Editing Riven (section)

==Development==
Cyan started working on ''Riven'' [[1993 in video gaming|in 1993]], immediately after ''Myst''{{'}}s release. Before development began, when even the name of the game was undecided, the brothers [[Miller Brothers|Robyn and Rand Miller]] said they wanted a "natural flow" from the first game to the sequel.<ref name="cnn - fans">{{cite web|author=Baxter, Steve; Nelson, Brian |date=1997-10-31|url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9710/31/riven/index.html|title=Fans say Riven release lives up to hype|publisher=[[CNN]]|accessdate=2008-05-14}}</ref> As ''Myst'' proved to be a popular and commercial success, the two developers were able to expand their four-person team to a much larger crew of designers, artists, programmers, and sound designers.<ref name="making of riven">{{cite video|people=[[Miller Brothers]], Cyan|date=1997|title=The Making of Riven: The Sequel to Myst| publisher=[[Cyan Worlds|Cyan]]/[[Brøderbund]]|  medium|[[CD-ROM]]|format=}}</ref> Development spanned more than four years, and was a much larger undertaking than for the first game;<ref name="making of riven"/> ''Riven'' had a budget of between [[United States dollar|US$]]5&nbsp;and $10&nbsp;million, more than ten times the cost of developing ''Myst''.<ref>{{cite news|author=Takashi, Dean|date=1997-08-26|title=Can Myst's Sequel Live Up to Expectations?|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>

The design for ''Riven'' stemmed from a desire to create something different and more dynamic than the [[Romanticism|romantic]] style of ''Myst''. The first stage of development was to create the puzzles, in an attempt to integrate them as smoothly as possible into the areas in the game. The Millers met their co-designer, [[Richard Vander Wende]], at a demonstration of ''Myst'' for the Digital World Expo in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="making of riven"/> Wende had previously worked for [[Industrial Light & Magic|ILM]],<ref name="making of riven"/> and at [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] as a designer for the animated feature ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]''.<ref name="driven">{{cite journal|author=Carroll, John|year=1997|month=September|url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.09/riven.html|title=(D)Riven|journal=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|issue=9|volume=5|pages=1–15}}</ref> As the third member of ''Riven''{{'}}s conceptual team, Wende ended up contributing what Robyn Miller described as an "edgier" and complementary vision, that made the game dramatically different than its predecessor.<ref name="making of riven"/>

As in ''Myst'', the topology of the islands was originally created as grayscale images, where brightness corresponded to elevation.<ref name="making of riven"/><ref name="driven"/> In [[Autodesk Softimage|Softimage]], these maps were turned into the terrain models seen in the game.<ref name="driven"/><ref name="computergraphicsworld">{{cite journal|author=Forcade, Tim|year=1998|month=February|title=Unraveling Riven|journal=Computer Graphics World}}</ref> The large island objects were broken apart to facilitate efficient rendering, which required them to be created using polygonal geometry.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> All other objects were modeled using [[B-spline]]s and [[Nonuniform rational B-spline|NURBS]].<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/>

Many of the [[texture mapping|textures]] were accumulated during a three-day trip to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]]. The artists took hundreds of photos of wood, adobe, sand, stucco and other materials, which were treated in [[Photoshop]] before being mapped onto the [[3D modeling|3D geometry]].<ref name="making of riven"/><ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> Whereas many [[computer graphics|computer-generated]] environments of the time ended up looking smooth, like plastic,<ref name="making of riven"/> the Millers and Wende developed a more gritty and weathered design, with corroded and aged elements, to imply reality.<ref name="making of riven"/><ref name="driven"/> The artists considered how objects would look and function if they were real, where and how they would be worn, and created corresponding details.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> While [[bump map]]s were occasionally used to simulate geometry, even small details such as screws were often individually modeled.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/>

Rendering was executed in [[Mental Ray]], using numerous custom-made [[shader]]s to produce lifelike lighting, water and landscapes.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> In total ''Riven'' has over three hours of video<ref name="driven"/> and almost five thousand images;<ref name="making of riven"/> rendering was a major bottleneck in production despite the use of 18 dedicated [[workstation]]s.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> Some scenes consisted of tens of thousands of individual models and textures and more than a hundred virtual light sources. Loading a single island model could take two hours.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/> Runtime animation effects were created by Mark DeForest, to add flying insects and simple water ripples.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/>

''Riven'' combined the pre-rendered backgrounds with [[live action]] footage, in order to increase the player's immersion level.<ref name="making of riven"/><ref name="gamespot preview"/> ''Riven'' was the first game in which any of its designers had directed live actors, and Wende was apprehensive about their use.<ref name="making of riven"/> Rand Miller had to reprise his role of [[Atrus]] from ''Myst'', even though he hated acting.<ref name="driven"/> All the actors were filmed with a blue screen as a backdrop, which was removed in post-production by [[chroma key]], so that the actors would blend into the virtual environment.<ref name="driven"/> Real world stairs, doorways and studio lights had to be meticulously positioned on the live stage to match their CG equivalents. Some sequences were seamlessly cut together with [[morphing]], to allow for partial variations due to the [[Linearity (video games)|nonlinearity]] of the gameplay.<ref name="computergraphicsworld"/>

