Archive of April 2004

Latest News:
April 17, 2004
Website Announcement
Just a note to tell everyone that I will not be updating this site as often as I usually do for the next two weeks, as I am working on a new project that I will introduce in early May. I will still be watching the forums and sites and posting updates as I can.

Tweek's D'ni Jazz Club Closing it's Doors
Sad news. Tweek writes to The Lyst: "And so a chapter ends. We tried to get the site back up on its feet but alas it seems it was not meant to be. Doesnt mean it'll never happen in the future though.
Just like to thank everyone thats visited the site, posted at the site and helped on the site for the last 6 years.
Saddens me to do this, the site is dear to me but such is life. So we bid you farewell..DJC is closing...but not going..no, no. The site will remain here, the forums will stay open for buisness, and I shall move on to my other projects. goodbye and thank you once again.
Tweek - Webmaster & Admin The D'ni Jazz Club"

April 16, 2004
Ashtar Visits Cyan and Returns With X2 Spoilers
I won't even begin to try to encapsulate all of the great info Ashtar got during his recent trip to Cyan; I'll let him tell you (-WARNING-Spoilers): The Path Of The Shell (XP2) - WARNING Major Spoilers. Great stuff, Ashtar! Thanks!

"Path of the Shell" Update
Not much has transpired today; several new images, sent in by forumites, have appeared on each of the pages, including two of mine on the Explorers page. Folks are still trying to mine something from the Douglas Adams-6x9=42 debacle. I'll try to keep you posted.

Close-up Shot of the Bahro
With the newly found tool called FlyMode, some amazing pictures are being sent around, but one person surpassed them all: Zardoz. He decided to try FlyMode during the end sequence of Uru Prime, when the Bahro appear going into the volcano. Here is the result: Bahro in Volcano. The images are a bit rough, as Aloys says: "Don't expect any high definition art here...." Obviously, the artists at Cyan never expected these characters to be scrutinized in this manner, but it's a neat shot, anyway.

The Search for the "Path of the Shell" Continues
Interesting developments yesterday. The "forumites," as korteenea describes us on her The Path So Far... site, sent in various shell images, in hopes of getting their image displayed on one of the many Path of the Shell/imager pages. As it turns out, my Uru avatar appeared on the imager/04 page, titled Explorers, along with the images sent in by other folks. More images appeared on the Something Else, the The Surface page and the Beneath page. A new page appeared: googol, showing an image of Will Riker from STNG. This seemingly made no sense, but the source code held the answer:  This was taken to mean that forumites should send in actual pictures, which we did (for those not math minded, 1.0e100 is a scientific notation for 1 googol and the source of the name of the website, Google).
Two forumites received emails from Sheldon: ireenquench got this message (in binary): "Plain words? Is this more cryptic?
No deadline for a few months. Have fun!" And Miranda received: "life, the universe and everything," which led forumites to 6 x 9 = 42, that is sending everyone into a frenzy of Douglas Adams research. More to come...

Myst IV Revelation Now Has It's Own US Site
randomos announced the launch of a new site: Myst IV Revelation for the U.S.! It features the same content as the previous Revelation teaser site.

April 15, 2004
Recap of the Path of the Shell Saga
korteenea, one of the participants in the "Path of the Shell" thread at the UO Forums has put together a recap of the events, called The Path of the Shell thus far... It's for those of you who do not want to have to read through what is now about 22 pages of posts, but still want to know what's happened so far. Thanks, korteenea!

Kha'tie Unplugged
dugchugger posted over at COBBS (Clockwork Orange BBS): "I have approached Kha'tie of UbiSoft to ask her if she would be willing to answer 10 preliminary questions from the Clockwork Orange Community, and she has graciously consented to do so. So folks, if you have a question, post it in this thread. Once we have the answers we'll post them in another thread in this same forum. We're aiming for April 14th... so let 'em rip!"

Great "Path of the Shell" Image at the German Speaking Forum
ireenquench posted this image, assembled by her from pictures people sent her. It's a great image, ireen, thanks!

