The Nightstar Zoo

Has anyone heard of this? (It actually released recently, according to Gamespot.com) Has anyone actually picked it up and tried it?

And if so... what did you think of it?

Not yet, though being the junkie I am I will when I have time.

It came out in America Tuesday, yes.

Myst 4 was definitely made in the same spirit as the first 3, and with a far more solid and relevant storyline than Exile, and in general it seems all a fan could hope for, although there were a couple of things that rubbed me the wrong way.

I'm a very strong fan of Myst, and while I haven't yet played the full game (I downloaded a demo) I have to say I didn't initially like it, mostly because it involved a couple of weird devices ( which turned out to be a color camera and digital photo album) that seemed out of place in a story that should have taken place more than a century ago.

Then I remembered that the original Myst had a spaceship, a power plant, and a high-tech star-scanning device, among other things. So odd technology isn't outside of the supposed realm of possibility, although it is strange within the more complete storyline that's been developed since the first game.

The thing that really bothered me, though, was the amulet. I generally think of the Myst series as being fairly realistic with the exception of having books that link to other worlds, and including an amulet that causes visions of past events, while certainly cool, seems to go against the feeling of surrealism that the series perpetuates and dip precariously into the realm of fantasy. I personally wish Cyan had found other ways to make their story points, difficult though this would have been. In other respects, however, the game so far has been good; the visuals and audio are satisfying, as are the puzzles, and the story touches on things that fans have been wondering about since the first game. I was also pleased to hear that 4 was released in DVD format, removing all the tedious disc-swapping that annoyed endless people in the last two games.

OK, having played the game, it's freaking incredible, though a bit infuriating; it's not fully compatible with my video card, which has been causing me no end of problems. On the other hand, I was pleased that it comes in DVD form, although that could be a problem for some people. The game itself is amazing in every respect, except for the issues that I mentioned above.

Myst itself is sorta considered the "killer app" for CD-ROMs. it was among the first pieces of software that really needed that kind of capability, and it used it very well.

Vorn

There's a Myst collection with all the previous versions on DVD.

I have a Myst-like Macintosh game called "Welcome to the Future". Its required system specifications are vastly under-spec. Not even my 7300/200 could play it without hiccups and long loading pauses. Good music in it, there's a "jukebox" where all of it can be played.

Could be a nice Beige G3 would have the muscle to run WTTF.

_________________
Fandemonium!
August 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2014

"I am a machine. I am a weapon of war. I am a destroyer of life in the service of life, the sword and shield of my human creators." Bolo Invincibilus, Mark XXIII, Model B (Experimental) 0075-NKE "Nike".