MYST III: EXILE, A Look Back

As of January 31st our cold weather days have now increased to a season total of 40.  On those days the temperature did not reach 0 C or 32 F.  On many of those days the temp did not even come close to reaching that level.  So it's been very cold, though the winds seem to have died down.  The next ten days are supposed to continue cold, so we should reach 50 with no trouble at all.  Around here winter usually dies around the 14th of February--we are hoping it does.

Today is a full moon day, and tomorrow is Candlemas.  So many holidays and festivals around here!  Brigid comes out tomorrow to do her part in encouraging Spring to appear, though we can't get her fresh flowers until Tuesday.  We will also reveal our new cross-quarter Tarot card.  Deb continues work on her newest film, while her last one just chalked up an award in Toronto for best micro-short (She Makes A Moving Picture).  Yay Deb!  Next week will mark one month on my newest piano pieces, so I will talk about them then.

 

There are two films to report, one good and one bad.  The bad one was the 1969 b & w horror film It's Alive, starring Tommy Kirk as a dynamite carrying paleontologist, one of four people who get caught and trapped by a crazy man.  This is one of the all time bad horror films, with a monster (It) so badly done that it almost makes the film worthwhile to watch.  Apparently millions of years ago there were lots of these creatures, but hardly any nowadays.  The dynamite gets used at the end, and two out of five people and one It come out alive.  We barely came out alive ourselves.  At any time the prisoners could have walked out of the cave they are trapped in, but I guess it was just too much effort.  It features one of the most unpleasant husbands in the history of cinema.  What a relief when he is finally fed to the monster.

 

From our DVD collection. 

 

The good film was Suddenly Last Summer, a 1969 b & w film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.  A one act play by Tennessee Williams was greatly expanded by Gore Vidal.  Taylor is a supposedly violent and crazy young woman being helped by Clift as her doctor.  Hepburn is her looney aunt who wants a lobotomy performed on Taylor, which is Clift's specialty.  This is high drama, and Taylor acquits herself well.  Hepburn chews up every scene she is in, and Clift just rolls along with the punches.  This marks the second film in a row with Taylor that I have liked her in her role.  The ending is a bit over the top.  What inspired the writer to come up with it?  I am curious.  Not a film to inspire one's love of humanity.

 

We watched a great print of it on Criterion. 

 

Turning now to Myst III Exile, I would like to share some thoughts on this game that emerged in 2001.  First the bad news.  The game is old.  It is rendered in 16 bit colour and appears at a resolution of 640 x 480.  Wow.  That means it will not run on most newer PCs.  However, the game is available cheaply on Steam, and this time we played it there rather than using the CDs.  It originally came on 4 discs, with switching required throughout the game.  I first played the game in July and August of 2001, spending 30 hours wandering the various landscapes.  I was impressed overall, though the game had some problems with sound and the mouse.  At the time I did not realize that there was a 5th ending, a happy one for all.  Imagine doing hours and hours and hours of work to find that there are no less than 4 bad endings and only one good (very tricky) one.  Nice reward for all the work.  Idiots!  On the good side, the static slideshow was gone.  Now players could turn 360 degrees and see things in all direction.  Heaven!

 

I played it again in 2015 on XP and it worked fine.  I finally discovered that 5th ending.

 

Now for the 2026 play, my 3rd time through the game.  It really needs an update.  The Steam version is the original, and it seems odd to see the low resolution, especially after playing so many new games recently.  Even so, it's still quite a pretty game to look at.  We played it together, though we needed lots of help.  The only way to truly understand what the hell is going on and why is to use the Prima Official Strategy Guide, which we kept handy and used liberally.  There are five worlds that require puzzles to be solved to advance the story.

 

The game opens on Tomahna, the house of Atrus and Catherine and Yeesha that we will see more of in Myst IV.  However, we are quickly taken to J'nanin, the world that is central to the game.  For most of the images below I have cropped out the bottom of the screen, which shows the inventory items, mostly books.  The game play screen is 640 x 480, more square than these cropped images.

 

J'nanin, where the puzzle solving begins.

 

Heading down into the crater towards that amazing little building within it.  Inside is an important elevator puzzle, as well as an office and desk that must be studied closely.  Here is the only bed in the game; a hammock in the office.  Deb and I took turns sleeping on it while we rested from our journeys.
 

