Cyan Worlds is bringing classic puzzler Myst to PC VR headsets later this year.
The rebuilt and upgraded version of one of the most important PC games of all time is listed on Steam as releasing in Q3 this year. The new version first released on Quest in late 2020 and it is a great and faithful port of the classic nearly 30 years after its first release. For those who originally journeyed across the mysterious ages of the Myst universe decades ago, visiting it in VR can bring players to tears because they already have rich memories of a place they visited partly in their imagination. Now, with VR powering the experience, transporting to that island and standing on the dock to begin your journey is a far more complete experience.
The title is listed as including support for Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift as well as tracked controllers. The new version is also playable in flatscreen mode. The game is such a faithful reimaging of the game you can even look up guides written in the 1990s to help you through your journey. That said, this updated version also adds an option for puzzle randomization, so you can experience the true challenge of Myst before everyone learned how to use a search engine.
The minimum specifications for Myst list at least 8 GB of RAM while the recommended specifications boost that up to 16 GB.
Here’s the trailer for the game that was released when the Quest version was announced:
When Cyan Worlds brought the iconic puzzle title Myst into VR last year it was an Oculus Quest exclusive. Today, the studio has confirmed its working on expanding support for this new edition, for PC VR headsets as well as standard pancake gaming.
Launching a new Steam page as well as confirming the news via Twitter, Cyan Worlds is developing Myst for both PC and Mac, with the SteamVR version supporting Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index. Not only confirming a launch window of Q3 2021, but the studio has also released several screenshots which look gorgeous. While Myst on Oculus Quest didn’t look bad it certainly had to be reined in due to the hardware. As the images showcase, the team is certainly making use of that extra headway ensuring this edition of Myst could well be the best looking yet.
Apart from the visuals, there’s probably very little difference between the Quest and PC versions, utilising all the work Cyan Worlds previously did to ensure an engaging VR experience. This saw the team take the original point and click adventure all-new art, sound, and most important interactions. Players can push buttons and flip levers to solve numerous puzzles, engaging them in the world at every turn.
But the studio has still remained faithful to the original 1993 videogame using the exact same locations and retaining the narrative, uncovering a story of ruthless family betrayal. Once you’ve completed the campaign or for those well acquainted with Myst there’s a puzzle randomisation option to mix the experience up.
When reviewing the Oculus Quest version of MystVRFocus said: “There will always be that nostalgia value for Myst to draw on and many players of a certain age will likely relish being able to truly step into this world for the first time. It’s no longer the groundbreaking experience it once was, yet Myst can still challenge players in its own unique way.”
As and when Cyan Worlds release further details of the PC edition of Myst, VRFocus will let you know.
Looking for some mind-bending puzzle games to play through on Quest 2? Here are our picks.
The Oculus Quest library is only growing larger and stronger by the day with a few options available in most genres. For puzzle fans, we’ve put together this list of some of the best in the genre available on Quest. Some are inventive and creative, some are mind-bending and challenging, but there should be something for everyone.
Here are our picks for the best puzzle games available on Oculus Quest.
A Fisherman’s Tale
Before its more recent game Maskmaker, Innerspace released the acclaimed A Fisherman’s Tale on Quest in 2019. It’s a short yet incredibly charming puzzle game, with ingenious puzzles will make you rack your brain until you finally reach that critical ‘a-ha’ moment that feels so satisfying.
Cubism is a deceptively simple game. Each level features a 3D wireframe shape into which you have to fit different Tetris-like block pieces. The puzzles get harder and the pieces more complex – it’s a slow and measured puzzle experience.
Even better, the game’s recent updates include 120Hz and hand tracking support. The latter in particular is a near-perfect fit for Cubism – all you’re doing is picking up pieces and placing them into the wireframe, but it’s enough to create a sublime hand tracking experience. This isn’t a ranked list, but if it were, Cubism would be my personal #1.
Floor Plan 2 feels like a VR episode of The Muppet Show, not just in the hilarious absurdity of its world but also in the constant, invigorating ingenuity of its puzzles. It is a logic-based puzzle game in a completely illogical world and one of the best recent releases on the Quest platform.
