Topic: Myst (Read 12680 times)

Luke · « **on:** 28 Dec 2005, 00:38 »

If you haven't played any of the games in this series, you really are missing out. Myst was the first of a series of games that pretty much started the trend in making detailed games for PCs.

I've played through the entirety of Myst, Riven (Myst #2), and Exile (Myst #3). We have Uru (which I believe to essentially be Myst #4), but we need to make some improvements to our computer to get the graphics working properly. If you like puzzles, then this is the top-of-the-line in puzzle games. The graphics are absolutely beautiful, too - even in the original game (Myst), which was designed for Windows '95.

I won't even get into how great the story behind this series is.

Anybody else here ever played these games?

ElRodente · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 04:38 »

i have, but i've never owned it, so i never got very far.

Switchblade · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 05:42 »

Tried them, and very quickly grew tired of them.

I'm inclined to agree with PC Gamer UK here... there are so many INFINITELY better puzzle games available, yet people keep coming back to a trilogy that was never particularly special in the first place.

elcapitan · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 06:03 »

I finished Myst, and haven't played any other games in the series. I agree that there are better puzzle games - some of the puzzles in Myst were completely illogical and infuriating, and some were just fiddly to do with the interface provided - but the atmosphere was amazing. The island of Myst itself was great, spooky and convincing; I kept wanting to look over my shoulder.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 16:04 »

I played Riven with my dad and my brother (I played some of the Mysts too, but Riven was more recent). Those games were pretty fun, but also pretty hard. I agree with what the good Captain said - lovely atmosphere.

FaultyGluestick · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 22:25 »

I've played the very first one, but I was too young to understand it. I thought the whole point of the game was to click the arrows. I've also read the Myst books, but they suck.

Luke · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Dec 2005, 17:44 »

Quote from: elcapitan

The island of Myst itself was great, spooky and convincing; I kept wanting to look over my shoulder.

This is the one thing that is so great about the Myst series. Myst was pretty spooky, especially when you were inside buildings - but Riven really sets it off. Riven scared the crap out of me in several instances, and because of this I was particularly edgy when playing Exile, even though nothing like that ever happened in that game.

As far as the puzzles went, I have to agree that Myst was particularly frustrating at times - but I think it was due, like you said, to the interface. Exile (Myst III) was the first to completely defeat this problem, as it provides you with a full 360x360 view for every single place you stand, so you don't have to worry about missing anything for not being able to see it well enough.

Quote from: Switchblade

there are so many INFINITELY better puzzle games available, yet people keep coming back to a trilogy that was never particularly special in the first place.

Incidentally, it's not a trilogy - after doing some research last night, I learned there are five games in total, plus a side-project game that they did that's a little less-closely tied to the original story.
But if there are puzzle games that are infinitely better than the Myst series, I would certainly like to see them. I have yet to witness a game that beats the graphics and the story behind Myst. Heck, when I get stuck in these games, my desire to find out what happens next is what keeps me going. It's like a movie, except you have to work a lot harder to see it.

Now, a computer question. After finishing the first three Myst games, my dad bought "Uru" (which is not Myst 4 as I thought, but just an offside game related to the story). On our machine, Uru has some rough graphics, missing text, and crashes after 15-30 minutes of being played. I looked on the manufacturer's support site, and they say it's related to a conflict between DirectX and the Intel graphics card. They suggested visiting the DirectX download site to see if there are any newer versions of DirectX, and as far as I can tell, there aren't.

We have DirectX 9.0c, which is currently the latest version available.
We have an Intel 82865G graphics controller.

What would be our next course of action? Our computer meets the ideal (not just the minimum) requirements for this game in every single other aspect (RAM, disc drive speed, hard drive space, etc). It's just the graphics controller that's causing problems. Do we have to buy & install a new card or something, or is there other software we can download?

Switchblade · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Dec 2005, 04:54 »

It's an INTEL graphics card. Quid Erat Demonstrandum.

