C O P Y R I G H T A N D D I S T R I B U T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N
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This game guide is written by Alvina Lee, and is the sole property of the
author and no one else. This guide is in no way, associated with Red Orb
Entertainment or Cyan Productions or any other association for that matter.
This guide is available to all audiences, assuming they can read English, for
reading, and nothing else. You may download this file and share it with other
people, but you may not publicize it in any way; this guide remains to be for
the use of nonprofit. Do not reproduce "official" copies of this guide, do not
sell it to people for money, do not put it on your website, and do not link
directly to it. If you want to put a link to it, ask the author for permission
first! Plagiarism is a serious crime. Do not, under any circumstances,
reproduce a copy of this guide and claim it as your own, or somebody else's for
that matter. You are allowed to cite it, as for purposes of essay writing and
such, but a "Bibliography" or "Works Cited" section must be included. This
document is officially copyright protected, so do not make any attempt,
whatsoever, to violate these rules. Violation of these laws result in serious
consequences.
Copyright 2003, Alvina Lee
N O T E :
THIS GUIDE CONTAINS MANY SPOILERS! IF YOU FEEL YOU CAN SOLVE THE GAME ON YOUR
OWN, REFRAIN FROM READING TOO FAR, OR YOU MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLE ON THE
SOLUTION! THIS GUIDE DOES HAVE HINTS, BUT THERE ARE ALSO SOLUTIONS! THIS GUIDE
IS NOT INTENTIONALLY WRITTEN TO RUIN YOUR FUN, BUT TO HELP THOSE WHO CANNOT
FIND THE SOLUTION OR ARE STUCK (being the idiots they are). HOWEVER, IF YOU
READ TOO FAR, DO NOT BLAME THE AUTHOR FOR RUINING IT. I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY
IN WHAT YOU READ. EVEN IF IT MAY SEEM SO, THIS GUIDE DOES NOT INTEND TO OFFEND
ANYONE.
C O N T E N T S
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Version History and Updates
Basics
Story
Islands
Walkthrough
Symbols and Codes
Locations of Domes and Orbs
Myst Encyclopaedia
Possible Endings
Review
FAQ
Credits
V E R S I O N H I S T O R Y A N D U P D A T E S
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Version 0.1.0, January 15, 2003
Contents, Basics, Story, Islands and Walkthrough sections started. Dome Island
section under walkthrough completed.
Version 0.2.0, January 16, 2003
Walkthrough section in progress. Workshop Island is still under construction.
Version 0.3.0, January 17, 2003
Workshop Island section of Walkthrough completed. Village Island section has
started. Added the Myst Encyclopaedia, Symbols and Codes and Locations of Domes
and Orbs sections.
Version 0.4.0, January 18, 2003
Village Island section of Walkthrough completed.
Version 0.5.0, January 19, 2003
Symbols and Codes section in progress. Walkthrough section completed. Myst
Encyclopaedia started.
Version 1.0.0, January 20, 2003
Guide completed. Credits, FAQ and copyright section added.
Version 1.0.1, January 21, 2003
Final editing for bad wording and mechanics. Added the Review section.
Version 1.1.0, January 23, 2003
Formatting and typeset.
Version 1.1.2, March 30, 2003
It is 1.1.2 because I just needed to change a few errors and someone pointed
out a mistake on the Myst Encyclopaedia.
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B A S I C S
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This is a "point-and-click" adventure, where you point where you want to go
with the cursor and click to go there. You also 'click' to manipulate or
operate certain objects or machines. In this game, you can press the 'space'
button to skip the motion sequences if they are too slow for you. To see the
things that you have, place the cursor in the area below the "point-and-click"
part of the screen. The Myst series is its own type of game, in that you won't
find another point-and-click game as similar as this, except for maybe a few,
such as 7th Guest (though the Myst series are so much better). You won't really
find the real objective of this game or much of the storyline, other than
solving puzzles, but the storyline must come out on its own later; it must be
revealed to the player. If you are too lazy to find it yourself, just read the
Story section of this guide.
S T O R Y
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You are a friend of Atrus, who wrote many linking books that bring readers to
different worlds. He has a request to make; you need to enter a dying world,
Riven (by the way, riven is past tense of rive, which means to tear apart), to
find his wife, Catherine. In Riven, Catherine leads the Moiety in an opposition
against Gehn, who also has his followers, but now, Catherine is imprisoned on a
solitary island. Gehn, is in fact, Atrus' father, whom Atrus has been able to
seal inside Riven because there is no linking book back to the outside world.
You will find that Gehn has gone mad. For this reason alone, Atrus gives you a
special weapon; the Prisoner's Book, in which to trap Gehn. It looks like a
linking book back to D'ni, but in fact traps the one who touches its page. As
you explore the island, you see various creatures, civilizations, puzzles and
machines, most of which are built by Gehn and his followers to allow enough
power to make linking books on Riven work. Then, you must realize that the only
way out of Riven and to assure safety to D'ni and everywhere else is to trap
Gehn within the Prisoner's Book to prevent him from writing his way out of
Riven. But as you land on the island, your Prisoner's Book is stolen from
you...
I S L A N D S
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There are five islands for you to explore around in. You can reach each of them
by special trams, carts or walkways that will carry you over the water. In your
package of Riven, you should have five disks, in which each of them represent
one island, so when you go to another one, you will be prompted to switch
disks.
D O M E I S L A N D
This is the first island that you start on. There is a large dome near the
center and a smaller ball-shaped rotating object around it. Clearly, there is a
puzzle here, which you will need to solve to continue on. This island is also
linked to the Workshop Island.
W O R K S H O P I S L A N D
This is the next island you can easily reach by a mine cart and has a lake in
the center. There is also a boiler and the workshop, both of which you should
try to get working before you leave. Through here, you can access upper areas
of the Dome Island.
V I L L A G E I S L A N D
You will find signs of civilization, though many inhabitants of this island try
to avoid you whenever possible. They live in circular huts suspended on the
rocks and crude walkways. You'll find a submarine-like machine that runs on
rails, and curious ball-shaped objects lodged into the rock walls.
M A P I S L A N D
This island is fairly small and contains 'maps' of each of the islands. This
place will become very useful for solving some of the puzzles later.
C A T H E R I N E ' S I S L A N D
This is where you will find Catherine. She is trapped in here, so find the
combination for the lock and free her. However, you won't gain easy access to
it yet...
W A L K T H R O U G H
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WARNING: THIS IS WHERE MOST OF THE SPOILERS ARE. IT REVEALS STORYLINE, ENDINGS,
PUZZLES AND SOLUTIONS, SO REFRAIN FROM READING IF YOU ARE SMART. THEN AGAIN,
CAN YOU HELP BUT BE CURIOUS OR ARE YOU JUST NOT SMART?
You may skip the introduction if you wish. In it, Atrus transports you to Riven
with a linking book and gives you the Prisoner's Book and some Riven history.
D O M E I S L A N D
You end up on Dome Island at the beginning inside a small cell. The guard that
peers curiously at you tries to speak to you, but he does not know English and
you cannot understand his strange dialect. Eventually, he grabs the Prisoner's
Book that you hold and tries to read it. A dart shoots him and he dies. A
member of Moiety comes along, removes the guard, taking the book. However, he
releases you with the lever and jams an odd knife into the contraption. After
he leaves, you can look around.
F E A T U R E S
To the west of your cell, there is a strange telescope/rocket shaped machine
that you can move with the lever and the button on its left. There is also a
hatch below it, but there is a combination lock on it, so you cannot open it
yet.
There is a circular tower along the path that rotates when you press a button
by the gate. There are five entrances that lead into it, but only four of them
have switches that turn the tower. For now, you will find them sealed by gates.
There are two entrances to the circular tower that you can easily reach from
where you are now. The entrance here is below the first entrance by the stairs
(you'll also find the same odd knife the rebel was carrying) but blocked off by
a locked gate. You can push on it, but see if that will do anything for you...
Opposite of the circular tower (from the first entrance) there is a bridge
connecting to a low building. There are two chambers in it; one has a chair and
a few switches, the other has some strange artifacts near one end and has a
gate blocking the other end.
Now you will know where the island gets its name from. There is a huge golden
dome you can reach from one of the paths from the circular tower. There are
five pipes connecting to it...
You will find walkways suspended everywhere above the rocks and cliffs. If you
look around, you can find a whole maze of them.
There is also another dome you can find. No, I do not mean the gold giant dome,
there is a smaller one that is always turning and has symbols on it. Can you
see it? Or is your eyesight going...
H I N T S
-Have you tried turning the circular tower? It's really easy. Press the button
by the first entrance to turn it. They all turn in the same direction.
-After turning the tower several times, you will find the other paths. However,
they are blocked off by gates. Remember the other entrance?
-You will find the gate to the second entrance locked. Notice that the gate is
old and made of wood, not metal...and that it is just as low as any door in a
public toilet stall...
-You cannot turn the circular tower from the second entrance, but that isn't
the only entrance. Why else did you think I said it was the second and not the
first entrance?
-At the other end of the circular tower through the second entrance (that isn't
blocked by a gate), you should find a switch that powers up the island. Give
it a tweak and see what happens. You'll also notice the symbol above the
switch...
-Remember that the circular tower has five entrances (or exits). You can only
access two from one entrance.
-Did you notice any levers by the entrances? They do have functions.
-By now, the gates should be opened. See that the first entrance does serve a
purpose.
-You should be looking at a large golden dome. Inside, you should find some
sort of map with five formations of squares. Keep that in mind.
-At the other end of the path through the dome, there are two switches. If
there is steam coming out of the pipes, you are not falling behind yet...Do
you know what the switches are for? Take a look at the symbol above the
switches...
-At the first entrance to the dome, there is a lever...
-There is more than one way into the dome. There is more than one way into Dome
Island...
-If you find the other way into the dome, you will find it suspended above the
other walkway. There is also a wheel here...What else do you think a wheel
does?
-Stuck? Watch out behind you! (No, like literally, behind you)
-Did you *magically* jump over the gap yet? There is, yet another lever. You do
not mean to say you do not know what to do with it...
-Do you know where this leads back to? Yes, it goes...
-You know the walkways that lead to the two switches that elevate the walkways?
There is another switch on it...
-See the ball? See the contraption? See the symbols (which symbols do you think
I mean?)?
-Raising and lowering the walkways do mean something, yes? Did you see
something on top of the big shiny ball?
-Yes, you can stand on a big shiny ball and not fall over! Why, there are even
marbles on top of it! And a board...with shapes...Can you guess the shapes?
-The marbles and their colors mean something, but it is not like you will find
anything else on this island that will tell what to do with them...There are
other islands.
-Then you play with the marbles and...
-Well, did you hear anything about powering up linking books? Hear the power?
Can you just hear (feel) it?
-Did you ever see a big rocket/telescope, but did not know what it was doing?
Well, now you know.
