Riven
The PC box art for Riven showcases Richard Vander Wende's concept of what players would first see on the Age of Riven. Richard Vander Wende is an American Visual designer and Video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin [1]
Developer(s)	Cyan
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund (PC, Mac) NA Acclaim (PlayStation) EU Sega (Saturn) JP Enix (PlayStation, Saturn) Mean Hamster Software (Pocket PC)
Designer(s)	Robyn Miller Richard Vander Wende
Platform(s)	Mac OS, PC Windows, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Pocket PC
Release date	October 29, 1997 (PC/Mac) (Hybrid CD-ROM) NA October 29, 1997[2] (Saturn) Summer 1997[2] (PlayStation) NA December 15, 1997[2] (Pocket PC) NA December 20, 2005
Genre(s)	Graphic adventure game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults) ESRB: E (Everyone) (re-releases)
Media	5 CD-ROMs / 1 DVD

Riven is the sequel to the highly successful computer game Myst. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Cyan Worlds Inc (formerly Cyan Inc) is a Computer game company founded by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987 Brøderbund Software was an American maker of Computer games Educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The was a company that produced Japanese Video games and Manga. Mean Hamster Software, Inc is a computer game company founded by John Swiderski in 1985 A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966, in Dallas, Texas) co-founded Cyan Worlds (originally Richard Vander Wende is an American Visual designer and Video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows Mac OS is the trademarked name for a series of Graphical user interface -based Operating systems developed by Apple Inc Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. The is a 32-bit Video game console that was first released on November 22 1994 in Japan, May 11 1995 in North America The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console A Pocket PC, abbreviated P/PC or PPC, is a hardware Specification for a Handheld -sized Computer ( Personal digital assistant Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar A Hybrid disc is a CD-ROM that has multiple file systems so that it can be used on various system software for example both Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows based Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of Video games into suitability-related groups The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. CD-ROM (an initialism of "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory " is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains data accessible to but not writable DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Myst is a graphic adventure Video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Brøderbund. Cyan Worlds Inc (formerly Cyan Inc) is a Computer game company founded by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987 Brøderbund Software was an American maker of Computer games Educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 29, 1997 in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM, with improved graphics and a fourteen-minute "making-of" video. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar In cinema, a making-of is a Behind the scenes Documentary film look of the production of the show ^[3] In addition to the PC versions, Riven was ported to several other platforms, including the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console The is a 32-bit Video game console that was first released on November 22 1994 in Japan, May 11 1995 in North America

The story of Riven is set immediately after the events of Myst. Having been rescued from the machinations of his sons, the main non-player protagonist Atrus enlists the help of the player character, to free his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn. The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst A player character or playable character (PC is a Fictional character in a Video game or Role playing game who is controlled or controllable The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst Unlike Myst, which took place on several worlds known as Ages and linked together by special books, Riven takes place almost entirely on the eponymous Age of Riven, a world slowly falling apart due to Gehn's rule.

Development of Riven began soon after Myst became a success, and spanned more than three years. In an effort to create a visual style distinct from that of Myst, director Robyn Miller and his brother, producer Rand Miller recruited former Aladdin production designer Richard Vander Wende as a co-director. Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966, in Dallas, Texas) co-founded Cyan Worlds (originally Rand Miller (born January 17, 1959, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, U Aladdin is a 1992 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 25 Production designer is a term used in the movie and Television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films Richard Vander Wende is an American Visual designer and Video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin Brøderbund employed a US$10 million advertising campaign to publicize the game's release. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been ^[4]

Riven was praised by professional reviewers, with the magazine Salon proclaiming that the game approaches the level of art. Saloncom, part of Salon Media Group ( often just called Salon, is an online Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual ^[5] Critics positively noted the puzzles and immersive experience of the gameplay, though publications such as Edge felt that the nature of point-and-click gameplay limited the title heavily. Edge is a multi-format Computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. Point-and-click is the action of a Computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen ( point) and ^[6] The best-selling game of 1997, Riven sold 1. Events October 4 &mdash Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997 dies after a double Car accident 5 million copies in one year. ^[7] After the game's release, the Miller brothers drifted apart, with Robyn Miller forming his own development studio, while older brother Rand stayed at Cyan and continued to work on Myst-related products,^[7] including the novel Myst: The Book of D'ni. The Miller Brothers, Rand, Ryan and Robyn Miller co-founded Cyan Productions (now Cyan Worlds) and became famous from the The Myst Reader is a bound collection of three books in the ''Myst'' franchise, and was published on September 1 2004 The next entry in the Myst series, Myst III: Exile, was developed by Presto Studios, and published by Ubisoft. Myst III Exile is the third title in the Myst series of first person adventure video games Although its predecessors Myst Presto Studios was a Computer game development company of the 1990s especially famous for its award-winning The Journeyman Project series and the 2001 Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in

Gameplay

A screenshot of Riven, showing one of the five islands that make up the Age of Riven. The graphics and visuals of Riven were critically praised upon release.

