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Myst, One of the Most Influential Games Ever, Turns 25 (fastcompany.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

harrymcc writes: On September 24, 1993, Myst debuted as a CD-ROM game for the Mac. The mysterious, puzzle-laden adventure went on to become the best-selling game title of its era, inspiring a devoted following and multiple sequels. But for all the people who loved Myst, it was disrespected by many in the gaming industry, who found it less engaging than previous adventures and even blamed it for killing of the earlier genre of more action-packed adventuring. Over at Fast Company, Benj Edwards provides an appreciation of Myst but also talks to game designers about the game's still-complex legacy.

134 comments

  1. SFM Myst, ahem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lives forever

  2. Pyst by slickwillie · · Score: 1

    That means Pyst is also 25 years old.

    1. Re:Pyst by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No Pyst came 3 years after Myst, so it's only 22. I like the description from wikipedia: "The basic concept of Pyst was to show what Myst Island (from the best-selling game) would look like after four million people (players) had visited....... the island is full of litter, most of the buildings are ruined, and graffiti reveals secret doors and solutions to puzzles that challenged players in Myst."

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re:Pyst by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Pyst was a gag that was more fun to read about than to play. It would have gotten rave reviews if it were a free bundle to promote a magazine subscription. Most people who paid full price for it felt kind of cheated.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    3. Re:Pyst by cryogenic · · Score: 2

      Cheryl: "This primitive cave was once the ceremonial center for the aboriginals of Pyst."
      Other announcer: "How primitive were they, Cheryl?"
      Cheryl: "Their simple language consisted of a mere seven symbols: hello-goodbye, tree, bad, luck, very, martini, and death."
      Other announcer: "Wow, it sounds like we know very little about them."
      Cheryl: "Yes, except for that one haunting sentence they have left behind, 'Very bad martini death, hello-goodbye.'"
      Other announcer: "Oh, I've had one of those."

    4. Re:Pyst by frencha · · Score: 4, Funny

      Would you say they were.... pissed?

    5. Re:Pyst by Ramley · · Score: 1

      I received a copy of Pyst as a gift when it came out. I never opened the package and still have it in the cellophane. Maybe it will be worth something long after my demise.

    6. Re:Pyst by jrumney · · Score: 2

      Pyst was a gag that was more fun to read about than to play.

      Sounds like they did a great job of copying Myst.

      The innovative thing about Myst was the mixed graphics and video content. The gameplay was definitely not its selling point.

  3. PYST was good too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and help you let off steam from the stress that was MYST before the plethora of online solutions to games.

  4. I much preferred Seventh Guest by kriston · · Score: 3, Informative

    I much preferred Seventh Guest. It was a lot more fun and is also puzzle-focused.

    --

    Kriston

    1. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Black Dahlia was good too.

      (SCUMMVM Games I loved)
      The Dig
      Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
      Day of the Tentacle
      Full Throttle

    2. Re: I much preferred Seventh Guest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indiana Jones and the fate of wandering in circles surrounded by crabs is what I remember. Still great game with fun animations though.

    3. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      You forgot Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 7th Guest had too man chess puzzles for my liking.
      Though as long as we're name dropping, I liked several of the later, more video driven first-person adventure/puzzle games, like "The Journeyman Project" and "Daedelus Encounter."
      Though a fair bit diverged from the genre, my favorite was probably "Realms of the Haunting," as it had horror themes and was was half Myst, half FPS, drifting more towards the latter the further you progressed.

    5. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by Rei · · Score: 2

      Ahh... good memories. :)

      My favourite easter egg in Full Throttle was one that most people I talked to missed. It's possible to get another box of bunnies after having them set off the minefield, which you can hang onto until near the end of the game when you're hanging onto the out-of-control truck. If you open up the grille and expose the spinning radiator fan, and apply the box of bunnies to it, the Ride of the Valkyries music comes back on while you shred each bunny against the fan ;)

      --
      "Who the hell is Nietzche? It's a question stupid people are asking." -- Newscaster, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
    6. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Didn't like that one much compared to Myst. Too many of it's puzzles were unrelated to the plot and the setting. Ie, to uncover a clue you have solve a puzzle about moving pennies around, and then later even more penny puzzles. The point with Myst I think is that it was interesting to actually look at. Later sequels added more back story and such which was slightly interesting but after awhile it just got old.

    7. Re: I much preferred Seventh Guest by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      The Residents Freak Show.

    8. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've played both, back in the day. And I felt Myst was superior, in that the puzzles were integrated into the motivation of the game. In Seventh Guest, there were puzzles, but they seemed to me to be arbitrary.

      Compare the lids to the caskets, where you can invert all of a row or column and must get them all right. OTOH, the dynamos each generate a different amount of power (for the "space ship") . Too much and a circuit breaker flips; too little and nothing happens.

      OTOH, there was one part which was problematic in Myst. The timing for the tree elevator was difficult, perhaps impossible on my platform. Still, I enjoyed the haunting music and the excellent scenery. I never got into the follow-on game.

    9. Re:I much preferred Seventh Guest by RPI+Geek · · Score: 1

      The 7th Guest is one of the first video games that I played through to completion, so it has a special place in my sig^H^H^Hheart.