None of these worlds were meant for anything except to train Atrus' two criminal sons how to manipulate worlds and get along together to solve problems.  I wish the Myst stories had left those two alone, already imprisoned by Atrus at the end of Myst.  We now have to deal with a man driven mad by the cruelty of those two boys.  Saveedro, played with full force and intensity by Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in LOR), is rightly upset with Atrus for not keeping a close rein on the boys, and the game is all about his seeking revenge.  He has been separated from his wife and kids for twenty years, and is now a raving madman.  

 

Anyway, there are three main puzzles to solve in J'nanin, also referred to as the lesson age.  The solving of each puzzle gains the player a different world to explore.  There is also a minor puzzle to solve beneath the main elevator, found in the art nouveau house shown above.  The elevator gains the player access to the main tusk summit, which has solutions to each of the three main puzzles.  There are also three smaller tusks, with a major problem to solve for each.  We got through J'nanin without much trouble.  One of the puzzles I really liked was the light puzzle, shining from one lamp to another across the small island.  It's also a great island to walk in, as the player can make a complete circuit of the island without backtracking.  It is a death-defying walk and quite exhilarating!

 

The first world we traveled to from J'nanin was Voltaic, the energy age.  The puzzles here are also mostly solved by a bit of poking and exploring, though the three-storey steam pipe one is tedious and overly complicated.  Especially since Saveedro has damaged part of it, as he has in each world.  The puzzles would be difficult enough, but by damaging them things can quickly go from bad to worse for players.

 

Players first appear on a tiny islet in Voltaic.

 

Voltaic is the energy world.  Water power and steam power must be engaged in order to progress here.

 

Catwalks, both high and low, an elevator, underground caverns and above ground caverns, along with an airship ride, are some of the highlights of this very scenic age.  Once things are up and running, there are some great sound effects.  This helps immersion in the game, as the music, for the most part, is quite lame by Myst and Riven standards.  Once the age has been completed players are rewarded by a scenic airship ride through the canyon.  We get to take a sheet of paper with us which has a mysterious symbol written on it.  Back to J'nanin via a handy linking book, and on to the next world.

 

Amateria, the age of dynamic forces, is still my favourite of the worlds of Myst III, though the puzzles are virtually impossible without spending a lifetime of trial and error.  The small island can also be walked in a circle, with indoor and outdoor scenery of a spellbinding quality.  The sky was unbelievably dramatic, with lightning, thunder and some of the best dark clouds and lighting to this day.  Even in 2026 I still love just walking around that place.  Its Chinese themed architecture works perfectly against the drama of the overall atmosphere.

 

For its time, Amateria was a wonder to behold.

 

I still enjoy taking leisurely walks here. 

 

As mentioned, the puzzles here can be far too challenging, and with very little in the way of help as to what needs doing, this beautiful setting can quickly become a frustrating experience.  Hints and use of a walkthrough are nearly mandatory if the player wishes to exit the game in a spirit of fun and enjoyment.  Whereas the payoff in Voltaic was a ride in an airship, this time one gets to ride inside an ice sphere, whizzing through a maze of track.  It's best to save the game before the final code is inputted, so the ride can be taken again.  Back to J'nanin with another symbol on paper, and off to yet another world.

 

Edanna, the world of nature, is nearly a complete disaster, and one of the worst Myst creations to ever be thrust upon a devoted gamer of the series.  There are many physical levels to this game, but if the player doesn't begin from the uppermost level and work downward, there is no hope of success.  Should one wander down into the depths of the jungle first, nothing at all can be accomplished.  It's so easy to get lost and turned around down there that I can safely bet that many players likely abandoned the game somewhere below.  Even if by chance some puzzles are solved, you will never figure out what they mean.  Even with a walkthrough and a map from the strategy guide, good luck finding and solving everything that needs doing.  None of it makes the least bit of sense as far as teaching the boys anything about worlds or nature.  The jungle at the bottom features one necessary pathway that is virtually impossible to find.  It is easy to get turned around, and can become something of a maze, that dreaded feature of many early adventure games, beginning with the Zork text games and continuing on into visual games for far too long.  The less said about Edanna the better; use a walkthrough if you wish to remain sane.  Otherwise, expect plenty of anger issues to arise.  Upon completing this world the reward is to be picked up by a giant bird and brought up to its nest.  A third page with symbol is gained.

