Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> Myst and Riven (and to a lesser extent the sequels) are the best, obviously.
> 
>   I found Riven to be a bit too difficult to be completely enjoyable.
> The hints are often really obscure, and most of the time you just wander
> around trying random things, to no avail. It can get expasperating. In fact,
> I got stuck at some point so badly that I couldn't finish the game.

I got stuck a couple of times, often because I couldn't figure out what in 
the scene was a button. (Like, the button to call the cable car outside the 
temple was completely non-obvious to me, or I was pushing it in the wrong 
place, or something.)

One of the things I like about those games is that you can say "Hmmm... I 
need to get over *there*... And there's steps up *here*... and a path *that* 
way... so I must need to get behind *that* rock to find the entrance." You 
can count on the 3D-ness making enough sense that you can find what you're 
looking for.

But yes, Riven definitely had more subtle clues, and more non-obvious 
places-you-had-to-click than the other games.  I think I got stuck three or 
four times and had to take a break for a few days or a couple weeks before I 
realized what I was doing wrong.

The other games were more obviously "puzzle" games - you knew which key you 
were looking for, or what parts you had to put together to make something 
go, or which map you had to find. Riven was more "real world" IIRC.

>   I still own the CDs, though. Maybe I should try it again sometime.
> I wonder if it will work on Windows XP.

It does. I don't remember if you need to install it strangely, but I played 
it more recently than I gave up on Win98.  Thief requires a command-line 
switch to install on NT-class machines, telling it to ignore that NT doesn't 
have DX.

If you pick it up again and get stuck, feel free to ask for a hint. I'll try 
to offer one that's minimally revealing. :-)

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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