Re: Myst!


19 Jan 1995 03:29:49 GMT

Myst, it would seem, was designed differently than "classic" IF games as
we know them. The idea was to make the user interface as transparent as
possible, thus, the only menus have to do with saving and restoring
(more or less) and everything else is done "with your hand." The only
carryable items are the pieces of paper (and the match) and you can
only carry one item at a time, thus eliminating the need for a "menu"
of items, or a line of things carried at the bottom of the screen.
While the idea is sort of the same for text based IF and Myst,
a game like Myst must be desgined somewhat differently. I am used to
Inform, and I know that programming a text based game, with heirarchies
and attributes and a simple box map is very different than making detailed
drawings and animations, then connecting them with a graphics scripting
language and defining hot zones on the screen for the mouse. The initial
concept may be the same, but the execution is entirely different, as is
the end product.
If you are looking to create a Myst type game, I would suggest a
powerful graphics scripting language that allows integration of animation,
graphics, sound, and control over the mouse (it's appearance, it's
functionality, etc.). I realized to my chagrin after playing Myst with
a friend, that only the lack of a fast processor and a CD-ROM drive
prevented me from doing essentially the same thing on my Amiga.
Play Myst a few more times. Examine it not just for it's puzzles,
but also for it's mood, atmosphere, and so forth. What really drives the
game? Is it graphics alone, or is it a combination of the nearly seemless
user interface, the uncertainty when you are thrust into the game and
the surreal nature of the landscapes? Perhaps a "Myst-killer" could be
successful with multiple objects. (I often wonder what the sequal, in
progress, will be like.) The point is, it's not the same as an IF
front end, and the "sacrifices" made by the brothers at Cyan perhaps
were done for the sake of mood and story.
Good luck.

-Armande

-- 

"you could have it all my empire of dirt i will let you down i will make you hurt"

-Trent Reznor

"And somewhere he was laughing, in a white painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face." -William Gibson, NEUROMANCER