Like its predecessor, Riven is a point-and-click adventure game played from a first-person perspective. Point-and-click is the action of a Computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen ( point) and See also First person First-person narrative is a Narrative mode in which a Story is narrated by one character, who explicitly The player explores immersive, prerendered environments using mouse clicks for movement. In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) ^[8] By operating mechanical contraptions and deciphering codes and symbols discovered in the surroundings, the nebulously explained goal can eventually be reached. Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, "hidden" and analýein, "to loosen" or "to untie" is the study of methods for ^[9] The cursor changes in appearance, depending on its position on the screen and what it is hovering over, to show what effect clicking will have. In computing a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a Computer monitor or other Display device that will respond to input from a text input or A display device is an Output device for presentation of Information for Visual or Tactile reception acquired stored or transmitted ^[8] To navigate the world, the player simply clicks in the direction they want to walk or turn. For instance, if the player positions the cursor hand near the right or left edge of the screen, it may show a bent finger, indicating that clicking will turn the camera 90° in that direction. ^[8] The cursor also changes in context to show when players can drag or toggle switches, or when certain items can be picked up and carried. In Pencil and paper games and Computer and video games an item is an object within the game world that can be collected by a player- or occasionally a ^[10] Such items can then be examined at any time,^[10][11] and either reveal clues to puzzles or provide information on the game's setting and story. As in Myst, Riven has an optional method of movement known as Zip Mode, which allows players to skip to areas already explored, but may cause them to miss important clues. ^[8]

Whereas in Myst the objective of the game is to travel to different Ages to solve puzzles before returning to a "hub Age", Riven's gameplay takes place on the five islands of the Age of Riven. Much of it consists of solving puzzles to access new areas of the islands, though players are also able to explore without fulfilling objectives. ^[11] Many puzzles' sole purpose is to advance the backstory. ^[1]

Story

Riven's story continues where that of Myst—and its companion novel, Myst: The Book of Atrus—left off. Myst is a graphic adventure Video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. The Book of Atrus is the first book in the Myst series of novels set in the same universe as the Myst Computer games by Cyan Worlds The player assumes the role of the Stranger, the protagonist of the first game and friend of Atrus. The Stranger is how the Player character of the Myst series of games is known in Myst canon The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst Atrus is the creator of books that serve as links to other worlds, known as "Ages"; the ability to write these books is known as the "Art". ^[12] Atrus needs the Stranger's help to free his wife, Catherine, who is trapped on the slowly collapsing Age of Riven by his unhinged father, Gehn. The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst Atrus and Catherine had previously trapped Gehn on Riven by removing all linking books from that Age; the very last book to be removed, linking to the island of Myst, was the one they held to escape Riven. Atrus hoped it would fall into the star fissure, a void leading out of the reality of the damaged Age of Riven and into unknown space. However, the Stranger discovered the book, sparking the events of Myst. Catherine was subsequently tricked into returning to Riven by her sons, and was captured by Gehn. ^[12]

Atrus equips the Stranger with a trap book—a snare that functions as a one-man prison, yet looks identical to a linking book—and his personal diary. This diary summarizes the history of events leading to the Stranger's present situation; Atrus cannot explain in depth, as he is engaged in rewriting a descriptive book of Riven, in an attempt to slow its deterioration. Also, he does not want to risk sending a real linking book to Riven until Gehn is safely imprisoned, in case his father should capture the book and use it to escape his confinement: the Stranger must enter the Age with no way of leaving. ^[11] Telling the Stranger that they must capture Gehn in the trap book, find Catherine, and then signal him, Atrus gives the Stranger the book that will take him to Riven.

