I'm loving this series from ARS, another great one about Crash Bandicoot where apparently they needed extra RAM so selectively overwrote the sony libraries in RAM with their own data, by experimenting which areas were needed on whether it crashed or not.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxXGuVL21o" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxXGuVL21o</a>
Hearing about Myst and CD-ROMs reminds me of my trouble with the sequel, Riven:<p>Riven came on multiple CDs. When you moved from area to area you had to swap the discs in your PC. I got part way through the game and it said "Please insert disc 5". I couldn't see any disc 5 and wondered if this was some kind of clever, 4th wall breaking puzzle.<p>Well, turns out the jewel case would open up an extra door and the 5th disc was there. It wasn't supposed to be a puzzle, it was just unexpected...
Coincidental timing - a bunch of people online just did a weekend game jam using HyperCard (the same product used to create Myst and other Cyan games): <a href="https://cancel.fm/hyperjam/" rel="nofollow">https://cancel.fm/hyperjam/</a><p>I didn't get a chance to participate myself, but you can see all the stacks everyone made at <a href="https://itch.io/jam/merveilles-hyperjam" rel="nofollow">https://itch.io/jam/merveilles-hyperjam</a>
I've really enjoyed this series. I do wish they just told stories about developing their games without the contrived framing of every one as a "near death" story. It's just unnecessary and rings pretty false in most cases. It feels a bit like tricking non-technical people as well.<p>Despite that flaw, I do like it. I hope they keep em coming.
There is a fun review of the game from Computing Gaming World 1993 here: <a href="http://cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_113.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_113.pdf</a><p>I never completed Myst, it was such a frustrating game. Granted I must have been 10 or 11 when I played it, I've thought a few times about going and playing it as an adult but I still have PTSD from the frustration it caused me.
This is part of a great series of interviews with the developers of some of the most influential games in history.<p>Two of my favorites are Andy Gavin on Crash Bandicoot:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxXGuVL21o" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxXGuVL21o</a><p>and Sid Meier on Civilization:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUM33VJRbY" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUM33VJRbY</a>
He mentions Lunar Lander as one of the things that got him into computer games. There's a lot of interesting information from the creator of Lunar Lander here:<p><a href="https://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~storer/LunarLander/LunarLander.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~storer/LunarLander/LunarLander....</a>