Obduction Kickstarter by Cyan (the Makers of Myst, Riven, et. al.)

Pardon if this is the wrong place for this, but I thought I'd mention the fairly new kickstarter for Obduction, which is a new adventure game by Cyan, Inc., the studio responsible for Myst, Riven and several other games. They are asking for a fair bit of change - $1.1M USD - but I'd love to have something as cutting edge as Myst was when it was released. Myst was the reason I bought a $341 caddy-loading CD-ROM drive for my Macintosh SE. (It was the new blazing fast double-speed version after all - and external - with a SCSI connector - and made by Apple.) Myst sucked quite a few days between Christmas and New Years the year it came out. I'd be ecstatic if they manage to come up with anything as captivating as that game was to me, but I'm willing to fund them to give it a try. Details are still a bit sparse, but give their pitch a listen at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cyaninc/obduction.

I just came here to post this myself. I decided not too long ago to go through the Myst series again, since it had been many years since I had. It was about a week later that I heard that it was the 20th anniversary of Myst's launch. I've finished the original and I'm currently making my way through Riven.

For me, they could not have more perfectly timed the Obduction kickstarter. Going through the series again is bringing back all those wonderful, immersive (and often frustrating) experiences. I can't wait to see what the Cyan team plans to do with modern tech and the Unreal 4 engine. It sounds like they're focusing on the exploration that made Myst so unique for it's time, which makes me very hopeful.

Proud to back this one.

Just watching the Cyan company intro sequence at the beginning of the kickstarter video gave me chills. I think I'll probably be in for $25 before long.

D-Man777 wrote:

I just came here to post this myself. I decided not too long ago to go through the Myst series again, since it had been many years since I had. It was about a week later that I heard that it was the 20th anniversary of Myst's launch. I've finished the original and I'm currently making my way through Riven.

For me, they could not have more perfectly timed the Obduction kickstarter. Going through the series again is bringing back all those wonderful, immersive (and often frustrating) experiences. I can't wait to see what the Cyan team plans to do with modern tech and the Unreal 4 engine. It sounds like they're focusing on the exploration that made Myst so unique for it's time, which makes me very hopeful.

Proud to back this one.

I never got around to buying and playing Uru and V. It looks like I've got a couple years before Obduction hits, so maybe I'll start over as well. III and IV seem to be missing from Steam. It could take some major excavation to find my disc copies in the basement...

Myst III: Exile was always my favorite for some reason. I think it was because of the free-look they added. It just put you in the game better.

III and IV aren't on GOG.com either. I believe they were the only two published by Ubisoft, so I'm sure it's a licensing thing. GOG has other Ubi titles, so I'm hopeful they'll be added.

The Cyan kickstarter is doing really well. They passed 1/3 of their $1.1M goal in less than 3 days. Having been in several kickstarters, I expected the rate of pledges to drop off by now. It may still, but this one seems to have legs.

Another kickstarter in the same vein is The Gallery: Six Elements. They met their kickstarter goal back in April 2013, but they are now using Ignition Deck to fund their stretch goals. What really interests me in this one is full Oculus VR and (with a stretch goal) Razer Hydra support - being built in from the beginning rather than bolted on afterward. Like Myst got me to buy a CD-ROM drive (and the original Marathon got me to buy an Apple PowerMac), this might be the reason I buy a Rift and Hydra. Check out the videos on their site and on their Steam Greenlight page. I've ponied up the $30 amount just to get beta access (estimated around March 2013).

The Kickstarter is at $860K/$1,100K with 7 days left.

For cryin' out loud, tell your friends!

Phew, looks like there is just $50K left to go, and there are 3 days left. I chipped in right off the bat for the boxed copy. The timing of this was great for me, I just finished playing realMyst on the iPad and I am halfway through the books right now. That gives me until 2015 to get through the rest of the series!

I think I'll wait for a Steam sale

This does look awesome and amazing, and with $40k to go they should hit it. I just can't fund a game that is targetted for 23 months from now but may be delayed even farther. I backed Grim Dawn in May 2012 and still waiting on that. It's killing me and I'm not sure if I can do it again.

Grim Dawn is out on Early Access on Steam. Did they not get copies to backers?

tanstaafl wrote:

Grim Dawn is out on Early Access on Steam. Did they not get copies to backers?

Grim Dawn backers were sent their alpha keys last year, and the alpha was on Steam starting in July or August this year.

THEY MADE IT!

D-Man777 wrote:

THEY MADE IT!

I figured this would get funded but I'm really surprised it didn't happen until this late in the campaign.

tanstaafl wrote:

Grim Dawn is out on Early Access on Steam. Did they not get copies to backers?

My backing was just for the game, not early access. AFAIK I have to sit and wait patiently.

June 2016 Release

Day One, baby!

Great to hear a date. I kickstarted this back in 2013(?) at the "boxed edition" level. Glad it seems to be going the distance. Their KS updates revealed some significant production/publisher issues.

Looks impressive.

Just started watching a Let's Play of this. Looks like fun. I might be picking it up (on a sale, lets be real Ihave way to many games to play)

Seems like the launch date came straight out of nowhere.

Had no idea it was dropping so soon.

Early impressions seem really positive!

Giant Bomb quick look (since many people like their site)

Started playing through Obduction over the weekend with the missus. So far, it's very much a Cyan game. Outstanding production values, quirky FMV, often frustrating puzzles, etc.

We're huge fans of the Myst series, and while not a continuation, it has a very modern Myst vibe. Really enjoying it so far. Just fighting off my wife's seemingly decreased patience and quick turn to teh intarwebs for clues.

I have a mixture of feeling dread and anticipation. I just started this and definitely brings back memories of Myst. I liked Myst back in the day quite a bit. I don't think I'm that person anymore. I was all happy when I restored some power, but now I'm feeling a bit of dread as I'm wandering around. A damn lift that was working no longer works. I just don't have patience of wandering around anymore waiting for inspiration to strike.

I was in the same boat when I played it a couple of months ago. I liked Myst back in the day but have little patience for walking simulators and passive exploration games these days.

I did find myself drawn in to this one though. It takes a while to get going but there was something about the atmosphere, and the way the environment and the puzzles intertwine, that made it work for me. By the end I had a really good time with it.

Did you play the Witness? I enjoyed that too but was a bit disappointed after all the hype about some mind-blowing conceit behind it all. Obduction I think actually delivers better on that promise although it is not as polished. Some of the puzzles are a bit lame (although there's a couple of doozies in there) and there's a fair bit of backtracking involved but it ends up being more than the sum of its parts, if you can push through.

I played some of The Witness. I didn't finish. At one point I couldn't find the next puzzle and just moved on. I enjoyed the puzzles I did see though.

I plugged away on Obduction for a little bit and got further. Then I started looking at the guide more. Man I admire the cleverness this game exhibits and more so for the people that wander around and piece this together. Damn, I can't do it anymore. I'm not sure how I got through Myst, maybe it was easier. I agree with what you said though - I admire how the puzzles are part of the environment and they feel pretty natural. I just think this type of game is beyond me now.

I definitely prefer my puzzles more contained now. It's way too hard and time consuming to piece together this thing I saw over here with a puzzle over there.