      --

      - "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"
  5. 5 minute game by Sigma+7 · · Score: 2

    Myst can be completed within 5 minutes. Faster if you speedrun it.

    Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Other adventure games that can be completed that quicky include Alpine Encounter, where you can get a backpack (by waiting at a certain area), call the inspector (whom you weren't introduced to yet), and give the backpack to the inspector (which then solves some crime).

    1. Re:5 minute game by Merk42 · · Score: 1

      The point of these games is figuring out the solutions, which would not take a mere 5 minutes.

    2. Re:5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So?

    3. Re:5 minute game by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Let's see you solve it in 5 minutes without knowing the answers to the puzzles.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re: 5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That doesn't mean shit. It means someone solved it. Memorized it and then tried to get it done as fast as possible. That person put 100s or 1000s of hours into playing the game.

      You can beat super Mario brothers in a couple minutes too. But how many 100s of hours do you have to play it to get to that point? Not a single person has beaten myst or super Mario brothers in a few minutes the first time playing. You have to be an expert at the game to get to that point.

    5. Re:5 minute game by RadioD00d · · Score: 2

      What Sigma 7 is referring to, is that if you know the solution already (the discovery of which requires that you complete at least the majority of the puzzles in the game) you can reach the end game in mere moments. I've demonstrated that exact process to my children when they became disillusioned with the puzzles - just to get the game over with. - That said, I completed the original Myst game after about 2 weeks of exploring and figuring things out, then moved on to the sequels. It's an acquired taste, and not something that I would ever suggest to anybody who lives for Halo or GTA. I loved the mental challenges, and the backstory is also kinda neat. There are entire books (a trilogy) describing the world of Myst and its connections to present day. But, it's not for everybody. - The folks at Ubisoft have released the 25th anniversary edition already, we've got it, and have played it (looks awesome on a 4k TV) but it's still the same game. You either love it or it drives you nutz.

    6. Re:5 minute game by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1

      That is true, however a game about figuring out the solutions to puzzles shouldn't include a means to bypass most of them. It's quite possible someone could stumble upon them by accident or brute force - like entering the fireplace, and trying every combination in that book that lists possible answers. Maybe one could do that a bit faster then getting deadlocked on one of the other island puzzles.

    7. Re:5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You got some serious nostalgia goggles on to hang around a story with 30 comments for half an hour and berate people who aren't gushing with praise.

    8. Re:5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's one way test auditors determine if students are cheating on exams. If they aren't there long enough to have worked out any of them problems.

    9. Re:5 minute game by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      No it was a stupid comment.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re: 5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Woosh.

      Also you're incorrect, since you only need one playthrough for the Myst shortcut, not the 100s of hours to master getting it down to 5 minutes.

      You can beat super Mario brothers in a couple minutes too.

      In this case, you're supposed to, because the developers knowingly put in secret warps rather than an accidental bypass. Plus those secret warps don't make the game easier - you still have to complete levels with dangerous enemies and potential run killers.

      Completing Mario in 5 minutes is much harder than completing Myst in 5 minutes, by an order of magnitude.

    11. Re:5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Two hours and more vitriol to spend. Impressive, but misplaced.

    12. Re: 5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1) I beat SMB in a few minutes without playing it for years.
      2) Myst is structured so that the end of the game is near the beginning of the game so you only need to know the very end of the game to beat it. Myst speedrunning is a special case. Also since it's point and click navigation there is probably an easily met limit to how fast you can beat the game.

    13. Re:5 minute game by r1348 · · Score: 1

      It's not Ubisoft who released the 25th anniversary edition, it's Cyan after getting back the rights for III and IV from Ubisoft, and tweaking them to work on modern systems.

    14. Re:5 minute game by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      There are people who immediately go online to the walkthrough and follow that. They often end up missing the whole point of the game, presumably because they were used to shooters where they just want to get to the action and find the good hidden guns.

    15. Re:5 minute game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well yeah... most puzzles are simple once you know the answer. What's your point?

    16. Re:5 minute game by Merk42 · · Score: 1

      That's like saying a Rubik's Cube, or even old-school cardboard puzzles, are bad because they could be brute forced.

  6. Puzzles by fluffernutter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Myst immersed me in its world. There was nothing jumping out at you or time limits on anything, but you wanted to solve the problems for the graphics and the story. Last one I played like that was Syberia II that came out in 2004; although now I have just noticed there is a Syberia 3 that came out in 2017. There doesn't seem to be a lot of games like that since first pirson shooters became popular.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:Puzzles by arth1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I guess graphical adventure games are lost in the mysts of time.

      Personally, I'd go a bit farther back. Infocom text adventures is what I remember with the most fondness. From before they became semi-graphical. Trinity and Leather Goddesses of Phobos were just awesome.
      These days, however, they are kind of pointless, because you can find solutions online. Which defeats the purpose of these games, which were meant to be difficult.

    2. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Check out Obduction. It's a modern Myst made by some of the same people.

    3. Re:Puzzles by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Myst didn't impress me too much. It reminded me of Activision's text-graphics adventure Mindshadow (1984) which also had lots of still images, and puzzles to solve.