-Do you ever read the junk you get? Even if it is junk, it does mean
something...
-See the hatch? Does not junk tell you anything?
-See the glass? What did they tell you not to do?
-Well, it is time to be naughty! What, you have never been naughty before?
Well, now is your chance...
-You know, glass does break.
-Do not ask me how to break glass! The thing that can do that is staring right
in front of you!
-That is all there is to it!
-Still here?! Obviously, you don't know there are no more special features you
can find on this island.
-Um, anywhere but this island...
-What? Is there something on my face?
-Hello, no more hints! -E N D-
S O L U T I O N
IF YOU ARE SATISFIED BY MY NOT-SO-REVEALING HINTS, THEN CLOSE THIS WINDOW AND
GET TO IT! IF THEY ARE TOO CRYPTIC FOR YOUR NOT-SO-STRONG HEART, THEN READ HERE
FOR THE SHORTCUT OUT OF THE GAME (AND, OF COURSE, THIS GUIDE).
First, find the circular tower by walking along the path. You will reach some
stairs and some more stairs that lead down and in another direction, a bridge.
Face in the opposite direction of the bridge to find a chamber and a sealed
gate. There are some bugs with rings; pull them and look under their wings to
see pictures. It's like a history book, only it is a history picture book. Go
back outside and face the chamber again. Press the button once. The chamber
will rotate, and stop when you are looking at a stone wall. There is a small
hole in the wall, which you can use to see how the chamber turns. Now, go down
the stairs east from where you are standing to find a gate with a lock on it.
You cannot open it, no matter how hard you push on it, but notice the odd knife
and what is under the gate. Click under the gate and you will be looking under
it. Click on the area beyond the gate and you are in! In case you did not know,
you can crawl under the gate. Once inside, continue through the darkness to a
stone wall (or an entrance). You will find that there is no button to rotate
the tower, but if you are facing a stone wall, you can turn it, using the
button by the first entrance. Rotate it until you can reach the chamber through
the second entrance. The second entrance can lead to two different paths, one
of which is shut off by a gate. The other one, however, is not blocked, and you
can find a switch and a symbol by a system of pipes. Dome Island runs on the
power of steam, which courses through the pipes. However, the switch that
controls the direction of the steam is releasing it into the air and not
through the pipes. Twist it to get it going the right way. Now, turn around and
notice the lever and the button on the opposite side of the entrance. Pushing
the lever opens a gate that seals one of the entrances. The button is identical
to the one that rotated the tower, and yes, it does rotate the tower. Remember
that there are five entrances into the chamber, and that you can only reach two
from one entrance. Seeing that you could not have reached this area through the
first entrance (since both paths from the first entrances had shut gates), the
entrance here should lead to another path. Press the button a few times until
the chamber appears. The path here will be shut by a gate if you did not
activate the lever. Go through it to find a dead end with a lever, a button and
a door that you cannot yet open. Activate the lever to open yet, another gate
and press the button to find the other path. The path leads back to the first
entrance, but you have only seen four entrances. Press the button again until
the chamber appears and you will find the gate has lifted and you can reach the
next area.
There is a bridge suspended above the cell you appeared in and it
leads to a large gold dome. Inside, you will find two walkways; a lower one
and the higher one that you are standing on. There is also a strange map that
has five formations of squares. These will be significant later, so keep this
in mind. Walk to the very end of the walkway to find another path leading out
of the dome. If you did it right, the steam would have been redirected through
the pipes and out through the pipes where the switches are. There are two of
these, and they too control the flow of the steam. Activate the first one, and
the steam will go through the pipe that leads to the bridge above. The bridge
will not yet lower, but you cannot reach it yet, so leave it. Continue on the
walkway to find the other switch and activate it too. Again, the bridge does
not do anything yet, but go back to the other entrance to the dome and face
the chamber from whence you came. There is a lever on the right; pull it and
gasp in awe at what just happened (pull it again to lower it). From the other
walkway where the two switches were, you saw other walkways, but you could not
reach them. Notice that they do lead off to another island...
To get to the other island, go back to the first entrance and head opposite of
the circular tower across the bridge. There is a low building here with dark
and damp corridors. You will find a door to the left. Open it to find a chair
with a metal cage sort of contraption around it. As you near it, it opens. Sit
in it to see two circular screens. The one on the right shows you where the
tram stops, and the other shows you a chamber. There is a lever beside the
screen; pull it to open the door in the screen. Now go back out of this
chamber and continue to the end of the corridor. You will find the chamber you
saw earlier in the screen in the other room. There is also another cage
contraption and some other relics at one end of the room. At the opposite end,
there should be the door that you just opened (otherwise, it is shut and too
heavy to lift). You will be back outside, where the screen in the chamber of
the low building shows the tram stop. There are wires and stairs and the tram.
If the tram is not there, press the blue button by the stairs to summon it.
Step into it, rotate the knob and push the lever to blast off to the next
island.
***THIS GAP LEFT INTENTIONALLY FOR YOUR RETURN TO THIS ISLAND***
When you come back from Workshop Island, you should be on the long walkway
above the water. You will find that it leads to the golden dome and the walkway
is the same one with the raised bridge. If you have activated the switch (no
steam comes out), then you should be able to activate the lever and lower the
bridge. Cross it to enter the upper walkway inside the dome and you will get
access to the other walkway and a wheel, which if you turn, will extend the
walkway to the other one that connects to the path that leads to the circular
tower. Exit through the other path that you have not been to. However, the path
has a hole in it, so you will have to patch it up. Turn around and find the
switch to the right of the doorway to bring the missing walkway back up.
Continue down the walkway to reach a closed door and a lever. Pull the lever to
open the door, and you will find that it was the same blocked passage that was
part of the circular tower. Now that you can reach this area easily, go back to
the dome and activate the lever that elevates the bridge to the circular tower
(it should be raised). Take the other path to the circular tower (the one you
just opened) and rotate it until you get back to the path that leads to the
dome. Instead, the bridge is raised, but the incline is low enough for you to
walk on. Go up the raised walkway to reach the top of the dome. Here, you will
find a board, a strange contraption and six colored marbles. Notice that the
shapes in the board are the same five shapes on the map you saw earlier in the
dome. You still will not know where to put the marbles, so leave and find some
hints.
If you have been to the other islands, you might have found other domes,
but they are smaller and rusted and turn. Each island has one, and if you look
closely, you can find symbols on them. One of the symbols is colored yellow;
this symbol corresponds to that dome on that specific island. Remember them for
later. Near them, you will find some other pole-shaped contraption that shows
part of the dome, but the symbols appear more clearly. When the correct symbol
on the dome appears on the screen, press the switch on the contraption and the
dome will stop spinning and open a special vault. Even so, you should still
remember that symbol.
You can find one on this island; go back to the walkway with the two switches
and stand below where the missing walkway was raised (just before the cave
entrance). Look to your right to find a button. If you came here before you
raised the bridge, the button would probably be shut out. Press it to activate
an elevator. It brings you to the lower walkway, which leads to the dome. In
front of the dome is the stick-like contraption; the yellow symbol will appear
on the screen. When it does, push the button at the top and the dome should
open. However, the vault will not be opened; you need to find a combination for
it. (See the other hints and solutions for the other islands)
Once you find enough information, go back to the board and marbles and look at
the board. The board is the same shape and appearance of the square button in
Map Island. Now, you should know what the locations of the domes and the colors
on Map Island were for. You need to match the location of each dome to the
color and the symbol it has to the shape of its island. Then, place the marble
of that color on the part of the board that has the same shape as the island.
Do that for all of them, turn around and look for a switch. Pull it down and
the machine above the board will come down. Then press the white button the
switch was covering. If nothing happens, check to make sure you got the marbles
right and the coordinates from Map Island correct. Once you get it working, Go
back to any of the other domes and open the vault. This time, when you look at
the page of the book, you can touch it and get transported to the picture you
see on the page.
***TRANSITIONAL GAP***
When you return after capturing Gehn in the prison book, you should read the
other booklet the Moiety gave you from Catherine. Inside it has the code for
opening the hatch to the rocket/telescope structure to reaching the Star
Fissure. Open this only to signal Atrus. Do not signal him too early, or else
Gehn will find you and Atrus, then shoot both of you, ending the game.
Once you have captured Gehn and freed Catherine, head for this structure and
enter the code on the hatch. The numbers are also the same symbols used in
Riven, so use this code to figure out which switch you press first. If you did
it right, click on the handle to open it. You may look through the scope to see
the stars, but it will not do anything. You need to break the glass in the
hatch, thereby drawing Riven into further decay. While Catherine rescues the
villagers, inspect the right leg of the structure, and make sure that part of
the switch is not sticking out of the leg. This supposedly acts as a brake, to
prevent it from being tampered with so it does not accidentally break the
glass. But we intend to do this. Pull the lever downwards, then press the
button to lower the telescope. Lower it until it is touching the glass. Press
the button once more and the telescope will break the glass, causing the Star
Fissure from beneath to draw the telescope and the nearby structures into
oblivion. Atrus will appear in the same cell you appeared at. If all went well,
you should see Catherine come running towards Atrus, or else find Atrus dead
and your vision blurring quickly...
W O R K S H O P I S L A N D
There are a few ways to enter this island. First, you can ride a mine cart from
Village Island to get here, or, after you activate some switches, use the
walkways from Dome Island. This island, though no larger than Dome Island, is
simple in layout and has few features, apart from rocks and the lake. Coming
here will allow you higher access to parts of Dome Island.
F E A T U R E S
There is a large lake in the middle and a dock leading to a switch and some
pipes. Can you guess what it is for? Where else would you find pipes?
From where you appear after a dangerous mine cart ride, there is a switch and
the grinder in front of the chute. There is nothing that you can really grind
though.
There is a ladder behind the large machine you end up on after a thrilling cart
ride. Climb it and open the hatch to reach the mine cart, in case you did not
want to go to Workshop Island.
East of where the mine cart ride ended, there is a boiler and some switches
that activate it. There is also some water in it, and you can boil it. Not like
you are going to need any hot water. You cannot open the door yet since there
is too much water...
There is another ladder even further east, but the hatch is shut, and you
cannot open it from the ladder. There is another way though...
The workshop is right through the hatch. Inside, you will find a trap, a thick
pipe and the island's dome. The pipe, however, is blocked off by a spinning
fan. Realize that you are not invincible and will not survive even one second
of placing your finger in a fan spinning at a *super* high speed. There is also
another path that leads to Dome Island.
Along the walkway to Dome Island, there is a building to the right, but the
door is shut from the inside, so you will have to find another way in.
After you get the fan to stop spinning, you can safely enter the pipe. At the
other end, there is a chamber (the building to the right of the walkway to Dome
Island). There are two exits to it, a journal and a failed experiment, which is
the book inside the machine in the center of the room.
H I N T S
-The only way in here for the first time would be taking the mine cart.
