An Idea.

[Lehm]

This is definitely one of the best ideas so far. And it's being illustrated so well. My only concern is that it might cross over into territory that Cyan won't allow. The other thing is that at the end of Riven when the star fissure opens, it starts to rip the age apart quickly. Gehn also wrote that it also began to suck the atmosphere out. You'd have to figure out a way to explain why that isn't happening with yours.

On the topic of the bridge. Cool idea. I'm not sure of the feasibility of a bending rope in the engine. Another thought would be some kind of winch or something that would pull the other rock to within jumping distance. Then the rope would just be a straight object that would disappear into the rock, that would be much easier to pull off.

[SteveDenton]

This is definitely one of the best ideas so far. And it's being illustrated so well.

Thank you.

My only concern is that it might cross over into territory that Cyan won't allow.

That seems to be the general sentiment, but as I don't think it steps on their story-telling shoes, I'll persevere for now. That said, I have been thinking about alternate ways of achieving the same general environmental conditions I'd like to include in this age (with little success, but the concerns voiced here have convinced that I should have a backup plan).

The other thing is that at the end of Riven when the star fissure opens, it starts to rip the age apart quickly. Gehn also wrote that it also began to suck the atmosphere out. You'd have to figure out a way to explain why that isn't happening with yours.

But when the fissure opens in your Relto, things that seem nowhere near as sturdy as Gehn's structures in Riven seem to hold together just fine for as long as you choose to go without jumping in. On the surface, it's an inconsistency, but my IC explanation tends toward the idea that the majority of the destruction in Riven occurred because Atrus stopped writing in the descriptive book. After all, at the end of Myst, when he leaves to blast the red and blue books and returns only a few moments later, he mentions that his absence may have had a catastrophic effect on Riven (this, on the other hand, calls into question Atrus' periodic need for sleep, so it's still something of a pickle).

As for the atmosphere, yes, that's a point... perhaps I could shorten the life expectancy of the age and make it really windy? Again, I'll cite the fissure of Relto being musch less destructive in this regard.

Perhaps the best way to look at the fissure is the way Cyan has told us to look at it: that Uru is "happening" and Riven is "just a game." On the other hand, considering the near-holy status Riven has for many Myst fans (and rightly so), blatantly using this approach might not be very well received.

On the topic of the bridge. Cool idea. I'm not sure of the feasibility of a bending rope in the engine.

There are potentially a lot of problems with pulling off a bridge like that, and though I hate to do it, I do think that I have to scrap the idea.

[Owehn]

Even though I love the idea of using the star fissure, I'm still a bit skittish about using it. We've seen it in three places so far (Riven, Bahro Caves, Relto), and in none of those places did it indicate instability. (In Riven's case, remember that the star fissure appeared when Anna and Catherine wrote their changes into Riven, and wasn't because of Gehn's shoddy writing. The endgame was dramatized to show a rapid decay, but in "reality" it took several months for the Age to die, and this was only because Atrus stopped writing corrections.) So using it here might constitute saying something about Cyan's IP that they don't want to be said.

Would it be so bad if, instead of the starry expanse, it were just dark, with maybe a faint reddish glow near the bottom to indicate the planet's mantle?

[SteveDenton]

Would it be so bad if, instead of the starry expanse, it were just dark, with maybe a faint reddish glow near the bottom to indicate the planet's mantle?

I suppose you're right. I guess I just don't want this to end up being some sort of Spire clone...

[Whilyam]

Would you mind if I modeled something for this? It's a neat idea and seems simple enough to build.

[SteveDenton]

Would you mind if I modeled something for this? It's a neat idea and seems simple enough to build.

I'd be flattered!

[Lehm]

Might be a good idea to wait until the idea is completely fleshed out before working on any models for it.

[Pryftan]

Nah, that makes no sense. Making some preliminary models is invaluable to fleshing out an idea.

[Owehn]

I think making preliminary models is fine, just so long as people don't mind the possibility of it all being reworked or scrapped later.

[Whilyam]

KIimage0002.jpg (125.42 KiB) Viewed 5051 times

Modeled two of the asteroids or whatever they would be called and put in a sky. The sun has not arrived yet, but I did do some lighting work.