Myst (game)
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 | This article is written from an OOC point-of-view. Events and elements in the D'ni Universe are regarded as fictional. |
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| Developer | Cyan |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Brøderbund, Midway Games, Mean Hamster Software, Sunsoft |
| Designers | Robyn Miller, Rand Miller |
| Releases |
Mac OS: Sep 24, 1993 Windows: Mar 1994 (additional releases) |
| Genres | graphic adventure, puzzle |
| Mode | Single-player |
| ESRB rating | E |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
| Followed by | Riven |
Myst is a pre-rendered adventure computer game, with a simple point-and-click interface. Developed by Cyan) and published by Brøderbund, it was released on September 24, 1993 after roughly two years of work. Its tremendous success sparked four sequels, several re-releases and bundles, a complete remake, three novels, a spin-off computer game series, and arguably an entire new genre of games heavily inspired from Myst's simplicity and style of puzzles, the solving of which is required in order to progress in, and complete, the game.
Myst also very subtly introduced the story and history of an entire civilization, the D'ni, to the player. The D'ni-related themes are much further developed in the first sequel, Riven, in the three novels and in the Uru spin-off series. The events of Myst take place in 1806 AD, or 9462 DE.
Myst was widely acclaimed for the then-unusual amount of graphical detail. It was one of the first games to ship on CD-ROM, rather than floppy disks, and actually came bundled with some CD-ROM drives of the time, which were still an unusual piece of hardware to have in the home PC market.
The first Hypercard stack that eventually evolved into Myst was created April 21, 1991 9:54AM PST[1]. The original version of Myst was released for Macintosh computers on September 24, 1993.
The game begins at and revolves around Myst Island. The Stoneship, Mechanical, Selenitic, and Channelwood Ages are featured (all four of which contain numerous clues to solving the game); those of Haven and Spire are hinted at though not expanded upon until Myst IV: Revelation; and D'ni (more specifically: K'veer) is seen at the end, with the imprisoned Atrus sitting there at a desk.
Myst was named after Jules Verne's Mysterious Island.[2]
Masterpiece Edition[edit | edit source]
An updated version was released in August 1999: the images were re-rendered in 24-bit truecolor (instead of the original 8-bit palette), the score was re-mastered, and sound effects were enhanced.
Re-releases and ports[edit | edit source]
Myst has been remade various times and ported to multiple platforms:
- Mac System 7.1: September 24, 1993
- Windows 3.1: March 1994[3]
- Sega CD (never released): 1994[4][5]
- 3DO Interactive Multiplayer: March 17, 1995
- Sega Saturn: September, 1995
- Atari Jaguar: 1995[6]
- PlayStation 1: September 30, 1996 (NA)
- November 15, 1996 (PAL)
- Philips CD-i: 1996
- AmigaOS: 1997
- Myst: Masterpiece Edition: August 24, 1999 (Windows)[7][8]
- Windows Mobile/Pocket PC: February 2005[9]
- PlayStation Portable: 2006 (JP and EU)[10]
- 2008 (US)
- Nintendo DS: December 7, 2007 (EU)
- May 13, 2008 (NA)[11]
- iOS: May 5, 2009[8]
- Nintendo 3DS: 2012
- PlayStation 3: May 18, 2012[12]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Email from RAWA to RIUM+, dated October 26, 2007 5:50 AM
- ↑ Adam Morgan. "Into the Myst: The Oral History of America's Oldest Surviving Indie Game Studio", Inverse, March 15, 2023, accessed 2024-01-17.
- ↑ Jimmy Maher, "Myst (or, The Drawbacks to Success)", The Digital Antiquarian, February 21, 2020.
- ↑ "Next Wave - Sega CD - Myst (Sunsoft)". EGM2. No. 2. Sendai Publishing. August 1994. p. 59.
- ↑ "Next Wave - Sega CD - Myst (Sunsoft)". EGM2. No. 5. Sendai Publishing. November 1994. p. 74.
- ↑ "Atari Jaguar Myst". Atari Mania. Accessed June 6, 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "User talk:Daxeria" (section "Myst: Masterpiece Edition"), The Cutting Room Floor, accessed November 16, 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Myst Masterpiece and realMyst", Myst Journey, accessed November 14, 2020.
- ↑ "Myst for PocketPC". Archived from the original on December 13, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ↑ "Myst Set for PSP". IGN. November 22, 2005.
- ↑ Purchese, Rob (June 7, 2007). "Myst heads to DS". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007.
- ↑ "Myst, A PS One Classic Adventure Game For The PS3™ & PSP® System - PlayStation®". Us.playstation.com. May 15, 2012. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013.
