August 31, 2004
Montreal Mini-Mysterium
Ri'Huai wrote to The Lyst: "Shorah all!
"This september a number of fans plan to have a mini mysterium in Montreal to visit each other, experience what Montreal has to offer and visit Ubi HQ! Come and join the fun!"
Date: September Friday the 24th - Monday 27th 2004, Lodging: The Hi-Montreal Hostel
http://www.mystobsession.com/mmmm/lodging.html
Montreal Mini Mysterium Official Site: http://www.mystobsession.com/mmmm/
Thread: Mini Montreal Mysterium Meet http://www.uruobsession.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=69&t=13119
Thread: Cheap fun in Montreal http://www.uruobsession.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=69&t=13277
Thread: Quick head count for the MMMM http://www.uruobsession.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=69&t=13279
"See you all in the largest francophone city in North America!"

Complete Chronicles is GCM Editor's Choice

Great review, by Mark Smith: "Myst Uru: Complete Chronicles is a spectacular adventure, and while I was sad to see the online component fail before I even got to login I am glad to see that Cyan came through and delivered some substantial content that not only enhances the original adventure, but completes the saga.
"If you are a Myst fan or just looking for an amazing adventure then purchasing and playing Uru is a no-brainer. Uru fleshes out the history of Myst and provides volumes of interesting details about the world of D’Ni while testing your powers of observation and logic. You’ll be captivated from beginning to end."



August 30, 2004
New Puzzle From Revelationist
And it's a doozy: "Week Four: Back Where it All Began..." It's a walk through the original Myst, with letters hidden throughout. So, far, 15 letters have been found but no one in the forum is saying what the solution is. Check back for details!



Introducing the D'Olympics From the D'LA
LaReh posted: "BIG NEWS! The D'ni League of Activities (D'LA) who were just getting off the ground when Uru Live ended, are gearing up back into action in a big way with the newly planned D'Olympics to be held on the DLA shard next month. Sh'aeri met me in Ae'Gura tonight and outlined her requests for participation.
"She's asking for the various shard groups to each send a group to compete in the various events, which you can read about here. She's also asked for players who won't be "athletically-competing" to participate as Judges, Ambassadors, etc.
"So what do you all think? She's trying to schedule this for the weekend beginning Friday September 10th so we need to get organized quickly. I'd like to schedule a meeting for all interested parties in the Greeter Live Chat room on Wed night September 1st at 8 pm ET. It sounds very exciting and could be the start of some great future inter-shard events." Post your thoughts here.



August 28, 2004
Myst T-Shirt and Riven Mouse Pad on eBay
These are great and at decent prices! Get 'em while you can!: Riven Mouse Pad and Myst T-Shirt.



Nineteen Images From Revelationist

In a thread titled "Looks Like the Start of Something Big..." Revelationist today posted the nineteenth image. Here's Revelationist's site: http://revelationist.com, and Zane's grid: Zane_Black's Album.



August 27, 2004
Put In Your Vote for Myst News
There's a poll being done at MystWorlds asking "Where do you get your Myst news?" and Myst News isn't doing very well! Show that you support this site by voting for it! Thanks!



Winners Announced in Futo's Italian Vacation Wager
futo posted: "This thread is to allow winners of Futo's Italian Vacation Puzzles to collect their winnings.
These are the only people allowed to participate, though you can feel free to comment.
All those involved please send me your avatar for your winnings now. It should be dressed and in the positon you want. It also should be taken in the pose and in the angle which would be appropriate for your picture. Please take a high resolution screen shot and post it here. The faster you get these too me, the faster I can complete them for you. Special requests are allowed if you want me to image manipulate your avatar in a certain way. There is not much I can't do."


Check Out "Path of the Panels" a Web Comic by PlantPerson
Goldah posted: "As many of you may know, Plantperson has been creating fun and whimsical comics based on Uru and at times our UO/MO members. Plantperson is changing web locations for this comic, you can now find them here: The Path of The Panels."



