Mudpie Detour

 

On February 15, 2002, Spyder appeared in Cyan Chat with a very un-Spyder-like message.  The fun began with an appearance by LOCO, a Cyantist:

[LOCO] <links in from CyanWorlds Age>
[LOCO] no ones here on a late Friday nite. (lazy bums)
[LOCO] <high squeaky mocking voice> "Something's about to happen"
[LOCO] Spyder you're such a wimp! You got nothin'
[LOCO] <links out>

About 45 minutes later, Spyder responded to the challenge:

[Spyder] <links in from CyanWorlds Age>
[Spyder] Doesn't anyone own Myst Masterpiece for Mac?
[Spyder] <links out>

This reference was to the hunt for the Lower Right Bolt.

We now know what Spyder was talking about, thanks to K'laamas and Jim Stephenson.  Following Spyder's appearance, K'laamas sent out a plea for someone to try out the Lower Right Bolt clues in MME for Mac.  His pleas were quickly answered when Jim Stephenson, webmaster for the Riven Unofficial Home Page (which, alas, no longer exists), sent the following message to the Lyst:

Hey, what's that guy doing on my home page?

Further investigation -- that is, quickly linking to Jim's website -- uncovered a small image of an avatar, which links to a page consisting of the Lower Right Bolt clues.  Jim tantalized us with some hints about the egg:

It took some experimentation but eventually I found the egg. And it's a *very* good one. :)

It's so cool and has been hidden for so long that I hate to just blurt out what it is, so I'm going to build suspense for a few days and give other folks (sorry, Mac only) a chance to look for it on their own. Then I'll reveal it.

He then proceeded to torture us by revealing the egg piece-by-piece -- well, okay, so it was only three pieces.  But the wait was worth it, for it turned out to be another Mudpie picture, which has features reminiscent of two pictures from huevo:  huevo21 and huevo05.  But Jim wasn't done, either with the torture or the surprises.  Jim gave us two Spyder-like puzzles to solve before revealing a second egg:  a Mudpie video!  

Here's Jim's eggs-planation for how to find the egg in MME for Mac:

Spyder's hints were correct but left out one crucial step -- holding down the tilde key...

1. In the Mac version of Myst Masterpiece, go to the Mechanical Age.

2. Practically the first thing you see is a podium-like device. Four dials can be rotated to display various symbols. Set all four dials to display the symbol that looks like Cyan's logo turned on its side (like a letter C with the open side down).

3. *While holding down the tilde key* (~), click the lower right bolt.

4. If you have done everything correctly, your browser will launch and will take you to a secret page at Cyan's site (please do not post the URL; see explanation below).  A text message on that page will congratulate you for finding the egg, and you'll see a screen shot and short video from Mudpie.

Jim also included a special request from Cyan:

IMPORTANT -- I talked to RAWA after finding the egg.  He said it was ok to repost the screen shot and movie (Cyan knew they would be found eventually, and Spyder practically spelled out how to find the egg). But Richard thought it might be nice if only folks who actually owned Mac MME had the special treat of finding the secret web page. So please *DO NOT POST THE URL* of Cyan's secret page.

If you're suspicious there's something else on that page that's being kept secret, don't worry; all that's on that page is a short "congratulations" message plus the 2 goodies that have been reposted. Honest. (If you don't believe me, ask anyone with Mac MME to check it out for you.) But by keeping the URL secret it helps keep the page itself as a special treat for those who actually
own the game. :)

Jim
Riven Unofficial Home Page