Digital Trends
A remake ofRiven : The subsequence to Myst , a PC mystifier game classic , comes PC , Mac , Meta Quest 2 , and Meta Quest 3 afterwards this month . Recreating such a darling game is a intimidating job for any developer . In an interview with Digital Trends , Rand Miller from Cyan Worlds , the studio behind the originalRivenand this remaking , explicate that the studio apartment tactfully waited to revisit Riven until they could get it right-hand .
“ Rivenis such a peculiar part of Cyan ’s history . We know we would redo it for real - time 3D at some item , but not until we could really do it justice , ” Miller tells Digital Trends . “ We have done several remakes ofMyst , along with several other fresh games , which allow us to test the 3D engine amniotic fluid and get better and comfortably at our real - time 3D skills . The stars seemed like they would align a few eld ago so we get design . ”
Ahead of theRivenremake ’s release by and by this month , I spoke to Miller , Cyan Worlds ’ CEO , over e-mail about it . Our conversation about the remaking encompasses why Cyan Worlds decided to revisit this classic , the pressure the squad felt while modernizingRiven , and lesson the team take from its remaking of Myst and raw original games likeFirmament . It ’s an insightful conversation about what it takes to revive a dear game many are nostalgic for over 26 years after its original acquittance .
Digital Trends : Why did Cyan decide it was meter to remakeRiven ?
Rand Miller : Rivenis such a special part of Cyan ’s history . We knew we would remake it for tangible - clip 3D at some point , but not until we could really do it justice . We have done several remakes ofMyst , along with several other new secret plan which allowed us to test the 3D engine waters and get better and considerably at our real - time three-D skills . The mavin seemed like they would align a few years ago so we began design .
How much of the developing team of the originalRivenis working on the remake ?
I , Richard Vander Wende , Mark DeForest , and Robyn Miller all worked on the originalRivenand have all had some role in this new version .
Did the team feel pressured to modernise any aspects ofRiven’sdesign to make it more appealing to young gamers unfamiliar with the original ?
I think the only pressure we felt was the force per unit area to critique our work fairly . We have wanted to look at the international critiques over the years but combine them with our thoughts about some of the mutual exclusiveness in the master . Any change we made we felt ask to be thoughtfully justify .
Some puzzles have been redesigned . Can you walk through how puzzles were picked to be changed and what the appendage of redesign them to feel fresh was like ?
We looked at every puzzle in the game . Almost all of our changes were related to trouble adjustment , narration pellucidity , or interface accessibility . For object lesson , we adjusted the marble and waffle iron teaser to reduce its complexness . We changed the sub - puzzler to be more uniform with the narrative . We change the animal picture puzzle to be more accessible .
Prior to remakingRiven , you also remade PC classic Myst . What learnings from work on that remake is the team applying toRiven’sremake ? Similarly , what learnings did Cyan take from its new adventure games likeObductionandFirmamentand retroactively apply toRivenfor its remaking ?
RemakingMystover the years and buildingObductionandFirmamentwere subservient in develop ourskills and tools for theRivenproject . Not only did we learn how we wanted to build things and the techniques to utilize , but we also try our hand at a few different 3D engines . But the most important vista of all of those task leading up toRivenwas learning what not to do .
Theremake ofRivenlaunches for PC , Mac , Meta Quest 2 , and Meta Quest 3 on June 25 for $ 35 .
