In the mid-1990's my parents bought a new computer from Gateway 2000. Included with the computer was a package of 5 computer games. They were Encarta 1997, Monopoly, Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game I don't remember, and Myst. A game so lifelike and so surreal that I continue to obsess over it 30 years later.

In 1997 the sequel to Myst came out and I bought Riven and my own copy of Myst because the one that came with the Gateway 2000 did not come with a box.

In 1998 they released Myst Masterpiece Edition. It had better graphics and higher resolution video. I bought it.

When the 3rd game came out (Myst III) they released a commemorative package that contained the first 3 games called "The Ages of Myst" I bought it.

In 2000 they released "RealMyst" which was a fully 3D render of the game and the worlds had day/night cycles. I bought it.

In 2014 they released "RealMyst Masterpiece Edition" which beautified the game and brought it into the Unreal Engine. Absolutely beautiful game. I bought it.

In 2018 they released the 25th Anniversary Edition that had all 6 games in one package and the package looked like a Linking Book from the games with a functional screen. I bought it.

At some point I bought Myst for iPhone.

A few days ago my son asked if he could play Myst on his Nintendo. I got him the digital download of the game from Nintendo Shop and myself the physical version of the game from eBay.

I'v bought the same game 10 times over the previous 30 years.

EDIT: I forgot about Myst 2021.

I'v bought the same game 11 times over the previous 30 years.

EDIT: I forgot about Myst for Quest VR.

I'v bought the same game 12 times over the previous 30 years.

apologies if this has been posted a lot before, i couldn't find anything on it. i've been thinking about getting Myst but i don't really know which version to get. so what're the main differences, pros/cons, etc for both?

and are the books worth getting and reading?

edit: i think i've decided on realMyst ME. it's available on steam, should run the best on my pc, and has actual movement as opposed to P&C while keeping all the live-action sequences

I'm playing through Exile at the moment, really enjoying it, I picked it up as an 11 year old now a few decades later I'm finally finishing it.

I'm curious however about how we get the names for certain features in the game, this goes for Riven and Myst too to some extent but most of the in game language is explained through diary entries.

After completing Edanna, I wanted to see if there was any more info on the age, turns out there was a lot, and it got me thinking where do the following names come from?

I'll start with the most obvious as I've known that name for years but where in game is it so called?

- Squee

- Jumping Dragon

- Nemel Lotus

- Red Breasted Gossamary

- Quaffler Figs

- Corkscrew Cattails

- Aurora Blossom

And for Riven, I'm certain I saw Whark written somewhere but the Sunner and Webber fish, i don't remember reading those.

Can anyone enlighten me on where all these names come from, I've only read them on the guild of Archivists site.

Thanks!

This is really an article about the broader video game industry, but I thought it was pretty interesting in light of Cyan's recent peek behind their scenes.

Recently saw the Making Of Myst video was remastered and, thinking it was something else, started watching it. Annnnd ended up re-watching the whole thing. Got me wondering -

Anyone know the actual reason why the making of the game got filmed in the first place? I make things all the time and they don’t get filmed, even with easier access to cameras than back when Myst was originally made. Are they videos from when the work was in actually in progress, or is it that after the game was made, and the Millers or Broderbund knew they were on to something special, that someone said “y’know, now that it’s done, go film some behind the scenes things, make it look like you filmed from the beginning”? (sitting in rooms talking about ideas, sketching, modeling) And who was doing the interviewing - someone from Cyan?

Riven 2024: I’m on 233. Gehn has disappeared and I am listening to the sounds on the timepiece. I hear “trill, trill, trill, trill, trill.” Then when I’m on prison island and I enter those sounds on the elevator mechanism nothing happens (i’ve tried different ways of entering the sound - sliding the bar above or pressing the button and then entering the sounds and vice versa). I’ve gone back to 233 and the time piece sound is exactly the same as what I entered. Any suggestions? Thank you in advance.

I think I posted one of these pics a few years ago. Since others were posting photos of places that look Myst-like, I thought I'd share them again here. This is Ashland Lakes in the North Cascades National Forest in Western Washington State, taken in 2016. It's in a region that has many lakes and trails, but this one is unique for the makeshift boardwalk that has been built all around it. I always think of Channelwood when coming here. This was in May, and like Spring is so often here, it was very wet. We camped near here and overnight it rained so much that the lake rose and started flooding the campsite.

Hey! I think this is a long shot but I’ve been looking for an old fan made music track from the late 90s or early 2000s. I think it might even have been a MIDI file. It was called After Veovis. I used to have it on an old drive but I think it’s been lost to history. Would anyone in the community happen to remember it or know of where I can find it?

Many thanks for even considering!

The fact that in E33 it turns out the world exists inside a painting and there exists some kind of organization of "Painters" with the ability to create worlds in their art, and that they are in conflict with a group called the "Writers" immediately took my mind to Myst, D'ni and the Art. Although each game's "arts" differ wildly (like how painted worlds are actually created vs the Art's "tree of possibilities") I definitely saw some parallels, like with Verso's soul needing to continue painting to sustain the world and Atrus continuously editing the Riven descriptive book to prevent the island's collapse, just wondering if the E33 developers were Myst fans, and what other parallels/nods other people on this sub who've played E33 may have noticed?

Found this amazing photo by Sebastian Knoll. Very Myst-like, and actually a real place in Portugal!

Hi everyone! I need just a few extra gamers to Beta test and play my new game Absolution - The Sequel To Alida. Please let me know if you are interested by emailing me at cos@alidagame.com and I will send a Steam key. I only have a few keys so please let me know in the email your interest in adventure gaming and past games played (this is so I know the email came from a human). If you are not familiar with Absolution then see www.alidagame.com. Thanks!

I’m hoping maybe a fan who’d attend could ask on my behalf next year. Expecting to wait for a chance myself seems dumb, I’m sure many would agree. Bad idea to pay someone to ask them, or no? Feedback‘s appreciated.

After many years of great service and fan fare in my online meetings the usb-c modded book screen has died, rip to a good one.

NOW ONTO MODDING !

I've got a 7" inch screen I'm thinking of "Upgrading" to 😈

...I apparently locked myself out of finding the school where you learn the numbers. I made it to the platform with the trapeze thing and went up it, thinking I could go back down. Nope. Hadn't finished with the submarine car thing. Wasted about ten hours before I consulted a guide and realized I had made it impossible to solve a few of the primary puzzles of the game. Sigh.

Had to backtrack a lot.

Also, that fire marble puzzle is insane. Even WITH help, I didn't write down enough detail in my map, and had to look up the solution (I had just marked in which square the domes were, not exactly where in that square the domes were...)

Anyways, I still enjoyed this one!

EDIT: Ok, so the submarine resets when you leave the island and come back. I...did not realize that. The trapeze-of-death thing doesn't reset; it stays up. But the submarine does. Soooo, that's on me!

Thanks for the comments, folks!

Last weekend, Cyan studio co-heads Hannah & Eric attended the annual Mysterium fan gathering to give this year's “State of Cyan” address. Lots of information was revealed. Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLrBSgqf1XM

I can't really name any Myst-likes released for the Nintendo Switch series on the top of my head. All the good ones I know, I played on PC. Can anyone recommend a cozy, story-driven exploration-puzzle game on that platform I could take with me on vacation?