 

Saveedro has painted murals in most of the ages, telling of the deeds of Sirrus and Achenar, the evil sons of Atrus.  This one is located in the jungle of Edanna.

 

There are some truly beautiful areas in Edanna, especially deep below.  As to fair or logical puzzles, there are none. 

 

The final world visited before end game is Narayan, the age of balance.  Again Saveedro (who we bump into here and quite often in the game) has damaged part of the age, in this case destroying some tapestries which hold symbols related to the three we have gathered before arriving here.  Again the puzzles are complex and unnecessarily abstruse.  Part of the first main puzzle makes absolutely no sense at all.  The second one is easier, as it is simply copying symbols from an underground tapestry collection and putting them into a machine.  This world is very limited, and there is little to explore.  With only three discs, the developers were running out of room.  But seeing a gondola that will follow an airborne track leads the player to assume that he/she will soon be riding the vehicle.  Not so.  The gondola is only for Saveedro, if you make it that far in the game.  Once the second main puzzle is solved, the end game sequence begins.  Save as soon as you can.  Next come the five endings.  Choose wisely.  It doesn't matter, as the game sets up the player to lose.

 

A mysterious door in Narayan, which, unfortunately, we never get to enter.  This is a micro age, with very little to see.

 

This screenshot gives the true 640 x 480 screen dimensions of the game, with the bottom uncropped.  If the game ends properly Saveedro gets to go for a ride. 

 

Of the five possible endings, three of them end badly for the player and for Atrus.  A fourth ending ends badly for Saveedro, but okay for us.  A fifth ending, which will only possibly be found by players after all the others have been tried (I missed it entirely the first time I played and never knew of its existence), ends well for everyone.

 

The game could really use an upgrade, and I would certainly replay it then.  Though a fairly good game with lots to see and many places to wander freely, I rank it well behind Riven and a bit behind Myst.  Even so, it is one of those games I find myself thinking back to often, with that little dwelling at the crater bottom on J'nanin and the mysterious and entrancing world of Amateria.  It was hurtful not to see more of Atrus and Catherine's house, but we get the whole thing in Myst IV.

 

Happy Full Moon, and Happy Candlemas! 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January Rules the World

The hit count for this blog is currently at 147,059 since its inception on Dec. 20th 2017!  Keep those hits coming and I'll keep writing.  Views come in from virtually every country on the planet.  Now back to our regular programming.

 

January has taken over the Homestead and surrounding area.  It's very cold with worse to come, there is snow on the ground and the boiler is working hard to keep us happy.  We have entered the coldest part of January not only statistically but actually.  This happens from time to time and must be endured, but as we have already had many January days in December it's all getting to be a bit much.  We should have about three weeks of true winter left, but since weather is no longer predictable, this could go on till June.  We shall see.

 

My foot is healing up well.  I will see the doctor in three days to get an official medical opinion, but I am optimistic.  It still hurts to put shoes on, so I am unable to resume walking.  The toe is likely still swollen.  

 

My new piano pieces have now had ten hours of work put into them.  In other words, I am still nowhere.  I will give a more detailed report after the first month.  Deb is inching along on her newest short film, and is ready to commission her composer from Mexico City.  So we both have plenty to keep us busy.  We recently finished playing "Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles," a PC game from 2010.  It is packed with puzzles, many of them quite easy while others are nearly impossible to solve unless one randomly hits upon the solution.  It was actually quite fun to play, even though its relationship to Doyle's book is pretty sketchy.  Graphics were quite well done, as well as the story.

 

 

2 screenshots from the Holmes PC game. 

 

We have begun a replay of Myst III, having recently undertaken the most updated versions of Myst and Riven.  This one badly needs an update.  From 2001 we are now playing the game on Steam rather than loading 4 CDs and having to keep switching them.  At the time, this game was rendered in 640 x 480 graphics!  Hard to believe, as I still think of it as a modern game.

 

2 screenshots from Myst III. 

