Myst 4

Andrew Plotkin wrote:


  > > Currently playing Myst iV: revelation
  > >
  > > Is it me or is it a bit boring?
 >
 > I found the pacing to be very similar to the previous Myst games. None
 > of them are pulse-pounders, but the atmosphere of quiet exploration is
 > part of what I enjoy about the series.
 >
 > Riven had more present-time interaction with other characters. That
 > is, it had a mixture of NPC encounters and exploration of history.
 > Myst and Myst 3 were almost entirely about history, except for their
 > endgames. Myst 4 has a different structure: some NPC encounters at the
 > beginning and a longer sequence at the end, and a middle section (the
 > two prison ages) where you're discovering history. I thought it worked
 > fine, at least as far as structure goes. (I thought the endgame wasn't
 > as well designed as the middle, but that's a different issue.)
 >


Perhaps I'm starting to get bored with the concept. I was awed by the
first one. Felt like I was seeing the 'Birth of a nation' of modern
times. (Something the medium never lived up to, alas.) The second one
was such a big step forward in terms of technique that I was still very
impressed. Myst 3 was entertaining, but brought me nothing new, really.
Now I'm playing number IV (and perhaps the best is yet to come), but I
find the puzzles uninspired and the story dutiful. There have been so
many Myst rip offs in the last decade. Some of them even good, like
Timelapse. Looking back, I find Zork Nemesis the most enjoyable in the
genre (including the Myst games). Great story and inspired puzzles.

Did you get to play Uru on a PC? If so, how was it? Was it more
original? What was the online stuff all about? Will it ever come to mac?


--
Martin Koolhoven
 >> Stay informed about: Myst 4 

Here, Martin Koolhoven wrote:
 >
 > Perhaps I'm starting to get bored with the concept. I was awed by the
 > first one. Felt like I was seeing the 'Birth of a nation' of modern
 > times. (Something the medium never lived up to, alas.) The second one
 > was such a big step forward in terms of technique that I was still very
 > impressed. Myst 3 was entertaining, but brought me nothing new, really.
 > Now I'm playing number IV (and perhaps the best is yet to come), but I
 > find the puzzles uninspired and the story dutiful.

Remember that 3 and 4 were not designed by Cyan; they were contracted
out to other development groups, while Cyan focussed on Uru.

I agree that 3 had nothing new. I thought 4 had a good design and good
storytelling, although (as I said) the ending went kind of weak.

 > Did you get to play Uru on a PC?

Yes.

 > If so, how was it? Was it more original? What was the online stuff
 > all about?

It's hard to tell about Uru, because it was designed purely to be a
multiplayer online game, and then it was adapted -- first piecewise
and then in whole -- to be single-player. The transition was rocky, to
say the least.

It was definitely a different approach. I thought it had a lot of
promise, but the potential was of a long-running persistent
environment with a steady stream of new discoveries. A long-term
history rather than a one-game storyline. Since the on-line game was
cancelled, we never got that history.

The parts that wound up being published as the single-player Uru (plus
expansion packs) didn't really have stories -- just suggestions of
story. I enjoyed playing them, mind you.

If you want my detailed reviews, I have them posted at
<http://www.eblong.com/zarf/uru/rj/index.html>. That discusses both
the single-player segments and the public beta of the on-line game.

 > Will it ever come to mac?

No. (Cyan briefly announced that they were working on the Mac port.
But the project was cancelled when they found that one of the software
components they had licensed was not available for the Mac, and never
would be.)

Cyan has announced Myst 5, which they're *not* contracting out. It
looks like it is derived from ideas invented for Uru. Hopefully by
focussing on a single-player game from the beginning, they'll produce
something which avoids Uru's problems. It *will* be available for Mac.

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
I'm still thinking about what to put in this space.
 >> Stay informed about: Myst 4