Myst (series)

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The logo for the Myst franchise
The logo for the Myst franchise

The Myst series is a franchise centered around a series of fantasy-adventure video games. Brothers Robyn and Rand Miller created the first game in the series, Myst, in 1993. Centering on the character of Atrus and his ability to write special books which act as portals to the worlds they describe, the series spans five main games and two spinoffs. Myst's success led to several novels being published.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Common elements

An illustration of a linking book from Myst. By utilizing a skill known as the "Art", individuals can write descriptive books about worlds known as Ages. The panel shows the world being described; when touched, the reader is transported to the Age.
An illustration of a linking book from Myst. By utilizing a skill known as the "Art", individuals can write descriptive books about worlds known as Ages. The panel shows the world being described; when touched, the reader is transported to the Age.

All Myst games require players to navigate through immersive worlds and solve puzzles to achieve objectives. In early games, navigation was accomplished by a frame-by-frame point-and-click navigational interface; each frame was a prerended graphic with items such as books or switches the player can interact with or pick up. Later games still had players move one scene at a time, but also integrated a free look system which allowed the player to look 360° in any direction. The final game in the main series allowed three different methods of navigation: frame-by-frame, as in the first two games, free look, as in the second two games, and then a third, new method of movement which used controls similar to first person shooters (movement is controlled by WASD keys instead of clicking.)[1]

[edit] Setting

Main article: Myst canon

Most of the Myst games take place hundreds of years in the past, on various worlds known as Ages; the Uru: Ages Beyond Myst game and its online component take place in an alternate universe in the present day. In Myst canon, the ability to write descriptive books which serve as links to other Ages was developed by an ancient civilization known as the D'ni. Due to strife between their own peoples, the D'ni civilzation fell and the survivors fled to various Ages. In Uru, archeologists are unearthing the remnants of the ancient civilization.

[edit] Story arc

The core storyline of the Myst games takes place in the five main games of the series. The games introduce the Stranger, an enigmatic traveler who unwittingly finds a linking book which takes him to the Age of Myst. The Myst book was written by a man named Atrus; as the Stranger arrives at Myst, Atrus and his wife Catherine have been exiled by their power-hungry sons, Sirrus and Achenar. The Stranger frees Atrus from his imprisonment, and helps the scientist free Catherine from the clutches of his domineering father. Sirrus and Achenar are punished for their crimes by being imprisoned in separate Ages.

Atrus, part-D'ni himself, writes an Age for the D'ni survivors to rebuild. The book is stolen by Saavedro, a peaceful resident of an Age which Sirrus and Achenar had previously destroyed. Believing his family and friends dead, Saavedro plans on tormenting Atrus, but eventually returns the book and goes back to live with his people who survived Sirrus and Achenar's near-catalclysm after the Stranger pursues him. Several years later, Atrus asks for the Stranger's help in determining if his sons have repented after their lengthy imprisonment; the Stranger saves Atrus' daughter Yeesha from Sirrus' machinations, but both Sirrus and a repentant Achenar are killed.

[edit] Games

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Novels

David Wingrove helped to write a series of novels focusing on the background story much more deeply than the games.

(All three of these are available in a combined, paperback version called The Myst Reader.) Myst: The Book of Marrim is the fourth planned novel in the Myst series of novels, which supplements the storylines of the Myst computer game series. As originally announced, the book will be written by Rand Miller, with assistance from David Wingrove and some of the other staff at Cyan Worlds.

The project was apparently conceived many years ago but has been "on the back burner" for a long time, while Cyan and Miller were creating the computer games Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, Myst V: End of Ages, and Myst Online: Uru Live. With Myst Online: Uru Live cancelled, the status of the book remains unknown.

A small preview of the book is included in the 2006 European Collector's Edition of Myst V: End of Ages and in the Myst V: End of Ages Soundtrack. Despite this, the book was mentioned at the MYSTerium fan convention of 2006 as still being far from complete.

[edit] Comics

Cyan partnered with Dark Horse Comics in 1993 to release a limited four-part comic series entitled Myst: The Book of the Black Ships. The series would have focused on Atrus and his sons. The first book was released on September 3, 1997,[3] but further books were canceled after Cyan decided the first issue did not live up to expectations.[4] Another comic, Myst #0: Passages, was later released online.[4]

[edit] Film

In April 2002, the Sci Fi Channel announced a TV miniseries based on the original Myst game, which was to be produced by Mandalay Television Pictures in association with Columbia TriStar Domestic Television and Cyan Worlds.[5] After the script reached the desk of Tony Fryman (president of Cyan Worlds), he rejected it for several reasons, including a love scene on a beach between Atrus and Catherine, surrounded by monkeys.[6]

Independent filmmakers Patrick A. McIntire and Adrian Vanderbosch have plans to produce a theatrical motion picture that is based on the Myst universe, allegedly with with the support of Cyan Worlds. According to a press release, the project will be based on the book Myst: The Book of Ti'ana.[7][8]

McIntire and Vanderbosch's preliminary script was reportedly well-received by Cyan staff; CEO Rand Miller stated that the script "Got me very excited - great job! I would just love to see this movie!"[9] The filmmakers launched a teaser website in January 2008 which featured coded puzzles.[10]

[edit] Music

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[edit] Development

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[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical response

As of November 27, 2007, the Myst computer game series has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[11]\

While the Myst games have all been generally well-received, critical opinion has long been divided on the game. 1UP writer Jeremy Parish noted that there have been two main opinions of Myst's slow, puzzle-based gameplay.[12]

[edit] Cultural impact

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3144097&did=1
  2. ^ Empire Interactive's Myst DS Goes Gold. IGN (2008-03-31). Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
  3. ^ http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=96-709
  4. ^ a b Cook, Brad (2001-04-01). The Lost Ages: Myst 3 Revealed (page 2). Apple, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  5. ^ Sci Fi Channel Press Release on sftv.org
  6. ^ Monkeys? Really? article on mystmovie.com
  7. ^ Mysteria Film Group (2008-12-01). ""The Mysteriacs provide a project summary for the press regarding the Myst Motion Picture"". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  8. ^ WebWire (2008-04-28). ""All eyes on filmmakers in push for Myst Movie"". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  9. ^ Words from Atrus Himself entry on mystmovie.com
  10. ^ Myst: The Motion Picture puzzle entry on mystlore.com
  11. ^ Empire Interactive (2007-11-27). "Silverstar's Empire Interactive Introduces Myst Nintendo DS for North America". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  12. ^ http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3135149&p=1

[edit] External links

[edit] Official

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Myst franchise and related topics
Myst series
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