      Of course people brand-new to PC computing had no idea about the older pre-crash games. To them it was a new experience (even though it really wasn't).

      I thought later efforts like ICO were far more impressive and fun (thanks to random battles).

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    4. Re:Puzzles by Pseudonym · · Score: 2

      You may like to check out The Witness if you haven't already.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    5. Re:Puzzles by RhettLivingston · · Score: 1

      I never played Myst. But, recently, I attempted to find a game I'd like to play and couldn't. Much about Myst sounds like what I'd like in a game.

      I have no desire to play any standard shoot em ups, especially against other people online. I did enjoy Splinter Cell years ago, though I find it very annoying to have such a set script or even a game that has an ending. A much more open world version of that would be far better.

      What I believe I'd enjoy the most would be hiking or survival games based on real world locations with no scripting, extreme detail, operating mostly in real world time without acceleration (at least while the character is awake), and a lot of very realistic interaction with nature. The occasional need to avoid a bear or find food, water, or shelter is an OK introduction of violence as thoughtful planning is relaxing too. I'd just like the game to be beautiful, relaxing, complex, and unbounded.

      I couldn't find anything that seemed to come close to catering to my needs. If I missed something, I'd love to hear suggestions.

      I found it very boring that virtually every popular first person game was exactly the opposite of relaxing. The high-end gaming universe seems to have no variety at all and is almost all some version of shoot or otherwise damage the monster (human or not).

    6. Re:Puzzles by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > I'd just like the game to be beautiful, relaxing, complex, and unbounded.
      > I couldn't find anything that seemed to come close to catering to my needs. If I missed something, I'd love to hear suggestions.

      You don't say which platform but I'd highly recommend ALL of these (in alphabetical order):

      The Room

      The Talos Principle

      The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

      The Witness

      Enjoy!

    7. Re:Puzzles by sanf780 · · Score: 1

      I have played games that provided a hint system aka walkthrough as an in-game mechanic. You may skip watching somebody play in Youtube.

    8. Re:Puzzles by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Also see these old classics:

      * The 7th Guest

      * The 11th Hour

    9. Re:Puzzles by sanf780 · · Score: 1
      I particularly do not agree with the recommendations once I have read the OP request. He/she probably would prefer something like No Man's Sky. Or Out There. Or Dwarf Fortress. Or Simcity 2000. Or Block'hood. Or Euro Truck 2. Or Minecraft.

      Most games have a win/lose state so it disqualifies a lot of them in this recommendation. I do not see how a realistic game about survival, let me call it Survivalist Simulator 2018, would sell.

    10. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CD-ROM was the new format of the day, and multimedia was the latest buzzword. The bmps and wavs of the time didn't fit on floppy discs. CD made it possible!

    11. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you tried played in the real world? it has all the features you are seeking.

    12. Re: Puzzles by quadcricket · · Score: 1

      Not photo-realistic but The Long Dark is a great survival game.

      --
      _/\-o~
    13. Re:Puzzles by jittles · · Score: 1

      There doesn't seem to be a lot of games like that since first pirson shooters became popular.

      First person shooters have been popular long before Myst came out. Unless you mean with the game studios. Making creative and engaging puzzle games like this or even Tomb Raider can be quite difficult, time consuming, and therefore expensive. With a first person shooter you can use almost the exact same code base after year and just tweak the story and multiplayer. The only genre with less innovation would be something like Madden. Why people continue to pay a $60 per year subscription to an NFL roster service is beyond my comprehension.

    14. Re:Puzzles by r1348 · · Score: 1

      Just so that you know, Syberia 3 is really disappointing.
      But Cyan made a new game too, Obduction. It's not connected to the Myst saga, but it's a satisfying experience nonetheless.

    15. Re:Puzzles by r1348 · · Score: 1

      You can now find the whole Myst saga on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/8699/Myst_Collection/

    16. Re:Puzzles by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      You can always call the hintline from Monkey Island 2, and in-game you'd find a phone booth where you could call up and get to a cartoon receptionist who supplied no help at all.

    17. Re:Puzzles by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      I'd just like the game to be beautiful, relaxing, complex, and unbounded.

      Just like Oblivion; peaceful, bucolic, quiet music, and.. AUGH why is this unicorn attacking me? Get er off, ugh, dammit... reload.

    18. Re:Puzzles by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 1

      My all time favorite was Time Lapse from 1997. Beautiful graphic and good puzzles with lots of mystery and a great story line. I never looked at the Easter Island the same.

    19. Re: Puzzles by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      It sounds like you just need to get some camping equipment and head out. Be careful of the permadeath, though.

    20. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I lost endless hours playing those old games. First-person shooters are fun, I guess, but nothing like loosing yourself in a good adventure game.
      Probably takes a certain introspective bent to enjoy though.

    21. Re:Puzzles by youngone · · Score: 1

      I agree with you.
      As I worked in the pre-press industry at the time, and it was all Mac all the time my friends all thought Myst was the most amaaaazing game of all time.
      I was the only person I knew that owned a PC, and frankly thought Myst was a bit meh really.

