How Myst Almost Couldn't Run on CD-ROM | War Stories | Ars Technica

Ars Technica
7 HN recommenders · recommended in 6 months, 2020–2024
YouTube
2M views · 6 years ago · documentary · historical

An Ars Technica War Stories episode in which Myst co-creator Rand Miller explains how the game's huge pre-rendered graphics fit on a CD-ROM. It covers the technical limits of the format and the trade-offs the team made to ship in the early 1990s.

HN people recommend it as a fascinating, entertaining account of the constraints that shaped Myst's release.

“CD-ROM didn't make Myst a no-brainer, as Rand Miller discusses in this excellent Ars Technica piece”
Game designGame art & UI
#myst#randmiller#cd-rom#gamedevelopment#warstories#hypercard

11 comments from Hacker News

r
@rideontime2023 · in “Demoscene accepted as UNESCO cultural heritage in The Netherlands”
CD-ROM didn't make Myst a no-brainer, as Rand Miller discusses in this excellent Ars Technica piece: ▶ this video More info in the extended cut starting at this timestamp: link
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c
@clusmore2023 · in “Douglas Adams on Hypercard and new educational models”
If you want to hear more about this from the man himself, Rand Miller has a great video with Ars Technica: ▶ this video And extended edition: link
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j
@jtaft2020 · in “Myst Almost Couldn't Run on CD-ROM [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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n
@nodesocket2020 · in “How Prince of Persia Defeated Apple II's Memory Limitations [video]”
Related, the video How Myst Almost Couldn't Run on CD-ROM[1] is actually more fascinating and entertaining in my opinion. [1] ▶ this video
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g
@gdubs2020 · in “How Myst almost couldn’t run on CD-ROM [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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j
@jtaft2020 · in “How Myst Almost Couldn't Run on CD-ROM [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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b
@bane2020 · in “Myst almost couldn't run on a CD-ROM”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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v
@virgil_disgr4ce2020 · in “Myst Almost Couldn't Run on CD-ROM”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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g
@gwab2024 · in “I found a 55 year old bug in the first Lunar Lander game”
One of the creators of Myst (Rand Miller) credited the original game with being why he got into game development in the first place [1] Myst inspired many people to go into computer science and game development as well, so it's interesting to see how much of a snowball effect this Lunar Lander game had [1] ▶ this video
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g
@gdubs2020 · in “Beyond Cyberpunk: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to the Future (1991)”
I love the artistry and creativity around the HyperCard community. Years ago I stumbled on this (wonderfully dorky) episode of Computer Chronicles, that focuses on HyperCard: link I love how the used-car salesman created his own application to help potential buyers find the right car. This was truly the “bicycle of the mind” era for computing; the user base was fairly self-selected, and people wanted to take full advantage of this new tool. [1]. The range of HyperCard was pretty amazing — famously, Myst was originally created with it: ▶ this video 1: link
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a
@anonsivalley6522020 · in “HyperCard: What Could Have Been (2002)”
The game Myst was originally written in HC, and a game engine (Mohawk) had to be written for Windows to provide similar functionality in order to port it. There's a documentary about it: ▶ this video Definitely one of the rare indie game success stories. They really poured themselves into making it as awesome and expansive as technology would allow. IIRC, they're still writing games for fun.
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