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Reiterating how good this LP was. I'm a Myst "superfan" (ugh, words) and you still highlighted lots of details I don't remember, brought up aspects I'd never bothered to think about, and more besides. Good effin' job!
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Feb 10, 2017 06:22
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This was the first game I loved, but never really loved playing it. If that makes any sense. Thanks a ton for sharing, your narration really did add a lot. Can't wait to see the dick moves. I have absolutely no memory of them; probably never tried them as a kid
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Feb 11, 2017 08:41
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Thanks for doing this! I look forward to seeing if there's any endings to this game that I missed. Also, for anyone who doesn't already know, Cyan has recently published a new game, Obduction, and Steam has it on sale for the next 40 hours.
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Feb 13, 2017 02:24
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Great LP. i was young when this came out and never got very far, but my parents beat it. I wouldn't have the patience to go through it now.
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Feb 14, 2017 02:51
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BAD ENDS: It’s the end of the world edition Thank you for taking the time to read this project of mine. Now that we’ve finished with the story, seen the puzzles, and so on, lets screw with the outcomes a little.  Today, we’re going to mess with the thing we start the game staring at. The scientific curiosity/doomsday device known as the Star Fissure. End One: Technically possible So we start the game next to the Star Fissure, and there are only two things stopping us from destroying the world.  First is the on switch, only a short jaunt and a few gateroom rotations away.  Second, and more importantly, is the hatch code, found in Catherine’s Journal. The code is randomly generated, and is a 5 digit code of 1-5 with the possibility of repeated numbers. 3,125 possible codes in total. Thing is, the code is generated when a new save is started. If someone were to, say, load a previous save…  The code will work and the hatch opens up.    Once you break the glass, the ending proceeds as normal. The viewer and the dagger fall in the hole, Riven goes dark as destructive forces tear apart the very fabric of the Age…  But Atrus doesn’t show up, you just skip to the falling in part.  That’s pretty much it. There’s not a lot to this one, its only possible to get this with either loading an old save or ridiculous luck. I can only imagine the developers put this in to dissuade the incredibly lucky from thinking they beat the game and to give a little nod to others for breaking sequence. On the other hand, the player is on his way home. I mean, Gehn has his Age to retreat to and can continue writing, Catherine either dies with Riven or reveals Tay to save her people, and Atrus gets stuck wondering why Riven went to poo poo just minutes after the player got there… but the player will likely never see them again. All’s well that ends well, right? Ending rank: Cheaters prosper End Two: Family Reunion  Okay, let’s see what happens when we don’t sequence break.  The first opportunity to open the Star Fissure legitimately comes after we crack the Moiety code and get captured in Tay, where you get Catherine’s Journal.  Now, at this point you can’t have captured Gehn, since you get the trap book in Tay as well. And you can’t have freed Catherine, since I think the code for her prison is generated when you click the globe, and that is only reachable after trapping Gehn.  But we’re not going to let good sense and the threat of a paranoid tyrant stop us this time.  “Huh, there’s a code in this journal. I can’t be bothered reading the rest of it, but I know the device. Let’s find out what it does!”  The world goes to hell the same as it always does. “Oh, poo poo. I don’t suppose I can fix this, can I?” Atrus links in and dashes over as well.   “There isn’t much time. Where’s Catherine?” “Um… who?”  You give Atrus the book and, after a look of concern, he opens it up and examines it. “The book is empty. I don’t understand.” Gehn and his buddy (his name is Cho) show up from around the corner. Gehn is pointing that gun he’s always carrying at Atrus.  “You never did!” “Father!” “I am no longer your father, because you are no longer my son!”  There’s a brief, really hard to capture flash as Gehn shoots Atrus, and Atrus collapses.   Gehn immediately hands his gun off to Cho and searches Atrus’ body. It only takes a moment to find the linking book to Myst. He takes the time to give it a gentle caress. “So… I can go now, right?”  Gehn gets up to address you directly. The entire time Cho has the gun trained directly on you. As he walks toward you, the world shakes, causing him to stumble slightly. “I don’t know what you thought you were doing…” “Neither did I, frankly.” “But, thank you. I finally am… free.” “Y-you’re welcome?” Gehn strides off but not before giving a quick hand signal to Cho.  Then Cho shoots you. “Gck… whatever… happened… to thank…you…” Your vision fades to black, roll credits. Gehn has access to D’ni, his Rivenese lackeys as a backbone, and no one to stop him. The player has handed him the key to his dreams of an Empire. You’d think he’d be a little more grateful. Ending rank: Birth of an Empire Ending Three: Enforced Separation  One more for this round.  Let’s say you managed to trap Gehn, but in your excitement you forget the other part of your mission, freeing Catherine. As I said before, I don’t think you can free Catherine but not trap Gehn. The code for her prison appears to be generated when you click the little globe.  Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. “This should do as a signal. Atrus should be coming any second now, with Gehn trapped I’ve done what I need to.”  Atrus links in and speaks up. “Where’s Catherine?” “Ohhhhh poo poo.” Atrus takes the linking book and glances at it. “I don’t understand. You’ve captured Gehn, but why did you signal me?” “Listen, if I had a planner on me I’m sure this would have gone a lot better.” The world shakes, sending rocks tumbling down the cliff face. “There’s no time left, the Age is collapsing. I’ve got to get back before it’s too late.” Atrus fishes out his linking book, but pauses before linking.  “Your way is clear, you’re free to go home.” “I hope you’re not telling me to jump in this giant sucking wound in the ground.” “Farewell, my friend.” Then he places his hand on the book, and links away. “Guess that’s a yes. No hard feelings?”  You fall in the Star Fissure and go through the same slow drift through space, but over it you get the following voiceover: Atrus posted:So much work. Gehn is at least defeated but the price of his defeat… was dear. The people of Riven must try to hang on to a world which is dying. And I am sentenced to the futile task of nursing Riven’s fatal wounds. And Catherine… I will never know her fate. The end, roll credits. Not much to add here, I think Atrus made a very concise summary of just how bad things went. Ending rank: gently caress you Atrus Join us next time for all the fun we can get up to with a one person, one way prison in our pocket.
