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Myst Comes to the Net in 2003
erichj writes "Reuters is reporting that Cyan Worlds announced that they will be releasing an online version of the popular adventure game Myst for internet play in 2003. Users will pay a fee for the privilege of unraveling the mystery online." The article mentions some
multiplayer functionality, but I can't really tell if the online version will
be new puzzles or not.
You and 100 of your closest friends...boring each other to death.
I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
Can't see this really being 'Myst' themed. I mean the point there was to advance through a landscape by solving puzzles.
Now, the designers of Myst and Riven have done a lot to create a very cohesive story and universe, but I'm going to be very sorely dissapointed if this is another 'kill the monster/go on quest' game, merely set in that universe.
How unoriginal!
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Why? WHY? This game nearly destroyed me. I am but a mere shell of the man I was before I played it. All the puzzles, all the insanity... now, it becomes universal! Universal insanity! Our world will implode! Implode, I say!!
An online game where the lag isn't noticable. Well, maybe something like:
"Dude, I got my ping down to 45 and now those scene changes just fly!"
Honest question, no sarcasm. What was the friggin appeal? I tried "playing" Myst and damn near threw the CD out of my house after 20 minutes it was so damned boring. I kept kicking the cd-rom drive thinking that the disc was just sticking before I finally realized that they had intended for the game to be that bloody slow.
While the original Myst was a single-player game, Miller said people tended to congregate in groups and play, and so the online version will be one of a class of "massively multiplayer" games that permit group exploration and complex interaction.
I don't know if I am alone on this, but I really don't like the idea of a multi-player Myst. Part ot the mystique (no pun intended) of the game was the isolation, walking around alone on an island trying to piece a story together that might have taken place decades ago. I used to get spooked playing that game, sitting alone at night with the speaker volume up, wondering if at the next turn something would poke its head out.
If while playing the game I see a bunch of other netizens playing with me, the experience will feel less like being on a deserted island and more like being at a cheap amusement park.
But I could have it all wrong.
"I like to wear big boy pants."
with this or this?
Although Myst, had been tagged as "Game Of The Year" from 1995 - 1997, the concept of a multiplayer game had been put off according to spokesman Terry Rutger because there could be "no justifable reason" to allow for multiplayer gaming. This was notably due to the fact that Myst was generally a non-violent game.
Also, the Myst team had come under minor attacks from various Civil Rights unions stating that if they were to come up with a multiplayer game, the players would have needed to be available in different races and cultures, so as not to promote "racial supremacy" among any certain player.
The software dev team "Y.H.B.T Software USA" had actually begun portinf Myst to multiplayer, but as expected they came under fire from Myst themselves under the guise of what was then early DMCA laws.
I gave away my Myst CD after watching it collect dust since the week after I bought it. It took that long to solve the thing. I skipped 2 and bought 3, and I am on the last world only a week after buying that too. Sheesh.
(No, I didn't download the cheats...heh)
This just announced Coleco has unveiled plans to turn the popular 'Donkey Kong' video game into the next big massive-multiplayer-online-roleplaying-game! Players will be able to climb ladders and jump barrels within an online community.
Yuck.. wonder who approved this bomb of a game?
"We don't want to create addicts," he said.
If they do it well they just might, but if it can get really boring like the other games I don't think they have to worry about it.
It would be interesting to see what this kind of technology could do for Myst as well. Perhaps they could combine randomly-generated Myst-like puzzles with MMORPG gameplay to liven up MMORPG a bit as well?
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Amazing what you can do with Hypercard nowadays!
Myst was always a lot of fun, as a single-player game (boring my eye. interesting, complex, and full of wonderful intricate goodness, I say), but why make it multiplayer? I keep reading the article, but I still entirely fail to understand why anyone would want to make an Internet version of Myst. It seems kinda like a combination of the sweetness of the series with the aggrivation of AIM.
Sure, MMO games are lots of fun, but how could Cyan turn this series into one? My fondest memories of the Myst trilogy involve sitting at my computer in the wee hours of the morn, exploring amazingly fantastic worlds full of vengance, insanity, and puzzles, puzzles, puzzles! The last thing I want is to be standing at a particularly complicated device, scratching my head, only to have someone walk up behind me and say, "Oh, I got that one! The answer is..." The joys of Myst, at least for me, have always been found in solitary thought (along with breathtaking scenery), not in group efforts. Exile would not have been the same if played with other people, I can say that much. With Riven it might have been good to occasionally get a hand, but not a spoiler. With the original, the idea of a group constitutes sacrilige in my mind.
I doubt very much that I'll buy this, unless it rivals the previous three in graphics quality and playability (and the chat can be turned off!).
Oh, and a tip for Mr. Rand Miller: Myst is all about addiction.
It's been codenamed "Mudpie". It's going to focus less on traditional Myst-style puzzles and more on Dn'i culture, traditions, etc. This may be a rumor, but I've heard that you can write your own ages (!) I actually can't wait, the screenshots look incredible.
Everything is mainstream now.
I just keep thinking of the Simpsons trying to solve the rubix cube as a family, I don't think puzzle games lend themselves well to team effort.
Of course perhaps online Myst might just be like any other MMORPG where you have to solve some riddle to get some prize to move on, would that lead to new forms of gaming-lamers? Instead of campers waiting for weapons, would you have stump'ders (people waiting around for someone to solve the riddle to get the prize?)
crazy dynamite monkey
On the other hand, maybe it's just going to be a chance to walk around a Myst-like universe with a bunch of people. But doing what? Going on quests? Fighting monsters? Come on, Ubi, stick with your strengths! Give us fun puzzles, intricate, well-designed worlds, and engrossing plotlines, and leave the MMORPGs (or even Small ORPGs) to the other guys. Please? I promise I'll buy Myst 4 if you do.
