From Myst to Riven
From MYSTlore
From Myst to Riven is a coffee table book by Richard Kadrey about the making of Riven, describing its development process.
[edit] Contents
The book features a rich amount of images, including wireframes, final rendered scenes and photos of models, Cyan's headquarters and its employees. It also includes short vignettes of various topics of the story, including the basics of D'ni Bookmaking, the "Power of Five" for Gehn, and the D'ni language by Richard A. Watson.
The first section, Inception, discusses the origins of the game Myst and its production by the original members of Cyan. A pivotal part of the creation of Riven was the notes the team had compiled on the D'ni, which helped them launch the next game. The second chapter, Preparation, shows original flow charts, diagrams, and sketches that Cyan used in the creation of Riven. In the next chapter, Construction, an explanation of the original concepts, sketches, and models is given, with an entire list of the production of the visuals of Riven (lighting, textures, shaders, animations vs live action, etc). The last chapter, Completion, discusses the various aspects of the game itself, the puzzles, the plot, and the union of all of the elements as a whole.
[edit] Cover
There are five different editions of the book, but the only difference is what image is on the cover. The images are the following:
- Gehn's building on his 233rd Age.
- The Moiety Hive on Tay (see image to the right)
- A path on Temple Island
- The spikes on Survey Island
- The bridge from Book Assembly Island leading to the Great Dome
[edit] Credits
Author: Richard Kadrey
Foreword by: Rand and Robyn Miller
Published by: Hyperion