More of Revelation's Dev Team Appears
Ok, the roster of artists has doubled! Introducing himself last night was Pascal Blanché, Art Director/Character Designer For Myst IV Revelation, to which moulinoux posted: "This is just awesome...Pascal Blanche working on myst 4!?! and it's the real Pascal Blanche!?" They are all very hesitant to give out spoilers, not only because they can't, but also because they know that alot of fans want as little info as possible before the game is released.
- But I think this is comment from Patrick Fortier, Creative Director/Lead Game Designer, is safe: "Actually, one of the strongest points of the Myst series has always been its incredible feeling of immersion. You really feel like you are actually visiting the different environments which you come across and you can nearly sense the presence of its inhabitants. A lot of different things contribute to this unique sensation and for Revelation it's always been one of the things we wanted to build on and continue to improve from the previous episodes. So yes, there should be (plenty of?) things to interact with..."
- Kha'tie also welcomed the Rev Dev team to The Lyst. If you are not subscribing to The Lyst, check it out now: http://www.thelysts.com/

"Path of the Shell" Draws Official Attention
Kha'tie wrote "A mysterious website has appeared and someone named "Sheldon" has been posting hints and clues on various forums. This seems to be leading to a strange revelation about the upcoming Uru Title, The Path of the Shell.
No one is sure if this is being done by Cyan, Ubisoft, a fan or a combination thereof, but one thing is for sure... for those who enjoy puzzles and a good mystery, this is a lot of fun." It sure is!

April 14, 2004
Leader of Revelation's Dev Team Says "Hi"
In response to Pa'lua's warm welcome, the first of the team to "surface" is Patrick Fortier, Creative Director/Lead Game Designer for Myst Revelation. Patrick, as Pat_09, says: "We are all very proud of Revelation and hope you will enjoy playing it as much as we did making it." Read his post here.

Today's "Path of the Shell" Update
Here's the latest developments: About an hour ago, grilox noticed that the Imager page had changed and there were now sub-pages: imager.01, .02, .03, .04 and .05. Imager/01, called The Surface contains images of shells, from the real world, sent in by Uru fans. Imager/02, called Beneath contains images of shells from Uru. Imager/03, called Something Else contains images of shells that are not correct, such as egg shells. Imager/04, currently blank, has the following in the source code: . So now everyone is sending Sheldon images of themselves with shells. Is this crazy or what? Oh, and Imager/05 says: Counting ahead?

MystFonts.com is Back!
Michael Bower's MystFonts.com has returned and he's added a Revelation font! Thanks, Michael!

Mysterium 2004 Logo Announced
Scraper announced to The Lyst that NetWatcher had submitted the winning design! Congrats, NetWatcher. Check out his design, as well as all of the other entries here.

Uru Theme for Pocket PC
weezerisrock posted that he has created an Uru Theme for users of a Pocket PC. Here's the link.

April 13, 2004
New Revelation Desktops by Alahmnat
Alahmnat created his own desktops, using the Red Book/Blue Book image from the trailer and so impressed everyone that he was given hi-res images from UbiSoft. Good job, man! Here's a link to a zip file that contains three versions of the image, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024. They look great, Alahmnat!

Writers of D'ni MOO is Back
Erithan wrote to The Lyst: "Greetings all, Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that Writers of D'ni MOO is finally back online and ready for players. You can connect via the following address: dni.geek.cc:7250. Right after Uru Live ended, our host went down and has not come back up until now due to some issues of their own. At any rate, we now have the MOO up and running again.
Writers of D'ni MOO is a text-based adventure set in D'ni about 1900 years prior to the acts of Veovis. Players take on the role of D'ni citizens and guild members and role play D'ni life. The MOO has been around since 1997, and is currently in its second 'version'. More information can be found at my website, http://www.erithan.net, under the WoD MOO section (there is also a forum section for it). We look forward to seeing you there! Erithan"

More Images Appear at Path of the Shell
There are three images at the top of Follow the Path:

The first image, on the left, appeared a few days ago. The center image, about an hour ago. The third image has yet to appear. The image names were already there, just blank white images, replaced with new images. So, check back in a day or two and the third image will appear.