-Does the sight of a network of pipes mean anything to you? Did you not learn
anything from Dome Island?
-Well, there is this sort of switch in the center of the island and some
pipes...sound familiar? Yes, it does something other than turning in three
directions!
-Did you check the switches by the boiler?
-There are pipes going to the boiler...it does mean something...Okay, then does
it mean something if I said there were not one, but TWO pipes going to the
boiler?
-You could not enter the boiler...that is because you cannot swim! And you
would not survive inside boiling water. Did you notice anything else other
than the door that would not open, even after clicking on it a million times?
-If you got the boiler to open up for you, did you find that the wireframe in
the middle was a little too high?
-Can you see inside the boiler from outside?
-The boiler does lead somewhere...
-After you exit the boiler, does it not look quite familiar? Do you see a
ladder?
-Inside the building, there is a trap. Do you know how a regular trap in our
real world work? Do not get confused just because you cannot buy a trap like
this at some local hunting store!
-Did you check all doors? There is a storm coming!
-Did you see the dome? Did you see the stick-contraption? Of course not! Better
make sure that door is closed real tight!
-On that walkway, did you just happen to drop some wires? Well if you did, it
seems to be tied onto a pulley with a lever...
-After climbing a pipe, you should have seen a book of some sort, no matter how
small.
-See the symbols in the book? Do they mean anything? Well, of course not yet!
Oh, but they do!
-Notice the same design of the blue button...and it is next to a door...
-How many (different) doors did you see?
-Well, they lead somewhere...
-Not like this island is special anymore!
-Do you like this island so much? There is nothing more to it!
-Do I have to give you the sign? Okay, NO MORE HINTS! Read the pixels!
S O L U T I O N
IF YOU HAVE HAD YOUR FILL OF MY HINTS SECTION, DO NOT CONTINUE READING OR ELSE
YOU ARE READING A GUIDE TO RIVEN AND NOT PLAYING RIVEN! IF YOU ARE REALLY NOT
SO CLEVER AFTER ALL, I GUESS YOU DO NEED THIS, DO YOU? BE GRATEFUL SOMEONE IS
HELPING YOU!
The only way to enter this island at first is from the mine cart in Village
Island (see that section for information). Enter it and get rolled out onto a
platform with a lever. Ignore it, since it is not going to do anything and head
down. Notice that there is a boiler, a switch in the middle of the lake and
what is inside the boiler. Well, the boiler is full of water, and the switch in
the lake controls the power. Like Dome Island, the power is generated by steam
in pipes, so the switch controls where the steam flows. The direction the
switch points in shows where the steam goes (Hey, quadruple assonance). You
should find that the switch is in the direction of the pipe leading away from
the lake.
Direct the switch towards the boiler, the central pipe. At the boiler, the
switch on the pipes also controls the direction of the steam because of the
junction in the pipes; one leads to the wheel, and the other leads to the lever
on the wall. Notice that the other lever on the pipe turns the heat on or off.
The wheel turns the big black pipe, which empties the water when it is turned,
and pumps water into the boiler when it is facing downwards. The lever changes
the level of the platform inside the boiler, but it works only if the steam
goes through the right pipe. At the doorway to the boiler, there is a gauge
beside it. If it is red, you cannot enter it, either because there is water or
the heat is too intense. To get rid of the water, direct the switch by the
junction of pipes to the upper pipe. Then turn the wheel to make the big pipe
turn, emptying the water. Once you have checked to see that the water is all
gone, turn the switch to change the direction of the steam through the pipe,
then pull the lever up to raise the level of the platform inside the boiler. If
you have done it correctly, go up to the doorway and the gauge should be empty.
If it is, the door should open automatically, and you will be inside. It is
empty, except for a wireframe. If the platform is too low, you will not get to
enter the area below it, simply because you cannot climb it. If the platform is
high enough, you can climb the frame down into a pipe.
Go through it, even if it is pitched-black, and you will eventually come out
through the other side. Jump down and you will be on the cliffs above the lake.
You will not be able to go back through the pipe, but you do not have any
reason to. Continue through the cliffside until you reach the building. This is
the workshop, so called in Workshop Island. Notice that you are above the hatch
you could not open from the ladder, but you can open it from here, so take the
chance to do just that. Open the door to the workshop. For fun, you can play
with the trap, which is at the end of the corridor. Pull the lever to raise or
lower the actual trap (the dome with the holes) and click on the trap to open
it. When you open it, you can place bits of food in the central part. If you
still do not know, the food is the round brown little pebble-like objects in
the container. Lower the opened trap and leave it for awhile. If you stay
there, you might hear the trap snap. Raise the trap, and if you have caught
something, the trap will be shut. Open it to find a reddish-yellow frog. The
sound the frog makes is the same as one of the sounds of one of the orbs on
Village Island (see that section for information). However, it will hop away
from you. Look above the trap and you will find the pipe with the fan in front
of it. It is spinning for now, so just leave it.
Go back to the entrance and close the doors. Yes, the doors do not look that
wide, but yes, they DO hide two paths. The one to the west leads to the dome.
You can look for the symbol on it, or, if you walk around the dome, you will
find a hole in the wall, revealing something missing...Turn around to leave and
you will find a door. Close it to find yet, another hidden path. Through it is
the pole-contraption, and through it, you will find the symbol.
Head back and go the other way to find the path to Dome Island. Along the way,
you should find a lever and a pulley with some wires leading beyond the peaks.
Pull on it, and the fan in the workshop should stop. The building close to the
lever is accessible, but you cannot open the door for now. Go back to the
workshop and go to the pipe. The fan should not be spinning. Climb it and enter
the pipe.
When you come down, push the cover out and you should be in a chamber with many
artifacts, including a journal. The information from this book is very
important, so keep the symbols and the codes from it in mind. You can find some
other things, but they are not of much interest, apart from the orb on one of
the tables (read Village Island section for information). There is a failed
experiment involving a linking book in the central contraption, but it does not
work. Notice that there is a blue button with the same design as the blue
button in Dome Island. Like that one, it calls the tram to the closest stop.
Notice that the doors are identical, and that there are two. The one that does
not have the blue switch leads to the tram, which leads to Map Island. The
other one goes back to the locked door on the walkway to Dome Island. On the
walkway to Dome Island, you will find the raised bridge. If you changed the
switch, pull the lever and the bridge should lower. (see Dome Island section
for additional information; it is after the first transitional gap.)
V I L L A G E I S L A N D
This island is, by far, the largest. It has winding paths, forest mazes, but
scenic nature. You will find the inhabitants of Riven living on this island in
a village of small ball-shaped huts and crude walkways and a lake surrounded by
cliffs. The mystery surrounding their culture and religion further adds to the
grueling puzzles of this game. From time to time, you will see some inhabitants
or creatures, but they avoid you whenever possible.
F E A T U R E S
There are five curious ball-type objects in total scattered around this island.
They will be found dug into rock and spin when they are touched.
There are several ladders that lead straight into the water. These are docks
and you can use these to climb into the submarine. Some, however, are tucked
away, and must be pulled out by switches.
A small lagoon is on the lower path from the junction of stairs after the tram
stop from Dome Island. There are some platypus-like creatures called sunners in
it, but they see you and swim away. You can explore it, but there is not much
of interest, except sand, stone, squat palm trees and the orb.
There is a thick area of forest between paths leading to gates. It is dense
with bugs, and contain some hidden passages. This is also where you will find
the dome of this island. You can also find a fish statue in front of a tree and
some walkways above the forest...
Along the lake, the walkways lead to the complex of ball huts and an
intertwined network of walkways. The huts, as you will find, are shut and
secured tightly.
By the village, you will find a submarine, which runs on underwater rails. You
can access it from docks where ladders are not retracted. You will also
notice, that by some mystery, Gehn found a way to vacuum out the water around
the area where the docks are. As a result, the water appears pocked with
"holes"...
On the submarine stops, there is a tall frame structure with a hole in the
middle and a bar that brings the other end of the rope down. There is a way to
the top though...
On another submarine stop, there is a low hut that looks like a third-rate
classroom inside. You probably do not comprehend the squiggles on the walls and
the board, but it is just like trying to comprehend arabian script (assuming
that you do not read arabian). Actually, the scripts are from the language of
D'ni. There is more than that to this classroom...
On yet another submarine stop, there is a tall, narrow structure with switches
in them and a slit-shaped window. You can see all of the village from here.
Through the top of the conical frame structure, there is a walkway built into
the rock and an entrance. Through it is a secret passage which contains the
secret of the curious orbs etched into the rock...
In the forest, there are some walkways above it. The walkways lead to some
switches and the dome.
Though it is not clear, there is a secret tram that leads to another part of
Map Island...
H I N T S
-That blue button still means something, right? Do I have to say blue button
again to tell you what it means?
-The fastest and easiest way here is from the tram in Dome Island, right?
-From here, you should find as many of the five orbs as you can. When you see
the first one, they should seem important, should they not? Then again, the
symbol does not mean anything to you, does it?
-At the junction of the stairs, by the sunners, the path goes...what do you
see? No, I mean what do you see in the water other than maybe your face? (Oh,
I forgot, the creators forgot to give you one, you cannot see your reflection)
-Going up the stairs, which way should we go now? See the gate? Does it mean
anything?
-See the forest? See the fish? Obviously, it is not living, not on dry land!
-Turn around before the lamps go out...
-See the dome yet? Hang around for a while and play with the contraptions.
-Then hang around (or should I say around inside) the fish for just a little
longer...
-In the forest, there are some hidden stairs...No, I do not mean sealed off by
some switch, you have eyes, you know, even if they can only see in 90 degree
turns.
-Outside the forest, walk through the paths. See the village yet?
-In the village, do you see any important machines? Ones too large to carry on
land, but glides easily in water?
-Does it work? Well, it works as well as your screwed up noggin. That is
because it does not have any wheels! Even if it did, it is not going anywhere!
-You know, it is about time you saw that lever...EVERY switch means something.
-Well now, what! You cannot get in! Well like, jump! Jump and die.
-Look out below.
-Can you work the controls of the sub? There is no substitute for those
complexed levers.
-Cannot find land? That is because you are too small to reach the ladder. Get
someone or something else to do it for you.
-You only have to find three other new stops.
-What is a hut doing in the middle of the lake? Or, what is a classroom doing
in the middle of the lake? Find any contraptions of interest? Well, something
that looks like a two-player hangman...
-Well, it is round, cone-shaped, made of long poles, and there is a dangling
bar. And another dangling bar. Grab it and get water up your nose. Face it,
you cannot swim no more than can you reach it from the side.
-Did you go to the forest yet?
-Getting tired of holes? Well, lose the hole.
-Can you reach the bar yet?
-On the walkway, did you see the ladder?
-Did you see the gate on the rock? Did you see what they put beside it?
-There is only one thing of interest inside of here...