This game takes the staples of 2D jigsaw puzzles and brings them into VR with a new element — all of the puzzles are 3D models of real-life places, brought to life through highly detailed photogrammetry captures. The 16 included puzzles range from landscapes to individual objects, each with accompanying ambient sounds that build up as you solve. It’s a slow, meditative but also appropriately challenging puzzle game that offers a similar yet fresh take on traditional jigsaw puzzles.
This is a tough, short (1-2 hours), claustrophobic puzzler that will set you stuck in the cramped confines of a submerged submarine. There’s no hand-holding here, resulting in an immersive yet excruciatingly slow set of submarine-based puzzles. If you’re looking for an incredibly short but difficult experience, then this might be the best option.
If you’re a fan of Tetris, then Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Tetris Effect is an absolute must-play. It launched first on PSVR and PC VR before finally making its way over the Quest platform in 2020.
It is exactly what it sounds like – it’s Tetris in VR. However, it’s matched with a spectacular, powerful and at times hypnotic amount of visual and audio flair. While these visuals have had to be pared down slightly for the Quest release, we still deemed it the definitive version of the game across all platforms – the lack of tethered wires on Quest remains priceless.
Five years on from the release of the original, I Expect You To Die 2 is a game that executes a specific style of grueling puzzle game incredibly well. It’s a trial-and-error affair where you’ll spend an hour testing things, only to realize that the solution was obvious and right in front of you the whole time. It’s the mark of a quality puzzle — one where the solution is hidden not through obscure design, but through your own short-sightedness — but it can also mean a slow burn and periods of heavy frustration.
The latest installment in The Room series is also its first installment in VR. This isn’t a mobile or PC port either – The Room VR: A Dark Matter is made entirely for VR from the ground up.
Developer Fireproof hasn’t lost its penchant for incredibly clever and creative puzzles in the transition. Read more in our review.
Myst
This seminal PC game made its way over to the Oculus Quest late last year. It’s an upgraded and all-around solid port of the original PC title that will have you reaching for a notebook or a friend to help work your way through the tough puzzles.
It’s a game everyone should play once and the Quest 2 port provides you with a modern but faithful way to do so. You can read more in our review.
Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
While the Angry Birds franchise started on mobile, its first foray into VR is a completely natural transition and results in an extremely fun VR puzzle game. It’s an intuitive VR title that’s perfect for VR beginners and veterans alike.
The campaign levels do veer slightly to the easy end of the spectrum, but it’s also a game primarily targeted at kids. This isn’t to say it’s not enjoyable for all ages though, and the custom level builder and online sharing functions mean that you’ll be able to create and play more levels long after you’ve finished the campaign.
For fans of classic-style Myst-like atmospheric adventure games, you’ll want to check out our full Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis review right here!
Wearing its Myst-influence upon its proverbial sleeve, Ryte: the Eye of Atlantis doesn’t stray far from that particular mold. It’s very much in the picturesque puzzle game form, but with an interesting background in ancient Greek archeology, legends, and mythology. It’s a passable puzzler held back by some noticeable technical issues.
Ryte – The Eye of Atlantis Review: The Facts
What is it?: Myst-like single player atmospheric first-person adventure puzzle game Platforms: SteamVR (Rift and Vive, more support planned later) Release Date: Out Now Price: $19.99
Ryte takes players on what is first presented as a sort of time-travel-meets-virtual reality simulated vacation to the ancient world of Atlantis. As this tourist, you’ll start the game with a robotic guide to give you historical details and some explanation of the puzzles that act as the focus of each location. Starting off around a dock region, you’re tasked with learning to manipulate your item box, find missing parts to simple dial puzzles, and door puzzles requiring you to construct sledgehammer-sized keys using blocks.
The puzzles aren’t especially challenging on the whole and rely more on having players search the area for missing pieces needed to complete the puzzles. Puzzles tend to rely on simple fetch and turn mechanics. As in, you search around for a missing part, place it in the right spot and turn something. This could be gears (the game likes those), mirrors, stone dials, and other familiar mechanisms. At certain points, you can also telekinetically pull certain objects to you (or push them), but the actual gameplay doesn’t really branch out much with such powers.