New Jack Wall Website
Here it is: Jack Wall.net. Great site, just opened. Some of the sections are still in the works, but there's a nice "About Jack Wall" section and his "Credits" page is live. Under "Current Projects," of course: Myst Revelation. Thanks to Farlesis for the heads-up.

Path of the Shell Update
Here's the latest: the coordinates page has been updated with eight more images, bringing the total to thirteen. The Alt text now reads "directions.mp3." This is the page: http://www.pathoftheshell.com/directions.mp3. The mp3 that's played is in Morse Code. SmileyMe, who found the mp3 in the first place, has decoded the message: "You explorers are very keen, but now you need to get squeaky clean." Huh?
Edit: This led an explorer to http://www.pathoftheshell.com/soap.html. In the source code of that page is: http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=soap&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ff. A Froogle search for soap?
Second edit: Goofling posted at DRCSite.org's Forum that he'd found this: got soap? On that page is a binary string that Goofling decoded to: "Step Two: You've sent in shells on calculators. Now, send in shells. Be creative."

New UruLive Tribute Video
Zeus posted an introduction to his new UruLive Tribute Video. It's great! Thanks, Zeus!

Want to Wear the Maintainer's Suit? Here's a New Hack
arctic posted at Clockwork Orange BBS a detailed hack that allows you to get the maintainer's suit! It's a bit complex and you lose the suit when you close Uru, but for those who never got a chance to wear it, this may be your chance!

April 12, 2004
Another New Path of the Shell Page
This just appeared: "syntax? you mean there's supposed to be syntax?" The contents are what appear to be Java. The last entry: char moral[] = "The reward is the journey. Anything else is a bonus."
char bonus[] = "maybe";

MYSTerium.ch is Back
MYSTerium.ch posts: "Hello. I'm pleased to announce that the Myst fansite MYSTerium.ch is back after it went static almost two years ago. The announcement of Myst IV: Revelation last week was reason enough to give this site a redesign. The new MYSTerium.ch has a lot of new things to offer. I hope you enjoy what you're going to see. Now check it out: MYSTerium.ch.
Best regards from Switzerland, Jürg Schaeppi."

Path of the Shell Coordinates Page Updated
The author of the posts/web pages asked for proofs and several posters have responded. Well, the coordinates page shows some submitted proofs. The source code for the page reads: 
 The email translates to sheldon@pathoftheshell.com.

Tentative Date for 5th CyanChat Reunion Announced
Simon Lai, aka Magician, writes to The Lyst: "The time and date is now tentatively set, folks - get out your pen and diary, and mark the following event on your calendar: 5th CC Reunion: 6:30pm, Saturday the 24th of April, Pacific Time (-8 GMT). This is a TENTATIVE time, which is the same time and day of the week as last year's reunion. I would appreciate any feedback on the time, indicating whether the above time is suitable for you or not. The more people I hear from, the better it will be. I understand that this time will greatly inconvenience Europeans but unfortunately most Americans didn't fancy the idea of an early morning reunion. Time permitting I will give this matter some more thought, but I think it will be something to ponder for the 2005 CC Reunion. Anyhow, I will wait for feedback until the next weekend, then I will announce whether or not the time and/or day has changed." Alahmnat has posted the entire email at DPWR.net.

More on "Path of the Shell"
Jensen posts an Animated shell spiral! Very nice!

New Grid Tutorial Site
Dohati Endetan posts a link to My Ki to grid conversion. Great site, Dohati!

Ubi Forums Are Back Up
As an answer to why the forums were down, maztec writes: "UBB Sucks, Infopop sucks more. Blah. I didn't say that."