-It is too dark. Turn the lights back on.
-Remember those doors in Workshop Island?
-Did you find all those orbs? And all those sounds and symbols? Well, here is
where it all comes together...
-If you are that hard of hearing, there is the background...
-You cannot mean to say you have bad eyesight too? How else did you get this
far in the game?
-Cannot find it yet? I suggest you get a zoologist to help you or get better
ears.
-Well, I cannot be down there to tell you what that orb sounds like. It
sounds like your digital speakers.
-Well, no, I cannot put sound on a simple text file!
-Ahem, END of hints, as in, no more! Stop searching!
S O L U T I O N
IF YOU HAVE ENJOYED MULLING OVER MY HINTS, I THANK YOU FOR WASTING YOUR TIME,
NOW DO NOT WASTE ANYMORE TIME WITH THIS NONSENSE, OR YOU ARE WASTING RIVEN. FOR
THE LESS FORTUNATE OF ALL AUDIENCES, PAY CLOSE AND SPECIAL ATTENTION FOR MORE
USEFUL JUNK YOU COULD NOT FIND IN RIVEN.
You should enter here for the first time from the tram in Dome Island. To find
the first orb, face the rock wall opposite of the cave entrance and touch it to
find the symbol. Take note of the sound and the symbol (ie, with pencil and
paper). Now go through the cave entrance and up the stairs. There is a junction
here. Take the lower stairs to a lagoon with the sunners. They swim away upon
your presence. Look around on the beach, and head towards the right. Turn to
face the rock the creatures were sunning on, and look closely at the smaller
end. There is an orb here. Back away from the screen a bit and look at the
formation of rocks from here to see a fish. You can see this fish (Wahrk) in
Map Island too.
Continue on the path and past the walkway and down the ladder to a mound with a
switch, two pipes and another orb. The symbol and sound for this orb is
different from the first and all the others. Pay close attention to it as you
would the first. Activate the switch to make the water fill the shape in the
mound. The shape of the water happens to be the same shape of the animal...
Further down the ladder and the path, you will find a dock, but there is no
submarine. See if you can look at the rock face above the dock...
Head back to the junction of the stairs and head all the way up. There is a
bridge and a split of pathways after it. The path to the right with a gate
leads to the forest. The one to the far right leads to the mine cart to
Workshop Island. The one to the left eventually leads to the village. Take the
one into the forest. Go through the first tunnel and try to find a giant sword
in the background. Face it and look carefully to find a secret passage
downwards. In it, is a rebel's knife (it is glowing strangely) and an orb with
its own sound and symbol.
Go back out and continue going until you go under another tunnel. Inside, the
path splits into two. One of them leads back out through a gate and the other
leads through another tunnel and a fish in front of a tree. You can see nothing
significant about the fish, and it does not move. It does have quite huge
teeth, however...Turn around and look at the lamp. At the top of the left lamp,
there is a switch. Pull it up and the fish's mouth will open. Enter it and go
to the end. You will find two levers and the blue button. Yes, the blue button
does mean there is a tram. Pull the left lever to close the fish's mouth, and
crank the other lever upwards to elevate the platform upwards. And guess what?
You are on the walkway! Go around and look for the dome. Walk around it to the
other side and open the door of the small conical building. Enter it and step
inside the skull. Pull the lever on the left to change your view, then activate
the other to make a platform appear in the other conical shaped building with
the frames in the water. Go back down, using the left lever and exit. Go to the
dead end on the walkway to find the pole-contraption and enter the correct
symbol. Go back down using the elevator to get down. For another passage to Map
Island, crank the eastern lever downwards and the elevator will go downwards.
This is where you will find the tram that leads there.
To continue exploring this vast island, exit the forest, through either of the
two gates. If you left through the initial gate, take the left path and you
will eventually meet up with where the other gate leads. They both lead to the
platform below the village. There are two inhabitants here, but they will get
scared of you and leave. You will find a retracted dock where they were
sitting, but still no submarine. Continue through the walkway and then climb
the ladders. You will eventually reach some of the huts, but the doors are shut
tight, and nobody answers when you knock. Knock five times on the hut you can
reach, and a girl will open a window on the door briefly, then shut it quickly.
Go around behind the hut to a dead end where there appears to be some sort of
scale, a fireplace and a lever with the submarine. You can enter the sub, look
around and try the controls, but it does not do anything. Go back outside and
try the lever. The platform the submarine was standing on lowers, but you would
not survive a jump from that distance. You cannot stand on the platform and
pull the lever; it is too far away. Remember the rock face above the other
dock? This is where it is. Go back there (you saw sunners on the way there) and
you will find the submarine docked.
Enter the submarine, and it will move when you activate the controls. The lever
on the right moves the submarine on the rails, the mounted lever turns the
submarine around, and the front lever determines which rail the submarine moves
on. When the submarine stops, you can open the hatches where there are air
bubbles by a stop. Once you get used to the controls, move around until you
find the ladder of a structure that is not retracted. This place should be new.
Climb out of the water and up the ladder to see five switches. Three of them
will be down, but flick them up and the ladders will be close enough for you to
dock and climb up them. If you turn around, there is a window, where you can
see all of the village. You will find the surface of the water pocked with air
holes where you can stop the submarine and you can see if the ladders are
retracted or not.
Go back to the submarine and travel to a low hut. Enter it to find a classroom.
There are squiggles around the walls, on the board and on paper, but you cannot
understand them. To the left of the classroom, there is a table with a game on
it. It has two stick men hanging on strings and a huge fish-monster under them.
There is also a symbol at the side of this contraption and a ring. Touch it to
make it spin and the symbol will also roll like a roulette and the monster will
move underneath the other stick man. It will stop spinning and a different
symbol should pop up. Then the man that is directly under the monster will drop
towards the monster for a certain number of times. This is directly linked to
the symbol that pops up. Use this to figure out the number system that this
civilization uses. Also, when you see two symbols on top of each other, the
number is added; eg, if you see this |-|-|, it means six, because |--| is five
and | | | is one; five plus one is six. At the front of the classroom, there is
that strange cage-contraption like the ones on Dome Island, but crank the
handle beside it and you will see a hologram of Gehn. Of course, you cannot
understand him, since he is speaking in a foreign language. Leave and head back
for the submarine.
On another dock, you will find a conical frame structure with a hole in the
center. If you activated the switch in the forest, the hole should be covered.
If not, go back and do so. Pull the bar dangling on the string and another bar
will come down. Step on the center platform and grab that bar. Hang onto it as
you rise and you will be on the top floor. Leave the structure to find a
walkway. This walkway is directly above the crude one that you were walking on
to reach the village. There is a ladder at one end of the walkway, but it is
retracted. Give it a push and you will be able to go back down the easy way. Go
back to the other side of the walkway to find a shut entrance in the rock. If
you peer inside the gate, you will find a member of the Moiety. Beside the
entrance is a switch; turn it and the entrance will open.
Mysteriously, the man disappears. Inside, there is a sewer. Open the lid and
reach in to reach a switch; pull it and part of the wall will open up. Go
inside and walk through the dark passage, even if you cannot see anything.
Eventually, you will reach the other end, a dead end facing the water. If you
look closely on your left, there is a lamp you can turn on. Touch the bulb and
it will turn on. Turn around and there is another lamp you can now see. Turn it
on and you will be able to see the next one as you advance in the darkness. In
this fashion, turn on all the lights, then go towards the dead end. Along the
way, you should see a door. Close it, and it will reveal another entrance.
Through it, are a circle of stones with the symbol of a creature on it.
Remember those orbs? You have to choose five of the stones here and push them
down in a certain order for anything to happen. The symbol on the back of each
orb tells you which order to put them in. The symbol is a number in the
civilization's language, and the sound you hear from the orb corresponds to the
animal on the stone that you push.
There is one orb that is not on the island; it is on Workshop Island because a
swimmer retrieved the orb from the water for Gehn. Again, you cannot swim, so
go to the lab where the journal is and check around the tables for that orb.
Other hints, such as the surroundings will tell you what the creature might
look like. If you still cannot get them, go to Map Island and sit in the device
that codes the marble colors. Pull on the left lever and press the right button
and click on the holes to look around the water in Village Island. Look around
and you should find a picture of a triangular-shaped fish.
If you press down the stones in the correct order, the knife opposite of the
doorway will disappear and a linking book to Tay will replace it.
M A P I S L A N D
This island is fairly small, and you cannot see too much about it, other than
the five mysterious shapes that appear inside the golden dome in Dome Island.
This island has topographical maps of all the islands, but do not get confused
because they are difficult to read.
F E A T U R E S
There are two trams that lead here; one is from Workshop Island in Gehn's lab,
the other is from Village Island, using the elevator in the fish. However, you
can turn the tram with the knob to reach either entrance.
There is a representative of the shapes from Dome Island as you climb the
stairs. You cannot climb over the walls and check them, but they are important
as you will see later.
There is an elevator at the end of your walk from the entrance. Above it, there
is a balcony, where you get to see the shapes that were by the entrance. There
is also a square-shaped button...with shapes inside...
Opposite of the balcony, behind the elevator, there is a covered platform. It
is only accessible if the square button is pressed. Inside, you can see the
topographical maps of certain areas.
There is a dome here too. It is left behind the elevator and the pole that
belongs to it is to the right. The screen of the pole shows the dome at a
slight angle, so you may have trouble finding the symbol.
When you enter using the tram from Village Island, there is a device you will
find to the left corridor. Sit in it and you will find some controls...Notice
the symbols when you crank the right lever...
There is an elevator that will lead back up opposite of the device. It goes
back to the tram from Workshop Island.
H I N T S
-Start from the tram from Workshop Island.
-Now walk through that straight path...Is it not already straight forward
enough?
-Does this look familiar? A button...some ropes...hey, maybe there is a pulley!
-See the button? See the shapes below? You know, that button does have a
function, and you are not staring at those shapes below for nothing...
-Did you honestly think that was it? Turn around and look behind you...
-See the covered building? No walkway? I told you that button had a function.
-See the shape? Which shape is it? No, I mean the shape on the grid, not the
two-dimensional one!
-You know, if you cannot see it, better turn it.
-Since you are looking at it, you must be looking for something, right?
Something that is just to your left...
-Did you see any other grids lately? Well, not so recently? And do not say your
math homework!
-From the other tram...
-See the device? See the symbols? They do mean something...
-Did you push anything yet, other than buttons? How about the symbol?
-Did you try all the levers?
-Did you see the flash?
-By now, you should know why you went to this island...
-Still do not know? Still do not know what the grid means?
-Well, actually, it means you do not know what x and y mean.
-Get the drift yet? END of hints!
