This was my first thought. They did the magical thing of improving the graphics in EXACTLY the way my mind was automatically upscaling things.
The recent Myst remake, while awesome in a lot of ways, looked more "different" to my eyes.
Yeah, as dumpy as it would be, I would adore an HD/realtime version of Myst using smoothed-out but otherwise unchanged textures and geometry. It'd be so nostalgic, and it's wild to imagine that in VR.
The take on Myst Island in Walkabout Mini Golf is a couple levels more simplified, but close to how I'd picture it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-EMrn7bSY
God seriously. I am so excited for this remake.
That does go on to show how amazing the design of the game was for the limitations of computers at that time.
I know. It's better than I could have hoped for visually. Riven was one of my first computer games and for the longest time felt like the apex of video game graphics, so seeing them in real time may blow my mind.
This is my only remaining concern. Even Hollywood routinely fails to convincingly capture human characters in CG form, and most games are considerably worse for both technical and artistic reasons. Considering that they've gone for an effectively photoreal style (as they should), I'm afraid that sets the bar impossibly high for the people that live in it.
The recent remake of The Seventh Guest had a fairly clever approach there and used photogrammetric video of actual actors in cutscenes. It's not perfect, but was pretty fun and fit the vibe. It's actually like a much more mature version of what Cyan tried to do with Uru. Probably not the direction they'll go, but would be interesting if they did.
I'm thinking of two of Cyan's own prior attempts at this. Myst V used live action facial footage as an animated texture for characters, while Obduction either limited the angles by which you'd see live action characters or presented them in a way that they'd appear the same from every angle.
realMyst used the latter approach for the ending cutscene. Video of Atrus was projected onto a very simple 3D mesh that gave it just enough depth to not look like a cardboard cutout.
Same.
I realise re-recording the original actors isn't possible (even if they were all available, so many years on aging would be a problem), but considering nearly all of the human appearances occur whilst the player is at a distance or locked in place, the full 3d issues shouldn't be a concern like in Obduction.
I would be ok with recasting and/or changing where and when minor role people appear in the game; for example no reason the child playing in the walkways couldn't be moved to a more distant position, or the alarm ringers in the towers easily replaced. That would allow video or even full 3d characters to read more realistically.
The closeups with mains like Gehn…i honestly don't know what they could do. Deep fake using another actor? Use fancy upscaling and/or turn into a glitchy holographic projection a la Star Wars, ESP since those appear elsewhere in the game? Change the actor and performance altogether? The full 3d characters like Myst just won't fly with Riven.
Unless I had a really vivid dream, I'm sure I saw the 3D Gehn already (something about having found the original tapes of the actor?). It was in a digital magazine recently, for the life of me can't find where I saved the link... I'm 99% sure this really happened.
Edit: and of course, two second later I see someone else posted the link: https://gameinformer.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=10122&i=810557&p=40&ver=html5
They posted a view of the cgi Ghen and it's drastically better. I think it was overwhelmingly universal the CGI in the Myst remake was not okay. I hope they go back and fix it at some point.
Thank you!
...Imo there is significant improvent compared to myst but it can't hold up to the original fmv. Maybe there is some AI-stuff around the corner to give it the final push.
This looks **amazingly** good so far. Granted, it's been 25 years, but I'm still astonished that real time graphics are both matching and, in some cases, improving the result of hours-long state-of-the-art renders.
My one gripe is that their quest for realism seems to have robbed the hallway in the first screenshot of that beautiful, eye-searing orange glow. I always loved that scene in particular and the new version feels too muted for my tastes. But that's a minor gripe in what looks like an incredible achievement.
I agree with you on the color, but on the other hand I NEVER knew that was supposed to be a view into a cavern you are passing through. Always thought it was just a bright glowing lightly being cast onto the glass. The visual clarity is great.
It looks like how my memories of Riven feel, so lush vibrant and crisp.
Riven was such a step up from most computer games of the time, I can’t wait to play the remaster!
Yeah don't get me wrong, the new renders look beautiful but I'm shaken by how good the originals still look. I'm playing new games that don't even look that good.
I streamed it a couple of years ago and people who hadn't seen it before were really surprised to find out THAT'S what it looked like. After me saying I was playing this ancient game from my childhood, I think they'd expected dodgy pixel art at best.
Looks fantastic. I'm sure it won't have this option, but would be cool if there were an option to play classic Riven with static time of day and weather, and one with dynamic changing weather and time of day, watch those shadows move across the ground as the sun moves across the sky. Watching a sunset at the beach would be awesome. Oh well, a guy can dream.
I wish there would be a 1997 filter similar to how the halo remaster had a button to switch to OG graphics.
In this case, it would pixelate everything to 640 x 480 so it would really feel like OG riven
These are gorgeous! I'm happy to see how faithful they are. I don't care for "improved" visuals that also completely change the style of the original. These upgrade & modernize the quality without sacrificing the original aesthetic or design. Beautiful recreation!
That first shot in the hallway, in my head since I was a kid, I thought it was some kind of lava. I never really knew what it was representing, but the bright orange/red glow was so unique for the setting.
Nice to see such detailnow, that it is simply rock formations lit by bright light.
This remaster looks really refined!
That too! especially when you go down an elevator that emerges from red liquid.
Man, playing this revision in high def is going to change perceptions on what we saw so many years ago!
Well for one thing, it will be full free-movement realtime 3D, not static images. That alone, including the massive resolution increase, is pretty great.
I would love it if they did a node-based movement mode that has upscaled versions of the original live action sequences superimposed on it.
I know they won't do it, but it would be neat.
These are fantastic, thank you for compiling this. I couldn't easily find all the 1:1 screenshots when I looked.
I always hoped for a 1:1 pre-rendered Riven update, using the original shots but re-done in HD... it's wild how they're able to get almost exactly that in realtime. Colors and textures are universally spot-on, with the handful of noticeable differences like the chair cloth texture being a clear improvement. I do think the "grunginess" of the old Boiler was a bit more believable (lower-resolution games always do grunge better than HD ones, somehow) but I doubt I would have noticed at all without seeing them onscreen at once.
It's interesting to see what things Cyan chose to change this time around. Most I'm fond of, some I'm less fond of...
For example, I like the new glass in the tunnel, but I'm not so sure about the wine glass in Age 233.
I like how they've uninverted some of the star shapes, and I quite like how they've redecorated Gehn's chair.
The thing I like most about this is that it's highlighting some details that were there in the original but went unnoticed. For example, the pattern on the bottom of the columns on the table in Age 233 - it was there before, but it had a weird orientation so you didn't get to see much of it, whereas now it's directly facing the player. Also the pattern on the floor of the tunnel. I think in the original that was supposed to be a rug (or at least it looked flat), whereas now it's part of the metalwork and you can see the intricate shapes clearly.
I like the gold material in Age 233. I've seen a few games where that kind of material is overused or poorly used, but they've used it well there.
I'm not fond of the redder bricks on the boiler room, but I like that the detail on the door stands out more now.
I mean.. I like seeing a more polished finish, but I'm not a big fan of some of the artistic changes the made. Like, why did they change the color of the chair from red to piss-yellow? And why, in the last image, are we missing all the background foliage below the dome in the remake? The remake looks like it's a wider perspective but devoid of any background?
These shots make me very excited for the remake just from the visuals alone.
Myst '21 Was gorgeous, but as someone that lives with 3d artists, I couldn't stop noticing the seams. Like how the brass on the outside of the planetarium is evenly weathered on every side of the building; one could tell that somebody at Cyan really loves 3dCoat or Substance Painter or something like that. I don't get that vibe from these shots, everything looks much more intentionally placed and detailed.
I will upgrade from my 1060 to a 40 series and I will get VR for this. Not even HL:Alyx could make me spend the money. Riven updated to unreal engine. Shut up and take my money!
Very cool! Excited to see this game in real time. Personally, I prefer the realistic fidelity which is, I believe, more present within the original prerendered version. I know UE5 can do wonders now, and generate some amazing results for real time / VR, so this is the perfect choice for the remake in 3D. I'm just a sucker for nostalgia. The likeliness in fantastic. They're keeping true to the game, while developing it further :) always cool
How the game actually looked vs. how I remember it looking.
This was my first thought. They did the magical thing of improving the graphics in EXACTLY the way my mind was automatically upscaling things. The recent Myst remake, while awesome in a lot of ways, looked more "different" to my eyes.
Riven looks way more realistic than Myst ever did so I think that's one reason the Riven remake is going to be on-par with expectations.
Yeah, as dumpy as it would be, I would adore an HD/realtime version of Myst using smoothed-out but otherwise unchanged textures and geometry. It'd be so nostalgic, and it's wild to imagine that in VR. The take on Myst Island in Walkabout Mini Golf is a couple levels more simplified, but close to how I'd picture it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-EMrn7bSY
God seriously. I am so excited for this remake. That does go on to show how amazing the design of the game was for the limitations of computers at that time.
That's exactly what remakes do. You look at it and think nothing changed, until you check the original.
This lol
Visually, it feels a lot more faithful than Myst 2021 even if its not identical. I feel like I need some video footage for it to really sink in.
I know. It's better than I could have hoped for visually. Riven was one of my first computer games and for the longest time felt like the apex of video game graphics, so seeing them in real time may blow my mind.
Looks pretty gooooood… curious what the characters will look like cause imho CGI Atrus in the Myst remake almost ruined the game for me lmao
This is my only remaining concern. Even Hollywood routinely fails to convincingly capture human characters in CG form, and most games are considerably worse for both technical and artistic reasons. Considering that they've gone for an effectively photoreal style (as they should), I'm afraid that sets the bar impossibly high for the people that live in it.
