[Fien]

Originally Posted by fov

(Granted, I'd never met him before, so maybe he's always that excited!)

I'm getting confused here... was he excited about Myst V or about his next project, whatever that may be?

[Eleri]

Originally Posted by Fienepien

I'm getting confused here... was he excited about Myst V or about his next project, whatever that may be?

I was talking about both, if that helps any

One of the next projects is called Latus, and he talks about it some HERE, and it also gets mentioned HERE

Other than that, we don't know diddly.

[Jackal]

He seems pretty excited in our upcoming interview with him, too. Oops! I mean... what interview?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Smooth, Jack. Real smoth.

[Jackal]

Hey, subtlety's wasted at the end of a four page Myst thread. It's all about the message, not the delivery.

It also buys me time to actually get the interview out.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Eleri

I was talking about both, if that helps any

It does, actually. Thanks for the links.

[fov]

When I said he was excited, I meant about Myst V. (Although he defintely seemed excited about having the ability to move on to new projects, after this one.) He didn't tell us a whole lot about a future project, just that he was looking forward to starting over with a "clean slate" - whatever that turned out to be.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by fov

I love nothing more than puzzles that are completely organic to the game world.

Then why on earth haven't you played the other Myst?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Well, I've played the original Myst (realMyst, that is). The puzzles seem anything BUT organic to the gameworld. Good experience, though.

[squarejawhero]

If you've not played Riven, Trep, then do so. It marries the gameworld with the story in the most well-designed 2D FPA there is. Myst is a mess in comparasion.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Well, I've played the original Myst (realMyst, that is). The puzzles seem anything BUT organic to the gameworld. Good experience, though.

Even though I wouldn't say that Myst is the best of the series in this regard, it seems kind of weird...
I mean, take for example the forest world. It's place where houses are boild on trees, so it seems logical that a lot of the puzzles there are about accessing these houses using elevators.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I LOVED Channelwood!!! That and Stoneship were my two favourite Ages. I could easily live in one of those treehouses. But yeah, I agree, that big hydraulic puzzle felt much more NATIVE to the world, made sense. It was pretty easy to figure out, and just satisfyingly tricky enough to actually put to work.

Ninth, did you play the original 2D version? I played the realMyst version, and it was so beautiful! The difference was in how you walked INTO it, and all through it you were surrounded by near deafening sounds of water and air creatures, very aural and visual. The water effect was jawdropping. And, I remember seeing frogs walking around on the platforms and when I tried to get close to them they jumped into the water!!! I loved that about realMyst!

[fov]

Originally Posted by Ninth

Then why on earth haven't you played the other Myst?

Okay, I was exaggerating. I love nothing more than STORY. And the Myst games (at least, Myst and Riven - I haven't tried Exile or Revelation) don't have enough of it for me. I'm also bad at 1st person games and get lost easily.

I do plan to play through the games at some point, with a walkthrough by my side if needed. I feel like I should play them. Maybe when I'm old and gray. Having seen Myst V in person, I may decide to start with that one.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by fov

Having seen Myst V in person, I may decide to start with that one.

It's THAT promising. Hell, I'd get back to a Myst game with that myself. You don't have to play every single Myst game (and thus 'earn' the right to be taken seriously by Myst fans ), just the ones that interest you.

For me personally, the real time 3D ones matter most. It's because I loved how you can virtually 'walk into' that world, look up, look down, look around, and it's all around you. It's because the Miller Brothers have always envisioned Myst to be experienced that way, they were simply waiting for technology to catch up. And now it has. Throwing out the mindset that it's a puzzle game with a wimpy excuse for a story, I played realMyst and Uru for the EXPLORATION and DISCOVERY, a kind of virtual odyssey of the senses. And I couldn't quite enjoy that when the world is flat and I can only glide a cursor over it.

[mszv]

From a story perspective, the best one so far is Myst IV - Myst Revelation. If you aren't into Myst, that's the one I would recommend. Yeah, it's not 3D, and it's 1st person (I get lost myself), but there's more story there. It's still a wander around kind of game, but for all that, there's more interaction, and the reading is more to the point, and it's done more interactively. Play that and you get updated on the whole story, except for Uru. I liked Myst Revelation a lot.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by mszv

From a story perspective, the best one so far is Myst IV - Myst Revelation. If you aren't into Myst, that's the one I would recommend. Yeah, it's not 3D, and it's 1st person (I get lost myself), but there's more story there. It's still a wander around kind of game, but for all that, there's more interaction, and the reading is more to the point, and it's done more interactively. Play that and you get updated on the whole story, except for Uru. I liked Myst Revelation a lot.

Absolutely, I was just about to post that.
If you're not allergic to Myst puzzles, fov, try this one. (oh, and although I love the acting, some don't at SJH)

[fov]

Originally Posted by Ninth

Absolutely, I was just about to post that.
If you're not allergic to Myst puzzles, fov, try this one. (oh, and although I love the acting, some don't at SJH)

That's a shame... it's the only one I don't own. But I have TWO copies each of Myst, Riven, and Exile, and one of RealMyst. Um, yeah. I have a problem.

I wouldn't say I'm allergic to Myst puzzles, but I'm not very good at them, either. That's why if/when I get to these games I'm giving myself total permission to play with a walkthrough.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

I LOVED Channelwood!!! That and Stoneship were my two favourite Ages. I could easily live in one of those treehouses. But yeah, I agree, that big hydraulic puzzle felt much more NATIVE to the world, made sense. It was pretty easy to figure out, and just satisfyingly tricky enough to actually put to work.

Ninth, did you play the original 2D version? I played the realMyst version, and it was so beautiful! The difference was in how you walked INTO it, and all through it you were surrounded by near deafening sounds of water and air creatures, very aural and visual. The water effect was jawdropping. And, I remember seeing frogs walking around on the platforms and when I tried to get close to them they jumped into the water!!! I loved that about realMyst!

I played a bit of the original 2D version a long time ago, and didn't like it.
A few years ago I began playing Myst-likes, like Schizm or Exile, and it made want to try Myst again.
So I got and completed RealMyst. Yes, it's gorgeous, and it's also very easy to control. And it's fun! I loved it and can't even begin to understand (so to speak) how one could prefer the original.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by fov

That's a shame... it's the only one I don't own. But I have TWO copies each of Myst, Riven, and Exile, and one of RealMyst. Um, yeah. I have a problem.

I wouldn't say I'm allergic to Myst puzzles, but I'm not very good at them, either. That's why if/when I get to these games I'm giving myself total permission to play with a walkthrough.

You know it already, but Exile is not really hard. That's the first one I've played, and it certainly is much easier than Riven.
Also, it focuses a lot more on the story (the quality of which can be discussed - I liked it), and feels less austere thanks to the 360° panning.

EDIT: Oh, and of course Myst is typically a game where using a walkthrough can be necessary, but also a game where solving the puzzles on your own feels the best.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Here is an interesting interview with Rand Miller from Gamesplanet (4/21/05):

Gamesplanet: Choose one and explain: Pre-rendered graphics or Realtime 3D graphics; First person view or Third person view Action Adventure or Graphic Adventure.

Rand Miller: Realtime 3D - because real life is dynamic, alive, and moving all the time.

First person (for our games) - because it presents a view of the world that most closely mimics real life

Graphic Adventure - because the "action" many times becomes a frustrating exercise in button pushing and starting over. And Graphic Adventures allow for much more advanced story development that is more integrated into the experience, where in Action Adventure the story is simply a background attachment.