Interviews
Interview with Rand Miller
With the release of
Uru Ages Beyond Myst, Rand Miller – CEO
of CyanWorlds – is once
again attempting to achieve what he and his brother Robyn accomplished
almost ten years ago with the original Myst – change the way
adventure gamers play their games. Only this time, instead of hundreds
of thousands of gamers purchasing cd-rom drives so that they can
explore the lush worlds of D’ni, with Uru Live he is attempting
to drag adventure gamers into the bold, new world (well, at least
for adventure gamers) of online gaming.
It is a bold experiment
and one not guaranteed to be successful, but if anyone can pull
it off, it would be Rand Miller. We would
like to thank Rand Miller for agreeing to this interview with Just
Adventure and Jennifer Miller – the biggest Myst fan I have
ever met – for her wonderful questions.
(Can I just add this editorial comment on HOW COOL IS THIS?!!!!!)
Uru is a whole new animal when it comes to gaming. What were the
biggest challenges in developing this kind of multi-player, online
adventure game?
One of the largest unexpected
challenges was just building persistence into the world. The word “persistent” is tossed around
rather nonchalantly in the MMO genre. But when you build working
doors and elevators, and movable cones and rocks, and switchable
lights and machinery, you have to make sure that it all works across
everyone’s computer. If I leave the elevator down, it should
be down when you see it a week later. If I turn on the light, everyone
in that age needs to see the light turn on. If I kick a beachball
everyone should see it roll across the screen and end up in the same
place, where it stays until someone else kicks it. That stuff all
seems so natural, but it is extremely difficult to coordinate everything
that is going on in the real-time 3D world to make that work even
somewhat naturally.
How far do you think Uru can go?
That’s a big question. If it refers to how long Uru can continue,
there aren’t any built in limits. The story is big and the
technology is adaptable, and it will last as long as we’re
interested in presenting it and subscribers are interested in living
it. Like a sitcom, or soap opera – it’ll go as far as
the interest goes.
Uru is quite a
change of pace from Myst and Riven. I know it’s
taken some getting used to for all the fans. How do you feel this
game will fair compared to its predecessors?
I’ve given up trying to predict this kind of stuff long ago – actually
after Myst. There are too many unknowns. We just build worlds that
seem like they are worth exploring and wait to see how people will
respond.
Gehn was rumored to have written over 250 Ages, all of which were
flawed and most of which died. Any chance in Uru that we might get
to explore some of the remaining Ages?
I don’t think the DRC has run across any of Gehn’s works
yet. But I would think that there is a good chance that they will
at some point. I just hope they’re stable enough to explore,
because I know they would be interesting.
We learn in Uru and in The Book of Ti’ana that the D’ni
are not an idyllic people, that even with all the technology and
cultural advancements they had, there were still many unsavory things
underneath. The Age of Teledahn is the best example of this. How
important was it to you to show that even the D’ni were not
perfect?
Without getting too philosophical, choice is an amazingly complicated
gift. The selfish choice comes naturally. And power is simply a choice
effect amplifier.
I
have always felt that Myst is like a high tech, much more intelligent
version of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books
that I read in elementary school. Was the inspiration for the
series
something similar?
I never got into the CYOA
books because I always ended up trying to read all of the possibilities
simultaneously. I was too curious
about the other options, and I was afraid I’d miss something.
Needless to say it got rather cumbersome. I’m sure that that
infers some deep psychological neurosis that I would just prefer
to ignore.
I’ve read on the boards that some fans compare the huge mythology
surrounding Myst and the D’ni people to Tolkien’s Middle
Earth and The Lord of the Rings. How do you feel about that? Was
Tolkien an inspiration at all?
Absolutely. He built massive worlds, and then created small windows
to view them. The worlds were much larger than the books, and that
was the key to their success.
We’re as people,
are used to complexity that goes beneath the surface. The reality
of our world allows us to keep digging deeper
and deeper. So when we build a story that allows for deeper digging,
it feels real.
When realMyst came out, I remember you saying that this was finally
how you had wanted Myst to be originally presented, as a world where
everything could be examined and explored, but that technology hampered
you back in 1994. Do you think something similar could be said about
Riven?
realMyst moved closer
to being real, and that is what I’m
looking for. Technology allows us to keep moving closer and closer
to reality, so I’m always interested in using it. I would love
to explore Riven in real time.
Any chance for a realRiven?
No, too many other things
to do. 🙂
Do you play other adventure games? What are your favorites?
I have very little time
for play these days. But I cut my teeth on the Infocom stuff. Couldn’t get enough of ‘em. I’m
sure those early experiences influenced me.
I read over a year ago that Cyan and struck a deal with the Sci-Fi
Channel to produce a mini-series based on the Myst world. Is that
idea still in the works and what can you tell me about it?
My only comment is “don’t
get your hopes up.”
Can you give our readers any hints on future projects coming out
of CyanWorlds besides UruLive?
Right now we are consumed with Uru. Building the content that is
months away.
But we have a few possibilities
for the future that we’ll
keep to ourselves for now.
Any chance we’re
going to get another GAP ad?
Only if they’ve
started selling stuff for old men! 😉
Please visit the following links to learn more about Rand Miller
and the world of Myst:
The
Lysts – a wonderful
website devoted to everything Myst.
Avid’s Resource
Center – an exhaustive
and comprehensive source of links to Myst related
material and products.
You can also order
many of Rand’s books in the Myst series
at Amazon.
