From Myst to Riven: The Creations and Inspirations

Everytime I go through this book I get a painful feeling at the pit of my stomach. The "I want to do something so cool so bad it hurts" type of feeling. Almost 15 years after its first release (I'm showing my age there), the creativity that went into the game Myst is still an inspiration, its graphics now looking slightly rough, but by no means outdated. What game design lover wouldn't have loved to be on that creative team? At least we can dive into the process as narrated in this volume, from the first idea for the world of Myst, through the construction of the game – both games, actually, since its sequel Riven is also covered. Screenshots, concept art and excerpts of Atrus' book bring every page to life. I'd completed both games show more in my days but I learned quite a few things about the story background here: mini-chapters focus on certain aspects of the fantasy world, such as the D'ni art of bookmaking, the symbolism of the number 5, even D'ni grammar! Other inserts are anecdotal, for instance the team's favorite comments received about the game. Mostly though it's the visuals. The book is unusually large, and so are the images, sucking you into the gorgeous island worlds. I absolutely love the annotated machine sketches and maps, the quest for textures and lighting, the creature designs... well, everything. It's inspiration on acid! The price makes it more in the coffee table range, but those who'd really enjoy it know themselves. show less

I would have preferred more detail when it came to the more abstract parts of the game and less technical name/jargon dropping but the pictures were very nice.