference [citation needed] to those people who feel that Myst is a minimally interactive slideshow.
  • Obsidian (computer game) features a tv screen with a falling book on it which when clicked a wild looking bearded man says "Bring me the blue pages!" then the image returns to the falling book.
  • In the 2000 film Road Trip, Kyle sits in the library all day playing Myst with all the foreign exchange students.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Empire Interactive's Myst DS Goes Gold". IGN. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  2. ^ a b c Walker, Trey (2002-03-22). "The Sims overtakes Myst". GameSpot. CNET Networks. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  3. ^ "Silverstar's Empire Interactive Introduces Myst Nintendo DS for North America" (Press release). Empire Interactive. 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  4. ^ http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/sony/myst"
  5. ^ Sega CD & Mega CD Reviews SegaBase (accessed March 29, 2006)
  6. ^ Myst Set for PSP IGN (accessed 2006-03-29)
  7. ^ "Myst DS boxart, screens, press release". GoNintendo. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Myst DS in North America

External links

Official websites

Articles, reviews and interviews

Soundtrack music

Game Archive and Review sites

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