‘Myst’ creators Cyan break into virtual reality game design with ‘Obduction’
When the computer game “Myst” debuted in 1993, co-creator Rand Miller heard from devoted players who would dim the lights in their dens and crank up their speakers to feel immersed in the title’s photo-realistic island setting.
The advent and affordability of in-home, virtual reality technology allows Miller’s company, Cyan Worlds, to create experiences those gamers couldn’t have imagined 23 years ago, he said.
Obduction was released for PCs in August, but Monday marked the first time Cyan Worlds made good on a 3-year-old promise to create a virtual reality version of the game.
Cyan Worlds raised $1.3 million for the project through a Kickstarter campaign.
Cyan Worlds always has made games where physics-based puzzle solving and world exploration take center stage, compared to the twitchy gunplay and visceral violence that define most modern blockbuster titles.
On the Oculus, Obduction mixes the classic puzzle-solving of Myst with the sensation of occupying a 3-D fantasy world. Players are dropped into a moonlit park next to a lake in the game’s opening sequence. Tilting your head up shows a full moon and twinkling stars, and as you move forward along a linear path a streak appears in the sky, crash-landing near your location. An otherworldly spore appears, winding its way closer to you, before bursting into particles of light as the screen goes blank and the title appears.
See the full story here: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/nov/06/myst-creators-cyan-break-into-virtual-reality-game/