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Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

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Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#91

Post by angrow »

illlogic2 wrote: post #79
giobox wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, this is where memories of Myst are best left. At the time I loved it, but in the early 90s one was willing to forgive a game a great many short-comings in sympathy to the state of modern games technology. Myst was very much “state of the art of the possible at the time”. I’d argue that much of the appeal of 90s Myst for some was that such a world could be made at all, let alone be a reasonably competent adven…

I would check out Quern. Quern is an excellent Myst style game and comes closest to Myst style puzzles. From what I've seen of the "The Witness" is looked to be the same maze puzzle but repeated throughout the game. I loved Johnathan Blow's "Braid" but I passed on the Witness after seeing some gameplay.

The Witness is a fantastic game, and while all the puzzles are drawing a line on a screen, without getting into spoilers, they have a great deal more variety than you might think.

That said, unlike the magical-realism of Myst and Riven's lived-in locations, the island of The Witness is impressionistic: It's not supposed to feel like a real place, only a kind of 3-d painting filled with relaxing and thought-provoking details, and coincidences to notice. So it might not be your cup of tea.

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#92

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

symfoniq wrote: post #89

It's entirely possible that the only reason I'm a programmer today is because of Myst. For reasons that I either never fully learned or fail to remember, my father received a CD in the mail from Myst's publisher (Broderbund?) containing a demo of the game. Only, someone screwed up, and instead of the CD containing a demo, it actually contained almost the entire game in a just-before-release, playable state (only a si…

Have you ever thought of uploading that HyperCard stack somewhere?

I mean it would probably be taken down in a heartbeat, because the disclosure of the source code was very likely unintentional, but, you never know!

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#93

Post by jamesfmilne »

giobox wrote: post #69
gdubs wrote: post #19

I vividly recall playing Myst, headphones on, snow falling outside, in a time before cellphones and (for our family) high speed internet. Cliche as it is, I felt transported. At times I felt spooked. I also remember getting a hold of every magazine I could that went into the making of Myst, transfixed by the creators’ sketches and drawings. Few cultural artifacts — not limited to games — have had as lasting an impact…

For me, this is where memories of Myst are best left. At the time I loved it, but in the early 90s one was willing to forgive a game a great many short-comings in sympathy to the state of modern games technology. Myst was very much “state of the art of the possible at the time”. I’d argue that much of the appeal of 90s Myst for some was that such a world could be made at all, let alone be a reasonably competent adven…

The puzzles are pretty basic by modern standards, but realMyst is a pretty decent modern reimplementation of the original Myst. They have just recently updated it as part of their Myst 25th Anniversary Collection kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1252280491/myst-25th-an...

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#94

Post by nategri »

toast0 wrote: post #29

I never owned a copy, so inevitably I only played Myst at computer stores -- it looked interesting, but I never really understood what was going on. Games of this era would tend to come with an instruction manual that was book sized and could really help with understanding what was going on. For the Mystics? out there, what's the best way to play the game for a person who knows of Myst, but hasn't every played it? Wh…

I played Pyst and uh, no.

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#95

Post by jamesfmilne »

FYI they recently did a kickstarter for a special Myst 25th Anniversary Collection of all the Myst games in a special linking book box, complete with video screen! I'm eagering awaiting delivery of mine:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1252280491/myst-25th-an...

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#96

Post by chungy »

toast0 wrote: post #29

I never owned a copy, so inevitably I only played Myst at computer stores -- it looked interesting, but I never really understood what was going on. Games of this era would tend to come with an instruction manual that was book sized and could really help with understanding what was going on. For the Mystics? out there, what's the best way to play the game for a person who knows of Myst, but hasn't every played it? Wh…

The best way to play it new, now, is probably realMyst Masterpiece Edition: https://www.gog.com/game/real_myst_masterpiece_edition

The original still-frame version is available as well; GOG packages both Myst Masterpiece Edition and Riven with ScummVM so they don't have any compatibility headaches (I recall back in the day, having huge problems since they required QuickTime installed, and only _SPECIFIC_ versions of QuickTime, not newer nor older ones).

There are fans that swear by the original still-frame only. It is fine, but I've always felt that immersion was kind of the whole point of the game, and realMyst provides that far better.

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#98

Post by steveklabnik »

symfoniq wrote: post #89

It's entirely possible that the only reason I'm a programmer today is because of Myst. For reasons that I either never fully learned or fail to remember, my father received a CD in the mail from Myst's publisher (Broderbund?) containing a demo of the game. Only, someone screwed up, and instead of the CD containing a demo, it actually contained almost the entire game in a just-before-release, playable state (only a si…

Fellow Myst and HyperCard enthusiast who used to have a CodeWarrior t-shirt, checking in. I wouldn't be where I am today without all of that stuff too.

I would love to see that stack...

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#99

Post by da02 »

steveklabnik wrote: post #98
symfoniq wrote: post #89

It's entirely possible that the only reason I'm a programmer today is because of Myst. For reasons that I either never fully learned or fail to remember, my father received a CD in the mail from Myst's publisher (Broderbund?) containing a demo of the game. Only, someone screwed up, and instead of the CD containing a demo, it actually contained almost the entire game in a just-before-release, playable state (only a si…

Fellow Myst and HyperCard enthusiast who used to have a CodeWarrior t-shirt, checking in. I wouldn't be where I am today without all of that stuff too. I would love to see that stack...

How did the story within Myst end?

Re: Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies

#100

Post by badloginagain »

giobox wrote: post #84
mikepurvis wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 on The Witness, but there's an entire genre now of walksim games that follow on the pattern of puzzles, story, exploration and non-combat engagement: https://www.slant.co/topics/6377/~walking-simulator-games-on... And really this is just a continuation of the larger "adventure game" genre that Myst itself is a part of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_game

That is a good list, even if some fall more on the “walking simulator” side more so than “puzzle game”. Games like “What Remains of Edith Finch”, “Firewatch” and “Gone Home” etc I loved, but these aren’t really puzzle games in the way Myst was, although I do see a common thread in the idea of an intricately made world to slowly explore.

If you're looking for a mobile game that hits that aesthetic, try "Alto's Odyssey"
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