In one spot, for instance, you need to open a gate. The gate is controlled by a revolving handle, which (of course) uses gears. A gear is missing, but thankfully there are chests placed out of reach in the space on rooftops and around. The crux of this “puzzle” is really just magically pulling the chests down to find the gear.
You’ll explore a temple, town center, dock, strange mystical landscapes in the desert, and some other sites. The developers claim a “semi-realistic” depiction of Atlantis, which seems like an odd clarification for a fictional location, but I get what they’re saying. The basis for that design is the developer’s research into writings on the topic by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato.
This would be a bigger selling point if there was actually more to explore. Since the locations are generally fairly small, there’s just not a lot of sightseeing to really test the authenticity of such claims. Just the same, Ryte is a decent looking game and a few of the scenes are legitimately impressive, like when you’ll watch massive statue-like gods fighting from a high vista.
Taking all this at face value, Ryte is fine. It’s in no danger of being a great Myst-style adventure, but certainly not the worst of its kind that I’ve played. Problems arise more often in the technical realm during playtesting. We played the game via the Oculus Store and initially started on the Oculus Quest 2 using the Link cable.
Performance was problematic in odds ways. The inventory chest (accessed by reaching to your back) acted erratically, jumping around, getting in the way, and often refusing to be put itself back. Controller tracking was jumpy too, causing your virtual arms to glitch. Soon after, the developer told us these issues had to do with using Quest and a Link cable, and would be listed as only for Rift and Vive headsets until they were able to patch it.
Ryte – The Eye of Atlantis Review: Comfort
Glitches aside, the game’s use of teleportation movement and general slower-paced gameplay makes it less prone to motion sickness effects. There’s a nice sense of scope in the few scenes that offer larger areas, but most of the game is kept to small rooms and areas helping keep performance consistent. It’s one of the more comfortable recent VR games.
Switching to the original Rift, however, didn’t seem to mitigate any of the major issues, so this may be a ‘your mileage may vary’ sort of situation. The glitches were annoying, but didn’t prevent being able to progress for the most part. One glaring exception was a spot where the game required us to pull a metal part to the player through a barred gate. It just wouldn’t do it and required a reload.
Strange glitches aside, Ryte is overall a fairly low-requirements game. It has three graphic settings and only uses a teleportation movement system, so it should be able to work well on a variety of setups. The visuals are merely decent on the whole and the soundtrack is kept fairly minimal, but effective. Voice acting in spots is a bit amateurish, but the story is actually pretty engaging the farther along it gets. The few actual other human models used in the game are odd and stiff, bringing to mind roughly animated mannequins.
Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis Review Final Impressions
Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis has enough moments of interest to make it worth a look, but there’s nothing particularly deep or memorable here. Perhaps you’ll have better luck with performance, but as-is, it clearly needs some optimization work to be a smoother, less glitchy experience as a whole. And even then what’s here is mostly derivative, if compelling at-times, VR adventure fare.
Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis is available now on Steam for $19.99 with officially listed support for Rift and Vive. As of the time of this review Quest via Link is not recommended, but it’s expected to be patched. This review was conducted using a Quest 2 initially and then an original Rift.
In a Reddit AMA Cloudhead Games explained that while they would love to work on The Gallery: Episode 3, they’re waiting on a next-gen advancement in VR. A Quest version of the series is a possibility down the line as well.
Cloudhead Games and The Gallery
The Gallery: Episode 1 is still one of my favorite gaming experiences of all-time with its cliffhanger ending and groundbreaking use of exploration and movement-based roomscale VR. I’ll never forget standing in my living room, mouth agape, staring upward as I ascended at the end.
Episode 2 channels a lot of the same ideas into another exciting adventure and it remains as one of the most compelling reasons to have access to PC VR over just Quest or just PSVR.