New Vivarium Website
Myridean told The Lyst: "Shorah! The revised edition of the Vivarium of D'ni website is now available! This new and expanded version includes information on how to get involved as well as news about our upcoming Mysterium library tour. Visit us often as this site will be quickly evolving in the near future. Vivarium of D'ni. Myridean, Vivarium of D'ni." Thanks, Myri!

Another "Path of the Shell" Site Appears
BATU ERITENEL "found one more link: http://www.pathoftheshell.com/zamboni.html." The link takes you to a site with an image, that when clicked takes you to Zamboni.com.

April 11, 2004
More Info About "The Path of the Shell"
Another image has appeared on the main page:

More clickable areas are appearing; clicking "of" sends you to this page: of. The message there? "Clicking random things lead to random pages." Clicking "gathered" sends you to this page: "gathered." Not much, but here's a look at the source code:



More source code, from :math":




Ubi's Uru and Revelation Forums are Down
Attempts to access the Forums returns this error message: "Error Processing Request. The page you requested is not available." Kha'tie writes to The Lyst: "I've sent notice to our Outages team in Montreal. Thanks. ~ Kha'tie : )"

Fun with Fly Mode
I just spent the better part of this afternoon playing Uru in Fly Mode (hey, it's raining!). Everyone must try this. It is some kind of fun and relatively easy and harmless to do. Check it out at Clockwork Orange BBS. The third post by anahm is the one to read. He gives acknowledgment to several people and, I, too, thank them. Try it!
On a related note, futographer has released an early version of his Eder Kemo Map, developed using FlyMode.

GZMs in Teledahn?
Marck writes :"Using the fly mode hack, I was able to find lots of markers in Sharper's office in Teledahn. However, my KI does not detect them yet. I suppose we need a new version of the KI which can be used for calibrating the Great Zero of Teledahn, too. Now, where's the respective KI dispenser?" Those are too cool, Marck. Thanks!

Update on the "Path of the Shell" Mystery
This is being discussed in several forums, especially UO Forum. Here's the latest: "It is the graph of a spiral," posted by Jensen. And Rutland1 includes a graph. Great work, guys.

Gira Slideshows
gazola has released two slideshows: Gira Sunrise Slideshow (1.6MB) and Gira Sunset Slideshow (1.3MB). Very well done, gazola. Thanks!

April 10, 2004
The Mystery Deepens
BATU ERITENEL found this, "just by luck": http://www.pathoftheshell.com/math.html. The page is titles "tea, anyone?" Ok. math majors, now's your chance:

A Mystery Unfolds...
The following was posted yesterday to the DRC Forum by followthepath: "A new path is created. Will you find it? Tomorrow. Sheldon." Followed by: "iuuqxxxq, buipguift, ifmmmdpn." Today, Ashtar_1 decodes: "Hmmm.....A good ole' Caesar shift (25): http://www.pathoftheshell.com. Oooookay By the way, the WhoIs domain register lists the site as being in the Netherlands. So I think it's another explorer just having fun. But that's OK. I love a good mystery." At that site:

Clicking "path" sends one to here: http://www.pathoftheshell.com/path.html, with this message:

Strangely enough, there are several click points above the first image, and they have these URLs:
http://www.pathoftheshell.com/steps/begin_coordinates.png
http://www.pathoftheshell.com/steps/begin_imager.png
http://www.pathoftheshell.com/steps/begin_linkingbook.png
Curious...

New Home for Myst Fonts
Alahmnat reports a conversation with Mike Bower, whose website, "Myst: The Ages I Write," contains a great collection of fonts used in Myst. Mike is moving his fonts to http://www.mystfonts.com/ on April 14th. He's also told Alahmnat that he has a font ready that was created from Myst IV: Revelation.

April 9, 2004
A Few Changes to CyanWorlds Website
DaDungeon posts "Now I have to admit . . . *hangs head* it's been too long since DaDungeon cruised Cyan's website...Where once The Mental Mob encountered somewhat cryptic lists of titles . . . there are now thumbnails!" Thanks, Tink! Check out the most obvious change at the Stills page . Looks like the work of the new webmaster, Danear. Looks good, Danear!

