Myst Online Now Open Source

Rand Miller, co-founder of Myst and Riven creator Cyan Worlds, said this week in a statement that Myst Online: Uru Live is now open source, following an extended wait. Cyan originally announced in late 2008 that the game would go open source, allowing users to modify the game’s code and assets, and to run their own servers. But a lack of resources slowed Cyan's progress in bringing the game to open source status. Miller said, "The goal of the open source CyanWorlds.com Engine and the MOSS [Myst Online Server Software] server is to provide a 'playground' where new writers can learn their craft, and new maintainers can inspect it, and new cartographers can map it." "The Cyan Worlds MOULA [Myst Online Uru Live Again servers will continue to provide a (relatively) safe environment for the D'ni faithful to mingle and share," he added. Both the CyanWorlds.com Engine and MOSS will be hosted on OpenUru.org. Myst Online began life as the multiplayer component of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, but never progressed beyond beta testing with original publisher Ubisoft. Turner's subscription gaming service GameTap was the next to pick up the title, officially launching it in February 2007. The game lasted a year with GameTap, and was then closed down for "business reasons" in 2008. Cyan was able to acquire the rights to the game, and planned to resurrect it on its own servers with new content. However, this plan was abandoned after a major revenue stream was "disrupted." Miller added in this week's statement, "These are exciting times, but not without risk. The tools and skills are new and need to be sharpened. There will be disagreements and strongly expressed opinions. And there will be decisions and mistakes. But keep in mind that the big picture is a lot like rebuilding a long dead civilization -- and the forest of common goals far outnumber the few trees of differences. Let's keep it civil."