Myst creator closing shop

[Draft]

Cyan Worlds, the developer who practically invented the concept of walking around manhandling pretty things, have been shut down. And of course, this being 2005, one of them is blogging (http://www.thegreydragon.com/2005/09/time-of-your-life-almost-all-of-cyan.html) about it.Almost all of Cyan Worlds, Inc. was laid off today, including me. I know with the talent we have here people will find new places to go and do great things. It’s sad to see a company with such talented people to basicly expire.He goes on to mention a hamburger gathering, which is sweet, and to quote Green Day's "Time of your Life," which is totally unsweet. The only time that song's appropriate is the ass end of a senior prom.

I never really "got" Myst, but it is sad to see such an influential (if somewhat anonymous) developer fold up. They dragged the industry into the age of CD-ROMs, redefining what passed for videogame production values. Whether or not that was a good thing, I leave to you.

Here's wishing the job hunt is short and breezy for all the ex-Cyan employees.

[Cupelix]

Cyan Worlds, the developer who practically invented the concept of walking around manhandling pretty things, have been shut down. Adventure games existed long before Myst, but I'd at least agree that they brought it to the masses.

Guess this certainly confirms that Myst V really is the "End of Ages."

[Draft]

Adventure games existed long before Myst, but I'd at least agree that they brought it to the masses.

Guess this certainly confirms that Myst V really is the "End of Ages."They weren't pretty before Myst.

[vladthedog]

I'm actually playing through Riven on my ibook right now :) i wanna play the new one eventually, but I've only ever beat the first one.

[bean19]

I wonder if this came as a surprise to any of them? Shouldn't you design a few games that are profitable if you want to keep your company afloat?

[Ravana]

Thats what you get for burning the Mechanical Age theme into my brain you filthy bastards :mad:

[KNOTE]

Myst was the best selling game of all time until the Sims knocked it off. It's crazy to think that you can fall that far. No one is safe!

[Draft]

Myst was the best selling game of all time until the Sims knocked it off. It's crazy to think that you can fall that far. No one is safe!Myst is also very old. They couldn't live of its profit forever. Also, remember they launched a failed MMO. That's got to put a serious strain on the old pocketbook.

[Taco]

I still remember my father bringing it into the car after buying. I had never heard of the damn thing and was not expecting a new game(a nice surprise). Played through it, had a bit of fun.

Rivan was just back asswards complex to the point it didn't make any sense if I remeber correctly. Didh't play any after that.

[StANTo]

Cyan, you will be missed.

I think URU was their biggest mistake, and put the nail in the coffin. I've followed the Myst saga since it first began. Each game progressively better than the last. Then Ubisoft aquired them/started producing the Myst games. Myst 3 just lost the quality, it felt short and as though it wasn't thought out. The story just didn't feel to be there. However, gameplay and overall looks were taking the right direction.

Myst IV felt like the pinnacle of the genre. It kept that wonderfully simplistic point and click 360 affair and mixed it with 3d graphics and film footage. It merged well, it carried across in a good manner. I'm still playing through it I'm that stuck. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

Myst V, Uru. An engine and mmorpg attempt that, while embraced by the community, was flooded and hung up with poor coding and mistakes that drowned out the game far beyond any amazing graphical enhancements they achieved. The gameplay was changed in a manner that was refreshing, but it didn't feel like Myst. They should've stopped with Myst IV and moved onto Myst V.

Myst V. I've played the demo, they've moved onto using the Uru engine. It doesn't quiet pan out, they've underestimated the necessary computer system requirements to run it. Again, it being just under top of the range graphics cards required to say the least to run it properly. I can't even tell if the storyline's there or not, but it's brought on some interesting aspects and certainly uses the Uru engine in a way that feels like it's gone back to it's roots.

No, sadly. I feel the Uru mmorpg style attempt was Cyan's death. Ever since that Cyan employee accidently sent out that acceptance letter to all the Beta players and everyone was allowed onto the servers bringing them crashing down.

Long live Cyan. You shot yourself in the foot, but it was fun all the while.

[Morrolan]

Myst IV: Revelation was the best in the series so far, and one of the best adventure games ever made. It, of course, can't compete with games like Fandango the Grim, or Journey the Longest in terms of plot or characters or what-have-you, but by the same token, those games aren't even elligible to compete with the Myst series in terms of the creation of atmosphere. Plus, in a first for the Myst series, Revelation had really great puzzles.

As the guy said, most of the Cyan guys will have no problem landing on their feet.

[Heretic Machine]

Good ridance to bad rubbish... They invented one of the most annoying genres of gaming, ever, which also happend to steal away the name Adventure from good games like Monkey Island. These weren't adventure games, they were glorified puzzle games, often times illogical.

These guys have about the same standing with me as the fuckers who made the Tycoon games.

[StANTo]

These weren't adventure games, they were glorified puzzle games, often times illogical.

Then obviously, Monkey Island can't be compared to Myst, but of course everyone expects a Rubber Chicken to have a pulley in the middle to sway across a gorge, right?

They invented one of the most annoying genres of gaming, ever

Using the hints and walkthroughs does not finished a game make. Kekekekekekeke XD

[TheKeck]

Good ridance to bad rubbish... They invented one of the most annoying genres of gaming, ever, which also happend to steal away the name Adventure from good games like Monkey Island. These weren't adventure games, they were glorified puzzle games, often times illogical.

