Robyn Miller

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Robyn Miller
Robyn Miller GDC 2013 (8604248684) CROPPED.jpg
Miller in 2013
Born (1966-08-06) August 6, 1966 (age 58)
Occupation(s)Artist, computer game designer, composer, director, actor
Website www.robynmiller.net OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Robyn Charles Miller (born August 6, 1966) is an American video game designer who is the co-founder of Cyan Worlds with brother Rand Miller. He served as co-designer of the popular computer game Myst , which held the title of best-selling computer game from its release in 1993 until the release of The Sims seven years later. [1] [2] He also co-directed and co-lead designed the sequel to Myst, Riven , [3] which was the best-selling computer game of its year of release, 1997. [4] Miller composed and performed the soundtracks to both games. [5] He also acted in Myst, portraying one of the antagonists, Sirrus (with brother and Cyan-cofounder Rand appearing as Achenar and Atrus). [5] He co-wrote the first Myst novel, The Book of Atrus.

Contents

After the release of Riven, Miller left Cyan to pursue non-game interests, including films. [6] He is the director of the 2013 film The Immortal Augustus Gladstone . [7]

Early works

Miller served as a designer on Cyan Worlds's early games The Manhole , Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel and Spelunx . [8]

Myst and Riven

Miller is known for his contributions in the areas of direction and design, especially in the area of visual designthe look and feel of the Myst and Riven worlds. Richard Vander Wende, co-director and co-designer of Riven, was likewise responsible for orchestrating the visual language of that world. [9] [8]

Composer

While at Cyan, Miller composed the soundtracks for both Myst and Riven.

In 2005 he worked on a musical project named Ambo, [10] with W. Keith Moore.

In December 2013, he released the soundtrack for his debut film The Immortal Augustus Gladstone in digital format on Gumroad.com.

Miller composed the soundtrack for Cyan's Kickstarter-funded video game Obduction , released in August 2016. [11] This was his first work with Cyan since Riven in 1997. Initially, he had only intended to appear in the game itself (as C.W., one of the few human characters the player interacts with), and had outright said he would not do the soundtrack. After persuasion by his brother Rand, as well as seeing the work being done on the game, he eventually agreed to compose the game's music as well as appear in the game. He stated in an interview that he enjoyed focusing solely on composing, as opposed to the additional production work he had done for Myst and Riven. [12]

From 2022 to 2023, Miller self-published a compilation series of three albums entitled Lost Tracks featuring various unreleased tracks composed and recorded over his career. [13]

Director

Miller's debut film project is a fictional documentary film titled The Immortal Augustus Gladstone , a story about a man who believes himself to be a vampire. [14] [7]

Discography

Solo albums:

As a member of Ambo:

Filmography

Video games [15] [5]
YearWorkCredited asNotes
DirectorDesignerArtistComposerActor
1988 The Manhole YesYesYesNo
1989 Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel YesYesYesYesNo
1991 Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo YesYesYesNo
1993 Myst YesYesYesYesYesRole: Sirrus (uncredited)
1997 Riven: The Sequel to Myst YesYesNoYesNo
2016 Obduction NoNoNoYesYesRole: C.W.
Film [15]
YearFilmCredited asNotes
DirectorWriterEditorComposerActor
2013The Immortal Augustus GladstoneYesYesYesYesYesRole: Augustus Gladstone
The Hero PoseNoYesYesNoNoExecutive producer; short film
2015Kill Cash Cow KillNoNoYesNoNoShort film
2017Little PotatoNoYesNoYesNoExecutive producer; short film

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Myst</i> 1993 video game

Myst is an adventure video game designed by Rand and Robyn Miller. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and first released in 1993 for the Macintosh. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the environment by clicking on pre-rendered imagery. Solving puzzles allows the player to travel to other worlds ("Ages"), which reveal the backstory of the game's characters and help the player make the choice of whom to aid.

