The Great Tree

Ashtar

During my visit to Cyan, I was fortunate enough to get a preview of the next expansion pack. Although I can't recall everything I witnessed during the 30 minutes or so I was glued to the monitor, I'll try to recall as much as I can while it's still fresh in my mind.

There will be two major ages to explore, and a few lesser ages. The two ages I witnessed were Er'cana and Ahnonay. When he went into the Relto, there were 5 linking books to the right of the Nexus book, all with the Shell symbol at the top tab. There are also some new reference books on the right that probably explain the new ages. Just remember that probably all five books won't appear at once, you will have to find them. From what I remember Bill saying is that XP2 will start out with a new linking book in our Relto. How it get's there is another question Smile

Our Avatar will have some new capabilities, like swimming. Now we can refresh ourselves in the various pools! And there will be critters we can interact with! Bill told me the name of one of the critters, but for the life of me, I can't think of the name now. Maybe I should have carried along one of those portable recorders Smile

All I can remember is that it looked like a crab that wanted to play or crawl on your feet.

Also, we can now keep a journal. And the cool thing about this journal is that you can export/inport directly to/from HTML. So if you want to post your journal to a web page, it will be a snap.

I can't forget the puzzles. Bill mentioned that one of the puzzles in the game is probably one of the most difficult ever devised at Cyan, and there will a lot more of them than what we saw in XP1. I was shown a few of them, and they look mind numbing Smile

And believe me, the people at Cyan do listen to the explorers. There will be no more jumping or dexterity puzzles. But the impression I got was "They want puzzles? We will give them some puzzles to fry their brains!" Smile

I was fortunate enough to visit with Tim Larkin a bit and he played some music from the next XP. I wish I did have that recorder. The music he played sent chills up my spine, and this was just pre-production before the singers are dubbed in.

Lets see, what else. The Kadish gallery will play a role in the next Expansion pack. I think Bill was surprised that I recognized the different room that was shown, but it was hard to miss Smile

I also got to peek inside Stephan Martinier's cubicle, but unfortunately he wasn't there. I looked around for new concept art, and there were quite a few new ones, but I wouldn't be able to describe them even if I wanted to. Wow, Cyan certainly has some extremely talented people working for them! Again, picture taking was not allowed.

There were a few more things, like this digger machine you get to ride through one of the ages, I think it was in Ahnonay but not positive and I believe there is a puzzle associated with it.

So new linking books, beautiful ages, new Avatar & KI capabilities, mind numbing puzzles, new journals, wonderful music, and what looks to be loads of fun. Have you pre-ordered yet? Smile

One more thing, I did ask Bill about the future of XP3. And it boils down to this folks. It will depend entirely on the sales of XP2. So if you were thinking about giving a copy to a buddy, or downloading from a pirate site, please don't! You will only be hurting yourself, Cyan, Ubisoft, and the rest of the fans. Nuff said.
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NSymon · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 6:25 pm Post subject:

Oh wow this next expansion pack sounds fantastic and I can't wait to see it and I totally agree with what you say about buying it. So fingers crossed and everything that everyone buys it. Thanks again Ashtar. I shall go away and think about the mind numbing puzzles and ponder over the joy of more journals Laughing

CuzinJohn · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 6:31 pm Post subject:

DROOOOOL.....

oh now I can't wait...

Mind-numbing puzzles will be a major thing for me... as opposed to the mind-numbing tedium of marker hunts. Confused

That got really old really quick.

Bravo to your memory, Ashtar... and thanks!
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Mystlander · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:32 pm Post subject:

Holy smokes! This is fantastic news Ashtar... and thank you for representing The Great Tree members with such verve!

Since we will be challenged with mind-numbing puzzles to solve, will we also be receiving peer-to-peer or LAN capabilities so we can brainstorm together online?

I agree with Ashtar about fans purchasing XP-2 & XP-3, 'cause I wanna fill my Relto bookshelf to the brim with linking books!
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Trahald · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:48 pm Post subject:

I think we should make a new forum strictly for the explorer journals. I also think that The Dreaded Player's Block will triple in size. I also shall get my patience at max to search for the OGG files of this music. I'm glad Gahreesen and Tehlehdahn and Eder Gira are the only ages where timing is absolutely necessary, and glad it's staying that way.

Did you hear if we'd be able to control our canens?
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Gadren · Great Tree Member Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Posts: 218

Ashtar, i provided a link to this thread, and copied your post, to the UO forum...hope you don't mind...

dno't worry, i gave you credit, and i put LOTS of spoiler warnings... Very Happy

brian · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:41 pm Post subject:

::drooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool::

Great work.

::runs off to order tons of copies of X2::
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Jerle · Explorer Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 3

How cool is THAT, thanks for the report! Gadren also posted and credited you on MYSTcommunity forums. Wink

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Shadowcats · Explorer Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 3

Cool I can't wait. Very Happy

Thanks Ashtar.
And thanks Gadren for the post on http://www.guildofgreeters.com/
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Ashtar · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:04 pm Post subject:

I think Gadren is a news hound. Any Uru/Myst related news will be found and posted (or is that poasted) on the other forums by our favorite face Smile

But thanks for spreading the good news Gadren. I was hoping that someone else would take up the chore.

Mystlander: I did ask Bill about some kind of networking or peer-to-peer capability in a future version. He stated that they have heard the community, and although it's not on their plate right now, they haven't ruled it out either. I get the impression that it all depends on how well XP2 does, and whether or not there will be a XP3. So don't get your hopes up too much yet, but be assured that Cyan has heard our pleas.

One more thing I wanted to tell you about concerning Myst IV - Revelation. The folks there are very impressed with it and seem to be pleased with the results. So if it can pass the Cyan scrutiny, then it should be a blast.

So now we have XP2 coming out the end of June, and Revelation coming out probably sometime in the fall. That should keep us fans busy and happy for awhile Smile

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Durin Mephit · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 1:57 am Post subject:

Out of curiosity, what was Cyan's opinion of Exile? That would be helpful in comparison to their opinion of Revelation.
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Corona · Explorer Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 1

I don't think it's wise to compare Revelation with Exile so soon. R is more plot-driven with the brothers.

Nice board! Very Happy

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Ashtar · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 9:53 am Post subject:

Marten: Sorry, but I never asked any of the Cyan people what they thought of Exile. It would have been nice to know, but I didn't think of it.
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albertbowen · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:36 pm Post subject:

We could ask Rand (on Orkut) for his opinion of Exile... Cool

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Jail · Explorer Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 1

did Cyan OK this report? It seems that there is a lot of sensitive info in here, and as much as I really appreciate the information (very exciting!) I just hope that Cyan isn't scrambling to do damage control. If everything was given the thumbs up, then thanks very very much for the report Ashtar.

Please no flames Smile