March 5, 2008

Going Back to the World of MYST, DS-Style
By Louis Bedigian

“We didn’t want to change anything about the game. If anything we wanted to enhance it.”

MYST is not a series that should be taken lightly. It was generations ahead of its time, creating one of the first open-world experiences. To those who played it back then and even today, MYST is a masterpiece with no equal.

The thought of having such a revered game on a handheld – especially one this massive and time-consuming – has had many gamers pondering for a long time. How would it play? Would the experience be comparable to what they remembered?

Manny Granillo, Producer of MYST DS, says that was one of the things the development team needed to address. “We wanted to make sure we gave a complete experience without losing anything, but also create something [appropriate] for the DS. This version might be a little harder than the PC version, if you can imagine that, because you don’t have a mouse hand. In the original, you could move the mouse and the hand would change whenever you land on a hotspot. In this case you don’t have that help. That could make it harder, especially if this is your first time around [with the MYST series].”
 

Regarding screen and gameplay separation, Granillo says that the lower screen is used for moving around (via touch), while the top screen displays the mini-map. “One of the things we did when designing the product, we didn’t want to give the player too much information. We wanted the player to fight for something extra. It’s a balance between showing you what’s on the island versus showing the island over you as you move around. It’s help but it’s a balanced help.”

One feature that’s sure to help players succeed is the virtual notepad. “What we’ve found is that virtually everyone that’s ever played MYST takes notes. You have to. Another thing we added is a camera feature. When you touch that it allows you to take a snapshot of whatever you’re looking at. One of the things people had to do with the previous [iterations] is have to go back to the position of where they were, remember mentally or draw something or whatever, then try to figure it out. With the camera function, you can take a snapshot of that and take it with you.”

So Long. So Long…

When asked if MYST DS would be comparable in length to the PC edition, Granillo surprised us when he said it could be a little longer. “The original game, and anyone will tell you, was very subjective as to how long it takes,” he said. “The puzzles don’t have a time limit. You really can wander around as much as you like and explore every nook and cranny. As far as the gameplay, we’re averaging about 80 hours. With Rime Age, another 10 – 15 hours.”

To Sequel or Not To Sequel

“The sequel to MYST is Riven… Right now we’re trying to figure out a way to bring Riven to the DS. Riven is four to five times the size of MYST. We’re hoping to do so, but it’d be really long for a cartridge.”

What about the Wii? “There is discussion about that,” he revealed. “Nothing has been committed, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Granillo later added, “My development group is working on two other titles,” but neither could be specified at this time.

Answers Unearthed

Could you clarify something: is this "original soundtrack" I'm hearing about all-new for the DS version? Or is it the same as featured in the original MYST?

Manny Granillo: Everything from the original MYST is in the DS version. [But we also] created original music for the DS.

For diehard fans, the most exciting feature in MYST DS is likely Rime Age, the all-new age not included in the original MYST. What can we expect from it?

MG: Rime Age is one of the original worlds that was developed by the MYST designers. But it never appeared in the original MYST. It was included in a later version called Real MYST.

MYST is one of those classic games that has been around for several years and released on several different platforms. As the first (?) handheld version of the game, what were some of the changes you knew had to be made when development began?

MG: There was a lot of concern [with] how we [could] bring the MYST experience to a handheld, one with two screens and the lack of having a mouse. It definitely wasn’t an easy task. The message was clear for everyone involved: we didn’t want to change anything about the game. If anything we wanted to enhance it. In doing so we had to be very clever with space, decide which cartridge size to use, determining how do we manipulate that much information… MYST is an enormous game. You’re looking at over 80 hours of play time for someone that has never played the game before and doesn’t cheat or have any of the hints or whatever. We had to re-design and re-code that much of the game to fit in a cartridge.

And also make sure that we had all the video that is part of the game. We did not modify anything. Many people would have said, “We can’t get video on there so just put a little picture and text under it.” No, we can’t do that. Hopefully everyone appreciate that all the original video is there [in the DS version].

“We focused exclusively on the game that this was, and how we could bring that experience to the DS by maximizing the DS’s strengths.”— Manny Granillo

Were there any unexpected changes – any compromises that had to be made suddenly over the course of the game's development?

MG: Nothing really. We all knew the amount of information had to be modified [for the DS game card format]. Also, determining the play balance for the toolbar – there are many options we didn’t want to overwhelmingly change. The original MYST didn’t have a toolbar. But we felt it was a fair exchange for not having mouse control.

MYST's video has been remastered for the DS version. Could you tell us more about this – the process of remastering the video and optimizing it for the Nintendo DS?

MG: The had to develop a proprietary [compression system] to get the most out of the video [on the DS]. We hope people will notice that and appreciate what we’ve done to get it to look the way it does.

Were there any surprises with MYST DS that allowed you to do things you wouldn't have thought would be possible on a handheld machine?

MG: No, not really. One of the things that was really helpful was that everybody had experience in handheld [development]. That [experience] can sometimes provide you with key solutions [to any problems that arise].

You mentioned that Riven is several times larger than MYST. Would it be possible to make it a multi-card game, similar to how they made multi-CD games for the PSone?

MG: Yeah. That is one strategy we’re looking into.

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