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Riven: The Sequel to Myst (Windows, Mac OS Classic)

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Title Screen

Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Also known as: Riven, la suite de Myst (FR), Riven: Il seguito di Myst (IT)
Developers: Cyan Productions, Brøderbund Software
Publishers: Red Orb Entertainment, Cyan Worlds[1][2] (GOG, Steam)
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS Classic
Released internationally: December 30, 2009[3] (GOG.com), August 4, 2010[4] (Steam)
Released in US: October 31, 1997[5]
Released in EU: 1997


AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
CopyrightIcon.png This game has hidden developer credits.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
DebugIcon.png This game has debugging material.
BonusIcon.png This game has hidden bonus content.


Riven is a puzzle adventure game in which you're given the task to depose a false god and rescue the spiritual misfit wife of a true god. It's also The Sequel to Myst.

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Document the differences between the 5-CD version, the DVD version, and the GOG/Steam versions.
  • Document the differences in the Myst 25th Anniversary Update.
  • Document the Spyder eggs.
  • The nominally-unused ending (opening the Fissure before visiting Tay).

Unused Cards

Removed Book Press

Careful, you'll lose an eye.
This page or section needs more images.
There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.
Specifically: The animations of the book press. A video would also suffice.

Prior to the game's release, a book press was located near the boiler on Book Assembly Island. It was removed due to most of the game's testers incorrectly thinking that it was part of a puzzle. The card from which the book press could be interacted with is still in the game (including the animations for the press closing and opening, though without any sounds), although the card cannot be accessed from any other card. If the player is placed there by modifying a save file or by using console commands, the book press can be interacted with normally, although once the player moves to another card, they won't be able to return.

The book press was not removed from all of the images it was in, however, and is still visible in the background of a few of the ones used in-game:

Alternate Path to Dome on Temple Island

Unused Used
Riven-t-365 textdropen.3393.png
Riven-t-365 tislandexterior.3393.png
Riven-t-394 tfmdtunnel.6850.png
Riven-t-394 tfmdtunnelelevup.6850.png
Unused Used
Riven-t-362 tislandexterior.3392.png Riven-t-397 tfmdtunnel.6700.png
Unused Used
Riven-t-364 tislandexterior.3396.png Riven-t-395 tfmdtunnel.6800.png
Unused Used
Riven-t-360 tislandexterior.3391.png Riven-t-400 tfmdtunnel.6500.png

Unused cards are present showing that originally in the place of the elevator used to access the dome on Temple Island was a short ladder and a door. These can also be accessed via save file editing or console commands, although only part of the original path can be accessed, as the rest is missing and attempting to access it will cause the game to hang.

Unused Lagoon Cards

There are a few cards near the Wahrk rocks in the lagoon on Jungle Island which cannot be accessed in-game, except through save file editing or console commands.

Butterfly Drawer

Riven-b-257 bglab 2drwropn.581.png

This drawer of butterflies in Gehn's lab can't be opened in-game, although a frame showing it open exists in the game's resources (without any associated opening/closing animations). The drawer above this one (the only one which can be opened) is a Spyder hotspot location.

(Source: Torbjørn Mathisen, Myst and Riven Illustrated)

Console

Acactussayswhat?
Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.
Specifically: The functions of most of these commands need elaboration.
Hmmm...
To do:
  • Using the 'hs' command, a load of unused (and broken) zip mode hotspots become visible (throughout the entire game). Either document them all or just mention it somewhere in the article.
  • On a related note, the deactivated zip mode hotspot in the second screenshot here is one of the aforementioned broken hotspots; find a better place to take a demonstrative screenshot and replace the current one.
Screenshot showing the effects of the debug command: the two lines above the console display the current stack & card, the current CyanCardID, the current mouse cursor position, the IDs of any hotspots the cursor is currently over, and any currently-playing movies (in this case the animation of the flames). This screenshot was generated using the dump command.
Screenshot showing the effects of the hs command: green boxes with text in the upper-left corner are spots that can be clicked to travel to another card, and red boxes are currently deactivated hotspots – the red hotspot in the upper-right of this image is a broken zip mode hotspot, and the small red hotspot containing text leads to the card with the removed book press.