Future Monthly Guild of Greeters Gatherings to be Held in Cavern
LaReh posted: "Shorah. As a direct result of Until Uru's inception, all future Gatherings will be now relocated to the D'ni Cavern. GoG member Erandel will be coordinating various events, competitions, and fun-filled activities which will now take the place of the former Live Chat monthly Gatherings. The Live Chat Gatherings were created as a stop-gap replacement for meeting in Uru Live, and now will be superceded and replaced by actual scheduled events in Until Uru. Watch for notices from Erandel and/or myself in the GoG forums concerning the dates and times of these activities.



Revelationist Finishes Week Three's Puzzles (and Promises More)
Revelationist posted: "Final puzzle for this week: Find It! Enjoy! (The usual, 1st ten get a point, yaddayadda...)"
Following that link takes you to a page from Tomahna. Clicking in a certain spot takes you here:

Later in the day, this appeared: "Ok! We have ten winners! Two of you had all five, four each had four and three points! Winners should have mail. Thanks to all! BTW-Next week will be a real killer."
Stedmister posted the image, as it should look:




August 26, 2004

And Another Puzzle!
Revelationist posted: "Easy one today: First ten to send an e-mail to bobogoobo@aol.com identifying everyone gets a point. Who Are These People?" The link goes to page of photos of various folks involved in Myst IV. Once it was apparent that the contest was over, mrm3fan posted the answers:
1. Genevieve Lord (Producer of Myst 4 Team, might possibly taken during Paris trip)
2. David Laquerre (Game Designer of Myst 4 Team, taken during E3 2004)
3. Patrick Fortier (Creative Director of Myst 4 Team, taken during Paris trip)
4. Khatie Postma (Community Manager of Ubisoft Myst Community, taken during Paris trip)
5. Jack Wall (Composer of Myst 4 soundtrack and other Myst titles, taken during Paris trip)
6. Patrick Fortier (possibly taken during Paris trip)
7. Jack Wall (possibly taken during Paris trip)
8. Patrick Fortier (taken during Ubisoft Presentation at Mysterium 2004)
9. Mary De Marle (Writer-Designer for Myst 4 Team, was also writer for Myst3, taken during E3 2004)
10. Pascal Blanche & Khatie Postma (Pascal is the Art Director for Myst 4 Team, taken during E3 2004)
11. Mary De Marle (taken during E3 2004)
12. Jack Wall, Mary De Marle , Khatie Postma (taken during Paris trip)."



Update to Revelationist's Puzzles
Revelationist posted: "Thanks to all for a great day! All ten winners have been determined. See you tomorrow!"
Natika posted the correct answers:
1. A-Tomahna, B-Tomahna, C-Tomahna, D-Serenia, E-Haven
2. A-Tomahna, B-Haven, C-Tomahna, D-Serenia, E-Tomahna
3. A-Serenia, B-Tomahna, C-Tomahna, D-Haven, E-Haven
4. A-Serenia, B-Tomahna, C-Serinia, D-Serenia, E-Haven
Plus a new puzzle: Who Are These People?
Update to Looks Like the Start of Something Big...puzzle: There are now 16 images; all have been posted to Revelationist main page and there are several people creating grids, most notably Zane_Black.



August 25, 2004
New Puzzle From Revelationist

Here's the latest and it looks like fun:
"Correctly match the images to the age they belong to and send your answers to bobogoobo@aol.com
One entry per person (which means get it right the first time)."

The columns are labelled A-E and the rows 1-4.



August 24, 2004
Golden KI Round 4 Reminder
Alahmnat posted: "Remember, the Golden KI competition is running again after a brief downtime. Entries are due by the end of the day on Sunday, so get snapping! You can enter the competition after reading the rules here.
"
Unfortunately, due to abuses in the past, we will no longer be allowing guests to enter or vote. This may change in the future, though, when I have time to implement a better entry/voting setup."



The Bahro: Photographed!
Gadren found (using PRPExplorer) the images used in the end scene of Uru. Here's the link to the images: The Bahro: Photographed!



