#Myst scummvm files series#

I need to dig deeper into the codebase to make sure that adding artificial delays between scene transitions won’t mess with the timing.

Timing: Internally, Riven uses some counters and timers to keep track of - well - time-based events.

The same concept could be applied to Riven as well. Closing wordsĬurrently, the loading time simulation is available for Myst and Myst: Masterpiece Edition. However, this will most likely not happen until the next release is out since I want to gather feedback from our users first. Eventuelly, we’ll probably consider making this the new default. For now, the new option is disabled by default. One option would be to make the delay a configurable option, allowing for a wider variety of ‘drives’. Due to the lack of samples, I wasn’t able to verify this, but I’d expect Myst: Masterpiece Edition to have longer loading times on the same hardware due to increased file size compared to the original edition. It is also noteworthy that applied delays are the same on the original Myst and Myst: Masterpiece Edition. I tried to be as accurate as possible, but I simply can’t guarantee I got them absolutely right. Limitations and what’s coming up nextĪll in all, the current delays are pretty arbitrary and might be subject to change in future versions. Even though I didn’t look at the code, I have the feeling that 86Box only emulates transfer speeds, but not access time. I also tried to emulate slower drives with 86Box since they allow setting transfer speeds as well. Instead, I read through many, many datasheets of various CD-ROM drives. This meant I couldn’t rely on measurements alone. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go down to double-speed since the drive wouldn’t go slower than 4x. This tool allows you to throttle your CD-ROM drives by enforcing lower reading speeds. Fortunately, this generic drive is compatible with Jörg Fiebelkorn’s CD-Bremse. The oldest system I own is a Pentium III with 500 MHz, featuring a 16x Philips CD-RW drive and a 48x “generic” drive. The main issue is that I don’t have really period correct hardware at the moment. While the implementation was pretty straight-forward, it was not exactly easy to get the timing right. There should have been a video here but your browser does not seem I enable the new loading time simulation at around the 50 second mark. It should be pretty obvious that this is clearly not how the game should be played. The first half of the video shows the previous without any loading times behaviour. In order to show you the difference, I prepared a small video. After activating this feature, it adds a delay between the different screen transitions in order to simulate the loading times of a real CD-ROM drive. Looking for a way to improve the experience, I recently implemented loading time simulation to ScummVM. Even though I’m obviously not forced to take advantage of the instant loading, the feeling that I can do this is affecting the experience in a negative way for me. Now, you are not forced to slowly explore, but you can simply run through the game. by playing the games with ScummVM, then you might notice something is off. When you play the game on original hardware, then the loading times seem perfectly fine since you expect them.Īs soon as you eliminate the loading times at all, e.g. due to character movement), this does not apply to Myst. While many adventure games are limiting playback speed on their own (e.g.

Everything tells you to slowly explore while making sure not to miss any hints you need to solve the puzzles. However, it really feels that your are not supposed to rush through the game. I’m not sure if this was even part of the original design concept. The game basically forces you to slowly walk through the worlds of Myst. On the next move, it needs to load yet another image. Since each time you move through the game, your computer needs to load the next image. Myst uses some pretty clever compression techniques and an optimized file layout on the disc. Furthermore, RAM constraints made any caching of the datafiles impossible.

Since even the largest hard drives had a capacity of around 1000 Megabytes, installing the game wasn’t an option. This means access times of 80 to 200ms as well as a blazing transfer speed of 300KB/s under ideal conditions. The original Myst was released in 1993 on this incredible new format called ‘CD-ROM’, allowing for a whopping 650 Megabytes of storage.Īt that time, CD-ROM drives were slow - like double-speed slow. In my opinion, the immersion these games provide is partially created due to technical limitations.

#Myst scummvm files series#

Needless to say that especially the first entries in the series - the original Myst and its successor Riven - are truly remarkable games. To me, the Myst series feels like an immersive trip to another world - it is truly something different compared to your average point-and-click adventure game. Ever since I discovered the Myst series back in 2005, I’m in love with it.