 

There are two movies to report, and a 9-part SF series.  First the series.  Dark Matter is from 2024 and based on a novel by Blake Crouch.  It stars Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly.  It has an interesting premise that eventually collapses in upon itself, and the series and its many tropes had us cursing the production several times.  Overall it is watchable, especially the episodes where they are traveling within The Box, a room that allows access to different realities, though closely related to the existing one.  It's fun seeing Chicago buried in snow, burnt to a crisp, covered in sand dunes, and looking very sleek and modern in a far future version of itself.  There are many loopholes in the story, and the ending, which we both liked, sure left a heck of a mess behind in present day Chicago.  Recommended, though not highly.

 

Showing on Apple TV. 

 

Two Chinese films round out this portion of today's blog.  It was inevitable that we would watch Chinese Ghost Story 3 from 1991.  Pretty much the same cast returns for pretty much the same story, along with similar scenes of utter grossness, and the familiar farcical humour.  I still recommend the first in the series.

 

Leaving Criterion this month. 

 

Wong Kar Wai has long led in the category of Chinese art film, and his 2004 film 2046 keeps that tradition alive, if not all well.  I found the film overlong and actually on the boring side, despite all the fine photography.  Billed as a romantic drama, that it is.  A man (played by Tony Leung) has many affairs with beautiful women but will not commit to any of them.  Not even the beautiful Gong Li, who comes to love him madly and deeply.  We eventually learn why he is like he is.  There was a woman for him, but she left and seems to have disappeared.  My question is this: can't a person change?  Not this guy, apparently.  The movie is stylish and great to look at, and despite the SF glimmer to the plot the number 2046 refers to a rooming house number, one which he can't seem to leave.  Watchable though not a truly great film (like so many other art films.....).

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Coming next: A winter birthday celebration and a 4-film festival of early Nordic noir cinema.  With the weather expected to worsen, the next post should come fairly soon.

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Replaying Myst

It's taken a few years, but I have managed to replay all 8 of the Myst games in order, including the three Uru ones!  This time I used a walk thru guide in order to properly follow the story, though most of the puzzles I still worked out on my own.  Many times I was stalled for a very long time.  However, I now have a better sense of what it is all about.  The three novels need to be read in their proper place, too, to make everything work out.  The original Myst game is now out in many different versions. The original slide slow version is still playable and remarkably good.  Next came a Masterpiece edition, with better graphics.  Then came RealMyst, with the ability to move anywhere.  In addition, there was a continuous day/night cycle in the main island, as well as in the Mechanical Age and Channelwood.  Some of the sunsets and moon rises are breathtaking, especially from different vantage points.  My favourite places to be during these times is on one of the tiny islands that surround the fortress in the Mechanical Age, as well as being high in the treetops in Channelwood on a moonlit night. There is now an even newer version, with eye-popping graphics.  I am waiting for the price to come down a bit first.  Then I might restart the entire sequence of games and books again.  It's kind of like a Lord of the Rings thing with me (not the movies--the books!)

The second game in the series is Riven, and at the time there was simply nothing like it.  It still ranks as one of the best adventure games ever created.  In these games it's all about the environments, at least for me, and Riven has acres of it.  The puzzles are sometimes fun, but often frustrating.  Walking around as a tourist is more fun.  The final puzzle of the game is almost unsolvable, and since it resets and changes each time you play, a walk thru solution doesn't work.  I've played Riven three times so far, and only managed to finish it once.  The jungle setting, with its original music, has yet to be beaten by any other computer game so far in my experience.  It's mysterious and spooky, and fun to visit.  My other favourite area to visit is Volcano Island.  No other version of Riven ever came out.  I would love to see a day/night cycle incorporated into this game.

Screenshot from Riven. 

 

Myst III Exile tried to put some story into the proceedings, a very basic one of revenge.  Again, I really couldn't care less.  But walking around the environments available was a very welcome way to spend time.  The puzzles again are often quite fun, but here the payoff for solving them was grand!  In Riven, the player got to ride some fabulous transportation devices, and Myst III upped the game for that aspect.  My favourite puzzle reward is the one with the rolling ball, where, once the puzzle is solved, the player gets the ride of a lifetime through a midway roller coaster construction.  Again there is no day/night cycle here, but several of the environments have different times of day, including a stormy twilight.  And another jungle appears, dark and dense.  Myst 3 is quite a good game, if not on par with Riven. I will replay it gladly yet again.

 

Myst 111, the opening landscape area. 

