Grand Theft Auto: Myst 48
j0hnyb1423 writes "Salon is running a "preview" for the next GTA title: Grand Theft Auto: Myst. You have to watch a short ad to see the whole article but it's well worth it. From the article: "Obviously, compromises had to be made. For example, if you've played "Myst" before, you know that go-go clubs are scarce and that there's no Little Havana, per se. Similarly, in "Grand Theft Auto," the only reason you might find yourself in a library is because you're hiding from the SWAT helicopter. Balance was key: Just the right amount of urban development -- followed by just the right amount of urban decay -- was needed to create a picturesque dreamscape that could also credibly be swimming in guns.""
Downtown Detroit (Score:4, Funny)
Ah. This explains the camera crews and digitizing teams combing downtown Detroit a few months ago.
Calling all karma whores... (Score:1, Offtopic)
(And people can't understand why these jump-through-a-hoop-to-read-the-article systems annoy people so much... half the time they don't work! I've simply given up trying to register the NYT, for example.)
It was labeled Satire..Full Text (Score:2, Funny)
In the most gorgeously conceived AND ultraviolent video game in history, you can open fire on passing cars with a bazooka while exploring universal archetypes!
By Jason Roeder
Feb. 2, 2005 | Objective: Climb the ranks as a gangland sociopath by ruthlessly solving a series of intricate puzzles dispersed throughout the fantasy worlds of "Myst." But that's just the game's narrative dimension. Half the fun, of course, is exploration for its own sake, so if for some reason you're losing
Re:It was labeled Satire..Full Text (Score:2)
Re:Calling all karma whores... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Calling all karma whores... (Score:2)
Re:what about San Andreas? (Score:4, Informative)
Old School (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, I don't know.... (Score:2)
When two different stories just fit too well.... (Score:3, Funny)
Full text to avoid registration (Score:1, Redundant)
By Jason Roeder
Feb. 2, 2005 | Objective:
Climb the ranks as a gangland sociopath by ruthlessly solving a series of intricate puzzles dispersed throughout the fantasy worlds of "Myst." But that's just the game's narrative dimension. Half the fun, of course, is exploration for its own sake, so if for some reason you'
Re:Full text to avoid registration (Score:2)
Article Text (Score:4, Informative)
In the most gorgeously conceived AND ultraviolent video game in history, you can open fire on passing cars with a bazooka while exploring universal archetypes!
Objective: Climb the ranks as a gangland sociopath by ruthlessly solving a series of intricate puzzles dispersed throughout the fantasy worlds of "Myst." But that's just the game's narrative dimension. Half the fun, of course, is exploration for its own sake, so if for some reason you're losing interest in, say, valves and knobs, just take a break from the storyline and wander. The realms of "Myst" aren't mere pixilated backdrops, but vivid and highly interactive landscapes. If you simply dash from screen to screen, you'll miss out on many of the game's treasures, not to mention some nicely situated sniping perches.
Start: The game begins simply enough: You find yourself on an island. You don't know how you arrived in this magical place -- you've only been out of the joint three hours, and you hope to fuck you're not in Jamaica because you know way too many Rasta men with scores to settle. But unraveling the astonishing truth will take all your wits. Then, it will take the wits of smarter friends, and then it will take the wits of a shut-in who wrote a walk-through.
How did this game come about?
With the release of "Revelation," the fourth installment of "Myst," not to mention several derivative novels, the creative team at Cyan worried that the title had played itself out. For a jump-start, the company turned to collaborations with long-standing video game icons. Those early partnerships, however, failed to produce the desired synergy. In other words, there's a good reason you haven't played "Ms. Pac-Myst."
But the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Myst" series seem so aesthetically opposed. How did the programmers manage to integrate them?
Obviously, compromises had to be made. For example, if you've played "Myst" before, you know that go-go clubs are scarce and that there's no Little Havana, per se. Similarly, in "Grand Theft Auto," the only reason you might find yourself in a library is because you're hiding from the SWAT helicopter. Balance was key: Just the right amount of urban development -- followed by just the right amount of urban decay -- was needed to create a picturesque dreamscape that could also credibly be swimming in guns.
"Myst" is pretty much uninhabited, while "GTA" is all about the characters. How did they get around that?
To be honest, there wasn't any coherent, plausible way to populate "Myst" within the existing mythos. Instead, the game's creators took a bold meta approach. All the inhabitants of "Grand Theft Auto: Myst" are the virtual presences of players who attempted a previous version of "Myst" but gave up forever after 45 enchanting minutes. Without a directing intelligence to guide them, these "afterimages" eventually coalesced into a crude, benighted society -- prostitutes, drug lords, tourists.