More Uru Sketches by Stephen Martiniere
Animan posted that Stephen Martiniere, visual design director on Uru, had released more sketches from his time on Uru. Most of the images are familiar, although I don't recall seeing a "White Room" anywhere nor have I seen a "D'ni Speed Boat."

New "D'ni Technology" Section at GoG
The Guild of Greeters (GoG) has opened their D'ni Technology section, the first work being Linking Explained by Trillian (this link opens a Word Document).

Full Fly Mode Available
Our friends over at Clockwork Orange BBS have solved one of the problems with the previous version of Fly Mode: No way to turn. Well, it's available. Click the link above, find the post by anahm and enjoy! BTW, if you have previously enabled Fly Mode in X1, you'll need to restore your saved Python file.

April 8, 2004
City of D'ni Map is Complete
futographer writes "Here is the final map. Unless there is an obvious mistake, I don't plan on making any more changes until the next xpack comes out. I made it very large so that you can have it printed out if you wish to put on your wall. If you do have any more suggestions or comments I as always open to hear them. Enjoy." It's absolutely beautiful! A true work of art: The City of D'ni.

Flash-based Journals of Myst Available
frankenscarf writes: "I've spent a little time and created Journals of Myst, an interactive library of EVERY journal from realMyst, Riven, and Exile. Not just transcriptions, I'm talking the journals themselves. It has everything you need from a refernce point-of-view and a few extras to make the experience more pleasent. Please let me know what you think, and enjoy." This truly is a great work. Thanks, frankenscarf!

Ubi Forum "Hiccups"
The Uru and Myst IV Forums are experiencing problems. Here's a note: "We're experiencing technical difficulties, it seems. I've sent a request for Infopop to check it out... I'll keep you posted (or else they will be fine and you'll know it's fixed). Thanks for your patience! ~ Kha'tie, Myst Worlds Community Manager, Ubi.com"

April 7, 2004
Myst Through the Eyes of a Child
Hannah writes to The Lyst: "It is done!! I finally finished my masterpiece! You know how kids always see things in a different light? Well, here is a version of The Book of Atrus like you have never seen it before! Please let me know what you think." Myst Through the Eyes of a Child. It's great.

City of D'ni Map
futographer, aka Pa'trick, Grand Master of the Guild of Cartographers, has produced a fantastic map of The City of D'ni. He warns that it is a work in progress, so I'll track updates, as bet I can. Thanks, futographer!

JustAdventure Review of X1, To D'ni
Robert Washburne has reviewed X1, To D'ni. Here are a few of his comments:
"The graphics are jaw-dropping, drool-puddling awesome. The ancient underground city of D'ni has been abandoned twice – once centuries ago by the D'ni themselves and just recently by the archeologists who were trying to restore it. The sense of ancient loneliness is very moving.
"Unfortunately, we are still stuck with the horrible navigational interface even though there is now no reason for keeping it. You can read my review of Uru for the ugly details, but it all boils down to an interface so cumbersome that you have to concentrate on it rather than the game.
"Mixing it all together, I must give Uru To D'ni a solid ”B.” It does not set any new standards and it is at times significantly flawed. This prevents it from getting an A. But it is a solid value and anyone who enjoys Uru will enjoy X-Pack 1.
"I just hope that Cyan Worlds will continue to develop D'ni as they release the other ages as additional X-Packs."

Hi-Res Trailer Available Here!
With Dusante's permission, I've uploaded the trailer and it's available here. Thanks, Dusante!

Hi-Res Revelation Trailer Available!
Dusante has obtained, due to popular demand, a Hi-Res version; it iis 720 X 480 in mp4 format and only 10 megs. You can get to it from Myst Obsession Movies Page. Looks great!

Panoramic Shot of Revelation
lincoln imp and WWWebmaster have been working to produce a panoramic shot from the Revelation site's Flash. Here's the latest version: Panoramic. Nice shot, guys!

