Riven: The Sequel to Myst

The concept and first two years of development

Riven was conceived by the Miller brothers before the release of Myst in 1993 as a direct continuation of it - after the brothers realized that they could not fit all the ideas into a single game, the ending of Myst was specially left open ^[2] . Direct work on the sequel began in January 1994, and from the very beginning it was conceived as a more extensive and more elaborate game with a thoughtful plot, and the commercial success of Myst made it possible to invest substantial funds in the development process ^[3] . The initial development team included 6 people: Robin and Rand Millers, who worked on Myst, Chris Brandkamp ( Chris Brandkamp , Myst CFO and Myst sound engineer), Richard Watson ( Richard ) and Joshua Alton Stub ( Eng. Joshua Alton Staub , responsible for the production of computer graphics), as well as new Cyan employee Richard Vander Wende , a computer graphics specialist who previously worked in companies such as Industrial Light & Magic and Disney ^[4] . It was originally planned that the entire production of the game would take this team less than two years ^[4] .

If Myst was developed without a single office for the Cyan team, in the new project, due to its scale, it was decided to create a single workspace for developers to interact, which initially served as the renovated unheated Brandcamp garage in Spokane ^[5] . The Macintosh computers used in the work on Myst with the Strata Studio Pro 3D-modeling program were replaced by Silicon Graphics Indigo workstations, and SoftImage, which was used when working on the Jurassic Park movie ^[6], became the working program. The project grew rapidly as it was implemented, and Cyan decided to build a separate building for Riven, also hosting the company's headquarters ^[7] . During its construction, the team, which had already outgrown the garage and continued to expand, worked for some time in the empty premises of the former mattress store in the local mall ^[7] .

The complex was built from June 1995 to 1996 in , near Spokane ^[7] . The building was made in the style of the civilization D'ni invented by the brothers ( Eng. D'ni ), used in Myst ^[7] . By the time of the move, two years of the team’s work were already behind, and the development time was extended by another as much - up to 4 years ^[7] .

The main idea

From the very beginning of the development, it was decided to focus on two types of players: “gamers” and “tourists” ^[8] . For the former, puzzles that were more complex than in Myst were developed, which were supposed to be more organically connected with the environment and the plot — they were introduced into them, representing their essential part ^[8] . The latter should have been mainly attracted by the views and beauties of the virtual world, and the puzzles should have been just an application to them - for this, the world that was initially accessible to the player represents a great field for research: five islands interconnected by a muggle , with the ability to ride on a submarine , trolley, numerous elevators and admire the many breathtaking interiors, strange devices and exotic animals ^[9] . The team sought photorealistic surroundings and animation, as well as a well-thought-out world with three different cultures: D'ni, the inhabitants of the jungle and the rebels Moyeti ( Eng. Moiety ) ^[10] . As a result, the game has grown from one CD for Myst to 5 CDs for Riven, including about 4000 scenes compared to 2500 in its predecessor ^[11] .

Story

The development of the plot from the initial ideas to the final design went on all the time working on the game ^[12] . The name of the game changed from the original Myst II through Equiquay (reflecting the intention of the developers to make Riven a hub - the central world from which portals to other Epochs would open) to the final Riven - the name of the Age where Atrus and his wife Katerina conspired to imprison Atrus's father Gene when megalomania has become dangerous to others ^[12] . Then Katerina was lured to Riven by the sons of Atrus, who were also influenced by Gene’s ideas about the unlimited power that linking books give, and was taken prisoner by Genome - the player’s task is to free her, capturing Gene in a fake portal book and returning home through a jump into the Star Slit ^[12] . Riven, unlike Mist, is inhabited, although unstable, like all the Epochs of Gene, and its inhabitants are divided into two fractions - the inhabitants of villages on the islands under the rule of Gene and the rebels living in the Age written for them by Katerina before her captivity by Gen ^{[ 12]} . In addition, the player is immediately taken the book with which he arrives in Riven, which adds to the game her searches before completing the main task ^[12] .