Help Design a Logo for COBBS and H'Uru
LiquorCooChee has started a contest: "I would like to have a contest. I need people to design the following:
1.- A COBBS logo
2.- A H'uru logo
3.- A slogan or catchy phrase about COBBS or H'uru
Post your entries here in this thread.
"Next week I will take all the entries and create a poll. There will be three(3) winners, one for each of the above categories. The winners will be given the honors of public recognition, and have their avatar changed to one of the following on my shard. Zandi, Kodama, DrWatson, Victor, Sutherland, Engberg, Yeesha Glowing or Yeesha Not Glowing "



Myst IV at PAX
From GreyDragon: "As it looks now our graphics programmer Bob is going to be on a panel for Saturday. I wish I could make it, but I am only going to be able to go Sunday. Myst 4 Revelation will be showed at the expo along with some other Ubisoft games. You?ll probably see me at all the panel discussions on Sunday. Anyways maybe I?ll see ya there."

Click here to get more info on PAX.

And PennyArcade had a few things to say: " I might not be writing about Myst IV at all if, after completing the demo, something hadn't caught my eye. You know as well as I do that after one finishes the demo for a retail product, they are invariably buffeted by a series of advertisements that must be got through if one is to regain control of their machine. I am so used to disregarding information of this sort that each page of these presentations registers to my conscious mind as white light. Some piece of relevant data had apparently crept into that region, though - so I reloaded the game and quit it again just to see. True enough, Myst IV is being released only on DVD. To which I say, thank God."



More of inki's Avatar Portraits
We've added six more portraits to inki's Uru Avatar Portrait Gallery. We're now up to 58 portraits! Keep 'em coming, inki! And thanks to Eleri for her continuing help making the buttons.



Day Two of Revelationist's Week Three Puzzle
This appeared today: "Week Three, Day Two. The first ten who e-mail bobogoobo@aol.com with all of the correct answers receive a point. Again, one try per person - get it right the first time! Wrong?"

Here's the image that appears on that page:




August 23, 2004
We Now Have 14 Images From Revelationist
Since the last update, four more images have appeared, bringing the total to 14. To help follow the progress, Zane_Black04 has posted a grid. Thanks, Zane.
"


Revelationist has been posting the images as they've been added so I'll let Revelationist keep track of these large images, especially if they're going to about 30 total, as they seem to be.



Word From a Former Cyantist, Steve Ogden
There were a few queries about "How's Og?" on The Lyst, so Jim Stephenson passed them along to Steve. (For those not familiar with Steve, he was until recently Lead Artist at Cyan.) Here's Steve's reply:
"Wow, it's nice that you people all remember me! I left Cyan about 18 months ago, and in this business, that's an eternity.
"
It's been so long, in fact, that the first game I was hired to work on at Firaxis is nearing release - Sid Meier's Pirates! is a fun game, and has been looking better and better. It's awash in that Carribbean loveliness... white sands, aqua waters... and it's Sid's World. The Men are Men, the Women are Beautiful, and the Games are Fun. Arrr, matey, live the life. There is a very talented art team here, and I'm very proud to have been a part of it.
"The crunch... the guys are working some insane hours, no doubt. Fortunately for me, I've been moved off of Pirates in its final weeks and placed in charge of the art team for Civilization IV.
"In my spare time (there's always something, isn't there?) I've resumed working on something I've had in the back of my mind for a long time. I'm not sure if it's a book or a movie right now, I'm just having fun writing it. But it has a lot in it that the Myst community would enjoy -- a mysterious world full of interesting characters and intrigue, and fancy otherworldly gadgets that are capable of... who knows what? :)
"If any of you is interested, you should keep an eye on www.lunaentertainment.com and maybe I'll put up some information when it's a little farther along.
"But all in all, it's fantastic to be back here in Maryland. We have a nice home overlooking a farm in Maryland's Hunt Country. The kids are doing well (Lacrosse in the Spring, Soccer in the Fall...) and it's wonderful to be back near family.
"That said, I keep in touch with several of my friends who are still at Cyan, and I miss them terribly. Sometimes I'm even tempted to move back there, but I think I'm done with the TransContinental Moves now. We moved 4 times in 5 years, two of them cross-country, and that's enough. Time for this Hobbit to set down his pack, lie back in the green fields of Home and think about the Journey, (or There and Back Again...)
Thanks for asking about me.
Steve Ogden ("Og")"



Week 3 From Revelationist
This
appeared this morning: "This week brings a new challenge. It's all about images; fixing them or just simply recognizing them. The first ten to send in the correct image/answer, each day, will get a point.
At the end of the week, the ten with the most points will receive a Myst IV T-Shirt. Here's the first puzzle: Come on in! Oh, and by the way, one submission per person, per puzzle. Get it right the first time! (And only those who have not won in the last two weeks can play)."