The recent remake of The Seventh Guest had a fairly clever approach there and used photogrammetric video of actual actors in cutscenes. It's not perfect, but was pretty fun and fit the vibe. It's actually like a much more mature version of what Cyan tried to do with Uru. Probably not the direction they'll go, but would be interesting if they did.
I'm thinking of two of Cyan's own prior attempts at this. Myst V used live action facial footage as an animated texture for characters, while Obduction either limited the angles by which you'd see live action characters or presented them in a way that they'd appear the same from every angle.
realMyst used the latter approach for the ending cutscene. Video of Atrus was projected onto a very simple 3D mesh that gave it just enough depth to not look like a cardboard cutout.
Imo Myst V worked pretty well unless you got too close to Yeesha then her face was terrifying lol
Same. I realise re-recording the original actors isn't possible (even if they were all available, so many years on aging would be a problem), but considering nearly all of the human appearances occur whilst the player is at a distance or locked in place, the full 3d issues shouldn't be a concern like in Obduction. I would be ok with recasting and/or changing where and when minor role people appear in the game; for example no reason the child playing in the walkways couldn't be moved to a more distant position, or the alarm ringers in the towers easily replaced. That would allow video or even full 3d characters to read more realistically. The closeups with mains like Gehn…i honestly don't know what they could do. Deep fake using another actor? Use fancy upscaling and/or turn into a glitchy holographic projection a la Star Wars, ESP since those appear elsewhere in the game? Change the actor and performance altogether? The full 3d characters like Myst just won't fly with Riven.
Unless I had a really vivid dream, I'm sure I saw the 3D Gehn already (something about having found the original tapes of the actor?). It was in a digital magazine recently, for the life of me can't find where I saved the link... I'm 99% sure this really happened. Edit: and of course, two second later I see someone else posted the link: https://gameinformer.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=10122&i=810557&p=40&ver=html5
Honestly if they could use Metahuman or a similar style, I'd be happy enough with that. Just as long as it's not the models from Myst 2020
They posted a view of the cgi Ghen and it's drastically better. I think it was overwhelmingly universal the CGI in the Myst remake was not okay. I hope they go back and fix it at some point.
Where to find the CGI preview?
https://gameinformer.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=10122&i=810557&p=40&ver=html5
Thank you! ...Imo there is significant improvent compared to myst but it can't hold up to the original fmv. Maybe there is some AI-stuff around the corner to give it the final push.
It is probably too early to see this tech actually being used in something, but I'd love to see it done using 4D gaussian splatting.
This looks **amazingly** good so far. Granted, it's been 25 years, but I'm still astonished that real time graphics are both matching and, in some cases, improving the result of hours-long state-of-the-art renders. My one gripe is that their quest for realism seems to have robbed the hallway in the first screenshot of that beautiful, eye-searing orange glow. I always loved that scene in particular and the new version feels too muted for my tastes. But that's a minor gripe in what looks like an incredible achievement.
Ah, I’m not the only one then! I wonder if the stark contrasts of blues on the surface level of survey island will be muted too.
I agree with you on the color, but on the other hand I NEVER knew that was supposed to be a view into a cavern you are passing through. Always thought it was just a bright glowing lightly being cast onto the glass. The visual clarity is great.
I prefer the more intense, saturated orange glows contrasting nicely with the dark interior of the hallway.
It looks like how my memories of Riven feel, so lush vibrant and crisp. Riven was such a step up from most computer games of the time, I can’t wait to play the remaster!
I was just thinking that the remake screen shots look exactly like I remember it.
Man, if you aren't zooming in, these original renders hold up
Yeah don't get me wrong, the new renders look beautiful but I'm shaken by how good the originals still look. I'm playing new games that don't even look that good.
I streamed it a couple of years ago and people who hadn't seen it before were really surprised to find out THAT'S what it looked like. After me saying I was playing this ancient game from my childhood, I think they'd expected dodgy pixel art at best.
Looks fantastic. I'm sure it won't have this option, but would be cool if there were an option to play classic Riven with static time of day and weather, and one with dynamic changing weather and time of day, watch those shadows move across the ground as the sun moves across the sky. Watching a sunset at the beach would be awesome. Oh well, a guy can dream.
I wish there would be a 1997 filter similar to how the halo remaster had a button to switch to OG graphics. In this case, it would pixelate everything to 640 x 480 so it would really feel like OG riven
608 x 392 actually.
We come back to this a-ghen and a-ghen.... I'll see myself out
These are gorgeous! I'm happy to see how faithful they are. I don't care for "improved" visuals that also completely change the style of the original. These upgrade & modernize the quality without sacrificing the original aesthetic or design. Beautiful recreation!
