Amiga Flame - News - Is Myst Coming Or Not?

(*)Is Myst Coming Or Not?(*)



That is the question on most Amiga gamers minds at the moment so it`s time I investigated.



It all started of when a team of Polish developers released a demo of Myst on Aminet. Of course many people downloaded it and enjoyed playing it and so wanted the full version only to find out from Broderbund/Cyan that it was a fake.

They of course where angered by the fake and stopped Aminet from distributing the demo and stopped the magazines putting the demo on cover CD`s.

It wasn`t to end their as people wanted the game released and so the Amiga community bombarded their offices with e-mails and letters protesting that they wanted the game made and released. I was one of those. Soon news reached Viscorp who released a statement to the newsgroups saying.

Jason Compton, Communications Manager Viscorp

At Cyan's public request, I contacted them today about the potential of doing a Myst Amiga port. As most of you know by now, the issue came up in the first place when an extremely accurate, but fake, demo was placed on Aminet.

Cyan's concern is not the development of the game: if they wind up doing it, they'll get the development done by Amiga-knowledgeable programmers. They are concerned with how many units they can sell. They also wanted to know where the platform was going--were we still going to sell machines, were we going to develop new technology, and both answers were yes.

So now they need to think about it for a while. I'll be in contact with them next week to see if there's anything else they need in order to make their decision. [note: please don't suggest we finance it. Cyan's sold HOW many million copies? :) Now, a bundle, that's another story... ]

So it appeared as if Cyan was worried about how many copies they could sell so they could make a nice profit. But it then appeared that Viscorp had got it wrong as Cyan put this on the newsgroups.

Dear Amiga Users, Recently there was a synopsis of my conversation with a Mr. J. Compton from VIScorp posted to this news group. And given the misunderstanding Mr. Compton had of our conversation and of Cyan`s process with Myst on the Amiga platform, I felt that this newsgroup would like to hear our process and thinking on this subject directly from me.

The Amiga is a great machine. Yet until recently, Amiga has not been a typical platform most game developers focus on for platform conversions and localizations of 600 MEG CD-ROM multimedia programs such as Myst, for various reasons, including distribution, technical support, and programming. But with the move by VIScorp, there appears to be once again a central controlling hub that could provide developers such as Cyan, with the tools, answers and contacts needed to consider such a conversion. Let`s face it, all I have heard from the hundreds of users who had downloaded the Myst demo, is that while you all are universally anxious to see a program such as Myst for Amiga, you also clearly don`t want to be left in the lurch should you have a question installing/supporting/configuring, etc. And that is my primary concern, and interest. Doing the conversion for the current install of Amiga platforms is easy enough. But I would also like to know what the future holds for these current platforms and additional information on the rumours of new Amiga platforms that have come up.

The last thing you need is another company`s product that cannot run properly on YOUR machine; new or old. And what about the sequel to Myst. If we convert Myst 1, will your current machines run Myst 2 given the hardware/software requirements of Cyan? Or, will it only run on the rumoured new machine? Or will it require you to do a major upgrade to your current hardware? And is that worth it for you for one program? We are looking for answers from those who have worked with Amiga for years. I have called and written to many and am slowly receiving serious, coordinated, organized information from current developers. Honestly, we have not kept up with Amiga.

I`m simply looking for answers, not dollars, as suggested by Mr. Compton. Cyan`s primary interest with all of our products has been, and will continue to remain: product quality and customer satisfaction. A cliche perhaps to some, but when YOUR product doesn`t work, we have always been there to support it/replace it/ exchange it/ or give your money back if you don`t like it. That`s my job. It`s Cyan`s job.

Please be patient while we ramp up on Amiga to determine whether Myst is doable given our time constraints, manpower, and knowledge, and whether it`s doable with the current Amiga support structure, hardware configurations/limitations, and the demands of multimedia product users for future products.

So what does this mean? Will it means we will have to wait and see, I did try to e-mail them to find out but have have not recieved a response. Well I guest that means their still under seige with e-mails.

A rumour was going around that Viscorp had given Click Boom Myst to develop it and that Viscorp where paying the development. When I asked Jason Compton he told me this.

From what is going around it is said that Viscorp is paying for the development of Myst and that the game is now in the hands of Clickboom.

This isn't true. I don't know what the situation between Cyan and ClickBOOM is, but we're not financing it.

Can I say that these newly set up games companies need help from people like you. Surely with all these new CD-Rom games coming out you can tell companies that have left the Amiga that the spec of machines has changed and now it is time they convert some games to the Amiga and make new ones.

Absolutely. Hopefully, more publishers like Cyan will take notice.

Well it doesn`t look as if the rumour is true but hopefully whatever happens we will get Myst.

So the Myst Saga continues. . . .


If you hear anything more about Myst then

E-mail Amiga Flame at philip(@)mailman.dnet.co.uk






(Amiga_Flame)

E-mail - philip (@) amigaflame.demon.co.uk

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