While in-game, typing "b3hn", pressing Enter (this may or may not be required, depending on the version of the game being used), and then pressing Ctrl + Tab will allow a player to access the game's debug console. Accepted commands include:

  • g <id> – go to a specific card using a CardID.
  • gc <id> – go to a specific card using a CyanCardID.
  • gs <stack> [<id>] – go to a specific stack; CardID optional.
  • get <state> – gets the value of a variable.
  • set <state> <value> – sets the value of a variable.
  • undo – undoes actions on the current card; autosave must be enabled.
  • enable <hotspotID> – enables a hotspot.
  • disable <hotspotID> – disables a hotspot.
  • p – purges all purgeable blocks.
  • c – compacts entire heap.
  • pc – purges all purgeable blocks, then compacts entire heap.
  • mem – returns total free memory (physical + virtual).
  • free – returns physical free memory.
  • debug – toggles on-screen debug info (disabled by default).
  • hs – toggles showing hotspots (disabled by default).
  • autosave – toggles autosaving at every card (disabled by default).
  • dump – copies the current screen to a BMP file.
  • ipmm – toggles "impatient PM mode" (disabled by default).
  • zip – dumps zip list to zip.txt.
  • unvisit – some cutscenes only play when viewing a card for the first time; this command will erase the game's memory of which cards have been visited.
  • slideshow – if disc 1 is inserted (or B2_DATA.MHK is otherwise present), activates the developer slideshow (see below). Also see the 40 individual image set commands in the table below.
    • riven1 and riven2 – neither of these do anything when entered (and they don't return "Unknown command", unlike other non-commands), but within Riven.exe they are located within the individual commands for the slideshow images, which may imply that these would have been the individual commands for 50040.png and 50041.png, if they had been present.
  • pleh – displays the following help text, line by line (this text indicates that the command to view the help text is help, but entering 'help' will just give the response "Unknown command"):
g <id>              * goto
gc <id>             * gotocyan
gs <stack> [<id>]   * goes to the specified stack, card id optional
get <state>         * gets the value of a variable
set <state> <value> * sets the value of a variable
undo                * undoes actions on cur card (autosave must be enabled)
enable <hotspotID>  * enables a hotspot
disable <hotspotID> * disables a hotspot
p                   * purges all purgeable blocks
c                   * compacts entire heap
pc                  * purges, then compacts
mem                 * returns total free memory (physical + virtual)
free                * returns physial free memory (excludes virtual)
debug               * toggles on-screen debug info
hs                  * toggles showing hotspots
autosave            * toggles autosave-every-card feature
dump                * copies the current screen to a bitmap file
ipmm                * toggles impatient PM mode
help                * how you got here
That's all, folks!

Note: The console is hard-coded into the engine, and as a result was not reimplemented in the ScummVM version of the game (which is currently the only version available for sale), due to the effort required to recreate it. This has been raised as a bug with the ScummVM developers, though was politely dismissed as an issue. See tickets #10082 and #10380 for more information.

(Source: Tahgtahv and original TCRF research)

Developer Slideshow

Elementary, my dear Cactus.
This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: The image of Matt Christmann (#27) doesn't appear correctly for me in-game; can anyone else corroborate?

The developer slideshow (featuring the team at Brøderbund that worked on the game, and occasionally their families) consists of 45 images, stored in B2_DATA.MHK, which are displayed for five seconds each, along with a short caption, when the 'slideshow' command is used. The filenames of these images range from '50000.png' to '50046.png', skipping '50040.png' and '50041.png'; there are no images present with those two filenames, nor are there captions in the game's data corresponding to them (though there are two unused commands which may be related to them – see the command list above).

There are also 40 other related commands which will only display individual 'sets' of images (usually individual images). A different set of captions is used when viewing the images via the individual commands, though there are only minor differences in the captions for images 14 ("Glenn Axworthy (Hey, what else do you want? It works in Living Books!)" rather than "Glenn Axworthy. Hey, what else do you want? It works in Living Books!!") and 27 (Matt Christmann rather than "Matt Christmann"), the rest being identical.

# Image Filename 'slideshow' caption Individual command Subject(s)
1 Riven-B2-50000.png 50000.png "La Gouyn! (aka Allan Young)" allan Allan Young (Lead Programmer)
2 Riven-B2-50035.png 50035.png "Laura"
3 Riven-B2-50036.png 50036.png "Kari and Allan" Allan Young (Lead Programmer) et al.
4 Riven-B2-50001.png 50001.png "Andrew Kay" andrew Andrew Kay (Production Tools Programmer)
5 🕷️ 50002.png "Ben Ceschi" ben Ben Ceschi (Lead Programmer)
6 Riven-B2-50003.png 50003.png "Bob Gulian" bob Bob Gulian (Systems Programmer)
7 Riven-B2-50004.png 50004.png "Brian Walker" brian Brian Walker (Assistant Sound Designer)
8 Riven-B2-50005.png 50005.png "Carey Clutts" carey Carey Clutts (Systems Programmer)
9 Riven-B2-50006.png 50006.png "Frankie Ford, John Michael (w/Jazzy) and Cheri (w/Billy)." frankie Frankie Ford (Application Programmer, right) et al.
10 Riven-B2-50007.png 50007.png "Dennis Leahy (PB) and the Leahy Support System" dennis Dennis Leahy (Senior Production Manager) et al.
11 Riven-B2-50008.png 50008.png "Ed Rose (Check out the gamma in these images!)" ed Ed Rose (Application Programmer) et al.
12 Riven-B2-50009.png 50009.png "Esteban Ahn" esteban Esteban Ahn (Production Tools Programmer)
13 Riven-B2-50010.png 50010.png "Fred Campbell" fred Fred Campbell (Installer Programmer)
14 Riven-B2-50011.png 50011.png "Glenn Axworthy. Hey, what else do you want? It works in Living Books!!" glenn Glenn Axworthy (Systems Programmer)
15 Riven-B2-50012.png 50012.png "Greg Rahn" greg Greg Rahn ('Brøderbund Thanks')
16 Riven-B2-50013.png 50013.png "Inga Pedersen" inga Inga Pedersen (QA Core Team)
17 Riven-B2-50014.png 50014.png "Jeff Blain" jeffb Jeffrey Blain (not directly credited) et al.
18 Riven-B2-50015.png 50015.png "Jeff Charvat, with Diane and Jeffrey" jeffc Jeffrey Charvat (Programming Director) et al.
19 Riven-B2-50016.png 50016.png "Jeff Zemrak" jeffz Jeffrey Zemrak (QA Team Leader)
20 Riven-B2-50017.png 50017.png "Jennifer Winter" jennifer Jennifer Winter (QA Core Team)
21 Riven-B2-50018.png 50018.png "Julie Thiel" julie Julie Thiel (QA Core Team)
22 Riven-B2-50019.png 50019.png "Kent's girl Cordelia Daniels (Hey, I'm a Dad!)" kent Cordelia Daniels, child of Kent Daniels (Installer Programmer)
23 Riven-B2-50020.png 50020.png "Laurie Strand" laurie Laurie Strand (Executive Publisher)
24 Riven-B2-50021.png 50021.png "Liz Young" liz Elizabeth Young (not directly credited) et al.
25 Riven-B2-50022.png 50022.png "Mac QA Team! Kirk, Jon, J.P., Juilie, and Jon." macqa Kirk Roulston (QA Management)
Jon [???] (not directly credited)
J.P. [???] (not directly credited)
Julie Thiel (QA Core Team)
Jon [???] (not directly credited)
26 Riven-B2-50023.png 50023.png "Mario Magliocco" mario Mario Magliocco (not directly credited, but held the job title of "CD Mastering & Data Archivist")[6]