More Revelation Speculation
The National Post writes "OUT OF THE MYST The other big announcement of the week came out of UbiSoft Montreal, which revealed Myst IV: Revelation, the third sequel to one of the greatest games ever, will be out for the PC this fall. Players will attempt to solve the mystery and discover the fate of two villainous brothers, and their little sister, who has disappeared. UbiSoft made last year's non- sequel, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst."

April 6, 2004
Official Myst IV Revelation Forums
Alahmnat and Kha'tie have created the Official Myst IV Revelation forums at Ubi.com. Great work, guys! I really like the banner art. I don't remember seeing that art anywhere else...hmmm...

More "Fly Mode" Images
Gazola has updated his already voluminous collection (260 images) to include some terrific fly mode shots. Check them out here. The first 30 or so are in fly mode. My favorites are Relto from a distance and above the Library. Thanks, Gazola!

Revelation Q&A From Kha'tie
None of these questions or answers contain spoilers, so I'll post them all:

Q: Will it be available on DVD?
A: Actually, plans are to put it out on DVD only. There was an error on the site which is being corrected.

Q: Is there a Mac Version?
A: Myst IV: Revelation is for Mac and PC.

Q: What are the specs?
A: These will be announced later on, but I've been told that they are lower than Uru's.

Q: How does Myst IV fit into the storyline?
A: Part of the joys of this adventure are discovering where, when and what you are. I won't take that joy away from you.

Q: What "wingrovisms" will there be...?
A: The team developing Revelation is made up of Myst fans. They don't like "wingrovisms" any more than ... we do. If they need to plead "AL" it will be akin to any of the previous 3 Myst adventures.

Q: Will the cursor be a circle or a hand?
A: The cursor and navigation on that website are not at all representative of what you will enjoy in the game. They were created for the website use only.

Q: Is that enough questions for now?
A: To Myst fans, it's never enough.

~ Kha'tie
: )

New Site, New Forum for Revelation
The D'ni Explorers Guild has added a special MYST Revelation section, which includes a new forum. Looks great, Deg!

April 5, 2004
New Revelation Gallery
I've created a new gallery of the images released so far. Spoiler warning!

The Guild of Greeters Uru To D'ni Walkthrough
Coelho Buda (aka Orlando Soares) has released a walkthrough for Uru: To D'ni. Thanks, Orlando!

More Revelation News
Kha'tie writes to The Lyst: "The Myst Revelation Team is made up of Myst fans, Adventure gamers, and VERY high level graphic artists. You will be most pleased, I think.~ Kha'tie" Sounds great!

Uru Hacking Update: New Linking Panels?
Johnfchandler has posted a page of images drawn from a hacked Uru X1. This images could be what's in store for us in X2, The Path of the Shell. Thanks to Dan'ni for posting this at UO (who thanks Gadren for reporting it). And, of course, thanks to jfc for doing it all in the first place!

Myst 4 Has a Name: Myst Revelation
It's official: Myst Revelation! It's a great site, including a teaser trailer. Check it out!
From the official press release: "Paris - France- April 5, 2004 - Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, today revealed the critically acclaimed and best-selling Myst® franchise will launch its newest adventure, Myst® IV Revelation, this fall. Peter Gabriel, world-renowned recording artist, composed an individual song to compliment the soundtrack of award-winning composer Jack Wall which creates the game's immersive and ambient soundtrack." Here's the remainder of the release.

My Uru Gallery by Shangra
Shangra posted a link to his Guild of Greeters Gallery (comprised largely of his flying pictures), which includes great shots of him flying over Ae'Gura, wading in the pool in The Great Zero and, my favorite, Riding Shroomie!

New Gallery at Myst Obsession
There's a new gallery in town: New Age Album. It includes all three (count 'em, 3!) images from Myst IV.

