The Great Tree

Daedalus

Warning, this post holds quite a few Myst 4 spoilers!

Hey everyone, got back from Toronto yesterday, and even though there have been a few impressions posted, I thought that I'd go ahead and post my full Myst 4 impressions here for those who couldn’t attend Mysterium.

Anyway, Myst 4. Wow. Can't really sum it up into words, but I'll do what I can. Here's what we saw during Ubisoft's Myst 4 presentation.

We were able to get a quick glimpse of the half-sunken ship area/age before the main event, and there was a lot of cool stuff to see, including a creature that flew up out of the water and into the air only to dive back in (imagine an eagle diving for fish). You also get to see this guy again in a few sequences, but I'll leave those as a surprise! Wink

There were a bunch of little crab-like creatures scurrying across the beach, which were interactive and pretty unfriendly, but fun to mess with. The best way to describe many of the effects in Revelation is a combination of real-time 3D, pre-rendered images, and movies.

Even though much of it is pre-rendered, every scene comes alive with animation, sounds, and effects. In Haven, bugs will fly around your head and will swarm around the screen in your presence. The water effects are all real-time and make the pixel-swishing technology of the previous installments fall very flat. One cool effect was that of lights flickering on various surfaces. Add this and the plants and trees that move in the wind (which also reflect light) and you get a true sense of realism. Just when all of that sounds great, you can also see cloud shadows moving across surfaces and landscapes. Seeing this in real-time is the only way to appreciate what Ubisoft is doing here, and adds so much depth to the game. Mist and fog rolls around in some scenes, something you wouldn't expect in any "flat" pre-rendered game. Movies in the game seamlessly integrate into the environment, and layer on top of each other to create some very dynamic scenes. Who knew that watching a bridge swing towards you while looking around could be so cool? We also got to see a few cool rides in which you could look in all directions while in motion. Very sweet.

Hearing some of the music from the game, I now have an idea of the mood that Ubisoft is trying to achieve with Revelation. If anyone is worried about Peter Gabriel's involvement with Myst 4, don't be. His contribution is full of emotion and is subtle yet profound. I'm glad Pat didn't spoil us by showing where in the game a certain track is heard, but I can't wait to experience it. Another track we heard in Tomahna had some influences from the main theme, and it seems that we're in for many surprises as far as the musical score goes.

Overall I was very impressed with Ubi's offering, and can't wait to see the final product. Smile

Trahald · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:33 am Post subject:

aaarrrggghhh!!!

>attacks ridiculously slow clock<
_________________
No-one has explained WHY a raven is like a writing desk!

Mystlander · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:39 pm Post subject:

Daedalus... Thank you for the sneak preview of things to come in August! Wink

NSymon · Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:12 pm Post subject:

Thnaks for the preview Daedalus, from everything you say it sounds like its going to be a fantastic game. Can't wait to see it now. Any news on when they plan to release a demo?

Daedalus · Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 10:30 pm Post subject:

I believe Ubi said that the demo should be online very soon. By mid-August at the earliest, I would think -- maybe sooner? Wink

Jaharen · Great Tree Member Joined: 23 Dec 2003 Posts: 309

Outside: That's cool. I can wait 'til whenever... Inside: Gotta play, gotta play, gotta play right now!
_________________
Jaharen
MOULa KI: #10750831

Professor Askew · Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:26 am Post subject:

Thanks for the scoop, Daedalus! Cannot wait for our adventure to start again.
_________________
Professor Daniel Askew - Securing our reality from the machinations of the Station Masters.