 

Myst IV Revelation again has visuals and atmosphere beyond the beyond, but by now the puzzles are getting really weird.  My favourite part of the game is just wandering around the various pods that are the home and laboratory and study of Atrus, Catherine, and Yeesha.  If there was ever a perfect paradise on Earth, these people are living there.  The story directly concerns the two sons from the original Myst (there were indirectly involved with Myst 3), and their young sister Yeesha.  There is another jungle in this game, but it's a far cry from the one in Riven.  Overall, this is quite a good game, and offers enough scenery to make it worth the time and effort to complete.

The kitchen and living area pod from Myst 4.

 

 The home of Atrus and family.  At one point in the game when the player returns here, it is night.  This is a beautiful area to explore, and worth the price of the game. 

 

The next three games are called Uru, and take place in D'Ni.  Uru Ages Beyond Myst is one of the most graphically amazing games I have ever seen!  it is a vast game, very much in the tradition of Myst.  Only now, explorers and restorers from the land above have discovered D'Ni, and are trying to make it safe for visitors.  While much remains of the city, some of is damaged and unsafe, likely due to Earthquakes.  However, the game begins in the bright desert sunshine of New Mexico, and near the famous cleft from the novels.  Getting from the bright sunshine of the desert into the cool, dark cleft is also a game highlight.  That cleft is really amazing to visit!  From there, it's down, down, and down to D'Ni, where the amazing sights and sounds never stop.  Though there are shortcut links to help get around the vast city, it's much more fun to simply walk around at leisure, enjoying the city all by oneself.

 

Uru has two additional add-ons that make the game even larger--it really is a small universe for the explorer to wander in.  Terrific graphics, and endless walking and exploring are available. There are annoying things about the game, but at least one cannot die.  Having said that, at times the player might have to make several attempts to get somewhere safely, and replaying can take some time.  Oh well.  Like I said; a walk thru guide is handy, but it won't always save you from grief.  The two add ons are called To D'Ni, and Path of the Shell.  This makes for nearly ten different environments to explore, after the game they are all accessible to the player.  This game goes where no other Myst games have gone, playing with reality in a major way.

 

Uru was supposed to be a multi player on-line game, but that never worked out.  I am so glad! I would much rather wander around these special worlds myself.  I rate Uru very highly, again not so much as a game, but as an environment worth visiting time and again.

 

Screenshot from Uru.

 

Screenshot from the expansion To D'Ni.  The entire city of D'Ni is awaiting the explorer.

 

Screenshot from the expansion path of the Shell.  This game really messes with the player's mind!

 

Myst V End of Ages is just that.  This is the final Myst game of the series.  Sadly, it's not very good.  The areas to explore are mostly small islands, though there is a chilly winter environment that proves a challenge to escape from.  On the good side, there are some nice day to night sequences, and a story, as well as a very fine astronomical setting.  But for the most part it's quite a mess, and I doubt if I will ever play it a third time.  After the Uru games, it's a major disappointment.

 

One of the effective night scenes in Myst V. 

 

In movie news, there are two to report, both being my choices.  First came The Mole Man, a 2017 documentary about an autistic man in rural Pennsylvania.  In his 60s, he lives with his mother.  He lives in a deprived area with many abandoned homes, and collects things from the homes; doors, windows, wood, furniture, toys, just about anything still usable (he has a very large collection of clocks and toilet plungers).  He has built an interconnected dwelling of 50 rooms, many of them underground, with electricity, lighting, and heat.  The film follows Ron around as he collects and adds to his buildings.  It also deals with the problem his brothers and sister are having trying to guide him to a different future.  His mother is 92, and won't live forever.  What then?  This is a really excellent film, looking closely at a man with certain gifts, who seems to belong nowhere except at home, doing what he does.  A fascinating story.

Exterior of Ron's creation.  The interiors are much more appealing.

 

Ron with some of his clocks. 

 

Leaving Criterion on August 31st is Midnight Run, a fun romp from 1988 directed by Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop) and starring Robert De Niro.  Along the lines of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, this film came out a year after that one.  De Niro is a bail bondsman, and must get his man from New York to LA in five days.  But the mob is trying to kill his man, and the FBI are also after him.  There's probably never been a film with more smoking and cussing, but it's fun from start to finish.  Somehow, much of the violence also seems to be quite funny.  This would make a good pairing with the earlier film, starring John Candy and Steve Martin.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike