New Directions
We’ve been spending a lot of time discussing our little project, and we’ve come to the conclusion that re-making Riven in 3D just isn’t what we want to be spending our time on. There doesn’t seem to be enough support from the Myst community in general for the project to be worth it. So we’re officially canceling The Starry Expanse Project.
That being said, we’d like to announce two projects that are, at this point, well under-way and nearing the beta testing stage! We hope you’ll have as much fun playing them as we’ve had putting them together.
The first is a game born from a brainstorming session about how to broaden the appeal of Riven, and make it more palatable to the general public. 59 Volt Entertainment presents the first-ever screenshot from Riven: Stranger’s Wrath:
You can play as the Moiety, or as Gehn’s supporters (pictured). There will be the usual assortment of guns, knives, and grenades, as well as traditional Rivenese weapons, and Gehn’s poison dart rifle. We plan on having some really great competitive online gameplay, via Xbox Live. The great part about this game is that we can actually continue to use the assets we’ve already produced, and just port them all over to Source!
The other project is a bit riskier, but we think that it will be a big hit as well. Say hello to Riven: The Board Game:
Also check out the really big version.
After spending the past few months designing the boards, writing up the rules (we managed to trim it down to about 550 pages), and extensive playtesting, I can tell you that this is a seriously fun game. If you liked the Myst board game, you’re going to love this one. The average game lasts between six to twenty hours, and is playable by up to 25 people! The final game is going to be printed on this really high-quality glossy cardboard, but for beta testing we’ll just put up pdfs for you to print out.
Check back here over the next few weeks for more updates on these two!
Edit: Yes, this was an April Fool’s joke. Starry Expanse is still in production, and the two games described below are not. That being said, if you want to work on Riven: The Board Game, send Zib and e-mail at zib@starryexpanse.com 😀
April 1st, 2011 at 1:02 am
You had me initially because I couldn’t see the picture. I was so disappointed. . . . Then I saw the gun and remembered Cyan’s joke with realMYST. Great stuff, guys!
April 1st, 2011 at 2:26 am
“59 Volt Entertainment”: subtle and clever. Well done!
April 1st, 2011 at 6:01 am
It is a great idea and a great day to have it >.>
April 1st, 2011 at 11:25 am
Nearly had me going there guys… nearly… well done… hee hee hee
April 1st, 2011 at 11:55 am
I love the name “59 Volt Entertainment”. 😀
April 4th, 2011 at 1:31 am
Blah… Hadn’t checked this site in about a week… As such my guard was let down… Nice going, you got me there. But it was kinda obvious at the first screenshot.
April 4th, 2011 at 4:24 am
I love the rulebook(s). 😉
April 5th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
59 Volt Entertainment looks electrifying (pun clearly intended!)
On that note, even the logo looks awesome!
April 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
Hey guys, the date doesn’t appear in your article, so I actually believed it and was so disappointed ! Then I checked the comments, so this is a joke, right, you are continuing the project ? Be careful, people who don’t check the comments can really think the project is abandoned ! My heart is still beating, I really believed it ! I ahte those april fool jokes… lol
April 9th, 2011 at 11:20 am
Stranger’s Wrath would actually be fun to play. 🙂
Does the player named ‘Cho’ get shot at the very beginning of the game?
About the Riven board game: Is it safe to assume those boards are screenshots of you blender scenes?
April 11th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Is it wrong for that board game to look fun? lol 😀 No, I think the Myst community is still 100% behind you guys and I can’t wait to play realRiven!
April 18th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
You got me! For a second there I was gutted… then I saw the date.
On another unrelated note… up to 25 players! lol!
April 20th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I really lol on this…haha..AMMO indicated by D’ni numbers…how about making a RPG with D’ni languages?
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:33 pm
[…] whipped ourselves up a snazzy new logo. You may have seen it already, in the corner of our April Fool’s Images. Well, here it is in its full […]
October 31st, 2011 at 2:54 pm
I love the first joke, its a great tribute to the RealMyst Minigun (Torsk) easter egg
Only this time it’s funny 😉