Friends, let's be honest: Relto is not remotely habitable as it stands.

No bed, no chairs, no food preparation area, no toilet facilities...it's barren. One thinks prison cell. A fireplace (that you have to go outside to tend) and a music system do not a home make.

So here's my idea, one I've mentioned before, and it's a simple change (though of course blue-sky only till Cyan is in a position to do it). When the game starts, instead of linking into Relto outside, possibly in the rain, could one's avvie come in to the hut area from another room, behind which one could imagine the real Relto living quarters? I tend to imagine it as being under a trapdoor concealed by the rug you get from Kemo (which would give you some further incentive to get the thing), but equally there could be a door in the back wall next to the wardrobe (or the wardrobe could be the door, for that matter). A simple animation, same as coming through the training centre door in Gahreesen, or out of the trapdoor in Teledahn. It would make no difference at all to gameplay, but for those of us who like to be our characters when in Cavern it would add to the immersiveness of the experience, and the hut area could remain uncluttered with the gubbins of living.

Comments?

Here are my thoughts on the topic. More thoughts, than answers really. Unfortunatly, some require spoilers, if you are new to the game.

I never concluded Relto to be a resting place. It was the place of the beginning of new discoveries, a mystery just like the rest of the ages. Especially from Yeesha's point of view and visits from Bahro, Relto never felt like a permanent place. Imagine waking up in Relto, with a Bahro or 2 looking down at you. I know they have not seemed to be violent in nature, but IMO thier presence reeks of coming destruction.
I "imagined" having a linking book back home, so these things werent so important to me. Some ideas like a bed, or maybe more realistically a cot, would have been nice.
But as far as things like beds, bathrooms, even food supply, I think those places are there, but meant to be discreet (as they arent important) In fact I wouldnt doubt the Bevin had all those needs. Just not that we could see, and why would we want to?

Spoiler about what Relto is:
Clearly, the Relto is supposed to relate to Atrus age Myst Island, in some manner. This age was one of his first, and was a test age. He may have visited Myst occasionaly with Cathrine and his 2 young sons, but they didn't live there. Maybe even they set up a campsite on the island, like in the forest area. What I'm getting at is they had a way to link off of Myst at one time, to thier home
For the reason of the spoiler above, I don't believe it was necissary for such things to be available in the Relto.

About your comment on Relto feeling like a prison.
Myst V spoiler
Well, heres one thought, if you ever played Myst V and failed, Myst Island actually does become a prison for you. All possible ways to link off the island are destroyed, and you don't have the gift of the D'ni to make such linking books. So your as good as dead, or hopeful that many years later someone discovers a way back

marikmeydrek wrote:

...
Spoiler about what Relto is:
Clearly, the Relto is supposed to relate to Atrus age Myst Island, in some manner. This age was one of his first, and was a test age. He may have visited Myst occasionaly with Cathrine and his 2 young sons, but they didn't live there. Maybe even they set up a campsite on the island, like in the forest area. What I'm getting at is they had a way to link off of Myst at one time, to thier home ...

I'd have to disagree with you there:
Myst WAS always intended to be the home of Atrus and Cathrineand it wasn't even written even in part by Atrus, but by Cathrine and Anna. The hut with the boiler in it was their original shelter until they got the living quarters finished.And they had links to other Ages where they could harvest food and raw building and craft materials. However, the Myst we know an love isn't the complete complete Myst island, which was supposed to be much larger, had living quarters beneath the surface which were probably accessed via the lift behind the library. The stated reason for lack of living areas and smaller island in the Myst game or hints that such an area exists in it is that it would have been too much to make when the game was modeled.

So all in all, I think that having the wardrobe move aside like a door, or even replace the wardrobe with an actual door and have a ladder or stair case down to a living room / bedroom with sanitation rooms and food preparation areas off of it (and if the wardrobe is taken from above then move it down there as well) would be perfectly in keeping with the intention of Relto . It could also be a perfect place to improve with Relto pages as well.

_________________
Stellaflora: 00344987 - Wayward Wrigglesworth: 01391161

I was always under the impression there should be an opening in the mountain behind the hut, with stairs leading down into the hill/mountain. That there isn't, and never will be, is something of a disappointment to me. :/

_________________
Avatar: Anaerin
Ki: 118686

They lived below the Library, the elevator went down as well as up, we never saw it in Myst though.

