Several months ago United Developers subsidiary MacPlay released a Macintosh conversion of Cyan’s realMYST, a real-time 3D version of the legendary adventure/puzzle game Myst. Now the company has released a demo version of the title that will give you a chance to try it out before you buy it.
realMYST is billed as the version that the game’s developers “always wanted to make” but couldn’t because of technological limitations when the game was first released, long before 3D graphics acceleration hardware was standard issue on computers.
The original Myst utilized a “slideshow” motif that enabled users to point and click to navigate their world. Limited interaction was possible with animated puzzles set up in various locations, and graphics were rendered in 8-bit color.
realMYST instead utilizes a real-time 3D graphics engine that provides full 360-degree freedom of motion, with lifelike 32-bit color saturating the scenes. realMYST also features 3D effects and animations, with changing day and night sequences, dynamic lighting, weather effects, and special interactive effects. New sound effects and digital remastered music complete the experience. There’s more, too, even for experienced Myst players — a new Rime Age ending provides access to new secrets and information.
The realMYST demo requires a G3/300 or faster, Mac OS 8.6 or later (including Mac OS X), 64MB or 128MB (depending on whether you’re using OS X), and a 3D video card with 16MB VRAM. You can download the demo version from Macgamefiles.com — it weighs in at about 94MB, so make sure to do it from a fast Internet connection.