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Myst
Feb 7, 2010 12:01:25 GMT -5
Post by Garamoth on Feb 7, 2010 12:01:25 GMT -5
Holy crap, after more than a year of nothing at all, there are some new in-cavern (read "in-character") messages from the Cyan officials on the Uru forums. forums.drcsite.org/viewtopic.php?t=2790This probably means that the free open-source version of Uru is going to be released sometime in the near future. How soon is anybody's guess but from what we've come to expect from Cyan, cautious pessimism is probably the right attitude to adopt.
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Myst
Feb 7, 2010 14:09:34 GMT -5
Post by blackdrazon on Feb 7, 2010 14:09:34 GMT -5
Combined with URU Complete and a Cyan sale at GOG, I'd say that points the same way as well. Got to promote a new release, even if it is for free...
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Myst
Feb 8, 2010 15:16:47 GMT -5
Post by Garamoth on Feb 8, 2010 15:16:47 GMT -5
There has been a few new posts from the "official" Cyan characters. I just wanted to put this one up: forums.drcsite.org/viewtopic.php?t=2790Victor,
Quite a trip. Sorry you couldn't make it. Your sensors are fine. There are a handful of explorers in the Cavern, but they didn't trip the ones you sent us to check. In fact, the area was still secure, which means that it was one of us. I have my suspicions that we need to talk to our former fearless leader about that. Funny guy. Glad I didn't cancel any big plans to head down for his wild goose chase.
A few of the explorers say that they never left, but I suspect you have known that all along. Others said that they've only recently found their way back. In either case, they couldn't have been there for any length of time without setting off your sensors in the main areas they spend their time.
They were expecting us to be angry and try to kick them out. They were pleasantly surprised when I told them that we're all just explorers, at least for now. They seemed relieved and not too disappointed that we haven't secured any funding. They were also interested to hear how our lives have changed on the surface.
I told them they could stay as long as they respected the Cavern and were careful. There won't be any ResEngs to help them out if they get stuck. Kodama found it ironic that they'll have to rely more on their Yeesha Books now.
It's actually a nice change of pace to get to visit the Cavern as an explorer, without the pressure of trying to fix everything in sight faster than is humanly possible. You should try it sometime.
See you soon.
Marie I love how they always try to translate every out-of-game detail into in-game story. Let's translate: "A few of the explorers say that they never left" --> "Some people have been hacking away at the game's code before getting the official source code or the creation tools." "Others said that they've only recently found their way back" --> "Beta testers, presumably" "we haven't secured any funding" and "I told them they could stay as long as they respected the Cavern and were careful. There won't be any ResEngs to help them out if they get stuck" --> "We ain't got no money to run this so its gonna be free... and you're going to have to take it "as is" They're doing this because, you see, Uru pretends to happen in the real world to you the real person. There is no MMO and no players, only real life. Does any other MMO pretend to really exist in our world? At least, that's the idea. Man, no wonder these people couldn't keep up the pace.
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Myst
Feb 8, 2010 15:18:57 GMT -5
Post by Garamoth on Feb 8, 2010 15:18:57 GMT -5
Holy crap, double post. While I was typing this last post Uru just went up live. Come and get it people, it's free! mystonline.com/en/play/EDIT: ...but the page to create an account just crashed. Har, har. REDIT: The server is up now, but it was kinda sluggish when I last tried the game because of downloading traffic.
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Myst
Feb 15, 2010 10:57:52 GMT -5
Post by Smithee of Zur-En-Arrh on Feb 15, 2010 10:57:52 GMT -5
Wow, this is cool. My mom and I are the Myst fans in the house, we should check this out.
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Myst
Jul 2, 2010 20:55:31 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Jul 2, 2010 20:55:31 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/myst/myst.htmA few months ago Garamoth wrote an extensive article about Uru, the online version of Myst. That was actually only a prelude - now the article encompasses the entire series, and it's absolutely massive. It certainly makes me want to give them a go, especially Riven. Myst is one of those weird series that was immensely popular when it was released, but it kept churning out sequels, and I think they kinda fell off most people's radars by the time they got to the fifth and final one. It's interesting to read about them all.
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 4:40:48 GMT -5
Post by Weasel on Jul 3, 2010 4:40:48 GMT -5
One thing most people miss about the Selenetic and Mechanical ages in Myst: you're supposed to do the Mechanical Age first, as it provides an essential clue to the maze in the Selenetic age - specifically the full solution, in sound effects.
In the Mechanical Age, there's a "Fortress Rotation Simulator" that you mess with - you can goof around with a holographic image of the fortress, but the trick there is that every time you stop the fortress, it plays a different sound effect based on which direction it's facing. If you make note of these sounds, you'll come across them again later in the Selenetic Age when you're going through the maze - every time the cart stops, it'll play a sound through a speaker. If you point the cart in the direction the sound corresponds to and then press Forward, you'll make it to the end of the maze after doing this several times (at some point the speaker will play two of the sounds together - this means you'll need to go between those directions, i.e. northwest if you hear both the North and the West sounds together). Takes a keen ear.
Also, if you've already pieced together the clues from previous playthroughs, you can quite easily "beat" the game within a couple of minutes of having started it by immediately going for the fireplace and entering the code.
Guess I should mention my favorite easter egg, too - entering a certain pattern into the fireplace will make Atrus' voice begin talking about Big Macs, fries, and the lack of donuts.
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 8:30:33 GMT -5
Post by Jave on Jul 3, 2010 8:30:33 GMT -5
It certainly makes me want to give them a go, especially Riven. I would strongly recommend it. Myst was a good game that, in hindsight, had some pacing issues and a couple obtuse moments - see Weasel's description of the mine cart... I just took notes, repeatedly reloaded my save, and got through it by trial and error, I'm sure most people did the same. Riven tightened and improved on everything. Even the logic by witch the islands function might even seem a little more familiar to an adventure game player like yourself than did the first game... I could be wrong about that.
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 13:52:21 GMT -5
Post by ryochan on Jul 3, 2010 13:52:21 GMT -5
I apologize in advance for just how bitchy this is going to sound, but I am having a lot of issues in reading this article already, due to the way that some things are written, or stated, that just confuse or annoy me. In fact, I'm only up to Riven and already may just stop reading. Here's some of the reasons why.
I admit this is a bit nit-picky, but does the author really mean this as a definitive, or is it in his own opinion? The reason I ask, is it's written in a definitive sense, and that implies that all people enjoy this form of story-telling, when in fact, not everyone does. I myself sometimes enjoy having to piece things together, but I also really enjoy not having to spend hours coming up with EVERY nuance of a game on my own.
Removing the fact that there may, indeed, be many, MANY unofficial ports of either of these games, how do they not count? Yes, they are not as graphically intense as Myst or any of it's subsequent sequels, but they are still very much video games. Again, this could be a simple wording issue, but it also comes across as very high-and-mighty, what with nothing to substantiate the comment except that the games are "simple arcade-type games" and "lots of unofficial ports."
The authors says:
Which in itself is an issue, being that one should theoretically be able to praise something for what it did right, regardless of later outcomes, but I digress. It's the next part, said in the Riven section, which confuses me most after that particular line:
So the author gives more credit to Riven, but then states that something found at the beginning of the game he is 'told' occurred by fansites? This heavily implies the game was not played by the author (although he very well may have), and leaves me wondering if he really DID play the game.
Now, I will admit many of the complaints I have may seem small, or even stupid, but just like talking to someone, or reading anything, the way things are stated are extremely important to me, and probably are extremely important to others. And, two of the above very easily fall into "opinions" stated as "definitives", which, in my own personal opinion, is not cool.
I may continue to read the article at some point, but then, I may not as well.
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 14:01:29 GMT -5
Post by Jave on Jul 3, 2010 14:01:29 GMT -5
The last one, I can tell you for sure, is a wording issue. The guard comes up to you at the start of the game, talks seemingly gibberish for a while and then steals your linking book. Fact is, you can play through the entire rest of the game and get on with your life for years later without ever realizing that there was some linguistic coherence to the actor's seemingly made up monologue.
I've no doubt Garamoth played the game, and was stating that he'd been told the linguistic details of that opening scene.
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 19:37:43 GMT -5
Post by derboo on Jul 3, 2010 19:37:43 GMT -5
Removing the fact that there may, indeed, be many, MANY unofficial ports of either of these games, how do they not count? Yes, they are not as graphically intense as Myst or any of it's subsequent sequels, but they are still very much video games. Again, this could be a simple wording issue, but it also comes across as very high-and-mighty, what with nothing to substantiate the comment except that the games are "simple arcade-type games" and "lots of unofficial ports." The authors says: Which in itself is an issue, being that one should theoretically be able to praise something for what it did right, regardless of later outcomes, but I digress. It's the next part, said in the Riven section, which confuses me most after that particular line: That bothered me too. Dunno about Tetris or Pac-Man, but I counted more than twenty official ports for Asteroids. Prince of Persia has 20 ports, too. So does Street Fighter II. And there are many, many games with more than 10 ports (Another World, Double Dragon, etc.)
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 20:08:04 GMT -5
Post by Discoalucard on Jul 3, 2010 20:08:04 GMT -5
I thought I had changed that. Guess not!
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Myst
Jul 3, 2010 23:37:14 GMT -5
Post by Garamoth on Jul 3, 2010 23:37:14 GMT -5
Huh, the "quote" button is putting up Ryochan's post in a weird way. Anyway, here goes: I admit this is a bit nit-picky, but does the author really mean this as a definitive, or is it in his own opinion? The reason I ask, is it's written in a definitive sense, and that implies that all people enjoy this form of story-telling, when in fact, not everyone does. I myself sometimes enjoy having to piece things together, but I also really enjoy not having to spend hours coming up with EVERY nuance of a game on my own. What I mean is that since the story is in the background, both people who want a story and those who do not want one are satisfied. And I really do think that the best way to handle storyline is to let those who do not want any just skip it and to make those who want a story do some of the legwork to piece everything together. I mean, those "videogaem" thingies are supposed to be interactive, right? Removing the fact that there may, indeed, be many, MANY unofficial ports of either of these games, how do they not count? Yes, they are not as graphically intense as Myst or any of it's subsequent sequels, but they are still very much video games. Again, this could be a simple wording issue, but it also comes across as very high-and-mighty, what with nothing to substantiate the comment except that the games are "simple arcade-type games" and "lots of unofficial ports." I dunno... I kinda wanted to make a distinction between straight ports and re-editions, but from what Derboo is saying Myst might not even win there. That was a careless comment on my part. Oops. Anyway, who actually "wins" this dubious honor is kind of irrelevant. So yeah, Discoalucard changed "winner" to "contender" so that closes the whole issue. Which in itself is an issue, being that one should theoretically be able to praise something for what it did right This one makes no sense. First, I did praise it for what it did right. Secondly, the value of any game is comparative. Considering a game "by itself" is meaningless as it will always be the best and the worst game ever. You're always comparing a game to everything else you've seen in a genre, whether implicitly or explicitly. Anyway, if a sequel to a game has kept everything good about the last entry and added new things that are good as well on top, then surely the original has lost some of its relevance? This is not as clear cut for an adventure game, but Riven really is above Myst in many, many ways. Simply put, while Myst is very good, Riven is better. So the author gives more credit to Riven, but then states that something found at the beginning of the game he is 'told' occurred by fansites? This heavily implies the game was not played by the author (although he very well may have), and leaves me wondering if he really DID play the game. I dunno, this part seems clear to me, but Jave de mystified it very well. You are not given any translation of what people are telling you in D'ni or Rivenese, the latter being a dialect from Papua New Guinea. I've read the explanation on Riven Illuminated. That website really must be consulted to truly understand Riven. When I last checked the article, Discoalucard put the links on the very last page. Now, I will admit many of the complaints I have may seem small, or even stupid, but just like talking to someone, or reading anything, the way things are stated are extremely important to me, and probably are extremely important to others. And, two of the above very easily fall into "opinions" stated as "definitives", which, in my own personal opinion, is not cool. That's an easy one to respond to. There are no such things as "definitives"; there are only opinions stated with varying degrees of certainty.