This leads to a page, that when clicked in the right place, gives this page:


This is a screen capture I've made; the page is actually a webpage, comprising 36 images. It sounds like this is just the first of several this week. Can you unscramble the image?



August 22, 2004
Dan'ni Visits Leipzig
And it sounds like he had a great time! He got to run the demo for Genevieve, as well as seeing the other game presentations. Here's the thread from MO: "Myst IV at Game Convention in Leipzig." Included in the report are links to images of the game and a linking panel to an area of the game not seen before.



August 21, 2004
Getting the Word Out About UU
inki posted: "Many of those that were in Live, or knew about it, may not know about about UU. I am going to start an email campaign to inform them. I will begin with the list of members here on UO forum. If anyone would like to help by taking one of the letters from the alphabet from the list, let me know so we get to everyone , but don't duplicate. If anyone here is also active on other forums, perhaps you could start one there too."
Several people have volunteered, including SuperGram, ipheon, Kathryn, Deius and Derrie. They've divided up the list of UO members (and there are quite a few) to send the word. If you'd like to help, join in here. Great idea, inki!



Sounds of D’ni Cavern
Soren Laulainen has created a wonderful soundscape. I'll let him describe it:
"Welcome to a subterranean cavern known as D'ni.
"Listen. You are hearing the distant voices of a thousand people, miles away, across the great lake within the cavern. They are all conversing, barely distinguishable. Listen more. The restoration is under way. Rocks slide, hammers drop, air guns fire. The earth moves. Let's move closer... Listening through the door... What are they doing? Listen. A generator. A button pressed. A voice. Answers...
"Caverns, dripping water, the lake... An explosion. Let's take a respectful step back from it. A life lost. A tragedy. Yet life carried on. Listen. A neighborhood. A game. A creature released into the cavern.
"Restoration was cancelled. The end was nearing. The commotion grew. Final goodbyes. The cavern flooded with sorrowful anticipation. Thousands who returned before leaving.
"And then the voices died. Silence overtook the cavern. The creatures left alone now. Stillness. They left the ventilation fans running, at least.
"After a time, people slowly came back down one by one. And all that was left was the pain of memory. The vitality and spirit of the living cavern... but it may grow again in time."



Genevieve's Blog Entry

She's been very busy. Here's what she has to say: "It has been an exhausting day. I’m about to head to bed, but wanted to check in first.
"Today I met with over 45 journalists! Every half hour a new group of reporters would join us in the private room. Dan’ni was there, navigating the game while I explained it. We only showed a small part - just like we did at E3. We showed some of Tomahna at night, a bit of Haven and a tiny bit of Serenia.
"The journalists were generally very enthusiastic! There were also TV reporters and radio reporters. Everyone loved the look of the game. They liked things like the camera, the journal, and the life in Haven. They were also all pleased to know it’s in German!
"We also met AVID Fan Laloona today. I was happy to see her again and Dan’ni got to meet her, too.
"That’s it for now! I will check in again tomorrow. Give my love to everyone at home. Genevieve."