Obviously, as it’s the series that put Cloudhead on the map before Pistol Whip, they haven’t forgotten about The Gallery; they just want to do it justice.
In the Reddit AMA, a company representative explained:
“The Gallery holds a really special place in our hearts and of course we would love to return to it at some point–but we really do need the market to be bigger first. The way I see it, the next time there’s a massive innovation in VR, the same way roomscale and hand tracking reinvented the medium, EP3 would make the perfect candidate as a ‘next-gen experience.'”
Arguably, the Quest is that sort of “next-generation” step they’d be looking for with its wireless standalone format, so it sounds like that is a possibility as the Quest line of headsets gets more and more powerful.
“As the Quest lineup gets more powerful, maybe there’s a chance for a Quest version as well. Nothing official is in the works, but it’s still my dream to return to the series in some way.”
Let us know what you think of this news down in the comments below!
Myst is highly regarded as one of the most important PC games of all-time and now the original developers have rebuilt it for VR for a brand new generation. Read on for our full Myst VR review.
In the first hour of Myst VR you realize you should grab a notebook for recording clues to help solve the mystery. This was true when the groundbreaking game came out in 1993, it was true for the versions released for various consoles and, later, for phones. It is also true for the newest version of the game you can play in VR — rebuilt with levels of detail likely to elicit an “oh wow” from folks who already have rich memories of Myst’s locales despite never actually “visiting” its islands.
That’s the magic of Cyan Worlds’ classic puzzler — its visuals and overall atmosphere created vivid memories despite severe computational limitations. So what to say then of the same game now that VR transports you there so much more completely? The same is still true — its visuals and overall atmosphere still create vivid memories despite severe computational limitations.
And it might just be one of the best unofficial co-op experiences you can find with an Oculus Quest.
Myst VR Review – The Facts
What is it?: Single-player puzzle game set on a mysterious island. Platforms: Quest / Quest 2 Release Date: December 10th, 2020 Price: $29.99
Myst VR is really a single-player game, of course, but the honest truth is that it was always hard and could test the patience of a single human well past the point of quitting. This is a game about paying attention to your environment and trying things out until you figure out what works. So you’ll hear stories of families sitting down around the old computer in shifts with a pencil and paper notebook charting out their clues and theories as a shared journey. Myst can be played similarly in VR.
Sure you could take a book from the library on Myst island and walk over to manipulate a puzzle with the reference book full of clues in your free hand, but I played Myst VR on Quest 2 in a much more satisfying way.
I cast my view from VR so my oldest kid could see it too. She also played along using a phone loaded up with realMyst — the earlier real-time version of the game. She used a notepad at first but then we realized she could just take photos of my screencasting as a quicker way of note-taking. So we tore through the ages of Myst VR together that way.
Myst VR’s environments are realized with impressive beauty. In one of the game’s areas I caught myself staring at the sun for the longest time like Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. It also features excellent sound design and lighting, but even on Quest 2 you can see pop in of higher or lower quality textures that can be pretty distracting depending on your tolerance for it. I also accidentally teleported into a wall once and restarted the game to get out of it.
You can pull up a walkthrough from the 1990s and still use it to work through parts of the mystery again in virtual reality, or if you want to be extra confounded, you can activate puzzle randomization instead.
Myst VR Review – Comfort
Myst VR includes a number of movement options including teleport with snap turning for maximum comfort. There’s also fast travel for climbing ladders or going down stairs. As you’re likely to traverse the environments many times looking for clues, activating these options can make the game very comfortable for long play sessions even while seated.
The puzzles have also been reconstructed for more intuitive 3D interaction. For example, where there were a pair of red valves to turn and change the orientation of a clock in the original game, in the new version there’s a dial with a short and long hand to move into the position you want them on the clock. Those types of changes are definitely welcome and help to reduce unnecessary frustration.
Myst VR Review Final Impressions
If you’re looking to explore Myst for the first time — or perhaps play “co-op” with family like I did — Myst VR is a definitely faithful, upgraded, and solid port of a landmark game that’s hard not to recommend everyone play at least once. It might be a little straining and lonely after a time, but that’s always been true of Myst.
Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis was meant to release today for PC VR, but instead it’s been delayed until next month.
Orichalcum Pictures and developers VR Connection announced that the game will now release on January 27, 2021. Here’s the official statement:
Due to the remote work adjustments during the COVID-19 second lockdown in France which were necessary to keep everyone healthy, the current version of Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis did not quite reach the technical quality standards that the studio and us have set and wanted to achieve for the release on December 8th.
With so much work and dedication put into this project we feel we owe the players to deliver the most polished experience and decided to postpone the release to January 27, 2021.
We apologize to everyone who was expecting the game today. This decision was not an easy one to make. But achieving excellence is our goal and we apologize about the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Announced earlier this year, Ryte will let players explore the lost city of Atlantis in its final days. You are sent back in time to the ancient city by the Historia Time Travel agency, where you will embody an Atlantean who just broke out of prison.
We got a new gameplay trailer back only a few weeks ago, embedded above, and it looks like it’ll be good fun to explore the lost city in VR. While the development team stresses that the game is, of course, a work of imagination, it’s still aiming to be as historically accurate as possible with the environment and visuals. You’ll be in a Greek setting with accurate decorations for the time, such as statues of Poseidon and the like.
You’ll have plenty to play over your Christmas break this month, as the new VR games December 2020 list is full of big releases.
Yup, these festivities are probably going to be unlike any other we’ve experienced in our lifetimes, but at least VR developers are stepping up to give us plenty of entertainment. Things might be quiet on the PSVR front but if you have a PC VR or Oculus Quest headset, you’re going to be very busy.
New VR Games December 2020
Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds (December 1st)
Inxile Entertainment – PC VR
Wasteland 3 and Mage’s Tale developer Inxile returns with its second VR project – a multiplayer shooter in which both sides can be attacked by the alien inhabitants of the world they’re on.
Pistol Whip 2089 DLC (December 1st)
Cloudhead Games – PC VR, Quest (PSVR In 2021)
Pistol Whip’s latest addition is a campaign-themed DLC paying homage to some classic movies. We’ve already blasted our way through it, and you can read some impressions here.
The follow-up to Tokyo Chronos is another VR visual novel, this time set in the far flung future where robots battle it out. English voice action and a deeper focus on interactivity have us intrigued.
The Warhammer 40K universe gets the VR treatment in this all-new first-person shooter that casts you as a butt-kicking Battle Sister. Expect a full single-player campaign with multiplayer options to come.
Ryte: Eye of Atlantis (December 8th)
Orichalcum Pictures – PC VR
Get ready to explore the lost city in this blend of VR exploration and puzzles. Stunning Greek architecture and promising gameplay mechanics have us hopeful for this one.
Myst (December 10th)
Cyan Worlds – Quest
The all-time classic adventure game gets a VR native remake. This reimagining has new art, audio and even the option to randomize puzzles for veteran players.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond (December 11th)
Respawn Entertainment – PC VR
Arguably the most anticipated VR game on the horizon right now, the legendary developers at Respawn resurrect the long-running shooter franchise. A massive blockbuster campaign and VR multiplayer modes await.
Ven VR Adventure (December 17th)
Monologic Games – Rift (Quest/PSVR Soon)
Ven is another third-person platformer in the style of Moss and Astro Bot. You’ll team up with the friendly alien fox… thing and hop and skip through a range of colorful worlds. If it has even half the magic of its inspirations, it’ll be worth it.
Microsoft Flight Simulator VR Support (Late December)
Asobo Studio – PC VR
Okay, this time we definitely know VR support for Flight Simulator will be coming later this month. Not only that, but it’s going to be landing on every PC VR headset, not just Windows MR. Result!
What are you looking forward to in the list of new VR games December 2020? Let us know in the comments below and follow us on YouTube for more coverage on each!