April 4, 2004
Exclusive Great Shaft Wallpapers at UO
Dan'ni announced that UruObsession has reached the 5000 member level and, in honor of that event, they are releasing a set of 5 1280x960 wallpapers from The Great Shaft. He also hinted that there will be a new website skin soon. Great shots, Dan'ni!

Flying Over Uru!
anahm at the Clockwork Orange BBS H'Uru thread has posted two files (and instructions) that allow you to enable Fly Mode in Uru.
johnfchandler posted a link to his Fly Mode Gallery which has some cool shots, including a wonderful shot of him flying over Kerath's Arch. Nice shot, jfc!
On that same page, Shangra has posted two neat close-up shots of Shroomie.
LiquorCooChee posted to announce the availability of UruTrainer v2.0.0.3.

Uru Myst Revelation?
pietrobr posted to the UO Forum this link, which is offering not only URU MYST COMPLETE CHRONICLE PC but URU MYST REVELATION PC (Pre-Order: Ships on 9/1/2004). Dan'ni posted in reply: "This has been already discussed. It has been confirmed by Kha'tie (UbiSoft Employee) that this is an error."

April 3, 2004
Stan's Myst IV Puzzle is Complete!
For those so inclined, check out the final Myst IV Concept Drawing. The last piece was derived, by TheMarinater (quite brilliantly), from a combination of the names of the images. Thanks to all who contributed to this effort, especially Stan himself. Quite a bedeviling combination of clues.

Uru "Flying Mode" Pictures
The Uru Forum devoted to hacking has new images from hackers who have enabled a type of flying mode. Check them out here.

Game Industry News Nominees Announced
Game Industry News announced their list of nominees for the Game of the Year Awards. Uru was nominated for the following: Best Puzzle Game, Best Environment and Best Soundtrack. Voting may require registration, but it's free and relatively painless. Vote now!

Word Searches Now Available
The Guild of Greeters has released a series of Word Searches. There are five all together. Try them out!

Stan's Image Almost Complete
Stan posted two more images (total now 15), producing Myst IV. Again, link only if you wish to see a Myst IV spoiler. This pair required a little used skill: The second image was found by deciphering Morse Code that was in an mp3! Thanks to albinogul for his help.

Great Zero Image?
This is an endgame spoiler: Hogarth has hypothosized a possible solution.

Winner of the Photoplay Contest Announced
"Hitchhiking," by ireenquench, is the winner:

Check the results here.

April 2, 2004
Gas Station Stan Strikes Again
Two more images ("yme" on the Myst Community Boards and "tion" on the UO Forum) have been released, bringing the total to thirteen. Here's the image, so far (SPOILER): Myst IV.

More Goods Available from Cyan Worlds
Cyan Worlds has updated their Goods page to include Uru and the 10th Anniversary DVD, as well as the much-discussed Uru Water Bottle and Thermos. Get 'em while they last!

Update on the Voting in the Uru Photoplay Contest
Here are the totals, so far (608 votes): Davey's BASE 4%, Myst IV Reloaded 13%, D'ni Money 7%, Teledahn Salad 7%, Screaming in Aegura 17%, How D'ni Really Fell 12%, Crime Scene 10%, D'ni Disaster 5%, Gehn is Watching You 6% and Hitchhiking 20%.

CyanBill's Blog
Kisih posted to the UO Forums a link to Bill Slease's Blog, GigaGibbles, where he says: "In other news, the initial numbers we're getting from Gigex through Ubisoft on X1 downloads put live to shame. And before you ask, I'm not at liberty to say how many that is."

More Myst IV Concept Art?
Dusante posted to the Myst Obsession Boards a link to the website of concept artist Meinert Hansen, whose website had an odd message on the last page of his "Other Projects" section: "Coming sometime in 2004 - Lots of designs for a computer game which I worked on for a year at UbiSoft Entertainment. Everything is top secret for now, but when I get permission to show these designs, it will have a category of it’s own."

Well, Dusante "enhanced" the page and found an image. While it is not confirmed, this does appear to be "Myst-like." Don't click the link if you do not want a spoiler. Great work, Dusante!