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Myst
Jul 4, 2010 8:44:30 GMT -5
Post by Jave on Jul 4, 2010 8:44:30 GMT -5
Which in itself is an issue, being that one should theoretically be able to praise something for what it did right This one makes no sense. First, I did praise it for what it did right. Secondly, the value of any game is comparative. Considering a game "by itself" is meaningless as it will always be the best and the worst game ever. You're always comparing a game to everything else you've seen in a genre, whether implicitly or explicitly. I agree with you that the value of games is relative, but in terms of discussing the merits of any one game in particular, I feel like it ought to be compared to it's contemporaries. When comparing games that were released years apart from one another, it's all too easy to make one look remarkably more sophisticated or than the other, or primitive by comparison. Riven is a better game than Myst, it improves on the first in every way, but was also built with all the hindsight and experience that comes with an extra 3 years worth of maturity. Then again, maybe it's just another wording issue. It's entirely fair to say that Myst had some issues that were addressed with it's sequel, but your wording might suggest that you think less of Myst after the fact because it's sequel is better.
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Myst
Jul 4, 2010 15:01:22 GMT -5
Post by ryochan on Jul 4, 2010 15:01:22 GMT -5
What I mean is that since the story is in the background, both people who want a story and those who do not want one are satisfied. And I really do think that the best way to handle storyline is to let those who do not want any just skip it and to make those who want a story do some of the legwork to piece everything together. I mean, those "videogaem" thingies are supposed to be interactive, right? Except, as I pointed out, sometimes people don't want to do any legwork. They just want something simple, with a simple story (or no story at all). So, your comment basically assumes that people all like the same form of story-telling. Unless, of course, it's your opinion, in which case I think it may be worth changing the comment to "In my opinion." I dunno... I kinda wanted to make a distinction between straight ports and re-editions, but from what Derboo is saying Myst might not even win there. That was a careless comment on my part. Oops. Anyway, who actually "wins" this dubious honor is kind of irrelevant. So yeah, Discoalucard changed "winner" to "contender" so that closes the whole issue. Yeah, contender fits much better. This one makes no sense. First, I did praise it for what it did right. Secondly, the value of any game is comparative. Considering a game "by itself" is meaningless as it will always be the best and the worst game ever. You're always comparing a game to everything else you've seen in a genre, whether implicitly or explicitly. Anyway, if a sequel to a game has kept everything good about the last entry and added new things that are good as well on top, then surely the original has lost some of its relevance? This is not as clear cut for an adventure game, but Riven really is above Myst in many, many ways. In this case, I probably didn't phrase things very well. The issue I actually have Jave touched on; Comparing a game to it's sequel seems sort of irrelevant, as there's been time for the producers and everyone else to learn from their mistakes and all. (Not to say all do). If anything, Myst should be compared to other games in the genre put out around the same time. I dunno, this part seems clear to me, but Jave de mystified it very well. You are not given any translation of what people are telling you in D'ni or Rivenese, the latter being a dialect from Papua New Guinea. I've read the explanation on Riven Illuminated. When I last checked the article, Discoalucard put the links on the very last page. I'm afraid it didn't read like that. It read more as if you had heard what the guard did, rather than experienced it yourself. I don't know if it's something you'll change, but that is, at least, how I read the phrase. As for the last page, I haven't gotten there. After reading through Riven, I sort of just stopped. I may continue reading later, but yesterday I was already frustrated at the things I brought up, and reading it while moody would have helped no one.
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