The developers changed the plot in the process of work, so, initially, Katerina’s prison should have been a separate era, then they abandoned this idea, transferring the place of imprisonment to one of the islands and limiting all the action to them only, as it was supposed for some time that Gene did not have sufficient skills in order to create their own book portals, possessing only Riven's resources (although the idea of ​​his experiments in this direction was always present in the plot), as a result, Katerina’s prison remained in Riven, but Gene got the opportunity l create their own rude book portals, and the rebel base was moved to a separate era ^[13] . One of the possibilities considered was even a variation with Katerina, a negative character, but she was abandoned, according to Robin, because “it would be too much for poor Atrus” ^[14] .

Just as scenic storyboards are used for films, Riven's development relied heavily on maps that represented the world of the game as a whole and in parts ^[14] . The initial draft version of the gameplay was developed in a few weeks by a team of brothers Millers, Staub and Watson and required a lot of corrections and additions on the pencil plans of the islands - for each change, the old piece was erased with an eraser and a new one was added in its place ^[15] . Then, changes and additions to the main plan of the world were usually made by Robin and Wende - it was they who made the massive shake-up of Riven when they moved the large golden dome from the Book Assembly Island to the Temple Island and the map room Gene - from the dungeon of Temple Island to a place above the lake of Survey Island ^[16] .

The player’s actions and their influence on the plot were planned with the help of flowcharts, also subject to constant revision and addition ^[17] . A lot of attention was paid to ensure that the results of actions were natural and logical for the player ^[18] . When the first draft versions of the map and flowcharts were ready, they were tested by the entire development team, and the problem was revealed that practically nothing was happening on the Garden Island ( English Island ) and the game was sagging there - as a result, it was completely redone and instead of an island of English gardens, it became Ferris Island, where a map room was taken out over a new lake, from which Gene surveyed and controlled his possessions ^[19] .

Environment

The original style of Riven strongly resembled Myst and in the same way included landscapes with classical architecture and air arbors on them ^[20] . The idea underwent a serious evolution thanks to Wend, who convinced the team, which already had draft options for the environment, to completely redo them ^[20] . His central idea was to make the environment tell the player the story and character of the characters who had a hand in its creation ^[20] . The idea first met the team’s resistance, as much of the game, as they believed, was already ready, but Wende managed to change their mind after presenting to the other developers his version of the Wahrk Throne Room : Gene’s semi-dark giant throne room, where through a large round underwater porthole, he could observe from the throne how his favorite animals — marine predators-brews — were being fed, including rebels ^[20] . At the same time, the puzzle with the meanings of colors in the culture of D'ni, which was supposed for the initial alchemical version of the room, was inscribed in his environment by sending color signals to tamed brews ^[20] . As a result, the design of the game was almost completely redesigned taking into account the presence of three different styles: the near-Victorian mechanical megalomaniac style of Gene, the organic rounded style of the villagers, and the angular near-African style of the rebels ^[21] .

Riven is the name of the world playing a key role in the action of the game. In the storyline, Myst Riven was known as the Fifth World, created by Gehn, the father of Atrus . Like all worlds written by the Gene, it is unstable and doomed to perish. The English word "Riven" means "chopped, split"; so in the game: the world is divided into five unstable islands, between which there is a huge crevice in the shape of a star. The indigenous population of the world is divided into fractions: there are both supporters of the Gene and his opponents.

From the point of view of numerology , the following magic of numbers can be noted. The word "Riven" consists of five letters. On the cover of the game, the third letter of the name “v” looks somewhat larger than the rest; on the other hand, V is the Roman numeral "five." The full name of the game - Riven: The Sequel to Myst - also consists of five words. The number five has become so significant for the game that some sites have announced a competition to detect a hidden number in the landscape of the game, its script, and even the graphic design of the box with the game. In the game itself, the number "five" in one form or another occurs regularly.

Riven is a continuation of the game Myst, its events are largely based on the novel "Myst: The Book of Atrus", released in 1995 . The plot of the game is a logical continuation of the first part and begins its development from the world of D'ni, where Atrus is enclosed in it. The player again assumes the role of the Stranger, and Atrus again asks him for help.