But yeah Atrus and Catherine lived on Myst, it was Written By Ti'ana and Catherine not Atrus.

_________________
Beneath - Journey of an explorer in D'ni
UruBlogs - Blogs from Uru Explorers
Tweek@Guild of Writers - Age development Blog.

Ah, my bad, must have my lore mixed up. I realize Ti'ana wrote Myst, but I thought I remember reading something like it was given to Atrus.

Proved myself wrong, that Inception was actually Atrus first Age.

I also just remembered Yeesha discribing Relto as "my" own age now. Which I would have not said yesterday, because I had not refreshed my memory on that yet, going by memory that wasnt too clear.

*Anyway, as far as the topic goes, I still feel at least bathroom areas can be left descreet, unless the area plays some role in the storyline. LOL.

I would go for something along the line of a livingroom area, and a kitchen though. Thats common locations, like in the Cleft, Tomahna, etc.

I don't think we need to see those areas particularly. Just some implication that they exist, offstage as it were.

To imagine that you have a linking book "home", to me, isn't plausible, because where would you get it? As with Myst and all the other games in the series, you're trapped away from "home" till you complete the game, in this case the Journey. The Cleft Book is your only way "home." Besides, we can't as yet Write linking books--that's one of the reasons Zander is in the Cavern to start with, to find out how. I think the intention is that Relto is where we "live," and I'd like to see it a bit more "liveable."

I suppose the only way to the surface truelly would be to link to the Cleft first.

But this was supposed to be a game where players could use their own imagination.

Since my daily gaming consisted of logging out of the game, I made it feel more immersive by imagining my Relto Book also had a link back to where I live. In fact, I used to tell people, "Later people, linking back to the surface." People could have read that as linking to the Cleft too. Unless I added something like "For dinner," etc. It may not fit lore, but it did it for me. Im sure there are plently of players with different imaginations like this.

zander_nyrond, that's a spectacular idea! You don't have to see those areas that make Relto livable, but have some way of demonstrating that they are there, that your Relto is livable. I love it!

_________________
Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
Blog - http://www.amarez.com, Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/amareze

mszv wrote:

zander_nyrond, that's a spectacular idea! You don't have to see those areas that make Relto livable, but have some way of demonstrating that they are there, that your Relto is livable. I love it!

Perhaps along the lines of what Rand spoke of in the GameTap interview (I believe?).

"There's a trapdoor in there that you can't open, but the fact that you can't open it is a clue."

Something along those lines. Why not have, opposite the Relto fireplace outside, a trapdoor which is implied to lead to a sort of living space? This could be a Relto page or a permanent fix, but either way it would meet the idea without totally reworking the Age.

zander_nyrond wrote:

Friends, let's be honest: Relto is not remotely habitable as it stands.

No bed, no chairs, no food preparation area, no toilet facilities...it's barren. One thinks prison cell. A fireplace (that you have to go outside to tend) and a music system do not a home make.

So here's my idea, one I've mentioned before, and it's a simple change (though of course blue-sky only till Cyan is in a position to do it). When the game starts, instead of linking into Relto outside, possibly in the rain, could one's avvie come in to the hut area from another room, behind which one could imagine the real Relto living quarters? I tend to imagine it as being under a trapdoor concealed by the rug you get from Kemo (which would give you some further incentive to get the thing), but equally there could be a door in the back wall next to the wardrobe (or the wardrobe could be the door, for that matter). A simple animation, same as coming through the training centre door in Gahreesen, or out of the trapdoor in Teledahn. It would make no difference at all to gameplay, but for those of us who like to be our characters when in Cavern it would add to the immersiveness of the experience, and the hut area could remain uncluttered with the gubbins of living.

Comments?

We musta been thinking along the same lines, I put in an idea sort of requesting the same thing in my own topic but with a few more ideas as well, and I put my ideas into Relto Page form. But 2 of my Relto page ideas require the first one wich could mean that the ages those pages are in are only accessable from the lower part of the hut(Cavern Page)