    22. Re:Puzzles by whatteaux · · Score: 1

      Text adventures are still alive these days, but not so much commercial. More like "fan (interactive) fiction". For example: https://ifcomp.org/

    23. Re:Puzzles by RhettLivingston · · Score: 1

      Way too expensive and limiting. :-)

      As VR really comes into play or rather when it gets to the point, I would find virtual tourism much more interesting than most current games.

      But, I also hope that they eventually develop the capability to generate virtual worlds to explore in the way old sci fi books did,,, i.e. for the purpose of exploring "what if" scenarios. Hopefully this age where good games have to be painstakingly developed by artists will be short-lived.

    24. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zork, and later Nethack. When I got stuck finding the third..... goblet? in Zork, the one you have to climb down the rope to find? There was a random element to it, so I kept sliding down the rope past the goblet. It drove me *nuts*, and I finally dound one of the authors on his way into a movie at MIT, outside room 26-100. I wound up picking up and planting him against the wall and demanding the answer to the puzzle. He was.... surprised, partly because at that age I'd already been doing psychiatric work for a few years, and I was *much* stronger than I looked, especially for such a little guy. He explained the puzzle, and I put him down.

      Lord, I miss my youth at times.

    25. Re:Puzzles by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      I enjoyed it tremendously, even though I did need to consult a walkthrough on a few rooms. to find the clickable icons. At the time, the immersive 3D landscape was _stunning_ to encounter. I tried the later, more 3D and graphically enhanced remake of it, which used the best available graphics tools, but was not truly happy about the remake. It was interesting to study and learn about the graphic enhancements, but they didn't provide the charm, for me, of the original. Even then, I was learning a great deal about how first impressions and acquired tastes work, so it became a very interesting psychological experiment.

    26. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Built on Apple's QuickTime, Myst was not so much of a game, more like a PowerPoint presentation or a hotspot hunt clickfest. But there was a mysterious story to explore, and since "CD-ROM multimedia" was new and people weren't used to pretty (even pre-rendered) high-color graphics from a 1st person perspective, Myst was immersive in its own way, and sold insanely well.

    27. Re:Puzzles by GonzoPhysicist · · Score: 1

      You might want to check out Subnautica. While it's not that realistic, it is very pretty and mostly relaxing, it does have the rare stressful moment of turning a corner to find some leviathan swimming by. Its focus on exploration and discovering the back story make it a lot of fun.

      --
      horror vacui
    28. Re:Puzzles by GonzoPhysicist · · Score: 1

      I also hope that they eventually develop the capability to generate virtual worlds to explore in the way old sci fi books did

      It's funny you say that because that's part of the plot of Myst, the D'ni(and Atrus) wrote books describing made up worlds, these can be traveled to though "linking books". Sort of like VR, except the worlds weren't virtual

      --
      horror vacui
    29. Re:Puzzles by GonzoPhysicist · · Score: 1

      I'd mod you up if I hadn't already commented. This game is definitely worth checking out if you like atmospheric adventure games

      --
      horror vacui
    30. Re:Puzzles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It didn't impress me much either, but I was on an Apple Performa... something with an external 2x cd drive. The load times were brutal and the few timed puzzles were tough because of the transition times.

    31. Re: Puzzles by iMouse · · Score: 1

      Itâ(TM)s been a while, but I believe I remember noticing that Myst was just a big HyperCard stack with fancy transitions and QuickTime video. I still have the original Mac CD-ROM, but canâ(TM)t say I spent a whole lot of time playing after I caught a glimpse of Marathon.

  7. Childhood oblig: Cosmic Osmo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp3WRn5bHWQ - Was this made in Hypercard? Pretty amazing interactivity-gameplay at the time, IIRC... wow it's been a while.

    1. Re:Childhood oblig: Cosmic Osmo by Megane · · Score: 1

      The original was made in HyperCard with a lot of plug-ins. For one thing, HyperCard didn't have color support. Of course they needed a new engine for the Windows version.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  8. MYST was like a casual puzzle game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No fighting Ur-Grues or tricking a Troll into eating its own axe (which makes your game break). MYST was very laid back, solve stuff at your own leisure. Good still graphics for its time added to the fun. Unfortunately, that ruined Zorks from then on because they tried to imitate.

    1. Re:MYST was like a casual puzzle game by Rei · · Score: 2

      I thought the initial shift to graphics with Zork with Return to Zork kept to the original atmosphere pretty well, although there were some details about some of the puzzles in that game that were kind of annoying.

      I have to admit I was a bit thrown for a loop when Nemesis came out, given how.. well, dark it was. A person killing themselves in the title sequence wasn't exactly your typical whimsical Zork world...

      --
      "Who the hell is Nietzche? It's a question stupid people are asking." -- Newscaster, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
  9. I thought the genre dammage was done by... by bobbied · · Score: 1

    Leisure Suit Larry...

    Yea, it didn't have the graphics interface of Myst, but it sure had the story line, puzzles and sleaze...

