Revisiting Myst

For those who were around computers in the early 1990s, it was nearly impossible to have missed, Myst. By many standards it was a revolution in gaming. Myst was unique because you couldn’t die and you couldn’t fail. There was no redo, no score, no timer and no replay button. Instructions were limited and users were pushed to discover everything on their own. It brought about a new way of thinking for game creation, and was one of the main applications responsible for the eventual take over of the CD-ROM as the primary medium for game (and data) distribution in the 1990s.

For those who missed it, a quick recap of the game. Myst offered a complicated, non-linear story held within a beautifully rendered 3D environment. You played from a first person point of view and controlled the game with your mouse. To move you simply clicked where you wanted to move to. Interactions with objects and puzzles was also done with a simple click or, excitingly enough, a click and drag. No keyboard or joystick was needed. Not even a right mouse button.
In actuality, the environments were all pre-rendered stills which had been created using very primitive and basic 3D software, Stratavision 3D, on early Macintosh Quadras. Any touch-ups were done with Photoshop 1.0! The game was made up of 2,500 frames and 66 minutes of QuickTime animations and full motion videos (FMV). The rendering and animation were done in the days of 8-bit colour, so painstaking effort was taken to make the stills appear as lifelike as possible despite the lack of a proper truelife colour pallet. The entire game was created and meant be played on Apple computers. (An ironic shift that such a ground breaking and popular game was made for a Mac and not a PC. Oh how the times have changed.)

The game ended up being so popular that it was ported not only to PCs but as well to a handful of other lesser-known, or more likely forgotten, systems such as Jaguar CD, AmigaOS and CD-i. It spawned 4 (semi-)official sequels along with several remakes, re-ports, and books . The entire game was recreated in 2000 to offer a free-roaming version that rendered the world in real time. The game has also been released for the Xbox, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and where I’m currently replaying it, the Iphone/Ipod touch.

The game was made up of several worlds (better described as islands) in which the gamer explored, found clues to the true meaning of the game, and tried to figure out very complex and often times frustratingly difficult puzzles. The majority of the story was told through the 66 minutes of FMV mentioned above and clues embedded within the game. I’ll leave out any details about the actual story of Myst, because knowing anything before going into the game will only serve to reduce the fun and challenge it offers. No detail was insignificant and the manual that accompanied the game recommended players keep a journal of any details they may discover on their journey.

I never finished the game when it first came out. I found it to creepy, weird and difficult. (I use to prefer games like Gizmo’s and Gadgets). My dad never finished it either, despite buying at least 2 of the subsequent sequels (One of them was 4 CDs long and still only consisted of pre-rendered stills). Because you couldn’t die, you couldn’t really screw up either. However running into roadblocks wasn’t all that uncommon. (Remember, this game was in the days prior to wide-spread access to the internet, and as such online walkthroughs were basically unheard of - although I do remember being able to buy 200-300 page books on how to complete the game.)
So, what is it like returning to the game some 15+ years later? First off, this game works perfectly on the Iphone. The basic touch to move system carries over seamlessly and the sporadic nature of gaming on the Iphone works flawlessly with Myst (No saving is required, although it is possible. The game boots quickly to your last location.)

Graphically, I was amazed to remember how blown away I was at the game way back in the 90s. Don’t get me wrong. It looks great. But it sure isn’t Call of Duty 4 or Farcry. By today’s standards I would put it at around 5/10. Not bad for a game that will be 20 years old soon. There are spots where the amount of detail that went into the visual aspect of the game really shines through. While a few of the textures are absolutely horrible, a majority of them range from decent to absolutely amazing. As well, the FMVs are worked into the game seamlessly and don’t cause the player to be pulled out of the environment as they often do today.

The music in the game is sparingly used at best. Again the creators took great pains to make sure it works to bolster the atmosphere of the game and not diminish it. In returning to the game, perhaps what surprised me the most is the use of sound effects. Not only are they used in creating the atmosphere, but they are also used in solving many of the games puzzles. (For example, having a background in music and a musically trained ear may not be necessary for one of the puzzles, but it sure helps). The sound effects that are chosen are grounded enough in our world that they can give some sort of hint to what is occurring in the game world.

Perhaps what separated this game the most from everything else on the market at the time was the game play. The creators took a very basic engine, which simply loaded a single frame and sound effects when the user clicked in appropriate places, and created an entire world to explore. Amazingly enough, the game play still works today. There are limitations, and they are obvious, but they are also a huge part of the game. Part of what makes Myst enjoyable is learning to work within what the creators have given you. You want to look in a certain direction, but the game won’t let you? Perhaps there is a reason for this, or maybe you need to rethink your approach.

Finally, the issue of difficulty. The game was known for being very hard due to its intricate puzzles. Sure you couldn’t die in the game, but getting stuck in a puzzle sure made you feel like you had. Coming back to the game some 15 years later, I amazingly enough do remember a lot about the game. I remember some solutions to early puzzles but at the same time I also got so stuck that I had to look up the solution on the internet (apparently, you need to shut an elevator door, before the button to make it goes up works). So far I have found the game mostly easy, but I still have well over half of the game to play and expect as my memory run’s out, the game’s puzzles will become more challenging. I also remember the difficulty of Myst being linked to the all islands’ large size and complexity. However, returning to the game, I think that probably has to do with being less then 10 years old when I first played the game.

All things considered, the game has held up nicely over the years. It may not get your blood pumping as fast as it will playing any of the newer games around now a days, but Myst still manages to pull you into it’s world remarkably fast and to keep you there. (I only felt really pulled into the world of Call of Duty 4 once in the entire game) Not bad for a group of 6 guys working out of a garage.

If you have an Iphone or Ipod touch and have $5.99 lying around in coins, I would recommend taking the opportunity to revisit the worlds of Myst.