S O L U T I O N
WE APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTFUL CONCERN TO READ THE HINTS. WE NEVER SAID READ THE
WHOLE GUIDE, WE SAID STOP READING AND PLAY RIVEN. SO, WHAT IS THIS TEXT FILE
FOR? THE LESS FORTUNATE, THE LESS CLEVER, AND THE LAZY ONES. REMEMBER, YOU ARE
DOING THIS BECAUSE YOU ARE HAVING A HARD TIME WITH THIS GUIDE, NOT RIVEN.
You can come here through two islands on a tram, and the easiest one is through
Workshop Island, so we will start from there (see Workshop Island for how to
get there). From there, you will see two entrances, one of which you cannot
reach. Go through the one you can reach and climb the stairs to the top. Here,
you will find some discolored water, looming megaliths, and strange island
shapes in the water...Continue to the end of the jagged-straight path and stand
at the dead end.
This is the elevator, so press the button and it will elevate. Ahead of you, is
a balcony and a square formation of buttons. Look down, and you will find that
the shapes of the buttons are in the same formation and shape as the islands
below. Press one, and you can see its elevation. Actually, these shapes are the
exact same shapes of the five islands, one of which you cannot yet reach.
After one of the buttons has been pressed, go back to the elevator, but behind
it, you will find three walkways. The center one leads to a covered building,
the left and right ones lead to the dome and the stick-contraption. The
building in the middle will be accessible if you pressed a switch on the
balcony, but if you did not, the walkway is retracted. Enter it to find two
grids; the smaller one has the shape of the button you pressed. Click on any
area of the shape and the large grid will pop up and form a topographical map
of the area you pressed. If you cannot see certain features, you can turn the
grid with the handle to the left. Then, what are you looking for? You are
looking for the exact location of the dome of each island. The exact location
would be the grid in which you find a round projection, the dome, and it must
be the shape in the correct (or initial) position on the smaller grid. Copy the
coordinates down or somehow memorize the position, and then go back to the
balcony and choose a different shape/button. Do the same thing to it, and find
the domes for all the other buttons, then you can check out the dome. For the
block that represents Workshop Island, the dome does not appear spherical; look
for the indent to find it.
It is difficult to see the symbol on the dome and on the stick-contraption
because of the tilted angle. Randomly and rapidly, press the button on the top,
and the symbol will appear briefly on the screen. Quick! Copy it! That is all
for now.
Go back to the tram and turn the knob, but do not pull the lever. Instead, look
to your left, and the stairs should be opened. If not, go to Village Island and
take the tram there over here. If you came here through that tram first, you
will find a scribe in a white robe. You can try to catch him, but chase him and
he will hop into the tram and escape. In the other entrance, take the left
corridor to find a device.
Sit in the device and press the button and you will be looking at an underwater
scene. Crank the lever on the right and the symbols will appear. There is a
hoop around the symbol you are looking at, and there is a picture of the
pole-contraption it responds to. The symbols are the same symbols you saw on
the domes and pole-contraptions, and they do correspond to these symbols. On
pulling the right lever, press the button the hoop is surrounding and you will
see a light flash on the screen. The color of the light indicates the color of
the marble on the golden dome on Dome Island. You can switch the symbol by
pressing on the loop close to the symbol. If you pull the left lever, the same
type of screen will appear, but without the buttons and hoop. There are only
two buttons; press the left one to see a room with a woman in it. This is
actually viewing Catherine on her island. Record the colors and then head back.
The elevator opposite of this room leads back to the tram.
You can also use this device to help you find the animals that correspond to
the orbs. Pull down the left lever and press the right button. Click on the
loops to turn the view, until you see a representation of a fish with large
fins. When you pull the right lever, press the symbol that makes the red light
flash. Immediately look up to see the giant fish that was presented in the rock
where the sunners were. If you press it several times, the Wahrk (that is what
it is called) will bang into the window and try to break it, but do not worry,
it cannot break it.
C A T H E R I N E ' S I S L A N D
You cannot reach this island by any means, since it is remote and no trams,
submarines, walkways or mine carts will reach this area. You can, however, find
the linking book here from the 223rd Age. You will, as the name implies, find
Catherine here, who is actually imprisoned by Gehn, but the Prisoner's Book
would have been stolen, so retrieve it first to appease her, then get her out
of here. If you have already grabbed it, then good; be a hero and get her out
of there.
F E A T U R E S
There is the dome, the only way to access this island. The stick-contraption is
also next to it, but you may not need it.
Continue down the walkway and you will reach an elevator. There are some
switches that make sounds, but you do not know if there is a combination for
it...
On the second floor, you will find Catherine here, but the elevator's frame is
blocking your entrance. This is also the same room you can see from the
color-coding device on Map Island. You can see it with the left lever and by
pressing the left button.
H I N T S
-Well, you should know how to get here...
-Does the word, linking book mean anything to you?
-Is this not all straightforward? See the lady yet?
-You realize you do need to appease her if you want to save a pretty creature
such as she...
-Did you get what she wants? What? Does she only stare at you? Well, do not
stare at me!
-You will not find what you are looking for in here...Remember the three
musical switches?
-You do not mean to say the 223rd Age is not musical...Oh, hell, there is
plenty of music!
-The musical switches should mean something...
-Well, do something to them!
-Um, are you not understanding the concept?
-Well, okay. You have the book, she should be happy. Maybe you cannot reach
her...
-Hello! Bars are not invisible and you cannot therefore pass through them. You
have to clear them. No, I do not mean with a bulldozer, I mean with your head!
-Still here? Still not clear? Too bad! NO MORE hints left!
S O L U T I O N
DO REALIZE THIS IS SHORT AND FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD, SO DO NOT BOTHER READING
THIS. UNLESS YOU BASHED YOUR HEAD INTO THE CAR'S WINDSHIELD LAST WEEK, YOU DO
NOT HAVE A LEGITIMATE EXCUSE TO READ THIS FRANKLY, TOO REVEALING SECTION.
When you exit the dome, continue through the walkway, up the stairs and through
the door. Turn around at the end of the elevator and pull the bar to raise it.
You will also see four switches close to the bar, but the three switches play
sounds and you do not know the right combination for them in order for anything
to happen.
After you pull the bar and the elevator brings you to the upper floor, you will
meet Catherine, who is surprised but satisfied with your unexpected presence.
She finds that you do not have the prison book in which to keep Gehn in. She
demands that you should retrieve it before Gehn finds it, but she only knows
that the Moiety have it.
She will not tell you anything else, so find the book and return. If you
already found the Prisoner's Book, then good, you should know what to do with
it. Just read on.
***TIME LAPSE***
When you return with the book, you should have Gehn trapped inside, and you
should have found the combination for the tune (see 223rd Age section). Go up
to the four switches, enter the tune with the bottom switches, then pull the
lever. If you entered it correctly, the elevator will rotate and Catherine will
be able to leave. She looks inside the prison book and finds Gehn imprisoned.
Impressed by your work, she asks you to call Atrus while she rescues the
villagers. Leave quickly and head for Dome Island.
2 2 3 R D A G E
Once you get the generator in Dome Island working by solving the marble puzzle,
the linking books will work. All of them lead to the same place: the 223rd Age.
This is where you will find Gehn, who has placed a cage around where you warp
to, but since he knew about your arrival and the book that you used to carry,
he demands that you find it. He then gives you the full and undivided access to
all of Riven, then leaves, in a typical fashion, with goggles, gloves and all.
If you have already found the book before coming here, read on to see what
happens.
F E A T U R E S
All around your cage, you will find the five linking books that bring you back
to the domes. The shape on the book tells you which island. Since there are
five, and you only went to four, now is your chance to get to Catherine's
Island.
This room is quite small, and you cannot leave it, so there are not very many
features. On the table, there is a failed linking book experiment, the pipe
and a few other rusty contraptions.
Facing the switch inside the cage, there is another switch on the window ledge
opposite of the other switch. Press it to open the cage.
By the door, there is a pole-like object with a disk near the top. If you press
the knob on top, it plays music.
There is a ladder that leads down to where Gehn sleeps. He also keeps a journal
here, which seems more recent than the one he had in the lab. Beside it is a
metallic globe. Open it and see what it says.
There are two pictures on the wall; one of Gehn and the other, possibly of
Keta, his wife. There is also a hologram that looks like the one in the
classroom in Village Island. It is probably Catherine because she knows how to
speak the foreign language.
H I N T S
-Cannot seem to do anything?
-Well, look around.
-What is within reach?
-You know, the bars are not that narrowly spaced.
-Which book would you look for?
-When you finally get your long lost treasure, or weapon back, what else do
you think you would do?
-Do you trust this guy? Of course not. Do you have any other choice?
-Realize you cannot go outside. Look else where.
-Well, if you do not look outside, look down.
-How much harder can this get? It is a small age with a small chamber! So
therefore, small puzzles!
-What more do you want me to say without writing the word, solution?
-Well then, NO MORE hints, on to the solution!
S O L U T I O N
SHORT AS THIS SECTION MAY BE, THIS STILL REVEALS TOO MUCH OF THE STORY TO BE
STILL ENJOYABLE. BE A FOOL AND RUIN IT IF YOU ARE STILL READING. THANK YOU FOR
READING THIS SO FAR, BUT NO THANKS FOR WASTING SUCH A GOOD GAME AS RIVEN.
When you get here for the first time from any dome, you will find a cage around
you. Gehn has his long speech, takes his googles, gloves and gun in his typical
fashion, then leaves you to the clutches of his gloomy place. You will find
that much of the chamber is kept well away from you, but the books can be
reached.
Look at the books to see the shape of the island on the covers. If you look
around, there are actually five of them, so since you have only been to four
domes, one of them has to lead to Catherine's Island. Look for the book that
has a square on it, open it and touch the page. You will be transported to
Catherine's Island.
***TRANSITIONAL TIME GAP***
When you come back with the book Atrus gave you, Gehn will take it from you,
inspect it, then ask you to enter it first, then he says that he will follow
you. Do you trust him? Not likely. However, wait, and he will close the book,
allowing more time for you to think your decisions over. If you did, exit the
age and come back. He will not be there, but summon him with the button at one
side of the cage. He will show you the page of the book again. But do remember
that he does not know that this is the prisoner's book, and though it seems to
lead back to D'ni, he is unsuspecting, though suspicious. Touch the page, and
you will be trapped in it, but thinking that you are in D'ni, Gehn foolishly
follows you into the "one-man prison". You successfully capture Gehn inside the
prison book and when you are released, you are free of the prison book and the
prison Gehn kept you in the 233rd Age!
Now you can walk around freely. You cannot, however, exit the chamber through
the door, since it will not open. The switch on the window ledge lowers the
cage. The table has a failed experiment involving a linking book. Finish
exploring, then go down the ladder on one side of the chamber to find Gehn's
sleeping quarters.
He has a hologram, two photographs, a strange toilet or sink, and the bed.