Once there, the Stranger travels across the islands of Riven, eventually finding Catherine. Because of the decay of Riven's structure, the only way to clearly signal Atrus is to bring about a massive disturbance in the Age's stability—accomplished by reopening the star fissure, which Gehn had closed. When it was opened, Atrus immediately links to Riven to investigate, and meets the Stranger at the brink of the fissure. Depending on the player's actions, the ending to Riven varies. In the canon ending, the Stranger tricks Gehn into the prison book and releases Catherine. Atrus and Catherine thank the Stranger, before linking back to the Age of Myst. The Stranger then falls into the star fissure, to be taken on the path back to his world. Different actions can, however, result in the Stranger's entrapment in the prison book, or even his death.

Development

Cyan started working on Riven in 1993, immediately after Myst's release. Events March &mdash In Sweden, the Swedish Video game Magazine Super PLAY (SP starts Before development began, when even the name of the game was undecided, the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller said they wanted a "natural flow" from the first game to the sequel. The Miller Brothers, Rand, Ryan and Robyn Miller co-founded Cyan Productions (now Cyan Worlds) and became famous from the ^[13] As Myst proved to be a popular and commercial success, the two developers were able to expand their four-person team to a much larger crew of designers, artists, programmers, and sound designers. ^[1] Development spanned more than four years, and was a much larger undertaking than for the first game;^[1] Riven had a budget of between US$5 and $10 million, more than ten times the cost of developing Myst. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been ^[14]

The design for Riven stemmed from a desire to create something different and more dynamic than the Romantic style of Myst. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the The first stage of development was to create the puzzles, in an attempt to integrate them as smoothly as possible into the areas in the game. The Millers met their co-designer, Richard Vander Wende, at a demonstration of Myst for the Digital World Expo in Los Angeles. Richard Vander Wende is an American Visual designer and Video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West ^[1] Wende had previously worked for Disney, as a designer for the animated feature Aladdin. Aladdin is a 1992 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 25 ^[15] As the third member of Riven's conceptual team, Wende ended up contributing what Robyn Miller described as an "edgier" and complementary vision, that made the game dramatically different than its predecessor. ^[1] Whereas many computer-generated environments of the time ended up looking smooth, like plastic,^[1] the Millers and Wende developed a more gritty and rustic design, with corroded and aged elements. Computer graphics are Graphics created by Computers and more generally the Representation and Manipulation of Pictorial Data ^[15]

Riven combined pre-rendered backgrounds with live action footage, in order to increase the player's immersion level. ^[1][11] All the actors were filmed with a blue screen as a backdrop, which was removed in post-production by chroma key, so that the actors would blend into the virtual environment. Chroma Key is the name under which ex- Dream Theater Keyboardist Kevin Moore records Rand Miller had to reprise his role of Atrus from Myst, even though he hated acting. The ''Myst'' series of adventure computer games deal with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst ^[15] Riven was the first game any of its designers had directed live actors, and Wende was apprehensive about their use. ^[1]

At the time of Riven's development, publisher Brøderbund was facing falling revenues as development costs rose. Brøderbund Software was an American maker of Computer games Educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools Brøderbund's stock dropped from $60 a share to $22 in 1996, causing a delay in the publishing of Riven. Notable releases January 29 &mdash Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals and a genre-redefining title for ^[4] Even though Riven's sales were expected to be higher than any other game that holiday season, Brøderbund launched a $10 million marketing campaign^[4] and developed a retail marketing partnership with Toshiba America. Events October 4 &mdash Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997 dies after a double Car accident ( is a multinational conglomerate manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. ^[16] Anticipation for the game was high even among non-gamers, helped by web-based word of mouth and well-placed media coverage. ^[9][17]

Audio

Robyn Miller composed Riven's music, which was later packaged and released by Virgin Records as Riven: The Soundtrack. Virgin Records is a British Record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell Miller designed the liner notes and packaging, which included English translations of the hieroglyphic language found in the game. Hieroglyph ( Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " or hieroglyphics ( = grc-Grek τὰ ἱερογλυφικά ^[18] Whereas the music to Myst was, at first, only available by mail-order from Cyan, Virgin Records had bought the rights to release it initially, prompting Miller to make sure that it could stand alone in CD form. ^[19] The resulting compact disc was released on February 24, 1998, with more than 54 minutes of music. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) ^[20]

Miller established three leitmotifs for the game's three central characters, Atrus, Catherine, and Gehn. A leitmotif (ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf (also leitmotiv; lit "leading motif" is a recurring Musical theme, associated with a particular person place ^[21] Gehn's theme is only heard in its complete form near the end of the game, but portions of the melody can be heard throughout Riven, highlighting his control of the Age. ^[22] Miller tried to let the environment dictate the resulting sound, in order to make the music as immersive as possible. ^[18] He blended live instrumentation with synthesizers: "By mixing and matching conventional instrumentation, you can create an odd, interesting mood," Miller said. Ultimately, he wanted the music of Riven to reflect the game itself, which he described as having "a familiar-yet-strange feel to it. "^[21]