August 20, 2004
Excellent Article on Myst IV by 3D World Magazine
Posted by LazerFX: "Ubisoft pushes the limits of pre-rendered 3D for the latest installment in the Myst series.
"
The original Myst game is one of the most successful PC titles of all time, selling over six million copies since its launch in 1993. Its success was largely due to the use of pre-rendered 3D graphics and its cerebral, puzzle-based gameply. It was followed by a sequel, Riven, then by Myst III: Exile in 2001 and the real-time 3D Uru in 2003.
"Myst:Revelation sees a return to pre-rendered graphics. While many might argue that sumptuous visuals could only be done justice by the latest graphics hardware, developer Ubisoft has made the game more scalable to older hardware.
"Actually, we used a lot of the same 360-degree technology that was used in Myst III," said Lead Programmer Nicolas Beaudette. "However, where we differentiate ourselves is that we integrated an environment that is completely alive."
"This feat - dynamic but largely pre-generated content, was achieved thanks to Ubisoft's proprietary ALIVE tecnology (Advanced Living Interactive Video Environment), which adds layers of interactive and graphical elements in real time.
"Pascal Blanché, Lead Character Designer, explained: "We have a technology that makes the clouds move, another to make water interactive, another to generate particles for fog, smoke, small flies and other things. We have lighting technology to turn lamps on and off, we can generate beams of light in 3D, we can have the shadow of the clouds dance over the background and change the intensity of the general lighting in real time. This enables us to integrate live actors or 3D animals seamlessly. People are usually surprised when they see it - they don't understand how it can move like that and not be all in real-time 3D." Thanks, LazerFX.




MystBlog With Genevieve in Europe

From MystWorlds: "Genevieve Lord, Myst IV Revelation Producer, is in Germany to kick off a European Press Tour. Follow her adventures in the Myst Blogs pages, in English, German, French and Dutch."




New Website for Myst Tenth Anniversary Set
And it's gorgeous. Check it out here: Myst Tenth Anniversary DVD Edition. Be sure to download the video; it's almost ten minutes of Rand Miller talking about the games, with a nice promo for Uru.




Revelationist's Week Two Puzzle is Complete!
Here's the final image and the updated code:

Read as follows: 1st letter, then last, then 2nd, then 2nd from last, etc. Then move letters up one space, ie, A=B, etc. This produces:
first ten to e-mail bobogoobo@aol.com
with "iwantmusic" in the subject line
will win the prize!

Turns out the prize is the soundtrack to Myst IV Revelation. Congratulations to the 10 winners!


Site News
Because this page was becoming, in a word, heavy, I've decided to put all posts up to the latest week in that month's archive. So, if you're looking for a story from earlier in August, check out the August 2004 archive page. This change makes it easier for dial-up users to load the news page. Thanks to Jürg for the help. Update: Due to popular demand, I've changed the links on the news page to not open a new window when clicked. I hope this change does not inconvenience anyone.




There Will Be No "Longer" Demo of Myst IV
From Jürg at MYSTerium.ch: "It was mentioned earlier that the larger E3 demo would be hosted on the official Myst IV site later in August. However, the demo is now posted and it's the same one as already seen at Gamespot, Macwelt, etc. There's the rumour going around that because this shorter demo is newer, it's improved over the longer one, and therefore the devs won't show us an older piece of technology."



A Clue From Revelationist
jetuserX noticed this in the source code of Revelationist's main page: "<!-- Quick clue- we're about a third of the way there. -->" With ten images released, sounds like there are about thirty all together.



Interesting Discovery in Ae'Gura
M'buhir posted: "Earlier this evening I spent a great deal of time down at the Ferry Terminal in Ae'Gura. After a lot of digging, kicking, jumping, and sighing, I nearly gave up looking for the words written in the rock.
"I stepped back for a bit to examine the red wall that seperated the docks... suddenly my pulse quickened, I saw a giant face on the wall. Not just the kind you see everywhere, but a D'ni mosaic of someone wearing a crown. Royalty. To the faces' right, located near his ear, was the word PRIVILEGIA (much debate has been made over the actual spelling) a babel fish search produced the find that it means "It Privileges" in Spanish."
Screenshots did not do the image justice, so Gadren (using PRPExplorer) grabbed the texture from the game. Here it is:




ireenquench theorized that it might be Byzantine and that "Privilegia" is probably Latin. I would tend to agree. Join the discussion here.



August 19, 2004
Ten Pics From Revelationist
In the "Looks Like the Start of Something Big..." thread, Revelationist has now left 10 images over the period of 10 days. Here they are, first to latest:

To recap the image name/hidden letter combo: 4X, 26D, 16Z, 28M, 9J, 7G, 21E, 20D, 12Q and today's image, 10L.