Beside the bed, there is a table with his more recent journal, and his
sightings of the stranger who appeared with a linking book, but in fact, you
know the linking book to be the prison book. That stranger is in fact you, but
look beside the journal to find a globe. Touch it and it will play a tune,
using the sounds the three buttons by the elevator on Catherine's Island do. It
opens, then shuts. If you want to hear the tune again, play it again. That is
actually all you will find here, but now that you know how to make the buttons
work on Catherine's Island, go back there.
T A Y
This is the world that the Moiety live in, so that Gehn could not find them.
You can find it by entering a secret chamber hidden deep within Village Island
(see Village Island section for details) and pushing down the correct stones.
You get there by a linking book. Tay is a dark world, barren with cliffs and
water everywhere, but trees dot the ground, and the Moiety live inside the
trees.
F E A T U R E S
You can only look at the tree with a multitude of windows, but there is no boat
or anything that will allow you to cross the water. You can turn back to find
the chamber from whence you came, and a linking book back to Riven. After you
grab the Prisoner's Book.
If you came here for the first time, the Moiety roughly stun you and put you to
sleep, then lock you up in their treehouses. You wake up inside a locked
chamber, but all you can see are the walkways, treehouses and the dark water.
H I N T S
-Do you have any reason to be here?
-Well, if I said the Moiety live here, who else said anything else about
Moiety?
-Think! You lost something!
-Be careful. You better watch your back or...
-Still looking around? Trapped? Just wait. You cannot do anything else.
-You had better have gotten what you wanted.
-Did you?
-Well, happy now?
-Um, there is nothing else you can find here.
-What a waste of all that scenery! You cannot even go closer...
-Hello! There is nothing left here! As in quit searching, NO MORE hints!
S O L U T I O N
YET, ANOTHER UNECESSARY SECTION THAT HAS TO BE INCLUDED FOR THOSE WITH POOR/LOW
VISIBILITY. FOR THOSE WITH MORE THAN ADEQUATE VISIBILITY, NO PEEKING, OR YOU
GET THE RESULT OF A VERY BORING RIVEN.
Enter Tay anytime through the secret chamber in Village Island. There is
nothing to bridge the water, so turn to face the linking book back to Riven,
but you will find that the Moiety have already uncovered your existence on
their sacred land, and stun you with their poison darts.
You wake up later, in one of their houses, but they lock the door, and you can
only gape at the exquisite beauty of the lights that scatter through the
myriads of windows and the dark looming figures of bulb-shaped trees through
your small window. This time, the gate is too low to crawl through. Head back
and look the other way. There is the sea that you can see through the window,
but jump out, and you will surely meet your doom.
Head back to the front of the room and a lady will enter with the Prisoner's
Book and a booklet written by Catherine. You cannot understand the lady because
her speech is the same dialect that you hear from the other inhabitants.
Quickly grab your belongings before they vanish again, and read Catherine's
journal. It reveals the lady's name and that you only have the book in your
hands because she told them to give it back. You will also find a letter
inclosed with the booklet, which tells you of Catherine's current state.
Once you have finished reading, head back for the door, and the lady will enter
again. She gives you a linking book back to Riven, then leaves, locking the
door. You cannot do anything else, so head back to Village Island through the
book. If you try to come here again, you will be by the dock that looks towards
the dark trees, but you cannot reach them.
S Y M B O L S A N D C O D E S
_______________________________________________________________________________
This is yet, another spoiler. If you are smart enough, stop reading, otherwise,
be a fool and keep reading the secrets you should have learned by yourself.
T H E N U M B E R S Y S T E M
The numbers of the civilization in Village Island can be decoded with the game
found in the hut in the lake. This is how it
______
works: The numbers are written in a basic frame: _|__|_. We will only show what
is inside the boxed area, since it is too much for ascii. There are five basic
symbols for the first five numbers, and six to nine are numbers composed of the
five basic ones. There are also symbols for ten, fifteen and twenty. The
numbers that are composed of basic symbols contain two of them. The basic
symbols are one on top of the other, which forms the new number. The basic
numbers are added to form the number. So, for example, |_|_| is six. |___| is
| | | | |
five and | | | is one. Five plus one is six, which results in this:
| | |
|___| + | | | = |_|_|. You will find that the complex numbers are five plus
| | | | | | | |
another number. Use this to solve the code in Gehn's journal, the symbols that
appear behind the orbs and Catherine's diary.
Basic Numbers:
| | | 1
| | |
|) | 2
|/ | 3
|\ |
| _| 4
| | |
|___| 5
| |
|) | 10 (flip it 90 degrees counterclockwise, 5x2)
| |_| 20 (flip the symbol for four 90 degrees counterclockwise, 5x4)
| |
Complex Numbers:
|_|_| 6 (5 + 1)
| | |
|)-| 7(the line goes through the bracket) (5 + 2)
|/__| 8 (5 + 3)
|\ |
(cannot be 9(5 + 4)
shown due
to ascii's
insufficient
capabilities)
Also note that the civilization values the number five, which is very important
to them, so notice that there is almost five of everything: five islands, five
domes, five symbols, five orbs, five switches (that control the docks), five
docks, five entrances to the circular tower, and five-digit codes. For a better
chart of numbers, see the symbols.gif file included.
G E H N ' S J O U R N A L
There are two sets of symbols that appear in this journal from the lab in
Workshop Island. One has six series of circles, and the other has five numbers.
The circles look like this:
1 (has a dot in the center)
2 (has a horizontal line from one end of the circle to the other)
3 (has a vertical line from the top of the circle to the bottom)
4 (Has two horizontal curves (looks like an eye) with a vertical line in its
center)
5 (Has two vertical curves (looks like an eye) with a dot in the center)
6 (Has two horizontal curves (looks like an eye) with a dot in the center)
These correspond to the dome that they appear yellow on. This symbol also
corresponds to the color of the marble used on the board in Dome Island. The
shapes on the board are the shapes of each island.
Colors, Dome and shape
1 Green, Dome Island, square-shaped block with an extra block on the lower
right
2 Orange, Map Island, "L" shaped block
3 Purple (the device in Map Island does not show this color), Workshop Island,
square-shaped block
4 Red, Village Island, Large block (3x3) with two blocks on the top left side
5 Blue, Catharine's Island, single block
6 Yellow, (no island or shape)
The other code with the five numbers appears in the same symbols the
inhabitants use, so see the number system section above for help. This code is
used to open the vault under the domes. There will be a slider with twenty-five
notches and five bars. Set the bars to the same code from the journal and press
the button to open the vault. If you need help, see my chart, symbols2.gif.
This code is random, so that means, if you find the code in one game, the code
will be different in another game.
M A R B L E P U Z Z L E S O L U T I O N
(see above for hints) To solve this puzzle, you need to be able to reach the
top of the golden dome on Dome Island (see walkthrough section for details). On
it, there is a board with grids, holes and shapes indented into it and six
color-coded marbles. I will use x and y coordinates to show where you should
put the marbles. The origin will be set at the bottom-left corner.
Notice, that there is no coordinate for the yellow marble. This is because
there are only five domes that correspond to the marbles of each island, but
there are six marbles. Leave the yellow marble in its holder. When you have
placed the marbles in the correct places, go back a bit from the board and find
a switch to the left of the board. Crank it down to lower the machine, then
press the button. If the machine starts making sounds and starts working, then
you can leave and use the linking books inside the domes on each island.
O R B S
After you find and get the hints from the orbs in Village Island, there is a
hidden chamber with animal carvings on stone pillars. You need to push down
five of these in the order of the symbols on the orbs to reveal the linking
book to Tay.
This is the order and the stones that you press down:
1: The fish with the large fins. This stone is towards the doorway.
2: The beetle by the entrance. It is close to the left.
3: The frog with the eyes at the very front of its head. Turn right from the
entrance. It is near the left.
4: Looks like the platypus creatures (sunners) you saw earlier. Has a beak and
flippers. It is on the stones facing the knife.
5: The large fish with the huge fin. It is right in front of the knife.
T U N E S
There are three buttons by the elevator on Catherine's Island, but you do not
know the tune you need to play on them to open the elevator. All I can say is
that you can find it on the 223rd Age in Gehn's sleeping quarters. Open the
globe to hear the tune. However, the tune is different in every game, so giving
you the tune I got may not do you any good.
T E L E S C O P E C O D E
There is another five-digit combination lock on the hatch under the telescope
in Dome Island. You can get the code for this combination from Catherine's
diary that comes with the Prisoner's Book when you go to Tay. Again, the code
is different in each game, so my code may not work for your game.
L O C A T I O N S O F D O M E S A N D O R B S
_______________________________________________________________________________
YET, MORE SPOILERS. UNLESS YOUR NAME IS STUPID, YOU SHOULD NOT BE READING THIS
SECTION. SMART READERS AND GAMERS DO NOT NEED GAME GUIDES THAT REVEAL THE
OBVIOUS.
D O M E S
There are five domes spread evenly throughout the five islands. The domes will
reveal vaults that contain linking books, all of which lead to the same place,
the 223rd Age. You can use the linking books from there to go back to the domes
on the islands.
Dome Island
You can reach this after you fix the gap on the upper walkway leading to the
dome. You must go to the walkway that has the two switches that control the
steam going to the bridges and stand by the entrance to the cave before the
second switch. Look to your right for a button. If it is shut and you cannot
press it, it is because you have not fixed the gap in the walkway above. Look
up and you will see what I mean. If you did, then good. Press the button and
the platform you are standing on will lower. Turn around and walk up the path
to a walkway that leads to the dome. In front of the dome, you should see the
stick-contraption that controls the dome.
Workshop Island
The dome is inside the workshop. You need to enter it, turn around, close the
doors and take the left passage to find it. You will not see the
stick-contraption, but walk around the dome to the left, and you will see the
peephole. Go back, but not all the way. Before you go back to the entrance of
the workshop, there should be another door along the way. Close it and you will
find the secret passage that leads to the stick-contraption.
Village Island
The dome is on the upper walkways above the forest. Enter the forest and take
the fork through the tunnel that leads to the fish. Stand right in front of the
fish, turn around and pull the small knob on the left lantern. This opens the
fish's mouth, so climb in and go to the end. Turn around and crank the right
lever upwards. Now, you should be on the walkway. The dome is straight ahead
and the turn at the T-junction leads to the stick-contraption.
Map Island
You will find the dome on the upper floor opposite to the balcony. The dome is
on the left path and the stick-contraption is to the right.
Catherine's Island
Once you have solved the marble solution, use any of the other linking books
inside the vault of the other islands' domes to reach the 223rd Age. Find the
book with the single square on the front cover, open it and touch the page to
get transported inside the dome.
O R B S
Like the domes, there are five, and you will find them on Village Island,
except the first. You need to find the orbs to match each sound and symbol to
the ones in a secret chamber hidden deep in the island...
Orb 1
This orb is not in Village Island. It is in Workshop Island. Go to Gehn's lab
in Workshop Island and look to the left of the table with the journal. You will
find the orb with a notice.
