Panorama from Selenitic Age

This picture is assembled from the view seen from the Main Antenna Controls in the Selenitic Age. Click the picture to get the full version.

Panorama from Stoneship Age

This picture is the same as viewed through the Lookout Telescope in Stoneship Age. Click the picture to see the full version.

RIVEN Pin

This is the limited edition RIVEN Pin. The pin doesn’t look so great in real life, saturated colour and the lines look jagged due to a thick layer of “glass/plastic” over the whole thing. Thanks to Genevieve Zevort for the scan.

RIVEN Soundtrack Writing

The writing on this picture appears behind the text on Virgin’s RIVEN Soundtrack page. The two outer rings can aslo be seen on the Soundtrack CD. The outer ring says Met yihshah kokenen koago tenahsh mretson ahmorelu (This ? it was (I was?) ? (from the) ?), the middle ring says Rahbihn Jahsh Bahnee Hehdhur Randh Jahn (Robyn Josh Bonnie Heather Rand John), and the inner ring says Krihs Rih urdh Mahrk (Chris Richard(Maybe the [ch] character disappeared between “Rih” and “urdh”?) Mark). Thanks to Sebastian Ochs for help on this one.

Aitrus' Timekeeping Device

The small GIF- animation to the left is made from the graphics on The RIVEN Journals pages. It is based on a drawing of Aitrus’ (to the right). It represents a standard D’ni timekeeping device. Notice the five sections of the face representing the five “gahr-tah-vo-tee” in one day.

Gap Ad

Around January 1995 Rand and Robyn Miller had an appearance in a Gap ad. This was a black and white ad campaign by The Gap that ran in major magazines (such as Time and Newsweek). The concept was something about famous people and what they work in. Notice Rand’s strange sitting angle. Axel Toelke made a very funny remark to the RIVEN Lyst about the ad: “I think the best about the picture is the expression on their faces. Robyn is like: ‘Hahahaha, I can’t believe they’re paying us for this, suckers!!!!!!!!!!’ And Rand is like: ‘Yeah, you laugh little one…wait till I strap you to this chair and make you sit like that…someone will pay for this!!!!!!!!’

Homer Simpson goes MYST

“Treehouse of Horror VI,” the 1995 installment of the Simpsons’ popular Halloween specials, features Homer3, a parody of a memorable episode of “The Twilight Zone” in which a young girl passes through a wall and is trapped in the 4th dimension. Homer ends up in the 3rd. After the transition Homer finds himself on a bright green infinite grid plane. One of the first things he does is to walk past a replica of the library from MYST! As he passes the area you can aslo hear the MYST Finale theme playing. The 3D animations in this episode was made by Pacific Data Images. You can download a QuickTime Movie (4.2 Mb) of the event here.

Rotating Room

If you have wondered how the Rotating Room on Temple Island works, this gif-anim may come in handy. It shows both the room, and the entrances from above.

RIVEN Wallpaper

Ever wanted to fill your dull green desktop background with a cool RIVEN wallpaper? Click on the picture above to download a zipped bmp-file to use side-by-side on your desktop.

Call Atrus in The Manhole

In the new colorized version of The Manhole you can find a pretty funny MYST/RIVEN related Easter Egg. After clicking some secret spots you can see the telephone list shown on the right. If you use the phone in the game to call Atrus, he will answer but excuse that he can’t speak to you because he has to continue his writing. The fax number shown is the actual number to Cyan’s fax machine. Manhole Masterpiece Edition is available only from Cyan. In this game you can also turn on the TV set and watch a scene from The Making of MYST.

Atrus writes in German

As some of you already know, RIVEN is a very international game. It is available in both English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese. Here is a view from Atrus’ journal in the German version of the game.

Cursors

Here I have collected all the cursors you can see in MYST and RIVEN. If you know about some I have missed, please give me a hint at @mattor. You can also download a pointing hand cursor, just like the one in RIVEN, for use on your own computer.

Update 2009-07-28: A reader called Core43 has created a set of MYST/RIVEN cursors for use in an entire scheme. You can download the set here.

Linking Book Icons

This icon library file contains book icons for Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Netscape, RIVEN, McAfee VirusScan, RealPlayer, QuickTime, and The MOST Online. They are made by “T’Rin”. He made them with MicroAngelo 98 for anyone using a MYST, RIVEN or D’ni desktop theme. Click the picture to download the library file.

MYST Preview

This is the main screen in the MYST Demo. The Sneak Preview-button leads to the interactive part of the game where you can explore the library and it’s books. The Scenes From MYST-button leads to a slide show with about 20 pictures from each of the five ages.

MYST Desktop Edition

The MYST Desktop Edition includes the full MYST game including The Journal of MYST (for personal notes), owners manual and cheats envelope, plus the MYST screensaver and a MYST mousemat. The mousemat is made of pvc with the picture taken from the gears looking down at the ship and the planetarium. You can see the picture here. The price is 19.99 £ (in UK).

Two RIVEN Package Versions

Ages of MYST

This is the cover image of the Ages of MYST-box containing the CD-ROM version of both MYST and RIVEN. The text says: AGES of MYST - Fifth anniversary Commemorative Edition - Full versions of MYST & RIVEN plus a unique commemorative premium item. It is available from 10/29/1998.

RIVEN Startup and Shutdown Screens for Windows 95/98

Click the image above to download a zip-file containing all the three screens. Before you unzip the files it is smart to take back-ups of the old files (in case you start to miss the Micro$oft ad). Now you can start your zip-program and unzip the files. Put logos.sys and logow.sys into your Windows-directory, and logo.sys in your root directory (C:\). That’s it! Restart your machine and enjoy the view. If you are having problems, please contact me at @mattor.

The three great startup screens below are made by Sebastian Ochs. He made them for his personal RIVEN Desktop Themes, and all three use color cycling. Click on the pictures to download the startup screen files: