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The article didn't make mention of the role of sound in Myst. I remember people setting up their big 90's stereos with massive speakers to fully immerse themselves in the Myst world. The game really built a strange, otherworldy atmosphere.
Some of the best music ever composed for a computer game I'd argue.
The article didn't make mention of the role of sound in Myst. I remember people setting up their big 90's stereos with massive speakers to fully immerse themselves in the Myst world. The game really built a strange, otherworldy atmosphere.
There was one location in Riven where I spent about fifteen minutes listening to a short-ish music loop over and over and watching a simple atmospheric location animation, because both were just so perfect.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I made decent progress solving the puzzles in Myst until I got to that rocket ship and discovered that my tin ear was a showstopper. It didn't help that my machine (A Mac LC with 4 MB of RAM) was only barely powerful enough to run the game, and when it ran out of resources the first thing to go was the sound.
Despite playing the piano, I never could get past that puzzle until I figured out how to make the computer record itself. I recorded playing the notes on the spaceship's keyboard, then played it back as I adjusted the sliders on the other side of the ship. Did anyone else solve it this that way?
That's what I feel Myst brought that has been so rarely replicated.
Myst was the first really immersive game I remember playing and thinking "I feel like I'm actually a part of this world". I was a bit too young to really grasp how to play it but that didn't stop me clicking around just exploring because the game (for its time) was just so beautiful and engaging despite the graphical limitations at the time. For those looking for a Myst nostalgia trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
It's funny looking at it now, because in my head it was basically photo-realistic! For the era it was such a mind-blowing game, and that's really saying something considering it's the same year that gave us NBA Jam, Virtua Fighter, Ridge Racer, Star Fox, X-Wing, Link's Awakening, Doom, and Mega Man X (what a year!).
I sort of got sidetracked in the article when I read this: "As we collaborated over puzzles played out on vintage machinery, my older daughter said, “People back then must have been incredibly creative to make something like this." I don't know any 6 or 8 year olds that talk like that.
Not saying you're wrong, its anecdotal on both our parts. But I do! If you say to a kid "They built all of this by hand on pen and paper from ideas in their head! (amazed expression)" they'll parrot back to you the above sentence if they catch the meaning and context. My 3 year old does this already, although she'll say "fantastic" instead of "incredible".
For example - my youngest recently had an abscessed tooth removed. He is 5 this year. The dental surgeon was astounded that he used the words nitrous-oxide and Novocain. The surgeon said things like giggle gas and sleepy juice, and the five year old dead pan corrected him.
Kids will say what they hear - outside of a disability/difference of that kind. If they hear short baby talk, they say short baby talk. If they hear larger words, in context, often, then they'll use those.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I didn't care about Myst at all. I don't get what the big deal is, never did.
1) the visuals were excellent, and still hold up against contemporary games. 2) the narrative was high quality. 3) the puzzles were very satisfying to solve. Aside from that, it’s just taste, my friend.
Myst Soundtrack - 15 Above Stoneship (Telescope Theme) https://youtu.be/MTruv9DbnrE
The article didn't make mention of the role of sound in Myst. I remember people setting up their big 90's stereos with massive speakers to fully immerse themselves in the Myst world. The game really built a strange, otherworldy atmosphere.
I sort of got sidetracked in the article when I read this: "As we collaborated over puzzles played out on vintage machinery, my older daughter said, “People back then must have been incredibly creative to make something like this." I don't know any 6 or 8 year olds that talk like that.
... they don't care. At all.
I don't know if I was just too young at the time, but I had Myst/Riven as a kid and never even began to understand what the objective was or what I was supposed to do. Aside from a little bit of walking back and forth, I don't think I accomplished a single thing in game. Given the article references 6 and 8 year olds playing, maybe I was just a dumb kid.
We try to play it for hours. We die at every step.
Only the character was visible. All the rest was pitch black.
We die a lot.
Eventually, memorizing each die pattern, we found a tiny bit of light on the background.
Then, I increase the monitor bright. What idiots!