Orb 2
In Village Island, on the junction of stairs from the tram from Dome Island,
take the lower set, past the sunners and go all the way past the walkway. Go
down the ladder and find a sand basin with the orb, two pipes and a switch.
Tweak the switch to make the water fill the basin, and you will see the shape
of an animal.
Orb 3
On the tram stop from Dome Island, opposite of the cave entrance, there is a
rock face. Go up to it to find the orb.
Orb 4
In the forest, there is a hidden staircase. Go through the closest entrance
from the tram from Dome Island and go through the path, looking for a giant
sword in the background. Once you have found it, turn to face it and look below
it to find the stairs. Through it, you will find the orb.
Orb 5
On the path that goes by the sunners, scare them away, then head down to the
beach. Go to the far side of it, then cross the narrow sand bar to reach the
rock where the creatures were tanning. On your side of the rock, you should see
the orb.
M Y S T E N C Y C L O P A E D I A
_______________________________________________________________________________
The series of Myst combines the three games, Myst, Riven and Exile into the
bigger picture. In order to better understand the terms used in the game and
anything revolving the story, an encyclopaedia has been included with this game
guide, in case you were not paying attention to your dear friend, Atrus, or
Gehn and Catherine, for that matter.
2 2 3 R D A G E
This is the WORLD where you will find GEHN. FIVE LINKING BOOKS from each DOME
in RIVEN will lead to this place.
5 T H A G E
This is where RIVEN is. GEHN constantly refers to RIVEN as the 5TH AGE. GEHN is
also the creator of the 5TH AGE.
A C H E N A R
He is one of ATRUS' sons and was condemned into a BLUE BOOK. To escape, he
needed to regain the BLUE PAGES and have someone else enter it. His greed has
led him to become the prisoner he is. Before he was condemned, he lived in the
other AGES of the worlds inside the books that his father created.
A G E
This is where the WORLDS are situated from within the books. These are also the
different WORLDS that can be reached from MYST.
A T R U S
The man who writes inside books to create worlds and the LINKING BOOKS. Because
of his part D'NI ancestry, by altering certain words inside the books, he can
alter the fate of the world inside the book. He has a wife and two sons and
trapped his father in the world, RIVEN to prevent him from destroying ATRUS.
ATRUS lives in D'NI.
B L U E B O O K
This provides the prison cell for ACHENAR. Travellers who are often trapped by
their greed result in being condemned by this book or the RED BOOK. ACHENAR can
escape if he can get the BLUE PAGES and have someone else replace him in the
BLUE BOOK.
B L U E P A G E
This page is blue and five of these must be placed inside the BLUE BOOK. When
they are placed into the book, the person who retrieves and replaces the pages
into the book becomes trapped inside it.
C A T H E R I N E
The wife of ATRUS and the leader of the MOIETY in RIVEN, she was born from the
RIVENESE people. GEHN seeks to keep CATHERINE from leaving RIVEN and will do
anything at all costs to keep her from doing so. She is imprisoned on the fifth
island of RIVEN, CATHERINE'S ISLAND.
C A T H E R I N E ' S I S L A N D
This is one of the FIVE islands inside the world of RIVEN where you will find
CATHERINE. It is very small prison for such a great leader of the MOIETY.
C H A N N E L W O O D A G E
This is one of the three AGES within MYST. There are pipes and trees in a body
of water and walkways everwhere and even a mayhem of huts and mazes of other
upper walkways. You will need to eventually find a way back up to the LINKING
BOOK that will bring you back to MYST.
C L O C K T O W E R
This is one of the interesting features on the island of MYST. It is a CLOCK
TOWER, floating on the shore of the island. There is, however, a way to cross
the water to reach it...
D O C K
This is where you start your journey in MYST. There is the mast of a sunken
ship beside it, a secret door near the back, and some giant gears near the
front...
D O M E
This is one of the FIVE round structures you will find on each of the islands
of RIVEN. Each one holds a vault with a LINKING BOOK to the 223RD AGE.
D O M E I S L A N D
One of the FIVE islands of RIVEN. It contains a large golden dome structure
with many contraptions, pipes and steam that generates the power to use the
LINKING BOOKS.
D' N I
This is where ATRUS lives and writes his books. All WORLDS from within the
books, such as MYST and RIVEN can be reached from here. The D'NI contains a
distinct set of scripts that includes its own language, and yes, you can decode
this as an actual language; check out the other sites that have information on
this stuff. It is also a guild, formed with its own timeline, history and other
timekeeping sorts of things. This race has the ability to write new WORLDS from
within books that can actually be reached. ATRUS is partly D'NI which allows
him the ability to write the books he does.
F I V E
This number is considered special and sacred to the inhabitants on RIVEN. Most
of the puzzles in that WORLD use this number, and there are many connections to
it.
F O L L O W E R S
These are the FOLLOWERS of GEHN. They believe that GEHN is their god, as
opposed to the MOIETY, who know him to be an imposter god. They are willing to
do whatever he pleases to help him create a LINKING BOOK out of RIVEN.
F O U N T A I N
Yet, another feature of MYST. There is a model of the ship on the DOCK. Do you
think you can do anything with it?
G E H N
This man is ATRUS' father, who has gone mad lately, so ATRUS condemned him
inside one of his books, the 5TH AGE, where RIVEN is. With no way back out
without a LINKING BOOK, GEHN seeks to escape from RIVEN, ultimately to destroy
ATRUS. He is seen as a god to the inhabitants of RIVEN, but few realize that he
did not, in fact, create RIVEN. In fact, GEHN altered RIVEN through the use of
clumsy, large power-consuming machines in order to power up his LINKING BOOKS,
allowing him to change history on RIVEN. He needs the machines because he does
not have the ability of a D'NI scribe. It is only a matter of time before GEHN
can write his way back to D'NI.
G E N E R A T O R S H E D
There is a shed in MYST. Electrical wires on poles go to and from this
building, and if you, by some miracle, get it working, you will bring power to
other features of this mysterious island.
K E T A
She is GEHN'S wife. Not much is known about her, though it is revealed that
after GEHN is expelled to RIVEN, he misses her dearly.
L I B R A R Y
There is also a LIBRARY in MYST. It has some old books, worn out, torn or
burned, as they may be, but they will be helpful and the tower above it will
provide hints for some of the other hulking structures you can find on this
island. This building also houses the BLUE BOOK and the RED BOOK, both of which
are suitable prison cells for the brothers, SIRRUS and ACHENAR. There is more
to that then you think there is, for there are secrets in this building, you
might not find until the end...
L I N K I N G B O O K
The books written by ATRUS and the D'NI are often about different WORLDS and
AGES that he creates. By placing your hand on one of its pages, it will
transport you to that WORLD. There is no way out of this world, however, no way
back, but with a LINKING BOOK, you can go back to where you came from. See?
Books are power.
M A P I S L A N D
One of the five islands of RIVEN. This island features topographical maps of
all the islands and the color-codes for the marble puzzle in DOME ISLAND.
M E C H A N I C A L A G E
This is one of the AGES accessible from a book in MYST. There are many
mechanisms, machines, devices, and above all, a huge fortress in the middle of
a large body of water. The tower at its top rotates, and you will need to find
the puzzles and the solution to the symbols and buttons to leave.
M O I E T Y
These are the peoples of RIVEN who realize that GEHN is not the true god, and
they oppose him. These people are also very fond of CATHERINE, and with her
help, sought a way to use GEHN'S failed LINKING BOOKS to live in a different
WORLD away from him. The WORLD they finally were able to attain was kept well
away from GEHN and his FOLLOWERS.
M Y S T
This is one of the other WORLDS that ATRUS has created in a book. In it, you
must determine whether or not you should help the prisoners of the RED BOOK or
the BLUE BOOK, and what is really going on in this island. There are three AGES
you can reach from this island, which contain the missing pages.
O B S E R V A T O R Y
Beside the LIBRARY, there is an OBSERVATORY in MYST. You can look at
constellations at it, but it will provide useful hints for entering an AGE...
O R B
There are five of these on VILLAGE ISLAND in RIVEN. When you roll them, they
make sounds, and underneath them, a strange symbol appears...These are used in
decoding a ring of stones, hidden deep within the island...
P R I S O N E R ' S B O O K
This book supposedly leads back to D'NI, but in fact, it traps wary
unsuspecting people. This book is given to you by ATRUS to capture GEHN in it.
This book, however, can only imprison one person at a time, so if one person is
already trapped, the next person who touches the page is trapped, but the last
prisoner is released. Such examples of this book are the RED BOOK and the BLUE
BOOK.
R E D B O O K
This is the book that imprisons SIRRUS on the island of MYST. When you find
enough RED PAGES for it, SIRRUS' release is made possible.
R E D P A G E
There are four of these pages, scattered throughout the AGES in MYST. Place
them in the RED BOOK to release SIRRUS.
R I V E N
This is a decaying WORLD in the 5TH AGE from inside another book by ATRUS.
There is no LINKING BOOK in it because it is used intentionally as GEHN'S
prison cell. RIVEN was originally a single island, but GEHN rewrote history, so
to speak, and split the island into five. There are various creatures
inhabiting the land and the water, and a civilization even lives there. The
RIVENESE and the MOIETY live there.
R I V E N E S E
These are the inhabitants of RIVEN. They live in crude ball huts suspended on
crude walkways and have a distinct religion and culture. But since the presence
of GEHN, he has produced machines and added various forms of technology to
alter this ancient civilization.
R O C K E T
This ROCKET is found on MYST and serves as the connection to the SELENITIC AGE.
However, it is shut and the door seems too heavy, so there must be a way to
power it up and get it working...
S E L E N I T I C A G E
An AGE found within MYST. It consists of a series of sound puzzles that you
will need to solve to leave this island.
S I R R U S
ACHENAR'S brother and ATRUS' son. For his greed, he is trapped inside the RED
BOOK and awaits unsuspecting people to stumble upon this book and find the
pages so he can escape.
S T A R F I S S U R E
This is the very fabric of the "WORLD" that links all the other AGES and WORLDS
in between. Though no one has come back alive to tell the tale after travelling
through this place, all save ATRUS, no one has known to die from going into it.
S T O N E S H I P A G E
An AGE in MYST that features a ship lodged into a stone. There is also a
lighthouse, and rooms down below inside the stone. Somehow get the water out of
the ship, get the devices working and find the LINKING BOOK back.
T A Y
The refuge for the MOIETY in the form of a WORLD linked to RIVEN. It is well
hidden from the inhabitants of RIVEN and features a dark sky, looming
megaliths, and huge bulb-shaped trees with windows, lights, walkways and a
proper housing for the inhabitants. (see the front cover of your game package)
V I L L A G E I S L A N D
The largest of the five islands in RIVEN and contains the village where the
RIVENESE live. There is also a forest and many creatures, but the villagers are
wary of strangers, and avoid them whenever possible. Since GEHN arrived, the
village has been turned into a half-machine half-primitive area, where GEHN has
built a submarine tram, walkways above the forest and the DOME.