First released back in 1993, Cyan Worlds’ classic adventure game originally launched for Mac OS and spearheaded the boom of the CD-ROM. The game sees you travel to the island of Myst via a special book. Utilizing point-and-click mechanics, it became an incredible success with 6 million copies sold, leading to sequels, adaptations, and numerous ports, most recently on Nintendo Switch back in May. Remakes also followed that allowed for free roaming with further interactivity as well as a slew of follow-ups from other studios taking heavy inspiration.
Cyan Worlds’ first VR game, Obduction, is a sort of spiritual successor to Myst and applies many of the principles and ideas it popularized in the 90s to a modern VR game setting. Since then Cyan has published VR games like Zen and continues working on their next new project, Firmament. In the meantime though, we’re getting a full-blown remake of Myst specifically for VR
Confirmed this will be “built completely from the ground up for Oculus Quest”, this new edition also promises “modern art, sound, interactions, and optional puzzle randomization for those who are up for a greater challenge”.
It comes after news that their other VR project, Firmament, has been delayed until 2022, and recent years have seen the studio pushing virtual reality with Obduction, alongside their own publishing venture. As such, we reached out for an interview with Cyan Worlds CEO, Rand Miller, who was kind enough to tell us more about this exciting new evolution of the classic IP.
Myst VR: Modernizing a PC Gaming Classic
Henry Stockdale, UploadVR: Firstly, thank you for joining me here, I’m a big fan of the original Myst. For any readers unaware of your game, could you please introduce yourselves?
Rand Miller: Sure! I’m Rand Miller. My brother and I created the original Myst game in 1993. It did pretty well. I’m still actively involved in Cyan, the company we formed, and Cyan has continued to focus on creating narrative-rich, exploration games.
UploadVR: Myst is such an iconic adventure game, one we’ve seen numerous ports, sequels and remakes for previously. What inspired you to create a VR edition?
Miller: VR is just such a no-brainer for Myst. The whole idea of the game has always been to lose yourself in that virtual world. Over the years, the technology has provided better and better ways for us to make the experience more immersive – and VR is definitely a giant leap.
UploadVR: We previously saw Myst updated in 2014 with realMyst: Masterpiece Edition. Was there a reason you’ve built this VR edition from the ground up, as opposed to adding VR support for that?
Rand: 2014 is like 100 years ago in tech years. 🙂 Since that time we’ve learned a lot, and we’ve gained experience in various development environments. Our Creative Director Eric Anderson, and Development Director Hannah Gamiel both felt like it would be best for the product to build it from the ground up in the Unreal Engine. It was important for them that this Myst version not just include VR for various platforms, but that it serve as the graphical and interactive high water mark for all Myst versions moving forward, It truly is a complete reconstruction from the ground up.
UploadVR: Compared to previous editions, how does Myst VR play, can we expect any big differences to gameplay?
Rand: There are quite a few variations from the original Myst. Most of them have to do with taking advantage of VR hand controllers and playing in VR space. For example, to enter the combination to the safe in the cabin the player doesn’t just push a button – they grab a knob and turn it. So much more natural. Also, VR necessitates building parts of the world differently – like making interactive items in an area that are easily reached whether players are standing or sitting. We didn’t want to force players to bend down to interact with controls. We also made some global choices on things like doors – they all slide to open and close. This avoids that VR frustration where you pull on a hinged door and it opens awkwardly into you.
UploadVR: It’s also been confirmed that the VR edition will feature optional puzzle randomisation. Can you give us more details about how this works?
Rand: When you start a new game you have the option to play the game without the solutions that have been around since the original version. I must admit that I love the fact that I have most of the puzzle solutions memorized, but it definitely means that I don’t really experience the full game. This option gives a little more opportunity to play Myst with fresh eyes.
UploadVR: Cyan Studios has built up a reputation within VR recently through games like Obduction and the upcoming Firmament, alongside your publishing arm Cyan Ventures. Your studio is clearly invested in the technology, but what are your thoughts on the current state of virtual reality?