<i>Riven</i> 1997 video game

Riven: The Sequel to Myst is a puzzle adventure video game, the second in the Myst series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a division of Broderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released for Mac and Windows personal computers on October 31, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM in 1998. Riven was also ported to several other platforms. The story of Riven is set after the events of Myst. Having been rescued from the efforts of his sons, Atrus enlists the help of the player character to free his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn. Riven takes place almost entirely on the Age of Riven, a world slowly falling apart due to Gehn's destructive rule.

<i>Uru: Ages Beyond Myst</i> 2003 video game

Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is an adventure video game developed by Cyan Worlds and published by Ubisoft. Released in 2003, the title is the fourth game in the Myst canon. Departing from previous games of the franchise, Uru takes place in the modern era and allows players to customize their onscreen avatars. Players use their avatars to explore the abandoned city of an ancient race known as the D'ni, uncover story clues and solve puzzles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyan Worlds</span> American video game developer

Cyan, Inc., also known as Cyan Worlds, Inc., is an American video game developer and publisher based in Mead, Washington. Founded as Cyan Productions by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller in 1987, the company created the Myst series.

<i>Myst III: Exile</i> Third title in the Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games

Myst III: Exile is the third title in the Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games. While the preceding games in the series, Myst and Riven, were produced by Cyan Worlds and published by Broderbund, Exile was developed by Presto Studios and published by Ubi Soft. The game was released on four compact discs for both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows on May 8, 2001; versions for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 were released in late 2002. A single-disc DVD version was later released for Windows and Mac OS.

<i>Myst IV: Revelation</i> Adventure video game in the Myst series by Ubisoft

Myst IV: Revelation is a 2004 adventure video game, the fourth installment in the Myst series, developed and published by Ubisoft. Like Myst III: Exile, Revelation combines pre-rendered graphics with digital video, but also features real-time 3D effects for added realism. The plot of Revelation follows up on plot details from the original Myst. The player is summoned by Atrus, a man who creates links to other worlds known as Ages by writing special linking books. Almost twenty years earlier, Atrus' two sons nearly destroyed all of his books and were imprisoned; Atrus now wishes to see if his sons' imprisonment has reformed them. The player travels to each brother's prison, in an attempt to recover Atrus' daughter Yeesha from the brothers' plot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rand Miller</span> American businessman

Rand Miller is a C.E.O. and co-founder of Cyan Worlds. He and his brother Robyn Miller became famous due to the success of their computer game Myst, which remained the all-time best-selling computer game from its release in 1993 until that record was surpassed by The Sims nearly a decade later. Rand also worked on the game's sequel, Riven, and later reprised his role as protagonist Atrus in Myst III: Exile; realMyst; Uru; Myst IV: Revelation; and Myst V: End of Ages. He also co-authored Myst novels The Book of Atrus, The Book of Ti'ana, and The Book of D'ni.

Myst is a franchise centered on a series of adventure video games. The first game in the series, Myst, was released in 1993 by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and their video game company Cyan, Inc. The first sequel to Myst, Riven, was released in 1997 and was followed by three more direct sequels: Myst III: Exile in 2001, Myst IV: Revelation in 2004, and Myst V: End of Ages in 2005. A spinoff featuring a multiplayer component, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, was released in 2003 and followed by two expansion packs.

<i>Myst V: End of Ages</i> 2005 video game

Myst V: End of Ages is a 2005 adventure video game, the fifth installment in the Myst series. The game was developed by Cyan Worlds, published by Ubisoft, and released for Macintosh and Windows PC platforms in September 2005. As in previous games in the series, End of Ages's gameplay consists of navigating worlds known as "Ages" via the use of special books and items which act as portals.

<i>Spelunx</i> 1991 video game

Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo is an educational computer game intended for young children developed by Cyan in 1991.

<i>Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel</i> 1990 video game

Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel is a graphic adventure computer game for the Macintosh computer line created by Cyan, Inc. It was published in 1989 and won the 1990 Mac User's Editors' Choice Award for the "Best Recreational Program" category.