27 Riven-B2-50044.png 50044.png "Matt Christmann" mattc Matt Christmann ('Brøderbund Thanks')
28 Riven-B2-50024.png 50024.png "Matt and Sue O'Hara" matt Matt O'Hara (Production Manager) et al.
29 Riven-B2-50025.png 50025.png "Mickey Mantle" mickey Mickey W. Mantle ('Brøderbund Thanks')
30 Riven-B2-50026.png 50026.png "Mike Foulger and Family. (Are you out of your mind? You can't do that!)" mike Mike Foulger (QuickTime Programmer) et al.
31 Riven-B2-50027.png 50027.png "PC QA Team! Gary, Nate, Tim, Tarn, Arizsun, James I., Jason J, Alex, Sean, Elizabeth, and Jon." pcqa Gary [???] (not directly credited)
Nate [???] (not directly credited)
Tim [???] (not directly credited)
Tarn [???] (not directly credited)
Arizsun [???] (not directly credited)
James I. (not directly credited)
Jason J. (not directly credited)
Alex [???] (not directly credited)
Sean Hamilton Alexander (QA Core Team)
Elizabeth Young (not directly credited)
Jon [???] (not directly credited)
32 Riven-B2-50028.png 50028.png "Ralph Marsh - Riven Warrior!" ralph Ralph Marsh (Riven Warrior; Assistant Production Manager)
33 Riven-B2-50029.png 50029.png "Scott Aronian" scotta Scott Aronian (Video Processing)
34 Riven-B2-50030.png 50030.png "Scott Henderson" scotth Scott Henderson (Systems Programmer)
35 Riven-B2-50031.png 50031.png "Sean Hamilton Alexander" sean Sean Hamilton Alexander (QA Core Team)
36 Riven-B2-50032.png 50032.png "Steve Rossi" steve Steve Rossi (not directly credited)
37 Riven-B2-50033.png 50033.png "Tim Larkin. (Hey, honey I shrunk the sound designer!)" tim Tim Larkin (Lead Sound Designer)
38 Riven-B2-50034.png 50034.png "Warren Yamashita" warren Warren Yamashita (QA Team Leader)
39 Riven-B2-50043.png 50043.png Doug, Robin, Dennis and Richard ( Doug - So, where do I put the red marble?) golf Robyn Miller (Designer/Director)
Doug Carlston (CEO of Broderbund)
Dennis Leahy (Senior Production Manager)
Richard Vander Wende (Designer/Director)
40 Riven-B2-50042.png 50042.png AEIOU -- El burro sabe mas que tu. burro One (1) donkey
41 Riven-B2-50045.png 50045.png Riven Team .... Working For You!!!! riventeam [???] (unknown)
Allan Young (Lead Programmer)
Frankie Ford (Application Programmer)
[???] (unknown)
Ben Ceschi (Lead Programmer)
42 Riven-B2-50046.png 50046.png How we really feel ... Riven is tearing us apart!
43 Riven-B2-50039.png 50039.png La Gouyn, Inventor of GeekBall, returns an insanely un-returnable serve! geekball Allan Young (Inventor of GeekBall; Lead Programmer)
44 Riven-B2-50037.png 50037.png Ralphie: mid-air, horizontal, a living outrage... Ralph [???] (not directly credited)
45 Riven-B2-50038.png 50038.png Ralphonzo is DOWN! Ralphonzo is DOWN!! Oh, the humanity!!!
(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused 25th Anniversary Icon

Riven-Riven.ico.png

As with the other games that received updates for Myst‍ '​s 25th anniversary (with the exception of realMyst: Masterpiece Edition), the game's Myst 25th Anniversary Update added an unused ".ico" file in the main directory, named Riven.ico. Like the unused icons in the other games, this icon file is actually just a renamed PNG file, not an ICO file.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

References