W O R K S H O P I S L A N D
This island is found in RIVEN and features a lake in a crater-like area. There
is the Workshop high atop the cliffs and GEHN'S lab, where he performs his
experiments and keeps his journal. There is also an interesting device for you
to toy around with inside the Workshop...
W O R L D
These are the many places within the books that ATRUS and the D'NI write. These
are also linked by the STAR FISSURE, but once you are in the WORLD, there is no
way back out, save for a LINKING BOOK, only if there is one. Such WORLDS
include MYST and RIVEN.
P O S S I B L E E N D I N G S
_______________________________________________________________________________
-Win the game by freeing Catherine and trapping Gehn inside the prison book.
They leave with Atrus' linking book, and you fall into the Star Fissure.
-Capture Gehn in the Prisoner's Book, but do not save Catherine. Atrus leaves
with the linking book, but you still fall into the Star Fissure.
-Trap Gehn, then open the Prisoner's Book and place your hand over the page.
-Trap Gehn, then open the Prisoner's Book and place your hand over the page in
Tay.
-Find the Prisoner's Book and trap yourself in it on any of the islands.
-Find the Prisoner's Book and trap yourself in it on Tay.
-Reject Gehn's offer to enter the Prisoner's Book three times.
-Open the Star Fissure before trapping Gehn.
R E V I E W
As one of the rare games that you see out there, Riven is amongst one of the
best video games that there is. Of course, you might disagree with me, by
saying Riven is not a video game or by saying that it has no action. Well, you
are correct; Riven is not a video game; not an ordinary video game, by any
means. But, put it this way: Chess, Checkers, Monopoly, any old card game, and
other such board games are all games. Put them on computer, and what do you
get? A video game. Those games do not have action, but so what? They are still
considered video games. It is true that Riven has no action, but just because
it has no action, it does not mean that it has no excitement. Excitement does
not equal action. When you watch a movie, can it make viewers feel excited,
even if it has no action (ie, drama, suspense, comedy, ect.)? Of course. And
since there are movies in Riven, especially the endings, then there is
excitement. And you cannot say that puzzles are not entertaining or exciting.
If you say they are not, then you are either an idiot or have poor connecting
abilities.
And what is the point of this? I am tired of people reviewing games that they
have never finished playing, especially any of the Myst series and say it is
total crap. They review any of the Myst series and say it deserves 1 out of 10.
Does it? Well, we shall see...
Amongst the best features of this game are the graphics and sound. Nothing, no
software company out there has ever produced such clean, crisp and
quality-overbursting graphics with this much creativity. Definitely, you will
never find any other place as magical, enchanting or powerful as the worlds of
Riven, and of course, Myst. Though it may have minor flaws, such as the
animated water glitches, the creativity blasts anything negative away. Some say
that it is only a photo gallery of still life pictures, but if it is just a
series of simple jpegs, then redefine simple because this is as best as a 256
color jpeg gets. In fact, I might say you might not ever see another jpeg in
your life that is this beautiful.
Even if you do not get 360 degree observation, the creativity more than makes
up for that. Anyways, if you wanted Riven with 360 degree observation, then you
would be asking for a super slow game and another item on your computer to
waste all of your disk space. No game invented so far has the ability to
produce quick, crisp, clean graphics and at the same time, 360 degree
observation. Though there is not very much animation, the ones that are there
run smoothly. It is a large improvement over Myst, since there are animals like
insects and birds in the background and the water does animate. To live and
breathe in such a world as that of Riven's graphics would be a dream...
Then comes the sound. As accurate as it may be, no sound on even the best
speakers may be as exact as the real thing. However, put the sound effects of
Riven on the best speakers in the whole entire world and you get digitally
produced sound that comes the closest to the real thing. Not only does it sound
real, it sounds right. Just where and when you expected this. There is not a
lot of music, but lack of it makes it more realistic. The music that is there
really captures the mood of the setting, no matter how quiet it is.
Add the sound with the incredible graphics, and you get a full-blown world,
almost as real as the pixels on your computer screen that produce it.
Graphics and Sound: 10/10
Gameplay to different people has a different definition. Some people like
action thrills, others like the strategy of RPGs or Warcraft-type games, still
others like the challenge of puzzles. This game is a puzzle in which the player
requires only simple controls and takes less than a few minutes to learn to
play. This is actually not bad, since simplicity is a good thing. Why would
anyone want to play a complex game with huge difficult-to-grasp-systems, such
as junctioning in Final Fantasy VIII (not that I am saying it is a bad game, it
is not bad) or one of those action thrillers with way too many buttons used?
The simplicity provides a better chance for players to focus on solving the
puzzles, so this game is not so annoyingly hard after all. Think about how hard
Riven would be with 360 degree observation, jumping, and action; if it had all
these, the creators would create harder puzzles because of the availability of
movement you are allowed. Also, you cannot game over, except at the end. If the
creators decided to make game overs more frequent, how many keyboards do you
think you would be smashing, just to find the solution to a puzzle, but game
over trying? Would anyone less skilled at puzzles like this?
The puzzles themselves are quite creative, innovative and challenging; it is
not like those everyday logic puzzle books that you pull off of the shelf at
your local bookstore. Then there is that feeling of goodness that you feel when
you solve a puzzle. For those action freaks out there who are not particularly
fond of puzzles, there is nothing in it for you, so that means you miss out the
Riven that you expected to have in a good game, simply because you cannot
comprehend the level of greatness of the puzzles and thinking that makes the
gameplay of this game truly worth each and every cent you spend in it.
There are some parts that may lead players to hitting the wall because of
insufficient clues, but that only happened two or three times when I played, so
it is not going to affect the gameplay as a whole.
Gameplay: 9/10
There is always something to a game, other than special things, such as
graphics, sound and making the game fun (ie, gameplay). Afterall, there has to
be a point to a game, otherwise the game is "pointless". The heart of the game
comes truly from the storyline and really nothing else.
I have always heard this game has a shallow storyline, but then I am listening
to the comments of people with poor comprehension and the poor ability to
connect concepts. Though you know little about the storyline since it started
in Myst, you can learn just enough to know what is going on. You should not
know everything at the beginning of the game; in fact, it should be revealed.
That is what makes a good storyline for a good game. If the game tells you
everything at the beginning of the game, players are not easily hooked.
All the game reveals in the beginning is some history on Riven and that you
should rescue Catherine, but not what she is doing there and why Gehn wants to
destroy his own son. Though the storyline seems to be no more than a father-son
conflict that somehow managed to suck you into it, it is simply more than that;
consider dealing with a father who is a psychopath. Catherine is not only
Atrus' wife, but Atrus is god who chose Catherine, a Rivenese to be an
important person, his wife, when Atrus is D'ni. The main conflict between Gehn
and Atrus is not the only conflict; the Moiety and Gehn's followers are
conflicting; Gehn's followers refuse to believe that Gehn is an imposter god of
Riven. Though you do not see the characters in the game often, they have
managed to build a wonderful storyline with characters by placing it inside
books.
What makes this story especially more interesting and special is its appeal to
books; there is no where else you will find books portrayed perfectly as they
should be; the representation of power; the power of creation. The creation of
worlds. Books do create wonderful worlds, as this game has no problem creating.
So you might actually say this game is the "book" to entering a new world. And
do remember, the pen is mightier than the sword; especially in this game.
Storyline: 10/10
Though being yet another of those puzzle games, playing the game over is not
very special, since the puzzles are the same and you already know them. The
only reason you might play it again would be to write a game guide like this
(but I seriously think this text file is a little huge) or to see the other
endings.
Playing it again would probably only take a matter of minutes, but playing it
for the first time can take over a year, especially for the mediocre players.
Then again, playing it again can be somewhat tedious, going over the same long
paths over again, the disk switching, the backtracking, and some other boring
parts that do not deserve to get mentioned, since more than three quarters of
this game is interesting.
Replay Value: 5/10
Since no other game has reached this level of creativity, the intensity (see?
this word does equal excitement) of the puzzle solving and a revealing plot,
Riven truly deserves more than 1 out of 10. In fact, there is no room for 1 out
of 10 for the Myst series. If Final Fantasy X had 1 out of 10, then Riven
should get 10 out of 10.
The graphical and musical environments that shape the worlds are truly
fascinating and stand out on their own. The storyline adds some taste, then the
creative puzzles make up for the rest of gameplay. You may think that you
should only rent this game, but wait until you start playing; then you will not
return the game until after perhaps two years without a game guide. But just
because you cannot play this game twice and have fun, you should still buy it;
I got mine at Electronic Boutique for only about $19. Riven is actually worth
more than that. Way more. More than money can express value.
And for those of you reviewers who said this game does not deserve a score
anywhere near 10 out of 10, you better think over your score before saying it
is a bad game. Anyone who says Riven does not deserve at least 8 or higher is
obviously an idiot.
Overall: 10/10
F A Q
_______________________________________________________________________________
F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S
Is this walkthrough still useless? Still cannot understand the jargon that is
going on in this guide? Then e-mail the author with your concern and I will get
back to you. However, your question must fit under these guidelines, or I
refuse to answer your question(s). The e-mail is btline@gmx.net.
-Yes, you may send in more than one question, but try not to make them annoying
and repetitive.
-Read the guide before you ask! If you ask a question that can be answered in
the guide, I will not answer.
-If my solution is not clear, then let me know!
-If I make any errors or grammatical/spelling errors, let me know! I am not
god.
-Check this section to make sure that someone who has already asked the
question you want to ask has not been asked. I will not answer questions that
have already been asked.
-I do not need comments about this guide being too cynical or offensive. If you
missed it, I have already posted a note in CAPITALS at the very beginning of
the guide. You should not need to scroll down to even see it! This section is
for people who need serious help! Not a critic's review!
Now for the questions themselves...
(none yet, this walkthrough is quite fresh)
C R E D I T S
_______________________________________________________________________________
This is to all the people/organizations to whom I owe it all to for a guide
like this (good or bad). If I missed someone, and you really want to be on it,
let me know, and I will try to put you up here, if my schedule permits.
R E D O R B E N T E R T A I N M E N T & C Y A N P R O D U C T I O N S
Without these great companies, Myst and Riven would never exist and I would
never have written a guide like this. Great job on the game; the puzzles and
the worlds within these games truly stand on their own.
E L E C T R O N I C B O U T I Q U E
For being the store that supplied me with the game. It might have been used,
but it was worth it. I like all the other stuff Electronic Boutique has
anyways.
U H S
Stands for Universal Hints System. I only used it three times, for the most
annoying parts (face it, games do have difficult, annoying parts). It was
useful because it gave away hints without giving away the solution. That was
nice, especially since I like to solve the puzzles on my own. Check out their
page at http://www.uhs-hints.com.