April 1, 2004
Updates on the Hacking of Uru Efforts
Aloys writes at UO: "Lately a group of fellow programmers and Uru fans have been busy looking at the inner workings of Uru; the most striking results of their work is the ability to extract of the game assets, revealing an unknown linking book in Uru! While this book does not link anywhere currently it sure is intriguing.. maybe a glimpse at X2's content?" He includes a link to Clockwork Orange BBS's "H'Uru" forum. Included are topics previously mentioned here, including UruTrainer (Version 2.0 of which is in Beta).

The latest developments referred to by Aloys have prompted Maztec to post to the Uru Forum: "Wow, you guys are really coming along. Anyway, as you know, what I'm saying here isn't official word or anything, just my personal interpretation. Mostly in hopes of keeping this whole project going without any lawsuits or C&D's getting issued. So, I recommend everyone re-read the EULA as this project is definitely getting closer to shady territory. In particular, the territory I'm mentioning is actually modifying the game and creating your own ages -- so to speak.I would recommend creating a very specific and solid line in the sand here."
I've included only an excerpt; Be sure to read the entire post.

Mysterium Committee Announces a New Contest
Scraper writes to The Lyst: "The response to the Mysterium 2004 Logo contest has been amazing! We received over two dozen designs which display the incredible creativity within our community. The decision will not be an easy one this year. We should be ready to announce a winner in the next week or two.

In the meantime,the Mysterium Committee is pleased to announce the beginning of our next contest. A design for the front of our Tshirt is forthcoming, but we still need a design for the back! The design may be full colour. At
this time, the size and resolution of the design submission is unimportant. When the winning design is chosen, we will ask the artist for a version which meets specific requirements.

Please send your submissions to mysterium@wi.rr.com by April 30, 2004 and you might win! Please be sure they are in .jpg or .gif format. Good luck!"

A New Direction for The Lyst
Aquila announced a new direction for The Lyst: So as of today, future discussions will revolve around What Flannel Shirt Rand Miller is wearing for any given day. If Rand decides Not to wear a Flannel Shirt on any given day, there will be no discussion on that day. We all look forward to hearing your thoughts about Rand's Flannels :)" There's been some discussion about what hat RAWA wears, as well. He confided to the The Lyst: "I have it on good authority that RAWA's wearing his MYST hat yet again today."

Cyan Worlds Hired by Playboy!
From an Official Announcement: "Ubisoft, Inc. announced today that they've chosen developer Cyan Worlds, Inc. for their new Playboy: The Mansion title. A spokesperson at Playboy International commented that they were very pleased with the decision, "We want [the game] to look as realistic as possible, and Cyan knows how to do that. We're also impressed with what they've been able to do with realtime physics."

Rand Miller, Cyan Worlds' CEO said he didn't think it was a big change for the company that's built its reputation on a franchise of family-oriented games, "We've always been about non-violence in our games, and look at Hugh, he's a pretty laid back guy. Of course there will be some changes around the office. We're already underway commissioning a new state-of-the-art motion capture facility on the Cyan campus." Cyan's product manager Bill Slease said, "We have network code, and we're not afraid to use it."

UruObsession Closes Down!
Dan'ni writes: "Starting today no longer will URU Obsession exist! After long hours of discussing the future of our site we've decided to change the topic... Starting now the site will be called "PIZZA OBSESSION" and it will be about various kinds of pizza all around the world!

The Library will be reworked and inside you'll find pages about each and every pizza and of course the upcoming pizzas. On the pizza pages you'll find walkthroughs that'll help you prepare the pizzas and for those who like to make them by trial and error we've prepared special hint guides!
Also the download section will soon contain AMAZING pizza desktops!"

Myst Community Becomes Pyst Community!
Check it out for yourselves: Pyst Community.

Stan Strikes Again!
I've added the latest image to my Myst IV Page. Lincoln imp found it at DPWR. Thanks Linc!