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Feb 16, 2017 13:20
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BAD ENDS – I’ve got a prison in my pocket Alright ladies and goons, today we’re going to look at some more bad endings we can blunder into in Riven.  The theme of the day is the prison book. As a reminder, this is a one-use trap that puts anyone who puts their hand on the panel in a black void. If anyone else touches the panel, they swap places with anyone who happens to be inside. It’s dangerous, and Riven does not stop you from doing some pretty stupid poo poo with it. Ending Five  You may remember, you get the prison book from Nelah when you get to Tay. From this point on the prison books sits in your limited inventory, and can be opened and observed at any time.  So yes, you can immediately open the prison book and slap your hand on the panel.  It ends as well as you’d expect.  After a bit of blackness, you get treated to the following scene. The Moiety fellows speak in muffled Rivenese, but the context makes the conversation clear.  It starts with this goggled fellow staring intently at the you, or the panel you’re stuck in. The flickering light makes it clear that right behind you is a fire.  He starts to reach out for the panel, but his friend smacks his hand with a stick.  They have an unintelligible conversation. One imagines the seated fellow is saying that it looks like a perfectly normal linking book.  This friend then likely explains that Catherine said it was a trap, and the little figure seen in the picture is the idiot who slapped his hand on the panel and got himself trapped. Especially since he vanished from a locked room leaving nothing but the book behind.  Point made, the first guy gives you one last look,  And then he shuts the book, presumably shortly before throwing the book on the fire.  The end, roll credits. The Moiety, rightfully so, didn’t want to mess with the dangerous one person trap, especially since you just demonstrated you can’t really be trusted with it. But hey, you kept it out of Gehn’s hands, right? Ending Rank: Yep, it works. Ending Six Now that’s if you trap yourself in a moiety controlled area. But most of the game is under Gehn’s dominion.  Let’s use the lovely lakeside dock near the village for this next demonstration.  Crack open the prison book, slap your hand on the panel… And let’s see where we end up next.  The book opens up to Cho, Gehn’s personal lackey.  He’s giving the book a very concerned look, but Gehn can be heard offscreen, speaking in D’ni. He’s urging Cho to do something.  It becomes clear soon. With a fair bit of trepidation, Cho puts his hand on the panel.  You pop out in front of Gehn, holding the book.  Gehn is, naturally, skeptical.  He doesn’t waste any time though. He steps back, grabs his gun, and shoots you. Presumably in the gut because he talks for a while as you bleed out in front of him.  Hey, at least someone’s happy here. "I see you found the book. Thank you for returning it to me.” “It seems, however, that circumstances have changed.” “I'm afraid my reunion with Atrus will have to wait.” At this point your vision and hearing fades as you get closer to death. “I'd so been looking forward to seeing him.” The last thing you hear, muffled and distant, before you pass on is the following. “Well, there's still time." The end, roll credits. Well, on the bright side Gehn doesn’t have access to D’ni and the multiverse. You’re dead as hell though and Catherine is doomed. And, more importantly, Cho is stuck in the prison book forever, so this is truly the worst end possible. Ending Rank: Cho, we hardly knew ye Ending Seven Now, those are the two possibilities of what happens if you trap yourself.  But what happens if you open the prison book up after you trap Gehn?  The book is still in your inventory, and it looks like Gehn is sitting pretty in D’ni. Riven certainly won’t stop you from putting your hand on the page. Let’s let him out, shall we?  Gehn opens up the book soon afterwards.  “I don’t know exactly why you released me, but you realize of course that this must be the end for you.” “I can’t take the chance that you will… change your mind again.” “It may provide you with some solace to know that, with this act of self-sacrifice, you have secured your place in history.” “The D’ni culture will be reborn, and the lives of millions will be purified. Thanks to you.” “Farewell.”Piece said, Gehn close the book.  The end, roll credits. It could be that Gehn keeps the book around, even opening it up every once in a while to say ‘hi’. And with the way Atrus made this book, you can’t even communicate back. Not that that’s ever been an obstacle Ending rank: At least he thanked you. Ending Eight  Okay, letting him go is bad. But what if you released him someplace where he wasn’t in control?  For example, Tay.  You have to be really trying to get this one. You get the prison book from Tay, after all, and there’s no reason to come back here afterwards, especially after you trap Gehn. But if you do…   You get a good look at Gehn, all kitted out for a fight. Nice of him to have a word with us before he started.  “It appears that the Moiety and I will finally be able to discuss our differences face to face.” “I don’t know why you released me, but you realize this must be the end for you.”It’s the exact same speech from here though.   He thanks you for your service, and then closes the book. I don’t know exactly how much success he expects as a single armed man against a society… but you are right in the cave leading back to Riven. One can only assume Gehn grabs a posse and, ah, pacifies the resistance. Ending Rank: Imagine a boot stamping on a face forever. Ending Nine There’s one more mistake you can make in Riven. It still relates to the Prison book, but only tangentially  It involves Gehn and him wanting you to go first into the prison book. You’ll recall that the first time around he mentioned he’s a very busy man and to be certain if you call him on the bell. Let’s waste his time.  