The MMORPG Documentary film project:
These guys are making a documentary film on MMORPGs, their players, virtual worlds and virtual communities.
Well, the puzzles could require some kind of cooperation. That wouldn't be too hard. You could even introduce some kind of variable elements, to keep it interesting. If the puzzle doesn't change from game to game, either randomly or depending on what other people do, this would get really annoying, of course, since some jerk who already knew the whole puzzle would just race through it.
Most likely, you'll just have to coordinate lever pulling with someone in another room, which would be just like Myst only with the added frustration, I mean fun, of online social interaction.
If they did this right they would've looked to good, simple/innovative, mutiplayer boardgames for inspiration.
Clue - where there was some information (needed to solve the mystery) that only certain players could get, and you have to pool the info, that could be cool.
Settlers of Katan - there could be items (not just information) that you need from other players, but you have to trade other stuff you actually need (or may need) to get it. An economy of items (where you need X of each item over the course of the game, maybe) could be interesting.
Slasher - one of the other players IS the villain; the identity of the evil one is actually determined during the course of play.
Features introduced by other players could be worked into the puzzles, somehow. This would be incredibly difficult to do in an interesting way; it would also require a level of interaction with the environment well beyond what was present in the The Manhole (anyone else remember The Manhole?)
Myst has beautiful artwork, but I've always had this problem where you don't inject anything into the game; you might as well be watching a movie, to my mind (not intended as a Troll.) This would be a good opportunity for them to remedy that with a vengeance - not only would you alter the storyline in a real way, but so would a bunch of other people.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
This is probably the result of the project code named Mud Pie. This is not rehash of any of the current games, it is definetly a Myst IV. From what I can tell it is based on the same technology as RealMyst, though hopefully they will have improved on the engine.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Wow, i wonder how many people actually got that joke... In case you're wondering, Hypercard was a program (it really defied classification) that started shipping with the Macintosh Plus. Think VB + HTML + a simple database.
:)
Actually, the first edition of Myst was written in Hypercard. I don't know what kind of newfangled language they're using nowadays, but that was the shit back when all I had was a Mac II and a caddy-loading SCSI CDROM.
Back in the old MajorBBS days, there was a multi-user text adventure game called (IIRC) Quest of the Alchemists. Potions were scattered throughout the game, and could be combined to create new potions. These new potions could also be combined, and this led to a world where you needed to share your information in order to reach the highest levels.
For some reason, the idea of a multiplayer Myst reminded me of this old game. Anyone else remember it? Anyone ever summon Azz? Anyone ever win the game?
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
So how do you frag somebody in this game? Cut the rope when somebody is in a tree elevator? Drown them when they are exploring the ship? Crush them under the tree? Run them over on the tram? Blow up the furnance?
Or I guess the old tried and true method, "Hey! Check out this book!"
I can't wait for the parent post to be introduced as evidence before Congress when sentient virtual beings start demanding freedom from torture, as scientists predict. Although it serves them right for not being able to just hoist themselves up on the edge of the pool.
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...milking a dead cow.
cmon guys - myst's days are long gone... give up. why not try to make something NEW - rather than ride the one game that was good 8 years ago forever.
It reminds me of those guys who would go to highschool parties after they had already graduated - but still wore their letterman football jackets with "county champs, '92" patches. Thinking that all the chicks will think they are cool and hot cuz they graduated, and dont have a 1am curfew... losers.
I would have posted earlier, but I didn't feel like /. the creators of my favorite game series. Anyway, check out http://www.drcsite.org/ for information on the new game.
"It's an official site, but it's not marketing-oriented. In fact you'll have a hard time finding the word "Cyan" anywhere unless you look at the copyright in the source code. That's because the site cleverly discusses Mudpie as if it's talking about real events rather than an upcoming online game," according to the Unofficial Riven Homepage.
Michael C. Hollinger
The DRC may know something about this. After all, when you've been exploring all, you like to play a nice relaxing game.
I loved the whole Myst/Riven/Exile series, and I think you're wrong that they weren't immersive, but damn, this is the funniest troll I've read in a long, long time.
Virg
Maybe I missed an announcement, but if I didn't, RealMYST isn't available for the Mac, which seems weird, since the original game started there, but the RealMYST 3D engine was developed for Windows and although they promise to port it to Mac I don't think they've done it yet.
Still, I'm with you. I played the original (on Windows) and it was a great experience, but there were a number of concessions made to port it from the Mac (including shortened music tracks and other sound effects and reengineered graphics) that I didn't know I was missing until I played RealMYST and got to see and hear it the way the Millers intended. It made a HUGE difference, especially in the places where one ended up standing still to think or absorb. When I first linked to Channelwood, and I stood in Achenar's temple trying to figure out what to make of it, the music was so good at establishing the atmosphere that I just stayed until it started repeating. When I went back there in RealMYST, just the changes in the soundtrack made a big difference in the feel, even considering that I knew the backstory. It gave me the creeps in a very visceral way.
Of course, there's also the age of Rime. Even though it's just for exploring (there's no "plot" to Rime, it's just exploring and puzzling) it was worth what I paid for the CD.
Virg
I miss hyper card, we should petition for it to come back.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
SLUGGY RULES!
for the rest of you, go to Sluggy.com
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
I miss hyper card, we should petition for it to come back.
;)
technically, it never left. You can still get HyperCard for $99, if you have a mac.
I miss it too, although there are alternatives (Visual Basic [shudder], Macromedia Director/Shockwave/Flash, MS Access). I remember using it to make a 160x120 animation... I clocked it at 13fps on my 8mhz MacSE... man that was hot stuff back then.