Another Until Uru Server Release
From chip: "This Server Release is a quick update from the 0.38.9 release from a few days ago. Changes from 0.38.9:
All Servers: NetCore Logging Enabled by Default
All Servers: Enable all HTTP Operations. You will not want to allow Public Access to the Server's HTTP Ports. Please correctly set your Firewalls up!
All Servers: New Global Configuration Var, 'StatusLogMask'. This is a Bitmask that sets which log types are written to your disk.
kStatusLogShowNone = 2
kStatusLogShowAppMsg = 4
kStatusLogShowErrorMsg = 8
kStatusLogShowWarningMsg = 16
kStatusLogShowDebugMsg = 32
The default is kStatusLogShowAppMsg(4) + kStatusLogShowErrorMsg(8) + kStatusLogShowWarningMsg(16) + kStatusLogShowDebugMsg(32) = 60. This default will give you the same level of logging that was present in 0.38.8. To disable all logging, set StatusLogMask=2. The value in the configuration file must be in Decimal.
AuthServer: Small fix for Server Status Support
0.38.10 is available from our download page now."



Guild of Greeters Has a New Until Uru Server
Tijara wrote: "We are pleased to announce that the new server is online. F
or those that are interested and understand the lingo, we now have... 100mb handoff with 10m/s burstable. I know it's double dutch to me, too, but I am assured it's awesome. The UU shard is now running from this new server, the website and forum will be moved over soon. Thank you all for your support, patience and donations."



Four Days, Four Clues
Revelationist has now left four images (resized for viewing here) in the MystWorlds Forum:

From the way the coded lines are staggered, the code lines up like this:

Presumably, the fifth image will "fill in the blanks."



Tay Visits Revelation Team
From MystWorlds: "Earlier this week, AVID Myst fan Melissa "Tay" Goss was invited to visit the Ubisoft Montreal office and spend some time with the Myst IV Revelation Development Team. As you read her report, you can feel the excitement she had meeting the team, discovering Ubisoft and most of all, exploring Revelation!" Read her journal here.




Preview of Myst IV at IGN.com
Myst IV: Revelation Hands-On
. Good article, new images, lots of spoilers. Here are a few comments: "Revelation has been under in-house development at Ubisoft Montreal virtually since the previous installment was released, and the fruits of their labor are looking damn tasty.
"Fans of the series, rest assured, because Revelation retains the same ambience you've come to know and (hopefully) love. From the art style of the expansive, fantastical environments to the familiar characters and story arc, Revelation looks like a true heir to the throne-- while introducing a much higher level and amount of visual and sound quality." Thanks to briley for finding this.



August 18, 2004
GameRankings Previews Myst
Featured preview by Russell Frushtick, contributing editor. Here are a few comments:
"For Myst fans, Revelation returns to the traditional style that we last saw in Myst III: Exile. Gone is the 3rd person camera, real-time 3D environments and online play. Instead, the forgotten art of prerendered backgrounds returns in full force. Now, I know that everyone is "all about" real-time 3D these days, but for a game like Myst, the return to prerendered is a good one. See, as good as graphics are these days, modeled polygons will never look as good as the "painted on" stuff, since your processor doesn't have to, well, process it all. The end result is that you're able to explore environments that are just as detailed (if not more so) than some Hollywood special effects jobs...and all without a top-of-the-line PC! I can tell you that the locales you'll be visiting in Myst 4 easily top anything we've seen thus far, as they're filled with indigenous wildlife, swaying plants, rippling water, and god knows how many other minute details.
"The adventure genre is dead? Balderdash! When Myst 4: Revelation hits later this year, folks will be clamoring to get back into the world of impossible puzzles and weird creatures."



Patch Available for PotS/CC "Until Uru" Users
Posted by chip: "A patch for owners of Uru: Complete Chronicles is now available from our downloads page. It is important to note that this patch will make Uru: Complete Chronicles unplayable, and that no content added in Uru: Complete Chronicles is available in Untìl Uru.
Have fun, and I will see you in D'ni! -chip."
Check out the download page.