<i>The Manhole</i> 1988 video game

The Manhole is an adventure video game in which the player opens a manhole and reveals a gigantic beanstalk, leading to fantastic worlds.

Richard Vander Wende is an American visual designer and video game designer best known for his work on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin and the Cyan Worlds computer game Riven.

David Wingrove is a British science fiction writer. He is well known as the author of the Chung Kuo novels. He is also the co-author of the three Myst novels.

Tim Larkin is a composer and sound designer for Valve, and previously the audio director for Cyan, best known for the Myst series of video games. At Cyan, he worked as a sound designer for Riven, and as a composer for realMyst, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and Myst V: End of Ages.

<i>Myst Online: Uru Live</i> 2007 video game

Myst Online: Uru Live is an open source massively multiplayer online adventure game developed by Cyan Worlds. The game is the multiplayer component to the 2003 video game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. Like Uru, Myst Online takes place in 2000s New Mexico, where an ancient civilization known as the D'ni once thrived. The D'ni had the ability to create portals to other worlds or Ages by writing descriptive books of the Age. Players uncover clues and solve puzzles together; plot developments were added via episodic content updates.

Characters of <i>Myst</i> Fictional characters of video game

The Myst series of adventure computer games deals with the events following the player's discovery of a mysterious book describing an island known as Myst. The book is no ordinary volume; it is a linking book, which serves as a portal to the world it describes. The player is transported to Myst Island and must unravel the world's puzzles in order to return home. Myst was a commercial and critical success upon release and spawned four sequels—Riven, Exile, Revelation and End of Ages— as well as several spinoffs and adaptations.

<i>The Myst Reader</i> Collection of novels based on video game

The Myst Reader is a collection of three novels based on the Myst series of adventure games. The collection was published in September 2004 and combines three works previously published separately: The Book of Atrus (1995), The Book of Ti'ana (1996), and The Book of D'ni (1997). The novels were each written by British science-fiction writer David Wingrove with assistance from Myst's creators, Rand and Robyn Miller.

Obduction is an adventure video game developed by Cyan Worlds. Obduction is considered a spiritual successor to Cyan's previous adventure games, Myst and Riven. In the game, the player finds their character transported to strange alien worlds but with human elements within the settings. The player must explore and solve puzzles to figure out how to return home.

<i>Firmament</i> (video game) 2023 adventure video game

Firmament is an adventure video game developed by Cyan Worlds. Similarly to their 2016 title Obduction, it was funded by a Kickstarter campaign beginning in 2018. It was released on Windows PCs on May 18, 2023.

References

  1. "The Sims overtakes Myst". GameSpot. 2006-05-17. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  2. "Game Over". AllGame . Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  3. "Riven Full Credits". MystJourney.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  4. Karlin Lillington (1998-03-02). "21st: "Myst" partnership is riven". Salon.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  5. 1 2 3 "Robyn C. Miller". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  6. "'Myst' Muse Leaves Game Company / Robyn Miller developing film ideas with new firm". SFGate. 1998-03-05. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  7. 1 2 ""AWOL in P-Town"". Theimmortalaugustusgladstone.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  8. 1 2 "GDC 2013: Robyn Miller's Myst Postmortem". AdventureGamers.com. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  9. Bradford, Matt (2014-09-11). "Edge Magazine | GamesRadar". Edge-online.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  10. "AMBO - 1000 Years and 1 Day". Archived from the original on 2011-06-19. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  11. "Anniversary Two – Huge Obduction Music Announcement! - Obduction - Obduction by Cyan, Inc". Obduction. 2015-11-13. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  12. Original Sound Version - INTERVIEW with Composer Robyn Miller on the Obduction Soundtrack
  13. Miller, Robyn. "Music". robynmiller.net. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
  14. Miller, Robyn C. (2013-04-29). "Status and Vampires | 156 Years and Counting". Augustusblog.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  15. 1 2 Miller, Robyn. "Video Games & Films". robynmiller.net. Retrieved 2018-08-08.

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