These guys have about the same standing with me as the fuckers who made the Tycoon games.

Oh man. I totally have to disagree. Myst was classic. I was absolutely was immersed by it. The puzzles felt reasonable to me, and as part of a story.

I remember for one birthday I asked the guy at the EB Games (or whatever it was) about different games and he recommended one called Milo. It's "a lot like Myst" he said. Well, it wasn't. It was pure crap. They had tons of little mini game puzzles, that were puzzles pure and simple. There was no story. It was just like, "your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to beat all these puzzles on easy and hard modes. Then you'll have won."

It was terrible, and for me, Myst was just never like that. I also played and loved Riven, but never went beyond that. Perhaps I'm the reason Cyan is going out of business. : :(

[Noman]

> Myst V. I've played the demo, they've moved onto using the Uru
> engine. It doesn't quiet pan out, they've underestimated the
> necessary computer system requirements to run it. Again, it being
> just under top of the range graphics cards required to say the least
> to run it properly.

It works more than adequately on a $50 9600Pro graphic card at 1024x768 res with AA and AF applied. I am talking about frame rates in 30s, and that's when most of its intended audience will play it with the 'classic' interface which uses node based movements, making any slowdowns in frame rates even less noticeable.

And at 9800Pro-6600GT levels, the game flies.

Of course it may not work that well, if one is playing on an LCD with native res of 1600x1200 or 1920x1080, but I think those people either don't play games or they already own a graphic card that works on those high resolutions.

[StANTo]

Myst V chugs (http://forums.ubi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5811098262/m/1341043943).

Considering it's recommended/minimum specs are:

* Supported OS: Windows® 2000/XP (only)
* Processor: 800 MHz Pentium® III or AMD Athlon™ or better (Pentium IV recommended)
* RAM: 128 MB RAM (256 recommended) (256 MB required for XP)
* Video Card: 32 MB DirectX® 9.0c-compliant video card (see supported list*)
* Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compliant
* DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (included on disc)
* 4x or faster CD-ROM drive (Limited Edition requires a 4x DVD-ROM drive)
* Hard Drive Space: 4.5 GB free
* Peripherals: Mouse, keyboard

It's pushing it a little.

[Taco]

Adventure games have always had a stupid unexplainable click(or type) til you get it right element to them. Saying Myst started it is ignorant.

[buckfutter]

I'm a big Myst fan, but I hated Myst IV. Couldn't stand it, just didn't feel right at all. Myst III was a decent game, as was Uru, but Myst and Riven are on a special pedestal in my mind. Myst was one of my "formative" gaming experiences, actually. Playing the demo of Myst V, I felt some of that old spark again, and now that this has happened, I'm feeling nostalgic enough to put my money down for it sooner rather than later.

[51|RandoM]

Myst is also very old. They couldn't live of its profit forever.

...tell that to Scott Miller.

[bait]

Then obviously, Monkey Island can't be compared to Myst, but of course everyone expects a Rubber Chicken to have a pulley in the middle to sway across a gorge, right?



Actually, I remember solving that puzzle in Monkey Island I...it made sense in context. Lucasfilm/arts adventures were generally pretty easy and the puzzles were fair.

[bait]

Good ridance to bad rubbish... They invented one of the most annoying genres of gaming, ever, which also happend to steal away the name Adventure from good games like Monkey Island. These weren't adventure games, they were glorified puzzle games, often times illogical.



You are correct, sir!

[StANTo]

...tell that to Scott Miller.

They were doing fine until Uru messed up.

[TrackZero]

and to quote Green Day's "Time of your Life," which is totally unsweet. The only time that song's appropriate is the ass end of a senior prom.

Heh, more appropriate to a funeral. But now that you mention it, I'm sure the kids of that time period had that playing at every prom in North America.

[FenderGeek]

Call me an anal-retentive bastard if you want, but I have to correct the original post. The name of the song is "Good Riddance", everybody just seems to think it's called "time of your life". Sorry, just the band nerd coming out in me...

And FWIW, I think the Myst games are incredible. With Myst V coming out, I dug all the old ones out and thought I'd give them another play. It's unfortunate that these games didn't find a bigger audience. They seem to be kind of a cult classic, and I think that's what ultimately did Cyan in.

[Heretic Machine]

And FWIW, I think the Myst games are incredible. With Myst V coming out, I dug all the old ones out and thought I'd give them another play. It's unfortunate that these games didn't find a bigger audience. They seem to be kind of a cult classic, and I think that's what ultimately did Cyan in.

...What are you, kidding? "Cult classic?" No, Zork is a cult classic, Chewy ESC from F5 is a cult classic... These were main stream.

[AgtFox]

You guys do realize that Myst IV: Revelation was not done by Cyan Worlds, but by UbiSoft Montreal. Cyan Worlds took the time to create Myst V: End of Ages, which was always going to be the last game in the series. The brothers had said that on numerous occasions.

This should come as no surprise to the workers at Cyan that the company was going to fold now that Myst V is gold. As for developing, Cyan always overlooked the production, but here is the breakdown:

Myst - Cyan
Riven - Cyan
Myst III: Exile - Presto Studios
Uru - Cyan
Myst IV: Revelation - UbiSoft Montreal (Team Revelation)
Myst V: End of Ages - Cyan