Library Updates at UruObsession
Dan'ni wrote: "Since URU Online is back we've uploaded all of the online content back to the Library. New Until URU pages feature the following:
D'NI - BEVIN: New Journals added!
GAHREESEN: The Wall Journal and Manual added!
D'NI - REZEERO: New Journal and GZM and CGZM Marker Guides added!"



Updated Forum at MystWorlds
In response to requests, the forum "Uru - The Journey Continues" has been updated to "Uru - The Journey Continues - "Until Uru." Keep in mind that the moderators in this forum cannot support technical issues related to servers; this is best done at the Until Uru forum at CyanWorlds.



Myst IV Mugs Available at French Ubi Store
But they're expensive: 29,99 € plus shipping. Anyway, it's worth a look: Mugs Collector.
Thanks to kakarotto2k for finding this.



August 17, 2004
Updated Server Software Release at Until Uru
Chip wrote: "0.38.9 Server Release. 08/17/2004
This is a bug fix and small feature enhancement release of the Plasma Servers. Changes from the Previous Release:
- All Servers: Disabled NetCore Logging.
- VaultServer: Fixed Threading Bug that different Linux Kernels exposed. (Thanks to the GoG Shard for helping me with this one!).
- VaultServer: Server Admins can now disable Saved Game Uploads. Just set AllowSavedGameUploads=0 in the Vault_Server section of the PlasmaServers.ini.
- VaultServer: Be more paranoid on the Vault Messages that it accepts as valid.
- LookupServer: Internal Changes for SystemView Information.
- Added several new NetMessages to gather Shard Status Information. The information from these new message types will be used to create a 'Server Status' page on this website.
- Fix Compiler Warnings and Portability Issues for Darwin.
Get the new Servers right now from our download page. -chip."

Winner Announced in Golden KI Contest at DPWR
Alahmnat posted: "Congratulations to LaReh, winner of the special Path of the Shell Golden KI competition with his entry, Let There Be Light. This round's first prize, graciously provided by Ubisoft and Cyan Worlds, is a boxed copy of Myst Uru: Complete Chronicles signed by Rand Miller and everyone at Cyan Worlds.
"Congratulations, also, to the nine other finalists in the Myst Worlds voting round: Poink, Branam, AJ3389, Natika, Kestryll, Exziler, Grizz, HannaGertie, and Elkae. These finalists will also receive a boxed copy of Complete Chronicles.
"My many thanks to the finalists and everyone who participated in this round. The response was absolutely phenomenal. Normal Golden KI competition rounds will begin again next week to give everyone a chance to recover from running this past round."



And More Riddles From Revelationist
In the thread called Week Two: Grid, Revelationist posted:
"Where are you
When you hear
What you hear?
TWO"
This led Zardoz to: http://www.revelationist.com/two/amateria.jpg.





Updated Images From Revelationist
Eight images, so far. Here are the image number/hidden letter matches: 4X, 26D, 16Z, 28M, 9J, 7G, 21E and today's image, 20D. This is an interesting development, as one letter (D) has now been used twice.



August 16, 2004
Tapestry Shard Has Been Expanded
This from Eric L: "I just wanted to send out thanks to everyone who's helped out in getting the new server online. As of 3:23PM today, the new shard server went live. I may have to bounce it one more time at some point to do some load distribution, but for the most part, we're ready to rock!"
Here's how his UruVision looks (it looks very busy!):






The Latest From MystWorlds
First, a poll: "Where do you get your Myst news? M
yst Worlds, Myst Community Forums, Myst Obsession, Myst News, Riven Unofficial Home Page or The Lysts?"

Second, an official recognition: "Someone named "Revelationist" has been posting little rhymes which are clues to locations of pictures around the Myst fan community. Today, Myst Worlds received a list of 10 Weekly Winners, and were informed that the 10 winners have received a Myst IV Revelation T-shirt! Congratulations to the following fans:
brilers
TheThunder55
hobbes_19
UltraCube
Dodddef
alexrivadeneira
Zane_Black04
AFGNCAAP
murrayzpc
jetuserX
"Congratulations to all the winners! 10 New winners will be selected each week for 4 weeks, at the end of which, all 40 winners will be placed into a random draw for a "Grand Prize". Good luck this week!"