Gene, the crazy father of Atrus, abandoning his family, through Art (Art) created a world called Riven, in which he proclaimed himself God and patron of the population; in this world from among the inhabitants, he chose a wife named Catherine (Catherine). However, the residents did not want to depend on Gene and expressed their dissatisfaction with what was happening. In addition, at the first meeting with Atrus, Katerina fell in love with him and left Gene. As a result, Gene turned to extreme measures: he began to destroy the newly created world in the hope that a frightened population would come running to him with pleas for mercy and swear allegiance to him. But everything turned out differently: a guerrilla war began against the tyrant, Katerina herself stood at the head of the rebels. Destruction got out of control, the world was dying before our eyes. As a result, Gene nevertheless managed to capture Katerina, who now has to rescue the Wanderer. In addition, the player must get rid of the gene itself. For these purposes, Atrus hands the Wanderer a book-trap into which, through deception, it is necessary to imprison a tyrant at a meeting.

Further, the Wanderer explores the islands, solving a variety of puzzles. The game has nine alternative endings. In the best case, having visited all the islands and worlds available in the game, the player puts Gene in a jail book, Atrus arrives at Riven and takes Katerina with him, and the world itself is destroyed. The last steps the Wanderer takes in Failure, which may lead him back home. In the worst case, you can be killed or fall into a trap book yourself.

The game contains the following worlds:

• D'ni ( K'veer ) - the beginning of the game. Atrus gives the Wanderer the necessary instructions and sends him on a difficult journey.
• Riven - The fifth world of Gene, in which the main action of the game takes place. It consists of five islands, interconnected by a bizarre transport system.
• Age 233 - Gene's world-house. It is an abandoned, gloomy and inhospitable area with a small tower on top of the mountain. Here you can find book portals to all five islands of the Riven world, including the inaccessible island of Prison Island.
• Age 234 is a world information about which can be obtained only from Gene's diaries. However, no one had ever seen him. It is possible that it does not exist at all.
• Tay - the world of rebels, the one that is depicted on the box with the game. The path to it runs through a hidden passage on the Jungle Island.

Riven Islands:

• Temple Island - in fact, this is not one island, but two small islands that are closely adjacent to each other. Of the sights, a large golden dome, a revolving room and a generator can be noted.
• Jungle Island is one of the largest islands with a developed transport system. In the center of the island is a lagoon.
• Crater Island (Book Assembly Island) is an extinct volcano in which the crater is filled to the brim with water, forming a small lake. Here is the Gena paper mill for new books.
• Plateau Island - Gene uses this island to explore the declining state of the Riven world. The island also plays a ceremonial role.
• Prison Island is a lonely giant tree turned by Gen into a prison. It is here that Katerina, the wife of Atrus, is located. Access to the island is possible only through the world of Age 233.

The game received mostly positive reviews from players and the press. For example, Computer Gaming World magazine wrote that "we got our favorite game, but only under a new name." In addition, the same magazine praised the graphics, but cursed the poorly developed interactivity of the game ^[23] .

• Moby Games - on this site you can find some critical player reviews and professional reviews.

• The main action of the novel "Myst: The Book of Atrus" takes place in the world of Riven. The book describes events taking place about 20 years before the events of the original Myst game. Riven can be seen as a sequel to the novel.
• The book leading up to Riven is found at the very beginning of Myst 3: Exile . But since Riven had already been destroyed by then, it's impossible to get into it.
• Images and objects from Riven are found in realMYST, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and Myst V: End of Ages . Some animal symbols from Riven can also be found in Myst 4: Revelation (on the floorboards of one of the rooms).
• At the end of the Myst 4: Revelation game, Atrus reports that his daughter Yeesha often visited the world of Thay, known in Riven as the world of rebels. It follows that Katerina nevertheless seized a portal book from Riven leading there.
• On August 2, 2006, Robin Miller announced (via his blog ^[24] ) the online publication of a video for the musical composition “Catherine's Freedom” from the soundtrack to Riven, dubbed “Persistent Disparate Interchange” .

• Wolf MJP Myst and Riven: The World of the D'ni . - University of Michigan Press, 2011. - (DOAB Directory of Open Access Books). - ISBN 9780472051496 .
• Kadrey R. From Myst to Riven: The Creations & Inspirations. - New York: Hyperion, 1997 .-- ISBN 0-7868-6365-X .

• Myst Worlds на Ubisoft (ссылка временно недейств.)
• Официальный сайт Робина Миллера
• Блог Робина Миллера
• Riven Easter Eggs Revealed
• (D)Riven — Wired Magazine's 1997, статья о создании игры Riven
• MYSTerium
• Англоязычный фан-сайт серии
• Фан-сайт серии на немецком языке
• Myst Forever