At the time of ''Riven''{{'}}s development, publisher [[Brøderbund]] was facing falling revenues as development costs rose. Two years into the project, Cyan still had nothing they could show them.<ref name="driven"/> Brøderbund's stock dropped from $60 a share to $22 [[1996 in video gaming|in 1996]], because of a delay in the publishing of ''Riven''.<ref name="business week-more magic" /> The plan had been to ship the game in time for the 1996 holiday season;<ref name="gamespot preview"/><ref name="driven"/> ''Riven'' was finally published on October 29, 1997.<ref name="riven gamespy"/> Even though ''Riven''{{'}}s sales were expected to be higher than any other game [[1997 in video gaming|that holiday season]], Brøderbund launched a $10&nbsp;million marketing campaign<ref name="business week-more magic">{{cite web|author=Browder, Seanna|date=1997-10-06|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1997/40/b3547133.htm|title=More Magic From the Makers of 'Myst'?|work=[[BusinessWeek]]|accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref> and developed a retail marketing partnership with [[Toshiba]] America.<ref>{{cite news|author=Winkler, Eric|title=Riven: The Sequel to Myst Tops 1 Million Units Sold Through to Consumers in North America|publisher=[[Business Wire]]|date=1998-03-08}}</ref> Anticipation for the game was high even among non-gamers, helped by web-based word of mouth and well-placed media coverage.<ref name="nyt-personal computers"/><ref name="boston globe-riven door">{{cite news|author=Saunders, Michael|date=1997-11-09|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|title=Riven opens door to mystical world}}</ref>

===Audio===
Robyn Miller composed ''Riven''{{'}}s music, which was later packaged and released by [[Virgin Records]] as ''Riven: The Soundtrack''. Miller designed the liner notes and packaging, which included English translations of the [[conlang|language found in the game]].<ref name="Houston Chronicle-riven ost">{{cite news|author=Schein, Amy|date=1998-02-01|title=Out of the Myst comes Riven, the soundtrack|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]}}</ref> Whereas the music to ''Myst'' was, at first, only available by mail-order from Cyan, Virgin Records had bought the rights to release it initially, prompting Miller to make sure that it could stand alone in CD form.<ref name="denver post-sound">{{cite news|author=Thomas, David|date=1998-05-08|title=Mastermind of Myst, Riven also has a talent for music|work=[[The Denver Post]]}}</ref> The compact disc was released on February 24, 1998, with 54&nbsp;minutes of music.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|authorlink=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=Riven: The Sequel to Myst|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dxfexq9jldae|accessdate=2010-01-13}}</ref>

Miller established three [[leitmotif]]s for the game's three central characters, Atrus, Catherine, and Gehn.<ref name="riven notes">{{cite album-notes |authorlink=Robyn Miller |last=Miller |first=Robyn |notestitle=Introduction |year=1997 |title=Riven: The Soundtrack |publisher=[[Virgin Records]]}}</ref> Gehn's theme is only heard in its complete form near the end of the game, but portions of the melody can be heard throughout Riven, highlighting his control of the Age.<ref name="virgin product">{{cite web|author=Virgin Records America|year=1997|url=http://www.virginrecords.com/riven/|title=Riven: The Soundtrack product page|work=[[Virgin Records]]|accessdate=2008-04-12}}</ref> Miller tried to let the environment dictate the resulting sound, in order to make the music as immersive as possible.<ref name="Houston Chronicle-riven ost"/> He blended live instrumentation with [[synthesizer]]s: "By mixing and matching conventional instrumentation, you can create an odd, interesting mood," Miller said. Ultimately, he wanted the music of ''Riven'' to reflect the game itself, which he described as having "a familiar-yet-strange feel to it."<ref name="riven notes"/>

Miller described his biggest challenge in writing ''Riven''{{'}}s music as reconciling the linear, pleasing construction of music with the [[Linearity (video games)|nonlinearity]] of the gameplay. As players can freely explore all areas, Miller explained in an interview, "the music can't say anything too specific. If it says something, if it builds in intensity and there starts to be a climax, and people are just standing in a room looking around, and they're thinking 'What's going on in here? Is something about to jump out from behind me?' You can't have the basic parts of music that you'd like to have, you can't have a basic structure. It's all got to be just flowing, and continue to flow."<ref name="denver post-sound"/> [[Allmusic]] critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] argued that the soundtrack is "appealingly atmospheric", but "lacks definition", and that the music loses impact when separated from the game.<ref name="AMG" />
{{tracklist
| collapsed       =
| headline        = ''Riven: The Soundtrack'' tracklist
| total_length    = 53:59
| title1          = Link
| length1         = 0:10
| title2          = Atrus' Theme
| length2         = 4:06
| title3          = Gateroom
| length3         = 3:45
| title4          = Jungle Totem
| length4         = 2:41
| title5          = Survey Island Theme
| length5         = 2:13
| title6          = Temple
| length6         = 2:42
| title7          = Village Entrance Theme
| length7         = 2:33
| title8          = Moeity Caves
| length8         = 2:53
| title9          = Moeity Theme
| length9         = 2:13
| title10         = Boat Ride
| length10        = 3:25
| title11         = Moeity Prison
| length11        = 1:47
| title12         = The Red Cave
| length12        = 1:54
| title13         = Wahrk Room
| length13        = 2:24
| title14         = Catherine's Prelude
| length14        = 1:59
| title15         = Catherine's Theme
| length15        = 1:05
| title16         = Catherine's Freedom
| length16        = 1:58
| title17         = Gehn Speaks
| length17        = 4:23
| title18         = Gehn's Theme
| length18        = 4:00
| title19         = Fissure
| length19        = 5:31
| title20         = Bonus Track
| length20        = 2:17
}}