ACG just posted a new interview with Rand Miller (of Myst fame).

http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/269/

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit of the interview:

The most difficult was the final marble puzzle in Riven. Our goal for Riven was to start with less friction and end with some tough stuff. We even remarked at the time that we had made Riven easier and harder than Myst. But there were some tough mental leaps to be made to put everything together for that final puzzle.

This confirms my suspicion. I have always thought that the final marble puzzle in Riven was absolutely unfair.

Great interview! Personally, I thought the marble puzzle was very logical, if not exactly easy.

I found this comment string from Rand intereresting:
"I think after doing both Myst and Riven we came to realize that the compartmentalized puzzle solving of Myst’s distinct ages was a good thing. ... In Myst when an Age was completed there was a huge benefit to being able to mentally check it off the list. Riven mixed up the “Ages” in small, but irritating, ways - because once you realize that you require something from another “Age” the nice security of the boundaries goes out the window."

MYST was most definitely not "compartmentalized". If you played MYST, what age did you go to first? EVERYONE went to that Spaceship. Right? And the final underground sub maze needed what info to complete? Info found in the Mechanical age.
I spent hours in that thing, frustrated, until I looked at the guide book (online free walkthroughs not available yet) to discover the solving "secret".

I think there might be other crossovers, but I can't think of them right now. Doesn't matter, no game, for me, will EVER be greater than MYST. Though...........Half Life 2 comes close (see my posts in the Darkside).

Hi BaldBob -- I went to the Treehouse Age first. I thought the clue for Treehouse was a little easier.

Wasn't the underground maze in the Mechanical Age? The idea being that everything you need to solve a puzzle is in that Age (not another)? I solved the underground maze through trial and error because I never understood the clue either.

EDIT: I just went back and looked at a walkthrough -- you're right, the Mechanical Age apparently has a clue for the maze, which is in the Spaceship Age. This is the first I've ever seen the clues connected.

No I went to Channelwood.





There may have been "crossovers" in that you might find references to things in one Age in another Age. But everything you needed to solve an Age's puzzle was found in that Age.

Hmmm, so there are 3 Miller brothers! I'm glad I found that out finally as I have been getting Robyn and Ryan mixed up. Another one of life's little mysteries cleared up for me!
I'm not a Myst fan but I am interested in MOUL and URU because of the online experience.