What about Atrus?
For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Atrus is the architect of all the "Myst" realms. He's wise, avuncular, and needs your help -- a lot, and for free. The folks at Cyan wanted to keep him that way. Rockstar Games, which puts out the "GTA" series, wanted to go in a different direction with "Myst's" most important character. In the end, an agreement was reached: Atrus -- still wise, still avuncular -- would be recast as a harmless rare-book dealer who occasionally troubled players with small errands: picking up 700 kilos of rare books at an abandoned quarry, connecting a rare book to the ignition of a Russian mafia lieutenant's car, and so on. In addition, Atrus' ether addiction could be toggled on and off.
There's something so pristine and nonthreatening about "Myst." I'm worried that it will resensitize me to violence.
I know what you mean. There's that one-of-a-kind "Grand Theft Auto" moment when you've beaten a hooker senseless with a golf club, dragged a to
Re:Article Text (Score:2, Insightful)
Sure, The Onion has to pay its bills... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Sure, The Onion has to pay its bills... (Score:2)
I now have a new... (Score:2)
From the fine article:
There's something so pristine and nonthreatening about "Myst." I'm worried that it will resensitize me to violence.
I know what you mean. There's that one-of-a-kind "Grand Theft Auto" moment when you've beaten a hooker senseless with a golf club, dragged a tourist from his station wagon, and sped off down a crowded sidewalk, only to realize your sole regret is that you jacked a car with such crummy acceleration. Meanwhile, one of "Myst's" strengths is
Re:What's so great about these games? (Score:2)
Re:What's so great about these games? (Score:2)
Re:What's so great about these games? (Score:2)
Just a bad joke (Score:3, Interesting)
Instead, I get treated to a crummy article mixing two games that are so different this could never even happen. I think the next GTA is a few years off anyway, hardly past the storyboard sketching phase yet I'm sure.
Re:Just a bad joke (Score:2)
I hope it does come about. Imagine, Povray [povray.org] quality GTA. Everything looks real, not like some simulation.
Of course the system requirements will make Doom 3 look simple. Multiple 64 bit processors, lots of memory. Lots of bandwidth inside the machine.
It would look nice though.
Re:Just a bad joke (Score:2)
It's a Satire (Score:1, Redundant)
uhh yeah... (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:uhh yeah... (Score:1)
meh (Score:4, Interesting)
What would be interesting is if Rockstar decided, for their next GTA title, to give everyone a little surprise...
If, under the base-layer of GTA-style missions, there was something else lurking, like an evil cult bent on summoning Dagon or Cthulhu, except that Rockstar would have to not tell anyone about it.
It could even be a series of ultra-secret missions that aren't even covered by the commercially released completist guides.
Re:meh (Score:2)
Tepid. (Score:1)
Good thing
The Video-Game Mashup! (Score:1)
GTA vs. SimCity - city building determines the locations and type of missions, successfully becoming a bigger crime lord brings down property values and drives out sims.
Halo vs. Master of Orion - fight out those inter-empire battles in the first person
Quake vs. Home Architect 3D - design a nice home... and have a huge fragfest in it and des
Re:The Video-Game Mashup! (Score:2)
I loved that game and its wacky physics engine.
Accelerate to max speed, throw car into a 180 degree spin, release the slide button and shoot in the other direction at max speed.
That gave me a head on collision with someone chasing me so many times.
They need to make a Streets version for the newer sim city games.
More ideas for GTA crossover games (Score:2)
* The similarities of GTA with 007-style shooters that require more stealth are already obvious, so let's move on.
* Applying the physics engine of driving games like Gran Turismo (or insert your favorite here) could make the driving elements a bit more enjoyable.
* At some point I want to drive a vehicle in
Re:More ideas for GTA crossover games (Score:2)
Realistic physics (you already mentioned this). This could be negative though. If I'm running from the cops, I want some sort of arcade like physics to enhance the experience. There's something about driving slow (as most realistic cars are) that isn't fun.
Replay mode. This could be amazing because there's been a lot of stuff that I wish I had a video of. Add a director's mode for some truly stunning replays
Re:More ideas for GTA crossover games (Score:2)
The developers could decide whether this is available after completing (a) any mission, (b) all missions at any location, (c) all core missions in the game, or (d) every mission in the game up to 100% completion.
Been done before. (Score:3, Funny)
Circa 2000
Uhh... it's flagged "Satire" on Salon.com (Score:2)
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