Rand: When I experienced VR on a Vive for the first time several years ago, it was clear that it was something special. Not just the sense of being in a space with 6 degrees of freedom, but the incredible use of hand controllers. But of course it was still expensive enough to be somewhat of a niche market. From Cyan’s point of view, we weren’t as interested in compromising the Myst experience for VR that didn’t have 6DOF or hand controllers. We started making VR games (like Obduction) and we learned so much with the experience, but we continued to wait for a sweet spot that would have the power to present Myst well, with 6DOF and hand controls, at an accessible price point so we wouldn’t exclude large numbers of our fans. From our point of view, the Quest was a turning point. We feel like the Quest as a baseline for the current state of VR has made VR a viable option for indie developers like us, and we’re pivoting in various ways to see where VR leads.
UploadVR: Was there anything you’ve learned from Obduction’s development that’s been applied here?
Rand: Where do I begin? We learned so much – the hard way. Probably the most important take-away was that designing the game for flat first, with VR in mind, was not ideal. It would have been much easier to implement the VR version by designing for VR with flat in mind. That’s the approach we’re taking with Myst, and with Firmament, our second Kickstarter game, and it’s already improved the development experience.
UploadVR: Within Cyan’s recent Kickstarter update, we were told that the innovations and optimizations being made for Myst would also benefit Firmament. Could you tell us how?
Rand: Well, so many ways. I’ll start with our art pipeline. We learned an amazing amount during Obduction and built some tools that helped streamline the asset production. But we took the entire exercise and based our Myst production on it, seeing how it played out in the whole process. As a result we’ve been able to tune our ability to build assets quickly and beautifully, but that still run well on various platforms. Myst has allowed us to test and hone that process. Then there is the variety of things we’re learning about interface elements in VR that started with Obduction and is proving valuable as we improve on Myst. These lessons are already playing a part in how Firmament is being developed.
UploadVR: So far, Myst is confirmed for Oculus Quest at launch on December 10th. Is this just for the original headset or can we expect an enhanced version on Quest 2?
Rand: The version of Myst that launches for Quest, plays even faster on the Quest 2, but it’s a similar experience. We’ll be looking into specific options for improvements for the Quest 2 after launch.
UploadVR: We know that the PC edition is planned to release after the Quest version launches, including 2D and Rift support, but when can we expect this to happen?
Rand: We can’t say for sure, but we’ve been building the high-end assets simultaneously to make the development of the other platforms relatively straightforward. With that said, I expect it’ll take several months to tune and polish the PC based VR and 2D versions.
UploadVR: Do you plan to release a PlayStation VR edition?
Rand: We’d love to release versions of Myst for as many platforms as we can. But as an indie company it’s wise for us to see how our planned versions do before making other specific commitments.
UploadVR: Lastly, is there any message you’d like to share with Myst’s fans?
Rand: We have the best fans in the world! We’ve waited to make Myst for VR until it could be experienced by as many of our fans as possible, and I can’t wait for them to experience Myst the way I’ve had the chance to for the last few months. The adventure becomes your world now more than ever!
The game was announced earlier this year and is a collaboration between Orichalcum Pictures and VR Connection, to create an experience that will allow players to explore the lost city of Atlantis in its final days. You will play as a character who has been sent back in time to Atlantis by the Historia Time Travel agency, filling the shoes of an Atlantean who recently broke out of prison.
Alongside the release date announcement, a new gameplay trailer was published with some commentary, which gives us a bit more insight into the inspiration behind the city’s design. The team were heavily inspired by Plato’s writings on Atlantis, but also the Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which they say had a “great impact” on how the team looked at Atlantean technology.
Here’s a quote from the video on the game’s relative historical accuracy and inspirations:
“Ryte is a work of imagination, but we tried to base our visual world as much as possible on historical elements. Our setting is mostly Greek, with statues of Poseidon, sacred bulls, but we are also including Aztec and Egyptian elements. In order to give the player that feeling of awe and wonder, of deep strangeness everywhere he goes, we chose to make a city spreading upwards in a vast and empty land, with a sky filled with bright stars. It helps remind the player that he is very small in a gigantic world.”
Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis will be available on December 8 for PC VR on Steam and the Oculus Store.
For more on how we arrive at our scores, 