We hesitated the first time around in the LP proper, but here’s what he would have said if we sat on our hands during our second visit. “Here, I shall follow you directly.” Wait around and he gets more insistent. “Please.” He eventually loses patience and backs off while giving you a fantastic skeptical eyebrow. “You’re free to go.” “But…”  “I think you should not come back, unless you are willing to use the book.” He leaves without another word.  Menacing stuff. Let’s bother him again.  Gehn goes straight to the table the third time. “Alright then, once more.” He’s definitely tired of you by now. “The only path open to you now is through this book.” “Take it.” Wait long enough, and Gehn probably starts to suspect something.  Which is why the next thing he does is pick up his gun and shoot you. It’s another slow death. Gehn likes to talk, after all.  “You see, I have changed.” “There was a time when I might have let you live.” “I made that mistake with Atrus once.” “It’s a pity you decided not to give me a second chance.” “Well, there’s still time.”The end. Ending Rank: Tyrants enforce the penalties they want. Thank you very much everyone. This has been a fun LP to write, though I admit I was struggling with a very buggy port and lots of hard crashes near the end. Thank you for taking an interest in this LP, and I hope this has presented this two decade old game in a way that was understandable and interesting. Now, to see if I can get Exile to work.
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Feb 25, 2017 18:46
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Yeah, releasing him in Tay is a huge dick move. Nicely done on this LP, would definitely read one for Exile if it happens.
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Feb 25, 2017 22:09
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I could've sworn I remembered an ending where both Catherine and Gehn are free, but with my daydreaming I may have created it decades ago and not realized it.
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Feb 25, 2017 22:12
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I'm fairly certain that Exile is easy to get working on modern systems. Exile was the first Myst game that I played (I started playing this type of adventure game with the Journeyman Project series, I decided to pick up Exile since it was made by Presto, Journeyman's developer) so I have a soft spot for it. I really hope you do LP it, this thread was fantastic. EDIT: ^^^^^There is no way to have both Catherine and Gehn free, since when you free her she takes the trap book.
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Feb 25, 2017 22:57
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Nicely done LP. Good to see a look at the game like this again.
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Feb 26, 2017 00:35
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Veotax posted:EDIT: ^^^^^There is no way to have both Catherine and Gehn free, since when you free her she takes the trap book. Yeah, some poking around confirmed that, so I'm just gonna shake my fist at my vivid imagination for making things up.
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Feb 26, 2017 00:53
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M.c.P posted:He takes the time to give it a gentle caress. I know it's a weird scene, but you know you can say "gently caress", right?
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Feb 26, 2017 02:21
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Are you going to cover the island's final riddles? Honestly, I think the game is old enough that they aren't really remembered anymore. #1 Where creatures float and waters rise, only one of five will open. The one that stands out is your prize, small, orange and unbroken. #2 Slowly rising from the bed, and closer to your goal. Clear the cobwebs from your head, and search the empty bowl. #3 Control the bridges, enjoy the view, and think about the ride here. Something you see just can't be true, so make the mirage disappear. #4 It rises from the water, and asks you to come in. Don't yet go where it's hotter, first find the sign of Gehn. #5 Call the first magcar again, and search the rocks mearby. The name of an historian is just four pixels high.
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Feb 26, 2017 05:53
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Tunicate posted:Are you going to cover the island's final riddles? poo poo, I just remembered that I was going to post about those. This link gives the answers to these so  don't click it if you want to figure it out yourself!-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Dz5XEmLVc
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Feb 26, 2017 06:36
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Huh, I never knew about those. I just knew about all the kids' faces worked into various textures.
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Feb 26, 2017 07:17
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That's some impressive singing on the part of Gehn's actor. I loved the little bit at the end. "I'm not hitting the high note." 
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Feb 28, 2017 01:22
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Huh, I just straight up didn't know about the Easter eggs.
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Feb 28, 2017 03:01
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