For god's sake, man, I IMPLORE you to replace that thing with a decent GeForce, post haste.

Or a Radeon.

McTaggart · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Dec 2005, 22:23 »

82865g? That's onboard isn't it?

See if you can pick up a graphics card (Personally, I'd go with an ATi Radeon, in my opion they draw everything nicer.)

TheChef · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Dec 2005, 22:56 »

As the rest have said, throw in a decent card and get playing! I loved Uru, although I wish it would've been a bit more expansive like the previous games, although I see the reasoning behing making it smaller. I was horribly upset when I found out that the To D'Ni online experience was shut down, as that looked to be very promising. As for the series in general, I haven't found any puzzle games to more fun or challenging (hell, I played the games and took NOTES the whole time to piece them together, even went as far to learn little pieces of the language). Reading the books, however good or bad people think they are, really add a lot to whole experience, and I suggest them to anybody who has played the games.
I haven't picked up any of the content past Uru, unfortunatley. Anybody have some insights as to wether or not those are good ones?

Luke · « **Reply #10 on:** 31 Dec 2005, 01:18 »

Quote from: McTaggart

82865g? That's onboard isn't it?

Yeah, whatever graphics stuff we have is stock. The only thing we've ever replaced in our computer is the modem card. All right, I'll talk to my father about getting a new graphics card. Not just for this game, though - we got Civ 4 recently, and there have been some strange comeuppances with the graphics - for instance, when you talk to the leaders of other nations, you don't see anything other than their eyes and teeth, which actually proves to be a very amusing diplomatic exchange.

I've never even heard of a series of Myst books; I'll look into it if it seems promising at all. As far as Uru is concerned, it's supposed to take place about 200 years after Myst, and apparently was just a side-story. They released Uru before Myst 4, and it seems to be just a sidetrack thing continuing a part of the story that the original Myst series abandoned (the D'ni civilization).

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to take notes to solve the Myst puzzles. Never learned pieces of the language, though (not that I didn't try).

Spike · « **Reply #11 on:** 31 Dec 2005, 02:08 »

I remember one particular puzzle inside of something that looked like a rocket ship. You had to match the tones you heard somewhere else on the island. As an almost tonedeaf 7 year old is was a most infuriating puzzle from hell. I've never really looked into the rest of the Myst games, mainly because I don't know if I have the conviction to finish them, and I don't feel that it is a game you could leave sitting for two to three months and then come back to.

On a seperate note, Civilization 4 was surprisingly taxing as far as system specs go. Oh well, progress comes at a price.

FreshJive787 · « **Reply #12 on:** 31 Dec 2005, 02:26 »

one of my favorite games of all time. riven was the best of the series in my personal opinion.

Luke · « **Reply #13 on:** 02 Jan 2006, 01:03 »

Personally, I think Myst < Riven < Exile. Exile was just f'n fun - especially the Amateria island. I saved Amateria for last the second time I played through Exile because I remembered liking that age so much.

The rocketship tone puzzle was probably the easiest thing in Myst for me to do, but that's because I'm a freak and have near-perfect pitch. In fact, I think I still remember the tone sequence.

C - G - Bb (high) - F - Bb (low)

AdamIsConceited · « **Reply #14 on:** 02 Jan 2006, 12:53 »

My father and I used to play the first game together... believe it or not that game scared me at times (I was only 10 or something at the time)

illu45 · « **Reply #15 on:** 08 Jan 2006, 08:12 »

Yeah... the original Myst scared the hell out of me, too... The music was really good. Robyn Miller is awesome for in-game music.

Anyow, I've played and beaten the first three, and I've got the fourth, though Idon't play it too much... I think its a great series, though... The story is really well done, although I think that the original Myst and Riven had far superior stories to M3 and M4. Nonetheless, good games. Shame about URU, though.

josiah · « **Reply #16 on:** 17 Jan 2006, 23:49 »

Quote

... the original game (Myst), which was designed for Windows '95.

