3 ms·

Very good article! I really like the animations, too. Monochrome pixel art will always resonate with me. The writing in the article felt poetic to me, well don

by the_af 4y ago

Very good article! I really like the animations, too. Monochrome pixel art will always resonate with me. The writing in the article felt poetic to me, well done: > "and I dreamed that the grid was the understructure to not just my own memories but to the world" As an aside, and not at all to detract from the story: I find it interesting that Myst wasn't universally loved. I remember in some "gamer" circles it wasn't considered a real game but an interactive slideshow.

cstuder 4y ago
> Monochrome pixel art Scroll all the way down for a lovely surprise.
chrisco255 4y ago
Back when Myst came out casual gaming was almost non existent, and I wouldn't even consider Myst to be a casual game per se. I still remember being blown away by the graphics and the moodiness of exploring that barren island. The graphics were of course all prerendered, but you could enjoy the fact that some computer, somewhere, had generated them. Advanced 3D rendering was so novel (in early 90s). You couldn't get scenery like that on an SNES or a Genesis or any of the game consoles available at the time. None of the game consoles could even take advantage of 3D. And this game was novel enough and easy enough to navigate that it sold a crazy amount of copies to almost anyone with a home PC and a CD-ROM drive. The PC itself hadn't fully saturated the US yet. It was also interesting in that the game just sort of left you to explore the island, and paired with a good soundtrack of moody music, it was legitimately fun.
Mezzie 4y ago
> I remember in some "gamer" circles it wasn't considered a real game but an interactive slideshow. I always wondered how those people would categorize, for example, the Zork games. Myst is interactive fiction, which is its own genre. The disdain for Myst reminds me somewhat of the disdain for things like The Sims (which for some reason never extends to the types of simulation games that 'gamers' like such as SimCity, Cities:Skylines, RCT, etc.).
- the_af 4y ago
  Good point. But consider this: in the Halcyon Days book of interviews with veteran game designers (like Dani Bunten, Chris Crawford and other trailblazers) at least one mentions disliking Myst: Eugene Jarvis (of Robotron fame). He considers Myst one of those style over substance and no action games (the other game he dislikes is Wing Commander!). I remember a similar debate in my circle, that Myst was (unlike Zork) all style over substance. Remember that the graphics back then were really impressive. In my opinion, there's no doubt Myst is a real game.
  - Mezzie 4y ago
    I remember Myst's release and how awesome those graphics were. (It wasn't particularly my thing, but my mom was really into it and into IF in general. She's a puzzle game person. My dad was more the 'conventional' gamer.) The graphics were neat, although the traveling was annoying. I can see valid reasons for critiquing and disliking Myst (and Riven) and I can definitely see why Jarvis in particular would bounce off both Myst and Wing Commander. But most of the shit talking was not as well thought out as I imagine Jarvis's to be. Also now I want to know Eugene Jarvis's opinion of The Stanley Parable. :)

by the_af 4y ago

cstuder 4y ago

> Monochrome pixel art Scroll all the way down for a lovely surprise.

chrisco255 4y ago

Back when Myst came out casual gaming was almost non existent, and I wouldn't even consider Myst to be a casual game per se. I still remember being blown away by the graphics and the moodiness of exploring that barren island. The graphics were of course all prerendered, but you could enjoy the fact that some computer, somewhere, had generated them. Advanced 3D rendering was so novel (in early 90s). You couldn't get scenery like that on an SNES or a Genesis or any of the game consoles available at the time. None of the game consoles could even take advantage of 3D. And this game was novel enough and easy enough to navigate that it sold a crazy amount of copies to almost anyone with a home PC and a CD-ROM drive. The PC itself hadn't fully saturated the US yet. It was also interesting in that the game just sort of left you to explore the island, and paired with a good soundtrack of moody music, it was legitimately fun.

Mezzie 4y ago

> I remember in some "gamer" circles it wasn't considered a real game but an interactive slideshow. I always wondered how those people would categorize, for example, the Zork games. Myst is interactive fiction, which is its own genre. The disdain for Myst reminds me somewhat of the disdain for things like The Sims (which for some reason never extends to the types of simulation games that 'gamers' like such as SimCity, Cities:Skylines, RCT, etc.).

the_af 4y ago
Good point. But consider this: in the Halcyon Days book of interviews with veteran game designers (like Dani Bunten, Chris Crawford and other trailblazers) at least one mentions disliking Myst: Eugene Jarvis (of Robotron fame). He considers Myst one of those style over substance and no action games (the other game he dislikes is Wing Commander!). I remember a similar debate in my circle, that Myst was (unlike Zork) all style over substance. Remember that the graphics back then were really impressive. In my opinion, there's no doubt Myst is a real game.
- Mezzie 4y ago
  I remember Myst's release and how awesome those graphics were. (It wasn't particularly my thing, but my mom was really into it and into IF in general. She's a puzzle game person. My dad was more the 'conventional' gamer.) The graphics were neat, although the traveling was annoying. I can see valid reasons for critiquing and disliking Myst (and Riven) and I can definitely see why Jarvis in particular would bounce off both Myst and Wing Commander. But most of the shit talking was not as well thought out as I imagine Jarvis's to be. Also now I want to know Eugene Jarvis's opinion of The Stanley Parable. :)