While on the subject of Revelationist, the start of a new week and a new puzzle: Week Two: Grid. Here's what Revelationist has to say: "First week is over. Now it's time for something new.

What do you see
When you hear
What you hear?
ONE"
The link leads to an mp3, music from the original Myst. What does it mean?
Update: brilers found the image at http://www.revelationist.com/two/mystbook.jpg
Here it is:





Update on Revelationist's Puzzle
In addition to the contest previously mentioned, Revelationist seems to be releasing an image a day; each piece is 285x285 pixels with a letter hidden in each piece. Here are the six images released, so far:


And the numbers in each image: 4=X, 26=D, 16=Z, 28=M, 9=J and 7=G. No apparent pattern and no way of knowing how many images there will be, all together. 26?



August 15, 2004
GoG's Guild Masters Page Updated
On the Guild of Greeters site, the Guild Masters page has been updated, giving a little info about all of the participants in this great Guild. Looks terrific!



Mini-Mysterium in Montreal
Dusante posted: "
This September a number of fans plan to have a mini mysterium in Montreal to visit eachother, experience what Montreal has to offer and visit Ubi HQ!
Date: September Friday the 24th - Sunday 26th 2004. Lodging: The Hi-Montreal Hostel.
Montreal Mini Mysterium Official Site. Thread: Mini Montreal Mysterium Meet. Thread: Cheap fun in Montreal.
Thread Quick head count for the MMMM.



August 14, 2004
Join the Guild of Puzzle Makers
futographer posted: "Hi Explorers!
"
Since I have just finished designing about 25 puzzles in Futo's Italian Vacation Puzzle, and of course the Triple Jigsaw Puzzle and of course Sharper's Spy Room Puzzle, I have decided to start a new Guild of Puzzle Makers.
"I am presently designing the Guild Hall for the Guild of Cartographers HERE, where I am putting all of the Guilds maps, I thought I would also create a wing for the Guild of Puzzle Makers and a place to store all of my puzzles for those who will want to play them in the future.
"So if you think it might like to join the Guild of Puzzle Makers, just sign up here by requesting. Everyone will start as an apprentice. After you have created 5 puzzles, you will become a Guildsman and move up from there.
" We will need to elect a Grand Master who will take on the role of leadership. I am open to anyone else who wants to lead the guild. I plan on "building" the site and will continue to make puzzles, I just wondered if someone wanted to join me.
"Eleri has already created some puzzles and is our first member. Do you want to join us? The guild hall will be a modification of the Pyramid Puzzle in Kadish unless someone else has a better idea. All of the doors will act as rooms to place different kinds of puzzles at first as well as one for the forum and so on.
"I am always available to help out anyone who has never created a puzzle before and wants some tips on how to begin.
"Here is to an exciting and fun new guild!"



August 13, 2004
Ten Myst IV Fans Win T-Shirts
Revelationist posted the final clue:

Today's the day we call it quits,
The final piece is almost here.
Look to where Dusante sits,
Topic named "Hear, hear!

brilers, as before, found the
second clue (from MO):

To find it you must move quickly,
But where would we have hid it?
It can be found, quite easily,
In the gallery made just for it.

And, of course, brilers was
the first to find the last piece:




So, ten folks wound up
with a free shirt!
Good going!



UruVision Server Software Available
UruVision, which appeared a few weeks ago on the CyanWorlds Cam page, has been released on the UntilUru Downloads page. Thanks, chip!



It's Time to Support Until Uru
As demand is reaching the bursting point, several people hosting UU servers are looking to expand. Now's the time for all of us who said in February that we would gladly pay for Uru Live to put our money where our emails are! Here are just a few hosts looking for assistance:

Eric L's UruTapestry, a popular location.
Tijara's very popular Guild of Greeters.



The Latest From Revelationist
A four image appeared. Here are the four images released, so far:







Myst Reader is Now Available
Kahlis wrote to The Lyst: "I just wanted to notify everyone that the Myst Reader (A compliation of all
three books.) is now in stock at amazon.com. It was previously on pre-order only. So if you want your copy, it's now available!" Thanks, Kahlis!