A while ago I decided to revisit the landmark that is the whole Myst series. Myst, Riven, and Myst III Exile were all handled capably by our gaming G4. So nice revisiting these classics, they’re almost pieces of interactive art. Anyways, I finished Exile on the weekend, so Myst IV Revelation was next up. Its hardware requirements were about double that of our G4 so on to the MacBook Pro it goes. 7GB of disk space, and one patch later I double-clicked the icon thinking just how good this would look on a glossy MBP screen, and... nothing. Hmm, maybe I missed on the second click, try again, still nothing. Aargh! Time to hit the forums...

Long story short, if you’re having trouble getting Myst 4 to run under Mac OS X 10 - including Leopard - follow the steps outlined here. Thanks guys!

Unlike the first three titles, this is the first time I’ve actually played Myst 4. I know, I should surrender my geek card, but now after finally starting it properly I can say it’s jaw dropping. It’s much like Exile in its graphics concept but with some amazing refinements and evolutions. Here’s an example:

exhibit A



exhibit B

Take a good look at those two images. Notice the difference? Just like your eyes, the focus changes depending on what you’re looking at, and it does it so smoothly and naturally that it took me a while to notice it was happening at all. How cool is that? Oh, and for bonus points, while I was lining up these screen shots, I noticed the sunlight on the deck was varying in brightness - you see this in the two shots - so I turned around and looked up. Sure enough, there were clouds moving in front of the sun. Again, an effect so deftly reproduced and so natural that your eyes just take it for granted. Awesome.

I can’t wait for this journey to begin!

Well, maybe I can a little; I have a chilli con carne on slow simmer and I shall not keep my fair lady waiting...

Tags: Myst 4, Myst, MacBook Pro, Leopard