What’s the toughest puzzle in Myst? What’s the key to creating a satisfying puzzle? Is Myst sequel Riven coming to VR? Virtually 30 years after first envisioning Myst island, what’s it like seeing that world at night time and visiting it with others?
I put these inquiries to Cyan co-founder Rand Miller together with growth director Hannah Gamiel and artistic director Eric A. Anderson as they joined me for a spherical of mini golf enjoying Mighty Coconut’s Walkabout Mini Golf model of Myst island. I not too long ago performed via a near-final model of the day mode of the Myst course with Mighty Coconut founder Lucas Martell, however the night time mode affords a far greater problem.
Within the edited recording embedded beneath Miller joined the spherical from the unique Quest headset whereas I recorded from Quest Professional and we performed till his battery practically died. To place the concentrate on the builders, I solely included my microphone for a couple of moments later in our playthrough. Although the arduous mode course crushed us, we lined various topics starting from the market measurement of AR vs. VR, Tilt 5’s tabletop AR system, Apple VR, Riven VR, user-generated content material, what makes a great puzzle, how properly the Quest & Steam variations of Myst VR bought, and the way VR pertains to the evolution of know-how during the last 30 years.
Is Riven Coming To VR?
Riven, Myst’s sequel, initially launched in 1997 unfold throughout 5 compact discs. Cyan simply introduced a remake is in lively growth and “will likely be absolutely traversable in 3D house” whereas few different particulars have been confirmed.
“What we now have stated to this point is there clearly is a sample with the way in which that we’re releasing our video games and remakes and that people received’t be disillusioned,” Gamiel stated of Riven.
Myst launched for Quest headsets on the finish of 2020 and got here to Steam VR in late 2021. Earlier this yr, Cyan added hand monitoring help for the complete sport on Quest.
“In case you have been glad with the Myst remake, you’ll doubtless be glad with what we’re doing with Riven,” stated Anderson.
“Let’s simply say we’re getting fairly good at VR,” Miller added later.
Different parts of our dialogue revealed how for the VR model of Myst, Cyan maxed out the Quest’s guardian system whereas clearing out a basement space, Miller stated, and “it was virtually sufficiently big that you may stroll from finish to finish with out hitting the wall. So it was, it was like an actual house journey….you may stroll round and simply go from wall to wall within the library in actual house… It was so fascinating to do this.”
Miller, Gamiel and Anderson additionally lined the challenges of puzzle design and world-building as we performed via our 18 holes, ending with a view of Myst island at night time.
“We design puzzles, that in the long run, even when they’re arduous, as soon as they’re solved, the participant says ‘Oh, that was my fault. I ought to have seen that. I ought to have gotten that. I ought to have understood that.’ We’ve accomplished our job. If on the finish of it…they go, ‘properly, how was I alleged to see that?’ Then we haven’t accomplished our jobs,” Miller stated. “A lot of this laptop sport stuff is identical as every other sort of leisure the place it’s about this proper stability of frustration and aid.”
