Development Uru: Ages Beyond Myst

1 development

1.1 expansion packs , uru: complete chronicles
1.2 audio
1.3 uru live

development

cyan worlds began development on next project after company finished 1997 s riven, sequel bestselling myst. game became uru take more 5 years , $12 million complete. while under development, uru codenamed dirt ( d ni in real time ), mudpie (for multi-user dirt, persistent / personal interactive entertainment / experience / exploration / environment ). uru officially announced myst online, before being renamed uru in 2003. myst co-creator rand miller released statement along outline of game:

uru revolutionary adventure game takes best qualities of myst franchise , makes them better. single-player experience eclipse beauty, grandeur, , mind-challenging elements of previous titles. plus, option join updated online universe, adventure never has end. new machines , puzzles special events , entirely new ages, players find more do, more see, , more explore each time return—and time, can discover old , new friends.

miller considered uru major departure myst , riven in cyan wanted create persistent world, actions occurred while player not online. miller did not consider game true massively multiplayer online game, saying there not leveling , skills , monsters , experience in artificial sense. leveling finding , exploring , owning new ages released regularly; experience learn while exploring later—not points on scale. miller considered there 2 benefits such system: firstly players care more being part of story, , secondly new players make discoveries , part of community. game designed more of spin-off sequel previous myst games, due merging of items contemporary (traffic cones , t-shirts) fantastic (books transport user new worlds).

the game conceived multiplayer-only game, players meet , solve new puzzles added monthly. @ request of publisher ubisoft, cyan developed single-player portion well. cyan announced players invited participate in multiplayer beta test, drew 10,000 40,000 participants. uru released in november 2003, while multiplayer portion delayed. small groups of players allowed come online test multiplayer part of game, , journalists told invited play after, uru live canceled before being released. cyan stated there not enough projected subscribers support service.

expansion packs , uru: complete chronicles

after uru s release , uru live s demise, cyan announced new content added via expansion packs. first, uru: d ni, added never-released uru live online content, focusing on past of d ni. uru: path of shell, extended story of uru in present , added multiple never-before-seen ages. unlike first expansion pack, uru: path of shell not free, boxed , sold in stores. uru, d ni, , path of shell packaged , sold uru: complete chronicles.

audio

uru s music composed tim larkin, had started career @ game publisher brøderbund, , lobbied hard included on riven s development team. larkin worked on creating different sound effects riven , chosen score uru after composer , myst co-creator robyn miller left cyan in 1998. music game collected soundtrack, uru music, released in 2003.

larkin chose instrumentation each track based on various digital environments in game. when player in game s representation of new mexico, example, larkin used resonator guitar , flutes, creating called indigenous southwest type of feel s contemporary . in other areas larkin described game s music being less typical find in games because of exotic landscape developers had created. create contemporary , exotic types of music in game, larkin employed combination of real , synthesized instruments. larkin replaced synthesized performances of real musicians, in track gallery theme , synthesized vocal part discarded in favor of soprano tasha koontz. create exotic feel, larkin used group of maasai tribesmen s chanting, recorded during visit spokane, washington, cyan worlds located @ time.

the uru soundtrack received 2 game audio network guild (g.a.n.g.) nominations in 2004—one best original vocal song (choral) gallery theme (which won), , best original soundtrack. beyond use in uru, gallery theme later used in theatrical trailer steven spielberg s film, munich. uru soundtrack comes on enhanced cd, containing (nearly) four-minute music video called uru: makers , audio-only interview rand miller , tim larkin.

uru live

to compensate cancellation of uru live, cyan published developed online content single-player expansion packs. meanwhile, small group of dedicated fans, many of them uru live beta testers, allowed maintain unofficial servers, called shards . cyan released binaries of original uru live servers under banner until uru , coordinated fan shards players verify authentication keys, necessary play game. shards unstable , no new content released; rather, provided place fans socialize. in february 2006, cyan opened own official shard, called d mala, open @ no charge uru owners, though invitation community required. miller revealed in letter fans cyan had received limited funding third party allows breathe refreshing new life , optimism things uru. fan-operated servers, d mala feature no new content, instead allowing cyan staff called surveyors interact fans , gather information.

in april 2006, gametap announced relaunching uru live myst online: uru live. major reason resurrection of game fan support. according gametap s vice president of content ricardo sanchez, 1 of reasons [gametap was] attracted uru live had persistent group kept alive during dark days of absence. while cyan devoted time myst online, promised not shut down until uru in meantime, although offer no new authentication keys. gametap released myst online in february 2007. macintosh version, using cider translation layer engine intel-processor macs did not need windows installation run game, released in march. @ time, myst online mac-compatible game on gametap. new content game released in form of online episodes , adding new ages, puzzles, , plot continuation each episode. business reasons gametap announced in february 2008 game go offline in april; cyan reacquired rights game , announced give myst online source code , tools fans, making game open source project. in 2010, cyan worlds released game free of charge, under name mo:ulagain. hosted on cyan-maintained servers.

in 2011, cyan worlds , openuru.org announced release of myst online s client , 3ds max plugin under gnu gpl v3 license.