![]() "The idea of being 'obducted' can be created in a lot of ways, has gone through a lot of cycles here as we were trying to figure out where we wanted to go. "It's come up in various incarnations," Miller told Polygon. The version of the game that Cyan settled on mirrors a recent theme at Cyan of returning to roots. About a year ago, when it came time to start seriously planning for a crowdfunding campaign, Obduction resurfaced. It would resurface from time to time, morph, and get placed on the back burner. Obduction existed in various incarnations as Cyan continued to make Myst games. Obduction as a concept is more than 10 years old. Polygon spoke to Miller recently about the game, the last 20 years and how an old and tenacious idea might give Cyan the chance to be born again. To co-founder Rand Miller, it feels smaller and older. These days at Cyan, it feels like the old days at Cyan. "The idea of being 'obducted' can be created in a lot of ways." It is a chance for Cyan to be small and make something big again. Obductuon is a spiritual successor unchained from its predecessor. It is an adventure game in the style of Myst, but not beholden to the nearly two decades of weight that the franchise now carries. Last month, the developer unveiled its plans for the future when Cyan launched Obduction on Kickstarter. Cyan is a small shop like it used to be, and Rand Miller thought it might be time to start acting like it again. Then, about a year ago, in the wake of the crowdfunding revolution that began with Double Fine Productions' Broken Age on Kickstarter, things began to change again. During the last few years, as the Myst rights reverted back to Cyan, it's concentrated its development efforts on iOS ports of its most popular games, rather than original titles. Cyan stayed afloat, but on a smaller boat. Others like Ubisoft started making Myst games, too, but fewer people played them - or any adventure games, for that matter, as they fell out of favor. ![]() Cyan and Rand kept making big Myst games. Myst 's successful sequel, Riven, reflected the change: It was bigger in almost every way.īut over the ensuing years, things changed. The once self-funded developer (what we would today call an indie) began working more with publishers. ![]() The little Washington-based studio and its games had gotten very big. It spawned sequels, novels and imitators. After it's release in 1993, Myst became the biggest-selling PC game of all-time, a distinction it held until 2002. By 1991, they'd begin work on a sparse and tantalizing adventure game. During those first years, they made children's games like Cosmic Osmo, using mostly profits from the last games to fund the next project. Rand and his brother Robyn founded Cyan, Inc. He thought adventure games were going to stay big. If you want a more loving rendition of Myst, the remake is available on Steam for £24/€25/$30, and a remake of Riven - the sequel - is currently being built “from the ground-up.Rand Miller was surprised. Whether you loved or hated it, though, you’ve definitely not seen it in this form. Pretentious or groundbreaking? That’s up for debate, but the RPS crowd seemed split on the 1994 adventure when we asked ‘Have You Played Myst?’ seven years ago. Beating the game also gives you a congratulatory screen with a link to Mensa International - a super exclusive club for those with high IQ. After killing 10 demons, the announcer yells “Cerebral!” an obvious dig at Myst’s tough puzzles and arguably pretentious writing. Myst FPS seems like a fun, nostalgic take on a classic game, right? Wrong, it’s actually the most elaborate shitpost I’ve seen in a while. Although, for a second, I thought he was berating my bad aim with “Missed! Missed!” A head-banging, Doom-riffing soundtrack plays in the background, while a gruff announcer chants “Myst! Myst!” in the background. In classic arcade shooter fashion, swarms of enemies fly toward you as you’re left static, looking around with your on-screen pointer. You can watch a quick playthrough in this video. The shooter only lasts a few minutes and tasks you with killing 100 bat-like demons within five lives. Yes, developers Steven Nass and Peter Henningsen have released Myst FPS on itch.io, a free browser-based shooter that’s a good laugh, and an even better shitpost. But the power of the internet determines that nothing is sacred, and even the point-and-click Myst can be turned into the point-and-kill Myst FPS. Over the last 30 years, the classic adventure game Myst has been rereleased in countless forms, resurrected in 25th-anniversary boxsets, VR takes on the game, and even a full remake in 2021.
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