    Larry was the beginning of the end for the PC console game genre

    (/sarcasm off)

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    1. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Lesure Suit Larry/Police Quest/Kings Quest came way before Myst. I think I had Police Quest for my Apple ][+. I liked those too though.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Come to think of it, no, Police Quest was on my IBM XT with CGA graphics.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by TWX · · Score: 1

      /walks up to desk clerk at "The La Costa Lotta" Hotel /tries all of the right-click options including the zipper

      "Please sir! Do you have any other form of identification?"

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by sanf780 · · Score: 1

      If you want to know what hit adventure games hard, it was Gabriel Knight 3 and its cat-mustache puzzle. Myst is just an adventure game with CGI graphics and animation on a CDROM, with puzzles that are just too logical compared to the cat-mustache.

    5. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leisure Suit Larry...

      As I recall it, Leisure Suit Larry was just Softporn Adventure with sound and graphics added.

      Sound and graphics were the beginning of the end for proper interactive adventuring. Now, where's my lamp? I've got some colossal caves to explore...

    6. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by weeboo0104 · · Score: 1

      and Myst never taught me as an early teen, the importance of remembering to wear a spearmint-flavored, striped, rough-cut, colored, libbed lubber.

      --
      It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
    7. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You may have played it on an Apple II. It definitely ran on it. In the late 80s, we played it on the Blugarian Apple II knockoffs - the ÐYÑÐÐÐÑ personal computers.

    8. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the babel fish puzzle.

    9. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What I recall of LSL was the adult questionnaire. You were asked several questions, the answers of which would indicate you were old enough to play.
      The one I remember was:

      What was the first band of Paul McCarty?
      A. The Beatles
      B. Wings
      C. (some other one)
      D. (yet again another one)

      I remembered the Beatles, but hadn't really done much with Wings.

    10. Re:I thought the genre dammage was done by... by Megane · · Score: 1

      I think the microscopic space fleet puzzle was much more subtle.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  10. I have Myst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And the CDs are still in the box.

    1. Re:I have Myst by Rei · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My expectation was that this "25 year anniversary" thing was supposed to make me feel old, but it really doesn't... because I associate Myst with me being young.

      What made me feel old was learning that Serial Experiments Lain turned 20 this summer. Apparently there was a 20th anniversary party at Club Cyberia hosted by Wasei "JJ" Chikada, the real-world DJ who played the voice of JJ, the DJ in Cyberia, as well as composing much of the soundtrack (and co-composing the Cyberia Mix CD). I've been listening to his cover of ScummV's cover of Duvet a lot on Youtube recently.

      --
      "Who the hell is Nietzche? It's a question stupid people are asking." -- Newscaster, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
  11. It wasn’t a particularly good game though. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The appeal was mostly in the beautiful graphics (because they were mostly well-used static images) and soundscape that gave a certain athmospheric feel.
    That feeling is still something special I hold dear to my heart, as a game designer. It inspired me a lot.
    The gameplay was pretty bad by the standards of what we know today, and even by the standards of back then.
    (And I say "what we know today" instead of just "today", because what's actually used today, in the "industry", has barely anything to do with that, and mainly focuses on psychopath-level NLP manipulation to get you addicted, "universal appeal" [meaning everybody buys it, but nobody really actually likes it], and quick cash making [= more theft than a honest business] to buy more cocaine.)

    It’s like with most nostalgia: It only looks good because you haven’t had it for so long. If you try to actually get it back, it will be ruined.

  12. Terrible article by DarkOx · · Score: 1

    First five paragraphs are how obsessed anyone with a PC got about Myst. Mentions how people put up with the crashing and restarts just to get to the puzzles than concludes with Myst being the start of "casual gaming"

    Which is it?

    I think Myst was a very interesting title in its day - but if you going to write an article about it pick a thesis, and support it.

    --
    Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  13. Re:It wasn’t a particularly good game though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The appeal was mostly in the beautiful graphics (because they were mostly well-used static images) and soundscape that gave a certain athmospheric feel. That feeling is still something special I hold dear to my heart, as a game designer. It inspired me a lot. The gameplay was pretty bad by the standards of what we know today, and even by the standards of back then. (And I say "what we know today" instead of just "today", because what's actually used today, in the "industry", has barely anything to do with that, and mainly focuses on psychopath-level NLP manipulation to get you addicted, "universal appeal" [meaning everybody buys it, but nobody really actually likes it], and quick cash making [= more theft than a honest business] to buy more cocaine.)

    It’s like with most nostalgia: It only looks good because you haven’t had it for so long. If you try to actually get it back, it will be ruined.

    It looked boring to me when it came out so I never played it (and aged very poorly). Even when the graphics were considered good, it looked like it needed either more exploratory freedom or more story.

  14. Still Crashes, 25 years later (WINE) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dug up an old CD copy.

    Crashes on clicking the first book, or if skipped shortly later, when run using Wine (multiple versions, multiple tests).
    If you are thinking of doing the same, don't waste your time.

  15. Terrible... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry but besides the graphics for the time, the game just wasn't fun. Don't even think I be bothered to get past the first level because it just wasn't engaging.

  16. It didn't even have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    strafe jumping.

    Trolling aside, what was so influential about it? Yes, it was pretty but what else?

  17. Not that influential by rh2600 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps one of the most influential mac games, but this was essentially a curiosity in the wider gaming world of PC and console gaming...