Hate to be a bit pedantic, but I feel obligated to say that it was originally written on and for Macs in 1993 and was ported to Windows in 1994 -- pre-Win95. That said, I loved Myst (played it in Windows, myself). Had problems with Riven... I think the version I had was buggy. Got to a specific point and got stuck, and where this in and of itself was not particularly unique, I was stuck long enough that I cheated and went to a spoiler book, used the prescribed solution (which was the solution I'd found, anyway), and that failed. Maybe the CD was corrupt, I'll never know.

emmie · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 Jan 2006, 22:45 »

I have a computer which I only use for Riven and Myst. And they still freak me out. Especially that generator room on Myst. I am such a pussy >_<

AdamIsConceited · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Jan 2006, 05:25 »

Quote from: josiah

Quote
... the original game (Myst), which was designed for Windows '95.

Hate to be a bit pedantic, but I feel obligated to say that it was originally written on and for Macs in 1993 and was ported to Windows in 1994 -- pre-Win95.

I was waiting for someone to clarify on this. I loved Riven too... I seemed to get stuck pretty constantly.

Luke · « **Reply #19 on:** 04 Feb 2006, 08:19 »

I'm very well aware of Myst's history, josiah - the only reason I said "designed for" was to point out just how great the graphics in the game were, even back in the Win95 installment. It's also quite obvious that Myst was originally a Mac game, given that Broderbund was credited as one of its main developers.

Also, josiah - did you ever end up finishing Riven?

Duchess Tapioca · « **Reply #20 on:** 04 Feb 2006, 16:21 »

I did not like it because I was not really interested in the story, and I had too little patience to figure out the puzzles. So I ended up using the little cheater book. Then I felt bad about cheating.

It was really pretty, but I also hate being scared by computer games! Ahh!

If I want to play computer games, I want to have a sword and adventure and buy garlic and avocado sandwiches at the general store. I do not want to be creeped out by never never seeing anyone except a skeleton and loud clangy noises and dark!

I liked Exile though, it was prettier and there were plants and I didn't have to cheat.

I like it when there are roller-coasters and pretty music.

Switchblade · « **Reply #21 on:** 05 Feb 2006, 14:43 »

Please don't take this the wrong way - I'm not being nasty at all, I swear.

That was the girliest game review and comparison EVER!!! It was so cute!

I have a massive grin on my face right now...

DeceptiveAnomaly · « **Reply #22 on:** 05 Feb 2006, 19:21 »

Quote from: josiah

Quote
... the original game (Myst), which was designed for Windows '95.

Hate to be a bit pedantic, but I feel obligated to say that it was originally written on and for Macs in 1993 and was ported to Windows in 1994 -- pre-Win95. That said, I loved Myst (played it in Windows, myself). Had problems with Riven... I think the version I had was buggy. Got to a specific point and got stuck, and where this in and of itself was not particularly unique, I was stuck long enough that I cheated and went to a spoiler book, used the prescribed solution (which was the solution I'd found, anyway), and that failed. Maybe the CD was corrupt, I'll never know.

I'm guessing you got stuck underwater in the submarine? That was a bug and you need to download a patch to fix that.

ayePod · « **Reply #23 on:** 06 Feb 2006, 01:58 »

Myst was the first PC game I got and I fucking loved it. The story was so cool and the entire concept behind the whole game intrigued me. Sure it's losing out to newer titles but it still holds a place in my heart.

Luke · « **Reply #24 on:** 08 Feb 2006, 16:17 »

Psh, "new games."

almost thursday · « **Reply #25 on:** 09 Feb 2006, 08:38 »

Quote from: DeceptiveAnomaly

I'm guessing you got stuck underwater in the submarine? That was a bug and you need to download a patch to fix that.

those fucking submarines!

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Myst (Read 12680 times)

Luke

Stifled Dreams

FaultyGluestick

Luke

TheChef

Luke

Luke

AdamIsConceited

illu45

emmie

AdamIsConceited

Luke

DeceptiveAnomaly

ayePod

Luke

almost thursday