Miller described his biggest challenge in writing Riven's music as reconciling the linear, pleasing construction of music with the nonlinearity of the gameplay. As players can freely explore all areas, Miller explained in an interview, "the music can't say anything too specific. If it says something, if it builds in intensity and there starts to be a climax, and people are just standing in a room looking around, and they're thinking 'What's going on in here? Is something about to jump out from behind me?' You can't have the basic parts of music that you'd like to have, you can't have a basic structure. It's all got to be just flowing, and continue to flow. "^[19]

Reception and legacy

Reviews
Publication	Score
Adventure Gamers	[23]
Edge	7/10[6]
Game Revolution	A[24]
GameSpot	7. Adventure Gamers is a Computer game Website created in 1998 dedicated to the genre of Adventure games. Edge is a multi-format Computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. Game Revolution (formerly Game-Revolution) or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information 8/10[25]
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler	Score
Game Rankings	84% (7 reviews)[26]

Being the first sequel of such an extremely succesful game as Myst, Riven was eagerly anticipated^[11]. Game Rankings is a Website which keeps track of Video game reviews from other sites and combines them to present an average rating for each game On the whole, it was also positively received, with the PC version garnering an average critic score of 84% at Game Rankings. Game Rankings is a Website which keeps track of Video game reviews from other sites and combines them to present an average rating for each game ^[26] The game sold more than 1. 5 million units within a year of its release, and was the best-selling game of 1997,^[7] despite having only been on the market for less than three months. By 2001, over 4. 5 million units had been sold. ^[27]

Jeff Segstack of GameSpot gave the game high marks, explaining that it is "a leisurely paced, all-encompassing, mentally challenging experience. GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information If you enjoyed Myst, you'll thoroughly enjoy Riven. "^[25] Computer Gaming World stated that the graphics were the best they had seen in any adventure game. Computer Gaming World ( CGW) was founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication ^[28] Laura Miller of Salon declared that "Art [. Saloncom, part of Salon Media Group ( often just called Salon, is an online . . ] is what Riven approaches," and praised the gameplay as having "a graceful elegance that reminds [her] of a masterfully constructed novel. "^[5] The game's sound and graphics were consistently praised. ^{[9][12][17][24][25]}

Nevertheless, several publications found fault with aspects of Riven. Computer Gaming World felt that the gameplay was too similar to the original Myst, making Riven the "same game with a new title"; the magazine further disagreed with the minimal character interaction. ^[28] Gaming magazine Edge felt that although Riven was a good game, the solitary atmosphere and lack of mobility was steadily becoming outdated, as games like Super Mario 64 sacrificed graphical fidelity for an increase in freedom. Edge is a multi-format Computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. is a Platform game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. They stated "the question is whether Cyan can incorporate its almost Tolkien-esque world-building skills into a more cutting-edge game vehicle next time. Tolkien's Legendarium (ISBN 0-313-30530-7 is a collection of scholarly essays edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F "^[6] Even long-time players of the Myst games, such as Heidi Fournier of Adventure Gamers, felt that a few puzzles were too difficult;^[23] Computer and Video Games, meanwhile, believed that the story clues were too symbolic and scant, which made following the plot difficult. Adventure Gamers is a Computer game Website created in 1998 dedicated to the genre of Adventure games. Computer and Video Games ( CVG) is a Video game Magazine and website published in the United Kingdom. ^[29]

Despite the success of the game, the Miller brothers eventually pursued other projects. Robyn Miller said: "I think it would be a detriment to always, for the rest of our lives, be creating Myst-like projects. […] We're going to change, evolve and grow, just like any person does in any manner. "^[13] Robyn would leave Cyan to form a new development company called Land of Point;^[30] Wende would also leave to pursue other projects. ^[7] The next video game entry in the Myst franchise would be 2001's Myst III: Exile, which was not developed by Cyan or published by Broderbund; Presto Studios took over development, and Ubisoft published. Events Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of Id Software Myst III Exile is the third title in the Myst series of first person adventure video games Although its predecessors Myst Presto Studios was a Computer game development company of the 1990s especially famous for its award-winning The Journeyman Project series and the 2001 Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in ^[31]

References

External links

• Riven product page at Ubisoft