    Only a diehard mac fanboy of old would try to argue its massive influence in wider gaming - and I say that is a mac user...

    1. Re:Not that influential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously - what did it influence? What are all the titles and success that came after that wouldn't have happened without it? (aside from it's own sequels).

      It was boring at best. Probably a good VR port.

    2. Re:Not that influential by skam240 · · Score: 2

      It's popularity is credited with speeding up cdrom adoption on PCs by several years. That alone is pretty frick'n influential

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      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    3. Re:Not that influential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is such a bullshit claim. People were buying cdrom's for plenty of other reasons. If you're going to credit this to Myst you need something a bit more substantial to back it with. How large a percentage of cdrom owners bought this game again? Right, not that many..

    4. Re:Not that influential by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 2

      I can actually remember doing the CDROM installation to support MyST on my personal computer of the era. I'd say that playing MyST was a good selling point for CDROM droves.

  18. was a great concept for its time by citylivin · · Score: 2

    For basically a fancy hypercard stack, it really had beautiful graphics and pushed the limits on what was possible with that era of technology. That said, i can still hear my quad speed cdrom drive churning, between movements, whenever i even think about that game!

    --
    As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy
    1. Re:was a great concept for its time by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Having the higher resolution pre-rendered graphics led to quite a few similar games, and also changed the look and mood of many of the "find the pixel" graphical adventures (ie, think Syberia).

  19. Fond Memories of Myst by Only+Time+Will+Tell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember it was one of the first games I got that came on CD. I had first seen the game at a friend's house and was enamored with the graphics and music. I even ended up getting a collector's edition later that came with a Myst t-shirt and a game music CD which I listened to numerous times. I went on to read the Myst book trilogy (they were OK, but still a fun read), but never really explored the computer games beyond the first one. I still have fond memories of the game and can envision the various worlds if I close my eyes.

  20. gaming compared to movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1993 was a great year for consumer computing, no doubt. Mosaic came out and the internet as we know it today (In www sense) became a thing. And while people were talking about what the internet might one day become, and whether commerce and profit really belonged there in any sense, (yes, people actually debated that) people like me (A CD-ROM developer at the time) were playing Myst, and it was truly amazing.

    How amazing? It was with this game that people began talking about whether immersive games would overtake the motion pictures as a source of entertainment. At the time the idea was the stuff of speculation and dreams. Now it is absurd to think otherwise. That's how astounding Myst was.

    Note: From Google University - In 2014, the global revenue for games was estimated at $83.6 billion (Polygon). Meanwhile, according to the MPAA, in 2014, the movie industry worldwide grossed $36.4 billion (MPAA). So in terms of simple new release sales, video games wins by a wide margin.

    1. Re:gaming compared to movies by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      And for crypto-currencies, we're seeing the same mindset today that people had about games in 1993.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re: gaming compared to movies by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Lots of things are hyped up. Only a few end up going anywhere.

    3. Re: gaming compared to movies by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Back then, people though computers were hyped up.
      Back then, people though videogames were hyped up.
      Back then, people though the internet was hyped up.
      Back then, people though the web was hyped up.
      Today, people think crypto-currencies are hyped up.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re: gaming compared to movies by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Back then, a lot of people thought a lot of things were hyped up. A few of them became 'big.' Anybody in hindsight can construct such a list.

  21. My problem with Myst by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The biggest thing I didn't like about Myst was the lack of design. And by that I don't mean the physical game, I mean the design of the puzzles.

    What nutjob thought it would be a great idea to have to unlock this puzzle by going to the other side of the island and having to solve two more puzzles first? No real person would ever make something so ridiculous to accomplish tasks.

    Yes, I know, it's a game, and it had its moments. But it was the stupid stuff which got to me.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:My problem with Myst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty much all puzzle games are like this but myst and resident evil are the kings for pointless puzzles that barely make sense.

    2. Re:My problem with Myst by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      What nutjob thought it would be a great idea to have to unlock this puzzle by going to the other side of the island and having to solve two more puzzles first?

      This mechanic has evolved into the fetchquest.

    3. Re:My problem with Myst by msk · · Score: 1

      You've pretty much described questing in WoW.

  22. An awesome and inspiring game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree, it really was a leading game of it's time. The puzzle were challenging, without being stupid and onerous.

    The only one thing I have to say against Myst was there was one area you had to find close to the end, and you needed to click on a "hidden" panel, which was not obvious in a game that did not rely on hidden panels like that (it was down some stairs, on a landing, a blue wall if I recall). This was dumb, because it was out of character with the rest of the game, there were no other puzzles like that.

    Other than that, amazing at the time, in glorious 1024x768 with 256 colours (count 'em!) on a 14" CRT (no less!).

    Good Times!!

    1. Re:An awesome and inspiring game by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > The puzzle were challenging

      Eh? I found the puzzles were boring and simple. Finished the entire game off in two weekends.

      The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour had much better puzzles.

      There is even a fan made re-make!

