Hi everyone, I'm the Associate Producer on Myst III: Exile. I've been with the project since it started two years ago, and I wanted to address some of the topics on this post.
First and foremost, of course, are the compatibility problems that many users are experiencing. Many people feel that we shipped the game with a large number of known bugs. That is not the case. We deeply regret the bugs that are in the final version of the game, and you can be assured that we wouldn't have shipped if we were aware of them. We are doing everything we can to make this right. We have already fixed the CD drive letter problem, and are currently testing a patch that fixes the game so that it will run on Intel, SiS, and Neomagic video cards. Future releases of the game will have these fixes built in, so if you buy this game in a couple months, you will have the patches built in.
Second, there are some concerns about a few 3D accelerators that won't run the game, most notably the Voodoo 2 and 3. As has been said, this is a limitation of the cards, which cannot support the 32 bit color that Myst III requires. Did we knowingly exclude those users when we chose to build the assets in the game at 32 bit color, thus raising the bar for the game's graphics? Yes, we did. Did we make a mistake on the minimum requirements when we said it only requires 16 bit color. Again, yes, we did, and I regret the error. Is it unreasonable for us to release a game that requires 32 bit color? No, I don't think it is. Myst III still has shockingly low system requirements. An Nvidia TNT card can run the game as well as a GeForce, which we feel is an accomplishment given the graphical quality of the game.
To summarize, I want to personally apologize for the bugs in the game. I apologize for the strife they have caused. We are doing everything in our power to correct the situation.
Finally, I'm glad to see some cooler heads have prevailed and posted reviews of the actual game. I think Presto Studios has a lot to be proud of with Myst III. The graphics are at least movie quality, and there is an unbelievable amount of detail in the game. The story stands well on its own, and I feel it has a lot more drama than the previous Myst games. Granted, we made the game easier than Riven, but I don't feel that's a disadvantage. Not everyone is a hard core gamer, and we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the game. I think we met that goal.
It has been very personally gratifying to see all the good reviews on the net and other press. Gamespot gave Myst III: Exile an 8.7, IGN gave us an 8.0, and the San Francisco Chronicle gave us their highest rating. For a sequel to the games that have a reputation for killing the adventure genre, I think those are impressive scores. If you can, I suggest you find an opportunity to decide for yourself. We've found that people who play Myst III for 10 minutes usually play to the finish. Even my parents like it!
So to finish up, thank you all for your interest in the game. We're doing our best to get it up and running on everyone's machine. Thanks to all those who have shown patience and good will through the stress. It is definitely noticed, and all of us here at Ubi Soft and Presto appreciate it.
Regards,
Daniel Achterman
Associate Producer
Myst III: Exile
Slashdot Mirror
Hi everyone, I'm the Associate Producer on Myst III: Exile. I've been with the project since it started two years ago, and I wanted to address some of the topics on this post.
First and foremost, of course, are the compatibility problems that many users are experiencing. Many people feel that we shipped the game with a large number of known bugs. That is not the case. We deeply regret the bugs that are in the final version of the game, and you can be assured that we wouldn't have shipped if we were aware of them. We are doing everything we can to make this right. We have already fixed the CD drive letter problem, and are currently testing a patch that fixes the game so that it will run on Intel, SiS, and Neomagic video cards. Future releases of the game will have these fixes built in, so if you buy this game in a couple months, you will have the patches built in.
Second, there are some concerns about a few 3D accelerators that won't run the game, most notably the Voodoo 2 and 3. As has been said, this is a limitation of the cards, which cannot support the 32 bit color that Myst III requires. Did we knowingly exclude those users when we chose to build the assets in the game at 32 bit color, thus raising the bar for the game's graphics? Yes, we did. Did we make a mistake on the minimum requirements when we said it only requires 16 bit color. Again, yes, we did, and I regret the error. Is it unreasonable for us to release a game that requires 32 bit color? No, I don't think it is. Myst III still has shockingly low system requirements. An Nvidia TNT card can run the game as well as a GeForce, which we feel is an accomplishment given the graphical quality of the game.
To summarize, I want to personally apologize for the bugs in the game. I apologize for the strife they have caused. We are doing everything in our power to correct the situation.
Finally, I'm glad to see some cooler heads have prevailed and posted reviews of the actual game. I think Presto Studios has a lot to be proud of with Myst III. The graphics are at least movie quality, and there is an unbelievable amount of detail in the game. The story stands well on its own, and I feel it has a lot more drama than the previous Myst games. Granted, we made the game easier than Riven, but I don't feel that's a disadvantage. Not everyone is a hard core gamer, and we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the game. I think we met that goal.
It has been very personally gratifying to see all the good reviews on the net and other press. Gamespot gave Myst III: Exile an 8.7, IGN gave us an 8.0, and the San Francisco Chronicle gave us their highest rating. For a sequel to the games that have a reputation for killing the adventure genre, I think those are impressive scores. If you can, I suggest you find an opportunity to decide for yourself. We've found that people who play Myst III for 10 minutes usually play to the finish. Even my parents like it!
So to finish up, thank you all for your interest in the game. We're doing our best to get it up and running on everyone's machine. Thanks to all those who have shown patience and good will through the stress. It is definitely noticed, and all of us here at Ubi Soft and Presto appreciate it.
Regards,
Daniel Achterman
Associate Producer
Myst III: Exile