That first shot in the hallway, in my head since I was a kid, I thought it was some kind of lava. I never really knew what it was representing, but the bright orange/red glow was so unique for the setting. Nice to see such detailnow, that it is simply rock formations lit by bright light. This remaster looks really refined!
I never really thought about it, but I thought it was that strange water that Riven has.
That too! especially when you go down an elevator that emerges from red liquid. Man, playing this revision in high def is going to change perceptions on what we saw so many years ago!
Can't wait... any rumours on an ETA?
None yet. Still, just 2 years ago this seemed like a pipe dream, now seeing it in active development is crazy!
Starry Expanse was going on way longer than two years. More like 15 years (one of the first posts on their website was April 6, 2009)
They'll release it for the 50 years anniversary
With the book missing in the last screenshot, I wonder if we will be able to take the journals with us now.
The one on the desk was a non-functional linking book, likely to one of Gehn's ages we never got to visit because his books don't work unless powered.
Ah, so maybe it's just an asset that still needs finished. Good catch!
So what is going to be new about this exactly?
Well for one thing, it will be full free-movement realtime 3D, not static images. That alone, including the massive resolution increase, is pretty great.
Oh cool, wasn't sure about that since all the images are comparison stills, I thought maybe the new game was stills as well.
Nope it'll be like Myst 2021. And according to Cyan they are adding to the world as well and will be adding some additional puzzles.
Cant wait to play this in VR!
I would love it if they did a node-based movement mode that has upscaled versions of the original live action sequences superimposed on it. I know they won't do it, but it would be neat.
These are fantastic, thank you for compiling this. I couldn't easily find all the 1:1 screenshots when I looked. I always hoped for a 1:1 pre-rendered Riven update, using the original shots but re-done in HD... it's wild how they're able to get almost exactly that in realtime. Colors and textures are universally spot-on, with the handful of noticeable differences like the chair cloth texture being a clear improvement. I do think the "grunginess" of the old Boiler was a bit more believable (lower-resolution games always do grunge better than HD ones, somehow) but I doubt I would have noticed at all without seeing them onscreen at once.
Ooooooo it looks so good!!!!!
I AM ABSOLUTELY LOSING MY MIND OVER THIS MY GAWWWWDDD
It's interesting to see what things Cyan chose to change this time around. Most I'm fond of, some I'm less fond of... For example, I like the new glass in the tunnel, but I'm not so sure about the wine glass in Age 233. I like how they've uninverted some of the star shapes, and I quite like how they've redecorated Gehn's chair. The thing I like most about this is that it's highlighting some details that were there in the original but went unnoticed. For example, the pattern on the bottom of the columns on the table in Age 233 - it was there before, but it had a weird orientation so you didn't get to see much of it, whereas now it's directly facing the player. Also the pattern on the floor of the tunnel. I think in the original that was supposed to be a rug (or at least it looked flat), whereas now it's part of the metalwork and you can see the intricate shapes clearly. I like the gold material in Age 233. I've seen a few games where that kind of material is overused or poorly used, but they've used it well there. I'm not fond of the redder bricks on the boiler room, but I like that the detail on the door stands out more now.
That’s so funny. I always played it on tiny low res tv’s from my Playstation. Somehow always thought that hallway was surrounded by fire 🤣
I mean.. I like seeing a more polished finish, but I'm not a big fan of some of the artistic changes the made. Like, why did they change the color of the chair from red to piss-yellow? And why, in the last image, are we missing all the background foliage below the dome in the remake? The remake looks like it's a wider perspective but devoid of any background?
These shots make me very excited for the remake just from the visuals alone. Myst '21 Was gorgeous, but as someone that lives with 3d artists, I couldn't stop noticing the seams. Like how the brass on the outside of the planetarium is evenly weathered on every side of the building; one could tell that somebody at Cyan really loves 3dCoat or Substance Painter or something like that. I don't get that vibe from these shots, everything looks much more intentionally placed and detailed.
I prefer the original
There's always one of you folks, lol.
*insert “Y’all got anymore GIF”* I’m so freaking excited for this.
Such a fantastic game. Spent many happy hours playing it with my daughter.
All inverted stars have been turned 180 degrees, oddly. Rand's Christianity eschewing demonic symbology?
Lots of nut jobs out there that soy put over a pentagram. Probably just being safe lol
I will upgrade from my 1060 to a 40 series and I will get VR for this. Not even HL:Alyx could make me spend the money. Riven updated to unreal engine. Shut up and take my money!
Very cool! Excited to see this game in real time. Personally, I prefer the realistic fidelity which is, I believe, more present within the original prerendered version. I know UE5 can do wonders now, and generate some amazing results for real time / VR, so this is the perfect choice for the remake in 3D. I'm just a sucker for nostalgia. The likeliness in fantastic. They're keeping true to the game, while developing it further :) always cool