    2. Re:An awesome and inspiring game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't believe you because half of the puzzles in myst aren't logic puzzles but are more of the "find the clue" variety. Also the stupid fucking piano puzzle

    3. Re:An awesome and inspiring game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting. I was the opposite and breezed through 7th Guest (well except the damn microscope) and was much more challenged by Myst. The fact that many Myst puzzles relied on more than just memory and sight, with sound being a big factor, was a welcome addition.

    4. Re:An awesome and inspiring game by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      I seem to recall there was a lot of stupid "sweep the mouse across the screen in S shapes to find the hidden object" style puzzles.

      Regardless, if you believe me, I found the puzzles boring compared to The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour.

  23. Some of us want that ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    who found it less engaging than previous adventures and even blamed it for killing of the earlier genre of more action-packed adventuring

    Some of us got lapped in video games by not having 4 thumbs and lack the ability to press 16 buttons in combinations for everything like the rest of you freaks.

    What some of us like is open-roamers where you aren't being herded through the plot, or where you end up endlessly dying at the same spot until you get past it because there is literally only one path forwards.

    Once I figured out that in Skyrim I can go anywhere I want whenever I want, I never looked back.

    I don't want full-speed "action packed adventuring" .. I don't want to be endlessly in combat, and I don't want to be running on a track with only one path through.

    Video games are straight up escapism, and some of that I just want to explore the terrain and enjoy the view, not be at a full adrenaline rush for the next four hours .. I'm old, I might have a heart attack. :-P

    1. Re:Some of us want that ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Skyrim is wonderful as a hiking simulator. Even better, you can play as a stealth-only character get very far through the game itself with zero confrontation (either sneaking or running away), although some parts are broken and need to be avoided. Currently half-way through the main quest line with zero murders, constantly declared a hero while running away. Did you remember to turn off ALL of the UI for a better experience?

    2. Re:Some of us want that ... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      No Man's Sky

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  24. B-O-R-I-N-G and over-rated by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    Maybe its just me but I personally thought Myst was boring and over-rated.

    * Took me two weekends to finish it off. I thought the puzzles were rather simple / easy.

    * Story was meh -- I don't even remember it these days. Guess it was "that" good. /sarcasm

    * I didn't play it when it initially came out. I did a few years after when I was taking a break from my Quake / CTF / TF fix -- maybe ~1998 ? The entire time I was wondering "Why can't I look up/down?" Yes, I know the scenes were pre-rendered (looked good) and saved as static images but I wanted to _explore_ the world and not just in a "slide show" fashion.

    Anyone else feel the same way?

    Has anyone played realMYST ? How does it compare?

    1. Re:B-O-R-I-N-G and over-rated by Kevin+Stevens · · Score: 1

      I believe the key is that you didn't play it when it came out... Quake was the first truly 3d shooter, and came out 3 years later. Myst for the time was stunning visually, and personally I found the story/mysteriousness immersive. By 1998 it was definitely old hat and felt restrictive/primitive.

      The puzzles... hard to say. I was 14 when I first played? I found them challenging without being so absurdly so that I had to resort to looking in a cheat manual in a game store or spend some of my few precious minutes of internet time looking them up on an aol board. After Myst I played a bunch of others in the genre, Phantasmagoria, Shivers, some had puzzles that were quite obscure, and that wasn't fun either.

    2. Re: B-O-R-I-N-G and over-rated by quadcricket · · Score: 1

      RealMYST is orders of magnitude better since you don't get disoriented. The puzzles and story are the same however.

      --
      _/\-o~
  25. I never enjoyed playing Myst by jader3rd · · Score: 2

    I knew that Myst was a hot game, but every time I tried to play it I got bored really quickly and really didn't have any idea what I was supposed to be doing.

    1. Re:I never enjoyed playing Myst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was my experience with the game also.

    2. Re:I never enjoyed playing Myst by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

      I knew that Myst was a hot game, but every time I tried to play it I got bored really quickly and really didn't have any idea what I was supposed to be doing.

      That was what was revolutionary about it. The goal was to explore, and solve the various puzzles, rather than walking around and shooting things or hacking and slashing at monsters, etc. In the process, you pick up sheets of paper, (essentially rewards for solving the puzzles,) that turn out to be pages missing from one of a couple of books, and insert them into one of these books in the foyer of the central building on the main island of Myst, on the two shelves just inside the door there. As you do so, you get clearer and clearer indications of what (or who, rather,) is trapped in the two books, and piece together a kind of riddle about who they are, and decide whom to help by completing the books by reinserting the missing pages.

      In case you should ever play again, I won't spoil it for you, if you still have your old copy and a machine capable of playing it. If not, and you're interested, Good Old Games (gog.com) sells copies made for modern computers with (ugh) M$ Windows XP through 9 (or 10, as M$ calls it,) for only a few dollars, and the Apple Mac App Store sells a copy for iMacOSx (or whatever they're calling it this week,) for under 20. The Apple Mac version has an extended ending beyond the original and is remastered. I imagine the GOG version for M$ Windows is the same way, though I can't swear to it.

      --
      Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  26. Immersive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Myst was the first game I played that felt *real*. I had been an avid gamer for years - but most of the games at that point were either platformers (Mario, Keen, Jazzy), racing games, BBS games, shooters (Wolf3D, DOOM), etc. Even the kings quest / LucasArts/Sierra adventures never really pulled me in (and this was as a teenager, often spending eight hours a night gaming). To say that Myst had a huge impact on my life would be an understatement. Yes, there have been much better games, and better graphics, and better gameplay, but Myst was the first for me. It took a long time for me to accept the gameplay; I was sure that *SOMETHING* was bound to jump out and get me.

    It was the tipping point for me to get a CDROM drive. This was a big deal because we were poor and the CDROM drive cost more than the game and that meant months of saving chore-money. The graphics are laughable now but at the time they blew away everything else I had seen - this was a PLACE I wanted to go, a real place that I could go on to on vacation.

    Playing Myst got me started in 3D modelling - to make my own worlds, to make my own 3D things (using Strata, the same program Cyan used for modelling, which had a free version at the time). While I had done programming already and used 2D CAD programs already, Myst was an "aha" moment and showed me it was possible to build immersive worlds, to build things virtually on the PC. I still use 3D modelling as a part of my job 25 years later, and so I can draw a direct arrow from playing Myst to design skills I use daily.

    I started keeping a journal as a direct result of Atrus (main protagonist in Myst) and his journals; a habit I have maintained.

    It is not uncommon for me to still have Myst-inspired dreams to this day. Whatever groove that series of games burned in my brain, it burned pretty deep.

    Myst hasn't aged well, but Riven (its sequel) is still very playable ($6 on GOG) - https://www.gog.com/game/riven_the_sequel_to_myst

    "And now, I am at rest, understanding that in Books, and Ages, and life... the ending can never truly be written." -- Atrus

  27. Myst was slow as hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hated playing Myst. It was slow as hell. It would only run from the CD and every scene change meant spinning up the CD and reading for a while before anything would happen. I am not nostalgic for slow crap.

  28. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think I played it once for about 20 minutes. It was beyond boring.

    Give me Nethack and Dwarf Fortress.

  29. Showcase for ray-tracing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Myst always just seemed a contrived way to monetize early ray-tracing capabilities. What kind of game do you make when all you have is a bunch of still images? Myst!

  30. Myst in a nutshell by rbpOne · · Score: 2

    https://i.imgur.com/LUbACUF.jp...

  31. It was designed for people with imagination though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You had to be the type that was touched by the feeling of being at that place. The type that, when walking down an empty street at night, walks right in the middle, and imagines he's the only human on earth, to instantly feel this kind of cosmic horror (think H.P. Lovecraft).
    The type whose imagination runs wild with what could have happened to that island, where everyone might be, and what wonders the island might hold.

    Stoic and numb people without emotions, whose mind just blanks by default for most of their day, and they like it that way: Myst’s not for you. :)

  32. CompUSA! by antdude · · Score: 1

    Back when it was new, my local CompUSA had this game running on a local demo PC. I tried it and even though I sucked (still do) in these types of games, I got a crowd going to watch me play. Haha. My queen ant found me and told me it was time to go. Pretty cool game, but not for me since I suck in these types. :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  33. Duh duh DUH... daaaah daaaaah DAAAHHHHAH by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

    I realized as I fell into the fissure that the book would not be destroyed as I had planned. It continued falling into that starry expanse of which I had but a fleeting glimpse. I have tried to speculate about where it might have landed, though I admit such conjecture is futile. Still, questions about whose hands might one day hold my Myst book... are unsettling to me. I know my apprehensions might never be allayed. And so I close, realizing that perhaps, the ending... has not yet... been written.

    BOOOHhhhh....

    I wrote that, (you'll just have to take my word for it, obviously I can't prove it,) from memory. As I typed, I played the music in my head, and heard Atrus' voice... yeah, I may have played it a few times.

    God, I loved that game. It was such a break from what came before, the immersion... the music, the challenging and occasionally frustrating puzzles... I may have to play it through again now. It's one of the only computer games to which I actually shelled out for the soundtrack on CD. Ah, the memories....

    Similarly, I can also basically run through almost every word of the opening dialog between Manny Calavera and Celso Flores from Grim Fandango, another game I played the shit out of for a while. Ah, the good ol' days. Happy birthday, Myst.

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  34. Fond memories by Dahlgil · · Score: 1

    I had just gotten a new computer and picked up Myst along with it. I was a videogamer, but this was a new sort of experience. Actually, as a gamer, i'm not sure that I ever would have finished the game if it wasn't for my mother. She had absolutely no interest in video games, but I called her over to show off the new computer and used Myst for my demo. I started clicking here and there, and she immediately "got it", and was able to easily determine the solution to one of the early puzzles before I could. That was it. From then on, she was hooked. Mind you, I was doing all the steering--she didn't want to use the mouse, but was content to sit by my side and play along. I too got into it, and after a few weeks we finally solved it. Far more than the graphics or gameplay, it was the team play with my mom (who died in 2002) that make me recall the game with fondness.

  35. what a horrible game by sad_ · · Score: 1

    as the article mentions, the traditional gaming press wasn't really impressed by it, neither were most of the game developers of the time.
    and i agree with that, it was just a boring horrible game.
    photorealistic graphics? seriously, they were rubbish already back then.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.